“Not at all, its more for embarrassment then anything else.” Cat whispered and winked as she draped her arm over a dark-haired boy and smiled expectantly at Molly.

Suddenly Molly realized that the boy with Cat was Harry , “Harry!!” she cried out, throwing open her arms and hugging him tightly. “Look at you, good heavens, she wasn’t exaggerating, you have grown since the last time I saw you.” she said, smiling from ear to ear as the rest of her family came rushing over.

Within seconds, the entire Weasley family was welcoming Harry, hugging him and slapping him on the back. The twins seemed to take great delight in their ability to speak backwards and insisted on speaking non-stop until Cat finally grew tired of the chattering and returned them to normal.

“Thanks Mum,” Harry grinned, “I wasn’t sure how much more of that I could take. Something you and Remus cooked up?”

Laughing brightly, Cat nodded, “Of course, we knew they couldn’t refuse the bait.”

“That’s enough Harry.” George groaned.

“Yeah, its bad enough Ginny and Mum had to witness this, we’ll never live it down now.” Fred sighed. Narrowing his eyes on Harry’s knapsack, he added “What have you got in there? Anything good?”

“You bet.” Harry grinned. “ I brought my Quidditch gear and some pictures from home. Wait until you see some of them, Remus let me use his camera so I could make my own album.” he stated as the children rushed to the living room, leaving the adults behind in the kitchen to talk.

“Oh, he’s looking so healthy” Molly practically sang. “Miss MacLeod, sit down, sit down, you never finished your tea, and we have so much to talk about.”

Cat smiled as she saw what a huge change had come over Mrs. Weasley the moment she realized Harry was happy and healthy with her. “Thank you, but please, call me Cat, only my students call me Miss MacLeod.” she insisted.

“You have no idea how glad I am you took over for that horrible Trelawney, did you hear what she did when my poor Ginny was missing… told Ron she was dead, I sent her a howler straight away. Imagine, my poor boys weren’t half mad with worry already and she does something like that…..”

Sirius smiled as Duncan walked toward him. “Hello Duncan, something on your mind?”

“As a matter of fact, yes. Kitty sent me to have a talk with you, mind stepping outside to the barn?” Duncan replied softly, keeping an eye on the group of teenagers to make sure they hadn’t heard anything.

“Uh ho, sounds like your in for in now Sirius” Paddy teased as Sirius’s eyes grew large.

“Did you say ‘Kitty’ sent you to talk with me? I thought she was only joking about that. Honestly Duncan, I swear to you, we weren’t doing anything but sleeping, honest.” Siri insisted.

Duncan paused and gave him a long, hard look, “She asked me to talk to you about a family called the Weasleys’, but now that you brought it up, I guess we’ll be discussing ‘that’ too.” ……

“Wow, Harry, who are all these people” Ron asked as Harry passed the pictures around.

“Yeah, who’s the babe in this one?” Fred grinned, showing Harry the picture he was referring to.

Laughing deeply, Harry replied, “That’s my Aunt Lia, I think she’s a couple of hundred years old. She’s a Gangrel like Cash and the others, and those are her daughters, I think they both have a crush on Remus. But I think he and Tris are, well, you know, kind of dating, I guess.”

“Professor Lupin? Really?” Ginny gasped, “Harry, that’s wonderful. How are Cat and Sirius doing? Are they dating now too?”

Harry’s smile grew wider and wider as he pulled out several photos. “I don’t know if its official, but Aunt Orpha and Remus are pretty sure they will be engaged if not married by the end of the holidays.” he stated as he passed around the photos of Cat and Sirius. “Look at them, they’re almost always holding hands, laughing and smiling. I swear, I’ve never seen Sirius smile so much in my entire life. And my clan loves him, Aunt Orpha is always making sure they sit next to each other, and my ..uh..cousin, I think, …anyway, Paddy calls him ‘Uncle Sirius’ because he’s always playing with Paddy’s daughter. I found out that Edana is my Mum’s goddaughter, and before she came to teach at the school, she was being Edana’s mother, so Paddy is thrilled that Sirius loves her so much.” he explained as he found the picture of Sirius and Cat sitting together and rocking the baby. It was one of Harry’s favorite pictures, he would stare at it for hours as the figures in the photo cooed and rocked the baby, he liked to pretend that it was a picture of he and his parents.

