Katharina Lioncourt
Slytherin Alumni
"Why? Because I love her more than life." -Severus Snape, in reply to Everett Sarandon's challenge.
Posts: 523
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Post by Katharina Lioncourt on May 19, 2002 4:51:23 GMT -5
Katharina had been sitting on her windowseat for the better part of an hour, watching the sun as it sank below the horizon line. Now she sighed and laid her head on her arms. The deep orange light faded into soft red, then a pink, and now purple. Stars twinkled higher in the sky.
When Severus Snape came in to wish his charge goodnight, he found her curled into a lump, her head resting on her arms in her windowsill. He smiled at the sweet look on her face, at her limp limbs and her nodding head. He lifted her gently and moved her to her bed, pulling the dark green blankets up to her shoulders.
"My beautiful girl," he said softly, as she slowly filled her lungs with air and let it out again. "If only I could tell you how much I love you."
***
The moon was high in the sky when the door to Katharina's room creaked open. A pale hand curled around the doorframe. Long fingernails tapped against the old wood.
"Now's your chance, my friend.”
The hand on the doorframe shook ever so slightly. Then, silently, a shadow slid across the room and covered Katharina's mouth with a hand. From the doorway, a pair of red eyes took in the struggling woman, the deathly speed of the immortal... and then the limp, slowly breathing body in the arms of a very upset man.
"Well done. Off to Urquhart with you."
Through the blackness came a furious man's voice. "This is sick. Deranged. A twisted game. Just because you have your agenda doesn't mean I need to--"
"I did not ask for your opinion, Everett. Take her to Urquhart until we decide further what to do."
Everett stared at the girl in his arms. Angry tears were brimming in his eyes as he looked at her. "In Akasha's name, man--" He brushed her dark hair from her face. "I was your first choice..."
"We'll see," replied the voice in the doorway. "Take her to Urquhart and await further instruction."
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Katharina Lioncourt
Slytherin Alumni
"Why? Because I love her more than life." -Severus Snape, in reply to Everett Sarandon's challenge.
Posts: 523
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Post by Katharina Lioncourt on May 22, 2002 1:36:09 GMT -5
Scotland
She woke up with a dull ache in the back of her neck. Her eyesight was blurry. She blinked a few times to clear it, but when that only made her head hurt worse, she settled for closed eyes.
Without her sight, her other senses were working overtime. She could smell earth and water, and could hear wind far overhead. From the stillness in the air, she guessed that it would rain soon. Eyes still closed, she struggled to a sitting position and felt through the air for something... anything that would tell her where she was.
Somewhere behind her she heard an irritated raven cry, then flap its wings and soar away. Footsteps neared her-- leather boots on loamy dirt. She cringed, expecting an attacker. There was an unnatural stillness in the air. ` Without warning, a hand touched her cheek. She cried out and scuttled away from it, and was stopped abruptly when she ran backwards into a stone wall. She winced as pain lanced through her left ankle. " Damn it!" she cursed out loud.
"Please don't be frightened. I have no desire to hurt you.”
She was stunned silent, but not for long. "Everett?! What are you doing here? Gods, where am I?"
"Urquhart Castle," he said, as if that would tell her anything. "Is your ankle all right?"
"No, it hurts," she mumbled, and blinked a few times. Her vision was slowly clearing. Everett's curly hair looked almost black in the dusk. The froth of curls hung halfway down his back. "Why am I not in my own bed?"
"That, Dearest, is an extremely long story."
"I have time," she hissed.
The blurred shape that was Everett stood. "I'm sorry, Katharina, but I don't. I need to find something to eat... and I need to build you a fire as well, so that you can eat something too."
"Everett!!" Fear sliced through her at the thought of being alone in a place she didn't know. "Please... where are we?"
"I told you--"
"But I don't know where that IS."
"We're on the shore of Loch Ness, in Scotland. We're near the gate to the loch. Now, if you'll excuse me..."
"But--"
Everett had vanished.
***
Hogwarts Academy of Witchcraft and Wizardry
"Severus!!! Severus, get up this instant!!"
Severus Snape eyed the blur in front of him. It spoke and moved like Minerva McGonagall. His vision couldn't tell him for sure, however. He blinked a few times and mumbled an incoherent sentence. McGonagall didn't even listen.
