Ginny looked up at Cat, her large blue eyes filled with tears "It’s my dress. George ruined it, he... he didn’t mean to, but I can’t fix it, it’s burnt clean through, its completely ruined. And now I can’t go to the ball" she sobbed as she flung her arms around Cat.

Cat smiled gently as she calmed Ginny down, "Now Ginny, hush.... don’t worry... I think I can help" she said softly as she dried Ginny’s eyes. "I was planning on taking a quick trip anyway. Seeing as how my date seems to have forgotten me.." Cat joked as she saw Ginny smile a little "that’s better sweety. What do you say? Want to take a little trip? I just have to leave a note for Remus."

"Professor Lupin? *He* was your date? How many boyfriends do you have?" Ginny asked as she wiped at her face, trying to erase the tell-tale traces of her tears. No wonder Professor Snape got crazy whenever he couldn’t be with her, he must be afraid she’d fall in love with someone else and forget about him.

"Not exactly Ginny" Cat sighed as she giggled softly "he was supposed to meet with me tonight, we needed to sort out a few things.... about my *other* boyfriends." she teased as she rolled her eyes. "So, up to some holiday shopping and a quick stop at home?"

"Sure." Ginny grinned happily as she fixed her hair "but I don’t have any mo......"

"Don’t worry about it Ginny" Cat winked "I told you, I can help." she said as she held Ginny’s hand tightly. Within seconds Ginny felt her breath taken away as bright flames swirled around them, she closed her eyes tightly as she clutched at Cat’s hand. The next thing Ginny knew, she heard Cat saying her name softly. Ginny opened her eyes and looked around in wonder, "Where are we?" she asked as she smiled. They were in a large kitchen, two old wood burning stoves stood directly across from them, and a large rough hewn table was covered with wonderful smelling dishes. The walls were made of stone and wood, and opposite the door was a huge stone fireplace, which had a cauldron bubbling merrily in its flames.

Cat smiled as she looked at Ginny, "this is my home, Fernglennis, Caledonia" she said proudly. "This is were Harry and I will be spending the holidays. I can’t wait to bring him here, he needs to spend time with family" Cat sighed happily as she thought about her childhood and how much family meant to her "I can’t wait... less than a week away and I’m probably more excited than he is."

"Don’t count on it" Ginny laughed "all he talks about is Quidditch and going home with you for the holidays" she looked around the cheerful kitchen and took another deep breath of the cinnamon and sugar scented air "did your house elves bake all of this?"

"House elves? Ginny, shame on you" Cat teased as she frowned at her "we don’t use house elves, we like doing things for ourselves." Cat’s point was proven as a voice called out from another room....

"Catriana????" a woman’s voice inquired "Kitty!!! it is you." A pleasant looking woman cried happily as she hugged Cat happily "what are you doing here already.." she looked over at Ginny "and I thought you had a son??" she asked as she raised one eyebrow.

"I do Siobhan" Cat laughed as she shook her head "This is Ginny, she’s a friend of Harry’s. I was hoping she could borrow one of Sara’s dresses, it appears her brother got a hold of hers, and the ball is tomorrow evening."

"Of course cousin" Siobhan smiled as she walked towards the other room, Cat and Ginny followed her as she led them to the large stair case "SARA.... Company..." she yelled loudly up the stairs.

Ginny couldn’t help but look in awe by what surrounded her. The house was huge, but very homey, with comfortable furniture and toys scattered everywhere. She almost sighed when she saw the rows upon rows of books lining the walls of the living room, it looked like a library to her. And some of Cat’s family was here already, lounging on the sofa’s reading or playing an instrument. Ginny blushed as one of the teenage boys smiled at her and gave her a wink.

Cat saw what had happened and smiled brightly, she knew that was exactly what Ginny needed to get her mind off of her troubles "Ginny, why don’t you and I go upstairs and find Sara, I’m sure you too will get along wonderfully, she’s your age, and she’ll probably be coming back to Hogwarts with Harry and I after the holidays." Cat explained "Harry doesn’t know it yet, but several of his cousins will be attending school with him next term." she winked as Ginny gasped loudly..........

"This is ridiculous" Dimitri fumed as he kicked disgustedly at the ground "your mother is still doing everything in her power to stop us from returning to the school. First the storms, then the insects, and now we find out she has sent word that everyone is to refuse us aid, or else risk her wrath" he turned his back to Fallon "I should have killed her when I had the chance."

Fallon sighed deeply as she placed her hand on Dimitri’s shoulder "And *what* would that have accomplished? She would be dead and we would be hunted." she reminded him.

"And this is any better?" Dimitri ranted as he threw his arms in the air "I promised you and your people, I promised Sirius and Cash...... I must return you to Hogwarts, I gave my word. As it is it has taken us nearly a week longer to reach Lille than it should" he sighed "and now we finally arrive, only to find out *no one* will give us passage to England."

