44

Back in the now secure Hogwarts, all had slept fitfully and rose early, barely eating their breakfast, and waiting in the battle-scarred Entrance Hall for Dumbledore to arrive.

Sirius came down first, looking as if he hadn't slept a wink either. Lupin and Tonks followed, both looking grave. Mrs Weasley, Mr Weasley, Bill, Charlie, Fred and George appeared next on the stairs. Mrs Weasley was wringing her hands together and she looked on the verge of tears. A familiar thunk of wood on stone announced Moody's arrival; he looked very odd without his magical eye but, thankfully, he had no other body parts missing. Snape swept down from the hospital wing, where Madam Pomfrey had insisted upon keeping him, a few moments later; looking in his usual foul mood although Harry was sure he could detect a flicker of worry in his pale, sneering face. Finally, Dumbledore and McGonagall descended the bloodstained steps followed, surprisingly, by an anxious looking Fudge.

"I don't know what you're saying Dumbledore." He said rather quickly. "Lucius Malfoy is a respectable man, not a Death Eater. I'm sure this is all a misunderstanding. I mean, she's disappeared before, hasn't she?" he caught sight of Harry and promptly shut up. He did offer Harry his thanks and congratulations, although he was rather more muted than usual. Harry could sense that, as soon as the Prophet got wind of it, which they probably already had; their lives would become a terrible rollercoaster of media speculation and frenzy.

"Can we go now?" Harry asked Dumbledore, starting to feel sick.

"Yes, Harry, we can go now." Dumbledore held out a punctured bicycle tire. "We're going by Portkey."

"Well I'm coming too." Fudge blustered, seizing a part of the tyre. "I'll have some Ministry cars sent."

"As you wish, Cornelius." They all felt the jerk behind their navel and went whizzing forwards, re-emerging moments later in a deserted country lane.

"I thought it prudent not to go directly into the grounds," Dumbledore explained, "who knows what unfriendly things could lie within. This way." He led them down the lane, which curved around a small copse of trees, until a large pair of wrought iron gates loomed before them. Harry stopped dead in his tracks as soon as he saw what was beyond them. He had expected something big, but this, this was more than he could have ever imagined. Getting closer, Harry could see that the bars of the gate had wrought-iron snakes twined around them and running between them. In the centre, there was a large lock that, upon closer inspection, turned out to be formed entirely of intertwined metal snakes.

"Alohamora." Nothing happened when Dumbledore waved his wand. "It appears that Mr Malfoy was expecting unwanted guests." He commented, performing some complex wand movements that, after a minute or so, caused the snakes to disentangle and the gates to swing open. They all stepped tentatively through the gates and began to walk down the drive. As soon at they stepped over the threshold, Dumbledore locked the gates once more and performed an anti-disapparation jinx to ensure that no one could leave.

Malfoy Manor was, in no uncertain terms, huge; with large mullioned windows, ornate carving around the windows and doors, carved stone gargoyles, several chimneys and at least three floors. A fine mist still lay on the ground, curling through the trees and between the borders, giving the place a beautiful, serene feel that belied what lay within. They had already walked quite a distance but the drive extended for at least another mile before them and Harry could see the beginnings of expansive gardens and grounds at the side of and behind the house.

"Bloody hell." He heard Ron whisper. "I knew Malfoy had it good, but this is unbelievable." Walking at a brisk pace they reached the huge front doors that, Harry noticed, had the Malfoy crest carved in the stone directly above them. Dumbledore reached out to try the door handle and found it, unsurprisingly, to be locked tight.

"He was definitely expecting unwanted visitors, wasn't he?" Hermione spat as Dumbledore unlocked the door with ease. "Arrogant fool." She muttered scathingly as they stepped into the cavernous Entrance Hall. It was truly spectacular; with a vast stone floor, covered almost entirely by an ornate carpet. The room was dominated by a grand, carpeted staircase with elaborate, carved banister rails. It started in the middle of the floor and branched off to the left and right at the top; really nothing short of breathtaking.

Many portraits hung on the walls and everything was lit with an elegant, wrought iron chandelier which hung from the ceiling, as well as matching candle brackets on the walls. There were several doors and archways leading off in various directions and they stood for a few moments, unsure of which way to go.

"Check this floor first," Moody growled, looking more murderous than usual, "then the cellars, the second floor and the first floor."

