28th August

Waking up with your arms wrapped in a bear hug around the toilet, in last night's outfit, with vomit in your hair is always a good way to start the day. Last night was clearly eventful. The smell of vomit in the bathroom was revolting, resulting in a number of dry wretches before realising I had nothing left in my stomach, and the vomit was most likely mine.

I stood and the world span, my head pounded and my body felt so weak. I opened the bathroom door to find Tonks, Lee and George all fast asleep in our bed. A glance at George's bedside clock told me it was 4am. I heard retching coming from Fred's room and went to investigate to my detriment. Apparently when you feel sick and you see someone else being sick, that can make you sick. Yeah. Turns out my stomach wasn't quite empty after all.

After that, Fred and I crawled into his bed together, arms wrapped in comfort around each other, conked out after all the effort we went through to get there. Our crawl from the bathroom to his bed was pathetic.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's my girlfriend and my brother in the same bed together." I then heard the undeniable snap of the camera.

Fred and I woke up and looked at each other, before groaning. It was now bright outside, and someone had just thrown the curtains open unceremoniously.

"Aoww." My hand reached my forehead, the pounding headache was awful.

"Glad to see you're both still alive and well after last night's antics." I could see Tonks put her hand on her hips though squinted eyes.

Fred and I looked at each other again, me quite as confused as him, "Dare I ask?"

"You two don't remember a thing, do you?" George laughed, "Dancing Queen? Shake Your Booty? I'm Too Sexy?"

Tonks laughed, "Do you remember Fred taking his shirt off in the middle of that one?"

"And Katy -" the two of them started laughing uncontrollably.

I pulled Fred's bedsheets over the top of my head and groaned again, "Put me out of my misery, George."

"That girlfriend of yours, Fred Weasley is dangerous!" Tonks put on her sensible adult head, "I thought it was fruit punch, but then you two drink enough of it to start acting like idiots." She then started laughing, "These pictures are hilarious, George, I'll have to pull them out at some point to embarrass her!"

At an alarming rate, I had to get to the toilet and proceeded to vomit, thankfully with no mess. The heaving didn't cease for what felt like years. I had George holding back my hair and rubbing my back as I cried pathetically to myself.

"So this feeling, right now, you've got to remember the next time you go all wild Katy."

"Aw, George…" my voice was hoarse, "Don't go all parent-y on me! Just shower me with love and sympathy."

I vomited again.

And I woke up, once again, bear hugging the toilet, except this time, I was still in Freddie's bathroom.

It was the sound of water hitting the tiles that woke me. Someone was in the shower to my left, "If you want to look at me, that's fine, but be aware; George mightn't be amused."

"What on earth are you doing?"

"Showering." Fred answered.

I glared at him through the shower door.

"Woah, that is completely uncalled for!" he joked, "With me being so vulnerable right now." The water turned off, "I'd really appreciate it if you could hand me in my towel." So I turned around and grabbed his towel, opening the shower door and handing it to him, not letting my eyes wander further than his chest, "And if my calculations are correct, the excessive amounts of alcohol my girlfriend poured down our throats last night should be out of our systems. I left two potions and a glass of water on my beside table for you."

Leaving the bathroom, I sat on the edge of his bed, feeling rotten. My head was banging, my throat was raw, my stomach was churning, I couldn't stand up long enough to make it to the other end of the bed. Because when I tried, I fell over.

"I feel like I'm seeing double…" I kept opening and closing my eyes.

"It's not like we've heard that joke before." Fred said sardonically.

"Open up, Katy and drink these." George shoved a spoon in my direction and the warm liquid immediately helped me feel a little more invigorated. The second took away my sickness. And thirdly, he told me to down the glass of water.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, having finished the water with fervour, I didn't realise just how thirsty I was, "Well, this certainly isn't my finest moment."

"I'm going to have words with Angie next time I see her. Was she trying to kill us?" Fred did not sound amused, "And she is nowhere to be found!" he grumbled, "Would have maybe sunk in a bit if she saw the two of us on the verge of needing our stomachs pumped last night. What was she thinking? Giving all that alcohol to a sixteen year old who hasn't had a sip of alcohol in her life and the guy she's supposedly in love with."

I caught eyes with George. I had never heard Fred rant like this before, and has certainly never been this upset with Ange before.

His rant continued for quite some time before he came to his senses, "How are you feeling now?"

I nodded, "Alive."

"We made fools out of ourselves last night, didn't we?"

