Dimitri was smiling from ear to ear as Fallon came running up to him “Look Fallon, over there” he pointed out into the misty air “those cliffs, they are England. We will be on land soon, and then it is only a few days journey to Hogwarts”

Fallon smiled back at him as she peered into the haze of twilight “That’s what we thought when we started this journey. Our passage should have only taken four days, but mother seems to have delayed us quite a bit.” she added tersely as she thought of the trials Magda had been throwing at them “If it weren’t for you and Erich, I honestly do not think we would have made it this far.”

Dimitri smiled gratefully, they may only be words, but it meant a great deal to him to have people acknowledge his efforts. “Erich and I were just discussing that. We both believe Magda’s powers are weakening with distance. Her last few attacks were nothing compare to what we faced on the road to Lille. Elora seems to agree, though none of us believe she’s given up.”

“Magda never gives up” Fallon agreed. a haunted look passing over her face as she remembered the fate of her brothers and sister “she just waits until she thinks you’re not expecting her” She jumped as Dimitri placed a brotherly arm around her “Don’t worry about me Dimitri, I’m just impatient, I want to get to the safety of Hogwarts. Even mother will not dare to attack us in Bean Uasal de MacLeod . . I mean Cat’s presence. Do you think Sirius has convinced her we are arriving as her friends? I don’t know what I’ll do if she refuses us.”

Dimitri smiled “Knowing Sirius. . .he probably has a party planned to welcome us back.” Dimitri winked as Fallon shook her head “As for Cat? I am certain she will welcome you and your people with open arms Fallon. She must realize the chance you have taken to come to her. And if what Sirius tells me is true, the fact that we are bringing young children with us will only help.” he paused as Fallon raised her eyebrow. “Apparently Cat MacLeod has a rather large soft spot for children. Sirius hopes to give her many of her own.” he laughed as Fallon giggled, she could so easily picture Sirius as a father. . .

Ginny and Hermione giggled loudly as they carried their gowns to Cat’s room. Hermione was a bit doubtful about the arrangement, but Ginny and Cat hadn’t seemed to think it was a problem. “Are you sure we won’t get in trouble for this?” Hermione asked again “I mean, she *is* a teacher.”

Ginny shook her head “And she’s Harry’s mum.” she reminded her friend again “If you would have been with me when she took me to her home to get the gown you would understand. She has a huge family, bigger than mine. I think she’s lonely to be honest.”

“Tell me again how she disapparated from the school. I’m positive the Ministry put several counter spells to protect against people popping in and out like that.” Hermione asked suspiciously.

“I don’t think she did disapparate” Ginny replied honestly “at least not like anyone I’ve ever seen. My mum and da do it all the time, and I’ve never seen any flames involved when they do it.”

“I think we should go to the library first, I want to see it there’s any mention of. . .” Hermione began only to be cut off by Ginny stamping her foot and shaking her finger accusingly at her.

“Don’t you dare” Ginny said curtly “Cat is Harry’s mum, and she’s very nice to us, *all* of us. She goes out of her way to help us, I know for a fact she stopped Filch from getting you, Ron and Harry the other night when you snuck out” Ginny smiled triumphantly when she saw the look of shock on Hermione’s face.

“How do you know about that?” Hermione asked “Filch and Snape were the only other people there.”

Ginny nodded “And I heard Professor Snape lecturing her about her *spoiling* us. He sounded very cross at the time, but she had him laughing and smiling by the time she left. She seems to have that effect on people. Did you ever notice how happy Sirius looks when she’s around?” Ginny smiled dreamily “Who do you think she’s going to marry? Professor Snape or Sirius? They both seem to love her an awful lot.”

Hermione rolled her eyes “Ginny, you know how upset Harry is about her and Sirius. Don’t you have anything better to think about than MacLeod’s love life?” she lectured. It was bad enough seeing the look on Harry’s face whenever Snape walked by with MacLeod, the last thing they needed was Ginny adding fuel to the fire.

“Sure I do. . .” Ginny grinned “all of her cute nephews. Harry must take after her side of the family.” she blushed “They were gorgeous, especially the blonde one playing the guitar, he had the bluest eyes” she sighed dreamily.

