Remus looked to Cat before he walked to the door, she was thinking the same thing he was, Severus. Opening the door slightly he peered through the crack and smiled widely. Taking a large step back, Remus opened the door and nodded at the small house elf. "Hello Dobby" he said as the elf walked in carrying two large trays of food.

"Hello, Professor Lupin Sir." Dobby replied "Is Mr. Harry Potter here? Dobby has brought food for his mother as he asked, sir."

Harry quickly got out of his seat and greeted his old friend "Hello Dobby, I’m right here." The house elf smiled happily at Harry. "Oh hello, Harry Potter Sir. Is your mother here, Dobby has done as you asked."

"Harry?" Cat asked uncertainly "What did you ask him to do? And why in heavens name is there so much food, please don’t tell me you expect me to eat that much?"

Harry turned to her and Sirius, and blushed slightly "uhm ... actually I knew how upset Sirius has been over your being hurt, and he hasn’t been eating either. And I know how worried you get because he’s so thin...... so I thought I’d ask Dobby to bring up enough food for you both." Harry looked over at Remus who was now grinning even wider than before, looking back at Cat, Harry added "I hope you don’t mind, but I figured Sirius would eat if he saw you eating"

Sirius let his head drop into his hands, leave it to Harry to embarrass him like this. His heart was in the right place, but he really hadn’t wanted Cat to know how upset he was, she had enough on her mind already. "Oh Harry...." Sirius whispered as he felt his ears burning from embarrassment.

Cat smiled warmly "Of course I don’t mind Harry. And you’re absolutely right, I do worry about Sirius" she looked directly at Ginny "although that does *not* make him my boyfriend. I worried about him, just as I do Remus... alright?"

Ginny turned pink as Cat spoke to her "So that means Professor Snape is your boyfriend then? And Professor Lupin and Mr. Black are just your friends."

Cat felt every pair of eyes turn to her, waiting for an answer, taking a deep breath she replied "Ginny, although that is *not* an appropriate question to ask a teacher, I suppose I should straighten things out now before anyone gets any ideas." She noticed Sirius and Harry cringe "As of this moment.... I have *NO* boyfriend... alright?" she tried not to laugh as the looks of disbelief shown on everyone’s face "While it is true Severus.... I mean Professor Snape and I have been spending a great deal of time together, and we are fond of each other. Neither of us have discussed the matter, so until something official happens, we are *all* just friends. Is that clear enough for everyone?" She looked around the room, she wasn’t sure who’s smile was the largest, even Ron had a goofy grin on his face.

"Well, so glad that makes everyone happy... I think" Cat said sarcastically, the silence was deafening, someone needed to say something soon or else she was going to scream.

"May Dobby give Harry Potter’s mother her dinner now?"

Cat gave a very relieved smile, happy for any change of conversation "Yes Dobby, thank you, that would be wonderful. But you can call me Cat."

Dobby practically trembled at the thought "Harry Potter’s mother would allow Dobby to call her by her true name?" he asked as his ears folded back and his eyes grew wide "You is indeed as kind as Harry Potter has told Dobby."

Harry grinned from ear to ear as he looked from Dobby to Cat, he just knew Dobby would react like this. Harry helped Dobby with the trays, handing one to Cat as Dobby handed the other to Sirius. Dobby left with a large smile and insisting that if they needed anything they call for him immediately.

"Excitable little fellow, isn’t he?" Cat said as she looked at Harry who laughed and agreed.

"He’s one of the few house elves who knows how to stand up for his rights" Hermione said as she glared at Ron.

"Well good for him, I’m glad some of them are finally demanding to be treated fairly." Cat agreed as Hermione smiled triumphantly at Ron, who rolled his eyes at the entire conversation.

Remus decided now would be a good time to leave "Alright all of you.... time to leave. Cat needs to rest, I’m sure Sirius can handle anything that might arise." Remus winked at Sirius "Besides there is no way either of them will be able to eat with you chatter boxes asking questions all night."

The students stood up to leave, Ginny, Ron and Hermione waved good night as Harry walked over to Cat and Sirius. Giving them both heartfelt hugs, Harry wished them goodnight as he joined the others. "I’m going to lock the door on my way out" Remus told them "Cash knows how to get in without the door, he told me he would be checking up on you on and off Kitty."

Cat smiled "And this is a surprise?" she laughed, she had actually been quite surprised that he was allowing anyone else to stay with her, last time something like this had happened he insisted on staying by her side night and day until she was strong enough to fend for herself.

"Night Moony" Sirius waved as he carried his tray to the bedside table "I’ll see you tomorrow" he winked as Remus shut the door behind him. Sirius took Cat’s tray and also set it on the table. "Come now grá, you need to eat. You have to keep up your strength if you want to be well enough to take Harry with you on holiday."

Cat pulled her covers back and swung her legs over the side of the bed "Does that mean you won’t fight me over it?" she asked as she settled herself in front of her tray.

"Of course not. Harry deserves a family, I just wish it weren’t so far away" Sirius sighed, he so wanted to give Harry a family, and he still hadn’t been able to spend a proper Christmas with his godson.

Cat looked at Sirius his face seemed so sad, and he hadn’t even sat down to eat "You are eating too, Right?" she asked as she grasped his hand. "Sirius, I know something is going on... please, sit down and eat with me. We can talk over supper, just like we used to."

Sirius laughed gently "Just like we used to, huh. I hope that doesn’t mean I’ll be wearing any of it" he teased as Cat shook her head.