"I wouldn’t say no one" a deep voice said from the shadows "I take it you’re Dimitri, the fosterling of Cash the Gangrel?"

Dimitri startled at the voice, he had never even heard the man arrive "Yes, I am Dimitri" he replied forcefully, although his heart was soaring to think that Cash considered him to be his *foster childe*, it was more than Dimitri could have hoped for. "You are not of Clan Gangrel or Ventrue. Why do you seek me." he asked politely yet firmly.

The stranger smiled wryly "Do not concern yourself Dimitri, I am of Clan MacLeod, I am of the Angel’s blood." He explained as he stepped out of the shadows. His silver hair hung loose around his shoulders and his blue-green eyes held the promise of many mysteries "Cash has asked me to aid your return." the young man explained as he walked up to Dimitri.

Dimitri regarded the man with undisguised suspicion as Fallon smiled gratefully at him. "I have heard a great deal about Cash" she smiled as she nodded towards Dimitri. "And I trust Clan MacLeod without reservation"

"I am overjoyed to hear that dear girl" the young man replied as his eyes sparkled in the moonlight. "I am Leumadair and my ship awaits" he bowed slightly as he gave Fallon a brilliant smile.

"I take it you do not fear Magda or her magic." Dimitri stated as he tried to decide whether or not he should trust this strange man. As much as he trusted Cash, something just didn’t seem right about this fellow, he seemed unnatural. Dimitri could swear the man’s eyes moved like the waves on the ocean, and he could smell the sea upon him. Dimitri stepped between Leumadair and Fallon as if to protect her.

Leumadair noticed Dimitri’s move and smiled kindly at him "You are protective, that is a good sign" he commented as he walked towards the piers. "Are you coming? My ship sails with the tide, I suggest you find your people and hurry. Magda is not through with you yet."........

"I explained in some detail the ongoing war of pranks we had with Slytherin, particularly Severus Snape and Lucius Malfoy; and that, my young Mr. Potter is the first time I heard her laugh." Remus sighed as his eyes glimmered brightly with the light of fond memories.

"Now I know you’ve heard her a few times and you know how contagious her laugh is, you hear it and you start laughing yourself, so imagine walking with her in an empty hall, seeing her smiling and hearing that laugh. I knew she would fit right in, in fact I talked her into helping me with a prank right there and then." Remus grinned as he remembered how easy it had been to get Cat to go along with him, she had a wonderful sense of adventure.

"When we got outside the portrait, I had her put on the cloak, we walked through together and I went straight up to the girl’s dorm, which of course got your godfather’s attention" Remus said as he raised his eyebrows "so he followed us up, when I got to your mother’s room I knocked and asked her if James was with her, she came to the door and said he was finishing up with detention so I went in with Cat close behind me." Remus’s voice was practically a whisper now.

"When Cat took off the cloak your mother almost stopped breathing, she couldn’t believe how much alike they looked, their hair, eyes, skin ..... identical, the main difference was their shape, your mother was an inch shorter and athletic, while Cat was,... well,.... curvy would probably describe it best." Remus explained as he blushed slightly. "While we were all standing there laughing at the resemblance, your godfather comes strolling into the girls dorm as if it’s the most natural thing in the world to do and immediately stops dead when he sees the two of them." Remus felt his heart twinge as he recalled the smitten look in Sirius’s eyes when he saw her. "He proceeds to turn the most amazing shade of red I have ever seen before or since. He was just standing there trying to talk, and not able to get out one recognizable word, it was priceless." Remus’s face was practically shining as he remembered "Lily had to go over and actually shake him, all the while she, Cat and I were laughing hysterically." ......

Fallon smiled at Dimitri and gave him a friendly hug "Don’t worry so much, he said he was Clan MacLeod" she reminded him "why don’t you trust him."

Dimitri shook his head as he crinkled his nose "It’s not that I don’t trust him, .... ... something is just not right about him" Dimitri searched for the words to explain it "he doesn’t seem real, have you looked into his eyes?" Just as he was about to explain further, they both heard Erich calling for Dimitri, it seemed there was yet another problem to deal with, more than likely caused by Magda’s curses.

Fallon watched fondly as Dimitri and Erich stood in rapt discussion and then quickly walked off to deal with whatever her mother had done *this* time. She was about to join them when she caught the flash of something silver out of the corner of her eye. Turning quickly she saw Leumadair at the decking, his long silvery hair being tossed about by the wind. "Leumadair? Leumadair MacLeod, may I speak with you?"

Leumadair smiled softly at her "I wish I had time enough to speak with you Fallon, but my father awaits me. As it is I had to argue with him before he would allow me to help you."

"Is your father Magnus MacLeod? I have heard he is a strict man..." she stopped when she heard Leumadair laughing "Is something funny?" she asked, somewhat hurt.

