It was horribly cold by the time Dimitri and Sirius reached the Roma camp. Luckily they had made it there in less than two nights, but they were both sore and tired from their journey.

Magda’s daughter, Fallon, had rush out to meet them, bringing warm cloaks with her. The two travellers gratefully accepted the cloaks as they followed her inside a large ornately painted caravan. Sirius was immediately impressed by the magic that was in work, although the caravan appeared large from the outside, it certainly didn’t seem large enough to hold this amount of people. Sirius looked around and quickly estimated thirty adults and almost as many children sitting comfortably inside the caravan. In the middle was an older woman, whose very presence held a great deal of power. <That must be Magda>, Sirius thought as he bowed towards her, motioning Dimitri to do the same.

"And who do we have here" Magda spoke "a young vampyre and a single wizard?" the Roma murmured softly as they waited for Magda to continue. "Go away children. I am waiting for Bean Uasal de MacLeod, rion de daoine. I will accept no other." She dismissed them with a wave of her hand.

Thinking quickly Sirius answered "A thousand apologies Magda, Queen of the Roma. But mo Bean was unable to leave her duties. She is waiting to greet you at Hogwarts, as is Tiarna Albus Dumbledore." Sirius paused to make sure his words were having their desired effect. Sure enough, Magda was listening to him intently, taking a cloth sack from inside his robes, he walked up to Magda. Sirius noted several of the men had also risen as if to defend the woman. Kneeling in front of her, Sirius presented the pouch. "I have been asked to deliver this to you, Magda, first among the Roma, as a token of our sincerity." Sirius once again rose to his feet and returned to where Dimitri was standing. He waited anxiously as Magda cautiously opened the pouch, as if she was afraid of what may be inside. It seemed like hours, Sirius didn’t even realize he was holding his breath until Magda looked back up at him and smiled, <so far so good> he thought as he finally allowed his body to relax.

Sirius waited patiently as Magda studied the amulet and read the parchment that Albus had sent along with it. She looked up at he and Dimitri several times as she read the letter, as if she were studying them. Magda was a striking figure, her once black hair was now streaked with silver which radiated from her face, her dark eyes sparkled with intelligence and her voice was deep and thickly accented "According to your Dumbledore, you wizard, are very close to Bean Uasal de MacLeod, is this true?" Magda asked as she fixed him with an intent gaze.

"Yes" Sirius replied, not wanting to elaborate anymore than he had to "and to her family."

Magda leaned forward in her chair and stared straight into Sirius’s eyes. She gave him a knowing smile "But closer to her than them." it wasn’t a question. Sirius began to blush as Magda threw her head back and laughed heartily. Rising from her chair she walked over to them and gave them each a welcoming hug and a kiss on each cheek. "You will stay with us tonight, be our guests, tomorrow we will discuss this thing" she told them as she slapped the parchment against the palm of her hand. She gestured to the crowd in the caravan, next thing Sirius knew, he and Dimitri were being greeted by Magda’s people, the Roma.......

Dimitri was all smiles as they were escorted to a caravan where they would sleep, he kept staring at Fallon, who would turn to watch him, and then smile back at him nervously.

"Knock it off Dimitri" Sirius whispered, "your making her nervous"

"I don’t mean to... its just that she reminds me of my sister Luna." Dimitri replied as he tried to stop looking at Fallon.

"Really?" Sirius asked "are you a gypsy, or ....a ....uh.. Roma, I mean."

"I was, until this happened to me" Dimitri said sadly. "I still remember the sounds of the caravans creaking as we drove on from one camp to another. I can’t tell you how many times I fell asleep to that sound." he explained as his eyes began to mist up "My sister and my brother and I would sleep in one bed, cuddled underneath thick soft blankets as my mother sewed our clothing or prepared my fathers bed."

"So you are one of us then" a soft voice asked, it was Fallon, she had walked up to Dimitri’s side as he had spoken to Sirius. "I thought you seemed familiar, and I do remember you sister Luna, she is a truly gifted woman. Her ability to heal the injured is famous throughout our people."

"Have you seen her, recently?" asked Dimitri hopefully "its been nearly three years since I’ve seen her."

Fallon shook her head no. "I’m sorry, but I haven’t seen her for nearly two years. Not since my father was injured." she looked down at her feet "Luna did everything she could, but it was just too late."

Dimitri instinctively placed his arm around her shoulder "I am sorry for you loss, my little bird." he said tenderly as Fallon wiped away a tear from her eye.

"Thank you Dimitri, you have your sisters kindness I see." Fallon said "you must get that from your mother."

"Yes, I am sure that is were it came from" Dimitri replied awkwardly, he knew his father’s well deserved reputation better than anyone. But you never spoke against your parents, or the dead.