"Where is she?" Minerva's voice was borderline hysterical. "Severus Snape, open your damnable eyes and tell me where Katharina is."
Snape gazed stupidly up at her. "Isn't... she in her room?" he asked. A sick feeling was building in his chest.
"If she was in her room, would I be asking you where she was? Severus, tell me you know where she is."
He was sitting up in bed, now very much awake. "I don't, Minerva. What's going on?"
Albus Dumbledore was in Snape's doorway now, his face nearly as pale as his beard. "The child is gone, Severus. There are two drops of blood on her pillow, and she is nowhere to be found." He hesitated for a moment, then said, "Her immortal betrothed is missing as well. And Lestat doesn't know where they are."
"Can't he look for them with his mind?"
"He is Everett's maker, and Katharina's father. It is impossible for him to see their minds. When was the last time you saw her?"
Severus swung his legs out of bed and pulled a pair of bluejeans on, buckling them with a belt that carried the Slytherin crest. "Sunset. She was asleep at her window. I put her in bed. When was it noticed that she was missing?"
"An hour ago," Dumbledore replied, glancing at his watch. He moved to the window and looked out. "All right, assume the immortal took her. There's about two hours until sunrise, and they'll have to stop moving for the daylight. Get your cloak, Severus."
"We'll never find her, we don't know which way they went," Minerva growled.
"Have a little faith, Minerva. What is the surefire way to track an immortal?"
"Use another immortal," Severus answered. "But there aren't any vampires--"
"We have a shapeshifter." He turned to McGonagall.. "Minerva, please wake Sondra Roswin and tell her it is imperative she come here immediately."
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Post by Sondra Roswin on May 22, 2002 4:31:18 GMT -5
I sooooo love this story.
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Post by superstitious13 on May 22, 2002 6:34:04 GMT -5
*giggles* ooohhhhgood stuff.....i love it.....
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Katharina Lioncourt
Slytherin Alumni
"Why? Because I love her more than life." -Severus Snape, in reply to Everett Sarandon's challenge.
Posts: 523
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Post by Katharina Lioncourt on May 23, 2002 3:01:55 GMT -5
Urquhart Castle, Loch Ness, Scotland
"Here."
Some pieces of charred rabbit flesh were extended in her direction. She was dizzy with hunger, but the thought of eating the blackened meat made her gag. "Not much of a cook, are you?" she muttered, trying to force the bile from her throat.
Everett narrowed his eyes at her. "I don't eat cooked meat," he said softly. He dropped the hunks of meat in her lap and moved a few feet away from her, regarding her with his silver-blue eyes. "It's near sunrise. I'll have to leave you soon."
She didn't answer him. Her ankle was throbbing, and she knew that even if she tried to run while he rested, she wouldn't get far. What she didn't understand was why Everett was doing this in the first place. "Where will you rest?" she asked.
He regarded her for a moment, then without warning jumped fifteen feet up and clung to the stone wall of the castle. She stared up at him, the dizziness returning, and was reminded of how powerful an immortal this creature truly was.
"There is access to an underground chamber through here," he said, indicating a dark space in the wall that she surmised was a hole. "I will be safe there."
She nodded, exhaustion setting in. She absently bit into the dark meat, and when she found the flavor agreeable, she devoured it voraciously.
Everett watched her as long as he dared from his perch above her. But if she noticed, she gave no sign.
***
Hogwarts Academy of Witchcraft and Wizardry
"I guess I don't understand what it is you want from me," Sondra said. She was sitting in an overstuffed armchair in Albus Dumbledore's office, her hands tightly folded in her lap. A fire was burning brightly in the fireplace across the room. Severus Snape's shadow rhythmically blocked the warm light as he paced before the flame. Minerva McGonagall was standing near the window, watching for any sign of Lestat. Dumbledore himself was seated at his desk, his head perched in his gnarled hands.
"It's really very simple," Snape barked, and Sondra jumped the slightest bit in her chair. McGonagall shot him an annoyed look and turned to the girl. The look on her face was kind, but very tense.
"Immortals have many gifts, Child, as you probably know. One of these is the ability to sense another immortal's thoughts."