“Alright Harry, calm down.” Fred laughed as he looked at more pictures. “Hey, look at these two, couldn’t make up your mind huh? You tiger, you.” he teased as he waved the picture of Harry dancing with both Mea and Sara as the three of them held hands and danced in a circle, laughing hysterically the entire time.

Ron pinched Fred and nodded towards Ginny, who had a hurt expression on her face. “Knock it off Fred. I don’t want to see her start crying again.” he hissed.

“Fred, those are my cousins, Mea is an O’Hara, she and her brothers came to visit yesterday. And Sara….”

“Sara?!” Ginny suddenly shouted as she grabbed the photo from Fred. “Oh look, it is Sara, she’s so sweet. She’s the one who lent me the gown for the ball, she said she may be joining us at school when the holidays are over.”

“Yeah, about that Ginny.” Harry responded as he suddenly remembered how upset he had been to learn Ginny had been to visit his clan before he had. “Exactly ‘how’ did you get to meet my clan before I did?”

Ginny blushed deeply as she avoided Harry’s penetrating stare, “It wasn’t like that at all. They ruined my gown and Cat found me crying in one of the old classrooms. She only took me so I could ask to borrow one of Sara’s dresses, honestly.” she whispered, on the verge of tears.

Harry shot Ron a confused look, to which Ron shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. “Hey, Ginny? What is it, I was only teasing, I’m not really upset or anything.” Harry insisted as he hugged her tightly….

“So, Cash wasn’t exaggerating?” Molly grinned, “You do actually have nine brothers and three sisters. Merlin’s beard, you make my family sound small” she laughed as Cat shook her head and laughed along.

“I know, its that healthy Celtic blood, we can’t seem to help ourselves.” she added, “And then there is poor me, I think half of my clan has written me off as an old maid, and the others are willing to throw me into bed with anything that looks promising.” she said, rolling her eyes as Molly laughed and Arthur shook his head.

Getting up from the table, Arthur looked into the living room, smiling as Harry showed photographs and told stories about his new family. Arthur couldn’t hold in a smile as he realized how truly happy Harry seemed. In the past, no matter how happy or relieved Harry seemed to be, he always carried with him and air of sadness and loss, but now, after only a few days, that air was gone and in its place was an indescribable joy. “So, any pictures that are safe to show me?” he asked, winking as his children groaned at his joking.

“Of course Mr. Weasley” Harry grinned, handing the elder Weasley a large stack of photos. Harry stood over his shoulder, pointing out and naming members of his family as the twins rooted through his knapsack to see what else he had in it. “Careful George, Aunt Orpha charmed it, I’m not even sure what she put in there.” turning to Mr. Weasley, he added, “I don’t think I’ve ever eaten so much in my life. Every time I turn around one of the women are pushing food at me and Sirius. And you should see him, he’s actually starting to look healthy.” he grinned as he pointed out a picture that was taken right before Cat left that morning…..

“You seem distracted dear, is something wrong? I hope it isn’t because of how I spoke to you earlier, I do apologize. I was just so worried about Harry.” Molly sighed, feeling dreadful for the way she had treated Cat.

“No Molly, nothing at all like that” Cat smiled, “I’m just trying to decide what the right thing to do is.”

“The right thing to do?” Molly repeated, confused as to what Cat was referring to.

“May I tell you something in confidence Molly? I need to talk to someone who doesn’t have any vested interests in my future. I need some honest advice.” Cat explained as she leaned in close to Molly. “How much do you know about Sirius Black?”

“Pretty much of it, from everything I’ve heard from Arthur and Albus…well, it’s not a happy story.” Molly sighed, patting Cat’s hand. “Is he a friend of yours dear?”

“We used to date, and he’s told me several times he intends to marry me. Actually he’s told me that at least half a dozen times in the past three days.” she sighed, “But before I knew the whole story….well,… I did something” she whispered, blushing brightly as she looked down at the table. “I was with someone else, I though Sirius was married, I never even dreamed that….well, I never thought it was anything like that.”

“Oh dear, when you say you were with someone, do you mean you were ‘with’ them?”

