Sirius’s head immediately looked up from the book he was reading “Baby? What baby, and what do you mean Remus and the baby?”

Zach shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly, “I dunno, Paddy just said he needed to talk to you about Remus and the baby. He’s in the kitchen waiting for you..” Zach smirked as Sirius dashed passed him, intent on getting to Paddy and finding out what was wrong. Looking around to make sure there were no witnesses, Zach placed a shield between the hall the leading to the kitchen and the rest of the house as he quickly followed Sirius, an evil grin on his face.

Sirius’s mind was reeling, what in Merlin’s name could Paddy need to speak with him about, and how was Remus involved? If he didn’t know any better, he might think Remus and Tris may have gone a bit far, but even it they had, its not like Tris could have a child, right? “Paddy, Paddy!” Sirius practically yelled as he ran though the doorway leading into the kitchen, “Paddy?! What is it? Is Edana alright?”

Paddy’s head snapped up and turned to Sirius, “What do you mean? What about Edana?”

“You tell me…Zach told me you needed to speak to me about Remus and the baby.”

“He said WHAT?!” Paddy growled, shooting an angry look over Sirius’s shoulder. “Now that was just uncalled for.” he said sternly.

“Hey, I was told to get him here and get him here fast. And the only thing that would make him move faster than Aunt Kitty is little Edana” Zach smirked “I think he’s rather keen to be a daddy, what do you think?”

“I think he has to get through us first” Duncan chimed in as he stepped out of the shadows near the stove. “So wizard, time to take your medicine and see if you measure up…”

“Duncan…” Sirius said uneasily, “now I’ve told you before that I haven’t done anything I would be afraid to tell you OR Magnus about.” he insisted as he walked backwards, trying to keep at least an arms length between him and Cat’s over protective brother.

“Fess up wizard” Zach teased as he caught Sirius’s wrist and twisted it behind his back as Duncan lept forward and grabbed the other. Sirius tried to fight them off as Zach’s hand covered his mouth, he looked imploringly at Paddy who simply shook his head and sighed as he followed the threesome outside and into the snow.

Paddy groaned as he watched Zach and Duncan dragging Sirius along behind them. He knew they had no intention of harming the wizard, but he doubted Sirius knew that. “Come on guys, not so rough” he reminded them as they easily picked Sirius up and tossed him into a deep snow drift. P> “What the hell was that for!!” Sirius yelled as he tried to stand up in the shifting snow. “What did “I” do? I’ve been an absolute gentleman, just ask Cat.”

“Oh, we intend to wizard” Duncan grinned “but first, we need to ask you a few things..”

“And you couldn’t’ ask me inside where its warm and dry? Is that it?” Sirius smirked as it dawned on him exactly what the guys were playing at. Extending his hand, he waiting for Zach to take it and help him out of the snow drift. But just as the young man had given a strong pull, Sirius made use of the transformed wand Cat had given him, and traded places with him, so now it was Zach who was stuck. He smiled widely as he heard Paddy laughing heartily over his little trick.

“Nice one magic man, ….now try me.” Duncan sneered as he crossed his large arms over his powerful chest. “And remember, I don’t fall for cheap tricks.” he added, a mischievous twinkle in his eyes. He watched Sirius closely, trying to determine what the wizard would do next, “Come on boyo,” Duncan continued, motioning for Sirius to come at him “do your best…or in this case, your worst.”

Duncan smirked as Sirius slowly circled around him, looking for an opening, “Are you sure you want to go through with this Duncan? You know I’m not going to give her up, even if it means you beat me into the ground.”

“Big talk little man, but I still don’t see any action.” Duncan countered.

“You want action???? You got it.” Sirius grinned as he held his arms out to his sides, palms facing down over the snow, willing it to rear up and crash over Duncan as if it had been a wave on the sea. Sirius was smiling broadly as he waiting to hear Duncan’s laughter joining in with Zach and Paddy’s. Instead he heard a deep, almost guttural growl as Duncan jumped on him, pulling him down into the snow.