"But I've never--"
"It's simple," Snape repeated, more to himself then to anyone else. McGonagall rolled her eyes.
"Severus is quite right, although he makes a poor case for himself when he can't keep his head rationally between his shoulders. It is very simple. We only wish you to pick up any whisper of thought from Katharina or Everett."
"But Katharina isn't immortal, is she?" Sondra was unconsciously chewing on her lower lip.
"No," Snape replied. "But Everett is."
Sondra nodded. "All right. How do I begin?"
"You begin by packing some things. After you discover where they are, we'll be going after them and bringing her back." Dumbledore ran his long fingers through his beard. "Severus, Minerva, you'll join us as well. As will Lestat, if he ever shows up..."
"If any of you had any sense of hearing, you'd know I was here already," said a silken voice Sondra had never heard. She tensed and whirled to face the voice's owner.
He wasn't a large man, but something in his eyes frightened her nonetheless. His hair was shoulder-length and white blonde, and it looked made of the moonlight that shone from behind his silhouette. His eyes were a pale shade of violet, and his fingernails, she noticed, sparkled like diamonds. He was leaning against the wall with a very relaxed attitude, his arms loosely folded across his chest.
Without warning, a voice sounded like thunder across her consciousness. <So you're the little shapeshifter who I'm trusting to find my daughter?>
She cried out and slammed her hands over her ears. Lestat arched a pale eyebrow. "She's never tracked an immortal before?"
"She didn't know she had the ability," Albus Dumbledore returned.
"Ah," Lestat sighed, and the sound was hypnotizing. His very voice was pulling her from herself, taking her from her consciousness. She squeezed her eyes shut and he said, "So we're doomed, then?"
"Have a little confidence, Lestat," Minerva McGonagall put in. "She's young and bright. We have nothing to lose."
Sondra glanced up at Lestat. His violet eyes bored into hers. <Then,> he told her without moving his mouth, <you'd best get started right away.>
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Katharina Lioncourt
Slytherin Alumni
"Why? Because I love her more than life." -Severus Snape, in reply to Everett Sarandon's challenge.
Posts: 523
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Post by Katharina Lioncourt on May 24, 2002 14:49:52 GMT -5
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Sondra stood on the shore of the lake, her eyes closed and her mind open. McGonagall had said this would be a good place to pick up any sign of Everett or Katharina. But thus far, she'd sensed nothing.
She was frustrated with herself. Lestat had unnerved her more than she wanted to admit. And his vote of confidence wasn't exactly overwhelming, either. She scowled. As if she was useless simply because she was young...
She stared out over the lake again and slowly let her eyes close. <Come on...> she thought. <Give me something to-->
The burst of pain through her head almost knocked her down. She yelped and put her hands on either side of her face, feeling the need to hold her pounding head together lest it explode. And then, just as suddenly, the pain dulled and the swirling colors in her mind formed a picture.
The sky was gray, and the castle that stood on the edge of the water was only a slight shade darker. The water itself seemed extremely deep, and the surface was rippled with millions of raindrops as the sky opened.
<Good Scottish weather> Sondra wasn't sure whether it was her own thought or someone else's. She doubted that it mattered. Stopping only a moment to gather her thoughts, she ran back to the castle.
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Katharina Lioncourt
Slytherin Alumni
"Why? Because I love her more than life." -Severus Snape, in reply to Everett Sarandon's challenge.
Posts: 523
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Post by Katharina Lioncourt on May 24, 2002 23:09:10 GMT -5
Severus Snape, Albus Dumbledore, and Minerva McGonagall formed a formidable line facing Sondra as she explained what she had felt and heard.
"It wasn't even just physical pain, there was a great deal of emotional pain as well... and the lake was so beautiful... well, the whole landscape was. All the shades of gray. The castle was lovely too."
"I'd hazard a guess that they went north into Scotland, judging from the comment Sondra felt. And they're near a loch... that much is clear." Albus eyed a map of the British Isles on his wall.
"There's hundreds of lochs in Scotland!! It's all the bloody Scots are good for!" Severus was clearly not in a better mood. Minerva McGonagall shot him an annoyed glance.
