Cat turned to Sirius, expecting an argument to start, but instead saw only his pain. "Sirius, you know I would never keep Harry from you.... but he never should have been left with Petunia and her beastly family. I tried to take him, several times, but Albus stopped me. He and my father forbid me to go near him until I was called for... they kept insisting it was for Harry’s own good." Cat began to weep as she thought of what Harry must have gone through "But I really don’t understand how leaving him to be raised by people who hated him was for his own good."

"I agree with you Kitty, but as his godfather, don’t you think *I* should have some say in this?" he insisted, only to regret his words when he saw her tears. "Kitty ... please, a stór stad caoin, please" he said gently as he wiped at her tears. "You know I cannot stand to see you cry."

"I don’t want to see him suffer anymore Sirius..." she whispered "he’s never had a chance, he doesn’t even understand clan." She told him as she looked into his eyes "I want him to have a family .... clannad, he deserves at least that much." Her eyes pleaded with him "Please. Don’t fight against me, not on this."

Sirius exhaled deeply as he closed his eyes, it was killing him, she wanted exactly what he did, a family. Silently he nodded his head, she was right, Harry needed a family, a real family. Even if he wasn’t part of it, although deep in his heart Sirius knew Harry would never allow himself to be taken away from his godfather. They simply loved each other too much to endure a separation like that. Sirius opened his eyes when he felt Cat’s warm hand on his shoulder.

Cat wasn’t sure what had happened during the years she was gone, but she was beginning to think there was a lot that no one was telling her. She wanted to ask Sirius why *he* never adopted Harry, surely his wife would not have objected to taking Harry in, he was only a baby when it had all happened. And then they was Sirius himself; she knew it was him, but something was terribly wrong, he seemed frail and haunted. Nothing at all of the carefree and boisterous Sirius she remembered. She knew she should tell him to leave, but she couldn’t bear to see him in such pain.

She sat up and placed her hand on his shoulder, squeezing it gently as she tried to make him look at her. When he finally did Cat felt her breath catch in her chest, he was crying, his lovely blue eyes were overflowing with tears, she opened her arms to him and held him tightly as they embraced. "Sirius,.... what is it... What aren’t you telling me?"

Sirius rocked back and forth with her as he let the tears stream down his face*What am I not telling her, ... where do I begin*; he thought. "Oh Cat... I don’t know where to start" he sobbed softly as he buried his face against her neck. "So much has happened since you left, I’m not even sure how much you know about any of it." he felt her rest her head against his as she stroked his hair.

"Then tell me Sirius... please. I know people are keeping things from me, I can see it in their eyes. I can see it in your eyes." she whispered in his ear.

"I’m sorry." he said as he pulled her tightly against himself "I’m not trying to keep things from you. I just don’t know how to tell you. And after last night....." he winced as the fear crept over him "Sweet mother of heaven Cat. I thought you were dead. I thought I lost you again" he told her as he kissed her neck, savouring the warmth and softness of her skin. He felt Cat gasp as his lips touched her flesh, only to fade into a soft sigh. She still loved him, he knew it. "Cat, I don’t want to upset you by explaining everything right now, I’ll wait until you’re stronger" he said as he pulled away from her so he could look into her eyes "But I need you to know at least this. .... I love you. I always have and I always will....."

Peering inside the screens that Sirius had place, Albus watched Sirius and Cat. He truly wished he could give them more time together. They had suffered through so much, and he knew if he could only steal some more time for them, they would be able to work everything out. But some things were even beyond his ability, and if Poppy saw Sirius.... well that just wasn’t the way Cat should learn about it. Sadly Albus gave a deep sigh as he cleared his throat, startling the couple.

Albus looked over his shoulder towards Poppy and waved, signalling Sirius time was running short.

"Looks like I have to go" Sirius said as he played with Cat’s hair. He stopped when he saw her staring at him "Sorry... old habits die hard I guess." he told her. "I still wish you wouldn’t go with Snape. He’s not what he seems." he told her as he took her hand in his.

Cat gave Sirius a pleading look "Sirius Black, what do you want me to do. Sit alone in my room waiting for you to decide what’s best for me?" she asked softly as her tears threatened to fall " I’m not your girlfriend anymore. You’ve gone on to live your life. I have to live mine too." She said more to convince herself than anyone else "Don’t I deserve to be happy?"