“No Molly, I mean I was [I]”with”[/I] him,” Cat sighed, “the problem is that now I feel very guilty no matter which one I think of. And to be honest, I care a great deal for both of them.”

“This other man wouldn’t be Professor Snape, would it?” Molly asked, hardly daring to believe such a lovely young woman would bother to give the ill-tempered Snape the time of day. “My children have mentioned how ‘different’ he is when you’re around, but I hardly dared to believe them.”

“So you think he’d be a good father to Harry and any other children that may happen along?” Cat asked hopefully.

“HIM?!” Molly said loudly, only to cover her own mouth as Arthur gave her a stern look. “Him? My dear girl, you cannot be serious. I’ve never heard a civil word come out of his mouth, and Ron is always complaining about the unfair way he treats him and Harry. You aren’t honestly considering choosing ‘him’, are you?”

“He was one of my options, yes.” Cat sighed, “But it does seem that he is two completely different people. When he’s around me, he is so sweet and charming, not to mention passionate,” she added, blushing once more. “But I know Harry has his heart set on Sirius, but,..well….”

“Is it because of Azkaban dear?” Molly cooed, patting Cat’s hand as she levitated a fresh pot of tea to the table. “I would certainly understand if it were.”

“No Molly, nothing like that,” Cat sighed “He broke my heart once before. Actually, shattered it would be a more accurate description. He has done nothing but apologize and swear he will make it up to me. But part of me is just terrified to go through that much pain again. And while Azkaban itself doesn’t bother me, I can’t help but wonder if he would be so ardent a suitor if he was truly a ‘free’ man. I expect he’d have forgotten all about me and started a family long ago if not for that.”

“You realized there is no easy answer to this.” Molly stated, “In fact, there may not be an answer at all.”

Cat nodded, “Yes, mentally, rationally, I know that, but my heart….”Cat shook her head, “I should pop over to the school and see Severus, I left him in such a hurry when I realized something wasn’t right with Harry. He was in the middle of trying to tell me something and I just apparated out mid sentence.”……

Harry’s eyes grew wide as he heard his mother’s comments, he had to stop her from going back to the school, to Snape at all costs. “Mum, Mrs. Weasley, look what Aunt Orpha sent along.” Harry nearly yelled as he carried an ornately carved box to the kitchen table. “Do you have any idea what it is. Mum?”

Dropping her head and giggling, “Yes, Harry, it is Aunt Orpha’s way of making sure you don’t go hungry and providing a gift to our hosts at the same time. I should have known she’d do something like this.”

“Something like what?” Arthur asked, noticing the edge in Harry’s voice as he joined them in the kitchen, turning the box over in his hands. “Its very pretty, what exactly is it.”

Cat smiled as she took the box from Arthur’s hands. “Many thanks and many welcomes” she said clearly as she placed her hand over the box lid. Nodding to Arthur, she had him lift the lid. He grinned widely as he handed the lid to Molly and lifted out a large rack of lamb from the small box.

“Well now, that is a very practical item.” Arthur grinned as he set the rack of lamb on the table.

“Gift,” Cat corrected him “and I’m sure there is more in there. And it can be used whenever the laws of hospitality are invoked.” she added as Arthur reached in over and over, pulling out all sorts of food and treats. Placing the lid back on the box, Cat handed it to Arthur, who smiled widely, more interested in studying it than using it, it seemed…….

“So, now……about my baby sister.” Duncan began as he pushed Sirius down onto a bale of hay.

“I thought you wanted to ask me about the Weasleys’” Sirius reminded him as his mind raced with fears of what Duncan would do if he even thought Cat may be pregnant.

“I do, and I will, but first, Kitty.” Duncan explained as he glared at Sirius, his face nearly touching the wizard’s as he waited for a reply.

“Honestly Duncan, I swear, all we did was sleep, you can ask Aunt Orpha, she found us…..you saw how tired she was yesterday, she even fell asleep…” Sirius tried to explain

“And ‘why’ is she so tired? Has ‘someone’ been keeping her up for any reason?” he asked, crossing his arms over his chest, daring Sirius to try to lie to him.

“If your asking me if I’ve done anything I shouldn’t have, the answer is no. I would never force her to do something she wasn’t ready to do. I love her Duncan, I love her, I miss her, and if given the chance, I would more than likely spend every minute with her, waking and sleeping.” Sirius replied boldly, standing up and looking Duncan squarely in the eyes.

