Fire and Water

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Thanks to those who are reviewing - hugs to you.





Chapter Twenty two



Severus and Krystal apparated around the corner of the block, and moved towards the safe house. It was dark now, and they were camouflaged under their cloaks. They both stood outside, under the cover of a tree and thought about the address they had been given. A house squeezed out from between two others, and Severus looked at Krystal. She was back in control after her encounter with Bellatrix, and Severus could see the flash of silver in her eyes.



She made a move towards the house, but he grabbed her arm. ‘Remember the plan,’ he whispered.

‘Don’t touch me,’ she said, her voice hard and cold as she glared at him.

She yanked her arm out of his grasp and walked up the path to the front door of the house. He followed, and was behind her when he pointed his wand at the door, silently casting an unlocking spell.



They entered the house quietly, hearing voices in the living room ahead of them. Krystal stopped him, listening. She heard Sirius, Lily and James, but not Remus. She crept forward until she could see the reflections of those in the living room in a mirror in the hall.



Seeing Lily and James curled up on the couch near the entry, she looked over to the other side of the room and saw Sirius, crouched in front of a chair, talking to someone. The person in the seat was leaning forward, his head in his hands. It was Remus, shaking his head at whatever Sirius was saying to him. She could tell from his gestures he was upset. The cold melted a little as a jolt of pain shot through her, showing on her face. Remus was the only person that could break down her walls. She needed her shields to do this. She didn‘t have a hope if he got through to her. God, could she really do this?

‘Remember why you’re doing this,’ Severus hissed into her ear, seeing her uncertainty. ‘What they did to your parents will be nothing if you fail here. He’ll kill them all.’



Krystal closed her eyes and felt the cold returning as images of her parents’ blood sprayed up the walls of their home flashed behind her eyelids. She was going to kill Bellatrix, but she needed to do this first. She needed to make sure there was no reason for Voldemort to continue to hunt the only loved ones she had left.



Severus checked the house for Peter using a spell, but there were only four humans in the house. He frowned but nodded, seeing the silver in her eyes again as she stepped out into the hall, and walked towards the living room.



‘Krys!’ Sirius exclaimed, rising to his feet, and Remus raised his head, standing quickly, turning towards the hall.

‘Krys, what the hell’s going on?’ he said, coming towards her, but he stopped when she raised her hands and cast a petrification spell, sending him crashing to the ground. She winced but knew it had to be done - she couldn’t let him get under her walls. Lily and James jumped up, reaching for their wands, but Snape, having followed the hall to come out at the other end of the room, disarmed them, catching their wands.



They spun around, James almost growling when he saw Severus. Sirius released Remus from the spell and raised his wand, pointing it at Snape before Krystal slapped her hand across her body, sending her old friend flying against the wall, hitting it hard, as his wand flew towards her.

‘Move!’ said Severus, pointing his wand at James and Lily, herding them across the room to stand with Sirius and Remus.



‘Krystal,’ cried Lily, looking at her friend with tear filled eyes. ‘What’s going on? What have you done?’

Severus stepped up next to Krystal, unable to look at Lily. Krystal saw Remus stand up and look at her. He saw her eyes, cold and dead looking, and he knew that this wasn’t the girl he loved.

‘Come back, Krys,’ he said, his voice soft. ‘Please.’



He thought he saw a flash of uncertainty, before a spell hit him and sent him flying back across the room with a yelp of pain, his blood splattering across the room. Lily screamed, and James and Sirius yelled obscenities at Severus, moving towards him until he raised his wand at them.

‘Severus,’ Krystal cried, spinning around to face the man. Remus was stirring, but did not rise. His chest was bleeding from the hex Severus had hit him with.



‘Show time, Krystal,’ he said, looking over at her, as he held his wand on James and Lily. His voice lowered as he said, ‘Hurt them or they die, Krystal. Make it look good.’

‘Give them back their wands,’ Krystal demanded suddenly, looking at Severus. He stared at her in disbelief, but she insisted.

‘I won’t fight them without wands,’ she hissed at him. ‘I am many things, Severus, but I am not a coward. ’



‘Why are you doing this, Krys?’ Lily said, tears streaming down her cheeks.

‘Not all choices are simple, Lily, she snapped, snatching their wands off a reluctant Severus as James spoke.

