Chapter 51 - What Are You Hiding?

Kit looked at the death eaters, scared to death.
“ Rus! Get Aurelia out of here!”
“ But what will you do?”
“ I’ll hold ‘em off! Go now!”
Kit watched Cyrus run reluctantly out towards the back door with Aurelia. Kit turned to face the death eaters. She was scared to death about this, but was willing to take the risk to save her family.
“ Kathryn Johnson, I presume.”
A large, heavy death eater stared at Kit, the mask covering his face but still giving off the scent of death. Khapri was growling viciously behind Kit. Kit had her wand pointed at the larger death eater. She wasn’t able to turn in time to see the smaller, thinner death eater point the wand at her.
“ Imperio!”
Kit ducked quickly, narrowly avoiding the spell cast at her. The spell, however, ricocheted off of the cabinet and hit a small bowl, shattering it completely. Kit swore under her breath. Hopefully, Cyrus was taking refuge at Tonks’ mother’s house. There, Remus and Tonks could keep them all safe.
“ Stupefy!”
Kit shouted her spell loudly at the smaller death eater, who retreated behind the larger one.
“ Hehe, Crucio!”
The spell hit Kit full on in the stomach.
“ Auuuuuughhhhhhhh!”
Kit yelped as the pain pulsed through her entire body, paralyzing her with the pain. It felt like millions of red-hot daggers stabbing through her flesh and bones. She fell to the floor, writhing in agony. The pain was so intense that she could feel her consciousness slipping away into darkness. Just as she looked up to see if she could stop the pain, a voice rang through the house, causing both death eaters to look away from Kit. The pain receded away as the death eaters lost all focus on her. Kit looked towards the doorway where the death eaters were so intensely focused on. There, in the doorway, was Cyrus. He was pointing his wand at the larger death eater.
“ Get your filthy hands off of my girl!”
Cyrus bounded in through the doorway, aiming spell after spell at the death eaters. The two of them became worried as Cyrus shouted more painful spells at them.
“ Crucio!”
Cyrus shouted his first unforgivable curse at the death eaters. The two of them looked at each other. Kit decided that she needed to help Cyrus. She stood up wearily and pointed her wand at the unsuspecting smaller death eater, who had his wand raised and aimed at Cyrus.
“ Expelliarmus!”
The wand went flying from the death eater’s hand. He yelped in a high pitch tone. He shoved the larger death eater in front of him and then only a loud crack was heard. He apparated away from the raid! Kit ran over and snatched his wand up from the floor and snapped it in half. The larger death eater became frantic. He apparated out of there too. Kit was out of breath and clutching at her chest, trying to breathe easier.
“ Kit! Oh my god, are you all right?”
Cyrus ran over to Kit and hugged her close, kissing her forehead.
“ Rus… w… where’s Aurelia?”
Cyrus smiled warmly.
“ It’s all right. I brought her to Tonks’ mother’s house. Lupin took her without questions. We may have to move in with him, Kit.”
Kit shook her head slowly. She gave him her best attempt at a smile.
“ I own a small house… it’s not much, but we can live there until safer times.”
Cyrus looked puzzled. He didn’t know what Kit was talking about.
“ Come on, Rus. I’ll send Remus a patronus when we’re settled in. Let’s go.”
Kit grabbed Cyrus’s hand without warning and apparated, causing Cyrus to make a queer sort of yipping sound. Kit felt the sensation of the world spinning and finally sighed as it stopped.
“ Cyrus, We’re here now.”
Cyrus opened his eyes and looked at a small house. It was painted white, but it still looked dreary and depressing somehow. Where were they?
“ Rus, why did you bring Khapri here too?”
“ She could get hurt back at the house… you know what I mean?”
Kit sighed, slapping her hand to her forehead. She felt sad and depressed.
“ Cyrus… let’s just go in…”
Cyrus wondered what happened that changed Kit so much.
“ Kit… where are we?”