At first Sirius panicked, thinking Duncan truly intended to harm him, but quickly realized he was safe as Duncan placed him in a headlock and began rubbing his knuckles roughly into his scalp. “So, what are your intentions, love her and leave her?.. Marriage…large family?” Duncan insisted as he did his best to hold onto the squirming man.

Tossing a handful of snow into Duncan’s face, Sirius finally managing to wriggle out of his grip and catch his breath. “The last two if I have any say in the matter” he grinned as he finally stood up. Pointing at Duncan, he added “And she’s not going to be any to pleased if you damage the merchandise.” he chuckled as he saw the look of shock on her brother’s face. Turning on his heels, Sirius ran quickly, doing his best to avoid Duncan and Zach as the two men ’war whooped’ and gave chase, “Paddy, give me a hand here” he yelled out, only to see Paddy applauding his efforts. “Oh very funny, ha ha. Where‘s Remus when I need him”………

Hearing a commotion outside of her window, Cat got out of bed and pulled back her curtains. She watched the scene play out below her. “I can’t believe they’re doing this,” she sighed deeply, “I’m a full grown woman, and its too cold to be tossing him into snow drifts, he’ll die of pneumonia at this rate.” Grabbing a blanket from off of her bed, she wrapped it around herself as she made her way downstairs, dissolving the barriers that had been placed in her path. “They are soooo going to get it,” she huffed as she silently ran across the kitchen in her bare feet. “what are they thinking, Duncan should know better.”

True to her words, she was out the door and across the yard in only seconds. She stood there in the snow, with nothing but a nightgown and blanket to protect her against the cold. “DUNCAN ALLISTAR MACLEOD!!” she bellowed, immediately gathering the attention of the men. “What do you think you are doing?!……Well?….Answer me brother.”

“Uhm….combat training?” Duncan suggested, taking a step back as he realized how truly angry she was. “You know, make a warrior out of him and all” he added weakly.

“Zach!! Care to explain YOUR part in this ‘training’ as Duncan calls it?”

Looking from Duncan to Cat, Zach carefully let go of Sirius’s legs and hoped the wizard would have enough sense not to egg her on. “Just …you know, …guy stuff. It’s a tradition and all.”

“Paddy?”

“Don’t look at me cousin, it seems I was the bait. But Zach is right, it is our tradition.” Paddy reminded her gently, “And I promise you, they didn’t hurt him, in fact, he held his own rather well.”

Cat walked up to the three men, stopping directly in front of Sirius and looking into his eyes. “Is what they say true Siri? Have you been hurt?” She eyed him carefully, noticing how out of breath and shaky he seemed.

Sirius paused for half a second, feeling his loyalties divided between telling Cat the truth, yet not wanting her to be upset with the others. They had been rougher than they needed to, but then again, they had more than likely forgotten how badly his ribs had been injured when he arrived. Smiling softly, Sirius replied breathlessly “If I say yes, does that mean you’ll nurse me back to health?” he winked and waited as he saw her roll her eyes, trying to hide a smile. It wasn’t until he started coughing that she became upset again.

“Damnitt! What did you think you were doing? Dragging him out here in this weather after he nearly died not one week ago.” Cat yelled at Duncan as she reached out for Sirius. “So help me Duncan, you will be the one to tell my son what’s happened to his father….”

But before she could make a move towards him, Duncan was already at his side, concern written all over his face as he slipped an arm around Siri to support him. “Sirius??” Looking back towards his baby sister, “Kitty, what’s wrong, I thought you healed him.”

“I did, but his body still needs time to regain strength.” She explained as she quickly, removed her blanket, wrapping it around Siri as she slipped her arm around his other side. “He’s been through a lot over the years, a few days is not going to erase all the damage that the years have done to him. Duncan, help me take him inside. Zach, Paddy, get the doors.”

“Cat, you’re going to get sick coming out here like this” Sirius insisted as he tried to hand the blanket back to her, “you don’t even have shoes on.”

