54

The next day was Sunday, always a lonely day for Kathryn as Ron, Hermione, Harry, Ginny, Sirius and everyone else were always invited to the Burrow for Sunday lunch. Kathryn, although welcome, was excluded from such pleasures by the promise she made to Fudge. Instead, she sat alone with her dinner in the great dining room; pushing the vegetables about her plate with her fork. Although she had a wealth of rooms and expansive grounds to occupy herself in, she could think of no other description for how she felt other than bored. Harry had sent along her Firebolt but, without people to play Quidditch with, flying seemed rather dull. Some days, when she was feeling alright, she would go out in search of the unicorn or bury herself in the library. On others, on her most despondent days, she would not get out of bed.

It was a hot, humid August day and, unsurprisingly; the thunder began to rumble as soon as she finished her lunch. The rain beat against the large mullioned windows and, slightly annoyed that she would not be able to spend her afternoon outside, she settled herself in his study upstairs to read. She did not expect any visitors, and was therefore surprised when one of the house elves appeared.

"Yes?" she asked, not looking up from her book.

"If you please, Miss," the elf squeaked, "Professor Snape is just informing me of his intention to visit in fifteen minutes."

"Professor Snape?" she asked, looking up from her book at the elf.

"Yes Miss, he is just flooing us two minutes ago."

"I suppose I'd better get dressed then." She was still in her pyjama bottoms and oversize shirt that she had worn to bed.

"Where will you receive him, Miss?" the elf asked tentatively. Kathryn found it odd that she was 'receiving' a guest. Normally Harry, Ron and Hermione just came to find her; she did not stand on ceremony.

"Downstairs." She said absentmindedly, padding barefoot down the hallway back towards her bedroom.

"Certainly Miss." The elf squeaked one final time before disappearing with a crack.

Kathryn wasn't really sure what she was doing as she pulled out one of her better dresses from the wardrobe. She would have never considered dressing well for Snape of all people, but somehow it did not feel right to greet someone wearing jeans when you were in such a magnificent place. Granted, the dress she picked was simple, but it was opulent in the understated way. He had bought it for her last summer when he had gone away to London but she had never worn it since; not having the right occasion to wear such a garment.

It was made from thick, yet surprisingly light, black velvet; with an offset v-neck, long flowing sleeves and a long skirt. The skirt was also offset, like the neckline; sitting high on her waist on the right and cutting across her abdomen to sit low on the left. Here, the material was gathered up slightly and fell to the ground in elegant folds. The neckline had an intricate, yet practically invisible, beaded border and, along the stitching that held the gathered material of the skirt together, you could see something glinting when the skirt moved in a certain way. Upon closer inspection, she had found these to be tiny crystals actually sewn onto the garment. She hoped them to be just plain crystal, although the way their many facets danced in the light and their sheer brilliance made her believe that they were possibly something altogether more costly.

She left her hair in its loose waves down her back, slipped her feet into a pair of flat black slippers and fastened the necklace he had given her for her birthday around her neck. She still had five minutes to spare as she stood before the windows downstairs, gazing out onto the gardens that were being soaked in rain. It was getting on for seven in the evening and she wondered why he had decided to call upon her so late. Although, she supposed, he was too busy being fussed over by the Ministry as a war hero to have much time to relax or pursue his own business.

From what she had heard, the Ministry was trying to commandeer every free moment of their time; as if trying to make up for the fact that it had been the Order, and not the Ministry, that had finally defeated Voldemort and is Death Eaters. Her visitor was announced by the quiet sound of a door swinging open and the small cough of a house elf.

Severus Snape was not in a good mood. No one had seen fit to tell him that there were anti-apparition jinxes over Malfoy Manor and that he would not be able to apparate directly to the door. Instead, he had arrived outside the, thankfully, unlocked gates and had endured the mile-long walk down the drive in the current raging thunderstorm. This, and having to suffer near constant owls from Cornelius Fudge, demanding that he do this and that, was enough to render him in a foul mood.

Malfoy Manor looked no less spectacular than usual as he stepped though the main doors and into the cavernous entrance hall. An elf met him promptly and took his sodden cloak before showing him through to one of the drawing rooms in the back of the house. The other half of the infamous Potter duo was standing before the windows and did not acknowledge his entrance apart from a small nod of thanks to the house elf that had shown him in. The door was closed behind him and they stood in silence for a moment.

