Sensing an impending argument, Minerva quickly cut in, “Very well, the Garou and the Gangrel are accounted for, I think we can convince Dimitri and Joshua to stay by the Roma. The only concern left are the Caitiff and Brutus, and of course Cobryn.”

“I will ask Desiree to have her Caitiff patrol the school, they are very keen to help and be useful to us. Luckily many of them have been, shall we say, ‘fostered’ by Clan MacLeod, they are eager to prove themselves to you.” Raul explained, tipping his head ever so slightly towards Minerva. “As for Cobryn…..”

“Send Desiree’s child, Saralonde, to him” Mohrg suggested, “she is too young to fully comprehend what has happened. Even if he won’t accept her company, she will keep him occupied and distracted long enough for us to do this.”

Minerva nodded her head, “It seems the only one left is Brutus, we will need him for this, if he agrees that is.”

Raul sighed deeply, realizing there was no way of backing out of this now. “We will find him on the way there, he continually sulks and prowls the forest, lurking in the shadows as he waits for his foul, brother to rise from the pit.” he looked up at Minerva, sensing the next obvious question. “I think he would welcome your idea, he holds so much guilt in him for his brother’s actions I feel sure he would gladly endure the oblivion you offer him.”

“Then, gentlemen, it is time we get started, I need to begin the spells as the sun sets. Raul, I trust you will bring Professor Snape to us, unharmed if you please, he’ll have several potions with him, just in case.”……….

Harry was fascinated by Mac Lir’s kingdom, it was both awe inspiring in its majesty and comforting in its details, such as the lush foliage that lined the ‘streets’, it reminded him of pictures Cat had shown him of her garden, the same garden he had seen in his dreams through his bedroom window. Looking closer at the verdant, wavy plants, he smiled widely as he saw small, web-winged creatures tending to the plants. “Krystal, what are they?” he asked, pointed to the spindly creatures.

“Those are sea gardeners, they’re a type of pixie,” she replied brightly. “They have the most wonderful gardens, you’ll see some of them in the valley just beyond the next knoll. The currents are warmer there so its already blooming, these won’t be ready to bloom for a few more weeks yet.”

“Do they live in the gardens or under them, like gnomes?” Harry asked, knowing that Hermione would want a full report of any new creatures he saw, more than likely so she could forbid him from telling Hagrid about any of the more dangerous ones.

Krystal shrugged her shoulders “I have no idea what gnomes are, but the gardeners live in their own kingdom, its in the castle’s courtyard, surrounded by a glass dome so no one accidentally crushes them, some of our subjects grow to be rather large.”

Harry nodded his understanding as he turned to follow Krystal “How far are we going? I don’t like to go too far from Mum, she’s had a rough few days.”

“Don’t worry, my brother will take care of her, they’ve been best of friends for as long as I can remember. I’m honestly surprised father didn’t say yes right away to Maharet’s request to marry the two of them, I thought he’d be all for it, more grandchildren and all.”

“She what?” Harry gasped, his eyes growing large as he suddenly regretted every word he had told Mac Lir regarding Sirius. “What did your father say?”

“He said he’d ‘think it over’, which pretty much means no. Surprised all of us, I thought I’d be getting Aunt Kitty as a sister. It would be so nice if she could be here all the time, she barely gets time to visit since her mother died….oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that. Diedre,…your grandma…”

“It’s alright, Krystal” he said softly, “I never really,….. I mean….lets just drop it, alright?” He turned away as he saw the look of sheer relief on Krystal’s face, he couldn’t explain it, but the thought of having yet another relative he never got the chance to know before Voldemort killed them was just tearing him up. “Your father said something about a wreck my family was on, is it near?”

“No, not near, but if we can find some undines to cooperate it shouldn’t take long. Say, is it true you use twigs and branches to fly?” she asked excitedly, “Here we only have animals, and the occasional enchanted shells, oh, and the magic sands of course.”

Harry couldn’t help himself from laughing when he realized that the act of flying on a broom must be just as odd to her as travelling on an enchanted shell was to him. “We call them brooms, and yes, we do. We even play sports on them, I don’t suppose you’ve ever heard of Quidditch?”

“No. Have you ever played Mystrix? Its lots of fun, if the puffer doesn’t swim off, Leumadair has a great one, he spoils him terribly, feeds him jellyfish tentacles and sargrasso all the time. Father says it’s a wonder the thing hasn’t exploded.”