“Swear to me you haven’t done anything I need to beat you into a pulp for. Because if I hear a different story from Kitty, I’ll do a lot worse than hurt you.” Duncan stated evenly, his eyes locked to Sirius’s.

“I swear to you Duncan.” Sirius sighed, his shoulders slumping as he realized exactly how protective her brothers were of her. “Although might I add, at her age, should you really be giving a potential brother-in-law an inquisition like this?”

Duncan smiled widely as he clapped Sirius on his back. “You don’t have a little sister, do you? Because I can tell you they NEVER grow up, not to their brothers. She is my baby sister, the one I was always reminded needed to be watched over, protected, defended. She’s the baby,….watch over your little brothers and sister….make sure no one gets to close….never let her alone too long with a boy….remember what ‘you’ were like at that age.”

“Oh, yeah, that age one would do it.” Sirius agreed, chuckling as Duncan rolled his eyes and nodded. “I dread the day our daughters are old enough to date. I’ll be waiting in the living room, polishing my wand, …”

“I polished my sword,” Duncan interrupted, laughing as he remembered meeting Kitty’s perspective dates. “and if we weren’t sure about the guy, I would be sent to ‘accidentally’ run into them several times while they were out.”

“Ouch, Magnus was that tough huh?” Sirius asked as he and Duncan sat down on some bales and made themselves comfortable……..

“Harry? What is it?” Cat asked as she saw the look on her son’s face. “Do you want to come to the school with me? I’m sure Cash would be thrilled to see you again.” she smiled as she stroked his hair.

“No, and I don’t want you going back to the school either.” Harry insisted, ignoring the shocked looks of the Weasleys’.

“Harry,” Cat gasped, taken aback by the forceful nature of Harry’s reply, “what has gotten into you? Have you been having dreams again?” she added softly as she tilted his chin so she could see into his eyes.

“Maybe a little, but I don’t want you to go there, not now….not alone.” Harry stated, not wanting to explain his full reasons for not wanting her to go.

Sensing the tension, Arthur interjected, “Maybe he’s right Miss MacLeo….Cat, “ he corrected himself, smiling widely as he pulled out a chair motioning her to sit down. “From what I’ve heard from Raul, you expelled a great deal of energy, and unless you’re always this pale, I do agree with Harry.” Arthur beam as he saw the grateful smile on Harry’s face.

“Do I honestly look “that” bad?” Cat sighed as she sat down, shaking her head as Molly poured her more tea.

“No, Mum, you look fine, its just…well….” Harry was grateful for the sound of another MacLeod apparating in at just that moment. He stood next to Cat and watched expectantly as a fine, tinkling mist formed near the door. Seeing the blonde, curly hair, he new immediately which of his cousins had taken the opportunity to see the Weasley boys.

“Hello Meg” Harry grinned as he waved at his cousin. “What are you doing here?” he asked knowingly, relieved for the distraction from the former discussion.

“Hiya Harry, Aunt Kitty” Meg smiled brightly, her indigo eyes twinkling as she looked over the boys, but settled quickly on their mother. “This must be the wonderful Mrs. Weasley. How do you do ma’m, I can’t believe I’m finally meeting you. Harry makes you sound like you’re just too good to be true.” she added, smiling and flattering as Molly grinned and blushed.

Turning to Mr. Weasley, Meg ignored the knowing look in Cat’s eyes as she continued her attempt to win over the parents, after all, just in case she and Charlie hit it off, she wanted to be sure his parents liked her from the get go. “And Mr. Weasley, Harry’s told me about your job at the Ministry, you must be very important to hold such a responsible position at such a young age.” she added for good measure, “He’s also told me that you study humans, muggles, I think they’re called here….I would appreciate it if you could find the time to teach me a little about them. Aunt Orpha wants me to spend a little more time traveling and I thought that may be a good placed to start.”

Arthur smiled almost as widely as Molly. “Of course….uhm…”

“Meg” Cat, Harry and Meg said at once.

“Meg” Arthur grinned, “What a charming name. I would enjoy speaking to you about it very much, very much indeed.” his smile widened more and more as he noticed her long, curly, golden hair and bright, intelligent eyes.

