Dimitri looked up at Cash, his eyes were pleading for his forgiveness. Cash softened immediately as his eyes met Dimitri’s "Have you ever listened to the Nosferatu talk about the origins of the clans?" Cash asked. Dimitri’s eyes grew wide as he shook his head *no*, Cash smiled as Dimitri’s curls and bright grey eyes caught the light of the waxing moon. "They sum it up best *monsters we are, lest monsters we become* do you understand what that means?"

Dimitri just gave Cash a blank stare, it was obvious he had know idea at all what he was talking about.

Cash sighed "Your prince sent you here to learn... right? So then start learning, begin to change your perspective. Do you know one of the things that sets Gangrels apart from trash like the Brujha? It’s the victims we chose, they would just as soon attack a mother and child as anything else. Why? Because they lack honor, they always look for the easy way, and they always fail. Clan Gangrel on the other hand refuses to harm children, and our prey consists entirely of the feast of Samhain."

"Forgive me, but I have never heard of this feast of sow wane" Dimitri said hesitantly "what is it?"

"Not what .... who." Cash sighed heavily, this was obviously going to take some time. "Samhain is the high judge of the dead. It is his laws the Gangrel follow... only the evil doer. The murderer, the rapist, the abuser; those who prey on the innocent, never the innocent themselves. In this way we serve a purpose" Cash tried to explain, it was hard for him to sum up the belief of his people in a few short sentences "even though we must sometimes kill, we can still protect those we love, by destroying the evil doer. Like this one," Cash jerked his head in the direction of the corpse Dimitri was dragging behind them, "he came here to find and steal Harry, a child of my family. By killing him we have righted a karmic wrong. Evil is returned to those who do evil." Cash hoped his explanation made at least some sense to the young vampyre.

"So your telling me we are fulfilling some sort of universal plan like some sort of the karmic cops?" Dimitri asked, sounding incredulous.

Cash rolled his eyes dramatically "That sounds a bit too cartoony. Bet you were one of those kids who sat in front of the telly eating cereal out of the box and watching cartoons all morning, ... am I right?" The embarrassed smile crossing Dimitri’s face said it all. "Thought so" Cash laughed as he playfully knocked the young vampyre’s shoulder.

"So Cash.. About the Nosferatu" Dimitri asked hesitantly "I’ve never heard how the clans originated... can you tell me?" Dimitri felt he needed to know where they came from, not knowing had somehow left a hole in his soul. He remembered his grandfather telling him over and over *you can’t know where your going, if you don’t know where you’ve been*. For some reason his grandfather’s constant retelling of his families history was his only comfort since he had been embraced, it seemed the only tangible link to humanity he had.....

"It’s a very long and involved story Dimitri" Cash sighed, he knew there was no way of getting out of this, all of the childer of his clan knew the story by heart, yet they never grew tired of hearing it..

As Cash and Dimitri walked to the Forbidden Forest Cash explained what he could of the origins of the original clans:

It all began with Fuil, he was the first man to spill the blood of his brother, not out of anger or passion, but simple greed. To make matters worse, he drank some of the blood hoping to gain his brother’s strength and good fortune. When his clan realized what he had done, they cursed him and called down the wrath of the spirits and of the Earth Mother upon him. He was transformed into a being who was shunned by his clan and cursed by the sun. His appearance was terrifying, he was more animal than man, his fingers became talons, his body was bent and torn, and his face was a mask of horror and fear...."

Cash snickered quietly as he saw Dimitri shudder, the young ones always did that. "Fuil’s pain was horrible, the hunger for the blood he had stolen burned within him. It was driving him to madness, each night as the sun’s burning rays slid below the horizon, he would claw his way up from the ground searching for any creature to drain of their blood. At first it was small animals, rabbits, rats but as his hunger grew more and more excruciating, he searched for more and more blood. Soon his clan had found the drained carcasses of horses and deer, fearing for their children the clan turned to a wise man, the Wizard of Aimsir for guidance. He told them that they must hunt Fuil and bring him to the moor, bound by chains made of his sister’s hair."