Hermione gave Ginny a look “you’re hopeless, you’re just as bad as Ron. . .”

Cat smiled happily when she saw Hermione and Ginny at her door “I’m so glad you two made it” she said excitedly “Ginny, I can’t wait to get started, I have everything all ready. Just wait until you see what I have planned for you” she winked. “Hermione, what are we doing with you? Trendy, romantic, chic?”

“I’m fine thanks” Hermione said politely “I’m just going to use some gel and pile it up on top.” she added hastily as Ginny glared at her.

Cat looked slightly wounded “All right Hermione. But let me know if you change your mind, I have all sorts of clips and hairpins. If you need anything just ask.”

“Yippeee!” Ginny said happily as she grabbed Cat’s hand and pulled her towards the bedroom. “That means you get to do me first. I can hardly wait to see what you have in mind for me. I can’t wait” she blushed excitedly “Sara told me all about the way you dressed her and her cousins for some of their dances. Can you do the same for me? Do you have everything with you?”

Cat laughed softly as her eyes shined “Yes Ginny, I have everything I could possible need. Now let me see, the gown. . .it was the watercolor one, right? The one that reminded me of butterflies.” she asked as she draped her arm around Ginny’s shoulder and walked with her to the bedroom “Hermione? Would you like to join us in here? If you’re not comfortable you can always use the bath.” Cat offered. She could tell by Hermione’s actions she really didn’t want to be here, she was probably doing it for Ginny, or maybe Harry had asked her to come and keep an eye on things.

“Something on your mind Cat?” Ginny asked as Cat began brushing her hair out. “you look kind of upset.”

“Very perceptive little girl” Cat admitted “and yes, I’m thinking about Harry. I know he’s not happy about me going with Severus tonight, but I can’t sit around and wait for my family to arrange a marriage for me.” Cat shuddered visibly “I can’t even imagine having to marry a stranger like my sister did. She hates her life now,. . .actually, she pretty much hates everything.”

Hermione had walked into the bedroom to have one of them help her with her zipper and heard what Cat had said “An Arranged Marriage?!” Hermione said loudly from behind them, a look of complete shock on her face “You *must* be joking. No one believes in those anymore” she insisted as she held the top of her gown against her chest.

Cat sighed as she walked towards Hermione to zip her up “Unfortunately mine does, they are getting impatient. They want me to start having children and quickly. I understand the importance of continuing the blood line, but I don’t want to end up like Wanda.” Cat said softly “I know Harry isn’t thrilled with Severus, but. . .well, after last night, Sirius is out of the question. And Remus has told me time after time he will never marry anyone. My clan will insist I have children with someone strong and intelligent. They want to make sure the blood stays powerful.” Cat finished zipping Hermione and straightened out her dress “Severus does fit both of those requirements. . . Hermione, are you sure you don’t want me to do something with your hair?”

Hermione waved her off “No, really, its alright.” she insisted “I just can’t believe your family would do that to you. I mean. . .what about love? Isn’t it important that you love your husband?” she asked, as the true reason for MacLeod’s behavior dawned on her.

“It is to me” Cat answered “that’s why I have to make a decision quickly. I know the topic will be brought up several time over the holidays. It always is” she was obviously dreading having to listen to it again. “I know you girls are young, but you are both close to Harry. I want you to answer me honestly. Do you think Harry could *ever* accept Severus as my husband? I know he will never accept him as a father, but I would think he would be a better choice than a complete stranger.”

Hermione and Ginny looked at each other and shrugged “I don’t know Cat” Hermione began “Harry and Snape have never really gotten along, Professor Snape always seemed to pick on Harry, especially during our first two years here.”

Cat nodded it wasn’t anything Remus hadn’t already told her “But what about lately? Since I’ve been at the school? Have you noticed a change in Sev?” she asked hopefully, gasping for any hope at all.

“Sev?” Ginny laughed “I still can’t get used to hearing anyone call him that. And yes, a *huge* change in him from last year. He can actually be very sweet when you’re around, and I’ve seen him smile this year, No one has EVER seen that before, my brothers didn’t believe me when I told them. They asked Fred and George if I fell and hit my head.” she said as she rolled her eyes.