Kit just shook her head and headed up the sidewalk towards the white, wooden door. The sidewalk was covered in cracks and was overgrown. Trees lining the sidewalk were bare and no sign of life surrounded the house with the exception of all the weeds and moss. The house had ivy vines growing up the sides on a terrace. Kit looked like she belonged here. Cyrus shuddered at the thought of this house. Why was it so mysterious? Kit walked to the door and turned the knob, slowly pushing open the door. It made a loud creaking sound. Apparently, a neighbor had heard the commotion they had made. An elderly lady walked out of her house, raising a knurled wand that was extremely thick.
“ Who’s there? Gracie Gloria, is that you?”
Kit looked up at the mention of her mother’s name. Cyrus looked at the old lady, confused at the name she had just said.
“ No, I’m…”
“ You must be little Kathryn. My, how you’ve grown. You must be 19 now?”
Kit shook her head.
“ I’m almost 19. I’m 18 as of now.”
“ Who is this dashing young man with you?”
The old lady pointed her wand at Cyrus, who looked more confused than ever before.
“ This is my husband, Cyrus.”
The old lady chuckled.
“ Nothing has been removed from that house. It will smell horrible, I’m sure. Your uncle and his friend only made sure that it would be perfectly preserved. You may not want to go in there.”
Kit shook her head sadly.
“ It’s the only place where I can go. Good day.”
Kit walked into the stale-smelling house. It was completely dark. Cyrus could smell the musty odor from the doorway. Khapri was looking distressed and confused. Kit just walked towards the kitchen, her sandals clicking on the hard floor surface. She walked into the kitchen with Cyrus at her heel. He saw her approach the counter and there was a yellowed piece of paper by the edge. It looked brown near one side of it. Kit looked down as she walked to the other side of the counter. There was nothing there. The normally white tiles on the floor were brown and black in the center, as though something big had spilled. The old lady was wrong. Kit looked so sad suddenly. She sunk to her knees on the floor and began to cry. Her hands were on the brown portion of the floor. She was so sad. Cyrus didn’t understand why she was so sad. He looked around and picked up the piece of paper. It was blurry and yellowed, probably fragile as well. He read the note to himself and felt sadness welling up inside of him.
“ Oh Kit… I’m so sorry!”
He knelt down next to Kit and held her in his arms. He knew what the stain was now. He felt Kit shaking in his arms. He picked her up off of the floor.
“ Come on, Kit. I’ll show you to your room.”
Cyrus pulled Kit into the hallway leading away from the kitchen. The stairs led up into a prettily lit hallway. Well, it would’ve been nicely lit if the lights had been on within the last eleven years. He walked up the nearest flight of stairs and as he took each step, another wooden step creaked and cracked beneath him. He felt extremely nervous about walking upstairs. He felt as though each individual stair would crack and crumble beneath his feet. He shook off the pessimistic thoughts and continued to assist Kit up the stairs. After a few more rickety old stairs, Cyrus reached the top. He paused, examining a few old portraits hanging on the wall. There was a picture of a girl around his age holding another little girl. The older girl had golden blonde hair that was wavy and a little bit below her shoulders. She had dazzling green eyes and a beautiful smile. She was perfect. She had smooth skin and perfect dimples. She was Kit’s mother. Kit was the little girl in the picture. She looked to be about four years old in the picture. She had short, golden hair that had a unique glow about it. She had her hair worn in low pigtails by her shoulders. They were also fashioned into braids. She was wearing a cute, black, spring dress. It had lace on the hems and on the sleeves. It was styled in a short-sleeved way. Her mother wore a matching tank top and shorts. The two of them were out in the front yard under a cherry tree. Kit was smiling in the picture too.
“ Kit, was this you when you were little?”
Kit looked up, her eyes still showing their sadness in them.
“ Yeah… that’s me and my mom… we were happy back then…”
Cyrus hugged Kit and moved on, ignoring the rest of the portraits. He walked down the hallway, holding Kit’s hand the whole way. A door was at the very end of that hallway.
