“Not a word, Sirius,” she warned, “you are one of us now, what is ours is yours.” she explained as she kissed his temple, taking great care to avoid his injured cheek. “Kitty has explained briefly what you have lost in your world, but I hope what you’ve gained here more than makes up for it.”

“A thousand times over.” Sirius sighed, “I can’t even remember the last time I felt safe or contented in the wizarding world, and to be honest, I no longer consider it ‘my’ world. They cast me out of it many, many years ago, and I have no desire to fight my way back into it. Everything I once owned is lost to me, if there is anything I can regain, it will be Harry’s, I would rather stay here, with Cat….with my family.”

The only eyes shining brighter that Sirius’s, were Duncan’s, who was also grinning widely and nodding at Orpha. “Well, you’ve certainly won over one brother, haven’t you?” Orpha sighed, only to smile as Sirius turned and saw the expression on Duncan’s face.

“Suits me fine, I never wanted to be an only child” Sirius joked, “can I have him and Paddy? One older, one younger.”

Duncan rolled his eyes and laughed, “Well, why not, you already have ‘middle child syndrome’ always got to be the centre of attention. Although I think you went a bit far last night, next time you want the attention, try running naked through the house, that usually works.”

Sirius winked at Orpha “Is that coming from ‘personal’ experience? Or just something you happened to have heard about?”

“That is quite enough from both of you.” Orpha sighed, “I can see Kitty is going to have her hands full. And Sirius, I want you to take this and keep it with you.” she explained as she placed a leather pouch into his hand. “Don’t you dare argue with me, young man. I want you to keep it with you at all times, you’ll find it very useful.” she explained as she nodded for him to open the drawstrings and look inside.

“Aunt Orpha, I can’t ….its…its too much.” he insisted as he saw the glittery, golden coins inside the pouch. As much as he appreciated her kindness, it just didn’t feel right, she and the rest of the clan had given him so much already.

“No its not, and you most certainly will.” Orpha replied sternly. “You’ll need it, trust me. I’ve heard Kitty and Remus talking, I heard them telling tales from when you were all younger. I want you to have that freedom again, I want you to ‘not’ worry about trivial things like fortunes lost and regained. I want you to concentrate on what is truly important,” she explained. “I want you to concentrate on Harry and Kitty, I want you to concentrate on getting well, on making the family you want so badly.”

Seeing he was still trying to push the pouch back into her hands, Orpha frowned darkly as she fixed Sirius with a gaze that would make Albus Dumbledore think twice. “Listen closely to me, Sirius Black. I’ve given you a gift, accept it and move on,….you do ‘not’ want to incur my wrath.”

“She’s got a point there, Sirius” Luke grinned as he walked up behind Orpha, kissing her lightly on her hair, “you’ve seen Kitty’s temper tantrums, imagine what Orpha could do?” he teased, wiggling his eyebrows up and down as Sirius and Duncan laughed at him.

“Very, very funny” Orpha said flatly as she pointed her finger at the floor, conjuring up a pack of ethereal collies which she immediately set on Luke, laughing as he made a face at her just before sprinting back through the door, the collies hot on his heels. “So, are you going to take it, or do I have to ‘convince’ you as well?” Orpha asked knowingly.

“I’m smart enough NOT to fight a battle I can’t win,” Sirius winked, “especially where the MacLeod women are involved.” he stated as he hugged her gratefully, placing a soft kiss on her cheek as he thanked her for all of her kindness. Sirius waited until Duncan got up to check on Luke before he finally asked Orpha the question that had been praying on his mind since he saw the child in Cat’s womb. “Orpha, just one question before I leave. Is it ‘possible’ that Cat and I ….well…. I would remember if we did anything, right? You and the clan….no one would have cast any sort of spells on me to make me forget something like that, right?”

Orpha immediately knit her brow as she stared at him, “Sirius, what are you talking about? Why would anyone here do such a thing? What even makes you think….” she became quiet as she saw the mixture of pain and hope in his eyes.

“I saw the baby, Aunt Orpha,…..as clearly as I see you, I saw him. I held him, I felt him….but when I touched him, when I told him I loved him” Sirius took a deep, ragged breath. “Orpha, my father was there too, and when he touched the baby, this warm, golden glow rose up out of the baby’s chest. Father said its how he knew it was his grandson, and later, when I told little Angus that I loved him, no matter what, the same thing happened.” he teared up as he looked into Orpha’s aqua eyes. “But he couldn’t be ‘my’ son, could he, not by blood…..we haven‘t been together in years. Have we?”

“Sirius, I’m not the person to ask that question to. But to the best of my knowledge; no, you and Kitty have not been together for a very long time.” She paused for a few moments, allowing the wizard to absorb what she had just said before offering a possible explanation. “Is it possible that it was all just a dream? A dying mind picking out bits and pieces, stringing them together in a way that made sense to you? After all, we aren’t even sure if she is with child…..”