“Have you had the chance to meet any of our boys?” Molly asked, “Next to Harry is Ron, they are in the same year at school, then the twins, Fred and George, they’re a year ahead. Over there, studying that parchment when he should be over here greeting our guest is Percy.”

“Oh, this is Percy? My younger sister, Diana, has be anxious to meet him.” Meg explained, “Once she heard about his good manners and curly red hair, well…” she smiled and winked at Mrs. Weasley.

“Really?!” Molly grinned, “You’ll have to bring her along next time.” she added as her eyes sparkled with the thought of matchmaking.

“Yes, Diana did express some interest,” Cat agreed, smirking as she shook her head at Meg, “but I believe the ‘real’ reason Meg is here has to do with another one of your sons…so which is it Meg, Bill or Charlie?” Cat asked as Meg shot her a look, blushing pink as she bit her lip.

“Oh, I’m terribly sorry dear.” Molly cooed, “but neither Bill nor Charlie is here right now, they both returned to work yesterday night.”

Meg looked at Molly, disappointment written over her face, “No Charlie, “ she sighed , “I was really looking forward to meeting him.” she pouted.

“Well, I’m sure we can do something about that” Molly beamed, happy to see her sons attracting so much attention. “ I don’t suppose you have another sister interesting in my Bill do you?”

“Not yet.” Cat smirked as she and Molly nodded knowingly at each other. “Meg, why don’t you and Harry go through the stack of pictures he’s brought and see if you can find one of Diana to show Percy. And I’m sure Molly has a few pictures of Charlie she can show you.” Cat smiled as she saw Meg’s face light up. “You know Molly, at this rate, maybe you should be paying Harry a finders fee” she teased, “he’s got a few of my girls quite wound up over your boys, and they haven’t even met them yet.”

“Oh no, I get first dibs on Charlie” Meg replied, only to cover her mouth and blush as Harry and Ron laughed at her.

“Hey Harry, find anyone for me?” Ron teased, “Or are you only setting up my brothers?”

“I thought you and Hermione were a couple?” Ginny piped up, only to have Ron glare at her as their mother raised her eyebrow and clucked her tongue. “Just kidding Mum” Ginny added, completely unconvincingly.

Trying to pull attention away from Ginny’s faux pas, Cat smiled as she pulled Fred close to her “Molly, if you’re a brave woman, I’m sure I have more than enough nieces to keep your boys in line, but I warn you, we’re not exactly quite and shy women.” she teased as Fred grinned from ear to ear.

“That’s alright Miss MacLeod” Fred responded as his brother joined them. “Yeah, we enjoy a challenge” George added as the twins winked and nodded at each other. The entire family broke into a fit of laughter as Arthur pretended to bang his head against the wall, murmuring something about not being ready for grandchildren yet………

“So, from what you’re telling me, the Weasleys’ seem like good people, our sort of people.” Duncan stated, nodding his head approvingly as Sirius sat on the floor, playing with the Chats. It was almost uncanny the way they had taken to the wizard, even the shy female had slowly inched her way forward as the bigger males tussled with Sirius, allowing him to stroke her back as she kept a watchful eye on him. “I can’t believe how quickly they’ve taken to you, especially her, she’s so skittish, even around me.”

“I like animals” Sirius smiled as he looked up at Duncan’s wide grin, “I also like children, I hope to have a few of my own soon.” he added, waiting to see Duncan’s reaction.

Shaking his finger at the wizard, Duncan did his best not to smile “Just you watch yourself there mister. Remember what I told you earlier.”

“I remember, I remember, besides, Cat teases me about it all the time. She tells me one day I’m going to be beaten senseless by all of you.”

“Really? And why is this?” Duncan grinned, “And what do you tell her?”

“Do you HONESTLY want to know how I respond to that?” Sirius grinned. He watched as Duncan nodded and sat down next to him. “I tell her it would be well worth it, not to mention I would have her undivided attention when she had to heal me.”

Duncan rolled his eyes. “You know, threatening you is a lot harder when you make plans like ‘that’. I may have to change a few of my methods.” he commented, smirking as Sirius laughed. “So, back to the Weasleys, do you think Kitty’s right? Is it possible that they are one of the lost clans from the burning times?”