George struggled to maintain a neutral expression as he nodded.

"Well, go on then…" I encouraged him.

"The two of you were dancing, if you could even call it dancing, I'm sure if old McGonagall was there, she'd say you were behaving like a babbling, bumbling -"

" - band of baboons." The three of us finished.

George smiled, "Drunk Katy is even more direct and drunk Fred is very caring, I think that's the word?" he then turned to me, "The most memorable thing from last night is you giving Remus a good dressing down, for what, I think only the two of you knew… Safe to say, I don't think he's going to be talking to you for a while."

I felt my cheeks redden.

"Oh?" Fred sat down beside me, and George on the other, squishing me in the middle, "There's a story there that we don't know."

I put my arms around them, pulling them into tight hugs, squashing me further, "All will become clear in good time." I turned to George, "So what exactly did I say to him?"

"All will become clear in good time." He mocked me and my accent. But before I could glare, or retaliate by poking him in the ribs, he said, "I suppose you two will want fed?" and upon seeing my reaction laughed, "The key to your heart is, and will always be, food."

"Bill! Fleur!" George exclaimed from the kitchen as he was instructing the last of the dishes to return to their cupboards, "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"We're actually here to see Kathryn, mate." Bill announced, scratching his head, his eyes finding mine in the bedroom.

Fleur took off her travelling cloak and hung it up, "Somezing smells good." She took a seat at the kitchen table.

"Kathryn whipped it up before getting into the shower, I couldn't even tell you what it is, other than it smelling delicious."

"Hey!" I greeted as I left our bedroom, feeling a lot fresher after a shower, "George, shall we have a cuppa?"

"You look a little rough." Bill looked me up and down, "Did you manage to make it out of bed this morning?"

I rolled my eyes, "Yes, I did. Many times. Before getting back into bed again."

"Those cocktails Angelina was making were lethal."

George laughed, "Katy was paying for it all morning."

"Shhhhh!"

Bill laughed, "Don't worry, I won't tell mum! Where's Fred?"

"He's literally just left…" I told them, "To tell Ange that she almost killed Fred and me. That having to take the rejuvenation potion and the anti-toxin potion -" Fred and George explained to me the seriousness of how unwell Freddie and I were overnight.

"You didn't -"

"Unfortunately it was that, or St Mungo's for the two of them."

"Man, that drink must have been -"

"The thought of that drink makes me want to -" I swallowed, hard, swallowing back down my fry-up, "Never. Drinking. Again."

George clapped a very unsympathetic hand on my back, "Until next time, darling."

"Oh no." I told him solemnly, "The next time I receive a shitty letter from my mother, I will forever remember that it is less painful to stay sober." I grimaced.

George placed mugs of tea on the table and directed for his brother to take a seat beside Fleur, "I have that information you wanted, Kathryn. Are you happy for George to know what I'm about to tell you? And Fleur?"

I nodded, wrapping my hands around the tea, "Of course."

"You have a serious amount of gold in your vault!" Bill exclaimed, "I mean, one-hundred-and-fifteen-thousand-galleons, sort of amount!"

"Did you take some?"

He thumped a heavy bag of Galleons on the table, making it wobble a little, tea sloshed around in the mugs, but none spilled, "This enough?"

"What do you expect me to do with all that?" I laughed, "Pay people off? Hire a hitman to murder a certain somebody? Bribery?" I ignored the bag and asked, "How much did you take for you two?"

"Kathryn, we can't possibly!"

My eyes darted in many directions, "Why not?" I shrugged.

"I'm not exactly ze most popular person in ze family at ze minute." Fleur said, "You giving us money for our wedding – we couldn't possibly accept!"

I leaned towards Fleur, "I wasn't exactly momma and poppa Weasley's favourite person when they first met me, and now look! They are slightly less wary of me, borderline actually liking me!" I joked, giving her hand a squeeze, "Just give them time, and you will fit right in. I will take it to my grave if I have to… I saw a connection between you two and I believe you are meant to be together."

"Zank you." Fleur took a sip of tea.

Bill fumbled in his pocket, trying to get off the topic of conversation, taking out a piece of crumpled parchment and my vault key, "The paper trail for this money is fascinating. I mean, ninety thousand Galleons from a… Ms Roberts?"

"My grandmother." I said, before correcting myself, "Adoptive Grandmother."

"Hm," he read, "Deposited by a Mr William Snow."