They did as Mad-Eye said, trawling through every room on the ground floor; marvelling at the ornate furniture, spectacularly large rooms and the signs of inordinate wealth that were everywhere. Hermione even let out a small squeal when they entered a spectacular ballroom with a dark wood floor and a giant silver and crystal chandelier that cast tiny beams of light everywhere in the early morning light. It was an eerie experience; the house felt too quiet. They checked for silencing and imperturbable charms everywhere they could, but found none. It was as if the house had just been abandoned but it couldn't have been as, in the kitchen, there were the signs of breakfast being prepared despite there being no elves around.

There was no sign of any life on the ground floor, not even house elves and, with much trepidation; they made their way down into the cellars. They reminded Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny awfully of the dungeons at Hogwarts; with the torches burning in brackets and the icy chill. Most of the rooms down here were locked and a few simple spells were all that was needed to tell them that they were empty. All they found was a vast wine cellar; the walls lined with hundreds of bottles, many looking very old indeed.

Making their way back upstairs, they emerged through a door concealed beneath the large staircase and slowly began to climb. The walls were lined with portraits that were either dozing in their frames or shooting them sneaky glances and whispering with their neighbours. They followed the stairs all the way up to the second floor and found themselves on a wide landing with several doors leading off it. They went into each one with their wands at the ready, only to find empty sitting rooms, bathrooms and what appeared to be Draco's bedroom, judging by the Quidditch robes hanging up.

Harry could feel his stomach churning as they found every room to be empty and devoid of any signs of life. He did not want to think about what Malfoy could have done to his sister. She was unconscious, injured; she had no way of defending herself. What sadistic things could he do to a badly injured nineteen-year-old if given enough time to do so? He had heard the tales of what he had done during the first war; wizards and Muggles alike disappeared without a trace and were never found again. If they were lucky, families sometimes received their loved-ones ring finger in a small box as proof of their demise. The rest never found out where their loved-ones went or what had happened to them.

He should have stopped her once Hermione had told them what she had seen; he should have stopped her. Now it was too late. Now she was either dead, her body never to be found just to torture them further, or so incurably wounded that she would never be the same. Harry knew that she was strong. But did she have the strength to go through something so terrible, if indeed what they imagined had happened, and come out unscathed and as she ever was.

Ron was, as they checked each room, feeling immeasurably guilty. He looked on Kathryn like a second sister; his mother, after all, had practically adopted Harry and Kathryn as her own children. Brothers were supposed to look after their sisters and, in that respect, he now seemed to have failed. They should have gone to Dumbledore or Sirius sooner, not waited until now when it was too late. He made a mental note to, if he got the chance, hex Malfoy badly enough to ensure that he was permanently scarred.

They were now walking down the thinner corridor that, unbeknownst to them, led to the library. Hermione was not the only one who let out a gasp when Moody flung the doors open, but hers was the most audible.

"Impressive." Dumbledore commented.

"Bloody amazing you mean." Sirius corrected dryly. "You can see where his toe-rag of a son found that curse."

The only place Hermione had seen with more books was the library at Hogwarts. The walls were completely lined with shelves, save the gaps for the windows. Where the ceiling had been in all the other rooms there was a wooden ledge and another set of shelves; doubling the number of books in the room. She could only imagine the texts that sat here just begging to be read and it was all she took not to reach out and open one. The tall, floor to ceiling windows were hung with heavy red drapes and the whole room seemed to exude an aura of knowledge. She wasn't sure how things would work; who the house would pass too once its master was imprisoned and she hoped that, due to most of the Malfoy and Black relatives being either dead or in Azkaban, the house may pass into Sirius' ownership.

Comfortable chairs were arranged in small groups, and Hermione could well envisage curling up for the evening with a book. She pushed these thoughts from her mind, however, remembering that the books were no consolation for what had probably happened to her friend and she scolded herself for having thought of books at such a moment. Her heart was full of a burning rage for the man who, ever since the first day they met, had continually sought to belittle her and her friends. She had, of course, heard the frightful tales of what Malfoy was presumed to have done but she presumed that, as a man, he could do far more damage than any instrument of torture.

