Turning the picture over, Cat immediately recognized James’s handwriting. ‘See what you’re missing? Come back to us soon, he STILL loves you Kitty, and so do we’
The next thing Cat felt was Lia’s strong hands gently guiding her to a chair. “Come on luvy, have a cuppa and take a few deep breathes.” she suggested as she placed a cup of tea in Cat’s hands. She stroked Cat’s hair as she waited for her to calm down “What’s wrong? Don’t tell me that’s a picture of our Sirius with his own child, he wouldn’t have lied to us like that, I know he wouldn’t.”
“No, its Harry. I’m crying because of how much we’ve lost. We wanted to have a large family, did you know that? A regular Quidditch team….but things just didn’t work out the way we had planned.” Cat sniffled as her tears fell silently down her cheeks. “And now I find out that Severus hasn’t turned his back on me…..someone’s been preventing his letters from reaching me, and replacing my letter to him with heartless forgeries. Oh, Lia, what am I going to do? My feelings for both of them are very deep….”
“But….” Lia prompted.
“But I still love Sirius every bit as much as I did back then, if it weren’t for him betraying me then, I have no doubt we would have been married as soon as we graduated.” Cat sighed “But Severus has ALWAYS been there for me, he had never betrayed me, never an unkind word…..I know how he treats others, and that does bother me, but I see him trying to change. I’ve seen him making real attempts to accept Cash and the other Gangrels, even though he’s terrified of vampyres, he does this to make me happy……I can’t just turn my back on him.”
“And can you just turn your back on Sirius?” Amber asked, “Doesn’t he mean just as much to you as this Severus?”
Cat nodded, “That’s the problem, I can’t decide between them” she laughed sadly. “They are both so different yet both so much alike…..what am I going to do?”
Lia kissed Cat on her forehead, “You are going to go through the rest of this box, maybe you’ll find something in here to help you, and if you don’t we’ll just keep talking about it until we’re all either sick to death of it, or we find an answer.” Then smirking playfully she added, “Or, if you prefer, we can simply toss you into a room with both of them and see which on…’pleases’…. you the most.”
“Don’t tempt me, Lia, please. Its all I can do to keep Sirius at arms length right now.”
“Wait!!!!. . … No, cousin, NO!!!” Amber gasped, “You don’t actually expect me to believe that after all this time. After all the nights you two have shared a bed, your bed, that neither of you have…..well, you know.”
“Exactly what I mean, Amber.” Cat replied, only to drop her shoulders as she continued, “But its so hard for me to be good. I miss him so much, its all I can do to stop myself when we start kissing or playing around.”
“I don’t know whether to give you my respect or condolences,” Amber commented. “I mean, come on Kitty, look at him, even thin as he is he’s still not a bad looking man. And he strikes me as being extremely passionate, not to mention……OW!!!”
“Let your cousin be” Lia chastised as she pinched Amber smartly, “she has her reasons for what she’s doing, she doesn’t need you to add to her burden. Now, Kitty, the box, before my little girl sticks her other foot in it.”
Cat laughed softly as she nodded. “Right, like you said, there might be something in here to help me decide, right?” she said sarcastically as she reached into the box once more. “Ewwwww, this isn’t going to help,” she grimaced as she lifted out a package of chocolate frogs, “they don’t even jump anymore, oh …..gross, that‘s just nasty.” she whined as one of them crumbled in her hands.
“That’s it, I’m sticking with letters and photos, anymore bags or small boxes go into the sink first.” she stated adamantly as she picked up the tea towel and cleaned her hands.
“There are quite a few letters in here, Kitty. Oh, look at the colours on this one” Lia commented as she picked up one that was covered in roses and lilacs, still blooming and fragrant after all the years that had passed.
“That one has to be from Lily” she grinned, “actually, most of them are probably from Lily. We wrote each other on a fairly regular basis.” Cat finally smiled as she sat back down, a small stack of letters in front of her. Well at least these were letters that she was glad to read, at least she was until she began to read the second one. It was from Lily, but it wasn’t her normal sort of letter, it was a warning that Voldemort was now looking for her and James, and that their time on this Earth was soon coming to an end. Lily was having the nightmare almost nightly now, and it was always the same, she still hadn’t told James about it, insisting it would kill him to know he was powerless to stop them from being murdered. But it was the last paragraph of the letter that had nearly stopped Cat’s heart….. It was a plea from Lily, reminding her of her promise to take care of Harry once she was gone, and also asking her to forgive Sirius. Lily had written that things weren’t at all what they had thought, Esmeralda had lied to them all, she wanted Cat gone at all costs. She went on to tell her how Sirius had never been the same since she had left, that he asks her constantly if she has heard anything at all from ‘his Cat’ or her family. It also begged her to read the letters that James and Sirius had sent along with hers, and asking her, that if she could find it in her heart to forgive Sirius, to please raise Harry with his godfather, to give Harry the family he should have.
