Disclaimer: Anything that rings a bell is JK Rowling's.

Chapter 86: The Sixth Guardian

The room descended into a mounting silence; every eye downcast. I sipped my hot chocolate, my mouth dry from all the talking.

The silence continued, not even disturbed by the usual sounds of life in Nonno's office, not the snoring of the feigning-asleep portraits, nor the whirring of his many magical contraptions, most of which were lying in pieces on the floor.

"This is entirely my fault; I was the one that brought Kat to the Order!" Remus shook his head, gripping the back of the seat that Tonks sat on as he stood behind her, his face paler than usual, his brown eyes bloodshot and ridden with remorse, the stench of firewhisky reeking off of him even from my seat feet away from them.

"Katerina Karetnikov duped us all Remus, she needed to find a way into the Order and she did, it could have been any of us. We were in dire need of any help that we could get, we needed people, strong people to protect the unknowing, and unfortunately she took advantage of that."

Nonno's words were steady yet it never permeated Remus' skin as his face was a mask of rage, "But it wasn't just anyone. It was me. That bloody bitch!"

He banged his palm into the back of the chair and twirled around in anger, walking to the window with speed but not before we heard the distinctive whimper that he emitted. Silent tears leaked down Tonks face as she closed her eyes to the pain that her friend emitted at the loss of his best friend.

I knew it was more than Kat's betrayal of the Order that got to Remus, it was Kat's betrayal of Sirius…they were together the night of Linus' wedding…were they…did he love her?

Godric, I had completely forgotten about that…

I felt Linus' hand enclose around my own, his eyes focused on Nonno's table. He had just returned from St Mungo's; Nessie was stable but I doubt he would relax until she was out of the hospital completely.

"No use in blaming ourselves. What's done is done." Moody wasn't his cheeky self, passing Remus a sad look as he watched the werewolf's shoulders tremble as he stood facing the large windows, his back to us, hiding his tears. I held Linus' hand tighter and leaned into Len's side.

"We need to act, as fast as possible. Did this Silvestre Sabre tell you how close Karetnikov was in perfecting these…Palbei." The old auror wrinkled his mangled nose in disgust.

I shook my head, too tired to even speak.

"Maybe we can bring the guy in for questioning." Kingsley took a step forward, the word questioning sounding a lot like interrogation to me.

I again shook my head, "I don't think we will be seeing Silvestre Sabre again…he…I think he's dead."

"Well we have all the information we need at the moment; I don't think we should get side tracked with Karetnikov, she's a small fish in comparison to Voldemort. We shouldn't waste time and resources tracking her, we need to go straight for the head before he manages to get any more followers. Now that he has resurfaced for good a lot of his old backers will be propping up, best we focus all our attention on preventing that from happening. Plus, you say Karetnikov's Palbei are not complete so we should concentrate on the death eaters-"

"It doesn't make a difference." Len interrupted Moody, "I fought these partial Palbei, they're not like normal wizards. They may not be perfect but they're definitely on a different level."

"We best pull them down a notch or two then." Kingsley's voice boomed from the back of the room.

"We shouldn't prioritise the Palbei." Lupin turned around from his spot at the window, all traces of tears gone, "Alastor is right, we need to go for his death eaters! We need to go after Bellatrix, she's a much greater threat than Kat!"

"Bellatrix is a threat, but I don't think we should cancel Kat out just yet. Just look what she managed to do Remus." Tonks turned and looked at the sandy haired man with a pleading look, "She's given her loyalty to Voldemort and she has an army of followers on her side. Bellatrix on the other hand-"

"Has an army of her own. She may not have quantity like Kat does, but what she has instead is quality. The girl managed to hold an imperius curse on Agnes for almost a year, the only thing that decreased its potency was distance, not time. And the boy is master of the torture curse. With both those abilities they can collect as many followers as they want, whether they follow wilfully or not, will be of no question!"

"The Palbei are worse than any army that Lestrange can pull together! They're mindless drones that will do anything that Kat says! They need to be dealt with first!" Len shouted at Lupin; the werewolf glared right back at him.

