Sirius cut him off before he could go any further "I was young and stupid" Sirius replied "I’ve learned a lot since then." he said softly as he smiled at Cat who was watching and listening to every word that was being said. He watched as she moved closer to Remus, who put his protective hand on her shoulder "One of the most important things I have learned is, there is nothing as important as family, agus clannad" he added as he winked at Cat.

Severus was half mad, first Lupin thinks he can decide when and under what circumstances he can see Catri, and now Black and Lupin were speaking a forbidden language in front of him. Severus was dying to know what they were saying, but he wasn’t about to lose his temper, not again, and certainly not in front of Catri. "Well I am happy to hear that your entire life has not been a complete waste of time Mr. Black." Severus became suddenly quite when he saw Harry place his hand on Black’s shoulder. "But I am sure you and I will discuss that at a later time." he finished softly. Turning to Catri he picked up her hand and spoke very gently "I *do* apologized to you for my behaviour, but I hope you understand it was only because I was terribly worried about you. I had no idea what had happened to you, if you were alone, ... nothing. Forgive me?"

Cat smiled widely "Of course. I know how much of a brat my cousin can be" she giggled as she saw the Severus smirk in agreement. "Just make sure you don’t get him angry Sev, he can be dangerous if he’s provoked" she reminded him "I don’t want to see you hurt."

Remus stared at Cat for a moment and then at Sirius, he could see the pain in his friend’s eyes as he watched Cat and Severus. Remus had to think of something quickly, before Snape got any closer or Sirius finally lost his temper. "Well Cat, how *are* you feeling today? Better than yesterday I hope."

Cat looked up at Remus and grinned "Aside from the bruises I am feeling much better. I’m even hungry this morning." she winked at Harry "I guess it’s a good thing Harry’s friend brought so much food." As if reading her mind Sirius was already at her side with a plate full of her favourite food. He grinned as she smiled gratefully up at him "Thank you Sirius" Cat replied, kissing him on the cheek as he handed her the plate.

Sirius could feel Snape’s glare on the back of his head "Would *you* like any thing Sna...Severus" he asked civilly. If there was going to be a fight, Sirius intended to make sure he did nothing to start it, he didn’t want Cat or Remus to be upset with him.

"Thank you, no" Sev replied cold as icy, he did not know what Black was up to, but he was not taking any chances. "You look tired Mr. Black.... maybe you should leave now and get some sleep"

"Actually," Cat interjected "I think Sirius should be eating as well, it doesn’t look like he’s been taking care of himself" she said as she looked intently at Sirius who grinned back at her like a little boy "I mean it Sirius, you are much too thin, it isn’t healthy" her eyes glimmered with concern as she looked at him. P>"Cat, if it will make you happy, I would be more than happy to stay and eat with you." Sirius replied as he reached over to squeeze her free hand, causing Sev to glared menacingly.

"I thought sleep was more important than food Catri" Severus hinted "I was hoping to speak with you in private" he whispered "I wanted to talk to you about your plans for the holidays."

"You won’t be doing anything in private with her" Remus reminded him "I’ve told you already, you need a chaperone." Remus completely ignored Snape’s glare "I’m sure Harry will be willing to stay if you need to speak with Kitty, or you can wait for Cash, he’s sure to show up." Remus commented off-handedly as he bit into a bagel.

Snape took a deep breath "Mr. Lupin, while I appreciate your attempt at humour, Miss MacLeod is certainly old enough to chose who she sees and how she sees them." He stood up and faced Lupin, daring him to argue.

Remus grinned widely, this is exactly what he wanted "Normally I would agree with you Severus. But this is not her decision, this is a clan matter. And the matter is closed until I speak with either Cash or her father." Remus paused for a moment to let Snape just begin to boil, then he added the kicker "If you don’t believe me ask Cat, she is well versed on clan law. In fact part of her duties are to uphold and enforce clan law. Isn’t it acushla?"

Cat bowed her head slightly "He’s right Sev. I have to obey the laws of my clan." she could hear Severus’s thoughts... they weren’t good "Until Cash comes to see me and I can talk to him, Remus’s decision stands. He is the eldest present, and since I am considered unfit at the moment, I must abide by his decisions."

Severus stared at her in disbelief "Do you mean to tell me you have no intention of even arguing with Lupin. You are simply going to accept his orders not to see me?" he roared as Sirius, Remus and Harry all walked over and stood protectively near Cat. "And what do you think you are all doing?"

Sirius stepped directly between Severus and Cat "We are trying to keep her well" Sirius stated calmly as he clenched his fists, "and your outbursts are *not* helping her. If you can’t talk to her in front of us then leave."