Cat froze as the words sunk in, Esmeralda had lied to them all…..but what she had seen was no lie, she had walked in on them, she had seen it, smelt it, heard it…. She tore through the remainder of the letters until she found the ones Lily had mentioned. One from James and another from Sirius. Her hands were shaking as she opened the letters….
They were warrior mages, magical fighters, they knew how to use all manners of magic and several fighting disciplines. They had been taught to protect and defend, they had been chosen both for their talents and for their looks. Seemingly soft and defenceless, she and her ‘sisters’ were amongst the most deadly of creatures; living, dead or otherwise.
Perhaps it was time to call the sisterhood together once more, Magnus had disbanded it when he realized his daughter had been inducted without either his knowledge or consent, but then the men were never consulted on these things. This was a cult that was as old as any of the MacLeod crones, and once a member, always a member, no matter what her father may have said or done, Aeranna knew that Catrianna still bore the mark of the sisterhood. Just as she knew that nothing Magnus did would ever truly disband, let alone destroy the sisterhood.
Dipping her fingers into the bowl, Aeranna stirred the water gently, thinking of her mortal sister, Coco, who now resided within the wizard’s school as a member of the Caitiff clan. She could easily contact her, between the two of them they could assure the safety of the Rion and the continuation of the Sidhe bloodline. After all, if anything were to happen to Cat, if her life were to end before she bore a daughter, so would the magic of the Sidhe. Every spell ever cast by one of her ilk would being to falter and eventually fail. Including the spells that held their worlds within the folds of the veil, she shook her head as she tried to imagine all the different worlds falling out of their respective dimensions, crashing to the same piece of Earth.
Millions of lives would be lost, the world as they knew it would be destroyed, hell, the Earth itself would fall apart with the sheer weight of everyone and everything. She shook her head as she pictured Edinburgh, Fernglennis, Hogwarts and Camelot all occupying the same space and time, and that was mild compared to what would happen in places like New York City, Tel Aviv, and Moscow…….
Hermione laid in her bed, staring at the ceiling as she wondered how Harry was doing, it wasn’t like him not to owl her at least once over the holidays. Although Ron had written that he and Miss MacLeod had visited them at the burrow. But still, there were so many things that seemed odd about the woman. From the whole Sidhe thing to her knowledge of ‘dark’ magic, even down to the spider silk dress in her wardrobe. If only Herm could remember what sect of magic had their priestesses wear them….
She couldn’t explain why, but a little voice inside of her told her that it was important. Even more so, now that Ron had mentioned that some of his brothers were rather taken with Miss MacLeod’s nieces and cousins. She remembered back to the talk she and MacLeod had the night of the Yule Ball, it was obvious how much she loved Harry, but still, she went off with Snape, even he had asked her not to. Something just didn’t seem right about the whole thing, there must be something she was overlooking, and she had a feeling it was all tied to that dress……
“So, Cash, what do YOU think about all of this? Do you think Orpha has a point?” Merlin asked “She, Luke and I were discussing her behaviour, and then this was brought up.”
Cash nodded, “Yes, I’m sure that’s why she did it. I remember her words exactly at the Yule Ball. I was teasing her about asking Remus or Albus, she told me to stop feeding off of drunks.” he smirked, laughing silently as he remembered the rest of her words. “Ask Albus? Alright Cash, stop feeding off drunks.” she teased, then becoming very serious she added “and don’t step over the line Cash. I love you dearly, I would kill or die for you, but I will not end up like Wanda. I will not be forced into a marriage just to have children. I know you don’t like Severus and will never allow me to marry him. That’s fine, and I can accept that. But if I become pregnant you and I both know no one will force me into anything, they would never risk my losing the baby.” Angel paused as she felt Cash’s body tense. “He is strong, intelligent, and powerful Cash, I believe those are the only prerequisites our clan cares about where fathering children are concerned.”
“So, I take it she planned this all then, just to avoid..” Merlin began, only to be interrupted by Cash.