‘This isn’t who you are…’ he began, but Krystal interrupted.

‘This is exactly who I am, James. I just didn’t realise it until now.’

She threw the wands down on the floor in front of them.

‘Pick them up,’ she demanded loudly. ‘I won’t kill an unarmed person.’

‘We won’t fight you, Krys,’ said Sirius, looking at her intensely. ’I won’t fight you.’



She closed her eyes for a second, imagining what they would look like if Bellatrix got to them. Opening her eyes, she felt a surge of hatred towards the woman, and channelled it into what she was about to do.

‘Then I’ll kill you first, Sirius,’ she retorted, sending a spell at him, hitting him in the chest.

She heard a crack and knew his rib had broken. He cried out, and fell against the wall again.



James and Lily dove for their wands and shot curses at them. Krystal and Severus sent up shields and blocked them. Lights flashed as spells and hexes were thrown around the room, none making contact until Krystal spun around and got a Cruciatus Curse through James’ defence. She watched him fall to the ground, screaming in agony. Severus battled Lily, blocking her curses, but not sending any back. Sirius was on his feet now, and, with one arm across his ribs, he grabbed his wand, shooting a stream of hexes at Krystal. They bounced off her shield and from behind it’s protection, she saw Remus getting to his feet.



While she was distracted, James sent a hex at her from the ground, and she felt it skim past her head. She turned and shot another curse at him, but he rolled and it hit the ground, searing the carpet. Spinning back, she dropped her shield and threw herself out of the way, landing on the carpet and sending a hex at Sirius, this time hearing his wand arm crack, seeing him drop his wand and fall to the ground with a strangled scream.



As she stood, Remus yelled her name, and she turned to him, seeing his wand arm hanging at his side.

‘I won’t hurt you, Krys,’ he said.

‘I will,’ yelled James, hitting Krystal in the shoulder with a hex that spun her around and made her arm feel as though it were on fire.

She sent another Crutiatis back at him, and it hit, making him scream again. Severus had sent Lily flying with a deflected curse, and turned to Remus, who had no trouble fighting the dark man, knocking Severus over after a short battle, just as Krystal saw James eye’s flutter shut against the agony surging through him.



She spun around, raising her hands, and Remus pointed his wand at her. Both breathing heavily, they stared at each other.

‘Do it, Krystal,’ demanded Severus from the ground, pointing his wand at Sirius, who was struggling to his feet, sending him back to the ground with a hex.

Krystal wavered, seeing the pain in Remus’ face. Her hands shook, and she saw his wand trembling, as he shook his head.

‘No,’ his whispered word was barely audible. ‘I won’t hurt you, Krys. I won’t fight you.’ He lowered his wand and stared at her, tears shimmering in his eyes.

Krystal blinked rapidly, her face twitching as the shadows fought for control.

‘You know what’s at stake, Krystal. Do it!’ Severus yelled, standing up and wiping blood off his face.



Anger rose in her and when he shouted again, ‘Do it! Now!’, a primal scream of fear, frustration and loss tore from her lips and two streams of purple light soared towards Remus, hitting him in the face and chest and sending him, unconscious to the ground.



Lily and Sirius were struggling to their feet, and James was stirring. Krystal, her mind firmly in the grasp of darkness now, spun around, and, without hesitation, sent a hex at Lily, sending her into the air with a terrible, agonised scream that stopped abruptly when her head and shoulders slammed into the wall. She fell heavily to the floor, and lay still, as Krystal turned to Sirius, swiping her hands down and hearing him hit the ground hard, more cracks ringing sharply through the room as the curses did their job. Finally, she walked over to James, who was stirring, and cast the Cruciatus curse again, holding it on him as his body bucked until he passed out.



She stood looking down at them, her breathing tortured and then looked to Severus.

‘Enough?’ she said, her voice shaking as the impact of what she’d just done began to hit her.

He nodded, saying, ‘I’ll alter our memories before we return. We should go now before they wake up.’



Krystal nodded, but paused in the doorway. She turned back and walked back over to Remus, still unconscious on the ground. Reaching around her neck with trembling hands, she unfastened the necklace he’d given her; that she always wore. Kissing it, she felt tears well up in her eyes before she slid it into his pocket.

