Chapter Seventeen: The Freudian Slip

28th August 2005

Ky's POV

"Climbing out the window. Really?"

I glanced at the new voice, walking into the crowd outside of Flourish and Blotts.

"Well I figured that would catch your attention, and I'm actually pretty decent at climbing so I knew I wouldn't fall."

"Oh, I'm not worried about your safety."

I stopped, turning to face Roger Davies, "Then why the constant entourage?"

"Let me rephrase that, as an auror who has sworn an oath I have every intention to protect you from anybody who wishes to do you harm, but if you want to sneak out and selfishly waste the time of the multitudes of people sacrificing their weekend to keep you safe, then by all means, break whatever bone in your body you so wish."

I stared into his grim face, surprised to find that he was this hostile. Roger and I hadn't been friends, but we were far from enemies back in the day.

"So, what's the plan. You run back to Brooklyn, once again, without a word to him."

Ah, of course.

We may not be close, but he was now very close to Harry.

"I just needed a moment alone." I folded my arms, "Could you let him know that?"

His blue eyes narrowed, but he pulled out his mobile and sent a text, "My wife will let him know. You can have a moment, but you can't be alone. I can dissilusion myself if you like the fallacy of solitude?"

I shrugged not answering his question, not really caring, or knowing what I wanted right now, other than to not be near Harry and all those truths that now floated about him.

I walked back into the Sunday shopping crowd, throwing up the hood on Harry's cloak that I had slipped on before I climbed out of his bedroom window, Hyacinth's words reverberating in my head.

"You felt like you were losing her for months, and then when she died, it was just that constant feeling of loss solidified."

I felt a hand on my arm and I stilled, but relaxed as I met familiar blue eyes.

"What are you doing out alone?" Ron hissed, glancing about terrified. I looked behind him, realising I was stood outside Weasleys' Wizards Wheezes.

"I just needed some fresh air. And I'm not alone." I nodded behind me, where Roger was leaning against a shop front, choosing to stay visible but just keep a few steps behind.

"Ah." Ron nodded a greeting to the auror, then turned back to me, his eyes narrowing as it landed on my face. He pushed the door behind him open and stuck his head back in, "Sylvie, I'm out for the day. Bye!"

"Enjoy your big day!" A high pitched voice responded, and he thanked her, looping his hand around my shoulder.

We walked down the street in silence. Diagon Alley was busier than usual, this being the last weekend before the new school year, and I let myself become distracted by the excited little faces, shopping for their first wands, picking out their pets, just being enamored by the place.

I thought back to my first visit here, with Linus, and Len and… Nonno. I touched my neck, my locket tucked into Harry's shirt, the minitiaure Chocolate Frog of Albus Dumbledore attached to it, the one I had found on the ground eleven years ago.

"After you." I looked up, startled from my memory as Ron held a door open for me, and I walked in, not knowing where we were but trusting him. "Hi Hannah, could we get a private booth, please?"

Hannah Abbot rose a brow at Ron's request, clearly it was unlike him to ask such a thing, but then her eyes fell on me, "Oh. Oh of course. Follow me."

I glanced about the full room, familiar faces littered about. My heart skipped a beat as it landed on Michael Corner, who had been entertaining a large group in the middle of the Leaky Cauldron. My eyes flickered away just before we could make contact, not wanting to look into them, knowing he shared the same shade has his brother, Jack.

Jack Corner.

27th July, 1997

"Hello, Jack." I looked down at the dark haired death eater, who glowered up at me. It had been months since I last saw him, our side had captured him, thanks to a reckless move on my part, but none of these lot actually stayed in Azkaban these days and it was silly of our side to expect that he would.

The man spat out blood, glaring at Vez from his spot on the dirty floor, "Your dog shouldn't be allowed out without a leash."

I squatted down to his height, staring at his bloody lip, regaining his attention, "Neither should your bitch."

Jack Corner glared at me, glancing to the unmoving blonde body of Alison Fleeceheart in the corner of the room, "Is she dead?"

"No, but I suspect Bellamy isn't going to be too happy that you lot let Selina get taken. I suspect unhappy enough to do the honours herself." I tilted my head, "I don't get it. You were Cedric's best friend, how do you go from that, to the side of the man who killed him."

He shook his head, "This again. Helga, you don't let this go." He laughed darkly, "You ask the same question again and again because you want a different answer. Mate, you're so pathetic."

I straightened up, staring down at him, "Perhaps we have different definitions of the word."

He spat again, that blood from his internal stomach wound rather than his lip. "And let's not pretend I'm the only one that's betrayed Cedric. It didn't take you ten seconds to find solace in Potter." Corner's face darkened, "Actually, if my intel serves me correctly, you lied straight to his face that day. You were cuddled up with Potter in the hospital wing that very night. You even gave him that for the third task." He nodded his head and winced at the movement, gesturing at the locket about my neck.

I schooled my features, refusing to react to the amount of information he was privvy to. "Let's forget about Cedric then. What about your brother?"

"What about my brother?"