“JUST to avoid!… No, to circumvent fate, to stop her future from ending up like Wanda’s. The clan wants heirs, she will provide them with heirs, pure and simple. I know the way she thinks Merlin, I’ve watched over her since the day she was born. She chose Snape because of his strengths, he is powerful, intelligent and his magic is very, very strong. She also chose him because she know the clan will not accept him, but more to the point, he will not accept the clan. Can you picture him sitting down to tea with Bruid or Rolali, or perhaps Puneet?”
“Is he ’that’ hopeless, Cash?” Merlin frowned, “I would think he must posses some redeemable character if our little girl was so enamoured by him. You do realize she still holds a place in her heart for him, don’t you?”
“Of course, despite what she may say, you and I both know she would never have gone with him if she didn’t love him. I just wish she would have known the whole truth about Sirius before she left. It would have changed everything, I’m sure of it.”
“Perhaps, but what is done, is done.” Merlin sighed. “The question is, what are we to do now? I want to meet this Professor Snape, as does Orpha, Luke and Paddy.”
“What?! No Duncan?” Cash smirked
“He may well be the father of Kitty’s child, I’d like to keep him alive for a little while, at least long enough to see his own…..”
“She’s pregnant?!” Cash gasped, “Are you sure?”
“No, I’m not, not at all. But Sirius seems to be and he is fitting in so wonderfully with the clan” Merlin stated, smiling widely as he pictured his descendant with various members of the clan. “Orpha adores him, Paddy is almost willing to give Edana up to he and Kitty, although he is still hoping that won’t be necessary. And I must tell you, Sirius is positively in love with that little girl, Paddy has to fight to get her back at times, and he seems very willing to take in little Callista as well, we’re still waiting to see how Calli feels about this though.”
Cash shook his head, “He must be in his glory, not home two weeks and already a daddy of three. What does Harry think about all of this? He isn’t getting too jealous, is he? And what makes our Siri think Kitty is with child…..you do know that he knows about Snape, right?”
“I know he knows, but Kitty does NOT know that he knows. I’m hoping she decides to buck up and tell him the truth soon, especially as they seem to be growing closer by the day. As for what makes him believe she’s with child?” Merlin shrugged his shoulders, “She’s not eating right, getting queasy half way through a meal, always tired, pale….what else did he say?”
“Never mind, that’s enough” Cash sighed, “what about Harry?”
Merlin smiled broadly, rocking backwards and laughing deeply. “Our dear Harry is having the time of his life. He seems to enjoy the role of big brother immensely. When I left, he, Calli and Sirius were taking turns holding Edana, and let me tell you, that little bundle of joy is enjoying all the extra attention. She’s put on nearly four pounds in a little over a week, she looks so much healthier now that Kitty’s back.”
Cash snorted playfully, “What’s wrong, Siobhan isn’t good enough for her?”
“Siobhan has done a wonderful job with her, but she’s already a mother, and Sara is a handful. Kitty doesn’t have anyone but Harry to worry about, and she dotes on that baby as if she were her own. And now Sirius is just as bad, between them she’s absolutely spoiled.”
“Good” Cash grinned, “that’s what I like to hear. Babies being loved, getting all nice and chubby…. I just love it when their knees dimple” he added, smiling happily as he pictured what Edana must look like now. “So, what are we going to do about Kitty and Snape? Any ideas?”…..
“What is THAT on your neck?!” Sirius gasped as he pointed at Remus. “Moony, don’t tell me …..it can’t be, can it?”
“Shut up, Padfoot.” Remus grumbled as his cheeks flared bright pink.
“But, …but…” Sirius gasped in between laughs. “Can I guess who gave you that? Not exactly subtle of her, now is it.”
Sirius laughed even harder as Remus growled softly at him, seeing the look of confusion on Harry and Calli’s faces, he shook his head and handed Edana to Harry. Sliding next to Remus, Sirius jabbed him as he continued. “So, marking her territory is she? I knew I liked her, now if only she could get Cat to be so…uhm…. Aggressive, shall we say.”
“WE shall say nothing, Padfoot. Nothing at all, do you understand me?”
“Come on , Moony. You don’t actually expect me to quiet about this, now do you? I mean, ‘I’ have had to behave myself for weeks now….WEEKS. And you, you’re not even with her, what, one week. And you come home sporting one of those” Sirius shook his finger at a beet red Remus “shame, shame Remus, what would mother say?”
“Before or after she found you bound and gagged?” Remus asked as he stood up and walked towards Harry. “Give me the baby, Harry, hopefully your godfather will behave himself in front of her.”
