Cat sighed as she nuzzled against his neck, enjoying the warmth of his body “They can’t. It’s got to be me, from mother to daughter.” she explained “Besides, I’m the one who was raised to be the diplomat, remember?”
Cat had begun to trace the pattern of his robe with her finger, Sirius smiled as so many warm memories came flooding back to him. He listened to her explain why she had been the one sent, as he watched her becoming more and more sleepy. Finally he had to laugh as he watched her fight back yet another yawn. “Thats it” he said gently, “time for bed .... your practically falling asleep on your feet.”
“Not yet Sirius, I have to check on Harry.... with Lucius and the Ministry...”
Sirius once again placed his fingers against her lips. “I agree, and * I* will check on Harry, I’m his godfather, remember? I care about him as much as you do.” he reminded her “And I couldn’t agree with you more about MOM” he sighed heavily, he knew better than most what they were capable of. “Right now the only person I would trust in the Ministry is Arthur Weasley”
“Ron’s father?” Cat questioned, she didn’t imagine Weasley was that common a name.
“Yes he is, ... now to bed” Sirius said firmly as Cat began to argue with him. He looked at her intently for a moment before scooping her up in his arms “You always have to be difficult don’t you?” he told her as he smiled, she protested but only for a moment. He looked at her tenderly as he watched her melt as he gave her one of his most heartfelt smiles.
“By the way dearest, you really need to lock your door” Sirius told her as he easily carried to her bed, only this time he was not going to set her down any where but on her bed.
“You’ve been in my room?!” Cat asked anxiously as he gently sat her on the bed.
“In your room, the dungeon, the woods....We’ve been tearing the school apart looking for you since you disappeared, Remus was half mad with worry.” Sirius told her as he unfolded the quilt from the end of her bed and began to cover her.
“But Sirius, .... would you please stop it, I’m not a child” Cat said completely exasperated, although she had to admit to herself, she was throughly enjoying his fussing over her. “Sirius please” she said as she grabbed his hand “I need to ask you so many things. We really need to talk”...
Sirius sighed as he sat on her bed “You're right we do, but right now you need to sleep.” he told her as he finished tucking her in “We’ll talk tomorrow, alright? There’s a lot I need to tell you” he told her as he gently ran a finger along her face, caressing her cheek and tracing the outline of her lips. Softly he spoke a spell codlatach, codail, codladh, He watched as her eyelids gently fluttered “Sweet dreams mo ionúin” he whispered as she drifted off to sleep.
Sirius sat there for a few minutes longer watching Cat sleep. It took all of his willpower not to do anything *stupid* he wanted to crawl into bed with her and hold her, feel her breath on his skin. He wanted to pick up where they had left off. If he closed his eyes he could still feel her arms wrapped around him as she screamed out his name in the throws of passion. But most of all, he wanted to kiss her, he had to stop himself several times tonight, he wondered what she would have done if he had. Would she pull away, slap him even? Or would she melt into him, welcoming his affections as she once did.
Remembering their conversation, Sirius regretfully pulled himself away from Cat and quietly left her room. On his way to check on Harry he began to replay the night in his mind, overall it had gone very well, although he still couldn’t believe that Diedre was dead. But he felt fairly confident that Cat still loved him as much as he loved her, Sirius began humming and smiling as he roamed the halls leading towards Gryffindor tower.
Suddenly from out of the darkness Sirius heard a voice, “Well someone looks happy tonight, what’s going on with you mate?” Cash asked cheerfully, he could almost guess just by looking at Sirius. He had never seen him looking so joyful, Cash almost thought Sirius would be able to fly if someone asked him to.
Sirius grinned widely “I finally got a chance to talk to Cat tonight, she fell asleep in my arms.” he was smiling so much his face was beginning to ache “do you have any idea how much I’ve missed that, how much I’ve missed her.” Sirius closed his eyes to savor the memory all the more, he felt as if he were in a wonderful dream.
Looking at Sirius it was evident how much it meant to him, even a blind man could see how in love he was with Angel. “I’m surprised to see you then, .... why aren’t you still there?” Cash sniffed the air lightly, wondering if Sirius had gotten close enough to Angel to pick up her scent, more particularly the light, musky scent of her passion.
“I promised her I would check on Harry, this whole thing with MOM,....” Sirius shook his head, the smile leaving his face “Cash? What happened to her mother? She tried to explain it to me, but all I got was Diedre died trying to protect her.”
Cash finally stepped out into the torchlight, he looked a bit tired “Not something I want to discuss here mate. Nasty bit of business.” Cash’s expression said it all, he looked pained at the though of it “They didn’t just kill her, they slaughtered her, and poor Angel had to witness the whole thing.” Cash hung his head sadly “She wouldn’t do anything but cry for days on end, wouldn’t eat, wouldn’t sleep...... we were afraid to leave her alone.”
Sirius looked at Cash as the message of what he said hit him. “You were afraid to leave her alone? You were worried she would kill herself?! Phoenix tears Cash, ..... my poor Kitty, I should have been there for her.” He looked completely crushed at the thought of her having to suffer through so much grief without his shoulder to cry on.
“There was nothing you could have done, believe me” Cash reassured him “But on a brighter note, Harry is fine, Tris shadowed him all the way to his room, Dimitri did a fly by and the little blokes fast asleep, ...... go back to her Sirius.” Cash said as he placed his hand on Sirius’s shoulder “I don’t want her ending up with Mr. Tall Dark and Grumpy. I want her to be happy, I want to see her bring happy, healthy children into the world. I want her to have a family she can love and be proud of.”