‘Goodbye, Remus,’ she said, her hand shaking as she touched his bloodied face, then stood and walked out of the house.



The small gesture seemed to have loosened the hold the shadows had on her, and shaking uncontrollably now, she staggered a little walking down the path. She stopped, nausea overwhelming her, and she vomited into the garden, retching until she had nothing left in her stomach.



Severus grabbed her arm, and apparated them away, appearing outside his home. Krystal again retched, and unable to stand unassisted, Severus picked her up and carried her into the house.



He gave her a potion for shock, holding a bucket under her as she immediately threw it up. Casting a Calming spell helped, then he gave her a potion for nausea. When that stayed down, he gave her another for shock, and she became still. Her blue eyes were glazed and her breathing shallow, and Severus was, for a moment, frightened that she had been pushed beyond breaking point; that her mind had been lost.



It took a few minutes for the shock potion to work, but when it did, he saw the silver light return to her eyes. She sat up and silently took his wand and put it to her head, drawing out the memories of what she’d done, putting them into the vial he held out.



Taking them, he worked for an hour, altering both their memories so that they showed a screaming Krystal attacking her friends, then getting interrupted by several known members of the Order. It took all his knowledge to do it, but they were convincing memories. He was certain the Dark Lord would not check them thoroughly.



He returned her memories to her, and was startled when she asked him in a low voice, ‘Will I remember what really happened?’

He nodded, saying,’ The real memory will always be there. I can try and remove it….’

‘No,’ she said, her voice flat, her silver eyes dead. ‘I want to remember.’



***************************************



They returned to the stone house, and the Dark Lord took their memories. As Severus expected, he did not examine them too closely, accepting what he saw on the surface without looking deeper.

‘You allowed them wands?’ he asked mildly, turning to look at Krystal. She nodded.

The shadows were back in control now, and her face and voice were cold as she said, ‘It is hardly a challenge to kill unarmed opponents, My Lord.’



He smiled at her, and gave her back the vial of memories.

‘You have done well, little Gryffindor,’ he said, stroking her face with a bony finger. ‘It is a shame you were interrupted…’

‘No, My Lord. It is better this way. Now, they know to fear you, to fear us. It is a good thing they survived. They can tell the others how fruitless it is to try and fight us,’ she said softly, looking into his red eyes as they glowed with pride.

‘You are truly a gift,’ Voldemort said, and Krystal saw lust in his gaze. Whether it was for her, or her power, she didn’t know, but didn’t care to find out.

Krystal nearly gave herself away, though, when he said, ‘Come. I will honour you now with the Mark, so there will be no doubt that you are mine.’



She saw Severus’ eyes widen. Somehow, neither of them had thought of this. She felt a thrill of panic, but then a feeling of calm came over her, and suddenly she knew what to do. She lowered her mind block, and approached the Dark Lord, looking into his eyes; looking into his mind.

‘My Lord,’ she said softly. ‘You do not expect me to take the Mark in such an inauspicious way, do you?’ He stared at her silently, unknowingly letting her take over his mind. She saw him - the real him; all the horrors in his head, and it was all she could do to not scream.



‘I am valuable to you, am I not? I deserve a higher honour,’ she whispered, her face so very close to his repugnant one, her mind probing deep into his, planting these ideas as his. She didn’t have a clue how she knew to do this, but saw it was working, his eyes flickering in confirmation.

‘Please, My Lord,’ she said softly, her hand reaching for his face, running her finger down his cheek as he had done to her. ‘Do not treat me as one of your lowliest servants. Some of your Death Eaters still doubt my allegiance. Show them you believe in me; give me the Mark in front of all of them. Tomorrow night.’



Severus watched, scarcely breathing when he realised what Krystal was doing. She had taken over the mind of the most powerful Occlumens alive. And done it effortlessly, and without his knowledge. Shaking, Severus, for the first time, truly understood what Krystal could be capable of.

For a moment, there was silence, and Severus thought she had pushed her luck too far, but then he saw the Dark Lord smile and was stunned to hear him parrot Krystal’s words back to her.

‘No,’ he said, his eyes on Krystal. ‘You deserve a higher honour than to take the Mark in such inauspicious circumstances. Tomorrow night, I will summon my Death Eaters to me, and they will witness you taking my Mark, and then…,’ His hand slid up her arm to her chin. ‘Then they will all know that you are mine.’