From behind, she looked nothing spectacular; her dress appeared fairly plain and she had done nothing special with her hair. When she turned, however, he did find himself rather stunned. Her hair fanned out around her as she turned to face him and he realised that thinking her attire plain was a mistake. Large, heavy jewels sat about her neck and her dress was everything he would have expected a Malfoy to wear. Her hands grasped the familiar, serpent-topped cane and she did not smile.

Despite her obvious physical and genetic differences, Snape could not help himself from thinking that what stood before him was a female version of Lucius Malfoy. Her clothes, though fairly understated, spoke of wealth and luxury that few could ever realise, whilst her air and mannerisms spoke of power. She was quite different to the woman who used to occupy the house. Narcissa had definitely been a beauty; cool and aloof. She had been pure ice, her stance firmly behind her husband at all times; the perfect pureblood wife. Miss Potter, however, was in possession of quite a different persona.

She had not the iciness of Narcissa, nor the petulance of Draco; she was something altogether different. It was indisputable that she was a beauty, however more fiery than icy. Even he had to admit that she was beautiful; noticing how quickly she could snap from a warm, friendly smile to a regal gaze. There was another large contrast between Miss Potter and Narcissa; whilst the latter kept her mouth shut when it came to politics, he could see that some of Lucius had definitely rubbed off on the former. She seemed to have become quite adept at behind the scenes scheming but was also unafraid to clash with high ranking officials, her favourite appearing to be Cornelius Fudge himself.

She turned and faced her former Professor. He was wearing his usual heavy black robes and looked thoroughly wet through.

"You foolish, foolish girl." He said by way of greeting.

"Nice to see you too Professor." She replied icily. He wasn't sure if he was going to changer his mind about her not having the iciness of Narcissa. The look she gave him could have quelled fire.

"What did you think you were doing?" he spat angrily, advancing across the room towards her. "Did you even listen to me? I should have known you were too arrogant to listen, just like your father."

"Your warning came two years too late!" she shouted back, her eyes burning with anger. "He'd had me long before you deigned to give me any words of warning." She turned back to look out over the gardens.

"Two years?" Snape said in quiet astonishment.

"Didn't the others tell you?" she did not look at him as she spoke. "He caught me snooping around here nearly two years ago and decided that he would prefer to use me to his own ends rather than those of his Master. I hadn't even been eighteen for a month." She remembered what he had said to her at the ball. "Oh, and it didn't seem like he thought he was betraying his wife at all."

"Why in Merlin's name did you not tell me this?" his voice regained its angry tone.

"I'm sorry, but I didn't consider you someone to go to in times of crisis." She retorted sarcastically, her tongue quite as sharp as that of her Professor. "You were never particularly helpful."

"That's not the point. You were still stupid not to tell anyone."

"I apologise for being terrified of what he would do to me if he found out I had told anyone." She responded dryly. "Besides, what do you care? You've never shown any regard from mine or Harry's lives before."

"Because I did not see the need to coddle a pair of over-hyped, spoiled children." He argued. "That, of course, does not mean that I did not care for your welfare. You were never irreparably damaged under my watch."

"I'm sure Neville Longbottom will attest to the permanent mental scars you have inflicted upon him." She shot back with a vicious smirk.

"I also do not see it necessary to lie about the abilities of every dunderhead I am forced to teach."

"Neville is a hero." She retorted, knowing how brave Neville had been.

"That's as maybe, but he is still a dunderhead." Snape said in a disinterested manner. "You, on the other hand, may be the biggest dunderhead I have ever taught, Neville Longbottom included."

"Well excuse me for not thinking straight when I am absolutely terrified."

"Oh, it is not that to which I elude." He said with a sneer. "If I have heard rightly, your brother thinks that you believe Lucius to truly care about you." Kathryn opened her mouth to speak but he didn't even allow her to get the words out. "Silence! You are truly a foolish girl if you think that Lucius Malfoy, the epitome of everything that the old Pureblood families stand for, cares for anyone but himself." Snape was speaking to her as if she were a very small, incredibly dense child.

"How can you possibly know what he is like?" she asked quickly, and then immediately wished she hadn't.

"I have been his closest friend for over twenty years." Snape told her silkily, sweeping up to stand directly in front of her. "Do not assume me ignorant of whom we speak. I have known him since my days in school and, let me tell you, I know things that would make your hair stand on end."

"Go ahead. Shock me." She baited him and he rose accordingly.

