Harry Potter and the Black Secret

Chapter Three

Disastrous Discoveries

Three months after their first meeting, Harry, Ron, Hermione and Kristine were good friends. Hermione enjoyed having a female confidant to share things with that Harry and Ron wouldn't understand, or would just find stupid. Kristine felt the same way. What with moving around most of her life, she had never really had close friends. For the first time in her life, she felt settled.

Ron enjoyed her company, and was enjoying his lessons in telekinesis. Kristine had tested all the Gryffindors (at their request!) for telekinetic power, and as it turned out, Ron was the only one who possessed any ability in the skill, something that he was extremely pleased about. It was no secret that Ron often felt overshadowed by his brothers, (the Head Boy, the Quidditch Champion, the Jokesters) and even at times Harry Potter. It was hard having so much to live up to, and still being constantly put aside by people who wanted to meet Harry. It was fantastic to be able to do something that no-one around him had done before (excluding Kristine of course, but that was different.)

Harry and Kristine in particular though, had gotten close. They were similar in lots of ways, and so could understand each other's doubts and worry's. Kristine gave Harry advice on girls (more often than not how to let them down gently, as Harry had become some what of a school hunk), and Harry trusted her completely. He told her everything.

Strange as it seemed to most of the school, Kristine and Harry were not dating, and had no intention of doing so, it would just be too...weird. It never seemed to sink into people's heads that it was possible to be good friends and nothing else.

Kristine made a perfect Gryffindor as it turned out. She had continued the feud with Draco Malfoy that had begun on her first day, which had soon had contained several memorable fights in between classes. She gave as good as she got it was soon discovered, and for the first time in five years, Harry got a break from detention, as Draco had moved his attention to Kristine, not completely, but enough.

As Harry thought back on these fights, he remembered a conversation he had had with Ron, as he watched Kristine spin Malfoy in the air until he was sick,

"What's up Harry?" Ron had said, "Disappointed that Malfoy's got a new enemy?"

"As if!" Harry had said laughing, "I'm enjoying the break. I just wish that I knew why they fought so much? I've never really understood it?"

That was the only question Kristine had ever avoided. She did it so skilfully that Harry barely noticed until the topic was changed, and by then it was too late. He dismissed the thought for the millionth time, and continued to search for the Golden Snitch that he had released an hour ago for some last minute training.

The rest of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, that consisted of Ginny Weasley (keeper), Ron Weasley (beater), Ben Crais (beater), Teresa May (chaser), Kristine Hail (chaser), Dean Thomas (chaser) and himself, Harry Potter (captain and seeker), hadn't even noticed his distraction, busy with an angry bludger below. Angry bludger? Harry scolded himself and raced down to help.

After another hour, they finally had the bludger under control, and Harry had the Snitch in his hand. The team made their way back to the common room, exhausted from practice, when Professor Dumbledore appeared in front of Harry and Kristine.

"I'm sorry about this Miss Hail, Mr Potter, but would you both come with me. I have an urgent matter to discuss with you, and it really can't wait." His voice was sombre, and incredibly serious.

Kristine and Harry exchanged a confused glance, and followed the Headmaster to his office. Harry had been in this room several times over his years at Hogwarts, Kristine only once when she first arrived. Nobody spoke as they climbed the spiral stairwell up to the office door. As Professor Dumbledore walked into his office, Harry caught a glance of a man sitting opposite the large desk, his hands clasped in his lap, and his head of dark hair hung forward as he stared at the floor.

The man didn't need to turn around for Harry to know that this man was Sirius Black, his Godfather. The excitement that Harry had felt at the sight of him was quickly diminished when he saw the sad, serious look on his face.

"Kristine, would you come here please," said Dumbledore, now on the other side of his desk.