“Nice try Moony, but she’s too young to understand, so you’re not getting off that easy…..or maybe that isn’t the best phrase to use, under the circumstances.” Sirius paused as Remus turned and glared at him, only to burst into laughter when Sirius started wiggling his eyebrows at him. “You devil, you did, didn’t you?”
“NO…no, we didn’t, nothing like that.” Remus insisted quickly, “We were just talking, and one thing lead to another and well, then….”
“Just talking, huh?” Sirius grinned knowingly. “Must be something about the MacLeod women and conversation….”
“Must be” Remus deadpanned, “especially as she came to specifically discuss you and Kitty.” Remus felt a surge of satisfaction as his friend stopped dead in his tracks.
“About Cat and …….what did she say? Will they let me marry her?”
“You mean she said yes!!!” Harry’s voice chirped up. “Finally!! Calli did you hear that? I’ve got parents again.”
Remus and Sirius looked completely aghast as they realized Harry had been listening, and had taken their conversation in the wrong way. “No, Harry….hey kiddo, wait. It’s not like that at all.” Remus tried to explain, only to be taken further aback by Sirius’s actions.
Watching with amazement, Remus observed as Sirius’s face first went red with shock and embarrassment, only to cringe with pain. Instead of yelling out as Remus had, Sirius walked up to Harry and placed his hand on his shoulder. “Harry, stop. She didn’t say yes, she can’t say yes. I know you’ve been told this before, but you have to listen this time. It truly is not her decision, its her clans, her father’s and the crones. She hasn’t said no, so that’s a good sign. You love me and I love you, and the others.” he added, motioning to Calli and Edana. “I want to be a family every bit as much as you do, but Cat’s been through an awful lot over the past few weeks, and even more over the past forty eight hours. I don’t want you act like that in front of her, alright? She’s going through a very tough time, she has a lot on her mind….”
“You mean about being a mother to more than just me?” Harry asked quietly.
Sirius nodded, “That’s part of it, Harry. That’s one of the reasons she was so happy to see you with the girls today. Your opinions and happiness mean a lot to her, she won’t say yes if she thinks it will hurt you. Remember that when Snape is brought up, okay? Let her know if you don’t like it, but please, Harry, for her sake and for mine, don’t get angry or nasty about it. The same goes for me, let them know that you want her to marry me, it might just be what makes the difference in their decision, but don’t carry on like that in front of her.”
“What happened?” Harry asked, his voice full of worry and dread, “I saw she looked tired and maybe a little sad, but she’s kind of looked that way a lot lately. I didn’t know anything had happened…”
“Hush” Sirius cooed as he gave Harry a fatherly hug. “Just some bad news from the school. Roel’s injuries were far worse than she had been lead to believe, and then someone brought a stack of letters to her….they were from Snape. This whole thing is tearing her heart out. We have BOTH got to be patient with her, understand?”
Harry nodded “Sirius, you haven’t given up, have you? I mean, you still want to ….you still want to be a family, right?”
Sirius gave Harry the biggest grin he could manage. “Of course I do. I love you and I love her, more than anything else in the world, I love the two of you. But I’m not going to put her on the spot, especially not in front of her family. Listen very closely to me, Harry. Luke and I have been talking a lot lately, and I think he’s right about what I should do. You might notice that I’m going to be acting a little differently towards Cat, I’ve been trying to act ‘respectable’ in front of her family, maybe holding hands and a hug here and there. Well, Luke seems to think that if I act like I’m her husband, they’ll just come to see me that way. So, that means more long walks, more kisses, more….uhm….”
“Liberties?” Remus suggested.
“Good word. Liberties. I don’t want you to think this means she or the clan have said yes. I don’t want you to get your hopes up too much.” Sirius continued. “But the more of the clan I can get on our side, the more of them who simply ‘see’ me as her husband.”
“But they HAVE to pick you. I mean between you and Snape, how can they not pick you?” Harry insisted.
“But its not just between Sirius and Severus” Remus corrected him, “there are others her clan.”
“No there isn’t! I talked Mac Lir and Leumadair myself. They BOTH said that they didn’t think her marrying Leuma was a good idea. He says he loves her, but not like that….you know, not ‘that’ way.” Harry replied.
“Sirius?” Calli interrupted, “can I help? We all like you a lot, especially Sara, Mea and me. I think you’d make a great husband for Aunt Kitty…..actually, I thought you ‘were’ her husband already.” she admitted, blushing softly as she did.
