53

She ignored the next morning's copy of the Daily Prophet, leaving it face down on the dining table as she ate her breakfast, waiting for the bell to ring. Just after ten, there was a chime from the entrance hall, followed by the creak of a door opening and the sound of three pairs of feet walking in. The house elves knew well to let the three of them in as Kathryn would always see them, no matter what mood she was in.

"Morning!" she greeted them with a bright smile from where she sat at the head of the table. She was greeted with warm, yet wary smiles from the three of them.

"Seen the paper this morning?" Harry asked casually.

"Well, it's there," she pointed at the face-down copy of the Prophet, "but I'm not sure whether I want to read what it has to say."

"You're little stunt yesterday gave them plenty of cannon fodder."

"It wasn't a stunt." She retorted. "I had to go and check the vault and make sure that money wasn't going places I didn't want it to go."

"And, who was getting generous Malfoy contributions?" Hermione asked curiously.

"Not many. I expect that he used cash for most of his generous donations. Fudge seemed to have profited very well, however indirectly it was, so I have rectified that." She smirked wickedly over the top of her cup.

"He will be pissed at that!" Ron beamed before turning deadly serious again. "So, come on, tell us." He looked eager. "How rich is he really?"

"Why do you think I would tell you that?" she teased. "That is confidential information." She went on, pretending to be truly affronted. "But as it's you," she gave the three of them a cheeky smile, "I will tell you that there is just short of five hundred million Galleons in that vault." The three of them were stunned into silence. Ron kept on opening and closing his mouth like a fish, never managing to say anything.

"What is that in Muggle money?" Hermione asked shakily.

"Around two and a half billion pounds." Kathryn recited from memory. "So I could disappear and live rather comfortably as a Muggle if I wanted." They all stared at her in disbelief. "Not that I want to, of course." She hastily added as she saw their aghast looks.

"Five hundred million." Ron breathed, still trying to get over the shock. "That's more than I could ever dream of."

"It's more than most could ever dream of." Hermione whispered.

"That's not it." Kathryn went on. "There is a fortune in jewels and art down there too. I think there were even some by Muggle artists so, although he plays the arrogant Pureblood, he knows how to get the best of both worlds. Those paintings would be worth millions if he put them on the Muggle market."

"You do realise that you're made if he never gets out, don't you?" Ron commented, helping himself to a pastry.

"I'm made either way, Ron, but I would prefer that I was not despised by society." She set her cup down and stood. "Right, do you want to find out where that last passage leads?" the three of them nodded fervently, looking excited at the prospect of finding something more hidden beneath the house. They pulled on light cloaks before venturing down into the cellars; having found out how cold they could get on previous excursions.

This passage was located right in the centre of the second wine cellar; where hundreds of bottles of champagne were stacked, as well as ports, brandies and whiskies. The only problem was that there was a huge stone table in the middle of the room. This was possibly the trickiest passage to access, as you needed two people to open the door. First, she slipped her fingers into an invisible groove cut into the bottom of the tabletop and pushed a small button down.

"Right, back about three steps Ron." Kathryn directed Ron as he stood in the top corner of the room. "Stop, ok, forward one step and it's the biggest flag there." Ron stepped forwards onto the largest flagstone and, with a rumble, it sunk into the floor. An almighty creak rang around the cellar, followed by an even greater rumble as the table before them slid slowly apart to reveal a steep stone staircase.

"Well, here goes. Lumos!" Kathryn lit her wand and began to slowly descend the steps. Ron, Hermione and Harry flowed suit; wrapping their cloaks more tightly around themselves as they ventured down the draughty passage. There were absolutely no torch brackets on the walls as there had been in the previous passages and they kept on tripping over rocks as they wandered in the dim wand-light.

The passage seemed to go on for miles, and they frequently ran into walls as the path turned sharply to the left or right.

"Whatever's at the end of this had better be good." Ron muttered as they began to slowly climb.

"I don't think anything at the end of a passage this long could be good." Hermione commented warily as the passage banked right whilst still climbing.

"I think we'll find out soon enough." Kathryn told them as the steps stopped ant they were faced by a solid panel of stone right above them.

"How do we get through this one?" Harry asked from behind her.

"You'll never believe it, but, Alohamora." She spoke the incantation and, with a wave of her wand, the stone slid away to give them a view of leafy treetops.

"What is this?" Ron asked incredulously as they ascended the final few steps and emerged into a large, leafy wood. "Malfoy's country hideaway?"

"I doubt it." Kathryn murmured as she walked off into the trees, searching for a clue as to what this place could be. Hermione, meanwhile, was performing several complex charms.

