"Raul...." Cash’s face was full of emotion "I didn’t feel anything. Are you sure she’s really that bad? Normally I would feel her pain."

Raul could see Cash was trying not to cry "I am sorry my brother, but she was so weak I barely heard her, and I was only a few hundred feet away. By the time I got to her..... I stopped her from hitting the floor" he felt his own tears trickling down his face. This could not happen to her, she was their Angel, their shining, happy, loving child. "Will she join us when she is embraced?" he asked softly

"NO!!!" Cash hissed "She will not be embraced, and she will-not-die" he spoke through clenched teeth "she is the last of my kind, she must have children, she must have daughters." he told Raul as thick blood tears began to drip down his face. This couldn’t be happening not now, and not to her, he had been by her side since the day she was born, Diedre had known she would be her last child and a target to their enemies. Grabbing Raul roughly by the back of his shirt, Cash spun him around to face were Sirius laid "Do you see that?.... Look at him!!!! He *loves* her, he will father her children, they will have a long and happy life together" Cash was sobbing openly now "she won’t die... she can’t" Cash said weakly as he dropped his hands from Raul.

Raul watched the two men as they wept, he was lost, he had no idea what to do for them, he was a warrior, Cash had always been the one to deal with things like this. Raul did the only thing he could think of, opening his arms he wrapped Cash in a brotherly hug and let him sob. "She needs us my brother" Raul whispered hoarsely "she needs her clan, now more than ever. Our sister is waiting for us........

In the few minutes it took Raul and Cash to get to the hospital wing Tris had already taken control of everything. She had summoned Mohrg from his slumber to aid her in healing Angel as best they could. Poppy Pomfrey was nearly frantic she kept insisting Cat needed to go to St. Mungo’s immediately, it wasn’t until Mohrg placed his hands on her shoulders and looked into her eyes that she had sat down quietly.

"St. Mungo’s can’t help her" Tris sobbed as she tried once again to heal Cat using the magic of the Sidhe "and I can only keep her alive for so long. I’m not mortal anymore, I don’t have the link with life and death that I had before the embrace" she explained "She needs time to heal... and strength to stay alive long enough to be able to heal. Right now the only thing keeping her alive is her love for her son."

Cash closed his eyes tightly an hung his head as he spoke "Tris, we have to keep her alive. You know that as well as I do, if she dies, if she’s embraced...." he sniffled as he turned away from them. Wiping at his face with his sleeve he continued "There has to be something we can do to keep her alive Tris. She needs strength, we can help her with that... what else?"

"Her heart Cash, her heart is damaged that is why she’s dying" Tris said softly as she cradled Cat in her arms.

"How can her heart be so weak when it is full of so much love" Mohrg asked quietly as he watched Tris’s tears flow silently down her porcelain skin as she held her child to her chest. They were both so beautiful, and so very fragile he could hear the shuddering of Angel’s heart as it fought to keep her alive. "I know several potions that may help her, but they are very potent, they alone may kill her in such a weakened state" he said as he touched her hair, he couldn’t imagine what would happen if she were gone from them.

"Make it." Tris said as she looked at Mohrg with pleading, blood rimmed eyes "I will make her strong" she heard Raul begin to say something but cut him short "she is *my* child, I am her great, great grandmother. I will *NOT* allow her to die, not as long as there is anything that I can do for her" She paused when she felt Cash’s hand on her shoulder.

"We will both make her strong" Cash said softly "she is my child as well." Cash looked at Mohrg "How long will it take you to make this potion?"

Mohrg shook his head "Less than an hour, but it must be given immediately. Can you keep her alive and strengthen her in that time? I don’t want to lose her either, she and her son are the only two mortals who have never shrunk from me. I have a great fondness in my heart for her." he said simply as he gazed lovingly at the three of them.

Cash placed his hand on Mohrg’s "I thank you Mohrg of Nosferatu, for all that you have done and continue to do for my clan."

Mohrg looked into Cash’s eyes he could feel the sincerity of his words. He nodded solemnly as he quickly left to make the potion that would hopefully save the Angel’s life.

Poppy cautiously approached the remaining three vampyres "Is there anything that I can do?" she asked "I have some potions..."

"No,.. Thank you, but no." Tris replied "she is far beyond your abilities now, in fact you may wish to leave. We will have to share our strength with her if she is to survive. Humans tend to find it unsettling"

"Unsettling... what exactly do you mean *share your strength* what do you intend to do to her?" Poppy asked, becoming increasingly alarmed. She watched as Tris scratched across the inside of her own wrist with her fingernail, causing a huge gash in her flawless skin. As it bled she held it up to Cat’s mouth and forced her lips over the cut. Poppy felt queasy as she watched the blood trickle from the sides Cat’s mouth "What are you doing to her?" Poppy cried.