Once they had finished ogling at the sheer contents of the library and satisfied that she was nowhere on this floor, they headed back towards the stairs. Descending one floor they turned left at the bottom of the stairs and found themselves in a long portrait gallery. It was lined with some of the most magnificent portraits they had ever seen, and that was saying something considering what there was at Hogwarts. As they walked along, they could see how the wall charted the Malfoy family over the past few centuries. Harry's eyes ran over the line of blonde witches and wizards; all of them with the same arrogant, disdainful looks on their faces. In the very centre of the room, above the ornately carved fireplace, was the man himself. Painted in an uncanny likeness, it captured everything about the man; his arrogance, his overconfidence, his self proclaimed superiority and, most importantly, his wealth.

"My, my, the lord and master." Harry commented scathingly as they stood before the picture, giving a mock bow. "You're dead meat." He added in a menacing undertone. Beside that portrait was one of his late wife; Narcissa. She too had the same degree of coldness that she had possessed in real life and, despite being beautiful, she had no warmth that would have elevated her status to that of a great beauty. The final painting in this series was one of their son. Standing haughtily with his Nimbus two thousand and one, he was every inch the Draco Malfoy they knew and despised.

"You all end here." Harry said, referring to the fact that, due to the life sentences in Azkaban that they were both due to receive; they were the end of the Malfoy line.

The sense of dread seemed to augment even more as they found no trace of her in what appeared to be his study, filled with even more books. Harry and Ron could tell that Hermione was dying to look at them but were impressed at the restraint she was showing. Through a set of double doors was another drawing room that was, similarly, devoid of life. Harry had been keeping count of all the rooms they reached and, with a sinking feeling in his chest, he realised where they had not been; they had yet to find the Master bedroom. He leaned against the windowsill and buried his face in his hands. Reading his thoughts exactly, Ginny walked over and laid a hand on his shoulder.

"It's alright Harry." She tried to comfort him. "They might not be here at all."

"Yeah." Harry said, trying to raise his spirits. "Or he might have just left her here." He said this, but he knew that there was little chance of that as he had seen the packed travel bag waiting in the study. He followed the rest of them out of the room and back towards the staircase. There was only a pair of double doors that led off the large landing on the right of the staircase. Tall and carved from dark wood they were terrifically imposing to look at; with the Malfoy crest carved into both doors. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny could only imagine her terror as she was dragged, they all assumed that she would have fought as best she could, towards these doors. Her terror at hearing the click of the lock and knowing that there would be no escape. They all braced themselves for what they might find inside as Dumbledore placed his hand on the silver handle.

It was the noise that woke him; a distant clunk on his polished wooden floors. Light was softly filtering through the gaps in the curtains and, looking at the clock, he could see that it was almost eight in the morning. He then heard the hushed whispers of voices as the strangers invaded his home. He heard the growl of Mad-Eye Moody and the clunk of his leg as they walked through every room in the manor. He heard them talk in whispers as they climbed the stairs in search of their beloved Kathryn who, at the moment, was lying safely in his arms. He savoured his last few moments with her as he heard them return back from the second floor and head off down the portrait gallery. He inhaled the exotic scent of her hair, trying to commit the perfume to memory before it was too late. He heard the voices come closer and, instinctively, he pulled her closer and planted a light kiss on her back.

She stirred slightly as he pulled her closer, her eyelids fluttering open and adjusting her eyes to the light. She sighed slightly, snuggling closer and intertwining her fingers with his. It was then that she heard the voices. She froze, her heart missing a whole series of beats as she recognised the voices as those of her brother and friends. She did not understand why he was not trying to make his escape while he still could.

He had tried to apparate despite knowing that they would not have made such a mistake, but he had thought it worth a try. He pulled her closer still, kissing her neck as he heard the door handle turn. He would accept his fate, whatever that might be and he would always savour every moment he had spent with her.

Dumbledore swung the double doors open and everyone gathered behind him to try and see inside. Stepping just inside the threshold, they took in the room. It was, in no uncertain terms, huge. The room was dominated by a four poster bed with green hangings; even bigger than the normal king-size and probably just under twice the length of any normal bed. Their eyes immediately focused on the person it contained. From their vantage point in the doorway their view was limited and, consequently, they could only see the one figure lying on his side with his back to them. Even Dumbledore and Sirius, who were fairly tall, could not see the slender form his body was concealing.

"Where is she Malfoy?" Sirius barked at him, pointing his wand straight at the sleeping man. Ever so slightly, as Sirius spoke, he curled his body protectively around her; worried that if they hexed him that they would hit her. Kathryn was now in such a state of panic that she couldn't move. She knew all chance of escape was long gone and she now had to face the consequences.