"They did as he asked, and within the week brought the monstrous creature to the moor to face the wizard’s judgement. After a few moments, the wizard realized that Fuil was more than cursed, he was damned and as such could not be killed by mortal hands. As he pronounced his findings, Fuil wailed pitifully, his pain had become so unbearable he had hoped that his clan would be willing to kill him, as he had tried to kill himself to no avail. The wizard turned his heart from Fuil, but he could not harden his heart from Fuil’s sisters who wept for their lost brother and his pain. The youngest, Lasombra, pleaded for her brother’s deliverance, it had been her twin brother who Fuil had slain, yet she begged without shame or guile for mercy on her remaining brothers soul. The wizard regarded Lasombra with soft and gentle eyes, and simply told her the price was to great, to leave and go one with her life, let her brother pay for his own sins. Lasombra would not hear of it, she convinced her sisters and her mother to join with her in entreating the old wizard, finally he relented and told them the only way to diminish Fuil suffering....."

Dimitri could hardly stand it, so rapt was his attention he didn’t notice the Garou approaching them. Gaz and Fang smiled as they saw Cash retelling the story of the Kindred once again.....

"The Wizard of Aimsir told them that only the Keeper of the Phoenix’s Gate could truly save Fuil’s soul, but by the time they could get to his home, Fuil would have gone completely mad and kill his entire clan. Every man, woman and child would die, unless his family could make a supreme sacrifice for him and for their clan. It was the blood of his brother that was causing the pain, the hunger, and the madness. The only way to stop the blood was to share it, his own family had to chose between their lives and the lives of the clan. With heavy hearts his sisters agreed, they handed their children over to their friends and husbands to raise. They thought Fuil would simply drain them of blood and they would die as their youngest brother had, but it was not to be. As Fuil’s hunger drove him to feed from his own sister’s, what remained of his soul wept bitterly, causing his blood laden tears to enter his sister’s wounds. It was the first embrace."

Cash watched as Dimitri wiped away a tear of his own......

"As his sisters awoke to the song of the blood, Fuil felt his own pain lessen, the hunger was now shared between them. Over time each of them grew strong enough to control the fierce hunger within them, but his sister’s had never forgotten their mortal families. They each began to embrace those they loved, creating the clans as they lessened their needs and the needs of their childer." Cash looked around to see the Garou smiling at them. "I’m afraid I’ll have to leave it there mate.... we’ve got company."

"Oiy and you’ve got food" Fang said hungrily as he smiled at the young vampyre who gladly handed over the corpse of the spy.

"You may not want to watch this" Cash whispered as Fang knelt over the body as other Garou gathered in. Dimitri turned to speak to Cash just as he heard Fang tearing pieces off for his clanmates to enjoy. Dimitri gave Cash a weak smile as his stomach churned "we all have our place in the world....right?"

Cash smiled widely as he clapped Dimitri on the shoulder "Now your starting to understand" he winked as he escorted Dimitri to where Gaz was standing, she tried to hide her amusement at the young Ventrue’s discomfort. "Thank heavens you told him the Gia version and not that stupid Christian muckity muck" Gaz said as she smiled widely at Cash who kissed her on her cheek.

"Not much of a bible believer myself. Know for a fact several of those stories are so far from the truth....." Cash rolled his eyes as he laughed.

"There are other stories?" Dimitri asked excitedly "when you finish this one, will you tell me the others?"

"Not much to tell really, the judicea and christians basically used the true version to their own ends... in one its Caine and Abel instead of Fuil, and in the other..." Cash paused "wait, let me see if I can remember it... its just so ridiculous..."

"Judas" Gaz said softly "the rope broke..."

Cash pointed at her and smiled "That’s it! After Judas betrayed Christ to the Romans he went to hang himself, but the rope broke and since Christ had forgiven him he couldn’t go to hell, but God refused to allow him to enter heaven. So he had to pay for his crimes by wandering the earth for eternity as a soulless monsters" Cash paused again and turned to Gaz "How did the blood enter into that story again... never made sense to me."

