E Pluribus Unum

A/N - Glad everyone liked the last chapter and no one was traumatized (except for Severus). Kate, as always, my barometer for squick and eek, as well as my beta extrodinaire, had nothing to say about this chapter, so should be cool. :)
deblovesdragon - Patience, sweetie, Min situation will resolve itself in time.
jeanette - You asked me two questions a while back and the answer to the second comes this chapter.
Droxy - More angst you say? Coming up!
Ghaeth - Yes, I do write and they pay me for it! :). this fic is my reward for a days work on my own original novel, glimpses of which you can see in the town of Nova Albion, those chapters are a secret crossover with my own story (Not a secret anymore though, is it, LOL). someday my agent will come (sings badly off-key) and he\'ll get me an advance!! Until then I can find solace in EPU.

Chapter 12 – Past Transgressions

Kathryn watched as Harry came running up to Severus and she watched their brief conversation before they both darted away. She smiled with a feeling of pleased accomplishment. It had taken the better part of a year, but they now could speak to each other with some semblance of politeness; her mission there was mostly accomplished. Now if she could just get Ron to come around. That was going to be much harder; he had been raised from the cradle to hate Slytherins.

From the corner of her eye, she glimpsed Ginny Weasley staring thoughtfully after Draco and Fauna as they walked away. The speculative look in the redhead’s eyes was enough to rouse Kathryn’s curiosity. Sidling over, she followed the progress of the two Slytherins along with her. Ginny had reached the top of Kathryn’s shoulder and at sixteen was blooming into a lovely young woman. Kathryn wondered what interest she had in Draco.

“What are we looking at?” Kathryn asked finally.

“Everyone knows that Fauna has a major crush on Draco.” Ginny began, head tilted to one side, lip caught in her teeth.

“Draco’s rather taken with Lilith Leblanc, however.” Kathryn nodded, keeping the casual conversational style that Ginny had adopted.

“But lately, Fauna has gone from crush to obsessed stalker.” Ginny, who had some familiarity with unrequited love, was giving a worried look to the now empty path.

“How obsessed?” Did Kathryn need to talk to the girl?

“Scary obsessed. She talks about how he doesn’t know what he really wants and she would be better for him than that ’American whore’.” Kathryn’s eyebrow went up sharply. She hadn’t known that Fauna knew tsortsort of language; she had always been rather soft-spoken.

“That’s rather disturbing. Perhaps we should follow them.” Kathryn moved off after Draco and Fauna with Ginny following behind her.

They hurried down the road back towards the school, the sixteen-year-old having trouble keeping up with Kathryn. Draco and Fauna were nowhere to be seen ahead of them. The road to the school was empty of them and it was unlikely they could have made it all that way in so short a time. Kathryn turned and scanned to back trail. She caught a glimpse of green; Draco’s Quidditch robes maybe?

Ginny hot on her heels, Kan stn started towards where she had seen the brief flash of color. The Forbidden Forest, leafy canopy deceptively innocent in daylight hours, loomed ahead and Kathryn drew her wand and gestured to Ginny to stay behind her.

Moving silently through the underbrush, Kathryn crept forward; voices could be heard up ahead and she crouched lower to peer between two leafy ferns.

In a small clearing Draco was staring blankly ahead as Fauna wrapped herself around him, stroking his cheek. She kissed his unresponsive lips and gazed into his unseeing eyes.

“Kiss me, Draco.” She commanded and he responded with violent passion, grabbing her shoulders and forcing his tongue into her mouth. Fauna gave a little cry and tried to escape but the young man just grabbed harder and she was trapped in his arms.

Kathryn cast a tiny charm that would show any other watchers. There across the clearing, was the slight glow that revealed another peeping tom.

Ginny broke past Kathryn and rushed into the clearing. She leaped at the struggling pair and began trying to loose Draco’s arms from the younger girl.

“Let her go! You’re hurting her!” Ginny cried.

Draco swung out and hit Ginny on the side of the head. Kathryn knew it was stupid but she had to help Ginny. She abandoned her cover and caught the girl before she hit the ground.

“Hello, Kathy.” She looked up as the bushes rustled and a slight young man with wavy golden hair stepped out, wand pointed at her. It was David Peregrine, her old partner. Draco was unconcerned by the audience; he was still trying to molest the now sobbing Fauna.