“You keep the game as a pet?” Harry questioned, his face screwed up with confusion.

“No, silly, the puffer is what you use to play the game. When it blows itself up, it gets these spikes all over it, and the players have to try to get it through the posts without it getting caught, knocking off the spindles or injuring themselves. Leumadair is one of the best players in the whole ocean, the only one who comes close to beating him is a mermaid from the Atlantic rift, they’ve been talking about breeding their puffers, hers is really good too.”

“Sounds interesting, think I can see a game while I’m here.” Harry asked, smiling brightly as he tried to imagine what the game was like, “It sounds like a cross between Quidditch and Cricket. Do they use their feet or do they ride something?”

“Both, depending on where they are on the court, but riding makes it much more interesting, because the players have to capture a roaming undine first, that way it can’t be trained like the puffers are.” Krystal explained as they reached the top of the knoll.

Harry gasped loudly as he looked out over the valley that Krystal had told him about. It was as beautiful as she had said, with lush, green foliage and vibrantly hued flowers. Small jewel-toned fish darted in and out of the plants, much like the dragon flies he saw flitting over the surface of the lake at Hogwarts. “What are those things, the funny looking sea horses?”

“Shhhhhh, don’t let them hear you say that” Krystal warned, “those are the undines, they look like seahorses, but they have human faces, and they can be very, very stern. But, if you get them at just the right time, they can be really playful, its all on how you approach them.” she explained as she made her way down the knoll, towards the first group of undines……..

“Well, that’s a change, Sirius Black at a loss for words.” Duncan teased as he waited for Sirius to answer his question. “Come on now, what can you tell me about this other fellow, the one that has our Harry so upset.”

Sirius sighed loudly, “Believe me, I want to tell you exactly what I think of him, which isn’t much, but for some unfathomable reason, Cat …..well, she’s always stood up for him, defended him ….she used to give James and I holy hell when we played pranks on him. And….well….” Sirius hung his head, unable to bring himself to say the words.

“He’s the one, isn’t he?” Luke asked, his eyes growing dark as a shadow passed over his face. “The one who used her and now ignores her.”

“Ignores her? Him?!” Sirius jeered, “You have ‘got’ to be joking, he never leaves her alone. Do you know how hard it was for me to steal away even a few minutes alone with her at school? Everywhere I turned, Severus Snape was there, walking her to meals, making excuses to visit her when he couldn’t find her between classes. Coming to her room to ‘read’ to her, or talk, or go for a stroll….” as he finished his face became a grimace of pain and anger.

“That can’t be the same guy” Luke said softly, kneading Sirius’s shoulder as he did so. “The guy I’m talking about won’t even answer her letters. She may not be able to get through right now, but we have several owls and ravens that travel between here and there regularly. She’s sent at least two, if not more, letters asking him to join us here.

Seeing the look of shock and hurt on the wizard’s face, Luke quickly added. “The family wants to see him, Sirius. We want to compare the two of you, and if what we ‘think’ happened, did in fact happen, we need to know other things about him as well.”

Sirius closed his eyes, trying to not think about Cat and Severus together. How could she? How could she hold him in her arms, much less let him into her bed. “No, its him, Luke. And I’m positive they…..that she is…” he took a deep shuddering breath, “If she is, what will happen to us, to me?”

Sirius gasped with surprise as he felt Duncan’s strong arms embrace him.

“You stay with us, and with her.” he whispered, his voice rough with a flood of emotions, “I’ve seen the way she looks at you, she refers to you as her son’s father, she doesn’t run away from you when she’s hurt. She loves you Sirius, we all do.”

Sirius choked back a sob as he returned Duncan’s hug, this show of affection, of approval, meant more to him than he could ever explain. From the first day they arrived in Fernglennis, he had always felt that it was Duncan who he had to prove himself to, and now, finally, it seemed he had.

“Duncan, come on brother, let the guy breathe.” Luke said softly as he rubbed Duncan’s arm and smiled sadly as he caught his brother wiping away a few stray tears. “Why don’t you see if Orpha’s heard anything from Kitty, I’ll finish up in here.” he added, giving an exaggerated wink that made both men laugh. Luke waited until Duncan had closed the door behind him before continuing his conversation with Sirius.

