All thoughts of the past disappeared as the door opened under Sirius’s weight, quietly he tip-toed into her room making sure not to make any noise. He wasn’t sure how strong the sleeping spell he put on her actually was, it was the first time he had tried anything like that without a wand. Silently he crossed her room and very carefully sat on her bed, watching her as she slept. Sirius could hardly believe the last 24 hours of his life, hell he could hardly believe the last 6. He had been so hopeful when Harry had come to talk to him this evening, he almost fell over when Harry pulled out all the food from his pockets, *because Cat had said Sirius was to thin* Harry had told him. Sirius smiled happily as remembered the look in Harry’s eyes, his godson could hardly wait to tell him about his dream. Sirius found himself praying feverently that it would come true, as soon as possible.

He cringed as he recalled hearing the MOM enter Dumbledore’s office, Sirius had become terribly nervous around them, ever since it had become painfully obvious no one in the Ministry had any intentions of even attempting to look into his case, even Albus’s intervention had made no difference. Then to hear Cat accusing Lucius of Deirdre’s murder, it had brought so many emotions flooding back to him, his father’s death, Cat’s comforting him, the sense of loss and abandonment, Lily and James murder, Peter’s betrayal, Azkaban,.... it had been to much for him to bear. Sirius was so grateful that Albus had been there to pull him out of his encroaching depression, Albus knew exactly what he needed to hear. *She still cries over it, I’ve heard her keening, she needs someone to talk to, someone who would understand. Do you think you can find her? * Cat needed him, thats all he needed to hear. Then the hour or two of sheer panic when he realized Remus had lost her, only to find out Harry had gotten to her, thankfully before Snape had. Sirius felt his temper begin to rise at the thought of Snape and Cat, it was just unbearable to even contemplate it.

Sirius sighed happily as he recalled how he had managed to transform and finally, finally speak to her as a man. He slowly reached his hand towards her, lightly tracing the outline of her face with his fingertips, he smiled as he watched her snuggle under her quilt, she seemed so content, so peaceful. It wasn’t long before he found himself playing with her hair. He loved to twirl it around his fingers, enjoying its softness and the way the light caught the highlights, it could go from a subtle gold glint to seeming as if it were on fire. And of course he loved the scent of it, she always smelled like flowers, it made Sirius warm just thinking about it.

The fact that Cat hadn’t woken made Sirius feel a bit bold, he began to trace her lips with his finger, he thrilled as he saw her take a long deep breath in response to his touch, her lips parted as if in anticipation. Sirius took a deep breath himself, he could feel himself trembling, he so wanted to take her in his arms to tell her everything, to stay with her now and forevermore. He winced as the impossibility of it tore at his heart "One day Cat, I will clear my name and you and I will be married" he whispered as he picked up her hand and kissed it lovingly. Sirius left out a long deep sigh, he knew he should leave, it really wasn’t *right* for him to be here with her like this, regardless of what Cash had said. Sirius smiled softly as he thought about Cash’s words, about the look in Cat’s eyes and her falling asleep in his arms. Sirius knew how important it was to have her family’s approval in this matter, and Cash was most certainly family and a very outspoken member of the clan at that.

Sirius kissed Cat’s hand again as he tried to convince himself to leave before it was too late. He gazed at her sleeping peacefully and had almost talked himself into going when a thought came to him. "It just wouldn’t be polite to leave without kissing you goodnight" he whispered as he bent over her and very, very gently kissed her, barely touching her lips. Sirius was both surprised and overjoyed as he heard her sigh softly "Even in your sleep....." he whispered smiling contentedly as he caressed her face gently, "Always remember how much I love you mo ionúin" he told her as he smoothed her quilt over her once again. As Sirius walked to her door he paused to look at her one last time before he left, <one day dearest, I won’t have to leave you and you won’t need a quilt to keep you warm> he thought as he re-fastened the lock. Closing the door softly behind him, Sirius made his way back to his cot in Dumbledore’s office as visions of Cat ran through his mind........

Dimitri found himself wishing he could join Cash and Sirius in their comradery, he had never been a part of anything like this, they had been behaving as if they were brothers. "I take it this Cat is know to you? You seem very concerned that she and Sirius stay together." Dimitri asked tentatively, the last thing he wanted to do was offend Cash, his reputation was well known.

"Yep, she’s my niece. You’ll be meeting her soon enough...." Cash was suddenly hit with an idea "Dimitri, can I ask you to do something for me?"

Dimitri couldn’t believe his luck "Of course, anything" he replied eagerly, Cash was a powerful player in the realm of the Kindred, if he could win his approval, it would be much easier to improve his standing within his own clan.