"The silver coins he got, the *blood money* for Christ’s life... that how they tied in that whole silver can kill you rubbish." Gaz smiled at Cash’s smirk, he had such a strange sense of humor, he was just as bad as Angel sometimes.

"See what I mean Dimitri? No sense at all, as if silver could harm us." Cash laughed as he squeezed the Ventrue’s shoulder. "Oh... wait.. I forgot ...~~~~ic..." Cash was positively howling with laughter now, in fact he was practically bent double.

Gaz looked at Dimitri and rolled her eyes "It’s a long story child,... don’t ask now, he’ll never be able to talk again." she walked over to Cash "Honestly, keep it up and you’ll get the hiccups again..... you’re the only vampyre I’ve ever heard of who managed to get them, rather hard to do when you don’t even breathe." she teased as she took Dimitri by the arm and lead him to the fire that burned warmly at the center of their camp.....

"Did he tell you about Gaia and the birds?" Gaz asked as she had Dimitri sit down next to her.

"No, he never got that far...uhm I’m sorry, I don’t know your name" Dimitri said shyly as the Garou smiled sweetly at him.

"I am Gaz. I lead this clan of Garou, we are of the Fianna tribe of the Garou" she explained as she saw the shock in the childer’s eyes. "Don’t be afraid of me childer. The Gangrel and the Garou are old allies, we will not attack each other."

Bowing his head in reference to her status Dimitri replied "But I am not Gangrel, noble lady. I am Ventrue...."

"You are here with Cash, elder of the Gangrel" she cut off Dimitri’s words "you are here under his protection and mine as long as you remain true to the ways of Gaia."

Dimitri looked up bashfully, "Gaia? I’m sorry but I don’t know what you mean by that." he winced as he waited for the beating his sire would have surely given him at such a remark. Instead Dimitri was shock when he felt Gaz’s warm hand pushing up his chin so see could see into his eyes.

Gaz looked at Dimitri and smiled warmly at him "Your sire didn’t teach you much, did he?" she asked gently as she saw the fear and torment in the childer’s lovely grey eyes. "Don’t worry, Cash will teach you all you ever need to know. As will Angel and Tristessa, they are family to each other."

"Family in the blood?" Dimitri questioned he had had no idea

"Before and after the blood" Gas responded. "Would you like me to tell you about Gaia’s mercy to your Fuil and his sisters?" She waited as Dimitri nodded. "When Gaia, the Earth Mother, saw the sacrifice that Fuil’s sisters had made for the love of their brother, she took mercy on them. In order to protect them from the sun’s killing rays she caused the birds of the fields and forest to sing their sweetest just before the sun arose. Warning the sisters of the suns approach and warming their hearts with the beauty of the songs."

"Hey Gaz" Cash shouted as he walked over to them, "How about telling him your own stories.... he’ll hear enough about his own kind, explain the Garou to him." Cash smiled as he sat next to Dimitri and looked expectantly at Gaz. Dimitri was also waiting anxiously, he had never heard of any of this. It actually felt as if he were welcome here, not a mistake to be kicked aside and forgotten, he hoped it would never end....

Gaz seemed to sense the young Ventrue’s thoughts, smiling at the childer as she would one of her own kits. As she began the story her clan gathered around her, their eyes reflecting the glow of the warm fire, as her voice rose above the crackling of the burning wood: Thousands of years ago, before the humans used language to describe their history, Gaia created three supernatural forces to maintain the universe, of which we are one. It was the Earth Mother herself who taught us how to change our shape. And it was at her command that we fostered the fledgling human race. In our pride we sought dominance over all the shape shifting kine, and war ensued. The battles were so terrible, that the humans we had protected turned their backs to us, relegating us to the world of myths and demons. But still we haunt them, the memory of our guardianship leads them to search us out in the wild places. But we are no longer their protectors, they have turned against the mother, turned against nature herself. So now we live beyond the veil, but still, be it in the world of flesh and bone or of spirits, the Garou with the aid of our kine and the Gangrel, fight to prevent the apocalypse. It is we who stand in their way, and our struggle is more dire now than ever for we are the last generation of warriors. We are twelve clans in all, we standing before you are of the Fianna.........."

