"I have not *done* anything Lupin" Snape hissed "I happen to care about Catri very much, certainly more than you and your murderous friend ever did."

Sirius eyed Snape with malice, he knew he should check on Harry, but Cat was with him, he would be fine. Snape, however may not be so fortunate. Sirius began to growl softly as he thought of all the times Snape had stolen the few precious moments he had managed to find with Cat. Constantly, night after night, Snape would find her, doing everything in his power to prevent the two of them from talking. Well not tonight, tonight Snape was going to find himself stuck out in the cold, literally. "Accio super glue" Sirius whispered, within seconds an economy sized tube of superglue was in his hands.

Hoping Remus would keep Snape occupied for the next two minutes, Sirius uncapped the glue and got to work. The first order of business was, of course, to glue his shoes to the flagstones in the courtyard, having many years of practice as a student, Sirius accomplished this quickly and easily. Next, Sirius glued Snape’s cloak to the rose bushes, and then, just for good measure, he glued the hem of his trousers to his legs. He may be able to slip out of his shoes and cloak, but taking his trousers off tonight would be quite an experience.

Sirius smiled as he heard Remus arguing with Snape, telling him to stay away from Cat, reminding him that her clan would never allow it to go any further than a one night stand. Not that Snape was listening, but as Sirius listened he finally realized something important. Cat was either unwilling or unable to say she didn’t love him anymore, and she never once professed her love for Snape, not once during Remus’s entire discussion with her. Sirius walked towards the great hall and leaned once more against the stone wall, it no longer seemed so cold to him. He had his dream back, his hope still lived on, he wasn’t ready to give up his family, not to the ministry, not to his past, and most certainly not to Snape. All he had to do was find a way to make it all up to her, or better yet, whisk her away to someplace they couldn’t be disturbed for several days. . . .

Cat hugged Harry tightly as she guided him towards the stairs, he sat next to her and rested his head against her chest as she cooed softly, wiping his tears away. "Want to talk about it sweetie? Or would you rather talk to a guy?"

After a few minutes, Harry finally spoke "How could she say it? Why would she believe such horrible things?" he asked, his voice still thick with heartache.

Cat winced, she had a very good idea what was said, but she needed to let Harry say it, he had to get it out in the open. "What did she say Harry? Don’t be afraid to tell me sweetie, I’ve heard pretty much everything by now."

Harry shuddered slightly as he tried to stop crying "She said terrible things about you, about our family. I know they’re not true, and if it had been Malfoy or some Slytherin, I just would have ignored them. But this was Cho. . .mum, I don’t understand how she could say it, she must know you and Cash would never hurt any of us."

Cat stroked his hair as she tried to make sense of the situation for Harry. "Well sweetie, sad as it is, some people will simply never accept anyone who is different than they are. Be it religion, skin tone, heritage, politics; they either don’t understand, or they are afraid. But in Cho’s case, I honestly believe its because she doesn’t know any better. All she’s ever really heard is what the MoM has led people to believe, and why would she doubt that? Remember Harry, I’m the first member of the Sidhe to walk in the wizarding world in many, many years." . . .

Remus spat at Severus’s feet as he walked away, it was no use trying to talk to that man, he had his mind made up that Kitty was going to be his wife and that was that. Remus only hoped Snape would come to his senses before Cash or Magnus got their hands on him. Pausing to take a deep breath and calm himself, Remus entered the Yule Ball and scanned the room for Kitty, he needed to finish his conversation with her, he needed to explain why Sirius had been imprisoned, and worse, why he himself hadn’t done anything to prevent it.

Remus knitted his brow as he realized neither Kitty nor Harry were anywhere to be found. He did however, see Ginny Weasley shaking her finger at Cho Chang, looking completely cross as Hermione and Ron stood behind Cho. Ron’s face was unreadable, but it was obvious Hermione was no happier than Ginny was. Sighing deeply, Remus walked towards the foyer to see if he could find Harry or Kitty. . .

Severus glared at Remus as he walked away, if it were not for Catri’s unexplainable fondness for the man he would gladly have cursed him for such an insult. Severus had pulled out a handkerchief to clean the splatter off of his shoe when he realized he could not move his feet. Pulling out his wand, Severus tried several unbinding spells, all to no avail. "Damn" he whispered irately "that muggle glue again. I thought I destroyed all of it after they glued all my books onto the shelves." Looking around to make sure no one was watching him, Severus quickly undid his shoes and stepped out of them, only to realize his cloak had also been glued to the flagstone.