Sirius could see this was not going to go well, for whatever reason, she was still protecting Snape, just like she had in school. He decided to use the one thing that had always worked for him... humour "Of course you do Cat,..... just not with him" he smirked as she rolled her eyes.

"You two haven’t changed at all" she sighed, trying to hide her smile. Sirius was moving to leave, but Cat couldn’t bear to let go of his hand. Despite everything that had happened, she still cared deeply for him, if only he would tell her what had happened. If only he wasn’t married....

Sirius sensed his opportunity, quickly leaning forward he kissed Cat full on her lips, only to be pulled away by Albus. Sirius winked at her and smiled widely as he dashed passed Albus transforming as he passed through the screens so that the only thing Madame Pomfrey saw was the large, black grim bounding out of the hospital wing.

"Well, something has certain put a spring in his step" she muttered as she went to check up on Cat. Madame Pomfrey paused when she saw the look Headmaster Dumbledore was giving Cat, who for her part was blushing furiously. "Professor Dumbledore, ... should I leave?" Poppy asked.

"No Poppy, of course not. Although at this rate Miss MacLeod may be leaving your care much sooner than you anticipated." he said while staring pointedly at Cat "Her colour is definitely improving. Don’t you agree?"

"Hmmm now that you mention it" Poppy said sarcastically "I don’t suppose this would have anything to do with her visitor, would it?" She hushed Cat as she took her pulse "You should really have a talk with Professor Lupin, Headmaster. He should know better than to pull something like that with on of my patients."

Cat stared wide-eyed at Albus as she mouthed "Remus??!" she began to protest when she saw Albus hold up his hand, motioning that she should stay quiet about Sirius. Biting her lower lip, Cat hung her head as she tried to calm her mind and her heart.

"Well Miss MacLeod ... it looks as though your visitor hasn’t done any lasting harm to you. But I want you to rest now. I will return in a few minutes with a sleeping potion, and no arguments tonight." she said crisply, she nodded to Professor Dumbledore as she walked to her office.

Cat looked up to see Albus smiling at her, "When is someone going to tell me the truth?" Cat asked "I know you’re not telling me ...."

"Hush Kitty..." Albus said gently "I think this should come directly from Sirius himself. I know you will have many questions that only he will be able to answer" he sat down on the edge of her bed, patting her hand "I know that is not the answer you wanted, but it is the answer you need. I know Sirius’s past actions hurt you, just as I know he has regretted those actions every day since." Looking up, Albus noticed Poppy returning with the potion. "I want you to rest tonight, my dear. With any luck I will be able to talk Poppy into allowing you to recover in your own bed. That should give you ample time to talk things over with him." he smiled as his eye twinkled cheerfully behind his glasses.

Cat smiled back at him, he was right, if this had to do with Sirius, she wanted to hear it from him and him alone....... She took the potion without complaint and said goodnight to Albus and Poppy, she laid on the bed as the last few hours ran around her head, fighting for her attention. * I love you. I always have and I always will* that had been the second time Sirius had told her that he loved her. The first time she had convinced herself she had misheard him, or that he didn’t mean it *that* way. But there was no mistaking it this time, he had been very clear on the subject. Cat smiled, maybe Ron was right, maybe Sirius was still in love with her. Cat cuddled into the bed, hugging her pillow as she began thinking of a life with Sirius, maybe they could start again. She thought back to how happy they had once been, she remembered their first *real* kiss, they had been playing seven minutes of heaven with some of their friends. She sighed deeply as she remembered teaching him how to play guitar, only to have him surprise her with a serenade a few weeks later. He could be so sweet and wonderful, could he really still be in love with her. Then the sudden realization hit her, what was she thinking.... *What if Sirius did love me? It doesn’t matter, I will never allow myself to become the *other* woman, I would never shame myself or my clan in such a way* Cat hugged her pillow even tighter, reminding herself to stay strong, but all the while thinking about her lost love.

Snuffles trotted quickly back to his room behind Albus’s office, he was both elated and broken hearted. He could still feel Cat in his arms, feel the beating of her heart as he held her close to himself. If only he had more time with her, he had been on the verge of telling her everything, but there was no way he was going to drop a bomb like that and then leave her. Albus had promised to get Cat out of the hospital as soon as possible and back to her own room. Then Sirius could *finally* talk to her, tell her about Azkaban, Peter, Esmeralda. .... everything. It would take a whole night just to explain it to her, not to mention all the tears that would accompany the explanations. He just had to keep hoping that she wouldn’t turn away from him when she found out the truth. It still hurt him that so many of his *friends* had been so willing to believe that he would have betrayed his best friend.