As Gaz continued her story Fang quietly slid next to Cash and tugged at his sleeve, motioning him to follow. As they moved beyond the warm circle of the fire, Fang produced a drinking horn and handed it to Cash.

"I’m sorry my friend, but your young companion drained him all but dry, I saved what I could find" Fang whispered as he looked at Cash "I’ve kept it near to me, I hope its warm enough for you."

Cash smiled gratefully as he greedily swallowed the few meager mouthfuls of blood "Every little bit help my friend. I thank you" Cash said sincerely as he licked the rim of the horn.

"Why do you let the other have your food Cash?" Fang asked, uncharacteristically serious "Your becoming weak, if one of the deatheaters or dementors found you like this.."

"They would die quickly and horribly" Cash said as he turned away from the young Garou, "I am old Cash, not quiet ancient, but very, very old. When my thirst becomes unbearable, I do not cry. I do not sleep, I go mad. The blood lust will come upon me just as it would any of my kine. The only difference is the amount of damage I can do." Cash said as he winced at the thought of it.

"If you are that dangerous then why don’t you feed?" Fang asked angrily, it hurt him to see Cash suffering like this "I can see your pain, and you are withering in front of my eyes.... should I find a victim... there are many who roam theses woods."

"NO.... we have made a pact." Cash replied testily "only the spies, the deatheaters, only those that would harm the school and her students" Cash hung his head "I will not be the cause of the alliance failing, if it gets that bad I can go into a human town and find a victim there. And I let the younger ones eat because they cannot control their blood lust yet.... that my dear Fang takes decades."

Cash let it go, he didn’t want to upset Cash any further and I was obvious that he had already thought this through and had a plan just in case.....

After a few minutes more of conversation Cash made his way back to Dimitri. Getting the childer’s attention proved more difficult than he anticipated, he was absolutely spellbound by Gaz’s story of the twelve clans of the Garou, she was talking about the Silent Striders now, and from the looks on some of the younger ones faces she must have just finished up with the Get of Fenris. After a few attempts Cash finally got Dimitri’s attention and signaled to the Ventrue that he was returning to the school. Dimitri waved happily as his attention turned back to the story. Cash smiled as he watched some of the Garou reaching out, gingerly touching the young Ventrue, most of them had never seen any other vampyre but the Garou. * Looks like the apocalypse may be delayed a few more generations * Cash thought as he headed towards the school, wondering how Sirius was managing with his hot-headed niece.........

After what seemed like hours Dimitri finally said his goodnights to the Garou and headed toward the school, he still had to do a final check before dawn came. Dimitri smiled as he thought of the kindness of the Garou towards him, especially from the sisters who had sat next to him, Kara and Regeane. He began to blush as he remembered the way they took turns touching him, first one would touch his neck, and when he turned to look at her the other would do the same. They had done that to him most of the night, at least until they realized he didn’t mind their touches. In fact he liked it, he wasn’t really use to anyone treating him so gently. Dimitri found himself more grateful to Prince Julian than he ever could have imagined. Originally he had thought Prince Julian sent him to Hogwarts to be rid of the bastard Ventrue, but he now realized what a kindness it had really been.

As Dimitri searched through the halls making sure everything was as it should be, he decided to check through the common rooms as well, maybe he could find some parchment for Cash’s letter there. The Hufflepuff common room was silent as he entered, and oddly neat for a group of teenagers, still nothing seemed to be amiss, so he continued on. As he went to enter the Ravenclaw common room he paused, there was definitely someone moving around in there. It was nearly 4 am by his estimation, certainly not a time when you would expect students to be up and around. Silently Dimitri entered the common room, he paused as he let his preternatural senses take over. He heard her heart beating before he even saw her, she was sitting with her back to the door, next to the roaring fire. He could see the smudges of ink on her wrist and nightgown, she was apparently having trouble with her studies. Not wanting to frighten her, Dimitri stood up straight and gently cleared his throat.