"We shared many things. When we conducted raids, I was at his right hand." Kathryn was growing increasingly uncomfortable with his proximity to her, trying to move away but only finding herself backing into the wall.

"I had second turn once he was finished with his current plaything." Kathryn didn't dare move as she felt a hand move to her waist and the other move in her hair.

"Why should you be any different?" the hand that was on her waist moved upwards, skimming across her breast and collarbone before stroking her neck. She could not move; paralysed by shock and fear. She shuddered as the pad of a callused thumb stroked her skin, causing him to smirk.

"I see that you are spoiled; too used to Lucius for your own good." She tried to remain calm as she felt his thin lips replace his thumb, slowly drawing the wand from where it was concealed within his cane.

"Yet somehow I doubt you could lift a finger to harm the daughter of Lily Potter, not when she so resembles the woman you loved." She held his black gaze with her eyes and, in the one moment he faltered, she acted. She did not speak the incantation and, before he could even react, Snape found himself being blasted across the room where he collided, face first, with a particularly large and heavy cabinet.

"How dare you!" she fumed, not lowering his wand.

"He does not care for you." Snape continued despite his bloody nose. "He would have done something to show such feelings."

"You'll have to check your sources, or did they not tell you?" she retorted scathingly. "He made me the sole guardian of the Manor and his estate should he ever be indisposed. Besides, you cared for my mother and never showed any sign of it, not for over twenty years. You are not one to talk to me of how to tell that someone cares."

"That is not enough to prove that he cares." Snape spat, wiping the blood on his chin with his sleeve. "Merely a selfish act of self preservation."

"How about these?" she lifted the weighty set of diamonds about her neck. "I didn't think that priceless family heirlooms were the standard gift fayre for someone who is, as you so deftly put it, his plaything." She pasted a simpering smile onto her face. "Now, tell me why you are here before I hex you into next week." She still did not lower his wand.

"I came to use the library for some research." Snape admitted grumpily, annoyed that she dared turn a wand on him.

"Then use it and get out." She growled, stalking from the room in a swirl of black skirts. Snape waited for a few minutes, gingerly fingering his nose and the cut above his eye, before daring to leave the room and head for the library.

Once the doors to the master suite were securely locked behind her, Kathryn proceeded to pull every single item of clothing off; leaving a trail leading straight into the gigantic bathroom. She stood beneath the scalding water until her skin was a fiery red from the intense heat, trying to scald away every trace of him on her skin. She cursed his name at the top of her breath as the water beat against her skin, using words that Mrs Weasley should never hear her speak. She thumped the soft pillows that were piled against the headboard, muffling her angry screams within them until she could rant and rage no more.

The storm had passed whilst all this had taken place, and the late evening sun sparkled off the water that coated the window panes. It was just going on eight o'clock and yet it was still hot; the air only now beginning to cool slowly down. Stepping out onto the balcony, she inhaled that relaxing scent of summer evenings and the refreshing aroma that you always got just after rain. Wearing only her pyjamas and a light dressing gown, she perched cross legged on the balustrade and looked out over the grounds. All the flowers were in bloom beneath her and, every so often, she caught a scent of the blooms on her air.

Unbeknownst to her, someone else could see her moments of tranquillity. Looking down from the windows of the library on the floor above, Snape had just happened to notice the figure on the balcony appear and had decided to see what she did. As far as he knew, not even her friends had seen her once she dropped the exterior she had been forced to adopt since June. He watched her as she sat on the balcony and, for one heart-stopping moment, he actually entertained the belief that she was going to jump. He relaxed however, as she just sat there.

Deciding that she wanted more than just to look at the grounds, Kathryn pulled out her wand and, with a few flicks, had conjured as small rope that fell all the way down to the grass below. Snape watched, intrigued, as she levered herself over the edge of the balcony and slid down the fine, silvery rope she had conjured. Her light blue dressing gown fanned out around her as she descended towards the ground; landing gracefully on the lush green carpet.

Kathryn couldn't believe it, but she actually giggled as her feet hit the moist grass. That had to be the first time she had giggled in months. She cracked a smile as she ran lightly across the lawns and through the flower gardens; heading towards the woods at the edge of the grounds. It felt unbelievably refreshing to be out of the house and away from all those who would judge her. She whimsically toyed with a bloom plucked from one of the plants, tucking it behind her ear as she broke into a spin across the lawns.

