𝐎𝐟𝐟 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐬 | | 𝕝𝕦𝕔𝕚𝕦𝕤 𝕞𝕒𝕝𝕗𝕠𝕪

𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐥

They send me away to find them a fortune
A chest filled with diamonds and gold
The house was awake, the shadows and monsters
The hallways, they echoed and groaned

Katherine stared at the people before her. Lucius was to her side watching Narcissa back away towards the stairs. Her heart was pounding and no one was moving an inch. No matter how much she denied it she was terrified because she knew it was the end. Lucius was going to Azkaban. She grabbed his arm holding it tightly as the Aurors finally approached them. "Please, don't take him! I know he was there but he was working as a spy. He never did anything in the first war of his own accord so why-" she pleaded. But it was no use. She was cut off by Lupin interrupting her. "Katherine you know that isn't true. Just step aside calmly." She didn't move an inch.

"Stand back, girl!" yelled one of the Aurors. Refusing still to move from her position, she stood protectively in front of Lucius. They were surrounded by angry, ready-to-duel wizards on all sides. She knew she was going to fail, going to find herself hurt. But at that moment she only cared about saving herself and Lucius.
"Katherine, are you an idiot! It is over, they caught me." Lucius mumbled behind her, trying to push her aside. She reached to grab her wand from her pocket but was quickly hit by a stunning spell from Tonks. The world went in slow motion as she froze. In front of her, she saw Tonks running towards her side, Lucius immediately bolting away in the midst of the chaos. Then she was falling, her head hitting the tile as her vision faded to black...

She shot up gasping for air, her chest rising and falling as she scrambled to stand. It was still light outside and she sighed in relief as she realized it meant not even an hour had passed. The room around her was empty, devoid of Aurors and the man they sought to capture. Her head whipped around frantically before she finally spotted Achilles nipping at her heels. He would be useful. The sound of Aurors still running around the house was all she could hear, searching for Lucius. Katherine grabbed on to her dog's collar quickly as one of them turned the corners, hot on Lucius's trail. Achilles immediately started barking angrily, the Auror standing in a defensive position.

"Get your dog, girl!" He yelped as Achilles prowled closer, his sharp white teeth glistening in the light. Katherine just smirked, her hand tightening the grip on the collar. The man stood still, trying not to move as to not upset the dog. Behind him, Lucius was backing away, and she saw an almost proud smile on his face.
"Oh, Achilles? He doesn't bite." Removing her hand from his collar, the dog leaped out of her grip. Suddenly, the Doberman was attacking the Auror, and she could hear him screaming "Yes he does!" as the dog bit and tore at the man's clothes. Katherine ran past them, immediately grabbing Lucius by the arm. "We have to get out of here!" she yelled, and he paused for a moment before reluctantly following her.

Glancing around her to make sure no one was around, she and Lucius dashed up the staircase. She could hear the men downstairs arguing amongst themselves about where they had fled. Pulling him through the second floor of the manor, they went room to room trying to find a place to hide. Finally, they stopped right at the door to the master bedroom. Katherine opened it and the pair ran inside and out of the glass doors that led to the master balcony. Just as they were about to turn around, the voices of angry Auror's coming up the steps echoed throughout the hall.

Katherine felt Lucius's hand against her cheek, his thumb resting softly on her face. She glanced up at him and she could tell that he knew he was defeated.
"Lucius, please. Are you really going to give up now? After everything you've done? Come on, we can apparate away and go live somewhere together, just the two of us! Please, you just can't leave me here all alone, and you can't leave Narcissa and Draco either. Now is not the time to be a coward, damn it!" she argued, begging for him to not surrender.
"If I flee I will be found. Katherine, I am much safer in Azkaban than I am here. I failed my mission which means I will not be in the Dark Lord's best graces. You are a strong, resilient woman, and I know you can get through this without me. You have an entire life ahead of you. I do hope that this will not be the first time I see your beautiful face or encounter your young spirit. I care for you more than you will ever understand. You have to be brave for me, my dove." After he spoke, he leaned down and pressed a final kiss to her wavering lips.

Her hands pressed themselves to cup his face, her fingers trying to memorize every detail of the calloused skin of his cheek. She couldn't get close enough to him, all she wanting at that moment is time to stop so she could be there on the balcony, in his arms, forever. It was a scene out of a passionate romance movie, the two of them kissing each other against the backdrop of a setting sky. She tried to savor every final moment, letting out a small gasp as Lucius was pulled off of her. In the midst of the moment, she didn't notice chaos erupting around her, Tonks tugging her away as Lucius was held back by a group of Aurors, binds appearing on his wrists and ankles as he started to be dragged out of the room.

"Lucius, I-"

She paused for a moment, unsure if she wanted to continue. She wanted to yell, scream at him that she loved him before he was taken away from her forever. The last time he had denied her, called her a silly stupid girl and dismissed any thought of affection towards him. Would he do the same this time? It could very well be the last time she would see him, and in turn, she could be the last person he speaks to before he got locked up in a torturous prison alone, left to rot from pure despair and insanity. She opened her mouth to finish, to say she loved him, but it was too late. Lucius was gone.

Turning around, she saw Tonks behind her, her hand resting gently on her shoulder. "You did good today, Katherine. Distracting him with that 'please don't leave me, alone daddy' speech. It stalled him enough for us to catch up to you guys. You helped put He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named's right-hand man in Azkaban. You should be proud." she chirped. Katherine brushed her hand off of her shoulder, wiping a stray tear from her face.
"Yeah, sure," she mumbled before glancing at the balcony, trying to imagine her and Lucius there again.
"Hey, now that he's gone why don't you come and join us in the Order? Or do you still want to play undercover spy?" Tonks asked. Katherine shook her head, beginning to walk herself out the door.
"I think I'll stay. I have some things to take care of," she responded before shutting the door behind her.

Taking off down the hallway, she just ran until she found her bedroom door, throwing it open before slamming it shut almost immediately after. She entered her bathroom, leaving the door ajar as she walked up to the large mirror staring at her pained reflection. Her lip trembled as she braced her arms against the white tiled sink, finally letting all her emotions hit her. Guilt, turmoil, anger all flooded into her body at once as she let out a choked sob. She had lost him and it hurt her to know that she might never see him, touch him, speak to him again.

"Do you blame yourself?"

She looked up to see the reflection of Narcissa behind her in the mirror. Her blue eyes were glossy atop red, puffy under-eyes. She had a melancholic look on her face, which made Katherine feel an even sharper pang of guilt in her gut. She stayed silent refusing to answer until Narcissa spoke again. "Darling, this is not your fault. I know you did all you could. Although I do not know what happened I can assume that it was something out of your limited control. What happened is done." "Narcissa, it was going so well. I thought we had it, that everything was going to be okay, Lucius had the prophecy right in his hand...but then the Order showed up and Lucius fell and the orb shattered and I knew it was over. We tried escaping but it was no use." she choked.

Narcissa walked behind her, brushing a strand of hair off of Katherine's face with a gentle hand. "So it wasn't your fault. We cannot live in a state of grief, Katherine. Strong women like us know how to adapt and overcome situations like this. Today we cry, tomorrow we put on a brave face and look the world right in the eye." Katherine fell back against her, Narcissa wrapping her arms around her tightly as the two stood there in a quiet embrace. Two women who somehow had the ability to band together despite loving and losing the same man, two sides of the same coin, Narcissa the doting wife and mother, irreplaceable, Katherine the youthful siren who balanced Lucius out. At that moment she was never more grateful that Narcissa had no ill-feelings towards her.

Things were going to be very different indeed.

God damn right, you should be scared of me
Who is in control?