“I need you to listen to me closely and carefully” he whispered, as if afraid they might be heard. “I agree with you about Kitty, but I also think you are best suited to be her husband, if for no other reasons than the fact that Harry sees you as his father, and that you are so willing to accept the ways of our clan.” he nudged in closer to Sirius as he looked quickly around the room to make sure no one was lurking in the shadows. “I want you to start forcing the issue, Sirius. I know you promised her and I insist you keep that promise, just push her a little now and then, don’t let go so quickly, hold and kiss her in front of the clan. The more they see you two together, the more it will cement in their minds that that is how it should be. And be very, very careful about what you say and to whom, it appears not all the MacLeod’s are in favour of a union between you and Kitty. In fact, there are some who outright fear it.”……..

Harry held on tightly as the undine he was riding bucked and lurched over the swaying vegetation beneath them. This was worse than his first broom ride in the rain, he thought as he wondered how soft a landing it would be if he fell from the odd sea horse-like creature.

“Hold on, cousin, its not far from here.” Krystal yelled to him as her undine bucked wildly under her.

“And these are what you used to play Mystrix? How does anyone survive with their stomach intact?” he yelled back. “Can’t we just walk instead?” No sooner were the words out of his mouth than the undine came to a sudden stop, sending Harry over the creature’s head and into a kelp bed. “Well that’s one way I suppose” he sighed as he lay in the tall, twisting blades, relieved to be able to feel the sandy ground beneath him.

“And what do we have here?” A familiar, yet oddly out of place voice asked as a chestnut coloured hand reached through the kelp, offering a helping hand to Harry.

“Puneet?” Harry gasped as he took hold of the extended hand. “What are you doing here? Under the water, I mean, don’t you live in the trees?”

“I live in wood, and if you think there is no wood in the ocean, you are greatly mistaken my young prince.” Puneet replied warmly, “In fact, there is wood of great importance here below the waves. Would you like to walk with me and see?”

“Would I ever.” Harry replied enthusiastically, his smile spreading from ear to ear, welcoming Puneet’s warmth and gentle ways after his haphazard ride from a few moments ago.

“Wonderful, we can pass by the chapel if you like, its quite lovely, and the dolphins enjoy basking in its warmth.” Puneet explained as he let go of Harry’s hand so he could help Krystal off of the undine. “And many greetings to you, Lady Krystal, I trust you are well.”

“Yes, Puneet, thank you, very well.” she replied as she gave him a small curtsy. “And how are you and your father?”

Harry knitted his brow as he saw the formal way in which Puneet and Krystal spoke to each other. He had the feeling he was overlooking something terribly obvious, but the thought of being able to explore a whole new world without having anyone constantly warning him to be careful was completely overwhelming his senses at the moment. Its not that he didn’t appreciate the concern of his Mum and his friends, but it was a bit nerve wracking to be constantly reminded of how tenuous his life truly was.

“Puneet?” Harry asked softly, noticing Krystal’s glare as he interrupted their conversation. “Sorry, but I was wondering, Mum said I might be able to use this to talk to fish and dolphins and stuff, is that true?” he asked as his fingers ran along the torque.

“Of course its true, you mother is a woman who is wise beyond her years, she knows the true value of my father’s gift to you. This is the reason she insists that you wear it always, it will aid and protect you in many situations.” Puneet explained, smiling widely as he saw the look of anticipation in Harry’s eyes. It was no wonder the rion of MacLeod endured the trial and tortures of the Wizarding world for the sake of her son, he was strong, true and noble, he would make a fine warrior, and perhaps should she remain without daughters, ruler of the clan. “I take it you would also like to talk and perhaps even ride on the dolphins.” he asked knowingly as he saw the longing look in the boys eyes as he finally caught a glimpse of the graceful and playful dolphins.

“Can we?! Really?!”……….

“So, what did Mac Lir want, my dear?” Merlin asked as he settled down next to Orpha, placing a cool kiss on her forehead as she reclined on the cushions.

“Would you believe me if I said it was a social call and of no real importance?” Orpha asked she rubbed her temples.

“Not with that look on your face I wouldn’t, you may want to practice your ‘poker face’ before Maharet shows up.” Merlin teased, only to pull back as he swore he heard Orpha growl.

“If she showed up here right now, we may never need to worry about her again. The more I find out, the angrier I am!” Orpha hissed, closing her eyes tightly as she tried to hold in her tears.