"Zat is Kasrine's lawyer."

He skipped through all my money movements, "Before there was a withdrawal of two-and-a-half-thousand Galleons -"

"To Fred and George for the business."

"By a Mr Jenkins."

"Yeah, he sorted out the purchase." George added.

"Ah," Bill nodded, "That was just me being nosey, but I must say Mrs Malfoy has added a substantial amount into your account in the last few weeks."

I leaned forwards, "Auntie Cissa?"

"If you want to call her that, yes."

"How much are you talking? Like hush money, you're going to die money or I feel bad about something I've done money?" my body remained perfectly still, only my head moved as I met Bill's eyes.

"You may have a look for yourself."

I cleared my throat, "Oh. Can I add a fourth option? That's definitely I need a favour money." I stood, my timer rang, "Banana bread, anyone?"

29th August

"Bellatrix,

How dare you speak to me like that. You gave up every right to me sixteen years ago. Yes, I may have the blood of you and Rodolphus running though my veins, and I may have his nose and your eyes, but you do not own me. You cannot buy me, you cannot threaten me and you certainly cannot make me do something I do not want to do.
I feel like you're only talking to me because of my connections to Harry Potter and The Order. I thought you wanted to get to know me, I thought you cared about me as an individual and not as the gatekeeper to information you want to pass on to up your status, or whatever. If this offends you, I really don't care. I'm sick and tired of being used and being thrown and kicked about, because I deserve so much more than this. You have treated me no better than the other people who called themselves my parents.
If I don't hear back from you, I'll know where I stand. Don't try and take me for a fool. You need me a hell of a lot more than I need you.

Kathryn"

"F*ck me." were the words that escaped George's mouth as I showed him the letter I had composed.

"Let me see!" Fred took the letter and read, "Wel f*ck me sideways, Bellatrix Lestrange has got it coming."

"Oh really, boys!" Molly was astounded by the use of language as she took the letter, her eyes widening in surprise, "Goodness me."

Harry then took the letter and Hermione, Ron and Ginny read over his shoulder, "You are on fire but -"

"Bloody hell, Kathryn!" Ron exclaimed.

I stopped him mid-sentence, "That woman has already tried to have me f*cking murdered this summer, she has leaked shit about me to the papers and has made my life a bloody misery. Quite frankly I don't give a flying f*ck what she thinks anymore. If she's offended, good."

"Is the language really necessary?" Molly breathed.

"You find a more appropriate situation to use such language, I beg you." George said to his mum.

I wore a wide smile on my face, I had never felt so liberated by writing a letter before. I wanted to be a bit more explicit in the letter, but better judgement stopped me. I was so close to sending a howler. But accents, and other people hearing and risk... I was particularly grateful for Maura right now, for her guidance this morning. I feel great, "Right, let's go send it."

"Erm, Katy… What are you doing?" George interrupted me.

"I'm having a dance party!" I shouted to him over the sound of the music, I raised my hands in the air and glid across the floor in front of him, "Do your dance, do your dance, do your dance quick mamma. Come on baby tell me what's the word." I sang along.

George took off his travelling cloak and stared at me, "Why are you shouting?"

I laughed, "It worked, then!"

"What worked?" George was looking at me as though I was mad, as I continued to dance around the room.

"Give me your hand!" I held my hand out and on the first touch, recognition spread across his face, "Private dance party!"

George proper belly laughed before getting submerged into our private dance party. That of course was when Fred arrived, "Okay, so you two are acting more twin than George and I ever have, or am I missing a dance routine or something?"

"If there's music we can use it, you're free to dance, we don't have the time for psychological romance," George and I sang together.

Fred cleared his throat and announced, "Okay, so I'm going to leave now."

"Aw, do you not want to be invited to the private dance party?" I held out the hand that was holding George's, "Join in."

I think Fred's reaction as he jumped back in shock was one-hundred percent better than George's. He looked disbelievingly at me, then at my radio, then held my hand again before dancing, to the next song that was on, 'I'm Still Standing', by Elton John.

I set the radio down so that the music could be heard by all, "I feel like this song is quite apt." I said, dancing and kicking my legs out in time to the music, letting out all of the negative energy. I didn't care what I looked like with Fred and George with me, they were equally busting out moves that made absolutely no sense. Sometime times you've just got to dance it out.

"What's for dinner?" Fred breathed in the scent of dinner cooking in the oven, "It smells great, whatever it is!"