Jamie Krafty turned around, as her eyes grew wide "Who’s there.....?!" she cried out nervously.

"Forgive me for startling you" Dimitri answered gently "but it is my duty to patrol the school, and you should be in bed dear lady."

Jamie stared at him for a moment "your duty to patrol.... oh wait..." she said as she lit her wand and crossed over to were he stood. "Hi, I’m Jamie, you must be a friend of Cash" she said as she smiled at him, her hair was a mess and she looked very tired.

"My dear lady" Dimitri said softly "what are you doing out of bed at this hour, you need your sleep"

"I can’t sleep" Jamie said whiningly "I have a potions test today, and Snape’s a beast. There nothing he likes better than to fail us. He’s a monster and I hate him." she finished as she threw her book on the table and pouted.

He smiled at her little temper tantrum, it was so human like, so endearing. "Monster or not" Dimitri said as he picked up her book and took her by the hand "I am certain he would not want you losing precious sleep over his actions."

"You apparently don’t know Professor Snape" she responded sleepily as she allowed herself to be lead by the handsome young man "Where are you taking me?" she asked as she tried to stifle a yawn.

"To your bed, I am afraid you will stumble on the steps if you go alone." he replied timidly.

"Oh no... I’ve got to study" she said as she quickly pulled her hand out of his "if I fail this test, I can kiss my broom and any chances of having fun goodbye, my parent’s will freak.." she made her way back to the table to continue studying as Dimitri stood there amazed at her stubbornness. Jamie picked up her quill and went to continue her studying when she realized something was missing. "Oh no... .what did I do with my book?" she panicked as she began to tear apart the stack of parchments she had on the table.

Dimitri crossed the room in a fraction of a second and gently placed his hand on her arm. "Looking for this?" he questioned. He tried not to laugh as the look of utter relief spread across her face.

Jamie looked up at him as she heard a chuckle escape him. "I guess this is kinda hopeless, huh?" she commented as she sat down and put her head in her hands. Dimitri sat down next to her, he wondered if he had been this emotional over his studies, carefully he placed his hand on her back. He wanted to make sure he didn’t hurt or frighten her. "I am sure you will do fine, but you need to sleep now if you don’t want to fall asleep in class." he watched as Jamie’s eyes grew wide at the thought of Snape catching her sleeping in his class.

Jamie turned and looked at Dimitri for a moment and saw him for the first time. His blue-black curls were shimmering in the light of the fire, he had soft pale skin and long dark lashes that framed his soft grey eyes beautifully. Hesitantly Jamie reached out to touch him, she gingerly ran her fingers through his curls. Being almost delirious from lack of sleep, she blurted the first that came to her mind "wow, your really cute."

She only realized what she had said when she saw the crimson flush spreading across Dimitri’s face. "I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean it... wait I did mean it, ... I mean your cute but I didn’t mean to say it like that... I ..." She looked at him blushing and laughing at her "Oh just forget I said anything,... better yet shoot me and put me out of my misery" she wailed softly as she put her head in her hands yet again.

"I think you should get some sleep now. Jamie was it?" He smiled as she nodded, her head still in her hands. Kneeling next to her, he peered up at her and smiled "Then, my dear Jamie, please, please go to your bed before either one of us says anything else." Jamie stared at him through her fingers and laughed, he was so sweet she just couldn’t help herself.

"Fine, you’ve made your point." she said as she went to get up "Just let me get my stuff together" she began gathering her parchment and ink when Dimitri stopped her.

Picking up a bottle of pink fluid he asked "What is this, one of your potions?"

She laughed as she shook her head "no silly, thats just ink, I have black, of course, and pink, purple, red and somewhere in this mess is a really pretty blue." she smiled sweetly as he grinned at her.

"Dear Jamie, may I borrow some of your ink and a piece of parchment?"..........

