And don't you, don't you, don't you know?
There's nothing more cruel than to be loved by everybody
There's nothing more cruel than to be loved by everybody but you
Nothing ever came of the Rita Skeeter scandal, much to everyone's relief. They either weren't caught or Rita simply didn't remember anything. While Lucius most definitely wanted to show up at Victor's house and teach him a lesson, Katherine begged him not to. "There will come a time, don't worry. We'll get our revenge at some point."
While the scandal was out of her mind, something else wasn't. Lucius was acting suspicious, disappearing for days at a time, being silent at mealtimes. She made it her mission to figure out why. The Third Triwizard task was coming up, and while he had promised they would attend the last task she had heard no word on when that was, what she should wear, how they were even getting to Hogwarts, nothing.
Snooping around was one of Katherine's specialties, however, and she was determined to get to the bottom of what Lucius was up to. She laid on her bed on her back, her bare feet pressed against the cold wall as she reviewed what she knew in her head:
1) Lucius was involved in the wizarding war and plead innocent by use of imperious curse
2) Lucius acted suspicious whenever she brought up the war
3) Lucius acted suspicious when she asked if there was anything suspicious going on
4) Lucius was speaking to a lot of weird, suspicious looking people at the masquerade ball
5) Lucius was suspicious.
Suspicion alone wasn't a enough, however. Katherine needed proof, concrete evidence that Lucius was involved with something.
Abernathy.
If anyone were to know anything it would be him, the old silent butler who hears everything. So one afternoon when Lucius and Narcissa were out, she decided to have an interrogation of her own. Luckily, she found him in the library dusting the shelves, the small man surrounded by dozens and dozens of discarded books. He bowed to Katherine when she entered, which was returned by a smile. Katherine leaned against one of the pillars, watching him intently.
"Good afternoon, Abernathy."
He stopped for a moment, bowing again. "Good afternoon. How can I help the mistress of the manor on this lovely day?"
"Mr. Malfoy told me to gather some of his letters and notes for when he and Mrs. Malfoy get back, that's all. Do you know where they are?" Katherine asked, stepping away from the wall to move to the desk.
"They're in the drawer, miss. I don't know if Mr. Malfoy would want you in his personal drawers." Abernathy nervously responded, stopping his dusting to look at Katherine with a watchful eye.
"Nonsense, Abernathy. I'm his assistant, I'm allowed to gather his things. I can't read them, but I can grab them for him. He did give me free reign over the house." She responded coldly, opening up the drawers digging through them. One drawer was locked shut. She cursed to herself, searching for a key. No luck. Her head turned to the bookshelf and she noticed a book that was not covered in dust like the others.
Perfect.
She grabbed the book and shook it, a small key falling out of the pages. Jamming the key into the lock, she opened the drawer to find a few loose pieces of parchment. Notes, all scribbled in faded ink. She quickly grabbed the notes, stuffing them into the inside of a random book. Abernathy was still watching her carefully, and she hummed before locking the drawer.
"Find what you were looking for, miss?" Abernathy asked, and she nodded before leaning against the wall again. Now it was time for some questions to be asked and answers to be heard.
"Abernathy, how long have you been working for the Malfoys?" She asked, her hands still clutching the book.
"30 years. I started when I was a teenager, Mr. Malfoy graciously offered me employment as a favor to the ministry. See, my parents were both wonderful magic folk who worked for the Ministry of Magic, and so were my siblings. But alas, I did not inherit magic, despite be raised in a wizarding household. My parents asked Mr. Malfoy to take me in so I wasn't cast out into the Muggle world."
Katherine felt a pang of sympathy, and her eyes softened as she rested a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry to hear that, Abernathy. One more question though. Can you tell me anything about Mr. Malfoy and his involvement with the war?"
Abernathy shook his head. "No, that I cannot say. They held meetings here, the Death Eaters. And this house was home to many dark artifacts. Of course, Mr. Malfoy was under the Imperious curse. And he gave away the artifacts once the war ended. That's what he said, anyways. Some don't believe him."
"Do you?"
"Miss Farrington, I'm afraid I cannot answer any more of your questions. However, I will say this: One day I was up in his bedroom cleaning his wardrobe, and I found something very particular indeed. It's something he wouldn't have kept if he truly was enchanted to follow He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named." He whispered. Katherine nodded as she patted Abernathy's shoulder.