"Don't try and pull that one." She heard Moody growl. "You've got no wife to protect anymore." Kathryn felt slightly annoyed at the tone of mocking she heard in Moody's voice. "UP!" Moody snapped. Knowing that he had about ten wands pointed straight at him, he had no choice but to obey and, planting a final kiss on her neck, he slowly levered himself up into a sitting position.

Harry watched in horror as the man rose up to reveal the body of another lying next to him. Mrs Weasley gave a small shriek as they saw the familiar shock of wavy black hair. The entire party seemed completely stunned, as if they had believed their fears to be unfounded; that they were being irrational in thinking that something like that would ever happen.

Snape was the only one without an aghast expression in his face. He took in the scene with a cool gaze, very much believing that the man was capable of such a thing. Snape had known Lucius Malfoy longer than most and had a privileged insight into the workings of the man. Lucius Malfoy always had the best of everything; he never settled for less, no matter what, or who, they were. His wife had, at the time they married, been the most beautiful, the richest and, most importantly, the one with the purest bloodline of all the women that had vied for his affections. Snape remembered well the times after Lucius had decided that she was his; any man that dared look at her in a way he disliked found himself on the end of a particularly nasty hex. Oh yes, Lucius Malfoy did not share with anyone. It now seemed that, in his pursuit of the best, he had now claimed the best of the Order of the Phoenix. One of the people that, ever since the first defeat of Voldemort, had stood for everything good in the world, was now owned by him. Well, Snape thought, Lucius Malfoy always wanted the best.

Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Sirius all rushed forward and pulled her bodily from the bed whilst Dumbledore, Moody and Lupin kept their wands trained on him. Sirius lifted her up into his arms whilst Harry grabbed her glasses and wand which were, bizarrely, set neatly on the bedside table. Sirius carried her straight out of the room, followed closely by Harry, Hermione, Ron and Ginny, heading for the study in the opposite wing of the house.

Setting her down on one of the plush sofas, he knelt before her; running his hands across her face as if assuring himself that she was truly alive. He replaced her glasses on her nose and gazed into her green eyes. In his opinion, some of the fire seemed to have disappeared and he felt the fury rise up inside of him. Little did they know that the look of terror on her face had been caused by them, and not by the man they now had cornered in the bedroom.

"We thought you were dead." He managed to say, hugging her tight.

"I'm not." Her voice was hollow, as if she was not really there.

"What did he do to you?" Sirius asked seriously. She did not know how to answer. He saved her, he loved her, but they would never believe that. He took her non answering as a confirmation of their worst fears and stormed out of the room with only a brief word to Harry. "Look after her." Harry nodded as his godfather went to unleash his fury on Malfoy.

Kathryn curled her legs beneath her and sat in silence with a vacant expression. Whilst Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny thought she was traumatised, she was in reality trying to figure out what on earth she was going to do. It was only now that Harry noticed what she was wearing because it didn't make sense. Harry could not see why she should be wearing a skimpy nightie made of fluid black silk. The thought that he had forced her to wear it sickened him to the stomach. What also confused him was that she was completely devoid of injury. When they had last seen her, she'd had a burn all over her left shoulder and several nasty wounds up her legs. She sat in the same silence for a few more minutes before getting to her feet and beginning to pace around the room. None of them dared say anything; afraid that one word may push her over the edge.

"Is what I'm wearing offending you?" she suddenly asked Harry, shocking them all with how alive her voice sounded. She had spotted Harry staring at her with disgust.

"Well, it's not exactly nice to look at, considering what he did." Harry told her frankly.

"Fine." Picking up her wand, she waved it sharply. "Accio clothes." Something came whizzing through the air and landed in her hands.

"Where can I change?" she asked, pretending not to know the manor like the back of her hand.

"There's a bathroom just opposite." Hermione pointed out. Kathryn gave them a small smile before disappearing.

"Those clothes came from inside this room!" Hermione hissed as soon as she was gone.

"What?" Ron said in shock. "They can't have."

"They did." Ginny clarified. "From somewhere over there." She pointed in the region of one of the large carved cabinets.