Kristine walked over, and stood next to Sirius. Suddenly, her face clicked in Harry's mind. Seeing her standing next to Sirius was what had done it. He must have been wearing a surprised expression, as Dumbledore smiled at him slightly and nodded. Kristine looked just like a women in a photo that he had in the album Hagrid had given him at the end of his first year at Hogwarts. In the photo of his parents wedding day, the same photo in which Harry had recognised Sirius. Standing with Sirius, was his Mother's Maid of Honour, and she looked remarkably like Kristine. Obviously it wasn't her, but that was why she was so familiar. Could this woman, his Mother's best friend, be Diana, Kristine's Mother?

"What's happened?" Kristine said worried.

"Sirius? Perhaps you should explain," said Dumbledore softly, forcing the other man to raise his head and look at Kristine for the first time. A look of pride mixed with amazement washed over Sirius face.

"Your Mother didn't do you justice. You've grown even more beautiful since the last time I saw you. You get that from her," Sirius told Kristine. "I wish that I could have come to see you with good news, that was the original plan, but now..." Sirius trailed off briefly. Harry could have sworn he saw tears behind his Godfathers eyes, but he couldn't be sure, Sirius regained his composure quickly.

"Diana died last night."

The effort it took to get that sentence out was amazing, and now it had been released. The room was eerily silent. Harry felt very uncomfortable. Why was he here? This was personal for Kristine, nothing to do with him? Why was Sirius telling her the news? Sirius and Dumbledore seemed to be waiting for Kristine to burst into tears, but Harry knew her better than that. She would never make a scene, but he wished she would. This quiet was becoming un-nerving. Just at that moment Kristine spoke.

"You were with her?" she asked Sirius. He nodded. "Did she suffer?" The words wouldn't come. He shook his head. How was he going to tell her the rest?

"Tell me what happened, and tell me who you are," she said simply, taking the second seat in front of the desk. Harry still stood in the doorway. He turned to leave, when Kristine pulled up a third chair (not using her hands of course) and said to him,

"I need you here."

With that, Harry sat down next to Kristine. Sirius took a deep breath, and began to speak.

"My name is Sirius Black. I'm your Father."

Harry nearly fell off his chair with shock. This was not what he had expected to hear. Neither had Kristine he gathered by the way she tightly gripped his hand.

"We can go into further detail there later, but you want to know about your Mother," Sirius continued. Kristine nodded for him to continue.

"Diana came back to England to take up her post as an Auror once again, as you know. What she didn't tell you was that she had come back to help me, through her own wishes. Dumbledore had always kept her updated on the going on's back home, and when my name was cleared, she decided it was time to come back. I loved her very much Kristine, and I told her not to come, but she never did listen to anyone when her mind was made up!

We were on the trail of the death eaters, when he discovered our presence. She was taken in the night, under my very nose," the anger was clear in his voice, "I blame myself, I should have stopped them."

"I don't blame you," came Kristine's soft voice, "I blame them. I blame him, and I don't need to hear any more. I want to be alone now."

Her voice was monotonous. Harry wished she would let go of her pride, and just cry. He knew that's why she wanted to leave. She had already made it half way to the door when Sirius stood and said,

"Wait. I understand you want to leave, but there is one more thing I need to tell you, and that's the reason your here Harry. Voldemort has discovered that you're back in the country Kristine. He doesn't know where yet, but it's just a matter of time." Harry and Kristine both felt rather confused. Why would Voldemort care about Kristine?

"He sees you as a threat," Sirius explained in answer to the unasked question. "There was a prophecy that stated the child of an Auror would be the downfall of the Dark Lord. That was why Voldemort went after Lily and James, and you, Harry. However, Diana and I also had a daughter, which I'm afraid never became common knowledge. Prophecies are tricky things, and this one actually states,

'Auror offspring the future are they, as light is cast, the shadow falls and the link of the flame shall arise out of the ashes',"

Harry and Kristine continued to look confused, and Sirius smiled for the first time at the pair, not a big smile, but it was definitely there.

