Sirius nearly choked at the thought "WHAT !!!! Her... never, she helped ruin my life, and Cat’s." Sirius narrowed his eyes "If I ever come across her again...." Sirius took a deep breath and tried to calm down "I have never, never in my life struck a woman..... but in her case I may make an exception."

Cash could hardly believe his eyes, he never would have thought Sirius capable of such a deep hatred. "Then why was she here visiting you?"

"What are you talking about.... did you feed off of a drunkard?!" Sirius practically yelled "Why would she visit me? She knows I despise her. I told her that much and more when I found out what she did to my Cat."

Cash had to laugh at Sirius’s outburst, it was obvious he wasn’t trying to hide anything at all. He had a deep and painful grudge against this woman, she had apparently done something horrible to him and to Angel. "Your Cat, huh?" Cash repeated as a smirk played on his lips "I’m not sure Angel would agree with that at the moment."

Sirius hung his head as his shoulders drooped in seeming defeat "I know Cash, I waited to long to tell her about Azkaban. I should have told her that first day, no matter how frightening or painful it was. At least then I may not have lost her."

Cash placed a friendly hand on Sirius’s shoulder "Don’t give up yet. I’m not entirely sure you’ve lost her. In fact I’m almost positive she’ll choose you once she knows the truth." Cash averted his eyes as Sirius looked at him questioningly. "She thinks you’re married to that Esmeralda chick, and before you ask, NO. I don’t know why, and to be honest, I don’t think I want to."

They walked silently for a few moments before Cash finally got the nerve to tell Sirius about Angel’s leaving. Turning away from Sirius for a moment, he took a deep breath, he knew this was going to be hard "You realize she left with the Slytherin, don’t you?" he asked gently. He winced as he saw the rueful expression on Sirius’s face.

"Yes, I’ve lost her. I know . . . No need to remind me." Sirius whispered as he closed his eyes and turned his face from Cash.

Cash grabbed Sirius by the shoulder and spun him so they were looking as each other eye to eye. "Not if you don’t want to you haven’t" he said firmly "She thought that Esmeralda woman was your wife, she saw her going to see you" Cash held up his hand to stop Sirius from arguing "I know [u]now[/u] she wasn’t there for you, but that is besides the point. It’s what Angel *thinks* that’s important. Sirius I know in my heart, if she would have been told you weren’t married" Cash waved his hand and shook his head sadly "I would be marrying the two of you right now."

Sirius looked at Cash with torture-filled eyes "Do you honestly think she can forgive me for everything that I’ve done, all the pain. . ."

"I don’t want to know what you did to her, not now." Cash insisted "it will only make me angry again. And I have the distinct impression she forgave you for that a long time ago. But Sirius, I need to ask you some *very* hard questions, and you need to answer them honestly." Cash waited until Sirius nodded his head, Gods above and below, this was going to be messy.

"First of all, do *you* still love her? Are you willing to abide by clan law and uphold the honor and blood of the clan?"

"Of course I love her, Cash, I’ve never stopped loving her." Sirius responded immediately "and for the clan" he smiled "I wouldn’t have it any other way. Harry needs a family, preferably a very large one."

Cash grinned as the words left Sirius’s mouth "Good answer" Cash licked his lips and braced himself for his next question "Now the hard part, you realize what she’s doing with the Slytherin, don’t you?" he asked gently as he watched Sirius’s smile crumble into a painful grimace.

"Yes" Sirius said hoarsely.

Cash cupped Sirius’s face in his hands and lifted it so he could look into Sirius’s eyes "Don’t let that kill your love for her my friend. Remember, she chose him because she thought she couldn’t have you. But I must ask you this" Cash said sternly "and I *must* have your honest, heart-felt answer. When Angel returns and I tell her the truth, will you be able to accept her with an open heart, without bringing this up every time there is an argument or a wound?"

Sirius closed his eyes "It hurts me Cash, I can’t lie about that. I feel like my heart is being torn apart just thinking of what he’s doing to her." Sirius blinked and looked into Cash’s bright blue eyes as he began to cry "But I love her so much. I don’t care, not if she’ll come back to me, stay with me. I want to marry her, I want to have children with her." Sirius sobbed against Cash’s shoulder as the Gangrel held him tightly, allowing the wizard to release his pain and anger through his tears.

After a few minutes when Cash heard Sirius’s sobs grow quiet, he pushed him away and asked one final question. "Once again, you *must* be honest with me Sirius. *IF*, and a very big if, but an important one. IF Angel returns from his bed carrying his child, what will you do then?" Cash waited for Sirius to answer, it was obvious from the look of shock that it had never even occurred to Sirius that such a thing may happen "Sirius? . . . Would you abandon her?" Cash asked softly.

"Abandon?! …. My Kitty" Sirius’s face became suddenly enraged "Who the hell do you think I am? Snape? I would never abandon her, I would force her to marry me! There is absolutely no way I would let her go through that alone, and he would NEVER raise them within the clan. He doesn’t understand, he doesn’t care, he.. .he…" Sirius’s anger prevented him from speaking, taking a deep breath Sirius finally calmed down. Continuing slowly and coolly "I would raise the child as my own, it would be our child, not his, *never* his." Sirius was shocked when Cash hugged him and kissed him happily.

"Welcome to the Clan my friend" Cash grinned "that is what I’ve been waiting to hear. I know you love her, and I know, . . .I *know* she loves you. I’ve seen it in her heart and her eyes, ever since that night I walked in on you two in the hall." Cash wiped away the pink, blood-tinged tears that had begun to roll down his cheeks "You *will* be her husband Sirius Black, by Candlemas if I have any say in the matter."

"But Cash, she loves Snape too" Sirius reminded him sadly "she would never agree to share his bed if she didn’t love him. She’s just not that sort of girl"

Cash frowned at Sirius for a minute "Yeah…..and…?" he asked "She loves the dog too, but she wouldn’t marry him. She has a soft spot for strays, the abandoned and abused, the forgotten. . .its part of her healing nature." he explained "There is a big difference between love and compassion" Cash stepped back from Sirius and gave him a critical look "Speaking of which, you could do with a little healing yourself, you look like sh**. We’ve *got* to get the two of you together without any outside interruptions."

"And how exactly do you intend to do that Cash?" Sirius asked amusedly "Lock us in a room for a few days perhaps?"

"Nope, I’ll go one better" Cash said as he set his mind in motion "you will be joining Harry and Angel for the holidays. The only thing better than you two alone in a room is you two stuck with Clan for a few weeks." Cash grinned as he placed his arm around Sirius’s shoulders and began walking towards the school "Imagine, if you will, an old stone home, full to the brim with family, from the oldest little old lady you have ever laid your eyes on, to the not yet born, and an awful lot of babies. . . .its been a good year" Cash winked as Sirius felt his heart growing warm at the very thought of belonging to a family again, and of course, being with Cat. . . . .

Somehow shoes had come off long ago, along with any pretence, he loved her and he wanted her, and unless she made it completely clear to him that she was not willing, he was going to have her, tonight.