"You're almost as bad as Ron!" I joked, "I made a family sized lasagne."

"Who's joining us?" he grabbed plates from the cupboard as George poured drinks.

I cut out three slices, "It's just us," I edged my head towards the freezer, "You don't think I'd let you two starve or eat sub-standard food every night between September and Christmas?"

Fred's eyes fell on mine, and he looked as though he was resisting the temptation to kiss me, "Have I ever told you that I love you?"

"Sorry, what was that?" I asked in a very serious tone.

"I love you!" he yelled overenthusiastically, "But just don't tell Ange that I'm favouring you right now, okay?"

George took my plate and set it on the table before pulling me in close, "Hey mate, she's mine!"

"Peace and love guys, peace and love." I sat at the table, gesturing the peace symbol.

George snorted, "Says the girl who wrote a letter that represents anything but peace and love this morning."

I shrugged my shoulders, "Well, I can't be the favourite angel child all the time, you know."

"It's nice of you to give someone else a shot." Fred nodded, "This lasagne is great, by the way."

30th August

"Can I steal Kathryn today?" Tonks arrived at the flat very early this morning as the twins were readying themselves for work, "She'll still be in one piece when I'm done with her, don't worry!"

"She's all yours!" George said, appearing as surprised as me that Tonks arrived, "Actually, wait…" he took a step back, "who is Kathryn to you?"

Tonks smiled, "She's my cousin, my sister from another mister, and my best friend, even though we're not allowed to say that in front of Hermione or Ginny."

"It's her, Georgie!" I called out from our bedroom, "But my question is, T, what on earth do you want to steal me for?" I walked out of the room, buttoning my jeans.

"I want to have my wicked way with you."

I raised an eyebrow at her, "I hope that's not code for somethings happened with my mother and you're here to babysit."

"My every interaction with you does not have to relate to that woman." Tonks shook her head, helping herself to a cup of coffee, "Sometimes I just need a little girl time."

"Oh, come here you!" I smiled, "Sit your pretty ass down and I'll give you all my time, my darling."

"You know, sometimes I wonder if the two of you have something more going on…" George commented.

I chuckled, flicking my hair into the opposite parting, "Well, honey, what you don't know won't hurt you." I licked my lips seductively, "I mean, who can resist the taste of cherry chap stick?"

"You are so naughty, Kathryn!" Tonks gave me a cheeky shove.

"And T and I have been in many precarious and vulnerable positions -"

Tonks coughed, "Kathryn! Will you behave yourself!"

"George knows I love him." I winked at him, "He also knows that it's him I go to bed thinking about and when I wake up and he's the first thought that comes to mind."

George kissed my cheek on his way out the door, "Don't do anything I wouldn't do." he smirked.

As soon as the door snapped shut, Tonks turned to face me, "I've got something to tell you."

I clapped my hands together in excitement, "Go on…!"

"I'm going to be a lot closer to you than you think when you're back at Hogwarts."

I turned my head to the side and raised an eyebrow.

"I've been assigned to Hogsmeade as part of the Auror task force to defend Hogwarts." She smirked, "So I'll know if you sneak out of the castle, missy."

"No, you won't." I replied with an equally mysterious looking smirk, "You won't see anything." I waved my hands in front of my face, as though forming a mirage, "Unless I want you to, of course."

She bit her lower lip, "You know how unwise it would be for you to get caught?"

"I don't plan on doing it that often!" I assured her, "I don't know how I'm going to feel being in that castle without George… I hope that I'll be kept busy enough that I don't have too much time to think about him, but undoubtedly -"

"You're going to miss him, a lot."

I nodded, curling myself up into a ball on the sofa, having just shivered. The reality of a couple days time was starting to sink in. I had been thinking a lot about the prospect of going back to school and what that would mean for our relationship. I had a really bad feeling about it all. Maybe it was because the owl post had just arrived, or should I rephrase: my hate mail has just arrived. Molly lifted the undiscoverable jinx off me last night to make sure everything returned to normal before heading back to Hogwarts.

"Oh, look!" I let in ten owls to the flat, "More death threats and calling me devil spawn!"

"You're still getting them?" Tonks' chin dropped.

"Yeah, every morning!" I told her, "Don't worry about it, I've gotten over it. I've told Bella to do one. It doesn't even hurt anymore."

Tonks stared at me, "Well, that's the biggest lie I've heard from your lips in a long time." She took the envelopes from my hands, shooing the birds out of the window, "You should just chuck them in the fire!" she held the envelopes precariously close to the fire.