"Thank you for your help, Abernathy. But please, don't mention a word of this to Mr. Malfoy." He pursed his lips, doing a mock locking motion and pretending to throw away a key.
Once she was out of the library, she ran up the staircase, wandering around the upper floor trying to find the master bedroom. Her room was the first bedroom to the left, Draco's was across from hers, and there were a couple other doors that Katherine assumed were other guest rooms and extra spaces. Finally, she stopped at a pair of huge double sided doors that were cracked open. No way was this not his room, it was too fanciful and obnoxious for it not to be. Stepping inside, however, she became well aware it was in fact not his room.
It looked more like a museum than a room inside of a mansion. The space was filled with artifacts and taxidermy creatures, all kept behind glass. A few glass protectors were empty, some more recently than others. Despite the empty display cases, there were still plenty of objects. Katherine's curiosity got the best of her as she began walking around to look. These were not ordinary objects.
They were dark magical artifacts.
Katherine's eyes scanned the labels in front of the glass cases. One was a taxidermy mermaid bust, another one in front of a ornate pink bottle filled with bubbling black liquid read "World's Strongest Love Potion". One object, however, wasn't locked away in a case. It looked tossed aside, like it was meant to be taken but left behind. It was a beautiful golden ring with two snakes carved into the metal, beautiful pink gemstones shining in the dim light of the room. It seemed to call to her, egging for her to put the ring on, to see how it would adorn her oh so bare ring finger. She reached out to grab it.
"I wouldn't touch that if I were you."
Katherine snapped out of her daze, turning around to see a displeased Lucius staring at her. He slid towards her, grabbing her still extended arm roughly causing her to jump. "Katherine, that ring is an ancient heirloom passed down from my family. It's lined with tiny needles that would inject a potion that would make you sleep for a century if you were to be unfortunate enough to wear it. You're lucky I returned when I did." He muttered, pulling her away from the ring and out into the hallway.
"I'm sorry, Lucius, I was just curious-"
"Have you ever heard of the saying 'curiosity killed the cat', Katherine? Why were you being a little sneak, anyways?"
"I was looking for a place to read." She explained, holding up the book she was still holding. "I was getting tired of reading in the library and I wanted a change of scenery. I thought one of these doors would lead to a spare lounge room."
Lucius nodded, his eyes drifting to the book. Katherine got tense, worried he would snatch the book away and see that she had taken the notes. But he just stood there for a moment.
"Very well. I would go read in your bedroom until dinner if I were you. You are not on my good side at the present moment." He hissed, storming away down the hallway.
Katherine headed to her room as fast as she could, slamming the door behind her. She quickly sat at her vanity, opening the book and grabbing the notes. She shifted through them quickly, but nothing seemed to catch her eye. It was mostly payment records, Gringotts statements, random things that were personal enough to be locked in a drawer. About to give up, she scanned the last paper quickly.
Bingo.
Little Hangleton Graveyard, June 24 1995. Gathering the night of the Final Triwizard Task.
"Finally, the reason he wants to go to the tournament this time. Something is happening at this graveyard."
-
It was June 24, 1995. Lucius and Katherine arrived at Hogwarts an hour before the task started, Lucius wanting some time to mingle and Katherine wanting to find Elowen before the task started. They had seats with the staff, and Katherine was excited to see her old professors. The two walked to the box, taking two seats in-between Professor Snape and Professor McGonagall.
"Ah, Lucius. How lovely to see you." Snape said as Lucius sat down next to him. He then turned around, raising his eyebrows. "Ah, Miss Farrington. I didn't know you and Lucius were friends." He said coldly. Katherine bit her lip. "I'm his...assistant." Her tone was just as cold as Snape's.
"I'm assuming you taught Miss Farrington in school?" Lucius asked, shifting slightly in his seat. Snape nodded.
"She wasn't very gifted at potions, unfortunately. I believe she spent more time admiring her own reflection in the cauldron than she did brewing." Katherine felt her face turn red as she turned away from Snape. Lucius just laughed, his hand gently resting on Katherine's thigh.
"Severus, stop antagonizing her. This is her first time back at Hogwarts since she graduated and you're already making her want to leave." McGonagall said sternly. Katherine's face lit up, and she moved to embrace the older woman, Lucius and Snape beginning to discuss Draco and his grades.
