Enchanted [Fred Weasley]

Eighty

Almost as soon as they knew someone ratted on Grace, they figured out who. Maybe it was so easy because she confessed. Now, the woman stood before Sirius, Remus, Florence, Kingsley, and Emily.

"You told him!" Florence screamed. The other woman was on her knees, sobbing.

"I had no choice!" The woman screamed. None of the other adults could jump in on the conversation. They could only listen to the constant yelling of Florence as she was betrayed. Tears fell out of Florences' eyes as she confronted the woman.

"OF COURSE YOU HAD A CHOICE! THERE IS ALWAYS A CHOICE!" Florence screamed. This was enough for the woman to get off the floor and face Florence.

"THE CHOICE WAS THE JOURNALS OR MY DAUGHTER!" Florence had a puzzled look.

"What are you saying?"

"You think I wanted to tell him? You think I wanted to put Anna's daughter in danger? If that's what you think then you obviously don't know me like I thought! Death Eaters broke into my home and took me! They knew something was wrong since Cedric didn't die even thought he was hit with the Killing Curse! I don't know why they thought I'd know, but they did. He gave me two options, Florence. One would be to tell him how. The other would be to watch my daughter get tortured and killed!"

"That doesn't mean—"

"MY OWN DAUGHTER, FLORENCE! I WOULD BE FORCED TO SIT AND WATCH AS SHE SCREAMED FOR HELP! I'D HAVE TO WATCH HER DEAD BODY HIT THR FLOOR! HER LAST THING SHE WOULD SEE WOULD BE HER MOTHER, SITTING BY AND WATCHING! For what? Something they would figure out sooner or later? You know how much Leslie means to me! She's my daughter, I can't just sell her off to die!"

"SO INSTEAD YOU MIGHT LET ANOTHER INNOCENT GIRL DIE?"

"NO! Because unlike the other option, we can protect, Grace. There would've been nothing I could do for Leslie!" Catalina sobbed.

"We can protect, Grace? You really think you're going to be able to protect her? You're the reason she needs to be protected!"

"That's not what I—"

"GET OUT! GET OUT BEFORE I KILL YOU MYSELF!"

"Flo—"

"I SAID GET OUT!" Florence screamed. Catalina looked at Florence for a moment.

"Funny how you hate me when I acted in fear. When I acted to save my own daughter from being killed." Catalina stormed out of the kitchen. Once the front door slammed, Florence collapsed to her knees. Sobs shook her body as tears poured down her cheeks. Sirius bent down next to her and wrapped his arms around her.

"It's okay, Flo, it's okay." He murmured. Florence opened her mouth to speak, but the woman was so distraught she couldn't form words.

Catalina was Florence's best friend ever since her first year at Hogwarts. Now, she betrayed her in order to save her daughter. Florence didn't know how to feel. She wanted to hate Catalina, yet she couldn't. Maybe because Florence knew what Catalina did was out of fear. Maybe because Catalina's choice made her human. She was a mother, she couldn't just give up her daughter to protect a secret that would eventually get out. Maybe because if faced with Sirius dying or telling Voldemort about the journals, Florence would've made the same choice as Catalina.

Catalina had told Voldemort about the journals in order to save her daughter. She knew everyone would hate her, but she would never understand why. Was it wrong to love her own daughter more than a journal? Grace could be protected since the Order knew. Leslie would've been helpless. She would've been a fly that was already caught in a spiders web. Just sitting there, waiting to be killed. Catalina was going to be hated because her decision made showed that she loved her daughter more than anything. While it didn't make sense to Catalina, it's how it worked.

A/N
This is a shorter chapter, but also makes me curious. So, tell me, are you going to hate Catalina forever because she's human being who was faced with a hard decision? Are you going to hate her because she chose to save her daughter? Are you going to hate her because she was afraid?