"This doesn't make sense." Harry shook his head. It wasn't adding up; she seemed to be perfectly fine apart from being a little edgy and was not the emotional wreck he had expected her to be. She reappeared a few minutes later in a bizarre collection of clothes. She was wearing a pair of dark, low cut jeans with a dark green silk top. It was a long camisole, an appropriate Slytherin green, with lacing along the bottom and on the neckline. She wished that she had something else to wear. She wasn't sure if this was any better than the negligee, as it technically was one, and she was only wearing it in the guise of a top and hoping that Harry wouldn't notice. This particular item had been left that day she had stormed out and she had never bothered to remove it. On top of all this she had a pair of matching dark green heels on her feet, also left on that ill-fated day. They stood in the same awkward silence for another few minutes before she finally gave in.

"Well, I'm not just going to sit round here and wait." She declared, standing up and striding out the door. The four of them followed her as she headed straight back to the now closed double doors.

"You shouldn't!" Hermione cried out as she got ever closer. Harry began to run after her, trying to reach out and stop her before she got to the doors. He was too late.

The occupants of the room were not expecting her sudden, brisk arrival through the doors and they all turned around with their wands drawn as the doors burst open. They had expected some botched Death Eater attempt at rescuing him, not the object of their search. It shocked them all to see how calm and composed she seemed to be after her ordeal. She strode over to the fireplace on the opposite side of the room and leant against the mantelpiece, waiting to see who would be the first to speak. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny followed her and stood near her like a guard.

Malfoy was sitting on the edge of the bed, fully dressed now, and facing Dumbledore, Fudge and the rest of the group. Harry saw his head turn and his eyes flare as Kathryn stood there. The predatory gaze he saw made his skin crawl.

"Don't you even look at her." Harry told him in a dangerous tone. He noticed Sirius, Lupin, Bill, Fred, George, Charlie and Tonks visibly tighten their grips on their wands.

"Why not?" he asked, raising a questioning eyebrow. "As far as I am concerned, your sister is fair game. She is, after all, a very beautiful young woman."

"Not for you," Harry's voice shook with rage, "not after what you've done to her."

"What you assume I've done." He countered.

Harry's stomach seemed to turn to ice. It was as if someone had suddenly turned on the light in his brain; everything that he had thought odd seemed to move and fit into some kind of bizarre jigsaw.

"What the hell do you mean by that?" Sirius spat angrily.

"You blindly assume what I have done." He said in his usual haughty manner, seemingly unaffected by the precarious situation he found himself in. "Have you even sought out confirmation of my actions?" he raised a quizzical eyebrow at Sirius.

"A face tells a thousand stories."

"Faces also tell lies." Malfoy countered.

"Stop speaking in riddles and tell us what the hell you did!" Harry shouted at the blond man. Kathryn could feel the tremor of panic well up inside of her. This was it, the end of all things.

"You mean you haven't realised?" Malfoy said to her brother in a condescending tone. "Ah the sweet ignorance of youth. Put all the pieces together boy." He spoke as if he was addressing a particularly stupid child.

"You're lying." Harry refused to believe what he was implying. His sister would never…

"I doubt a member of the Order of the Phoenix, and a Potter to boot, would stoop so low." Sirius said scathingly. Kathryn tried to keep her face impassive.

"So you never wondered where the dresses and the jewels came from? Where she went?"

"She bought them herself and she was visiting friends." Harry said decidedly. "Besides, most of the jewellery is cheap costume stuff she found in Diagon Alley. Stop trying to taint her."

"Oh, I assure you they're very much real." He said with a self satisfied smirk. "So, with all your superior knowledge, where was she in the last week of August two years ago?" he asked, challenging Harry to provide an answer.

"She was in France," Harry told him in no degree of uncertainty, "visiting one of her friends." Malfoy merely shook his head with a knowing glint in his eye.

"You lie!" Sirius yelled at him, brandishing his wand fiercely. Lupin laid a cautioning hand on his shoulder.

"You really have no idea of what your precious Miss Potter has been up to, have you?" he said with a cruel smile. All at once, Kathryn could see what he was trying to do. She would not have him paint her as the one who began it all.

"Don't you dare!" she snapped at him, speaking for the first time since she entered the room. Her cheeks flared and she stepped closer to him.

"Ah, now the shame sets in." he smirked as her cheeks reddened even further.

"What does he mean, what you've been 'up to'?" Harry asked his sister with a questioning expression. Looking around, she saw that all eyes were now on her and their faces were all a mixture of curiosity, shock and disbelief.