Ginny was in Kathryn’s arms, between her and David. She dropped the girl trying to get her out of the line of fire and stood up slowly.

“Dave, how unpleasant to see you. Have you betrayed anyone else lately?” She was buying time -- time for Ginny to figure out what was going on and get her own wand ready.

“No, just you, Kathy.” He smiled cheerfully across the clearing. Her own smile, a mere baring of the teeth, was not as pleasant. “So, I hear you got canned from the MSA. Something about dating a Death Eater -- how gauche.” Good, she thought with grim satisfaction, the cover story had been bo.
.

“You’re one to talk, Dave.” She ground out, she hated being called Kathy almost as much as he hated being called Dave; it was petty, but she would take what she could get.

“Now, now, little girl; you just keep your hands where I can see them.” He said to Ginny, waving a threatening wand at her, then he nodded towards where Draco was pulling Fauna’s blouse off with single-minded purpose. “Wouldn’t want to miss the show, now would you?”

The inner analyst in Kathryn’s head came up with an answer and she shuddered in sudden fear.

“What did they offer you, David?” she asked him softly, her fear receding as she controlled her breathing and prepared herself. David laughed and the sound made her skin prickle.

“Oh, Kathy, always the good girl -- the moralist -- and yet you were the worst of us. The hypocrisy just killed me sometimes; you’d fuck for the job, wouldn’t you, but you wouldn’t even kiss me.” Draco was pushing Fauna to the ground and she was screaming for help. Kathryn had to do something but David had her dead to rights and her first move would be her last.

“We were partners, there are rules about that.” She answered, growing desperate as Draco began ripping at the girl’s skirt.

“Rules? What did rules mean to us? We were the elite, the ones with the power!” He screamed, the tendons standing out along his throat. “We could do anything except that they leashed us like dogs!” He subsided and giggled softly. “They offered me freedom, Kathy; no more leashes, no more rules, no more teachers, no more school, and no more having to watch you scream for some bastard you were going to kill anyway!” Draco had her panties off; Fauna was nude and her screams had become whimpers and she beat frantically at Draco’s chest.

“David, stop this. Stop him -- she’s only fifteen.” Kathryn pleaded, horrified. Draco would slit his own wrists when he realized what he had done.

“Why should I stop it? It’s what she wanted.”

“No! Please! This isn’t what I wanted at all! Help me Professor!” Fauna shrieked and Kathryn took a step forwards to answer the girl’s plea. A bolt of scarlet energy erupted right before her and Kathryn froze.

“For Merlin’s sake, David, stop this!” She screamed as Draco held the struggling girl down with one hand while trying to get his pants open with the other. A blast of light caught David in the side and he flew into a tree with a loud thunk. Not caring who had saved her, Kathryn drew her wand and stupefied Draco in one swift movement. He fell to the side and as his eyes met Kathryn’s she could see his relief and gratitude as he went slack and then unconscious.

“Oh my God, he was aware through that.” Ginny was sobbing and she crawled to Fauna wrapping her in her school robes and cradling her.

Severus burst into the clearing, wand still smoking and froze in horror at the sight before him. Harry, following behind him, almost piled into his back but stopped himself just in time.

Kathryn turned to where David lay unconscious and drew her wand; she wanted nothing so much as to kill the bastard. Her fury at him white hot as she listened to Fauna’s broken sobbing. She stepped forward and found herself held in invisible ropes. The greater her fury, the tighter the ropes bound her. While she struggled, Severus went to help Draco and Harry came to stand beside her, watching her fight her inner struggle.

“What’s wrong?” He asked.

“Dumbledore has bound me not to kill.” She wanted to scream in frustration. Her leash might be looser but it was far shorter. Dumbledore and his damn scruples! She was furious. Harry moved towards the limp figure of the ex-Auror and raised his wand to cast a binding charm. With a soft pop, the other man vanished.

“Time locked portkey.” Kathryn ground out, fury etched in every line of her body. If only she could have gotten to him first, she could have kept herself from killing him. She knew that they needed to ask him questions, but Dumbledore’s bindings had kept her immobilized from the minute the desire to kill had sparked.

She needed to have a long, quiet chat with the Headmaster; as soon as she stopped wanting to kill him that is. Because until her rage and desire to strangle someone dissipated, she wasn’t going anywhere.