“Just hush, I’m a bit more concerned with other things at the moment.” she insisted as they quickly made their way inside. “On the sofa Duncan, he needs to rest for a bit.” she directed, turning to the hearth, she pointed her finger at it and it immediately burst into a roaring fire. “Hurry up Duncan, get him to the sofa so I can make sure…..”

“I’m not an invalid.” Sirius insisted hotly, “I can walk on my own.”

“Oh just be quiet and enjoy the attention.” Paddy scolded, “I thought you wanted Kitty to nurse you back to health anyway.”

“Yeah, but I didn’t actually want to be ill when she did it.” he groused, “and I ‘certainly’ don’t want ‘her’ to get sick doing it either.” he added pointedly, staring at her state of dress.

“He’s arguing with her? Now?” Duncan chuckled, “He’s either really brave or truly stupid. Come on boys, Kitty will call us if she needs us.” he insisted as he ushered everyone out of the room, leaving Cat and Sirius alone together, save for the shadowy figure that hovered just outside of Duncan‘s vision.

Sirius watched as Duncan closed the door behind him, waiting to make sure no one was going to come back in, he turned his attention to Cat. “Look at you gra, now your shivering,” he sighed, “please, take the blanket back and…”

“No, you need to keep warm, and I’ll be fine.” she insisted as she conjured two hot toddies for them to drink. “I don’t want you to play so rough with my clan Sirius,” she insisted softly, “I know they would never knowingly harm you, but sometimes they forget their own strength….like tonight.”

Sirius smiled at her obvious concern over his well being, “But it’s a tradition…if I’m going to be part of this clan, I have to hold my own, right?” he teased gently. Opening his arms he added, “Cat, look at you, bare foot and shivering, if you won’t take the blanket back, at least share it with me. I’ll never forgive myself if you get sick over this, you were injured too, and I know you haven’t exactly healed yet either.”

He sighed contentedly as Cat snuggled against him, wrapping his arms and the blanket around them both. They sat talking and sipping their warm drinks in front of the fire as the evening faded into a calm and silent night. Before either of them realized it, they had fallen asleep, under the silent and watchful eyes of Merlin, who seemed to be enjoying their conversation almost as much as they were…..

The next morning, Duncan made his way to the barn to check on the Bovas, he peeked into Sirius’s room, shocked to see that the wizard wasn’t there. Becoming concerned, he quickly made his way to his sister’s room, praying silently to Brighde, that she hadn’t done anything reckless. His sense of dread only worsened when he realized neither of them were in her room either. “Oh please, oh please, let them be were I left them. I like him too much to have to actually ‘do’ anything to him.”

Quickly making his way to the room were he had left Cat and Sirius the night before, he paused as he placed his hand on the doorknob. Opening it slowly, Duncan shuddered as he felt a warm shadow skim over his body, “What the??” he whispered softly, before peering into the room.

Duncan smiled softly, leaning against the doorframe as he watched his baby sister and Sirius sleeping soundly on the sofa, wrapped in the blanket she had worn out into the snow the night before. “Well, looks like Zach was right, you’re already half way there, aren’t you wizard? Just as well, I doubt my clan would want to give you up now, and I know Kitty would never allow anyone else in the clan to become your wife, it would simply hurt her too much, especially seeing as she keeps referring to you as her son’s father.”

“Shhh, Duncan, you’ll wake them” Orpha scolded softly as she snuck up behind him, “now come to the kitchen and have some breakfast. I need to talk to you about a few things.”

Duncan nodded, closing the door as he followed Orpha, “Just as long as this doesn’t have to do with me getting married, I’ve asked Mandy several times, and she always refuses me.”

“I know, and I do want to talk to you about that as well. You can’t wait forever Duncan, its not just Kitty who needs to have children. And as things stand at the moment, I don’t think that will be too far away” Orpha sighed deeply as she pulled out a chair and motioned for Duncan to sit.

Duncan froze as he realized Luke was there as well. “Luke? You don’t normally get up this early, is something wrong?” he asked, looking nervously from Luke to Orpha.