Severus eyed Sirius "You do realize she doesn’t belong to you anymore" Sev reminded him "you left her and then betrayed her..."

"And you think she belongs to you?" Sirius growled "I know I made mistakes, but what about your mistakes Snape? What about all the innocent people you killed when you joined Voldemort?" Sirius narrowed his eyes "Was Diedre one of them? Did you help Lucius murder her mother?" he barely whispered the words, but each one resounded through the room. Sirius had a murderous look in his eyes, he had loved Diedre every bit as much as his own mother, and he knew how deeply it hurt to lose a parent. "I won’t let anyone hurt her, not you, not Voldemort........" Sirius’s voice suddenly left him, as did Snape’s.

"She doesn’t belong to anyone but herself." Harry said as he put his wand back in his pocket and pushed them both aside. "Are you alright mum? You’re not eating again." Harry asked, his eyes full of concern as he saw the tears in Cat’s eyes. Harry crawled onto her bed when she held her arms open to him. "Don’t worry, they didn’t mean what they said" Harry told her as they hugged each other. "They fight like this all the time." He reassured her as she cried softly against his shoulder. "They just weren’t thinking..." he added as he narrowed his eyes at them both.

Remus smiled at Harry, it certainly hadn’t taken him long to adapt to his role as her son. In fact they were looking more and more like mother and son everyday he saw them. Remus gently placed his hand on Cat’s back, patting her softly as he glared at Snape and Sirius. Snape glared back, but Sirius bowed his head, he had gone to far and he knew it. Although he was still firmly convince Snape knew just as much about Deirdre’s death as he did about James and Lily’s.

"Doesn’t anyone have a class to teach?" Cat asks quietly as the men stared blankly at each other.

"Yes, we do" Remus says pointedly as he looked at Snape, who quickly turned and stared at Sirius.

"And Sirius, I believe Dumbledore wanted to speak with you" he added, as he reversed Harry’s spell giving the men their voices back.

Sirius stared at him "who is going to stay with Cat, she’s not strong enough to be alone? You can’t possibly be thinking about leaving her alone?!" besides, he wanted a moment to apologize to her, he certainly never wanted to say that in front of her. No matter how true he felt it was, she hadn’t needed to hear it.

Remus looked at Snape. "His first period is divination, second is me and after lunch you... I think we can all agree to excuse Harry from classes today, don’t you Severus?"

Severus paused for only a moment, given the choice of excusing Potter or risking Black’s presence Sev quickly agreed that Harry could indeed be excused from today’s class. "Although he will need to make up the lesson" he added

"Fine" Harry said, still angry at their behaviour "I’m sure it won’t be a problem. I’ll ask Hermione for her notes, you won’t have to be bothered with me that way."

Severus was going to reply, but thought better considering Catri’s delicate state of health. He simply nodded curtly to Potter’s comment and left in a flurry of black.

Sirius looked at Remus "Just one minute ... please?" He knew Harry and Remus were still upset with him, but he had to make this right.

Remus sighed deeply "One minute Sirius.. And don’t you dare make her cry." he warned.

Sirius nodded, he walked quietly over to the bed were Harry was still hugging Cat. He watched them for a moment, smiling at the bond they had already formed. Sirius was sure more now than ever that if things started to get bad, Harry *must* go home with Cat, her clan would keep them both safe. Gently he placed his hands on their shoulders, he was slightly taken aback by the anger in Harry’s eyes, not that he didn’t deserve it, he had been an idiot. "Catri.... I’m sorry, I never should have said that in front of you. I lost my temper....." he swallowed hard as he waited for her to say something. Sirius looked to Remus who simply shrugged, Sirius turned back to Cat, she wasn’t responding at all. Sirius knelt on the floor next to her bed "Catri... please... I don’t want this to fester, I don’t want there to be anger between us ever again."

Cat took a deep breath as she reached out for Sirius’s hand "Do you believe what you asked him? Do you.... could he have.." she began sobbing softly again as Harry gave his godfather a pleading look.

Sirius took Cat’s hand and kissed it softly "I don’t have any proof Cat, its just a feeling.." Sirius shook his head "but nothing I should ever have brought up... I’m so sorry grá“ he added as he kissed her hand once more, he felt her squeeze his hand tightly right before she let go. He wanted to hold her in his arms and cry with her, but that wasn’t possible right now. He turned to Harry, who thankfully didn’t seem as angry anymore. "Harry, take care of your mother. I’ll send Shashe to you, if anything happens, .. if you need me.. ..send Shashe, I’ll come straight away." he squeezed Harry’s shoulder as he walked away.