Cash smiled as he saw Sirius’s eyes flash at the very thought of Snape and Cat being together. “Not while I’m alive” Sirius said adamantly “I’ve lost enough of my life to fate and the powers that be, I won’t lose anymore. And I most certainly won’t lose her, not to anyone, especially Snape.” Sirius’s voice had become deeper and edgier, it almost sounded as if he were growling. All of which only caused Cash to smile more.
Winking Cash replied “Then get on with yourself, I know my own blood, she won’t argue the point with you” Cash placed his hand on Sirius’s cheek and turned him to look directly into his eyes “I saw the look on her face at the dance, when you were trying to get her to the hospital....” he waited until Sirius nodded his remembrance of that night “she still loves you my friend, I could see it in her eyes. She wanted to pour her heart out to you, to feel you holding her, comforting her.”
Sirius smiled gratefully at Cash as he placed his hand on Cash’s shoulder “Thank you. You have no idea how much that means to me.” they stood there smiling at each other for a few moments before being interrupted by a new voice.
“Cash......” it was the voice of a young man, strong but uncertain of himself.
Cash turned and motioned for the owner of the voice to join them. “Dimitri... this is Sirius he is a friend of my clan and my clannad” Cash nodded at Sirius as Dimitri stepped up to them.
Sirius had to admit, this new fellow was impressive, nearly six feet tall with a head of black curly hair, and his eyes were amazing, they were mesmerizing, they looked as grey as the sky right after a storm. Sirius extended his hand and smiled, he noticed that Dimitri hesitated for a moment before shaking his hand. Sirius shot Cash as questioning look.
“He’s Ventrue” Cash replied to Sirius’s confused stare “he’s not used to clan life, they tend to separate themselves from humans” Cash shrugged his shoulders “Guess he’s not used to being offered a hand in friendship.”
Dimitri looked positively embarrassed at Cash’s words “I apologize if I offended you .... Sirius was it?” Dimitri asked as he gave them both an unsure smile, he was used to bravado and posturing, all this friendship and loyalty was new to him.
As Sirius smiled, Dimitri began to relax. He just wasn’t used to humans accepting him for what he was, he had always been taught to obey the masquerade, never let them know what you truly are. But his prince had assured him, in this one particular case, things would be different. As long as he listened to Cash, Prince Julian insisted, everything would work out fine.
“What brings you roaming so late, Sirius?” Dimitri asked, trying to start a conversation.
“Harry, .... he’s my godson. Cat was worried about him, I promised her I would check in on him before I turned in for the night.” Sirius explained
“And who is Cat?” Dimitri asked
“Cat would be his future wife” Cash chimed in, smiling widely at Sirius “all he has to do is have the courage to see it through.” he added knocking Sirius playfully on the shoulder.
“From you mouth to her ears” Sirius said as he rolled his eyes “I truly hope it will be that easy Cash. I can’t bear the thought of living without her, not after tonight.”
“Not after tonight huh?. . . Well then I strongly suggest you get back there....” Cash smiled as he grabbed Sirius’s arm and turned him in the direction of Cat’s room “It just won’t do to keep her waiting. Very impatient that little girl of mine.” he winked knowingly at Sirius as Dimitri laughed at them.
“I take it your in favor of their union” Dimitri asked as he watched Cash pushing Sirius towards the main hall of the school.
“You betcha,...” Cash said, then turning to Sirius he added “and he better not let me down.... I’ve been waiting to marry her off and see some young’uns for far too long now” Cash laughed and embraced Sirius warmly as he saw the blush cross Sirius’s face. “Yeah right, as if you haven’t been thinking the same thing....”
Sirius wanted to sink into the earth at that moment, he had in fact been thinking exactly the same thing, starting a family with Cat. “Cash, .... maybe I should just send you to talk to her instead, you seem to be a lot more certain about things than I am.”
“Oh no... not a chance.” Cash said as he walked him down the hall as Dimitri followed them, softly laughing at their antics “Trust me, I’ve been putting in a good word for you every time I see her. And of course she still gets that look in her eyes when I mention your name...”
Sirius smiled widely as he turned to see Cash grinning back at him, they had their arms around each other’s shoulders and were walking down the hall like old friends “Making sure I get there are you?” Sirius teased.
“Just don’t want you chickening out on me” Cash replied as he laughed “do you have any idea how hard it is to get that girl to sit still long enough to listen... and you have her falling asleep in your arms...” Cash rolled his eyes.. “You must be one of those *first class* wizards...ehh mate?” ..........
Sirius finished the last few yards alone, Cash and Dimitri had left him, they needed to keep patrolling the school, but they both promised to keep their eye’s on Harry. “Just so you won’t be distracted by anything” Cash had told him. Sirius shook his head, he was amazed at how easy it was to like them all. They weren't even close to what he had expected "Ministry books" Sirius snorted as he thought of the terror the word vampire used to strike in his heart "you would at least think they could have sorted out that whole vampire - vampyre thing. Would have saved us all a world of trouble."
Standing outside Cat’s door, Sirius placed his hand on the doorknob and took a deep breath. He panicked for a moment as he realized her door was now locked