Forcing those thoughts from his head, Sirius decided to concentrate on Cat. Judging from her reaction this evening, she still cared for him. He laid on his bed and stretched out, letting the night replay itself. He felt himself go weak as he recalled her reaction to his kissing her neck, it was the same years ago. Sirius wrapped his arms around his pillow as he relived the feeling of Cat melting in his arms. He had to win her back, he had to prove to her that he could be trusted, he never meant to betray her, she had to believe him, he had to make her understand. Sirius let him mind drift back to his school days, back to when he "needed some space" those had been his exact words. If only he had been braver, he loved her but he had been so frightened by the depth of his own feelings, he panicked. He should have told her the truth, confessed his fears to her, instead he told her that they were getting to ‘serious’ they should start seeing other people.

Sirius remembered the look of pain in Cat’s eyes, but she agreed *if it was what he wanted*. He remembered her taking the chain with his ring off of her neck to hand back to him. But he had refused, he had insisted she keep it. Something Lily noticed immediately, Lily had known how deeply he loved Cat. Hell, everyone knew how much they loved each other.

Sirius closed his eyes and put his head back, what made him do such stupid things. The news had spread so fast, everyone was asking him or her about it, she still stood by him, even through all the whispers and looks she stood by his side. It wasn’t until that night at the dance that she avoided him, he couldn’t blame her, he had been a complete ass, he just always expected her to be there, and when she wasn’t he lost his mind.... the comments he made had been bad enough but then to set her up to take the blame for that stupid prank..... he was so certain he would be able to swoop in and pull her out of trouble, be her hero again, and all would be forgiven. Only it didn’t happen that way, it had all backfired, she had been caught and he never saw her again. He had completely and utterly lost her. He had never even had the chance to say good bye, much less ask for her forgiveness for what he had done.

He hadn’t even realized she was gone until lunch, he had thought she was avoiding him at breakfast, but by lunch the news was all over the school; she wasn’t coming back. Sirius had bolted out of the great hall and tore down the corridor to the tower. He burst into the girl’s dorm to see Cat’s empty bed and trunk. Everything was gone, her clothes, book, even the pictures of her family. Sirius had walked back to his own bed, completely numb over what had happened, then he saw it. Laying on his bed was his ring, the one his father had given him and several poems and love letters he had written for Cat she had left them on his pillow along with a picture of the two of them holding each other. He had cried for days, he refused to go to his classes, the very thing he feared the most had happened, and it was all his own fault.....

Sirius blinked away his tears, it wasn’t going to do him or anyone else any good to relived the past, he needed to start thinking about the future. He loved Cat, he loved Harry. Cat loved Harry, she had even gone so far as to try to adopt him, and Harry was completely devoted to Cat. Sirius smirked when he thought about the first time he had heard Harry call her mum, it had actually taken a few moments for what he said to sink in. ... They all wanted a family, and it was long past time to set things right and get on with their lives. Sirius only hoped that he wasn’t too late, the thought of Snape being able to see her whenever he cared to, not to mention taking her to the dance.... it simply ate away at him. Sirius grit his teeth as he pictured Snape holding Cat in his arms, laughing and dancing with her. The slimy git, he didn’t deserve her, he couldn’t love her the way she needed to be loved. Cat needed tenderness and affection, not harshness and cruelty.

Sirius laid there for what seemed like hours, he could smell Cat’s perfume on his robes, he wanted to see her again. Sighing deeply, he got up and paced his small room trying to distract himself, but all he could think about was Cat and Snape. "This is absolutely ridiculous" he said aloud "I shouldn’t be living like this. I should be with her, Harry should be with us....." Sirius ran his hand through his dark hair. "There is no choice, ...the only way I can ask Cat to marry me is if I clear my name. And the only way to do that is to find that creep Peter." Sirius flopped down in a chair, he had been trying to find Peter since the night he escaped from he and Remus, what were the chances of suddenly finding him now?

"Not that bad... if you ask for help mate" Cash smiled as he walked into Sirius’s room "Kinda depressing in here.... not much of a decorator are you?"