Severus thought he was about to kiss her, and Krystal must have had the same thought. She grasped his hand, and quickly bought it to her mouth, putting her mind block up quickly as she tried hard to swallow back her revulsion. ‘Thank you, My Lord. You will never have reason to doubt my loyalty, my devotion to you.’



She could see the hunger again in his eyes, and stepped back. ‘My Lord, I ask that I be allowed to rest now,’ she said, her head bowed. ‘I am weary, and need my strength to do your will in the coming days.’ Voldemort nodded.

‘Snape….’ Severus stepped forward. ‘Krystal will stay with you until more permanent arrangements can be made.’

Severus nodded, and he and Krystal departed, apparating to his house.



‘How did you do that?’ he asked as soon as they were inside his house. Krystal looked at him as she sank into a chair. Her eyes had changed back to blue, and her face was pale.

‘I have no idea,’ she whispered, her voice shaky, as were her hands when she raised them to wipe over her cold, sweaty face.

Severus frowned. ‘Are you alright?’ he asked, sitting next to her, his hand on her shoulder.

‘I just need to lie down for a while,’ she said, and he stood up again.



Grabbing a cushion and a thin blanket, he helped her get more comfortable, surprised when she fell asleep straight away, tremors still intermittently shaking her. Putting a hand to her forehead, he frowned again. She was sweaty and clammy and when he put his hand lightly on her chest, he could feel how fast her heart was racing, and her breathing was shallow and fast.

‘She’s going into shock,’ he realised, quickly rising and fetching a vial of potion. He tried to wake her, but couldn’t, eventually lifting her head and pouring the potion down her throat. Dragging a chair closer, he watched her until the shaking stopped and her breathing evened out again. Then, relieved and exhausted, he fell asleep, hearing Lily screaming in his dreams.



*******************************************



Several hours later, Krystal was pacing the study as Severus tried to sleep on the couch. ‘For God’s sake, woman,’ he said, exasperated. ‘Will you sit down? We cannot do anything until tomorrow. I will send the owls in the morning to them, asking them to meet at Antolli’s house.’

‘What if something goes wrong?’ she asked, as she continued to pace. ‘What if they don’t come?’

Severus sat up. ‘When they get a message they believe to be from the Dark Lord, they will not ignore it,’ he said. ‘They will be there.’ She nodded and sat down next to him.



‘I will need you to do something for me when it is done,’ she said, looking up at him.

‘I can’t kill you, Krystal,’ he said, thinking she would ask him again. ‘You’re going to have to run the second it’s done or they’ll kill you…’

She laughed bitterly. ‘I don’t want you to kill me,’ she said, her voice low and cold. ‘But I don’t want them to kill me either. I want to live, Severus. I want to remember everything that I’ve done, and live for a very long time.’

He could hear the self loathing in her voice and instinctively knew that her determination to live was so that she could punish herself for her actions. Despair had fed the darkness, tightening it’s hold on her.



‘I want you to contact Dumbledore for me and tell him everything, tell him the truth.’ She could see the shock on his face.

‘He said he would help me if I asked, and he will honour his word, whether he wants to or not,’ she said with certainty.

‘I need him to help me get away; to disappear once they are dead. Promise me, Severus.’

Severus stared at her. ‘Alright, but he may not believe me…‘ he began but she smiled.

‘He will believe you. He did last time,‘ she said, seeing him frown. ‘He won’t let family down; he‘s an honourable man. You‘re both honourable men.‘ His mouth shook a little at her words.

Krystal stopped and he saw her eyes glistening with tears. ‘Tell him he was wrong,‘ she said quietly. ‘I did save them. But it’s too late now to save myself. He’ll understand.’



She blinked back the tears, suddenly frowning and appearing uneasy. ‘I just can’t shake this feeling that something will go wrong….’ she said softly, her eyes clouding then she shook herself and stood.

‘I am going to try and get some more rest. Wake me early?’ He nodded and watched her walk heavily up the stairs.



He lay awake on the couch for an hour before standing and moving to his potions storage room. Her uncertainty, her fear that something would go wrong, had infected him, and he was searching for a ‘Plan B’. He packed his potions pouch with several different vials, and also packed a bag for himself, in case he also had to disappear. Finally, his mind slightly more at ease, he lay back on the couch, and slept fitfully until dawn broke.