“ That’s my room… let’s go there…”
Cyrus led the way to the end of the hallway. He walked inside the room and stared in awe. The room was huge! The walls were painted a cerulean blue color. The carpet was black and worn. There were photos hanging up on the headboard of a black canopy bed. A closet was located in the far right corner of the room. The window was grimy and obscured, but the light was still able to penetrate the musty darkness that the old, dusty room caused. He walked by a black, old-fashioned dresser and a white desk, which seemed oddly out of place in her dark room. Papers were sticking out of random drawers throughout the room. Kit walked away from the desk that Cyrus had now chosen to observe. She sat down on the bed, causing the dust in the sheets and comforter to unsettle and to poof out into the air. It caused an eerie sort of glittering that was very peculiar. It made the room seem all that much creepier. Cyrus looked down at his feet. He was very close to stepping on a yellowed, old piece of paper. It was covered in dots and dashes. It was a score of music. It had no lyrics, but only notes on a staff. There were at least three notes per every one beat too. This was a piano piece for two hands. Why did Kit have this? He scanned the paper for a title. He couldn’t find anything indicating that this was a full score of music. He waited until Kit fell asleep against her pillow before rummaging through her desk drawers. When he opened the first drawer, he found pens and pencils and quills of every shape, size, and color. There were blank sheets of paper in the bottom of that drawer as well. He shut that drawer quietly. He opened the second drawer and grinned. There were lots of papers covered in staffs, notes, and everything else that Cyrus couldn’t quite understand. He lifted them carefully out of the drawer and set them on the desk. Apparently, this music was all from the same song. Cyrus smiled at the neat, slanted, tiny writing that was Kit’s. He placed the random sheet of music he first picked up on the bottom, where it belonged. He then heard something in the distance. It sounded like it was coming from downstairs. He looked back at the sleeping form of Kit and then walked out of the room, still clutching the score of music. He walked down the old stairs and into the hallway that lead to the kitchen. There was a door directly beneath the stairs. It seemed to lead through the stairs though. Cyrus looked around, as though someone was testing him. He shook off that feeling and opened the door with his free hand. The pathway was dark, but there were no stairs leading into darkness. Did Kit know about this place? He walked into the darkness, regretting leaving his wand on Kit’s desk. He froze in place in the middle of the darkness. He definitely heard something that time! He walked forward cautiously. It wasn’t the sound of a person that he heard, however. It was a smooth, flowing sound. It was music that he heard. He closed his eyes and lifted his head, listening to the melody and feeling the urge to lie down and fall asleep. He put his free hand in front of him and continued to walk forward. He finally felt something cold and metallic sounding in front of him. His ring had clinked against the handle of a door. He turned the handle and heard another click before the door swung open noiselessly. Cyrus took a minute before his eyes could adjust to the sudden intake of light from the space into which he had just entered. When he opened his eyes, he found that he was in a large white room with glass windows all over the room. The moon shown in through the ceiling and a large black piano glimmered in the middle of the room. The keys weren’t being pressed down, yet music still rang through the room. Cyrus hadn’t seen this room from the outside of the house, so why could he see it now? This confused him a lot. He walked towards the piano. He set down the sheet music on the built-in stand on top of where the cover was. The lullaby that had been playing before had instantly ceased to play. A new, more haunting melody played in its place. The tune sounded solemn and sad. Cyrus decided to get Kit down there with him. He left the room, running a full speed. He sped up the old, creaky stairs and into Kit’s room. He sprinted over to the bed and shook Kit by the shoulders. She jolted awake and yelped at the motion that shook her so violently.
“ W… what is it… Rus?”
Cyrus was trying to catch his breath at the same time as explaining his situation.
“ Room… downstairs! Some… music… huge… glass!”
Kit stared at him in awe, wondered what he was blathering on about.
“ Where are you referring to? In this house?”
Cyrus just nodded and grabbed Kit’s hand, yanking her down the stairs and towards the wall. He turned his head towards Kit and kept running forward. He didn’t see anything before he slammed straight into the wall. He began to rub his nose furiously as the wall stayed in place. Where was the door? Had it left? Had it moved? Kit just shook her head.
“ You were imagining things, Rus. I have no idea what you’re talking about. I think you just need some rest. You can sleep on my bed tonight.”
“ B… but… I saw it! I really did!”
Kit nodded and shooed him off into her room. Why did the wall disappear and what was this old house trying to hide?

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