"No!" I yelled, "There might be something important in there!"

But I was too late. The letters fell into the fire and disintegrated in seconds, thanks to whatever potion, poison or liquid in one of the letters being highly flammable. I don't think stunned was the right word.

"I can't believe you just did that."

"I'm so sorry – they slipped."

"Oh yeah, sure they did."

Tonks turned to look at me with shock and regret written all over her face. She looked like she would have loved the floor to open up and suck her in. Her mouth was still slack and her hand was still outreached, "I… –"

"It's done."

"I'm so clumsy…" tears formed in her eyes and her lower lip quivered.

"It's fine! It's okay!" I assured. I don't know how much truth there was in the statement, but it's what people say in that situation, right?

She sat on the sofa in a mess of her own tears.

"I'm such an idiot!" she cried, the gloomy Tonks I've seen all summer has returned, "I can't keep anything good. I'm such a waste -"

"Don't you dare finish that sentence."

"But I am -"

"No, you're not." I sat down beside her, taking her in my arms, grabbing a tissue from the table, "Right you, blow the snot away from your nose and tell me what's going on."

Tonks blew her nose, looking at me through red puffy eyes, "I can't do this… I can't do this anymore…"

I took her by both her hands, and stroked them gently, "Can't do what?" Her skin wasn't as soft as they usually are, her nails were bitten and her fingers were covered in cuts and plasters. I gave her a little squeeze, "Talk to me."

"He's going to get himself killed." She mumbled, "He's going to get himself killed so that he doesn't have to admit his feelings for me…" she blew her nose again, taking another tissue to dab her eyes and throwing the used one, with some force to the ground in anger. I had to resist the temptation to say what did the tissue deserve, which is a very Fred and George thing to say, but somehow I didn't think the sarcasm appropriate here, "He's risking everything and I need your help."

"What do you need?"

She was so nasally as she spoke, like she had the cold, "I need you to convince him to stay alive."

"Shouldn't you be the one to talk to him?" I tried to reason with her, "Besides, I'm pretty sure a few nights back I gave him an earful and that made him leave the party."

"He'll listen to you; I know he will." She gave my hands a pleading squeeze, "Please."

"You know I'd do anything for you." I said quietly.

She started to cry again. It was a hard cry, it pained me to hear it, how she suffered, but I was well accustomed to the emotions that are involved to make you feel like that. Her mood swung from good to bad in the space of a second. One thing just seemed to switch and she was… gone. Yes, I'd be annoyed if I dropped someone else's mail into the fire, but what is done is done. But she nearly had a meltdown. This man clearly means so much to her. Too much. I want to do what I can, but I doubt my usefulness, I'll never be able to fill that void in her life.

Of course I want them both to be together. I understand the pain of having someone love you, but not admit it, taking it back in seconds. I just hoped and prayed that Remus was having a George moment. George was freaking out over commitment issues, and the responsibility he'd have if he were to take me on. He loved me, I think from the moment we met there was always something there. It's hard to explain, but he just needed time to get his head straight. Perhaps Remus just needs time to get over his commitment issues, to get over himself, that even though he isn't what he'd classify as 'perfect', who in this imperfect world could honestly refer to themselves as 'perfection'? Perhaps this is what I should chat to Remus about?

Maybe I need something a little more solid. Tonks wanted me to convince Remus to live. Me. Does she want me to use his fatherly affections against him? Like giving him a reason to live: for me. That sounds so dodgy, unreasonable and wrong. How could I ask something like that of him?

For my best friend, for Tonks.

My heart broke for her the longer she laid in my arms, sobbing. I hate the fact I'm going to be cooped up in that castle, that she can't just pop in and see me when she needs some sisterly support. As I stroked her dull hair, I knew I had to step up. I have to convince Remus Lupin to stay alive, for me, for Tonks, for the future beyond the darkness of today.

I don't know how long Tonks lay there before she fell asleep, but I did know that she wasn't in a good place mentally. Her face was far from peaceful as she slept, and I didn't know how to comfort her, not properly. I suppose with George, it's him being there that settles me, it's his warmth, his smell, the way his body relaxes around mine. Now is not the time to think about sex, Kathryn. Honestly. I wish I could bring Tonks somewhere that she could escape, forget, remember the life she used to live before the complicated issues of the heart took over. Love is painful. They say everyone has one great love of their life. I know I've found mine. She reckons she's found hers. Has he?