"I simply find it funny that you assume I am a MacLeod." He held up his hands in defence when he saw the look of anger and confusion on her face "Wait Fallon, I am *OF* Clan MacLeod, but my name is MacLir not MacLeod." He turned to look out over the ocean as the sound of a deep horn rumbled over the waves. "Goodbye Fallon, and good luck, trust my cousin, she will not betray you or your people." His pale grey tunic rippled in the ocean’s breeze as he stood on the deck of the ship, Fallon watched in amazement as his silvery green britches grew tight against his flesh, he turned and smiled at her as he leaped over the side of the ship. Fallon ran to the decking just in time to see Leumadair Mac Lir’s legs changed into a muscular silvery tail as he slipped below the waters calm surface....

Harry was laughing just picturing Sirius going all red, although he’d seen him do that a lot lately. "Poor Sirius, did he stay like that long? Or did Cat do something to him?" he gave Remus a huge grin, he was very well aware of Cat’s rather odd sense of humour.

"Sirius.. . he still gets that way...." Remus grinned as Harry nodded "Wait Harry, it gets better, I talked Lily and Cat into tricking James. Lily, Sirius and I hid in the wardrobe when we heard James coming, your mother had given Cat one of her sweaters to wear and she sat on your mother’s bed reading a book." Once again Remus began acting out the scene, tiptoeing around the room, pretending to be James "When James came into the room he saw who he thought was Lily and decided to sneak up on her. He creped up on her slowly, trying not to make any noise, all the time Cat was doing everything she could not to laugh out loud. James got right up behind her and started tickling her.".............

Cat laughed as she walked into Sara’s room, "typical teenager huh?" she teased as she saw the pile of clothes on the floor, next to the stack of discs and pictures of several cute boys that she had apparently cut out of magazines. Cat jumped onto Sara’s bed, waking up her cat ‘Pumpkin’ who gave Cat a cold stare before slinking off to sleep somewhere else. "So.. .how goes school?" Cat asked expectantly.

"Do you really need to ask?" Sara replied dramatically as she threw herself across the bed. "I hate my teachers, especially the idiot they got to teach math.... explain to me again *why* you think it’s a good idea for us to go to these schools?"

"Because its important to learn about other peoples cultures" Cat reminded her "But I won’t force you to go,...." Cat said slyly "although I’m sure your cousins are going to enjoy going to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry...." She waited for Sara’s expected response.

"Magic... I’m *finally* going to be taught other magic?" She had the widest grin on her face anyone had ever seen "YES!!! Finally a *real* school... none of this human *****"

"SARA!!!" Cat scolded her niece for her choice of words "and in front of company too. Shame on you." Cat motioned for Ginny to come in "This is Ginny Weasley, she’s a student at Hogwarts. I’m hoping you can help her...."

Sara sat up and smiled at Ginny "Hey. I’m Sara" she waved "What can I do you for?"

Ginny waved shyly as she looked at Sara, she seemed nice enough, but she knew her mother would probably have a fit if she ever saw her, or at least her hair. It was predominantly strawberry blonde, but she had streaked it with large chunks of bright blonde and a few strands of a darker red. It looked hip and fit her personality well. "Uhm.. Well I was wondering... I mean..."

Cat cut in "Do you have any dresses Ginny can borrow? Her brother’s got a hold of hers" Cat sighed, "apparently burned a hole clean through it... I remembered that lovely gown your father bought you last year. Considering how tall you’ve gotten over the past few months I thought you *might* be willing to part with it."

Sara smiled and nodded "Yeah, not like I don’t have enough gowns" she said as she rolled her eyes. Her father was always showering her with gifts, she was his only daughter and the baby to boot. She walked over to Ginny "I sympathize, I’m the only girl too" she laughed as she took Ginny by the hand and walked over to the closet. Ginny gasped loudly when she saw all the lovely clothes, "Yep... he keeps buying them, never asks what *I* would like to wear" she rolled her eyes "as far as Da is concerned, the frillier the better. Personally, I go for comfort, jeans and a t-shirt is just fine with me."

Cat left the room silently as the girls began trying on clothes and talking about school, boys, family and such. Cat shook her head as she walked back downstairs to see Siobhan, "I can’t wait to see what those two get into back at school" she sighed as she brought her hand to her forehead. It was then that she noticed the charm bracelet Severus had given her, it was glowing strangely. "What in the world?" she asked aloud as she pulled her hand away from her face.

"What in blazes is that?" Siobhan asked as she saw the look on her cousin’s face. "And why is it glowing... it isn’t burning you is it?"

"No. I don’t feel a thing actually. Siobhan, have you ever seen a bracelet like this... the clasp is broken, I can’t get it off." Cat explained as she extended her arm to her cousin.

"Hmmm, no, nothing like this. Of course Mabon would probably be the one to ask, you know how much he loves to study trinkets like this." Siobhan replied "Come on, the tea is ready, and I want to talk to you about Sara joining you at school. I’m not sure she’s ready to take on that much responsibility" she said as they walked to the kitchen and sat at the table "Are you taking others with you? I would feel much more *comfortable* knowing she had more than just you and your son to rely upon."