Sub Rosa

Chapter 8 – Inquisition

Kathryn leaned back against the large rock next to the lake, books and papers spread out around her. She was tracing down a theorem in a muggle book, trying to translate the quadratic equations into Arithmantical terms. So involved was she in her work, she didn’t hear the three sets of footsteps coming up towards her, till they set off her perimeter charm.

“Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, Miss Granger.” She greeted them beforey cey came into sight.

“How did you know it was us?” Ron’s voice was full of wonder.

“Perimeter charm.” She responded, glancing up at them and smiling. They plopped down around her with all the gangly energy that adolescents seemed to have in abundance.

“How does it work? What are you doing? I’ve never seen equations like that before?” All of it poured out of Hermione’s mouth like water tumbling over a cliff and Kathryn chuckled.

“It’s not taught till seventh year. Translating Quadratic equations into Arithmancy. Probably not, this is university level work.” She returned, cheerfully mimicking Hermione’s tone, keeping any sting from it with a broad smile.

“Can I ask you a question?” Harry, his face gone serious and adult, looked at her with intensity.

may may ask me anything, but I cannot guarantee an answer.” She sat and watched him, matching him in seriousness.

“You were an Auror.”

“Yes”

“Did you know my parents, or Sirius Black?” warning bells went off in Kathryn’s mind as the question was asked. Harry’s simmering resentments could easily be turned on her if she wasn’t careful here.

“I never met your parents, though I did meet Mr. Black a couple of times.” She would have to move through this quagmire very carefully.

“What did you think of Sirius?” His eyes were practically boring holes into her and she knew her answer was very important.

“As a person, I thought he was likeable and friendly, as a fighter in the war against Voldemort, I thought he was reckless, but very brave.” She caught a flash of something as she eredered and was concerned she had not said the right thing.

“Reckless how?” Harry was studying every nuance of her answer and she decided he would be good at interrogations.

“Well, there were several times he took risks that I thought were unnecessary, but he had a lot to live down.” She was very aware of the boy’s recent loss and how it was piled on top of so much else.

“What do you mean?” How could green eyes look so cool and assessing?

“His brother was a Death Eater and his family were the next best thing. He had spent his entire life trying to prove he wasn’t like the rest of the Blacks. The minute his name was known people judged him, it made him angry and he responded by tryioo hoo hard sometimes.”

“People judged him? I thought he was popular in school?” Harry looked surprised.

“I didn’t know him at school, Harry, but I do know that among the Aurors and many others his last name made him mistrusted. There were plenty of people who were totally unsurprised when it was thought he had betrayed your parents.” Oh, good, she thought, I’ve gotten him away from the dangerous ground.

“I didn’t know that.”

“The Blacks have been dark even longer than the Malfoys, in fact, I believe Sirius is one of only three members of his family to reject the dark. Sirius was the first Gryffindor Black in the entire history of his family.”

“How do you know so much about the family?” Ron asked with some suspicion.

“I am distantly related to them, about five generations back, I think. In fact, I am related to both Mr. Potter and yourself as well.” She added and watched them both sit up in surprise.

“Really? We’re related?” Harry sounded pleased.

“If I had La Livre, I could show you the precise relationship, but Grand-mére Marie keeps it in the library at Lieu D’Asile.” She muttered, wondering if an owl to Grand-mére would be useful.

“Huh? Where is that?” Ron was craning his neck at her in a way that looked uncomfortable. What on earth had made the boy so suspicious? Oh right, his pet rat was a murderer and an agent of Voldemort. Maybe he was entitled to his trauma.

“Oh, Grand-mére’s estate in Louisiana.”

“Lieu D’Asile, doesn’t that mean “Place of Refuge”?” Hermione asked, after a moment of biting her lip.

“Yes, Grand-pére built it for Grand-mére during a time when the muggles were being particularly difficult.” Kathryn smiled in memory of the stories her grandparents used to tell her.

“So she could tell us how we’re related?” Harry seemed very interested in the subject of relations and it suddenly occurred to Kathryn that growing up with almost no family could be worse than growing up with too much.

“Well, I know that Great Aunt Augusta married a Potter, she would be your Great Grandmother and she was born a Laveau, so she would be my Grand-mére Marie’s sister. Most of the pureblood families are related, Mr. Potter.”

“Wait, your grandmother is Marie Laveau?” Hermione squeaked, looking suddenly frightened.

“You mustn’t listen to what Muggles say about witches, Hermione, Grand-mére Marie is a sweetie. She hasn’t made someone into a zombie in ages and only when someone really deserved it.” Hermione’s eyes widened to epic proportions until Kathryn and Ron both bust up lasting. Harry looked perplexed and Hermione irritated.

“What’s so funny?” Harry asked.

“Hermione, Harry, after five years at Hogwarts surely you know that real witches and wizards don’t make zombies.” Ron rolled his eyes and Hermione blushed.

“I’m sorry, Miss Granger, but I couldn’t resist.” Kathryn touched the girl lightly in apology and she shrugged the joke off.

“I should have known better, it’s just that I saw this TV show over the summer.” She ducked her head and Kathryn sighed.

“You think Potter is a tough name to carry, try Laveau or Black. At least you are famous for something good.” She shrugged at Harry and saw him smile, looking more his age, rather than a middle-aged man in a boy’s body.

“You said he was reckless, wa cru cruel?” Damn, she thought that she had him past those questions. The kid was persistent.

“In what way?” Maybe she could ease around the subject.

“He teased Snape a lot when they were students.”