"Oh, Kathryn, I'm so sorry…"

"Did you have a good sleep?" I set down the towel, drying my hands after washing the dishes.

Tonks sat up, smoothing out the blanket over her legs as she sat up, looking at her watch, "I think that's the longest I've slept continually for a few weeks."

I smiled, "I'm glad I didn't wake you, then. Fred, George and I managed to have lunch and you slept like a log! Trust you to wake up when I've done all the washing up after baking." Tonks' eyes focused on the row of dessert loaves I had made, just for fun, and she was salivating, "Want anything?" I asked as she rubbed her eyes, wondering if she was dreaming or not.

"I'll have a slice of that." She pointed at the ginger cake-loaf.

"Coming right up!" I boiled the kettle, "Actually… have you eaten anything today?"

Tonks didn't meet my eyes as she said, "No…"

"Well…" I opened the fridge door and pulled out the box with a slice of lasagne left over from last night, "This is your meal, then you can have dessert. And yes, I won't take no for an answer. If you don't finish it, you don't get cake."

She folded her arms and rolled her eyes like a child.

"You'd do the same for me." I shrugged my shoulders.

The rest of the afternoon seemed to improve greatly for Tonks, you know, after you let her cry, sleep, eat and now chat about random stuff. I think she just needed to get it all out of her system. That, and our conversations are always on another level you'd think we were out of our minds, belonging in a mental institution. To be fair, I've probably been close to being a resident in one.

Tonks started talking very hypothetically, but it was really positive and exciting, so I went along with it as she asked, "So next summer, we can travel the world together. Where do you want to start?"

"Italy! Let's get some pizza, pasta, see the colosseum of Rome, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, visit Venice you can be all romantic and row me in a gondola."

"Me row you? Are you kidding?" she joked, "If I was to row you, you'd have to carry me up the mountain with the dormant volcano."

"Vesuvius? Sure. I'll carry you." I jested back to her, "I suppose I'll be paying for this trip too?"

Tonks shrugged, "I'll buy us wine."

I widened my eyes in fake disgust, "Wine that I won't drink? Do you remember the last time I had an alcoholic beverage? That nearly resulted in death."

She smirked, "Yeah, but it was funny. Shall we put some music on and re-enact just how bad we are at dancing?"

I giggled, "Up you get then."

"I think I will." She held her nose in the air as she walked, shaking her hips as she did, doing her best impression of a graceful walk as she could muster.

As she reached the radio, there were hurried, anxious knocks at the apartment door. They didn't stop. Tonks held her hand up as I went to answer. She took out her wand and signalled for me to hide.

"Oh, come on. It'll be Fred busting to pee or something." I went to the door and opened it, upon seeing who it was, my heart was immediately in my throat, "Cissa?"

"Katy, I don't think this is a good idea. I told her she shouldn't be here! I don't feel comfortable. I -" George's eyes were filled with fear as he looked at me, then to Narcissa Malfoy, "You cannot just barge into my home!"

"You received my letter this morning? I told you I was coming?" She ignored George and tried to push herself into the flat, I took a cautious step backwards, putting my hand on the door to close it, "It's essential that I talk to you."

A glance shared between George and me told us that we wouldn't have known if Narcissa sent a letter to me, because it was dropped into the fire.

"When was the last time I saw you?" I questioned her sceptically, folding my arms. In the corner of my eye, I could see Tonks raise her wand a little higher.

"I came here, and you were working, I warned you about the Dark Lord knowing who you are. And I told you that you needed to lie to Bella. I also gave you a ring." Narcissa said without hesitation, but I did hesitate, because I didn't know what to do, so she continued, "Before that, you came into Malfoy Manor where you were face to face with your mum, and you -"

I swallowed hard, "I know it's you, I just – if you so desperately need to see me, I dread to think what it's about. I really don't need any more bad news, Cissa."

I watched as her shoulders rose and fell. It was bad news, "You need to hear this… Please." She turned to George, as though asking his permission, she knew it was only him stopping her from going in.

"You have got thirty minutes." He relented, "Thirty, and that's only because of what you did a few weeks back."

"I have a friend over, she's in the shower after baking got a little messy." I said.

Narcissa nodded and stepped in, Tonks had thankfully seen sense and hid in my bedroom, perfectly poised to listen in and observe, otherwise, George would probably have found an excuse to stay. I don't know if Narcissa would talk if either of them were present.