Krystal was awake and ready when he knocked on the bedroom door. She was pale, and had black rings around her eyes, now returned to her usual blue.

‘I have sent the owls,’ he said, asking them to meet at Antolli’s at 9.00am for instruction from the Dark Lord‘s envoy. That gives us an hour,’ he said.

She nodded and refused the food he offered her. ‘You should eat something,’ he said, concerned. She had not eaten in a few days.

‘I would just throw it up, Sev,’ she said softly, staring out the grimy window.



As time crept closer, she became more agitated. Finally, it was time to leave. She took his arm, but stopped him from apparating. ‘I want you to leave,’ she said, firmly. ‘I want you to take me there, then leave.’

He frowned, but felt a feeling of gratitude. She was still trying to protect him.

‘No,’ he said, just as firmly. ‘I owe you my life, Krystal, and it’s time I started repaying my debt.’ He spun as her mouth opened to argue, disapparating to Antolli’s house.



They crept around the side, hearing voices within. ‘One minute,’ Severus said, seeing Krystal’s nod. The wait felt interminable but at exactly nine o’clock, she held up her hands and blasted the front door open, hearing yells from inside. She and Severus moved quickly inside, as Antolli rushed out to meet them. Krystal didn’t waste a second.



‘Avada Kedavra!’ she screamed, seeing his face freeze as the Killing Curse made contact. He fell to the ground, as Crank ran out, casting hex’s at them. Krystal raised a shield as a hex just missed her, and Severus shot a Stunner at him, missing but causing him to become distracted for a moment. It was long enough: Krystal raising her hands and casting the Unforgivable Curse, hitting him in the chest. He also fell, landing on top of Antolli.



Krystal and Severus looked around frantically, creeping up the stairs and into the other rooms, looking for Bellatrix, the final piece needed for this to be finished.

‘She’s not here,’ Severus said, looking around the living room.

They stared at each other, then Krystal sank to a seat. ‘She knows,’ she said, her head in her hands. ‘She isn’t coming. He‘ll kill us all, Sev.’

‘No,’ said Severus. ‘She will be here, I’m sure.’ He looked at Krystal. ‘But she’ll be on her guard. The door and walls are damaged. She will know something’s wrong; she will not enter. They’ll figure it out.’



He began to pace, thinking of their options. ‘If we disappear, he will not stop until he finds us, this I know for certain. If you disappear leaving Bellatrix as a witness to this, he will suspect I’ve helped you. We’ve been together for two days; he will kill me, and the others, and hunt you for the rest of your days.’

‘I wish you’d killed me,‘ she mumbled, shaking her head and starting to rock backwards and forwards. ‘This is like a living hell.‘



He stopped abruptly and looked at her. ‘That’s it,’ he said softly, his eyes wide.

He fumbled in his pocket and pulled out his pouch of potions.

‘If I kill you in front of Bellatrix, I am the only witness to what happened here, and I can tell the Dark Lord it was all you. That you were working with Dumbledore; with the Order. That I figured out what you were doing too late. That I tried to stop you but you‘d already killed Antolli and Crank, and were waiting for Bellatrix to finish the job. That I had to kill you to stop you.’



As he spoke, he searched through his vials, until he found the one he was looking for. ‘But you can’t kill me,’ Krystal said, standing. ‘You said you couldn’t.’

He shook his head. ‘No, I can’t kill you, Krystal,’ he agreed. ‘But there’s dead, and then there’s dead.’

He held up a potion. ‘Draught of the Living Death,’ he explained. ‘Take it, now. When Bellatrix arrives, I will pretend to have cursed you. She will see you dead, will have heard me kill you. I’ll come back later and give you the counter potion, then Dumbledore can get you away.’



Krystal looked at him. ‘You think this will work?’ she said, but they both heard a pop outside.

‘It’ll have to,’ he said urgently. She paused for a moment then took the vial, swallowing the potion in a gulp.

He hexed her, slashing a wound across her stomach that made her moan in pain.



‘Curse me now,’ he demanded, and she did without hesitation, making him cry out. She sank to the ground, the potion taking effect quickly. As she fell, he could hear Bellatrix swear as she saw the demolished door.

