Almost

Chapter 21: Protection-ie

Katherine and Lee stayed in Hermione's office for just over an hour. She only noticed that the time had passed when she felt a shudder run through her—Ezra must have gone back to the cabin for some reason.

"Well, I'd better get some of this work done before I go with Harry," Hermione said, shuffling around the papers on her desk. "But I do think this screen business is promising. I'll try and see if they have anything about it in the library. Vander, are there any spots you haven't looked?"

"I haven't touched the restricted section yet. I don't know why it would be there, but couldn't hurt to look," he said, shutting the book he was holding and standing. Katherine unhooked her shrunken backpack from her watch, brought it back to size, and started shoveling the books in.

"Aren't you going back to the cabin?" Lee asked, watching her make towards the hallway.

"Oh," she said, straightening the bag onto both shoulders. "No, not quite."

"Are you going to see your Dad? We could walk, I'm headed back to Diagon Alley myself."

"If you are, will you tell Ron I'll be late tonight? Who knows how long this meeting with Percy will take."

"Wasn't planning on going to the shop, actually," Katherine told Hermione. "But I appreciate your help. And I'll see you all tonight, for Charlie's dinner."

She bounded out the door before Hermione could ask too many questions, hoping she could outpace Lee. But his legs were much longer than hers and easily caught up.

"You sure lied easily to Harry," he said when he made it to her side. "And I'd reckon you weren't drunk the other night. Might it have something to do with Iz's memory?"

"Keep your voice down," Katherine chided him, looking up and down the hallway. "We're trying to keep Hermione out of it."

"But there is an 'it'?"

Katherine stopped walking and turned to him, her face falling.

"I'm just saying," he continued, "you seem to have a lot of people keeping secrets from one another. You can't compartmentalize your life."

"I can handle my life however I choose, thanks," she snapped. Immediately, she was filled with regret at the look on his face.

"I'm sorry. Just juggling a lot."

"Maybe you should put some of the balls down," Lee said, walking ahead. "Before you drop them."

Katherine watched him be swallowed by the mass of Ministry workers as she pushed a whole new batch of emotions deeper in her chest, pulled back to herself by the shudder of Crawley leaving the cabin again. She checked her watch—she didn't have the time to make it up to Lee now.

Without thinking about it any further, she apparated away, the pop not drawing any attention from the witches and wizards flowing around her.

When she was in the hills outside of Ottery St. Catchpole, she looked around to make sure no one saw her, but found them as empty as she anticipated.

She had intentionally landed a bit of a walk from the town. It gave her a chance to take some long breaths and enjoy the warming May air. She pulled out her phone to text Crawley that she'd meet him at the Burrow for dinner but found it dead—she'd forgotten to plug it in the night before.

"Great," she muttered, throwing it in her backpack, wincing as she heard it crash into a number of books on the way to the bottom. She thought about reaching in and pulling out the tempering, but she knew she'd need her magic.

Instead, she threw her head back and walked with her face in the sun, nothing but the chirping of birds and rustling of grass joining her on the walk, until she made it into the village.