Merlin paused for a moment, waiting for another outburst, but the moment he got a good look at her face, he knew this was something far worse than a disagreement with Mac Lir or Maharet. “Orpha, what is it dear? Has something happened to our children?”

“Yes, and I wasn’t there for her, they….Diedre was afraid I was part of it, she didn’t trust me…or any of us…enough to ask us for help.” she sniffled as she tried to keep her composure.

Focusing all of his thoughts and energy towards her, Merlin became solid enough to hold her and wipe her tears. “Dearest, what do you mean, what does Diedre have to do with any of this, after all, she passed on well over ten years ago. I don’t understand why you are suddenly bringing her up, are you confusing her with her daughter?”

“No, ….but I thought she trusted me, I thought she could come to me with anything. If I had only known, I would have stopped it, I would have refused to allow her to go into battle.”

“Stop who? Orpha, you are making no sense to me, what are you talking about?” Merlin whispered.

“Diedre, she knew, …..she knew Kitty was with child. Mac Lir just told me everything, how she had stolen the carousel that Magnus and his father created and enchanted to alert us to the next rion. How she helped Kitty hide her condition from us for fear of what may happen to her daughter and grand-daughter. And yes, Merlin, it was a daughter, Mac Lir told me in no uncertain terms that the carousel did not stop playing, not until she was sent into battle. If only Diedre had confided in us, in me, I could have prevented it.”

Merlin listened to Orpha’s hushed crying as he tried to make sense of it all. Why wouldn’t Diedre have said something? True Magnus would have been angry, but that would have faded in due time, and its not as if her clan would have been upset about Kitty being with child, they had all been talking about it since she became of age. “What was it Diedre feared would happen to Kitty?” he asked as a uneasy feeling of knowing seeped into him.

Orpha looked into Merlin’s blue eyes with her own deep aqua, tear filled orbs. “She was terrified that they would realize it was Sirius, that he was your child. That if our blood combined the child would be too powerful to control, just like you were. You know she nearly caused Diedre to miscarry with Kitty and Shane, she was so worried when she discovered there were two instead of just a daughter. I often think that if it weren’t for that wizard going mad she would have destroyed the twins and insisted Diedre succumb to him again.”

Merlin buried his face in Orpha’s soft hair as his mind reeled at what he had just been told. He had no idea Maharet had gone that far, if he had only known, if only Diedre had come to them before everything had spun out of control. “And what will she do now? What will happen to her sister’s son? And what will happen to her own? It is almost certain Kitty is with child,” he sighed as he hugged Orpha tightly “will this pregnancy fit into her precious prophecy? Or will she once again destroy her own flesh and blood?”

Harry’s eye were full of amazement as he ran his hands over the walls of the small chapel in the middle of the gardener’s grove. They appeared to be made of pearl encrusted coral, but he had never seen such pearls before, cream, black, pink, gold, blue, as many different colours and shades as there were stars in the sky. He watched as they shimmered and the shades shifted with the movements of the currents. It was all so beautiful, so calm, so safe….why hadn’t his mother wanted to stay here with Cat and Mac Lir? “Puneet? Did you know my other mother too?”

“Your other….oh, you mean Lily. I knew of her, but I don’t recall actually meeting her, why?”

“Mac Lir told me he offered her the chance to stay here with him and Mum. She wouldn’t have been killed here, she would have been safe…I…I just want to know why she went back. From what Mac Lir said, she knew what was going to happen, and so did Mum.” Harry stated softly. He tried to fix his eyes on something other than the strange looks that Krystal and Puneet were giving him. Sighing deeply, he turned his attention back to the chapel, paying special attention to the windows which seemed to be made of opaque sea glass, small polished shells and bits of quartz and other crystals that had made their way to the bottom of the sea

“You would have to ask them that, I’m afraid. I know only that your mother, Catrianna MacLeod, asked me to extend my protection and aid to you. It was all I ever needed to know.” he explained, giving Harry a slight bow as he did so. “Come, let me show you inside, it may help distract you from your thoughts.” he added, placing his hand on Harry’s shoulder and steering him through the doors of lacy coral.