"That's what most people thought. The greatest Witches and Wizards puzzled for years over it, and they never had a chance to finish deciphering it, as Voldemort disappeared by the hand of Harry here. So the prophecy was forgotten about, and those few who had known about it, just accepted that it meant a child of an Auror, Harry Potter as it turned out, would defeat the great Lord."

"But that doesn't make sense?" said Harry, looking at Kristine. Harry realised that his friend had lost concentration, and probably hadn't heard a word Sirius had said for quite a while.

"Can't we do this tomorrow?" Harry pleaded with Dumbledore and his Godfather.

"No need," Kristine suddenly said, anger sparking in her usually calm eyes. She was shaking all over.

"I know what you're trying to tell me. Voldemort found out that my Mother and You," indicating a glare at Sirius, "had a daughter, and he has found out about some old, crackpot prophecy. Not wanting to take any chances he's now going to try and find me and kill me, just like he did my mother. Am I right?"

She was shouting now, pain and anger clear in her voice.

"Kristine," Sirius began gently, "I know how you must be feeling, but please...."

"No! I really don't think you know how I feel!" she snapped. "Just leave me alone!" And with that she stormed out of the office, and ran down the staircase, slamming the door on her way out.

*

Kristine sat unmoving on the window ledge of the Astronomy tower. She stared out at the quarter moon, shining brightly in the distance, and watched the stars flicker in the clear black sky, awash with streaks of midnight blue. It was a beautiful night, but Kristine wasn't aware of anything going on around her. Her mind had switched off. Nothing seemed real; it hadn't for hours, not since she found out that her Mother was....

No, she couldn't bring herself to say it, not even think it. All she could think about was her Mothers face, her singsong voice, all the times she had held her in the night, after waking from a nightmare. Now she was gone. And she would never see her again.

The pain was unbearable. Her chest felt heavy, and her stomach was doing flip-flops. Her throat had closed up, as if daring her to cry. But then Kristine felt something salty wash over her mouth. She was crying she realized.

Kristine didn't acknowledge the tears; she just continued to stare out of the open window at the vast landscape that surrounded Hogwarts. She was at the highest point in the whole castle, and could see for miles ahead, and could see the ground at least a hundred metres below. She longed for the pain to stop.

Kristine had run out of the Headmasters office in a rage. She was disorientated, confused and upset. She had just kept running, until she found herself outside the Gryffindor common room. She uttered the password and went up to her room.

Kristine had to have a separate room from the other girls, as she sometimes accidentally moved things around in her sleep. Once, when she was about ten years old, she had had a nightmare, and woke up to find her lamp smashed against the back wall, all the chairs knocked over, draws open with clothes flung everywhere. It was following that night that her Mother had taken her to see Lanik, the wizard who had taught her how to control her power.

Her Mother. The pain washed over her again.

Kristine had taken a shower and changed into a pair of loose trousers and a black vest top. She had been at a complete loss as to what to do. The rest of the school were eating their evening meal, but Kristine wasn't the least bit hungry, and she needed to be alone. That was when she decided to come up to the tower. It was the one place she could be sure no one would find her.

She wasn't sure how long she had been up here. She had watched the sunset, and the moonrise. It must be at least midnight. She had no desire to go back yet. She didn't think she could face people, not even Harry. Harry. He knew what had happened, all of it. Her Mother, Sirius Black, whom Harry had seemed to know very well now that she thought about it. Her Father?

More pain. She didn't think she could cope much longer. How high up was she? What was below? It would be over quick. 'I'd just have to move an inch and the pain would be gone, forever' she thought.

Kristine was so lost in her mind that she didn't hear the soft footsteps enter the room from behind her, nor the quiet gasp of surprise, quickly subdued.

"Not thinking about jumping are you Hail?" said a sly, icy voice from behind her. Taunting her.

"Black," replied Kristine quietly, not even registering that another voice had spoken, not her own thoughts.

"What?" the voice said confused.