Raul quickly took Poppy by the arms "We are keeping her alive until Mohrg can save her life." he explained simply as he guided her towards the doors of the hospital wing "You have no patients here save Angel, and she is now our concern." he said soothingly "Go and find Albus Dumbledore he needs to be told." Raul urged as Poppy nodded her head.

"You’re absolutely right I should find Albus, and the other professors." She looked up into Raul’s chocolate eyes "Do you know what happened to her? She was so well this morning..." she watched as Raul shook his head.

"I heard her call out while I was in the halls. When I got to her she had already begun to fall to the floor" he explained sadly "I do not know what caused her to be like this" he added as he looked over to where Angel was being tended to by Tristessa and Cash. He watched as Tristessa stroked Angel’s hair while she held her wrist to her child’s mouth, sharing her strength with Angel, just as Angel had shared her blood with them. Raul felt a pang of guilt, maybe that was why she was so weak, when the deatheaters had stopped coming in such large numbers Angel and Remus had allowed them to feed from them. "Please, find Albus and bring him back quickly" Raul pleaded as he sent Poppy on her way.

Poppy quickly ran down the hall towards Dumbledore’s office she had to find him, or Professors Snape and Lupin. Someone needed to know what was going on, if only today hadn’t been the Hogsmeade trip. As Madame Pomfrey turned the corner she caught sight of Professor Sprout walking out of Dumbledore’s office "Saffron!!! Get Albus, Cat is hurt, badly" she yelled loudly.

Professor Sprout stared at Madame Pomfrey with terror in her eyes "Hurt?! How? What did he do to her?" she gasped.

Poppy stopped dead "What do you mean he? Who he? And where is Albus?"

Saffron shook her head as her grey hair fell out of her hat "Dumbledore isn’t here, I was just looking for him myself. I didn’t know what to do" she took a deep gasping breath as she tried to remain calm "This is all my fault, I knew he was angry. I never should have left her alone, not with him."

Poppy grabbed Saffron roughly "What-are-you-talking-about?! WHO did you leave her with? What happened?" she asked pointedly.

Saffron closed her eyes and sighed "Professor Snape. He came to the green house an hour or so ago, he practically pushed me out of the door. And then he locked it, I couldn’t get back in he used a new spell. I came to the school and waited, but when she didn’t show up I came her to find Albus. I should have tossed him out on his ear." Saffron said as she looked at Poppy.

"Snape was angry" she sighed "I’ll wager Cat finally made her choice, and she must have picked Remus Lupin if Severus was that angry. He absolutely dotes over her, I honestly believe he is in love with her......." Poppy explained as she headed towards the main entrance of the school. "The carriages should be arriving any minute, we have to find Dumbledore or Lupin immediately. Those vampyres are doing something to her... and I don’t like it" Poppy said as she and Saffron hurried to the door.

"Tris.. Tris honey... that’s enough" Cash said gently as he pulled her wrist away from Angel’s mouth. "You can’t risk giving her anymore blood"

Tris glared at him "She’s not strong enough yet. I have more than enough to spare" she argued as he sat down on the other side of Angel.

"Not if you’re going to get to Maharet you don’t" Cash said gently "I need you to find her and talk with her" he held up his hand as Tris began to argue "No. ... Tris I am the oldest, and Maharet will not discuss these things with a man. She *will* discuss them with you." he sighed as he saw Tris’s eyes begin to well with tears again. "Now Tris, that won’t help anyone.... I swear I will take care of her, even if I have to bleed myself dry. But you *must* find Maharet and ask her what to do, if Angel joins us..... We need to know. Alright?"

"But you have less blood let than any of us, you starve yourself so the younger ones can feed." Tris reminded him "How can you share your strength..."

"He is not alone Tristessa" Raul said softly "I know I am not Clan MacLeod, but I am Clan Gangrel. I would gladly share myself with her, she has done no less for me." he confessed as he felt the glare of Cash’s eyes. Raul hung his head guiltily, he remembered all to well the pleasure he had derived from feeding off of her. His head had swum with daydreams of her for several days afterwards, if he had been mortal he would have made her his lover, but things being as they were, he was satisfied to know she would accept him openly and without fear.

"You were feeding of off her?" Cash asked numbly "Tris?" he waited as she nodded. Cash crumpled on the bed next to Angel as he held her hand tightly, tears once again falling from his eyes "We were all feeding from her.... no wonder she’s been so weak. She should have said something. I should have known."