"Lestrange needs to be taken out before we deal with anything else! She's his right-hand woman, she's insane and now she's offered him two more loyal followers-"

"You just want to kill Lestrange because of Sirius!"

"And you want to kill Kat because you know she will come after Ky!"

"ENOUGH." Len snapped his head away from Lupin and the latter turned back to the window, taking deep calming breaths at Nonno's thunderous word.

The room fell into silence once more but its descent was interrupted by Minnie this time.

"The Palbei and Bellatrix Lestrange are indeed cause for much concern, but at present the thing that troubles me the most is the matter of Bane's Ability." Minnie stepped forward, eyes only on Nonno, "He knows of it Albus. He will come for her…"

"Then let him come! Let him just try and I'll rip him apart." Len growled out next to me, but it was a fruitless sentiment said out of anger. Linus' hand got tighter around my own.

"What do you think we should do?" Linus looked at Nonno, his matching blue eyes gazing at him for an answer. They had come a long way since last year, where Linus barely trusted Nonno with my care and now he was asking him for guidance.

Nonno leaned his chin on his entwined fingers, "Maybe it is time we ask Kyrianna for her opinion on the matter?"

I gulped, not expecting my opinion to even be considered judging on past precedent. "If I had to guess, Voldemort probably wants an explanation for Kat's determined pursuit of me which would probably lead to her disclosing the nature of my ability to him. So I think we should work on the assumption that he does know what I can do. I also think Kat's going to have to tell him about the Palbei, even if they're not perfect, considering she's going to have to offer some compensation for failing to retrieve me… Bellatrix on the other hand will probably suffer repercussions due to Malfoy's failure in attaining the prophecy which would lead Voldemort into officially giving the task to retrieve me to Kat. This inadvertently will be passed on to the Palbei. So I think the matter that needs to be addressed first is Kat and The Palbei. I don't think Bellatrix is going to be of any trouble at present, her family are not in good favour with Voldemort and she won't have the guts to work on her own like she did before. She's going to want to lay low and let his temper blow over." I leaned forward, looking into Nonno's midnight blue eyes. "I think that…with my ability I can help. I can be bait; it will be the perfect way of luring Kat and her current Palbei out and then we strike."

Linus and Len opened their mouths but Nonno held up his hands,

"Thank you for that Kyrianna, you are the only among us that knows of Kat's true personality and therefore are the best judge of her character. But at the same time, we will not be using you as bait, as that will be a risk none of us will take. Linus, Lenzo, Remus? "

Len nodded fervently and Linus slowly tipped his head. Remus didn't respond but I think that had more to do with his emotional state at present rather than any fear of taking up the task he was nonverbally assigned. I had no idea what they were agreeing to but I could tell that Remus still wanted to pursue Bellatrix Lestrange.

"Why did you even ask for my opinion if you are just going to ignore it?"

"I am not Kyrianna, based on your deduction I am leaving the matter of Bellatrix Lestrange and her offspring for later handling. I cannot, however, allow you to join in Kat's pursuit."

"Can you allow us that honour?" Silvain Sabre spoke from his place at the pillar which he leaned against; his sister leaning on its other side. Nonno had questioned them at length to find that they were not working with Kat and were just as in the dark on her true nature as the rest of us were. "We could be of help; we were on her team for most of the year."

"I know this, but we have few numbers, and as Alastor said, we do not want to expunge our resources. You and your sister will be on another mission."

Silvain had a thoughtful expression on his face, which cleared up in a minute, "I suppose we should take up the same times we used when guarding the Prophecy?"

Was it some rare magical ability that allowed all the Order members to communicate without words to Nonno!

"No. There would be no circular rotation in the matter of Kyrianna's guard." I raised my eyebrows at that, my guard? Were they talking about placing me under surveillance or something? "Where we circulated the guard whilst protecting the Prophecy, this time we will circulate the hideout, keeping the guard constant. I entrust this duty to you both."

"Wait, maybe it's a better idea if I stayed and looked after Ky and send the Twins after Kat. Silvain is right, they worked with her, and they know her best."

Nonno shook his head at Linus' suggestion, "You and Len have been pursuing the Palbei for too long to transfer the duty to the Sabres. Plus, I will be placing the protective spells on Kyrianna's whereabouts myself; Silvain and Selina are more than enough added protection."