"How did I know you would bring that up?" she sighed "Honestly, one misplaced heave of mash potatoes and I’m hearing about it forever. Who told you to step in front of Remus anyway?" Cat replied as she stuck out her tongue, only to hear Sirius’s laughter.

"That’s right, you were aiming for him..... what did he do again?" Sirius asked, this memory was only vaguely familiar to him, <the dementors strike again>. "I remember you and Lily were righteously angry over something"

Cat’s eyes grew wide "You mean you don’t remember? Sweet heavens Sirius, I never thought you would have forgotten that. You had to protect Remus the whole day... Lily and I were absolutely rabid when we found out he had lifted her diary" Cat laughed as the memory played through her head "I still can’t figure out what he was trying to prove by taking it. It’s a very good thing you were there to stop us, .... I’m sorry about clocking you like that... I really didn’t mean to." she said shyly.

Sirius gave her a small smile as the memory came jolting back into his mind. He was remembering it in bits and pieces now. Remus had stolen Lily’s diary, but not because of Lily, because of Cat. James had told them how Cat and Lily talked about everything, he had heard them discussing Sirius. He had been so unsure of Cat’s feelings that he had tried to talk James into *borrowing* Lily’s diary. Of course James balked at the very idea, Remus however took it upon himself to do the deed, only to be caught in the act. Thankfully Remus was a very quick runner, not that that had stopped the girls from chasing him into the boy’s dorms and straight into the bathrooms. Sirius suddenly began to laugh loudly as he remembered the faces of the boys who had dashed out of the bathroom, many in the middle of showering as the two fierce redheads went storming in after Remus.

"Ahh, so you haven’t forgotten?" Cat said as she looked into his eyes. She loved the sound of his laughter it reminded her of happier days.

Sirius had to wait until he stopped laughing, he could hardly breathe. "Poor Remus..... he... he... you chased him into the showers...... the guys.... they were terrified... they..... they ran..." he was holding onto the chair for support. He had begun to laugh so hard his sides were hurting. "And Moony.. He was drenched by the time James and I found him, he looked like a drowned puppy." Sirius was wiping the tears from his eyes, he had forgotten how good it could feel to laugh out loud. His eyes shone with joy and love as he gazed at Cat, who was herself in tears over the thought of what she had done.

"Poor Remus, we really did terrorize him that week didn’t we?" she asked as Sirius sat down across from her "But he deserved it, he should never have taken Lily’s diary. Do you know why he did it? It really wasn’t something I would ever have expected from him."

"It was my fault," Sirius admitted "I had asked James something about you. He told me I should ask Lily, when I told him I didn’t think she would tell me, he made a joke about *only the diary would know*, so I asked him to borrow it for me."

Cat looked absolutely shocked "YOU WHAT!!! Sirius Onoir Black, you most certainly did not" she paused when she saw the guilty look on his face "Sirius, what could you have been thinking, and why didn’t you just ask me?"

Sirius looked down bashfully "I know I just should have asked you Cat, but sometimes... well, I don’t know. I guess I just get stupid" he said softly. He was surprised when Cat reached across the table and placed her hand over his. Even after all these years it still sent a thrill through him, fifteen years without the touch of a woman, and almost sixteen since he had been this close to her. He closed his eyes as he squeezed her hand gently, savouring the warmth and softness of her skin against his own.

Cat blushed as Sirius squeezed her hand, all these years and a simple touch from him could still make her feel faint. She had to change the subject before this went any further, she was terribly afraid of what she would do if Sirius decided to get *romantic*. After all there was only so much restraint a girl could be expected to have, and she truly missed the closeness that they used to share. "Well it seems your still quite a hit with the ladies" Cat teased "Ginny seems quite taken with you. Did you see the look on her face when you tried to teach her to dance?"

Sirius chuckled "No, to be honest I was having a hard enough time trying to remember how to do it myself. I haven’t danced like that in years" he sighed deeply "I miss that, .. I miss this"

"You miss dancing? I thought you hated to dance, you were always telling me to dance with Remus" she reminded him.

"True, but I always gave in and danced with you anyway. I just couldn’t seem to resist"

Cat smiled widely as she got up from the bed "Really Mr. Black? Do you think you remember anything at all?" she asked as she held out her arms.

Sirius couldn’t believe what he was seeing "Cat?... Do you think you’re well enough for this?" as much as he wanted to hold her, he would never forgive himself if he ever did anything to cause her harm.

Cat nodded "As long as we take it easy" she said softly "It may actually do me some good."

Hesitantly Sirius approached her and gently took her in his arms, he could feel his body trembling as she looked into his eyes. He heard Cat humming softly as he took the first step, he moved stiffly at first, self-conscious of every step that he made. Taking a deep, shaky breath, Sirius closed his eyes and listened to Cat humming, her voice was so beautiful, he couldn’t even count how often he had heard her sing. But each and every time, it filled him with joy and contentment, before he realized what was happening he had fallen into a steady rhythm and was waltzing quite easily with her. Opening his eyes he smiled down at her, she was his precious treasure, the jewel of his heart, how could he ever have let her go?

"You seem to remember just fine Sirius" Cat said softly when she had seen him finally open his eyes. "What is it the muggles say.... something about riding a bike" she paused when she saw the tears rimming his eyes. "Sirius? Is something wrong?"

He smiled sadly at her "No grá, nothing is wrong. For once everything feels right" he pressed her head against his chest as he kissed her hair. A single tear rolled silently down his cheek when he realized she was just as content to rest against him as he was to have her there. "Are you taking Harry to Caledonia forever Kitty?" he asked softly, "I don’t want to lose either of you again."