"Do you honestly think Michael's ever going to join your side?"

"You think I care about that?" He laughed, "Fucking hell Thornton… Dumbledore… whatever you go by these days. You lost two brothers a month ago. You didn't even lay them in the ground, you were that messed up about it. They say you were out for days. Tell me, what would you do to have those brothers alive?"

I could feel Vez's eyes on me as I took in Corner's words.

What would I do to have Linus and Len alive?

Godric, what wouldn't I do…

"So you're doing this to keep Michael alive?"

"I'm not burying another brother." He spat again, "I'm not doing that again. And I'm not losing Alison either. And I clearly made the right decision, if Dumbledore couldn't keep his own family safe, how is he going to keep mine safe? The only person he ever cared about was Potter." His eyes glowed dark in the dimly lit room, "He didn't have anybody protecting you the night they broke into Hogwarts, despite knowing that you would be a target if anything happened while he was away. He was with Potter. If Snape got to you first, you would have been dead. Why would I trust a man who doesn't even care about his own flesh and blood."

"Ky." Vez's voice floated from the entrance to the cellar, reminding me that we were on the clock.

"Clearly a habit of his, he never cared about his sister, or his brother either. Family meant nothing to him." I knew Corner was referencing the recently published book by Skeeter, and my wand shook in my hand, "Though, I don't blame him for not caring if you died. Sometimes I wondered if that's why he left you so open, hoping someone else can do what he didn't have the stomach to himself."

I cocked my head to the side, eyes narrowing "You know?"

"Bastian was always terrible at keeping secrets. And holding his liquor."

"Does Bellamy know?"

Corner shrugged, "I doubt it, she's never mentioned it to me, and she's mused more than once as to why her brother had ever been that fascinated by you. Something that she has only grown more curious about since his death."

"Why haven't you told her?"

"Oh, don't worry, definitely not some deep seeded affection for you." He glanced down at the floor, looking more like himself than he had done in years, "You may not have loved him, but he loved you."

I reflected on his words. So he would take the side of Cedric's murderer, but he wouldn't be disloyal to the girl Cedric loved?

"That makes no sense."

"I don't need you to understand." He glanced at Alison, who was still unconscious.

"Jack, come with me." I swallowed, glancing at Vez, who I knew was ready to apparate me out of here against my will if time ran out, "I can help you and Alison. You don't have to do this."

"Founders, Dumbledore! You're like a dog with a fucking bone. The only way to leave is through a casket. How many defector death eaters have survived? Not a single one! We made our decision." His nostrils flared, "Make yours."

I straightened my back, just as I caught the hazel-green stare of Theodore Nott outside the cellar door.

We were out of time.

"Okay." I nodded at Vez, and he made quick work on altering the memories of Alison Fleeceheart.

Teddy and Draco had helped us break into Malfoy Manor to rescue Selina, but we needed a scapegoat so that they wouldn't be found out.

And that would be Jack.

Teddy was to say that he caught Jack sneaking Selina out of the manor. He had been voicing his suspicions that the boy had taken a fancy to her the last two weeks, and that Corner was not to be trusted, that he believed he was a double agent. He'd say Corner fought him, but it was sufficient distraction for Selina to apparate away on her own, and Teddy killed Corner in their duel. Alison would serve as witness to all of this, which is why we needed her alive, and her memories tampered with.

They'll also discover letters incriminating Corner as a double agent, and Teddy would gain more trust in the ranks of death eaters, which would work in our favour.

Vez turned his wand onto Corner, and I stopped him.

"Ky, there is no other way."

I nodded, "I know. But it should be me. It's my decision, it should be me."

I turned my wand on Jack, and stared into his brown eyes, he looked up at me, defiantly.

The light of the green spell flooded the room as I stood unmoving, now staring at vacant brown orbs. I glared at Teddy.

"Prior Incantato." He muttered in response to my venomous look, as Jack Corner slumped back, dead, "I needed the proof on my wand. Don't worry Kitten, I'm sure you'll have other death eaters to do in. Help me with this."

Teddy nodded at Vez who floated Jack's body out the door, surely to place it in a spot that supported Teddy and Alison's reccollections.

I turned to Selina, who had been charmed asleep in the corner so as to minimize risk, and once Vez returned, we apparated away.

"Chocolate Sundaes?" Ron asked and I nodded, glad that whilst a lot had changed these past seven years, his appetite hadn't. "Thanks Hannah."

He nodded to the bar maid and she offered a small smile and made her exit. I looked about the small booth, automatically checking for any concealed magic or instruments, not detecting any.

Ron smiled, "You look like you've not slept a wink."

"Huh?"

"I'm in the same boat." He laughed, "Probably shouldn't have had that tenth drink."

"Oh you think you had just ten drinks yesterday." I laughed, relaxing my shoulders, it was always just so easy with Ron.

"Hey, friends don't count friends drinks." He winked at me and I shook my head at him.

"How's Mi feeling?"

"Like her best friend came back from the dead and gave her the best bachelorette she could have ever imagined. And very very very hungover."