After Jamie was safely in bed, Dimitri sat down and using the pink ink wrote the letter Cash had asked for: Dear Cat, Sirius is NOT married or taken in any way. He still loves you . ONLY you and Harry. He has had many hard-ships in his life. Talk to him. Ask him. Love him. It will not be easy for him to tell you. Nor will it be easy for you to hear. TALK TO HIM

A Friend

Dimitri smiled at his handy work as he placed the stopper back in the vial of ink. Silently stealing up to the girls dorm, he returned the vial to Jamie’s bedside table, smiling at the sight of the young girl fast asleep in her bed. "Goodnight dear Jamie" Dimitri whispered softly as he gently kissed her goodnight.........

"Hmmm, nice handwriting, must be a blood trait" Cash remarked to Dimitri, he could never remember seeing a Ventrue that did not have perfect penmanship, or perfect teeth for that matter. The Ventrue were probably the most *human* of all the clans. Even the Toreador who were unsurpassed for physical beauty could not hold a candle to the Ventrue when it came to the masquerade, Cash assumed that was because the Ventrue needed to interact with humans on a daily basis to run their ever expanding commercial empire. "Uhmmm, Dimitri..... where did you get the pink ink? Kinda girly isn’t it?" Cash said as he gave Dimitri a strange look.

"I got it from one of the Ravenclaw girls" Dimitri smiled brightly "She was more than willing to share hers with me. In fact, I had trouble getting away from her, seems she likes my hair" Dimitri was having a hard time keeping a straight face, in fact he could already feel himself blushing shamelessly as he ran his hand through his thick curly locks. "I thought it would seem as if a woman had sent it to her" he explained sheepishly, "Do you approve?"

Cash smiled happily "So we have another heartbreaker amongst us, ehh?" Maybe there was hope for the Ventrue childer after all, if a young girls crush could have such an effect on him...... Well they would just have to wait and see. Cash turned to Dimitri "Wonderful work, and a very good idea, I’ll sneak it into her room when the time is right" he grinned as he placed a friendly hand on Dimitri’s shoulder.......

The next day as Harry and Ginny were walking back from supper, they were surprised to see Cat walking down the hall, her arms loaded with packages. Harry gave Ginny a *I have no idea look* as they rushed to help her with her burden.

"Oh, Hello you two" Cat said cheerfully as she felt their hands relieving her of some of her packages, the two children smiled happily back at her.

"So should I asked what you’ve been up to?" Harry asked as he saw the wrapping on the boxes "Madame Malkins, Belladonna Boutique, Appelonia’s Apparel, Cat what did you do?"

"I spoke with Albus today. He said coloured robes were perfectly fine for teachers. In fact he told me he couldn’t figure out why I was still wearing black... why didn’t someone say something to me.." She rolled her eyes as Harry and Ginny helped her take the packages to her room

Harry stood against the wall and laughed as Cat and Ginny opened and talked about this colour and that style, the length of the formal robe versus the hem on a more casual one. He just didn’t understand why woman got so wound up about clothes. At least he didn’t until Cat pulled out the dress she was going to wear to the Holiday Ball, even Harry could see it was gorgeous. "Wow, that’s amazing" he said "I can’t wait until Sirius sees you in that."

Cat froze as she looked from Harry to Ginny and back to Harry, she had a terrified look in her eyes. It took Harry a few moments to figure out what had upset Cat so much. "Oh no.. its alright Cat." Harry said quickly "All of the Weasley’s know about Sirius, we can talk about him in front of them." he smiled as he saw Cat’s body relax with relief.

"Harry, don’t scare me like that...." she scolded as she held the gown up in front of her, it was an amazingly deep green that shimmered every time she moved, it was embroidered with white and gold thread in intricate designs. The bodice looked as though it were two sizes smaller that the dress, and Harry found himself wondering if she would be able to breath let a lone dance in it.

"Ohhh and its off the shoulder" Ginny sighed "how romantic, who is your date going to be? Sirius or Professor Snape?"

"Not Professor Snape?!!" Harry said loudly, startling the girls. "Please, Cat...Mum.. Not him, anyone else... What about Remus?" Harry suggested hopefully.