Remus leaned against the doorway and sighed deeply, just looking at them reminded him of everything they had all missed. No children, no wives or husbands, no home to feel safe in. It wasn’t right, and the more he watched Sirius, Harry and Cat, the more they looked like family to him. Harry could easily pass for their son, he had Sirius’s thick dark hair, and Cat’s eyes and skin. They had to make this work, for everyone’s sake, even his own. Remus had put so much of himself into their happiness, it would crush him to see it all go up in smoke. He knew he only had a few years of life left in him if he was lucky. Hell, most werewolves didn’t last more than two years after they had been bitten, and here he was, a full quarter of a century later. He had no right to be alive, to be honest there had been plenty of time he wished he wasn’t, but he had to do this, they were all he had left in the world. They were his friends and he wanted them to be happy and take care of each other.

Remus wiped away a tear as he thought of his own family, it wasn’t as though his parents had abandoned him, but there was nothing they could do. After all, how many times could he expect his parents to pack up his brother and sister and move away, all because of him. He *knew* they loved him, just as he loved them, but it was simply easier on everyone this way, he had gone with Cat’s clan and his own family had simply drifted away from him. "Come on Sirius. Let Harry have some quality time alone with his mum" he smiled sadly at Harry and Cat, he wished he could stay with them as well, but he did have students waiting for him.......

Dimitri winced as he opened his eyes, the sun had not completely set yet, it was a little early for him to be up, but there was a great deal of work to do tonight. Besides more sleep only meant more dreams, and he didn’t need to relive his past over again every time he closed his eyes, it was horrible enough the first time through. Dimitri laid still as stone as he listened to the voices outside the caravan, he centred in on Fallon’s immediately. She has really come into her own over the past few days, she was no longer afraid of her mother, Fallon was now her equal the Roma had spoken. They were relying on Fallon to make sure the alliance worked, Magda could no longer guarantee the safety of her clan, that had become obvious the night Sirius had left. Dimitri wondered if Voldemort’s attack had been timed that way or if it were simply coincidence.

Dimitri sighed deeply, he was worried about Sirius, he had thought that someone, some how would have gotten a message to him by now. He had been truly frightened by the look in Sirius’s eyes, something had happened at the school, and more than likely that something involved Sirius’s family. Dimitri offered up a silent prayer for Sirius and his family’s well being as he watched the last rays of the sun stream across the sky on their westward journey.

"Dimitri?" a voice called softly as the door opened slowly "Dimitri... are you awake?"

Dimitri smiled widely "Yes Fallon, please come in" he smiled happily as he kissed her on her cheek "I have been expecting you. You’ve been very busy today I see, and everyone seems excited." he expected her to smile back, but she sat there sombrely instead. "I take it Magda has not changed her mind, she still insists you and the others are deserting her and the Roma?"

"Yes" Fallon sighed deeply "she refuses to listen. She tells us that if we leave we are nothing, we have no family. We are no longer Roma." She tried to hold back her tears, she knew in her heart her mother was wrong, but it didn’t make it any easier to deal with the pain. She looked up as Dimitri took her hand in his.

"Fallon, you are Roma. As are the others, as for not having family.... look around you, there are nearly twenty men and women coming with us, and that is not including the children. We are our own family now, and trust me, when you meet Sirius’s Cat, the Bean Uasal de MacLeod, rion de daoine" Dimitri shook his head and laughed softly "you will be welcomed by her with open arms. I have listened too many times to Sirius’s tales of her love and compassion to doubt her reaction to your sacrifice" he watched as a smile slowly spread across Fallon’s face. Grinning widely back at her he added "Come now my sister, we have much to do before we leave. I would like to return to Hogwarts before the New Year arrives."

Fallon smiled gratefully "You are so sure of things Dimitri, I wish I had your confidence." She adored the way he had taken to her as if he were her little brother. "I hope to hear news of Luna soon. She seems to have left the Roma...... I don’t know why." .......

Harry smiled as Cat finally stopped crying over the scene from this morning. "I’m sorry sweetie" she said as she tousled his hair "I guess I’ve been crying a lot lately. I don’t mean to, I just get very emotional when I’m like this" she sighed as she wiped away her tears.

"It’s alright" Harry told her softly "I understand how overwhelming things can get. And I know Sirius didn’t mean to upset you like that. You should have seen his eyes when he tried to apologize to you, I thought he was going to cry too." Harry was glad to see the colour returning to her, she definitely looked stronger than yesterday. "Mum? I know I shouldn’t ask you this, but what is going on with you and them, Snape and Sirius I mean?"