"It's so lovely to see you, Professor." Katherine smiled. McGonagall smiled back, taking her hands in her own.
"Please, call me Minerva. Mr. Malfoy, while Miss Farrington wasn't too great at potion making, she was my most skilled Transfiguration student. I always wished she was in Gryffindor where she would be appreciated by her own head of house."
Snape rolled his eyes. "I never said Miss Farrington wasn't a great asset to Slytherin. She just could've been better in her Potions class."
Lucius half-smiled, removing his hand from Katherine's thigh. "Please, don't fight over my dearest assistant. She's a great asset to me now."
Feeling a tad bit uncomfortable, Katherine cleared her throat and stood up. "It was lovely seeing you all again Professor Snape, Minerva. I do believe I should go talk to my sister before the task starts." She said before rushing out of the box. As she turned the corner, she ran smack-dab into none other than Victor, who was holding a camera around his neck. He immediately hugged her, and she slowly returned his embrace confusingly.
"Katherine, I'm so glad to see you. I meant to write an apology. I realized it wasn't cool of me to fight your boss, and that you were probably...you know...because you needed to or something. " He explained. Katherine narrowed her eyes.
"Victor. So...nice seeing you. Especially after you ratted me and Lucius out to Rita Skeeter." she hissed. Victor looked at her, raising his eyebrow.
"I never spoke to Rita Skeeter. I was just in my office the day after, ranting to myself. But no one was in there, I swear."
Katherine hugged him tighter before pulling away. She would offer him another chance if what he was telling her was true.
"Victor, I'm the one who should be sorry. I just wanted you to have a fun night and I ended up ruining it."
"Nonsense. I had a wonderful night. And I just want us to be friends again."
Katherine grinned. "My partner in crime, back together again. So, why are you here?" She asked. Victor held up his camera.
"Photo duty. What about you?"
"Oh, I'm here with Mr. Malfoy. Just for fun, I wanted to see Elowen." Katherine said. Victor rubbed the back of his neck. "Kat, I'm not sure that she wants to speak to you right now. I ran into her earlier and she really doesn't seem to like you at this current place and time. She's in the Champions hall with Harry and his friends right now, so maybe you should wait until after." explained Victor. Katherine felt hurt for a second before she hugged Victor again. "A few more hours couldn't hurt. I should probably get back to my box. Bye, Vicky." She said before placing a kiss on his cheek.
She headed back to to her box, sitting in between McGonagall and Lucius again. The show was beginning, and Dumbledore was helping to explain the task. Katherine leaned over, whispering "So we're just going to watch an empty maze for two hours?" in his ear. Lucius patted her thigh again, leaning in to whisper back.
"Yes, I guess so. I'm sure we'll find a way to keep ourselves entertained." he purred in her ear. Katherine turned red again, and she slowly began to move Lucius's hand away from her thigh.
"Not now. Let's just have fun later." She suggested weakly.
The task was as boring as she thought it would be. No one could see anything, and she was getting bored. She was also confused as to why Lucius was even still sitting next to her. He should be leaving to get to the graveyard by now. Finally, he stood up, excusing himself before heading out of the box. Katherine waited for a few moments before getting up to follow him.
He was almost running outside the field, Katherine following close behind. She was almost out of breath before he finally stopped at a small clearing right outside of the Hogwarts grounds' line. She hid behind a tree, keeping a close eye on him. He glanced around for a moment, and she saw him wince slightly as he clutched his forearm. He then looked directly at the tree, Katherine pulling her head away. When she finally looked to where he was just standing, he was gone. "Okay, so he's at the graveyard. I'll just apparate there and then I'll finally be able to confront him about being sneaky." She mumbled to herself before she disappeared as well.
She quickly stumbled around, immediately ducking behind a gravestone. She could hear commotion going on behind her, but she chose to not look until she knew for certain what was going on. There were people, dark voices, and the screaming voice of what sounded like a young boy.
This was not a secret meeting. It was a trap.
I always make such expensive mistakes
I know it's just a number but you're the eighth wonder
I'll stop wearing black when they make a darker
A/N: this chapter is sponsored by the scene from parks and recreation where mona lisa and jean ralphio prance around the park singing "don't be suspicious"