Sev’s eyes narrowed dangerously as he pulled anxiously at his cloak, hoping desperately to free himself before Catri returned, if she returned. He had a very bad feeling Lupin intended to spirit her away the first chance he got. "Blast it" he growled "how did he do this, he was in front of me the entire time." Severus felt his blood run cold when he heard an all to familiar laugh behind him. Turning quickly Severus expected to see Black, but there was no sign of anyone. "Black, show yourself, you coward." Severus scowled.

Only too happy to oblige, Sirius pulled the hood of Harry’s invisibility cloak down and grinned wickedly at the potion master. "Something wrong, Snape?" he asked as his eyes bored into Snape’s. "Don’t tell me you actually think I’m going to let her go anywhere with you." He laughed again as Snape glowered at him "And save the looks for your students, I’m no more afraid of you now then I was in school." Sirius walked up to Snape, until their noses almost touched each other "In fact its times like this I truly regret James saving your life. I know you knew Voldemort was going after James and Lily, and I know deep inside, you knew about Cat’s mother as well. I won‘t let you ruin her life Snape, I‘ll see you dead first." Hearing someone coming, Sirius quickly covered himself again, pausing to deliver a well placed kick to the back of Snape’s knee before he left. . . .

Harry looked up at Cat "So you’re not angry with her? You really don’t blame her for what she said about you?"

Cat sighed deeply "No Harry, I don’t hate her. Mind you I’m not particularly fond of her, especially after seeing you like this" she explained as she kissed his head again. "But I understand how easy ignorance breeds, and how the MoM manipulate people’s fear to their own benefit."

"Do you think I should go back in and talk to her?"

"I think you should do what ever you feel comfortable with Harry." Cat replied "I don’t want you to force yourself to ‘forgive’ her, but I don’t want you to feel guilty about leaving her when you wake up tomorrow morning." she picked up Harry’s hand and squeezed it gently. "To be honest Harry, I was hoping you would never have to see this side of belonging to Clan MacLeod. I know how hard this can be, I’ve been fighting against it my entire life. Every time I enter this world it’s a never ending fight to be seen for who I am and not what I am. And as hard as it is, I have to remind myself that some people will never change, will never accept. . ." she shrugged her shoulders "I figure those types of people just aren’t worth the effort, let them wallow in their own anger and ignorance, s’long as they leave me and mine in peace." she grinned as she looked down at Harry, who was now smiling back at her.

"I’m guessing that’s the ‘momma lion’ thing Remus and Sirius are always teasing you about." Harry chuckled softly as Cat grinned wickedly.

" ‘Fraid so junior" Cat teased "think you can handle it? Don’t want ya to feel smothered or anything."

Harry hugged her tightly "Not smothered mum, just loved."

"Always Harry, always" she said softly as she returned his hug.

"Can anyone join in on this? Or is it MacLeod’s only" a gentle voice asked. Harry and Cat looked up to see Remus smiling down at them, his hazel eyes full of emotion. Harry and Cat looked at each other, and without uttering a word, opened their arms, welcoming Remus into their warmth. . . .

"There" hissed Ginny "does that look like someone who wants to hurt Harry? You should be ashamed of yourself for what you said about her. I can’t believe you said those horrible things to Harry, even Snape has more tack than that." she said as her eyes smoldered on Cho. Waving her wand, Ginny released Cho from the body bind she placed on her and stood there, staring expectantly at the Ravenclaw student. "I honestly have no idea what he ever saw in you" she added as she stalked off towards the great hall, not bothering to look back at the astonished faces of her brother and friend.

Ron looked at Hermione and then at Cho "Well, at least she didn’t do anything permanent, . . .yet." he grimaced as he shrugged his shoulders and followed after his little sister.

Hermione sighed and shook her head "I’m sorry Ginny behaved like that Cho." she said "But you have to understand how upset she is, . . .we all are. . .about what you said tonight. It was completely uncalled for, Miss MacLeod is different from us, but she would never hurt us. In fact she and Professor Lupin almost died a few weeks ago, fighting to protect us from Voldemort." Hermione looked back to were Remus, Harry and Cat were sitting on the steps. "She doesn’t even want to be here Cho, she wants to go home, the only reason she hasn’t is because of Harry."