Dimitri gave Fallon a gentle kiss on the cheek as she bid he and Sirius goodnight. He turned around to see Sirius shaking his head while grinning at him. "Reminds you of your sister... That’s a pretty lame line" he teased.

"It wasn’t a line" Dimitri replied "she does remind me of Luna. I wish I could see her again, its been so long, I wonder if she’s married yet or if she has any children." he said wistfully. "Not that it would matter much in my present condition. I doubt she would even speak with me, much less allow me near any children."

"Dimitri I am positive if Luna saw you today she would be overjoyed. I can’t imagine she would shun you, or keep any nieces and nephews away from you." Sirius replied as he stretched out on the bed "From everything you’ve told me over the past day or so, she sounds like a wonderful woman. You said she always protected you from ....things. What makes you think any of that would change now?"

Dimitri sighed as he sat on his bed "From your mouth to God’s ear" he said as he smiled sadly at Sirius "goodnight my friend, sleep well"............

Cat was on her way to the pitch to find Harry, who was once again practicing with the team. Cat approached quietly so as not to disturb the practice, and sat on one of the lower bleacher to watch Harry and the others trying some new plays. She had a bright smile on her face as she watched Harry’s amazing skill and even more amazing moves. "So much like you father" she said softly "he and Lily would be so proud of you."

As if on cue, Harry looked down and waved to her, nearly getting beaned by a bludger . He gave her a crooked smile as he saw her gasp and cover her eyes, then quickly sped off to continue his practice. Cat shook her head and laughed softly, "alright, maybe a little *too* much like your father"

Before she knew it, all the members of the team had begun to do fly-bys at her. Smiling and waving at them, Cat began to wish she had brought a broom with her. She had always joined in on all the house practices, usually as a beater, it was always her favourite position. Cat smiled as she remembered what it felt like to smack a bludger across the pitch, the satisfying crack as the beating bat made contact with the bludger.

"Oiy, You paying attention or not?" asked a Weasley twin, smiling widely at her.

"Hey Fred." Cat said as she smiled back

"I’m not Fred, I’m George" he replied indignantly.

"Give it a break junior, you're Fred and you know it" Cat replied knowingly "it a lot easier to tell you two apart than you think."

"You're no fun Miss MacLeod" Fred replied "exactly how do you expect us to cause any fun if we know you can tell us apart, huh?"

"Now Fred,... have I *ever* told on you? Or George?" she replied as she smiled, she watched as Fred returned her smile and laughed. "Hey Fred..... give me a turn?" she asked

"Huh..... you mean on the broom?" Fred asked, confused. "Do you even know how to play? It can be kinda dangerous" he said as uncertainty filled his eyes.

"Yes I know how to play" Cat replied indignantly "I was playing before you where born... come on .... what do you say." She asked again, smiling mischievously.

"Okay. But don’t say I didn’t warn you" he said as he hopped off the broom and handed it to her.

Cat quickly mounted the broom and held out her hand for the beater bat. "Don’t worry Fred, I’ll try to stay out of trouble." she grinned as she sped off to join the others for a little fun.....

Harry turned as he heard his team mates cheering at something. Turning around, he almost fell off his broom when he saw Cat flying toward him. Harry rubbed his eye just to make sure he was really seeing what he thought he was. "No way, she wouldn’t.... would she" he said to himself as he watched her making a few turns and stops, feeling out the broom’s handling as she took a few swings at the bludgers. Harry smiled as he saw one of the bludgers she had just smacked whizz past him. "Alright, maybe she can" he laughed as he waved to her.

Harry smiled warmly as he saw her smile and waved back. He never would have believed anyone if they had told him two months ago that his new divination teacher would be practicing Quidditch with him. Not to mention becoming his mother, Harry sighed as he thought on the happy days ahead, he had overheard Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall speaking yesterday, they had been discussing Cat’s application to the Ministry to officially recognize her adoption of him. Not that he needed them to recognize it, she was his mother, that had to be obvious to anyone who bothered to look.

Harry started as he heard Cat yell out his name as she sped towards him bat in hand. She quickly flew just past him as she gave an amazing swing, soundly hitting the bludger that had been heading straight for him. He had been so busy daydreaming about her that he didn’t pay attention to the bludger returning.

Cat turned to face him "Not a good way to see if I can still play Harry" she said as she winked at him. "Or do you just enjoy stopping my heart like that?" She spun and turning her head, smiled at him, then quickly flew off , her long hair trailing behind her like a comet’s tail.