Harry hesitated as he walked through the doors, very gently he ran his fingers along the delicate pattern left by the corals, smiling as he watched it glow softly at his touch. It seemed to almost pulse as its colour changed from bony white to lavender, purple and almost burgundy as his fingers moved along it. Yet the moment he took his hands away, it returned to its former whitish hue. Harry looked up to see Puneet smiling back at him “How does it do that? Is it enchanted?”

“Not exactly, it senses the power within your blood, it’s a trait you will come to understand in time. When your mother enters this chapel, it all but comes to life.” Puneet explained as he held the door open for Krystal to enter. Harry noticed the coral changing colour where Puneet touched it, but the shades were not as vivid as they had been only a few moments before. Just as he opened his mouth to ask Puneet why, he felt something cool slip across his face, causing him to shudder violently. Turning slowly, he saw several ghostly forms hovering near him, studying him with what seemed to be both amazement and fondness.

“Is this him? Is this my great-great-great-great-grandson?” an older looking ghost asked as she bustled up to Harry. “Oh he’s so handsome, but he could use more meat on his bones. Look at you child, there is hardly anything to you.”

Harry felt both shocked and embarrassed by this plump, ghostly woman’s behaviour. “Hello…I’m Harry,….and you are?” he asked, partially extending his hand before his nervousness got the better of him.

“Who am I?” the plump ghost replied, a look of indignation on her face “Imagine, not know your own family. Not that anyone comes to visit me anymore.” he added huffing slightly at the slight.

“I’m sorry…. You said you’re my family? Are you a MacLeod?” he asked, completely confused by the woman’s comments and even more worried by the soft laughter coming from Puneet and Krystal.

“Only by marriage my dear, I’m an O’Hara by birth. And you….you are my child, I can feel it in you, I knew it the moment you stood outside my door.” she gushed as she placed a cool hand on his cheek. “You must come and meet the others, I know they’ll be as thrilled as I am. Is your mother with you? Is she coming to visit us as well?”

“Uhm, I’m not honestly sure, she’s with Mac Lir right now.” Harry explained as he felt the woman’s hand pass through his wrist as she attempted to lead him towards the front of the chapel were several other ghosts had congregated. Casting a quick glance behind him, he saw Puneet rolling his eyes and shaking his head as he mouthed the words ‘humour her’. “You say you’re family?”

“Oh yes, I’m Heather O’Hara-MacLeod, your great-great-great-great grandmother, on your mother‘s side, the poor dear. I had always hoped she’d join us here when her time came, but sadly she chose another path.” Heather seemed to sigh and turn a deeper shade of grey as she thought about it. “I only got to see her a few times that one year, and then once more when she was carrying you, my dear, she and the rion’s child….”

“You mean you’re Lily’s great-great grandmother?” Harry gasped, having expected her to be related to Cat in some way.

“No, dear, I’m her great-great-great grandmother. My daughter Ivy married Feargus Harper, and her daughter, Rose, married a darling Irishman, Polaris Black when she went back to England, and their daughter Fern married…lets see, it was a strange sort of name….Priestas, John Priestas. No wait, that was her first husband, Violets father was an O’Hara too, Patrick O’Hara, and she married an Evans…”

“Lily Evans, my mother,” Harry barely whispered as his body trembled, “but how? How could you be here? And what did you say about Black?” He felt his legs give out from under him as his mind suddenly began to realized how intertwined everything had suddenly become, just like the flowering vines Cat had embroidered on the family album she had given him for Solstice. He felt Puneet’s strong hands grabbing him by the shoulders as his legs finally gave way, plunging Harry into a welcomed, spiralling darkness.

Harry couldn’t feel anything but his own breathing anymore, anything else was just too much to think about. What was his great-whatever grandmother’s ghost doing down here, who were the other ghosts with her? Where they more of Lily’s family? And what else had Heather said, she had married a MacLeod, and one of her daughters or grand daughters had married a Black, it couldn’t possibly be Sirius’s family, could it? Why hadn’t Cat told him any of this? Did she even know herself? …..

What are we going to do, Orpha? We can’t lose her, we can’t lose any of them. We’ve lost so much, so many of our clan has sacrificed themselves for the greater good. But I simply cannot endure it any more.” Merlin sighed as he and Orpha continued their conversation. “I used to have a huge family of my own, and now, I’m left with only two sons. Both of whom have no children but long to be fathers. I’m not willing to stand by and let their dreams be crushed, they both want children, and I want them to find wives amongst clan.”