Snape, up in the library; found this a very interesting scene to behold. It seemed that just stepping out of the house relieved the tension that was involved with her day to day life. He had heard her brother complaining about the attention that they were getting; the celebrated conquerors of the dreaded Lord Voldemort, and Kathryn had it lucky as she did not have to cope with the media hype. What Potter did not seem to understand was that his sister, hero though she undoubtedly was, she had to cope with the media hype and hatred. Whilst they fawned over her brother and friends, they stung her with vicious editorials and letters. She was the fallen hero; forgotten for what she really did and remembered for the one mistake that she made. From what he had garnered from other Order members and his visits to Lucius in Azkaban, she had come here with the intention of helping and had ended up stuck in something that had escalated further than she could ever have imagined.

Yet, when she thought no one was looking, she dropped the thick shield she had been forced to adopt and the true person seemed to shine through. Lucius had, over the course of their meetings, given him titbits of information as to what had happened, but never enough for him to get the whole picture. For a man so concerned with himself, it was odd to have him considering someone else's welfare over his own. Severus knew nothing of his intentions yet, although he suspected that he soon would, but Malfoy had spoken of some of his thoughts on the girl. He had spoken of her intelligence, her strength and, of course, her beauty. Snape had known that she possessed all three of these, but he hadn't cared enough to notice when she had been a student. Now, however, he couldn't fail to see what his friend saw.

Snape was transfixed as she ran, nymph like, across the sprawling lawns. Her hair and dressing gown flew out behind her, her feet barely touching the ground; giving the impression that she was floating rather than running. She came to a halt before the woods and she waited. Down in the grounds, Kathryn had never felt so relaxed for weeks. She did not have anyone scrutinising her or questioning her loyalty. She waited at the edge of the trees, crumbling a few sugar lumps in her hand, and scouring the gaps in the trees.

Snape wondered what she was doing, standing still as though she had just been petrified. Then, all of a sudden, he saw something very white appear from between the trees and walk up to her. Although he knew that he shouldn't be looking, Snape could not tear his eyes away. He had no particular interest in animals, considering them only when he used them in potions, but he knew that he was witnessing something spectacular. He knew that unicorns were very skittish creatures that did not dare venture close to humans. No one had ever tamed one before, and yet, here was a twenty year-old girl running her hands through its luminous mane as if it was a perfectly normal thing to do. He continued to stare as she carefully swung herself onto the unicorn's back and set of at an alarming pace about the meadows behind the house. Snape made sure to freeze that image in his mind, immediately rummaging about in the pockets of his robes for a phial in which to store the thought.

By the time he had the silvery memory glimmering within the phial, the unicorn had gone and she was walking back to the house. The sun had disappeared completely, and she rubbed her arms against the evening chill that permeated the air. She ignored the thin rope she had conjured earlier and entered through the doors that led out onto the veranda. She walked silently through the house, being careful not to wake the sleeping portraits, and climbed the stairs back to bed. What she most certainly did not want to meet was the greasy Hogwarts Potions Master.

"What are you still doing here?" she asked venomously, defiantly meeting his gaze. "I believe I told you to do your research and get out."

"I cannot find the book I need. I was coming to enquire as to whether I can stay the night and recommence my search in the morning."

"Do as you please." She swept past him and towards the elaborately carved doors that led to her rooms. "There should be a guest room ready upstairs." She told him. "But, if you'd rather be in something closer to your natural habitat; I know somewhere I could keep you down in the cellars." She gave him a cruel smile before disappearing inside and firmly turning the key in the lock. She did not trust mere locks however, and did not let her head rest on the pillow before she had placed several protective charms on the door. Even then she did not sleep soundly; tossing and turning the whole night, her wand lying mere inches away from her grasp on the mattress.

Snape left promptly at eleven the next morning without a word. She had remained in her room all morning; he had seen her eat her breakfast on the balcony. It was if she was waiting for him to leave. He took a little sadistic pleasure in making her wait but then remembered that the rest of the Order would probably think she had killed him if he didn't come back soon. He saw her face at the window as he walked up the drive; recognising it now as the face he had seen on his previous visit to the manor in the spring. He now knew what he had interrupted, but he also wondered as to her sudden return. She was supposed to have been staying away for several days, so what had his visit prompted to make her leave in such a rush? He did not bother himself with this line of thought as he apparated back to Grimmauld Place, instead telling them what he had discovered.