Deciding to see how well Cat could actually play, Harry decided to call a few plays. He looked down at the bleachers to see Fred waving happily at him, no doubt using his free time to plan yet another prank or product for he and George’s burgeoning business. Harry looked back up at Cat and his team. "Alright. Lets see what we can do....." Harry began as he gave Cat a huge grin "George and Cat, I want you to keep the bludgers flying at us while I, Angelina and the other catchers try to score against Ron. Okay?" Harry watched as George and Cat looked at each other and then to him, nodding.

"This aught to be interesting" Angelina joked as she flew next to Harry "Are you sure she can handle it, she’s not exactly young you know."

"I don’t know, but I think she’ll do fine" Harry said as he smiled "and I wouldn’t let her hear you saying anything about her age, she’s a bit touchy on that subject lately, she must have a birthday coming up." Harry laughed as he heard Angelina snort over the age comment and fly ahead of him, quaffle in hand. Harry gave one last look at Cat, who was staring at Angelina with narrowed eyes.

Harry paused for a moment as he said softly "You heard what she said, didn’t you?" He watched in amazement as Cat raised her eyebrows and winked at him. Remus had said her hearing was good, but this was just scary. Harry sighed as he began to put a play into action, he had the distinct feeling Angelina was going to have her hands full for the rest of the practice.

Sure enough Harry watched in awe as Cat fired several near misses at Angelina, causing her to drop the quaffle on several occasions. Harry shook his head as he watched Cat and George play, it was obvious Cat was enjoying herself immensely. .....

Cat smiled broadly as she gave the bludger another resounding smack, she truly missed this, it was so cleansing to beat the tar out of something every once in a while. Not to mention impressing a few students in the process, she may never have officially played for Gryffindor, but she had been there for almost every practice. Rain, snow, heat and cold, she was there with her friends, James had originally thought it funny when Sirius had begun to teach her how to play as a beater, but he didn’t laugh for long. In between Sirius tricks on how to aim the bludgers, and James manoeuvres, she had become quite the player. But it was Remus who had given her the best advice, "Just picture the bludger as someone you dislike" he had told her. Ever since then, all she saw as she swung at the little devils was Lucius Malfoy’s pinched and sneering face.

Cat smiled as she saw the look on George’s face, she winked at him and flew over quickly "Hey Georgie, want to make this a little more interesting?" she asked as she gave him a wink.

"What do you have in mind?" George asked excitedly, never having a teacher as a partner in crime before.

"Let’s keep them busy while *we* do some scoring..... how many of these darlings can you keep going at once?" she asked as sent another bludger heading toward Angelina.

"I’ve had at least four going at once... why?" George asked as his smile became wider.

"Just play along my friend.... I’ve got pranks you’ve never even thought of" Cat said as she pulled something out of her pocket and blew it into the air. Suddenly half a dozen bludgers appeared in front of her. "Lets keep them busy while *we* do some scoring" she said "and don’t look so scared George, their harmless, they can’t hurt anybody."

Remus was looking out the window smiling happily as he listened to Albus and Severus discuss the ongoing issues regarding the MOM’s complete lack of action regarding Voldemort’s increased activity and especially the increase of incidents surrounding the school.

"Remus.... I say Remus are you listening to what Severus is saying" Albus asked as he walked toward Professor Lupin.

"Yes Professor Dumbledore, every word" Remus replied as he felt Professor Dumbledore’s kind hand on his arm. Remus turned to look at Albus, he smiled widely as he saw the look of confusion on the headmaster’s face. Remus glanced quickly to the window, then walked to his chair and continued the conversation with Severus. Albus lingered for a moment, curious to see what had kept Remus so entranced. Peering out over the grounds he saw Gryffindor practicing Quidditch. A pleasant scene, but nothing to hold his interest so intently. Taking a closer look, Albus felt a smile cross his own face, it all made sense now. …..

Cat and George swung with wild abandon as they put their plan into action. Having eight bludgers in play was certainly rattling the chasers, and even Harry felt his head spinning as he tried to figure out what was happening. Meanwhile he heard Cat and George laughing as they tossed the quaffle back and forth between them, scoring a few goals on Ron. Though all things considered Ron was doing a smashing job defending against them and several bludgers.

"Cat!" Harry yelled "Cat that’s enough, make them stop" he ducked as a bludger flew dangerously close to his head.

"Don’t worry sweetie. I have it under control" she yelled back as she whacked one of the bludgers to the far end of the pitch. "I thought you wanted us to keep them flying?"

"NOT FUNNY" Angelina said as she grabbed the beater from Cat’s hand and flew off towards the nearest bludger, winding up she smiled as she went to send the bludger towards Cat.

"I wouldn’t do that if I were you" Cat warned as she hovered, unflinching on her broom.

"Oh wouldn’t you, it seems as though you’ve been doing it to me all night" Angelina said sweetly as she struck the bludger, only to hear a resounding *splat*

"I did warn her" Cat sighed "you heard me warn her, right?" she asked the team, but they were too busy laughing to answer.