Severus pointed his wand to the ground and yelled, ‘Avada Kedavra!’

Green light flashed, and a burn mark appeared on the carpet. He quickly raised his wand, pointing at Krystal, just as Bellatrix ran through the living room door.



*********************************************



‘This must what heaven is like.’

The thought came just before Krystal reluctantly began to regain consciousness several hours later. The painless, worry free world she’d been floating in disappeared, and she felt agony sweep through her body. She clutched her stomach, and her eyes opened as she groaned. Hands pulled at her, and she tried to push them away, hearing someone say her name urgently.

‘Albus?’ she whispered, feeling the hands pull her until she was sitting.

She saw her cousin’ s worried face in front of her, Severus standing behind him.

‘We must go. Now, he said, pulling her to her feet. Krystal moaned in pain, not just from the wound Severus gave her. Her entire body hurt.



‘I’m sorry, Krystal,’ said Severus, his face pale when he saw her pain. ‘I couldn’t stop her hurting you.’

‘Its ok. Thank you, Sev,’ Krystal said to him, realising she‘d been tortured whilst Bellatrix thought she was dead.

Fully aware now, she held a hand over her still gaping wound as her cousin took her arm.

‘I’ll be in contact,’ Albus said to Snape, who nodded.



Albus handed her an old shoe. ‘It’s a portkey, Krystal,’ he explained, seeing her confusion. ‘Hang on. One, two, three!’

They flew through the air, spinning. Just when Krystal thought she might be sick, they slowed, and their feet slammed into the ground, Krystal’s legs buckling a little.



‘Where are we?’ she asked, looking around at the dry earth, the trees and the burning sun that was making her eyes sting.

‘Australia. Queensland to be more accurate,’ he answered, leading her towards a wooden house.

Once inside, he sat her on a couch and checked her wound, healing it quickly. He muttered an incantation and the worst of her pain disappeared. Then he sat next to her. ‘Tell me everything,’ he demanded.



She did. She told him how Severus had approached her with the Dark Lord’s threat; how she’d found her parent’s safe house empty; that Severus had shown her their mutilated bodies. Now she stopped, closing her eyes and remembering that bright red blood on her hands. She wrung them together, feeling the cold as she fought the pain, not seeing the anger and shock on his face as he realised there was a traitor in the Order.



Continuing, she explained that they were waiting for Remus, that they were going to kill him; how she’d asked Severus to kill her, to stop this.

‘They killed mum and dad,’ she said, grief beginning to take form, pushing some of the darkness away. ‘They were going to kill Remus. I couldn’t let them, Albus,’ she cried, tears filling her eyes.

She took deep breaths, searching for the shadows, telling them to take her; to protect her, but they were disappearing; the sorrow and heartache she felt thinking of Remus and her parents was driving them away.



She told him what she did, and how it had ended, holding back the sobs that were threatening to escape. ‘You were right, Albus,’ she said, pain bending her over, making her ache. ‘I was weak, and I did terrible, terrible things.’

She felt his arms hold her then, as she cried for everything she had done, everything she had lost.



Hours later, she was sleeping, thanks to the potion Albus forced her to take, and he had left. Once she had cried herself out, her determination to ’die’ had wavered; she had begged him to allow her to contact Remus.

‘I need him to know why I did this; that I didn’t want to hurt him. I love him, Albus. I can’t stand him thinking that I don’t,‘ she said desperately.

But he’d shaken his head and convinced her that it wasn’t in Remus’ best interests.



‘Think about him, Krystal,’ he said softly, the pain in her face hurting him. ‘He’ll be tormented if he knows you’re alive and he can’t be with you. And it appears there is a traitor in the Order. If I bring him to you, word will reach Lord Voldemort and he will suspect you are not dead. You will place your friends in danger again, Severus will be killed and you and Remus will be hunted for the rest of your lives.’

He saw the realisation that he was right in her eyes before they hardened, turning silver again as she protected her heart.

‘Then I need you to do that one last thing for me,’ she said firmly. ‘And do it now. I want him to start to get on with his life as soon as possible.’



He sighed, preparing now to do the task she had asked of him. He walked up the stairs and knocked on the door, smiling gently at Sirius when he answered.