“Professor Snape.” She corrected automatically.
“Was he cruel?” His voice had urgency and she sighed, too many lies, too many burdens, she could not protect him. Suddenly she wondered if all the people trying to protect him had something to do with Harry’s fierce anger.
“To those he didn’t like, yes.” The truth was all she had to give this boy.
“Right after he died, Professor Dumbledore told me that he was reckless and thoughtless.” She didn’t have to ask which “he” Harry was talking about.
“He could be, he was headstrong and not inclined towards patience, but Mr. Potter, he had his heart in tightight place, most of the time, and he was the most loyal man I ever knew.” She sighed again, wondering how much more to say, the boy was looking at her as if she was his last hope.
“Mr. Potter, Sirius was brave, the first one in and the last one out, he took crazy risks and sometimes got so caught up in what he was doing that he paid little heed to his own safety. He would get so restless that he would do stupid and dangerous things because he was bored.” Harry winced at that. “But he also was fun to be around, kind to his friends and damn handy in a fight.”
“Were you a friend?” She ran a hand across her hair, checking to see that it still securely charmed into its bun.
“It sort of depended on the circumstances.” He was watching her, waiting for an answer. “He thought I was pretty, but I wasn’t interested in him, so he gave me a hard time about it. I believe in careful organization with lots of back-up and contingency plans, he liked to charge in spells blazing, so we argued a lot, but because I won most of the arguments, he respected me.” She blew out her breath. “Was that what you wanted to know?” Her voice gentled at the last and she cocked her head to look him in the eyes.
“I asked for the truth, if I didn’t want to hear it I wouldn’t ask.” She nodded and relaxed, she hadn’t damaged her delicate status with him. “I think yours was the most balanced view of him. Snape hated him.”
“I don’t know much about the history between Professor Snape and Sirius Black, but from personalities alone, it’s not hard to see how they could end up hating each other.” She tried to remain neutral in this; she had just managed to get over the Sirius question.

“My father, Sirius, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew were all best friends at school.” Harry began. “They were horrible to Snape, but he wasn’t very nice to them either.”

“Children are not born nice. They have to be trained to kindness and empathy, we were none of us perfect as children.” She noted Ron fidgeting slightly near by.

“I was a git to you about the Goblet thing.” Ron said suddenly.

“You were both kind of horrid to me first year.” Hermione added.

“No, I mean they tortured Snape, they were really cruel.” Harry twisted a corner of his robe through his fingers.

“I imagine that Professor Snape was a thin kid, bookish, nerdy, he would have been a natural target and even now, he can’t seem to defend himself from cruelty very well.” The three adolescents looked at her in shock, mouths hanging open.

“Not defend himself? He’s as a bloody terror!” Ron sputtered.

“Ah, but when you can defend yourself you are not afraid to appear weak or let people close to you. All that sneering and snarling keeps people away, keeps them from getting too close.”

“Who would want to get close to that greasy git?” Ron was incensed, but Hermione was listening and even Harry heard her, even if he obviously wasn’t ready to really listen.

“Mr. Weasley, keep a civil tongue in your head about a teacher in this school, or be prepared to lose points.” She frowned at the young man and he sulked, but desisted.

“Do you think that Professor Snape is lonely?” Hermione asked, her eyes thoughtful. Kathryn immediately recognized the impulse in the girl that led to her adopting the nearest stray cause and thought quickly.

“Albus is his friend, so no, he’s probably not lonely. Besides, he has to keep being nasty as long as his, um, other activities are going on.”

“You know about that?” Harry looked at her sharply.

“I used to be an Auror, Albus thought that finding out later about his past could lead to a potentially awkward situation.” The three kids looked thoughtful and then nodded, seeing the logic of that. Another hurdle jumped, she hated the half-truths, but they were in the end, simply not cleared for the whole truth.

“I can see why he has to be mean and all, but why did he have to be so horrible during Occlumency lessons?”

“Severus gave you Occlumency lessons!” Kathryn’s jaw dropped open. “Whose dumb idea was that?”

“Professor Dumbledore, though even he said later that it was a bad idea.” Harry was looking at her strangely. “Why are you so shocked?”

“Because to teach that to another person you have to open yourself to them, make yourself vulnerable, for a spy it could be fatal.” Her voice trailed off, she was treading too close to dangerous ground.

“Why could it be fatal?” Harry, however, wasnettietting it go and Kathryn was afraid of where he might go to find the answers to the questions that were crowding his eyes.

“Because a spy has to have a place in his mind to hide his true persona, a place that is safe from the people he is spying on. Had you breached that space, found the truth in him, he would have been more open the next time he was summoned. The opening could have been fatal if someone like Voldemort saw it.”

“He risked his life to help Harry.” Hermione said softly. “He has saved Harry’s life a couple of times now too.”

Harry stood suddenly, his face a mask of rage.

“I don’t care! I hate him, he’s always horrible to me!”

“You don’t have to like him, Harry.” Kathryn said in the silence after his storm. The boy stared at her in shock.

“But you just said that he risked his life for me!”

“Yes, just as I or you or any of a dozen others would risk their life to stop Voldemort and end this war. That doesn’t mean we all have to agreth eth each other all the time, or even like each other. We just have to work together.” Harry sat down, watching her with dawning understanding. The kids thought about her words for a long time, as the sun began to set over the lake.

“I hope you stay for more than just the year, Professor Leblanc.” Harry said finally and they helped her gather her things and walked slowly back to tastlastle together.

Strangely, Kathryn was starting to wish the same thing herself.