"For heaven's sake, Severus, give it a rest. We have broomsticks- even hippogryfs if necessary. The journey won't take long."
Albus nodded agreement. "If Sondra doesn't object to coming with us, we'll also be able to know which loch it is by the castles nearby."
Sondra found that her palms were sweating. She wiped her hands hastily in the folds of her robe. "Yes..." she heard herself say, "I'll go with you."
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Post by superstitious13 on May 25, 2002 0:30:40 GMT -5
ahem...more please....
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Katharina Lioncourt
Slytherin Alumni
"Why? Because I love her more than life." -Severus Snape, in reply to Everett Sarandon's challenge.
Posts: 523
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Post by Katharina Lioncourt on May 27, 2002 4:26:58 GMT -5
Sondra pushed open the door to her room to find her roommate, Abby, with her head out the window.
"What are you doing?" she managed when she controlled her giggles.
Her answer was a quick yelp, then a loud thud and a yell of, "Ow! Oh.... flying frogs!!" She backed out of the window with a hand to her head. "I was talking to Fox," she grumbled.
Sondra smiled a little weakly at her. "I'd love to stay and talk with you, but I need to start packing a bag." She moved to the closet and opened the doors.
Abby rubbed her head for a minute longer, then pulled her long black hair into a bun. "You want help? Where are you going?"
"Professor Snape's friend, Katharina. She's disappeared. They want me to help find her."
"Disappeared?" Abby frowned. "And you're going with Snape to find her?"
"And Dumbledore and McGonagall. And Katharina's father, Lestat."
Abby had always had a penchant for doing things her own way. Now she eyed her roommate with a raised eyebrow. "Do you know when you're coming back?"
Sondra shook her head and pulled a pair of soft boots from the closet. Abby grinned. "Y'know, Sondra, I'm done with my finals..." she said.
"I know. You finished early."
"Good!" Abby clapped her hands excitedly and Sondra gave her a startled look.
"What is the matter with you?" she asked her friend.
Abby smiled sweetly at her. "I'm so glad you think I should go with you... so I won't be alone!!"
"HUH?!"
"What should I pack?"
After a long moment of silence, Sondra grinned. "Not much. We're traveling light."
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Post by Sara_Jayne on May 28, 2002 0:33:04 GMT -5
[glow=orchid,2,300]Im IN there!!! YEY!!! I want to read more more!!! hehe[/glow]
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Post by Sondra Roswin on May 29, 2002 5:18:43 GMT -5
keep going its heaps good.....
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Nimuee Macor
Slytherin Alumni
Ah....it's nice to see you in your physical form..
Posts: 621
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Post by Nimuee Macor on May 29, 2002 13:49:30 GMT -5
Wonderful story Katharina! I love it! More please! ;D
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Katharina Lioncourt
Slytherin Alumni
"Why? Because I love her more than life." -Severus Snape, in reply to Everett Sarandon's challenge.
Posts: 523
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Post by Katharina Lioncourt on May 31, 2002 3:46:05 GMT -5
If Abby had not been grimly determined to join her roommate on this adventure, she would have skittered as fast as possible back to the safety of her room when she saw the look on Severus Snape's face.
"Absolutely, positively, under NO circumstances will I have yet another student accompanying us on this... mad quest!!!" His usually pale face was bright with fury, and Abby could see from the circles under his eyes that he had not slept in quite a while.
Minerva McGonagall, ever the mediator, sighed. "Severus, for the last time, curb your temper or we'll leave you home."
He scowled darkly, but kept silent as Minerva turned to the girls. "Are you both sure this is something you want to do?"
Sondra nodded. "You need my help," she said matter-of-factly. Somehow she managed to state the fact without seeming boastful at all. Abby piped up.
"My finals are all finished, Professor. And I don't think Sondra should be the only student in a group of five. That isn't exactly fair, is it?"
Albus Dumbledore turned from his place by the fire. "Of course. Also you think you have a divine right as her roommate to accompany her wherever she goes?"
"Yes." Abby considered, then sputtered, "NO!!! I just--" "Enough. You may join us. But both of you would do well to remember that this is not a game of any kind. Katharina is very dear to many of us, and she may be in very real danger."