"Nothing," Kristine muttered, coming out of her trance and shaking her head.

"Whatever, if you want to become a human pancake don't let me stop you. I can go if you don't want any witnesses," came the familiar provoking voice of Draco Malfoy.

"Do what you want," came Kristine's emotionless voice, completely unaffected by her enemy's attempts to stir up trouble. On any other occasion, the pair would be duelling by now, but the problem was that Malfoy wasn't saying anything remotely nasty to Kristine. She was thinking about jumping.

Malfoy was starting to get slightly nervous. Why was she being so cool, she hadn't even turned to give him that evil stare, reserved especially for him and him only. Cautiously he walked over to the window ledge where Kristine sat, and stood behind her, looking out at the same view, but seeing it in a different way.

"Kriss? What's happened? You haven't even attempted to turn me into ferret today."

There was a hint of sympathy in his voice that hadn't been there before, ever.

"I didn't know you cared?" Kristine replied sarcastically, but the pain was still over-whelming in her voice.

"Don't flatter yourself!" Malfoy retorted, returning to his usual tone, that she had heard so often in their battles. "I just want to make sure that this isn't some elaborate scheme of your and Potters to get me another month of detention! Its completely selfish!"

"I wouldn't expect anything else."

Kristine had once again slipped back into her own little world.

Draco Malfoy stood cautiously behind her. Why didn't he just leave the freak to it? He didn't owe her anything? He didn't even like her! Did he? For some reason, he couldn't bring himself to leave her up here. His brain told him to go, but his heart told him that she was sincere, and that if he left, she would jump. And he didn't want her to he realized.

Controversy sprung up in his mind. If he stayed then he would be completely out of character, and if He found out, then what would happen? But if he left, and she died, he knew that it would be him up on the window ledge next week.

The decision didn't need to be made, and he placed a hand on her shoulder, squeezing it gently.

Kristine was pulled from her distant dream world when she suddenly felt a slight, comforting pressure on her shoulder. Who was it? Malfoy? No, it couldn't be. She turned around for the first time in hours to face the tall, young man standing over her. It was Malfoy all right, his face bathed in the moonlight that filled the room. He was staring blankly out the window, just as she had been doing. He looked away when he felt her turn, and gazed onto her face.

His expression changed as he looked at her. He looked concerned, and slightly worried, as if unsure of what to do. Kristine took in the rest of his appearance. He was wearing a loose black shirt; un-buttoned half of the way down, over a white T-Shirt. He had on simple casual black trousers, which emphasised his height much more effectively than his school robes. What she noticed most though, was his hair. Usually greased back, making it seem white blond, it was a surprise to see it gel free, hanging stylishly across one eye. The colour seemed much more natural, and it looked softer to touch. She was thinking about the texture of Malfoy's hair?

As she looked him over, he did the same to her. She was wearing baggy, casual trousers that seemed to be khaki green; it was too dark to be certain. She had on a black vest top that set off the silver necklace around her neck. A snake hung at the bottom of the chain. Her hair hung gently over her shoulders, flickering like a red flame in the dim light. And her eyes, usually so perfect, were filled with tears. The streaks ran down her face, indicating that she had been silently crying for hours. The tears were still pouring. She didn't even seem to notice.

"You're crying," he said surprised.

She automatically pulled a hand up to her face, wiping away any telltale moisture on her cheeks. But this effort was useless, as the salty beads continued to pour uncontrollably from her eyes.

They say the eyes are the windows to the soul. If this is so, then Kristine's soul had been broken in two. The spark of life was gone from her eyes, and had been replaced with a dark cloud of pain.

Draco moved closer to the ledge, sliding his hand off her shoulder, down her arm, until he had grasped her hand. He sat where her feet had been before she had turned to face him. The space was small, and they were close together, but comfortable.

"What's happened?" he asked her gently.

She let out a tired and painful laugh. "What hasn't?" Then she broke down completely.