"I believe we'd all like to know." Dumbledore said in a solemn tone, speaking for the first time since she entered. The disappointed edge to his voice distressed her more than any shouting-at could ever do. She stood between the two groups for a few moments; looking between Dumbledore's grave face and his cruel smile. Haunting visions of the dream she had had earlier in the year came back to her and, unable to stand the tension, she turned on her heel and stormed out the doors.

"Kathryn!" Harry called out, starting to run after his sister as she headed for the stairs. He followed her as she stalked down the stairs and through towards the back of the house. He heard the doors that led out of the parlour slam and lock and saw the silhouette of his sister pace up and down.

"Kathryn." He pleaded through the door. "Come back." He saw her stop her pacing through the keyhole, as if considering what he had said.

"Go away Harry." Her voice offered no debate and he saw her aim a fierce kick at the wooden furniture that sat on the terrace, followed by a sharp gasp as pain coursed through her toe.

"Come on, please." Harry implored her. "You can't let him rule you like this. He's just a worthless, arrogant bastard who should be locked away. What he did to you is no fault of yours."

"Leave me alone." Her voice held none of the fire it had done before. "Just go." Harry sighed and trudged back upstairs. He did not hear the thing she whispered to herself. "I let him rule me because he does." She collapsed into the chair she had just kicked and buried her face in her hands, allowing despair to overwhelm her.

"She won't come back." Harry said flatly upon his return. Everyone in the room, apart from Malfoy, had a deeply worried expression on their faces.

"Then she will come by force." Sirius growled, making to leave. "I am not leaving until I have had some explanation."

"Sirius Black you will do no such thing!" Professor McGonagall said in a stern voice. "She's your god-daughter, how could you consider treating her so callously?"

"I'd listen to her," Malfoy warned him, "otherwise you may never get her back."

"Shut up!" Sirius snapped at the blond wizard. "Sorry Minerva." he mumbled.

"I'll get her." Malfoy offered nonchalantly.

"As if we'd let you anywhere near her." Moody snorted.

"Try it; I assure you that she will listen to no one else." After a few moments of reluctant silence, Dumbledore nodded.

"If you insist." He sighed; most unwilling to let this man anywhere near his student.

"She's on," Harry began to say.

"The back terrace." Malfoy finished for him. "I heard." He nodded towards the open windows that led out to the balcony, standing up and straightening himself out.

"Don't you even think of trying to escape." Moody snarled.

"Wouldn't dream of it." He replied dryly as he disappeared out the door. He walked quickly through the house, trying not to dwell on the fact that he may not be returning for a long time. He knocked softly on the door leading to the veranda, waiting to see how she reacted.

"I told you to go away Harry!" she said in an angry voice. "Or whoever you are just leave me alone."

"It isn't very polite to address the Master of this house in such a tone." He chided playfully, unlocking the door and stepping out into the morning sunlight. He was disappointed that she did not drop her angry, anguished expression for him.

"Don't you dare do what I think you are going to!" she told him before he could even speak, her voice shaking with anger. "Don't you dare try and paint me as the one responsible for all of this."

"I'm only teasing," he shrugged, "your brother is so dreadfully easy to wind up."

"Wouldn't you be in the same situation?"

"True. But I assume you don't want them to know the half of it at this point, do you?"

"No." she sighed, now wanting to get into explaining something so complicated the day after they had defeated Voldemort.

"It is not like you are blameless." He closed the doors, speaking in a calm, measured tone.

"I did not come here two years ago looking for what I found. I did not ask for you to ruin my life." She said in a hushed voice, not wanting anyone to hear her.

"True. But you could have been a little more, er, resistant." He smirked. "And I wouldn't say that it was ruined."

"I had no option, if you'll remember. The choice was either complying with you or risking mine, and my friends, lives even more than I was already doing." Her voice was high and agitated. "And, if I remember rightly, I did resist!"

"Well, true, I didn't give you much of a choice." He gave another smirk. "But I have a feeling that it would have ended up like this regardless."

"You are very arrogant to presume that."

"If you hadn't made the move I would have." She was stunned by this revelation; she would have never thought him to have felt that way so early on. "But you have to face them sooner or later, and I would personally advise sooner." He reached out and took her hand. "You never know, they may understand." She nodded and gave his hand a small squeeze before following him back into the house.

"What about the house?" she asked as they slowly walked.

"Arrangements have been made. The Ministry will not get its hands on the estate."

"And the Malfoy fortune?"

"The same. The Ministry would have to go through years of red-tape to even get close to a single Knut."