"Tea?" I asked.

"Please," she nodded, taking off her travelling cloak and hanging it up on the stand, "Looks like you and your friend have been busy!"

I nodded nervously, trying to prepare myself for what I was about to hear, "I'll get you a slice of this ginger cake, it turned out rather well, if I do say so myself."

"You have made Bella angry." Cissa said quietly as I handed her the mug, "Everything you wrote is true and I don't blame you, in any way, for feeling like that, but she's your mother."

"No, she's not." I said.

Narcissa was about to argue when I explained.

"She didn't raise me, she never mothered me, she has never attempted to show any affection towards me, she has never been there for me, she gave me up, she let me go." I said, "She's biologically related to me, yes, but even you're more of a mother figure to me than she will ever be."

Tears formed in Narcissa's eyes, "You have no idea how much that means to me." she cleared her throat, blinking, poising herself for what she was to say next, "I'm not going to lie to you… There's been a lot of talk."

"About… me?"

She nodded, "About whether or not to keep you alive."

"I could've guessed as much." I reasoned, "Considering they tried to murder me a few weeks back, I really appreciated the wake-up call. I mean, broken fingers, black eyes, broken nose, my legs -"

"Stop, please. It was hard enough hearing it all during your trial. I know it was like you reliving your childhood, but I didn't know it was going to happen, or I would have tried to stop it."

"It was Bella who told them where to find me, wasn't it?"

Narcissa forced herself to sit a little straighter, her hands wrapped around the mug of tea as though trying to gain as much conductive heat as possible, she shivered as she sat there. I knew the answer before the affirmative escaped from her lips, "Yes." It pained her to admit it, "She never intended for it to go that far. The letter was intercepted; a couple of Death Eaters were meant to ask you to come to Malfoy Manor. When you didn't arrive and we couldn't find – Bella, she went searching, she knew she had been double crossed. She cares, Kathryn, more than you will ever know."

"Why does she want me to become a Death Eater?" I asked, plainly and simply.

"She – Your – It's the natural progression. If you're brought up in a family like the Blacks, the Malfoys or the Lestranges, it's only a matter of time before you're called to take up your duty. If you had a brother, it would be him, but Bella -" she paused, "You're all she's got to offer."

I bit my upper lip, "But why now? She's barely giving me any time to think about it!"

Narcissa's worried eyes cast off a glimmer of terror, "You must never! Ever! Do you hear me? You stay away! You get into that castle and protect yourself, do you hear me?"

I couldn't help but shiver at the seriousness of the way she spoke, like she really cared, like she genuinely feared for my safety, "Narcissa, what's going on?"

"I can't…" she fought back tears again, "You just need to get yourself to Hogwarts and stay safe."

I sat myself forwards and took her hands, "Tell me, you can trust me."

She closed her eyes.

"My imagination will run wild if you don't tell me, so I'll just speculate," I said, giving her a few seconds to relent, "Bella wants me to join up to improve her 'street cred' or whatever. She wants me to do dangerous and stupid things so that I will risk my life, so that she doesn't have to do the same. Bella also knows that I have great potential and she's scared that her talent will be passed onto me and I'm going to be fighting against her. Also," I pointed in the air wildly, "by the sounds of it, if I don't reconcile, or at least get myself back in her favour, I'll probably not make it onto the Hogwarts train, am I right, or am I right?"

Narcissa couldn't maintain eye contact, "You don't seem particularly worried?"

"She can go stick her plan up her -"

"That's my sister you're talking about."

"That's my mother I'm talking about." I mimicked in a very child-like British accent, "And I will jolly well talk about her whatever way I want if she's planning on using me as bait. My life is already difficult enough without her adding to it."

Narcissa tried to hide a smile, "You really do remind me of her." She took a sip of her tea and looked pensive before saying, "I don't want you to suffer. All I want is for you to be happy, you know that Kathryn?"

I gave the smallest of nods.

"You're also aware of what is going on in my home at the minute, and you know that I'm trying to protect more than just you, and I dare say, I'm having more success with you, despite all that has happened this summer." She sipped the tea, carefully thinking about what to say next, "If you choose this route of betraying my sister, you will find yourself living a more endangered life. You know that, don't you?"

"I do."

"May I make one small suggestion?"

I nodded.