"It's unplottable." She recited. "And it has hundreds of concealment charms and Muggle-repelling spells all over it." Kathryn noticed this abundance of spells in the odd, shimmering light that seemed to emanate from the wood itself. She was well away from the other three by now and, looking across at them, she saw something she had failed to notice before. Sprouting from the ground were many thin wooden poles that were just about knee height. Bending down to look at the nearest one, she saw minute initials carved into the side of the pole. Looking at a few more, she found the same things; although some were too obscured by age and moss to read anything. Looking through the trees, she could see the poles here and there; sticking out a mile now that she had noticed them.

"I know what this is." She told the three of them in a shaky voice, the horrible realisation now dawning upon her. "This is where all those wizards and Muggles went." They looked at her in astonishment. "It's a graveyard."

"How do you know?" Hermione asked in a shaky voice.

"The sticks." She pointed out the ones nearest to them. "Some have got initials on."

"Oh God!" Hermione clapped a hand to her mouth and gave a small gasp. "How many are there?"

"There's got to be over a hundred, easily." Kathryn scanned the woods, trying to keep her voice as calm as possible; knowing how easily she could have been amongst these, just another for the record.

"We've got to tell someone." Harry sounded angry, probably because his mind had come to the same conclusion as she had just done.

"No!" she exclaimed, rushing towards them. "Please no!"

"We can't just ignore it!" Ron said in disbelief. "We can't just pretend that this place doesn't exist."

"Think of how many families can have closure." Hermione added, not looking happy at Kathryn's suggestion.

"Yeah, and think of the problems this will create for me. I do not want the Ministry poking around my house and grounds."

"It's not your house!" Harry shouted at her, unable to believe how irrational she was being.

"It's as good as!" she yelled back. And I'm as good as a Malfoy, she thought to herself.

"What do you propose we do then?" Hermione asked sceptically, crossing her arms.

"Leave it for now." Kathryn said in a calm, level tone. "And see what happens at the trial. If he doesn't escape let it lie. If he does escape punishment, then fine, tell whoever you want." She turned and headed back down the passage without another word to them. Exchanging several worried looks, they followed, locking the door behind them and almost jogging to keep up with her furious strides.

"We can't just let him get away with murder!" Harry yelled after her, running to keep up.

"I'm not saying he is getting away with it!" she shouted back, not breaking stride. "But how do you know that they were all killed by his hand?"

"Well, it's a fair bet most of them were! He can admit to the ones he is to blame for and then turn in the rest!"

"I'll wager anything that Bellatrix Lestrange has a few in there too!" Ron called out after her.

"She may well do!" Kathryn shouted back. "But I am not about to lose the man I-." she just managed to stop her sentence before she dug herself into an even deeper hole. She was grateful, therefore, to reach the flickering torchlight of the wine cellars.

"What?" Harry called out angrily as she took the stone steps two at a time and hit the concealed button to close the door. "The man you what?" his temper was fast rising as Kathryn swept out of the room and climbed the stairs up to the main hall.

"It doesn't matter Harry." She tried to divert his attention from the conclusions his mind was slowly drawing.

"Please don't tell me you actually like him?" Harry demanded incredulously as she cast her cloak aside and practically ran up the stairs. "Don't tell me you actually believe that he cares for you."

"How are you to know what he thinks?" she screamed at her brother, rounding on him furiously.

"He's Lucius Malfoy," Harry told her as if addressing a small child, his voice full of disdain, "he doesn't care for anyone but himself."

"That's what you think." She muttered darkly, storming through the double doors that led into his study. She had never told them that he was the source of the anonymous Christmas parcels and nor had she mentioned that he had even given her family heirlooms.

"I don't think, I know!" Harry shouted back, refusing to back down. "He treats everyone with indifference or hate."

"Everyone except me!" this cry hung in the air, neither daring reply. They remained like this, frozen to the spot for several minutes before Harry opened his mouth to speak again.

"No." she said before he had even begun to form words. "Just leave me alone."

"But," Hermione began, trying to persuade her.

"Just go!" she shouted and the three of them felt an invisible force pushing them over the threshold and, before they could move, the doors slammed and locked in their faces.

"You can't hide forever!" Harry shouted, banging on the door. "Stop fooling yourself!" he stopped when Hermione laid a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"Leave her." She suggested. "Give her time."

"Time!" Harry exclaimed as they walked back through the house. "She's going to have plenty of time if Fudge continues to stall over the trial."

"She's always done things in her own time, Harry, and she is less likely to do anything you want if you push her." Hermione told him in a manner not unlike Professor McGonagall. The three of them took a pinch of Floo powder and, in a whirl of green smoke, disappeared back to twelve Grimmauld Place.