"And how do you know all of this?" Cho asked sincerely, "How can you be so positive she’s not just trying to get you to trust her?"

"I know because I’ve asked her, and because I didn’t trust her either." Hermione admitted "I looked up everything I could find about the Sidhe. What little I did find was pretty much lies. And I know she loves Harry like a son." Hermione shook her head "she would never do anything to hurt him, I can see that when I look at them." Hermione left without saying another word, leaving Cho to think about what she had seen, and what had been said. Cho looked up at the threesome once more before shaking her head and walking back to the great hall to rejoin her fellow Ravenclaws. . .

Harry laughed as Remus teased Cat about being over protective and thanking her for not causing anyone to burst into flames again. "Again?" Harry asked as he looked at Cat’s twinkling eyes.

Cat rolled her eyes and swatted Remus "Brat, you had to bring that up. Honestly, you’re supposed to be helping me with Harry, not letting him know how much trouble I was at his age."

"At his age she says, as if she isn’t a handful and a half of trouble now." Remus winked.

"Oh yeah, and this coming from a marauder" Cat teased back "should I be angry or honored?"

"Why honored of course," Harry chimed in, "if an expert like him says you’re trouble, then mum, you’re trouble." he ducked as she pretended to swat him, only to be caught by her tickling his ribs instead. "No, mum, no . . . stop. . .I take it back. . .Reeeemmmuussss" Harry whined in between laughing. . . .

"Professor Snape? What are you doing out here? And where is Catri?" Minerva asked as she stared at the potion master, raising her eyebrow when she saw his shoeless state. "I hope there is a reasonable explanation for your attire Professor."

Severus stood tall and did his best to keep his composure "There is an explanation, although I am not sure how reasonable you will find it."

"Try me" Minerva said dryly as she pulled out her wand "and exactly were did my niece wander off to?"

"Catri went after Harry, apparently the Chang girl upset him" Severus replied, eyeing Minerva’s wand warily "as for my current state, that is painfully simple to explain. Sirius Black and that wretched super glue he has such a fascination with."

Minerva smirked slightly "Honestly Professor Snape, when are you going to learn how cast the releasing spell for that? I would have thought you’d had made that a priority at this point."

"I have Professor McGonagall, several in fact, but Black keeps coming up with new variations of his own. Catri seems to be the only one who can anticipate what he does and remove it."

Minerva sighed deeply, after trying a few spells herself, she decided to use one she had heard Catri use as a student "cuir fa sgaoil", she tried not to laugh when Severus flew forward as the glue released his cloak. . . .

Harry squeezed Cat’s hand as they and Remus walked back towards the ball "Mum, how did you know what happened, have you been watching me the whole time?" he paused as he heard Remus chuckling.

Cat shot Remus a warning look, "Not exactly Harry. Actually I was outside talking with Remus, Severus was keeping an eye on you for me." Cat paused when she heard Harry snort with disgust "Harry, he’s trying, he really does worry about you. Who do you think ran to get me when he saw what was happening."

"Really?" Harry asked, turning to Remus for confirmation, he saw his friend nod and roll his eyes dramatically. "I still don’t think he’s right for you mum" Harry said as Remus yelled ‘here, here’. Although Harry did feel himself softening slightly towards Snape, after hearing about his life and now this, maybe Snape wasn’t completely vile, . . .maybe.

As they reached the door of the great hall, Harry looked at Cat and Remus "Wish me luck." he said as he headed off towards his friends. Cat watched as Hermione, Ginny Ron and even Neville smiled happily when they saw him. Within minutes, Harry was laughing and smiling with his friend again, as if nothing had happened.

"Good job, . . .mum" Remus teased as he kissed her cheek. "So, can I manage to get one dance out of you tonight? Or are you only allowed to dance with Professor Snape?"

"Allowed?" Cat smirked "you are just pulling my chain tonight, aren’t you Lupy?" she asked as she walked to the dance floor with him. She smiled as he wrapped his arms around her and started to waltz. "So I take it you intend on continuing our conversation."