"I want you to write a letter for me.... She’ll recognize my writing, but she’s never seen yours..." Cash explained, " I need to make sure she understands a few things about Sirius."

"I thought you liked Sirius?" Dimitri questioned "You two seem very close"

Cash smiled at the Ventrue’s confusion "Like him....." Cash replied "I love him like a brother. He and he alone is the right man for Cat" he continued enthusiastically "but I have a bad feeling she doesn’t know he’s still available.... just want to make sure she gets the message. I wouldn’t want her to make a mistake just because the truth is... well, shall we say.. unpleasant"

"I don’t understand, why don’t you simply tell her" Dimitri knew the Gangrel had a peculiar relation with Clan MacLeod, but he couldn’t understand why Cash didn’t want to tell this woman face to face.

"Its very.....complicated" Cash said a bit shortly, he immediately regretted his harshness when he saw the look in the young Ventrue’s eyes. "Trust me, you’ll understand when you meet her, Mohrg certainly did" Cash laughed as he remembered the Nosferatu’s shock, apparently it was some huge secret that his niece Cat MacLeod was the infamous Angel. "So tell me, how good is your memory? If I give you the message now, will you remember it and deliver it tomorrow evening?"

"Of course" Dimitri replied "the Ventrue are second only to the Nosferatu in memory and knowledge" he tried to contain his enthusiasm, he didn’t want to appear too eager, it was unbecoming.

Cash smiled as the young Ventrue’s thoughts echoed through his mind <these young ones> he thought <so concerned with clan standing and politics. He should concern himself with staying alive and bonding with others of his clan> Cash sighed as he realized how fruitless any advice he gave the Ventrue childer would be. He was after all a product of the blood, and the Ventrue were the *bankers* of the Kindred world, they controlled the commerce, buying and maintaining many businesses out amongst the human world.

"Alright then, this is what I want you to write. Dear Cat..." Cash dictated the letter, it was short and to the point. "Let me see it before you take it to her, I want to make sure it feels right." Cash explained carefully, he needed Dimitri to understand the importance, but he didn’t want the childer to think he wasn’t trusted. "If she thinks I had anything to do with this, .. Well,... she may just kill me this time." Cash laughed as he shook his head.

"This time, she has tried to kill you before?" Dimitri’s voice was full of shock and concern "Surely no human could kill you. The Gangrel are renowned for their battle skills" his eyes were wide and full of confusion at the thought of it.

"Figuratively, she has tried to kill me." Cash replied as he remembered their many *battles* "But she is more than capable of killing anyone of us" Cash informed Dimitri "she is more than human, and she knows all of our secrets. Luckily she loves us dearly and is, on the whole, not someone who jumps into battle without reason." he didn’t want to scare the childer, but he did want him to be aware that she was more than capable of defending herself in any situation. "Come on.. We have more patrolling to do. Say, have you met Fang and the other Garou yet?"

"Only in passing" Dimitri admitted "Are they also part of Clan Gangrel? I have heard that your clan is the only one who can walk among them in safety?" In fact he had heard that the Gangrel were the only clan that the Garou would not attack, all other kindred were apparently considered fair game.

"Not exactly.... but we have an understanding" Cash explained as they made their way through the narrow side passages of the school, keeping alert for anything that seemed out of place. "My clan and theirs often hunted in the same areas, so we needed to have certain *rules* regarding our treatment of each other." Cash paused as his amazingly sensitive ears picked up the sound of breathing. Signaling to Dimitri, Cash quickly dashed passed the sound of the breathing, his movements were so fast he seemed to disapparate. Cash waited for a moment as he heard Dimitri walk down the hall, they would flush out whomever was lurking in the passage and deal with them accordingly.

Cash listened intently to the breathing, it was becoming faster as was the heartbeat. Whoever was hiding was becoming scared, their pulse was quickening as they had to choose between flight or fight. Cash sneered, wouldn’t make much of a difference, not if they didn’t belong here, if they fought, Dimitri would quickly overpower them, and if they chose to run, they would run right into him. Cash smiled as he heard the loud and clumsy sound of feet running in his direction, he was starving, he needed to feed. Cash actually found himself hoping it was another deatheater, he wasn’t disappointed.

Cash grabs the spy around his neck, effortlessly picking him up, he grinned evilly as he stared into the spy’s eyes and rips all the information he needs from the man’s mind. Cash didn’t even mind the agonizing screams emanating from the spy’s mouth, they were far enough away from the students, they would never hear it. And if truth be told, he was enjoying himself, it felt good to let loose with a little havoc and mayhem every so often. As Cash finished pulling the last of the knowledge from the spy’s mind he turned to look at Dimitri.........