I cleared my throat, not ready for the compliment, "I'm glad. Not about the hangover of course, but everything else."

"Oh I'd be glad about the hangover as well. It was on her list of wedding weekend requirements. It's why we have a day in between for recovery."

"Of course there's a list. Godric, I missed her."

He smiled, "She missed you too. We all did."

I nodded, not particularly enjoying being reminded of that. I glanced down at the table, taking in the faded stripes in the oak.

"So… I noticed Dudley and Hyacinth walking down the street earlier. What's the verdict?"

I cocked a brow at him in question at that.

"Well," He cleared his throat, "Hyacinth thinks my arachnophobia has nothing to do with the fact that the Twins transfigured my teddy bear into a spider when I was three, but because my mother didn't hug me enough when I was a child."

"Mrs Weasley? Not hug you enough?" I snorted, "Well, I feel a bit better. Clearly she's terrible at her job. She is a psychologist, right? Oh Godric please tell me she is, and not some insufferable person who has read every self-help book published in the last decade."

Ron chuckled, "Did her being a psychologist not come up in conversation? That's a first." Ron sighed, "I mean, to be honest, Hyacinth's not a terrible shot. My mother did hug me a lot but, she's never been very good at you know, treating us all equally, which I think is what she was getting at. Not that I think that has anything to do with my arachnophobia. Probably some other stuff though."

I rolled my eyes, "Yeah but we can chalk just about anything to mummy issues. Or daddy issues. I mean it's a fifty percent chance she's correct, doesn't feel fair, those odds."

He laughed, "Well, is it mummy or daddy for you?"

"Turns out it's both. And the fact that they're dead."

"Ah."

"She seems to think the only thing Harry and I had going for us was the fact that we have 'shared trauma'. Us both being orphans."

Ron raised a brow, "She does not mince her words. So, did you tell her to shove it?"

The door opened just then, and Hannah walked our sundaes over to us. She hovered before exiting.

"Ky, sorry, I know we're meant to keep everything hush hush. I just wanted to say, I'm so happy you're okay."

"Thanks, Hannah. Oh and thank you, for looking out for me. I heard you were the one that let your brother know about the guys who were after my body."

She smiled, tucking a blonde strand behind her ear, "I got a earful from Ridley about it, but I knew I couldn't just let them leave without finding out as much as I could. You'd have done the same for me, I know that."

I nodded, narrowing my eyes at the expression on Hannah's face.

"Hannah, is everything okay?"

She raised her brows, "Oh yes, yes." She glanced at Ron, "I just." She took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, I overheard the tail end of your conversation. Ky, you can't honestly believe that the only thing you and Harry had going for you was shared trauma over being orphans? I'm sorry, that's ridiculous."

I glanced at Ron, not sure how comfortable he was with this conversation, after all, Ginny had been dating Harry not two days ago, but his face was still soft, and his eyes still kind.

"Look, I remember what you guys were like when we were at school. Neville and I talk about it a lot actually, we're dating now, by the way." I nodded, remembering he mentioned that yesterday, "He looked up to you guys as the pinnacle of a good relationship. A happy one. And well, I was full time here just after the war." She glanced at Ron, hesitating on her next words, and he nodded his head for her to continue, "Harry was a mess. Ky, he loved you in a write books, compose music, inspire art that lasts centuries, kind of way. You don't get that from just being two people with a shared traumatic history."

She sniffed, growing emotional at her outburst that stunned me to silence.

Harry was a mess.

It's all I could process from her words.

Harry was a mess.

"Thanks, Hannah." The girl eventually left, and I felt Ron's hand on my own.

"Ky?"

"I…I…" I took a deep breath, "I didn't want him to be a mess."

"I know that. Hey, Ky." I felt Ron's hands about me, "Shhh. Shhh."

"I…I…" I slumped into his arms, Godric, this felt so good.

Different to Harry's embrace which always had an electric charge, one caress away from turning into something else completely.

This felt like Linus.

This felt like Len.

This felt like home.

"It's okay." Ron patted my hair, "It's okay."

"I'm sorry." I wiped my face, "I'm just tired, and…you shouldn't have to be in the middle of this. Ginny."

"Wouldn't expect me to sit this one out. I'm here for you, like I'm here for her. I don't want you to ever feel like I don't have your back again Ky."

I looked up at him, blurry from the tears, "Ron…"

"It's not an accusation, we don't have to debate it. I just want you to know that, okay. Just because I'm not taking a side, does not mean I don't have your back."

I sniffed, nodding up at him, wanting to say so much more but not finding the words.

"Now, I suspect my best friend is beside himself with worry. Can I take you home?"

I nodded at his words, "Yes, but not to Harry."

His blue eyes grew concerned, but he nodded all the same.

A/N: I hope you enjoyed that one, it's been a while since you've seen inside Ky's head! I hope all the flashbacks are not making things too confusing - I'm trying to only utilize them to move the plot along, and not just for nostalgia. Let me know what you think of the story so far - it will be much appreciated!

Thank you for reading,

Kalina