"They're practically children themselves!"

"HEY!" Silvain shouted in response to Linus, but Nonno held his hand up at him.

"We need to delegate duties efficiently Linus, we all have our role to play. Your role is not to be Ky's brother right now, your role is not to put her needs in front of those of the Order's. Your role is to defeat the Palbei before Voldemort's arsenal heightens tenfold. Silvain and Selina may be young, but they are your fellow members, have faith in them."

Linus looked on in anger but didn't say a word. He couldn't argue with Nonno's logic.

"You said whereabouts? Why not just keep her here at Hogwarts?" Len looked quizzically at Nonno.

"Hogwarts won't be safe for Kyrianna over the summer. Most of the staff will be on leave and even the staff that usually stays on," Nonno looked at Minnie, "Will be away on Order business. The wards on this school are iron clad against dark wizards and even wizards who do not have permission to be here, even muggles cannot enter these grounds by mistake. Even though animals are free to roam the Forbidden Forest the wards prevent them ever entering the school grounds…the Palbei are a different breed of human all together. The wards won't keep them out because they have not been written to do so. I will have to amend the wards which will take some time considering I myself do not know the magical imprints of a Palbei and therefore will not know how to create the wards necessary to prevent their entry. Therefore in the meantime I think it's best to circulate Kyrianna's whereabouts."

"Wouldn't that be more dangerous? Can't we just place her in a house with the Fidelius Charm on it?" Len leaned forward as he spoke.

"That is an option…but that would mean Kyrianna would have to stay in that house for the whole summer."

"Then that's what she will have to do!" Linus said defiantly.

"I won't be locked up in some house for the Summer! Alone!"

"You won't be alone; you'll have the Sabres."

"I'd rather be alone." I didn't forget what Silvain had done at Grimauld Place.

Linus stood up in frustration, "This matter shouldn't be up for debate! Why are you giving her a choice!" He screamed at Nonno.

"Maybe it is time that we do so Linus. Maybe it is time that we ask Kyrianna what is that she wants rather than just doing what we think is best."

Linus shook his head, "I won't go hunting Palbei if I am not assured of Ky's safety."

"I will keep her safe." We all turned our heads to the door.

Silvestre Sabre stood there, honey hair glowing and amber eyes bright. Sev walked out behind him.

"I found him standing outside the gate like some lost puppy."

Silvestre passed him a look of annoyance but turned back to Linus, his face passive. "I am bound to your sister. I will keep her safe. It doesn't matter where we are, her safety will be guaranteed."

I stood slowly, still getting over the shock of his appearance, "I…thought you were dead."

He looked at me, the slightest hint of a smile seen on his usually blank face, "People tend to do that." He turned back to Linus, "You do not give your sister enough credit, she may be immature and annoying, selfish and hot-headed, but she…she values life to such an extent that she can spark the will to live even in those who thought they had lost the ability ages ago. She may put herself in dangerous situations but it will be nothing that I cannot handle."

"You speak as though the decision is made already." Linus' blue eyes glinted dangerously.

"Where she is, is where my duty lies." He repeated the words he spoke last night, "Though, I will keep her safe not because it is my duty, but I need to…" He turned and looked at me, "So she will want to see me again."

I nodded at his words that were only understood by me. He was doing this for redemption. This wasn't so much a reignited spark of his will to live, but rather rectifying his mistakes so eventually when death took him, his wife will be proud to see him on the other side.

"What do you think Kyrianna?"

I turned to Nonno, then to Len and finally to Linus and his glaring blue eyes. I reached for his hand, "I don't think I fit under your chin anymore, but that doesn't mean I don't fit in here." I pointed to his heart, "I trust Silvestre. I guess what I am asking is, do you trust me?"

His blue eyes softened and that was all the answer I needed. I turned to the man at the door who stood tall and proud in the entrance.

I was wrong.

He didn't look like a soldier…he looked like a protector…a guardian…

My guardian.

A/N: What do you think – Bellatrix or Kat is the bigger threat?

Have a lovely day,

Kalina