Sirius smiled sweetly at her. “That is exactly the response I want from the rest of the clan, Calli. Luke and Duncan are going to talk to their father on my behalf, Orpha and Siobhan already seem to like me, Paddy and the boys don’t have a problem with me. Edana here is certainly very fond of me” he stated as he looked at Remus and the little girl, “and Harry, just so its not a horrible surprise to you. Orpha asked me officially last night about Edana. If they have to take her from Paddy, I’ve agreed to raise her as my own, with you and Cat.” Everyone in the room froze as they heard Calli gasp and sob loudly.
“Hey, no, Calli, what is it honey?” Sirius asked softly as he and Harry immediately went to her side, hugging her tightly as she buried her face in Sirius’s robes.
“Its not fair,” she wept, “Edana still has a family, her daddy’s still alive, and he’s right here. Its not fair that she gets two families and I don’t even have one anymore.”
Sirius felt like kicking himself, how could he have been so thoughtless, he had only wanted to spare Harry any shock if another member of the clan asked him about Edana, he certainly never meant to cause Callista any pain. Looking over to Remus, Sirius pleaded wordlessly for guidance, but realized by the look in his eyes, that Lupin was as out of his depth as he was.
“Sirius?” Harry questioned as he held his cousin tightly, feeling every bit as helpless as the others. “What about Callista? Can’t you and Mum take care of her too? I mean, she is coming back to the school with us, and I know Aunt Orpha and Aunt Lia talked to you about her too.”
“They did?!” Calli gasped as she looked up into Sirius’s eyes, “Did you tell them yes?” Not waiting for a reply, she turned immediately to Harry. “Did they say yes? What did Aunt Kitty say?”
“We didn’t say anything, yet.” Sirius stated softly but firmly. “You’re a bit older than Edana, its not as simple as taking in a baby….”
“You mean you only want…” Calli began.
“No, stop right there.” Sirius insisted. “It has nothing to do with age, not like you think it does anyway.” he took a deep breath as he led her towards the sofa, sitting her down between him and Harry, Sirius waited for Remus to take a chair before he continued. “Alright, Callista, first of all, remember, this is me talking, and I have no standing in the clan, at least not one that allows me to make these sort of decisions. So to be honest, you probably know more about this than I do.”
“The reason we haven’t given any sort of answer ‘is’ because you are older. You should have a say in this too. We didn’t want to say yes and have them ‘force’ you to go with us, you may be happier here with Siobhan and Bruid, or in Avalon with Luke and Leah, or maybe just being on your own within the clan. Cat and I were not about to make that decision for you, that wouldn’t have been right. You’re very close to being an adult, you should have a say in were you end up and with whom. Cat and I HAVE agreed to take you back to Hogwarts with us, ‘if’ we go back to Hogwarts. So at the very least, you’ll be with us until Spring sometime.”
They all sat in silence for several minutes, until Remus decided he had to lighten up the mood somehow. “You know, Padfoot, I think I liked it better when you were teasing me about the hickey.” he sighed.
“YOU got a hickey?” Harry gasped, “From who?”
“Uncle Remus?” Calli added, “You aren’t the one Uncle Duncan’s been teasing Auntie Tris about, are you?” seeing the bright blush on his face, Calli beamed, “Auntie Tris gave Uncle Remus a love bite.” she squealed as she squeezed Harry’s hand, laughing with him as Remus muttered something unintelligible under his breath.
“You brought it up, not me” Sirius winked. He handed Calli a tissue to wipe her face as he reached out for Edana “Come on, Uncle Remus, hand me back my little girl if you please.”
“Not on your life, she’s the only thing standing between me and …..would you two PLEASE stop it” Remus sighed as Harry and Calli made kissie faces at him. “Sirius, no one would ever doubt EITHER of them belong to you. They both have your bad sense of humour.”
“Poor, Moony” Sirius laughed as he rose from the sofa, kissing Edana’s forehead as he walked passed Remus. “Do me a favour and keep your eyes on my….’kids’… I think I should let Cat know what’s going on.” he explained, giving a knowing look to his old friend.
Remus nodded, Sirius was right, Cat needed to know about Calli’s little outburst as well as her feelings on the subject of her fostering. “No problem, maybe I’ll teach them how to change diapers while you’re away.” he grinned, laughing as Harry and Calli groaned with the very idea. Remus sat between them, smiling widely as he looked at them and at the baby. “So, Harry, do you miss being an only child?”…….