"But they'll search the house."

"Everything of an unacceptable nature is hidden in places they cannot find." He assured her as they reached the top of the stairs.

Stepping through the doors with one of his hands resting lightly on her shoulder, they were greeted by astonished looks; none of them had believed that she would actually return with him. Sirius immediately lunged forward and pulled her away, disgusted that Malfoy even dared touch her.

"See." Malfoy said, raising his eyebrows.

"Tell us what happened." Sirius pleaded. "We won't be angry, we promise." She looked between her friends and the man she had grown to love before giving Sirius a small nod. He stepped back, giving her the space she needed, and waited patiently for her to begin. She took a deep breath.

"Two years ago, when I said I was going to France, I was here." Mrs Weasley could not help but give a small gasp.

"Why?" Sirius asked in disbelief. "Why on earth? I mean, what possessed you to do something so dangerous?"

"I wanted to help. I felt useless just bumming around the house all summer." She wrapped her arms around her waist, appearing to withdraw into herself slightly.

"You should have said something," Sirius told her with a sigh. "You didn't have to sneak off and do it in secret."

"It doesn't really matter now." She wrapped her arms even tighter around her waist. "I paid the price for being caught." Several faces paled, including Charlie's usual ruddy complexion. None of them failed to grasp what she meant by that. Sirius felt sick to his stomach; he had thought something was wrong when she had come back but he had just accepted her denial that there was anything wrong.

"I think that is enough for now." Dumbledore could see her anxiety and was fearful of her reaction if asked to discuss such things at the present time. "We can discuss this later under less embarrassing and painful conditions." He noticed that Fudge had gone very pale indeed; obviously realising that his trust was very much misplaced.

Indeed Fudge was shocked; he had trusted Malfoy implicitly, refused to hear a word against the man who leant his support to so many good causes. He had watched Malfoy for the past two years and had not suspected a thing when he had escorted the pretty, black-haired girl to various events. He had always assumed that he was being friendly by introducing her into a circle of people with whom she did not usually mix. He had believed his lies about inviting her to Quidditch matches as an apology for his son's indiscretions. He would have never suspected that it had such a malicious undercurrent.

"Come on then Malfoy." Moody ordered gruffly, motioning the wizard to move with his wand.

"I'll come by all means, but might I have a word with Miss Potter first?"

"No." Moody growled, brandishing his wand.

"Of course he can." Kathryn said quickly, grabbing his hand and leading him out onto the balcony. With a wave of her wand, she let the heavy drapes around the windows fall, not wanting others to be privy to their private affairs. As soon as was safe, she wrapped her arms around his neck and, like she had on the battlefield, held on as if she would never let go.

"So much for escape." He murmured into her hair as he returned her embrace.

"Yes, but you're going to be safely tucked behind bars. I am going to have to live with this." Her voice was hollow and empty.

"I will look after you, I promise." He touched his lips to hers and, for just a moment, only they existed. They did not notice the photographer.

The news of Dumbledore, Fudge and Harry's arrival at the Malfoy residence had spread quickly and there was already a gaggle of reporters waiting on the drive. He had crept around the back to see if there was anything going on and was rewarded with the scandal of the century. He clicked the shutter at the very moment their lips met and then scurried away. The Prophet would never know such good sales.

"Ready?" he asked her as they broke apart, not that she had a choice. She nodded. "Remember, stand tall. What you did was great; do not let them forget that just because of one transgression. Do not let them forget."

With that they walked back into the room to meet their fate. He picked up the fresh cloak that was lying on the back of a chair as they passed and, surrounded on all sides by members of the Order, he was escorted out of the room. Harry tried to pull her back, not wanting her to walk beside him but she pulled her arm away from his grasp every time. Halfway down the stairs Malfoy draped the cloak over her shoulders, making what she was wearing less obvious. It was this gesture that sickened Harry the most; the cloak, with its silver, serpent shaped clasps and fur trim, held so much symbolism. It was if he was marking her as his own. For Kathryn it meant everything, she had something of his for comfort.

They separated as they reached the doors; Moody, Bill, Charlie and Fudge escorting Malfoy away to one of the waiting Ministry cars which sped off as soon as they were inside. The rest of the group headed past the gaggle of reporters, not answering their questions, to the remaining cars. Kathryn held her head high as she walked down the stairs, showing no sign of weakness or shame.