Cat stared at Harry, a look of complete shock on her face "Harry, what has gotten into you" she asked as the surprise began to wear off "I thought you and Severus were getting along lately... or is there something I should know about?"

Harry hung his head "No, everything is fine" he replied flatly ‘Why are you going him...Why?’ Harry thought; he couldn’t believe that none of the other teachers had asked her. All of the male professors had been watching her since she arrived, each one had been trying to get her attention in their own way. Even after the rumours about her dating Remus and Snape had begun, the arithromancy and astrology professors still did everything possible to talk to her. Including drilling Hermione for every bit of information she had on Cat. One of them had even gone so far as to accompany her to Hagrid’s one night as she went to tend to the Drakes. Harry grinned as he remembered Snape’s reaction as he watched the two of them returning to Hogwarts, the other professor visibly cringed as Snape walked over. Harry was sure there was going to be a lot of yelling, but Snape simply held out his hand and smiled at Cat. The moment she took his hand and walked next to him, Snape glared menacingly at the other professor as he escorted Cat away.

Cat sat down the gown and walked over to Harry “What's wrong sweetie?" she asked tenderly "I know Severus is not your first choice, and I realize you two don't see eye to eye. But Harry, believe me when I tell you he cares about you a great deal" Cat pushed Harry's chin up gently so she could see his eyes. After staring into them for a moment she added. "And before you even suggest your godfather, may I remind you he is ..... incognito..." Cat smiled slyly "unless of course you want to go with me?"

"Uhmm, well, its not that.. I mean..." Harry stuttered, unsure of what to say, he had hoped to go with Cho this year, although he still hadn't gotten the courage to ask her yet. Harry was pulled from his thoughts by the sound of Cat and Ginny laughing.

"Harry, relax." Cat said between giggles, "I was only teasing you... for heaven's sake" Cat continued giggling as Harry rolled his eyes at her.

"That's really not very nice" Harry retorted as he shook his finger at her, doing his best to keep a straight face.

"I'm sorry, Harry" Cat said as she tried to put on a straight face "but if it makes you feel any better, I do have something for you to use at the Holiday Ball" she said as she picked up a package "If you like it that is. Please don't feel you have to wear it to please me."

Harry gave her a questioning stare as he took the large box from her hands. Ginny walked over to him as he untied the cord and opened the lid, he couldn't believe his eyes. Ginny gasped as she looked over his shoulder at the beautiful robe in the box. It was the same deep green as Cat's only it was crushed velvet instead of silk, with beautiful embroidery around the hem and trim, it was done in gold thread similar to Cat's dress, but the design was intricate Celtic knots. All in all a stunning, yet masculine piece of clothing.

"Do you like it?" Cat asked as she walked up alongside Harry, gently placing her arm around his shoulder. She smiled as soon as she saw the look on Harry's face, he was grinning from ear to ear.

"It’s amazing" Harry said in a hushed tone as Cat lifted it out of the box for him to try on as Ginny squealed with delight.

"Oh Harry, you look so handsome in it" Ginny told him as she touched the soft velvet, sighing as she watched the beautiful dance of colour as Harry moved around the room. Cat smiled to herself as she noticed Ginny blushing at Harry.

"Well it seems to fit fine." Cat said, rather pleased with herself that she actually managed to guess the right size. Harry, Cat and Ginny talked together for a few more minutes before Harry realized that Cat was trying to get his attention. She was signalling him to have Ginny leave.....

Taking Cat's hint, Harry quickly excused himself and Ginny on the pretence of practicing for her charms mid-term. Ginny and Harry joked about Cat and her dating problem on the way back, he just couldn't figure out what Cat saw in Snape.

"I think he acts completely different when she's around" Ginny chirped as she smiled brightly "Have you ever watched his eyes when Miss MacLeod is around?" she asked Harry

Harry shook his head no "I try not to look and Snape anymore than I have to. Knowing my luck he would give me detention for it" he laughed as Ginny rolled her eyes.

Ginny rolled her eyes at Harry "Well next time their together watch him. I think you would be very surprised, he looks just like dad does when he thinks mom doesn't know he's watching her."