Cat sighed and slumped her shoulders “Is he really that bad?” she looked at the blank stares of the girls “That’s not the Severus Snape I remember. Sev was always very kind and sweet to me, he was forever going out of his way to help me. He used to wait for me outside the potions classroom, he knew Morano hated me, so he made it a point to be my potions partner whenever he could. I can’t tell you how many nights he spent tutoring me, and I know his house made him suffer for that.” She said sadly “I remember the bruises, he always tried to hide them, but some of them were so bad” she closed her eyes and shook her head slowly “I still don’t understand why he wouldn’t let me take care of those smegging bullies. I could have torn them apart when I saw what they did to him.”

“They beat him up for helping you?” Ginny asked meekly “But why? Just because you were a Gryffindor and he’s Slytherin”

“It goes much deeper than that Ginny. Malfoy got it into his head very early that since I wasn’t human, I should be treated as *less than human*, or basically like a piece of trash. Unfortunately this point of view was shared by a few members of the staff.” she explained as she began brushing Ginny’s hair again “Luckily that sentiment was not shared by the majority of the students, or by Albus Dumbledore, in fact, he went out of his way to shield me from people like Morano and Trelawney.” she explained as she began parting and twisting Ginny’s hair. “Remus and Severus were the first two students I met here. They were both very kind to me, Sev had shown me around the school, pointing out those stupid false steps and moving stairs. He even showed me how to get around Filch and Mrs. Norris” she laughed as Hermione’s eyes grew wide. “Don’t let him fool you Hermione dear, he was just as much a trouble maker as any of us. He just didn’t like to draw attention to himself.” she winked as she pinned up another section of Ginny’s hair. Suddenly a long string of what appeared to be dew drops materialized in Cat’s hands. She began to expertly weave the shimmering strands into Ginny’s hair as she made intricate patterns with the twisted locks of her bright red hair.

“Wow” Hermione said “I’ve never seen anything like that before. Where did you get them?” she asked as she approached the bed and tentatively touched the dew drops. Hermione gasped as she felt a shudder of energy pass through her, making her skin tingle. “What are those? And are they supposed to do that?” she asked as she touched them once more, noticing the same sensation as last time. “And I personally cannot picture Professor Snape acting like a marauder, it just isn’t possible.”

Cat giggled as she watched Hermione reaching out to touch the dew drops for a third time “I can put some in your hair as well Hermione.” Cat reminded her “And I’m not surprised you’ve never seen them before. They come from *my* kind of magic, I’m sure the Ministry has outlawed anything having to do with my people, including simple, harmless things like this.” Cat twisted her now empty hand in the air and suddenly a handful of small iridescent flowers appeared. Cat noticed Hermione’s eyes growing larger by the minute. “And since you like to understand everything. . .the dewdrops are nothing more than oscillating balls of energy, that’s why you felt that tingle when you touched them. And these little beauties” she said motioning to the flowers she was placing in Ginny’s hair “are also a form of energy, here, take a look” she held out on it her palm for Hermione to study.

Picking it up gingerly, Hermione felt a similar sensation, only instead of a tingling this one felt like something was wrapping itself around her. Studying the petals of the flowers carefully, she noted that they weren’t petals at all, but thousands of strands of sparkling threads. “Are these threads some sort of energy? They look almost like spider webs.”

“Very good Hermione” Cat responded as she finished Ginny’s hair “That is very close, only no spiders are involved.” Cat giggled as she heard Ginny breath a loud sigh of relief, apparently she shared her brother‘s distaste for spiders. “Okay sweetie, take a look in the mirror.” Ginny practically bounded off the bed as she ran to the mirror on Cat’s dresser as Cat went to her wardrobe to find the finishing touches. “Is that really me?” Ginny asked breathlessly “I look like a princess” she said as she gently shook her head, watching with glee as the dew drops shimmered with every movement she made. “Oh. How big is that wardrobe?” Ginny asked as Cat all but disappeared into the cabinet.