McGonagall's brow furrowed. "I don't think he would consciously harm her, Albus..."
Severus Snape's voice was a low growl. "He wants her immortal."
Sondra looked for assurance in McGonagall's eyes. "We'll be able to find her, won't we?"
"Of course, Child. Even Everett can't have taken her too far."
From the corner, in the shadows, came a snort of derision from Lestat. No one heard.
***
Urquhart Castle, Loch Ness, Scotland
"Wake up."
She opened her eyes and reflexively placed a hand to her forehead. "Wh- Everett, for God's sake, the sun is barely down. You couldn't have let me sleep just---"
"On your feet." He looked exhausted as well. His hair, normally combed back while in public, was a veritable dandelion puff. She resisted the urge to giggle and rose, a little unsteadily at first. When she finally stood, she reached forward and tugged a curl of his hair.
"No water to brush it back with?" she teased.
He raised an eyebrow at her. "My dear girl, the loch on the other side of this wall is seven hundred feet deep. There is no lack of water here. If you'd like I could drop you into the loch and then wring out your nightdress to wet my hair."
She yelped in indignation, and scowled at him. "Oh, stop it. Besides, it looks better this way." She was grateful when the gleam of mischief left his eyes. As an immortal he had the ability to... well... fly, in a way... she had never quite understood it... And at his age the height he could reach was considerable.
Besides that, if she remembered anything from her childhood, he would follow through on his threat just to see her sputter. She looked away from him for a moment, then asked, "Why did you wake me?"
"We're leaving. It's no longer safe here."
"Safe? What does that mean?" She saw the flash of anger in his nearly silver eyes and was a little sorry she'd asked. "It means your heroic professor has found us. They're only a half day behind us. So we're leaving."
She didn't question him, although she longed for her warm bed back at Hogwarts. But as she watched Everett destroy all traces that they'd been here, she wondered, fleetingly, if the love that she'd seen in those silver eyes had been her imagination after all.
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Katharina Lioncourt
Slytherin Alumni
"Why? Because I love her more than life." -Severus Snape, in reply to Everett Sarandon's challenge.
Posts: 523
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Post by Katharina Lioncourt on Jun 1, 2002 0:50:12 GMT -5
Part Ten Somewhere in the Jordanian desert
It was the cold that finally woke her, sending shivers along her arms and causing her to cling tighter to the figure sitting before her.
"You're awake," Everett noted. It was only then that Katharina awoke enough to realize they were riding a camel, and that she'd been tied securely behind Everett at some point.
"Between the cold and the smell of this thing..."
"We're almost there. Then we can rest for the day." He clicked his tongue at the camel, who regarded him sardonically and picked up its pace a bit.
"We couldn't have ridden a cleaner animal?"
Everett shook his head no. "Horses don't travel as well in the desert, Katharina. You know that."
"We aren't in the desert, we're in some cliffs." She was hungry and tired, and her back was beginning to ache.
He snorted. "Look who knows so much!"
"Shut up," she grumbled. Her back was slowly getting worse.
"You missed the djinn blocks," he said in a monotone, which only infuriated her more.
"Heavens forbid," she growled, and he turned back to shoot her a brilliant smile. His teeth were pale blue in the darkness.
"We'll reach Al-Khazneh in just over half a kilometer. You can rest on the steps... I'll have to go a ways to find any sort of food, but you'll be all right."
She was too tired to protest. She simply leaned back, stretching the ropes that held her arms, and stared at the ribbon of stars... the cliffs on either side of her jutted one hundred feet into the air at least.
There was silence for quite a while, and then Everett murmured, "Are you awake?"
"Yes."
"You can see Al-Khazneh if you'd like, ahead of us."
She craned her neck to see around him and gasped. About one hundred and fifty feet ahead of them stood a building unlike anything Katharina had ever seen. Carved into the rock itself, the pillars of the carved building jutted as high as the cliffs.
"Petra," Everett told her when she looked at him, speechless. "This is Al-Khazneh... the Treasury."
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Post by Sara_Jayne on Jun 1, 2002 6:44:55 GMT -5
[glow=orchid,2,300]LOOOOOOVE IT!!! More More MORE!![/glow]
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