Dimitri’s face was frozen with fear and shock, he had never seen anything like this. He had heard time and time again about the fierceness of the Gangrel, about *hidden talents* but this was beyond anything he had ever imagined. Even Dimitri’s lightening fast reflexes couldn’t keep up with Cash, he never even saw his arm move to the spy’s neck, it simply appeared there. Dimitri found himself caught between awe and abject terror as he looked at Cash, it was obvious he was doing something to the spy, if for no other reason than the horrible screams coming from the man. Dimitri froze as Cash stared at him, but he couldn’t wipe the expression of terror from his face.......

Cash felt badly for the young Ventrue, the poor childer had no idea what was happening, and he never would. The Gangrel had many secrets from the rest of the Kindred, one of the most closely guarded was his families ability to read minds, all the MacLeod’s could do it to some extent, and the infusion of the blood only amplified that ability. The spy’s screaming was obviously distressing to Dimitri, turning back to the spy Cash slightly tightened his grip around the man’s neck effortlessly severing his spinal cord, effectively silencing him, while keeping him alive. Cash hated to feed from the dead, he enjoyed the warmth only a living body could provide.

As Cash moved to sink his teeth into spy, he sees the look on Dimitri’s face, the hunger flared painfully in the young Ventrue’s eyes. Sighing Cash motioned to Dimitri to come to him. Hesitantly Dimitri approached..

As much as Cash needed to feed, he handed the spy over to Dimitri, "I still remember the hunger of the young, childer" Cash explained as Dimitri gratefully accepted Cash’s generosity.

Dimitri nodded his head in humble acceptance and smiled in gratitude, only his own sire had ever handed over prey to him, and that was only for the first few nights. Ever since then he was on his own, it became apparent very early in his making that he was a mistake to the Ventrue. An act of passion and lust had created him, not love, as far as the Kindred were concerned he was cursed. That is why he left his sire and traveled to city after city, he needed to find somewhere he belonged, that’s when he had met Prince Julian. The prince of the city had been both kind and forgiving of Dimitri, he understood what he needed, that is why the prince sent him here to Hogwarts, this was a new start for all of them......

Cash watched hungrily as Dimitri’s head bent over the spy’s neck, Cash studied Dimitri to take his mind off of the searing pain that was running through his own veins. <This is why I will never accept the role of primogen> Cash thought to himself. When he said he would protect those in his care, he meant exactly that, and for him that didn’t end with making sure they weren’t destroyed by outsiders. It meant bringing them into the clan, treating them like family, even giving them your food if that’s what it took. Cash’s attention was drawn back to Dimitri as he caught the flash of his hair being reflected by the torch, his hair was deep black, with almost blue highlights to it. Cash found himself wondering how such an exotic creature came to be embraced by the Ventrue, they usual went for the business type, Dimitri seem more like someone his own clan would look for. Young, vibrant, quick of mind, and if the past few days were any indication brave and willing to take orders.

Cash winced as he heard the spy’s spinal column break the rest of the way through. The childer still had so much to learn, <at this rate clan Gangrel should probably just foster the boy and get it over with> Cash thought. "Take it easy Dimitri" Cash reminded him gently "your far to young to swallow his death" he walked up and placed a reassuring hand on Dimitri’s back. Cash couldn’t help but treat him like a younger brother, the childer needed to learn and quickly, these were dangerous times for all of them. .........

Dimitri sighed as the blood flowed into him, the relief he felt was amazing and instant. The hunger was a horrible thing to suffer, although he felt terribly guilty for accepting Cash’s victim, it was obvious that Cash had not feed for days. Dimitri knew they had to find another victim for Cash, and soon, the skin around the Gangrel’s eyes was becoming parched and leathery. It would only be a matter of days before the pain of the hunger drove him to madness........

Dimitri was startled by the sound of Cash’s voice "Take the corpse with you, it would not do well to have a student tripping over it,... not to mention the smell" Cash commented as he turned his nose at the remains of the spy "We’ll bring it to Fang, I’m sure he’ll be hungry... he always is." he rolled his eyes as he thought of the excitable young Garou, still Fang was always fun to hang out with.

"They eat the dead?" Dimitri said as a wave of nausea passed over him "How could they?"

"We all have our place in the world Ventrue" Cash replied sternly "They eat anything as long as it is fresh. We eat anything as long as it bleeds, not much of a difference...."

"I apologize for my rudeness" Dimitri hated it when Cash became cross with him. Dimitri had truly developed a connection to the Gangrel, he found himself enjoying it when Cash referred to him as childer, from his own clan it was an insult, but from the Gangrel, and particularly from Cash, it seemed more a term of endearment. It was their way of letting him know he still had so much to learn, and more importantly, they understood his shortcomings because of it.