“Much bigger than you would think” Cat yelled back at them, by this point only her feet could be seen “I took the liberty of adding a dimension or two to it. Remus has done the same with the storage closet in DADA” she explained “ahhh, found it” she cried as she poked her head out of the wardrobe. “I knew it was in here somewhere.” Smiling widely, she took out a small stone chest and opened it, a dozen multi colored shimmering butterflies flitted out of the chest and began hovering around Ginny’s head, perching from time to time on the flowers. “There, *now* you’re done”

Hermione walked up to Ginny and stared at her with amazement. “I’ve never seen anything like this before. How did you learn to do this? And can you teach me?”

Cat smiled warmly at Hermione “Of course I can teach you, you’re very bright, you would pick it up in no time at all” Cat noticed the smile widening on Hermione’s face “As for how I learned” Cat shrugged her shoulders “just seeing my sisters, cousins and aunts do it I guess, we tend to have long hair.” she smirked “You should see what I’m planning to do to mine tonight. Although the spells involved will be a bit trickier than those I used for Ginny’s. I still have time to do yours if you like.”

Hermione looked at Ginny and sighed, she hated to fuss over things like hair and make-up, as it was she felt Ron paid far too much attention to the way people looked. But she had to admit, it was fun dressing up like this, and Ginny looked absolutely beautiful in the dress and hair style that Cat had picked for her. “Well. . .as long as its nothing *too* fancy, just simple and sophisticated please.”

Before long the three of them were laughing and talking about boys, school, food, and anything else that came to mind. By the time Cat was finished, Ginny looked like an elven princess and Hermione looked every bit the young sophisticate, her hair had been pulled back into a loose knot at the base of her neck, with soft wispy curls surrounding her face. Cat had even put some make up on the girls, although not much. Just some lipstick and mascara was really all that was needed, although she did use some iridescent powder on Ginny‘s cheeks and collar bone to highlight her natural beauty.

Severus sighed nervously as he looked in the mirror yet again. He could not believe how nervous he felt, after all he had danced with her before. Of course, he never planned to take her home after any of those dances. He reached for a glass of water and noticed how badly his hands were shaking. “This is absolutely intolerable” he sighed “What are you so afraid of Severus?” he asked himself. “She agreed to go with you, she *wants* to go with you. . .” he slumped his shoulders and closed his eye “You are afraid she will not love you the way you love her, that you will disappoint her, either here at the ball, or worse, later in the bedroom.”

Severus turned away from his reflection, he knew the real problem behind his nervousness. He was terrified he would not be able to measure up to her expectations, that she would compare him to Black or to whomever else she may have been with. The thought was tormenting him to distraction, he had to think of something else, he had to believe that Catri would return his love and his affection. After all, she had been very receptive to his touch and kisses over the past several weeks. Why would that change now? . . .

Cat dressed herself quickly as Hermione and Ginny waited for her in the sitting room. They had decided to walk to the tower together, she couldn’t wait to see what Ron and Harry looked like, and she was anxious to meet this Cho girl. Cat looked into her mirror as she adjusted the bodice of her dress, making sure everything would stay in its proper place. “Maybe Lupy was right” she sighed “for some reason it seems a lot more revealing now than it did in the shoppe. Either that or I‘ve put on some weight in the past few weeks” she said as she studied herself in the mirror. The dress definitely made an impression, it showed off her small waist and large bosom nicely without being too obvious about it. Sticking out her tongue at her reflection, she quickly went to the wardrobe to find a shawl to cover her rather ample assets, no point in sending Sev into shock with the first dance. “Well if I’m going trawling for a husband I guess this is as good a look as any” she mused as she pinned the shawl on her dresser and started on her hair.

As Cat pinned up her hair she steeled her mind, she had to make a choice, she had to see this through. As much as her heart may long for Sirius, he was simply out of the running, he had betrayed her once and seemed to be otherwise entangled. She felt her stomach lurch as the vivid memory of her beloved Sirius and that tramp Esmeralda half naked and entwined sprang into her head. “Nearly twenty years and I still can’t stand it” she sighed sadly. “This is it girly, you have to make a choice or the clannad will” she said to her reflection. “we both know the real reason poppa allowed you back here was to buy you some time, this is our last chance.”