Harry was laughing so hard he was having trouble steering, he couldn’t begin to think what had possessed Cat to pull a stunt like that. Harry shook his head, that was it, practice was over for the night. "Pack it up guys..... that is it" he laughed again as he saw the look on Angelina’s face, she still wasn’t sure what had happened. "Angelina, come on" he yelled up to her, he was relieve when he saw she had begun to laugh......

Fred was waiting for them on the ground, laughing at the look on George’s face. "A grapefruit" Fred laughed "I can’t believe she fell for it"

"Not bad for an old lady, huh?" Cat said off handedly as she walked past Angelina, who stared after her as she walked over to Harry. "So.. . you angry with me sweetie?" Cat asked as Harry tried to compose himself.

"No, not angry....completely surprised, but not angry." Harry laughed as she put her arm around his shoulders. "I’m beginning to see why you fit in so well with my parents and the other marauders though."

"Yes well, what can I tell you?" Cat sighed as she smiled softly "We were quite the team, noone could ever anticipate what we would do next. Although I would have to say that James would have seen that one coming" she said as she winked at Harry "and of course Lily would have been up there helping me instead of George."

"My mum would do that?" Harry asked as his eyebrows shot up, it was hard to picture Cat doing something like that, let alone his mother.

"Oh yes" Cat smiled widely "she kept James firmly in line when it came to pranks. Just asks Remus and Sirius, she kept them in line as well."

She and Harry laughed over some stories she shared about Lily’s revenge on James and Sirius as they walked back to the school. As they entered the doors Harry turned to Cat "Can I ask you something?" he said nervously.

"Of course sweetie, you know you can ask me anything." Cat replied, instantly becoming concerned by the look in Harry’s eyes.

"I overheard Dumbledore and McGonagall talking before" he stated hesitantly "is it true? Are you officially adopting me?"

Cat was shocked, she had thought it was a secret even from Albus and Minerva "Yes Harry, I am. Or at least I’ve formerly requested to do so" she said nervously "I didn’t want to mention it until I heard back from the Department of Family Services...... You’re not upset, are you?" she asked as she held her breath waiting for his response.

"Upset.... are you joking" he said happily as he threw his arms around her "that means that it would be official, right? You would legally be considered my mother. I could live with you and everything."

Cat smiled with joy and relief as she hugged Harry back "Sweetie, you can live with me now. As far as our family is concerned I am your mother and you are my son." she reminded him "I’m only doing this to have the Ministry officially recognize it. It doesn’t change anything if they approve it or not. You’re my little boy and I love you." she said as tears began to form in her eyes "And you will NEVER have to go back to the Dursley’s, not ever." she reminded him as she squeezed him tightly. "You’ll understand better when we go to Caledonia for the holidays"

"I can’t wait, I’ve never spent the holidays with anyone who actually wanted me there before" Harry sighed "Hogwarts is the closest thing to family I’ve ever had. Ron even ended up staying with me once or twice" he said as he smiled at the memories of their Christmases past sprang into his head.

"Well that’s something else you’ll never have to worry about again" Cat told him as she kissed his forehead "From now on you’ll have more family than you’ll know what to do with" she laughed as they began to walk towards Gryffindor tower.

As they walked Harry noticed Cat wasn’t looking quite herself "Are you alright Cat?" he asked "you look pale, your not getting sick are you?"

"No Harry, just a headache, that’s all." she replied softly as she tussled his hair "Serves me right for pulling stunts like I did tonight. Its been a very long time since I’ve even held a quaffle, much less played."

Harry shook his head "Well you would never know it the way you played tonight. Did my dad teach you that?" Harry asked as his eyes lit up at the thought

"Yes Harry, both your dad and Sirius taught me a lot about playing Quidditch" she replied as she smiled warmly "and as you can see, they were excellent teachers."

"I wish he could have taught me" Harry said sadly "I wish I could have known them."

"So do I Harry" Cat replied softly "but you do have the next best thing. And unless I am completely mistaken, I’m pretty sure I noticed some of Sirius’s moves out there......" She paused as she saw the grin shining on Harry’s face "I thought as much."

"When are we leaving for Caledonia? Right after the ball?" Harry asked excitedly

"Uhmmm,.... no not *right* after the ball Harry." Cat said hesitantly "I *may* have other things to attend to first.... but we will be there by Christmas Eve.. At the VERY latest" before Harry could ask her what her plans were, Cat asked. "So what do you want for Christmas Harry? Anything in particular?"

Harry was very tempted to tell her exactly what he wanted for a present, he thought about it for a moment, then decided he had nothing to lose "How about a dad?" he asked "I even have one in mind" he grinned as he saw her reaction.