‘I need to speak with you all,’ he said, as he walked into the living room and sat down.



“Krystal is dead,’ he said softly, hearing Lily’s gasp of shock, and felt the wave of grief run through the room.

‘I’m sorry,’ he said, shaking his head. ‘She was bewitched by Voldemort, seduced by his power. She did terrible things to you all, in order to prove herself. She was killed by Aurors as she participated in the torture of a half blood this morning.’

Albus hated lying to them, but he had promised Krystal that he would never tell them why she done this. She wanted them to believe that she betrayed them; that she was dead; to get on with their lives; to be safe.



‘I don’t believe you.’ The voice was low and angry.

Albus turned to him, with a frown. ‘Remus, I know this is hard to understand….’

‘It wasn’t her,’ Remus said, standing and glaring at Albus. ‘I saw her eyes: they were dead. She wasn’t enjoying it; she hesitated - more than once. Snape was egging her on; he was holding something over her.’



He walked closer to Albus and the older man rose to meet him. ‘Tell us what really happened. Tell me where she is,’ he demanded, his blue eyes cold.

‘She’s dead, Remus,’ Albus began, but he shook his head.

‘She’s not dead!’ he yelled, shaking off Sirius who had put his hand on his arm. ‘I want to see her body. If she’s dead, I need to see her.’

‘There is nothing left,’ Albus said softly, seeing Sirius, behind Remus, close his eyes tightly and sink into a chair. ‘I’m so sorry, Remus.’



Albus could see Krystal’s other friends accept what he told them. Sirius had his head in his hands and his shoulders were shaking; and James was holding a sobbing Lily, tears running down his own face. Peter was watching Dumbledore and Remus with a guilty expression on his face. Albus gave the man a reassuring look, thinking he must be upset that he had given away Krystal’s secret. But when he looked back at Remus, he saw a damaged man, his eyes tortured.



‘I don’t believe you,’ he whispered, staring at him, his face pale.

‘I know you loved her….’ Albus said, but Remus interrupted him.

‘Yes I did,’ he said. ‘And I thought that she loved me.’ The pain in his face was too much for Albus to bear and he couldn’t hold his tongue. He moved forward quickly and took hold of Remus’ arms, speaking firmly to him.

‘I don’t care if you don’t believe anything else I ever tell you, Remus, but believe this. Krystal loved you.’



It was dark when Remus walked through the door of the cottage Krystal’s parents had given them. He sank down onto the bed they’d shared, staring at the floor blankly. Putting his hand in his pocket, he pulled out the necklace he’d found there after he regained consciousness last night. He let the chain run through his fingers, as he stroked the gold filigree heart charm.



‘I can’t believe it, Sirius,’ he said, hoarsely, finally looking over at his friend who had insisted on coming home with him. ’She wouldn’t have done this - not if she was herself. Something happened to her, something made her do this.’

Sirius sat next to him, putting an arm around his shoulders. ‘I don’t want to believe it either, Remus, but she did it. For whatever reason, she betrayed us.’



Remus shook his head in despair, struggling to find answers. ‘Wouldn’t I have known if she was capable of this? How could she hide it from me - how could she lie here and tell me she loved me, just hours before she….’

He stood up, unable to be near the bed where they had lain together so recently; where she’d asked him, ’You know I adore you, don‘t you?’ just over twenty four hours ago. He remembered the feel of her warm body in his arms and closed his eyes against the tears that rose there.



‘She told me I could ask her to marry me again,‘ he whispered. ‘She told me she was ready to say yes. Why would she have said that if….?‘ He looked at Sirius, who’s face was a mask of agony.

‘Wouldn’t I know if she were dead, Sirius? I’d feel it, wouldn’t I?’

His voice cracked as he realised that, even if she wasn’t dead, it was over. Really over. He’d never hold her again, never hear her whisper his name, never smell the scent of her hair. One way or another: Krystal was gone.



Tears streaked hot down his cheeks and he felt Sirius’ arms around him as the wail of grief was ripped from his chest, the pain bringing him to his knees. He felt Sirius’ tears and put his arms around him.

‘She’s gone, Pads,’ he choked out, hearing his friend’s moan of anguish. They sat on the floor of the bedroom and wept for the woman they had both loved.



A/N: Now you know my pain. Review, dammit!