Sirius shook his head as he made his way towards the kitchen, hopefully Cat was still there, and even more hopefully she was eating as she said she would be. He couldn’t begin to describe the wave of relief that had passed over him earlier when she had told him how hungry she was. He didn’t even care if she ate nothing but biscuits and ice cream, he just wanted her to eat, she looked as though she had lost several pounds since they had been here, and he didn’t like it at all.
He also wondered how she would take the news about Callista. He knew in his heart that ‘he’ had had no right to talk to her about such matters. But he couldn’t let her there crying like that, he understood all to well what it was like to lose everyone and everything you ever cared about, it was a horrible empty feeling that left you feeling lost and alone. It wasn’t right for anyone to have to feel that way, especially a child.
Just as Sirius was about to enter the kitchen, he was nearly knocked over backwards by Amber running into him. “Whoa, calm down Amber, where’s the fire?” he teased, only to have his smile fall as he saw the look in her eyes. “Amber?”
“Sirius, thank heavens its you.” she gasped, “Something’s wrong with Kitty. She was reading some old letters and then she started shaking and just burst into tears. Lia’s with her now, she told me to find you and Orpha.”
“Go on, find Orpha” he encouraged her as he quickly turned and entered the room. His mind raced with possible reasons for Cat to be upset, had Snape written something cold hearted and hateful, had he accused her of ‘spreading her love around’, or perhaps she was feeling ill again, or then again, maybe she had finally realized what everyone else had been assuming, that she was with child.
He knew the moment he saw the look on Lia’s face that it was more than hurt feelings or shock that had put Cat in this state. Even considering her rather volatile emotional state over the past few days, this one was a humdinger. She was hunched over the table, her head buried in her arms as several letters poked themselves out from under her. “Lia, what happened?” Sirius asked as he rushed to Cat’s side.
“I don’t know, we found an old package that we tried to send her a while back, she was fine at first, looking at pictures and reading old letters. Then suddenly she read one letter, and immediately went through all the others, pulled two out and damn near tore them to pieces in her rush to read them. The first one had her pretty upset, but that was nothing compared to the second one, she just started sobbing when she read it, I can’t even reason with her.” Lia explained “And she’s going to get herself sick crying like this, it’s just not good for her. Sirius, see if you can get through to her, I’m waiting for Orpha to get here, maybe she can reach into her mind so we know what to do.”
Siri nodded his understanding to Lia as he knelt down beside Cat. “Gra, mo ionúin, talk to me, tell me what’s wrong.” he asked softly as he tenderly stroked her hair. “Gra….Cat….” he cringed as the only response he heard was her choked sobs.
“Sirius, you have to do something.” Lia whispered frantically, “this can’t be good for her, I’ve never seen her like this.”
“Come on now, Catrianna?” Sirius sighed as saw her shaking with the force of her sobs, “Oh, Kitten, why won’t you talk to me?” he asked as he gently pulled her arms off of the table, forcing her to look at him. His heart leapt into his throat when he saw the look in her eyes. Whatever had her so upset, it was obvious it had pushed her over the edge. “Come on, gra, talk to me. It can’t be that awful.”
The next thing he knew, Cat had flung her arms around his neck, sobbing pitifully against his chest as he instinctively held her tightly. “Shhh, Mo ionúin, muirneach aon” he cooed. “talk to me, tell me what I can do to help you.” He rocked her back and forth gently as he rained soft, tender kisses upon her head, doing his best to calm and soothe her.
“Perhaps you should take her upstairs.” Lia suggested as she saw several curious faces peeping into the kitchen to see what all the fuss was about. “I’ll send Orpha to you as soon as Amber brings her back.”
Sirius nodded his head in agreement, the last thing she needed was an audience, and he desperately needed to find out what had happened to cause such a reaction from her. Realizing very quickly that she was in no condition to walk, he gathered her in his arms, prepared to take her to her room. He hesitated momentarily as he saw what it was she had been reading, they weren’t Snape’s letters at all. His eyes flashed with understanding as he saw the pictures of James, Lily and Harry scattered about the table, along with several letters, one of which was in his own distinctive script. “Oh gods, Cat. You never got any of those?” he whimpered as he tightened his grip on her.
“I’m so sorry, all this time I thought you were still angry with me, ignoring me. I had no idea.” he whispered as he carried her to her bedroom…….
“Hey, Drew, wake up you sorry excuse for a Ravnos” the old man yelled as he nudged the young man with the tip of his boot.