“I am” Sirius stated forcefully, “I’ve seen him,….I’ve ‘held’ him” he added, a bit more softly. “he is as real as you or I are. Orpha, I couldn’t love him more if he were my own flesh and blood” he smiled softly as he continued, “and he looks ‘just’ like Harry. The dark black hair, bright green eyes…only little Angus has curly hair” he grinned.

“Little Angus?” Orpha replied, “You’ve already named him?”

Sirius smirked, “Well, the first boy is always named after the grandfather. Its kind of a tradition in my family.”…….

Cat sighed softly as she continued packing her things, she had already taken care of Harry’s bags and was now working as quickly as possible on her own. “I wonder how long we’re going to be there?” she looked around her room, “More to the point, I wonder how long it will be until I see home again. Maybe I should take some mementos with me, just in case.” With a wave of her hand, several drawers of clothing opened and began folding and packing themselves as Cat walked over to her albums. She had already made sure she packed Harry’s photo album, she was certain he would want to add several pictures to it while they travelled. And the more she thought about it, the more she felt she needed to take her own along as well.

She glanced up quickly to make sure her luggage was being neatly packed before she picked up her album and slowly paged through it, smiling sadly as she looked at all the pictures that summarised her life. Pictures of her as a child with her parents, of she and Shane sparing with their swords, her first day in the sect of Arachane, of Leumadair and her father escorting her to Hogwarts. She paused as she ran her fingers over the pictures of her friends; Lily’s face preserved in a happy smile for all of eternity, James teaching Peter how to fly his broom through the obstacle course, Remus in his customary position, behind a book, and Sirius, smiling widely and winking as he stood in his Quidditch robes.

Sirius….Medea, but he looked so handsome back then. Strong, proud, confident….healthy. “What happened to you? What went wrong? Why did they turn on you and why didn’t I know?” she sighed as her fingers lightly traced over the photo, smiling as she saw his familiar grin and sparkling mischievous eyes. She closed her eyes, smiling softly as she remembered the day the photo had been taken. They were playing Ravenclaw that day, the team was very confident, having come off a resounding win over Slytherin; due in no small part to the angry retribution inflicted upon them by James, Lily, Sirius and the rest of the team for what they had done to her during the game.

He and James had promised her they were going to win and ‘show her how a ‘proper’ game was played’, and that they did. In fact the only thing more amazing than the game had been the celebration in the common room afterwards. By the time night had fallen, both she and Sirius had found a comfortable, secluded spot to call their own. Although nothing ‘really’ happened between them, they hadn’t even properly kissed yet, and as long as Remus was anywhere near, they both ‘knew’ they would do their best to keep it cool. They both loved him and neither of them wanted to see him hurt anymore than he already had been. In fact, Sirius had gone over to Remus several times that night, just to make sure he was alright with the two of them spending so much time together.

“Well, I’m glad to see that some things haven’t changed,” Cat whispered to the winking picture, “you and Remy are still great friends. Although I hate to say it, but you both look the worst for wear.” Turning the page, her heart fluttered as she saw another picture of Sirius, this time he was wearing his dress robes, his blue eyes flashing at her as he offered her his hand. “Sirius, what did they do to you? And do I have the power to restore you?”

“Mum? What’s wrong?” Harry asked as he and Sara bounded into her room, “What are looking at? You look like you’re about to cry again.” He added softly as he quickly took a seat next to her.

“Just some old pictures, Harry, nothing to worry about.” she stated, her voice cracking slightly as she tried to composure herself. Just as she moved to shut the album, she felt Harry’s hands on top of hers, forcing the book wide open.

“It’s Sirius” Harry whispered, “when you two were in school with my parents.” he looked up to see Cat nod slowly. “Are you upset over what happened back then?” he asked, almost frightened to hear her reply.

“No, not particularly, although I still want to know ‘why’ and what really happened after I left. But right now I’m more upset over your godfather. Harry, do you know what they did to him? Or more exactly, if there is a way to ‘undo’ it. I want him to be like this again.” she explained as she turned the page back, showing Harry the shot of Sirius in his Quidditch robes, a bludger in one hand and his broom placed jauntily on his shoulder. Orpha’s letter The weekend after classes started,…. that was next week! The students were due back over the next few days with classes to begin first thing Tuesday morning. He re-read the letter, his heart panging as he realized that the rumours about Catri were, in fact, correct, she would not be here to teach her classes as he had hoped. He made a mental note to ask either Cash or Rick what had happened to make Orpha send Catri away from her home. But all things considered, it HAD to be a good sign if her family wanted to meet him……