“Well, that is an easy enough task” Orpha smirked, “I have yet to see a man who can withstand a MacLeod woman when she has the mind to get him. All we have to do is find the proper match and let nature take its course.”

“I think we’ve found the right match for Sirius, don’t you?”

“Almost positive,” Orpha replied, “but I owe it to the clan and to Kitty to meet this professor of hers. He may end up surprising us all in the end, of course that’s providing Cash doesn’t harm him.”

“I thought Cash had forgiven him…” Merlin countered, a confused and concerned look on his face.

“Only partially, Kitty made him swear to protect him and keep him safe, and you know him, he’s never been able to say no to anything she’s asked of him, especially when she calls upon his mercy.” Orpha explained, “Although I’ve seen the pain in her eyes when ever I bring him up in conversation, she thinks he’s hardened his heart against her.”

“I find that hard to believe, I’ve seen the ….”

“Hush. That’s the odd thing, Cash tells me the professor pines for her, and that it is Kitty who has turned from him. Someone has been tampering with her letters, making her appear to have lost interest in him, breaking both of their hearts.” Orpha whispered, looking around the room as if she had heard something.

Merlin gave Orpha a rather suspicious look, “I notice you haven’t made a move to stop it, I am assuming there is a reason for this?”…….

“Harry? Harry?! Come now cousin, you must wake up, Father would be very upset to see you like this. And right now Puneet is upset enough for several people.” Krystal stated as she gently slapped Harry’s face, trying to rouse him. She smiled with relief and joy as she saw Harry’s eyes fluttering open. “Hello cousin, are you back with us now?”

“Yeh, I think so” Harry replied as he tried to stand up, only to realize he wasn’t on the floor as he had thought, but resting on one of the wide, crystals pews with his head on Krystal’s lap. “Uhm, Krystal? How did I get here?”

“Do you mean here as in the chapel, or here as in ‘here’ here.”

“Uhm, here, here,” Harry stammered as he felt his face growing red. “I thought I felt myself falling…”

“You did, Puneet caught you and asked me to take care of you. He’s over there giving Heather a tongue lashing” she explained. Turning towards the sound of angry whispers, Harry reached for his glasses as he tried to make out the scene.

There was Puneet, his chestnut skin a clear contrast to the pale forms that were now hovering around him. Judging from his movements, Puneet was far from happy, in fact, he seemed downright angry with Heather. Harry felt a pang of guilt as he saw the teary look on her face, it wasn’t her fault he had suddenly felt so overwhelmed by it all.

“Are you sure you’re ready to get up?” Krystal asked as she combed her fingers through Harry’s thick hair. “You still seem a bit pale.”

If he had been, he had the feeling he wasn’t anymore, not with the blush he could feel blooming on his cheeks. “No, I’m fine, really. I feel a bit silly though, passing out like that. I think I should let Puneet know I’m alright so he stops yelling at her like that.”

“Yes, I don’t think I’ve ever seen him so upset, he must really care about you.” she commented as they watched Puneet’s animated movements. “I’ve never seen him like this. Are you sure you’re only his charge? I mean you aren’t related to him or anything, right?”

Harry grimaced, right now, that was the last question he wanted to be asked. He wasn’t sure who he was related to at this point, he wasn’t even completely sure who ‘he’ was anymore. Was he Harry Potter, the boy who lived, the muggle orphan, or the ‘lost son’ of Clan MacLeod? “I have no idea, Krystal, I really don’t.” ……..

Puneet glared at Heather, pointedly ignoring the spirit of her daughter, Ivy, who was doing her best to calm her mother down. “Don’t you dare use your tears against me. How dare you blurt out something like that? Do you have any idea what her child has been through? Do you know how often he has faced death, how close he has come to succumbing to it?”

“No, Puneet, she doesn’t know.” Ivy growled as she stood between Heather and Puneet. “You know her, you know what she’s like, she hasn’t changed in almost three hundred years, do you think she’s suddenly going to change now?”

“That is not the point,” he insisted, “she harmed him, with her words and her thoughtlessness she harmed him.”

“But I never meant to” Heather wailed “I just wanted to see him, he’s my child too.”