"May I tell her that I saw you in London today? Can I tell her that you're also very upset, that you feel like you've ruined the relationship between the two of you by speaking out of turn? She'll understand that, because you're both fiery women. And, if you think it best, shall I tell her that you are willing to re-think your allegiances? Which I know you're not, and I'm telling you not to, but I'm hoping that there's enough of me and my sister Andy in you to fight this. If you play your cards right, you will have Bella and therefore him wrapped around your little finger." Narcissa's hand shook as she set down the empty mug.

"What would you have me do?"

"Lie." She sniffed, "Like you have been all summer, so eloquently, may I add. Tell her information she wants to hear, inform her facts about Harry or Dumbledore or something that has happened in the school that she may think of use. Lie. Be a terrible spy. I'll stay in contact with you, I'll guide you as to what she wants to hear, I'll keep you updated on everything that's happening."

My eyes caught hers and I couldn't help but smirk at the possibilities, my imagination was running wild. But I had to look at this, not as an opportunity for fun, but as a chance to save my own skin. I grabbed the edge of my blouse and felt along the hem as I took in the seriousness of the task ahead. This was the first thing that made sense to me. I didn't want to be Dumbledore's puppet, nor did I want to feel forced into this. I felt like Narcissa was giving me a step up. I had been wondering for days how I was going to do this whole 'family vs friends' thing. I'm going to have to play Bellatrix Lestrange, I'm going to have to be really good at it, too.

"Do you really think this is a good idea?"

"I'm not saying this is your only option, but I need you to know how seriously talks are happening about the risk of keeping you around." She too, I noticed, had her sleeve in hand, scrunched up in a ball, "I'm just trying to help you. If you come up with something different, let me know how I can help."

I rubbed my face with my hands, I was faced with such a tough decision. My stomach was in knots and I honestly didn't know what to do. I'd have loved for an interruption, a second opinion, for Tonks to walk in, but I knew she was waiting to hear my response. I trusted Narcissa, but I didn't know how far I could.

"What about Draco?" as soon as I mentioned his name, she went a grey colour.

"What about him?"

"Have you instructed him on how to act around me? Has he much of an opinion of going to school with his cousin? Is he going to be my ally in all this, considering it's him I'm going to see every day, and not you?"

She nodded, "I'll talk to him, I think you're both going to rely on each other heavily."

I daringly leant forwards, asking openly and genuinely, "What can I do for him?"

"He needs you to keep him from himself." She said as though it made complete sense, "He will find it difficult to talk, but you and him, you've always gotten along, so trust him, trust that he has your back, even though he can't express it." It was like she was speaking in code, but I had a good idea as to what she was referring to, "You've both had massive upheavals this summer, I'm really glad you have each other." She made to stand, "My half an hour is almost up."

"No, sit down, please." I tried not to plead.

Narcissa placed a hand on my cheek and stroked it, "You have this."

She stared into my eyes, her brown eyes on mine. She was searching for my emotions, ones that I wasn't willing to share, "You'll talk to Bella?"

"As soon as I have her to myself." She gave a small smile, "I'm sure you'll have a reconciling letter within the next few days." She walked to grab her travelling cloak, "Just promise me you'll be sensible – embrace the inner Kathryn that does not rise or lose her head."

"You realise you're asking me, right?" I questioned, "I have a switch that might just detonate."

She looked at me after fixing her cloak, "Try to be like your father."

"Narcissa?"

She turned to face me, "I love you, you'll be fine, stay calm, talk soon." She kissed my forehead as I handed her the rest of the ginger cake to take home and opened the door to the shop, where Fred was walking up the stairs, a look of shock on his face. Narcissa Malfoy had just left the apartment.

Fred pushed me back through the door, as one door closed the other opened, and out stepped Tonks holding a pair of extendable ears, "I love you, you'll be fine, stay calm, talk soon? What the actual f*ck Kathryn? I mean that woman – no wonder you didn't mind staying at Malfoy Manor!"

"That's our Auntie Narcissa."

Tonks stood there, stunned, "F*ck me, I don't even know where to start."

"Kathryn… Tonks doesn't swear, ever. What just happened?"

"That, my friends, is called my greatest ally on the Dark Side." I said jokingly.

"I don't know what I just witnessed."

Fred had been jumping from foot to foot, "I'm going to have to ask you to stop it right there, I'm going to grab George, order a pizza and we're going to talk about this." Fred always did love a good bit of juicy gossip. The shop was shut up and Fred retrieved enough pizza and sides to last us the night, all within record time.