Puneet sighed deeply as Heather’s pearl-like tears clinked onto the polished floor of the chapel. Of course Ivy was right about her mother, ever since she had been forced to watch her husband, Carrig, executed at the hands of their enemies, she had never truly been ‘right’, it had only been the love and attention of her family that had kept her as sane as she now was. And Ivy, dear Ivy, always the loving and devoted daughter, she had willed herself to return to her mother’s side after her own passing, tending to her in death as she had in life.

Placing his hand over his face as he tried to calm his anger, Puneet shook his head slowly. “Ivy, I do not wish to argue with you, but she has to be mindful of what she says to the children. She did the same thing to his mothers, it took weeks of gentle words and reassurance to settle them. The rion was besides herself when she found out about Magnus.”

Puneet became silent as he felt Harry walk up along side of him, protectively, almost instinctively Puneet placed his hand on Harry’s shoulder as he cast a warning look towards Heather. “Are you sure you are well enough to be walking around?” he asked gently, giving Harry’s shoulder a slight squeeze as he spoke. “This is your first trip to Armagh, I trust you’ve never been underwater for such a long period of time before. It can take a toll on you…”

“No, really, I’m fine, Puneet.” Harry insisted, “Although I am curious about what Heather said, about being her descendant, and about my mother, Lily.” Harry could have sworn he felt Puneet cringe when he said Lily’s name and not Cat’s. “Please, I want, …. I need to know.”

“Hello, Harry. I am Ivy, Heather’s daughter, your great-great-great grandmother, I think. I’m afraid I’m not very good with that sort of thing. But I’ll do what I can to help you understand, my mother tends to get too excited and then things just get out of hand.”

Harry smiled widely as he bowed to Ivy, she reminded him of Cat, not very tall, but she walked and spoke like a person of nobility. Although Harry had the distinct impression she could hold her own in a fight, much like Cat could. “Thank you, I don’t mean to upset anyone, I just want to know about all those people Heather mentioned. Especially the one called Black, is he related to my godfather Sirius?”

“Hmmm, Sirius Black, that name does sound familiar, I think that might have been one of Polaris’s older brothers, but he died after a very nasty run in with a rabid dragon, poor thing.” Ivy stated. “Let me think a moment, I know he insisted on naming one of the boys after him. The first one he named after his father Angus, then they had Hazel, then Polaris went away for a while, and when he came back they had Sirius and Fern. But I doubt he’s your godfather, this was in the 1830’s, he would have to be a very old man by now.”

“Still, it isn’t a very common name, is it?” Harry pressed, hoping he might be able to finally piece everything together and make sense of his past and the people in it. “And you’re related to me, so if it is the same one.”

“That would be impossible, cousin, wizards don’t live nearly as long as we do.” Krystal interrupted. “Even the very strong ones barely manage two hundred, most of us make that and more with little problem.”

Ignoring her logic completely, Harry continued on, “What about his son, you said he named one of his sons after his brother, did he have children? He would have been your grandson, right?”

“Oh, my yes. All of my grandchildren had children, I believe Sirius had two boys and two girls. They lived in Ireland, County Mayo if I remember right.”

“Sirius’s grandfather was from Ireland, they moved to Scotland during the famine, he told me about it one night when we were waiting for Cat to wake up.” Harry stated excitedly.

“Harry, you should calm down” Puneet insisted, “all this excitement is not good for you, you’re turning a funny shade of grey yourself. I want you to sit down and be quiet for several minutes.”

Harry was about to argue with him, but stopped when he felt a frigid hand on his other shoulder. “He is right Harry, you don’t look well. And I know Kitty, I’ve talked to her on many occasions, I don’t want to see her crying over you again, not when I can prevent it.”

“You know Cat too? But how?”

“This is where she comes when things get bad and she needs to be away from the rest of the world. Did you know she and Lily built this chapel? My mother, Heather, wandered across it while they were trying to create new spells using a combination of Sidhe and Wizard magic. She asked them to build her a house so she would have somewhere to call home, they gave it a try, but it turned out looking more like a chapel.” Ivy smiled slyly “It seemed one of them was preoccupied with the thought of marriage and it influenced her ‘vision’ of what the house should look like.” she laughed softly as she saw Puneet roll his eyes. “Just because ‘you’ insist on being a bachelor..” she teased, smiling widely as she saw Harry grinning at her.

“Ivy, do you know why Cat didn’t tell me any of this? Why she didn’t tell me you were here, or about the chapel, or about ….well, any of this?”