“Not, ‘wrong’ per say,” Luke explained gently, “just…well, a bit…uhm… Aunt Orpha, can you help me out here?”

Setting down a large pot of coffee and three mugs, Orpha proceeded to explain to Duncan why he was there. “First off, I do NOT want you to get upset, angry or start yelling, do you understand me young man?!” Seeing Duncan nod, Orpha continued, “Now, this goes no further than we three and Tris. She and I have been talking about Kitty and her future, I was quite certain our dear Sirius was the man for her, but Tris has brought up some information that may change that.” Seeing Duncan about to speak, Orpha raised her hands to silence him. “Let me finish before you start Duncan, Luke has already heard bits of this, but I need you both to understand what has happened.”

“It seems just prior to coming here, Kitty took a slight detour to one of the professor’s homes. Now normally this wouldn’t be an issue, except it appears she may have brought something back with her. We need to find this man and bring him here, I want to see if he is clan material.”

“And if he’s not?” Luke inquired softly, “I don’t want Kitty to suffer through anymore than she already has. I remember all to well what she went through when she….last time she was in this condition.” He avoided Duncan’s eyes as his brother tried to get his attention and find out if he meant what he thought he did.

“First of all, she may or may not be in a family way, she’s been too irregular from jumping through so many worlds over the past year.” Orpha stated, “She and I have discussed this at length, in fact she had hoped to bring him back with her when she went to visit Harry’s friends a few days ago, but she couldn’t find him. Tris insists he is of strong blood and quite powerful.”

“And what of Sirius?” Duncan snapped, “She loves him and he loves her, anyone with eyes in their heads can see that. What will this information do to them? Has anyone even considered that?”

“Calm down brother, believe me, we haven’t stopped discussing it. But I’ve seen him with the babies, and we all know Harry isn’t his flesh and blood son, yet we’ve all seen the way he dotes over all of them. I have no doubt that he would readily accept the child as his own if she is in fact carrying one.”

“You mean if finding out she betrayed him doesn’t destroy their relationship, …..and do we know WHY she did this?” he asked, his voice edged with anger and disappointment. “I know her, and its not like her to betray anyone, much less the man she so obviously loves.”

Orpha placed a gentle hand on Duncan’s, “From what I have been able to piece together from both Tris and Cash, there was a very big misunderstanding between our Kitty and Sirius Black. It seems she was under the impression he was married, and therefore not available to her.” Orpha sighed as she continued her explanation, “As for why she went with this other wizard? It appears she has deep feelings for him as well, and I’m sure the thought of an arrange marriage wasn’t far from her mind went she made her decision.”

Everyone jumped as Duncan slammed his hands on the table, “Again with those blasted arranged marriages!! How many sisters do I have to lose before you and the rest of those damn crones stop doing this?? I had four sisters once, four! I’m now down to two, and I have the distinct feeling the only reason Ro’s escaped is because she’s apparently barren.” Duncan sat back in his chair and stared Orpha in her aqua eyes, “I won’t lose Kitty, not to the crones or the prophecy or anyone else. She’s our mother’s daughter, I intend to see her watch her grandchildren playing outside this door.”……..

Sirius groaned sleepily and winced as he felt the crick in his neck, just as he wondered why he was sleeping in one of the studies, the events of last night came back to him. His neck to sore to turn, he slowly moved his arm, smiling as he felt Cat’s soft curves under his hand. He lay still for a few minutes, thinking about how much his life had changed over the past week. It was exactly a week ago to the day that they arrived in Fernglennis, and that had been only a few hours after he had resigned himself to a painful death. Pulling Cat closer against him and hugging her tightly, Sirius finally managed to maneuver himself so he was now on his back, relieving some of the pain currently shooting through his neck and shoulder.

Burying his face into her fragrant hair, Sirius sighed as a cauldron of emotions boiled inside of him. Part of him wanted to do nothing more than to stay like this forever, safe and content as she slept soundly against his chest. But another part of him was aching for her, wanting more than just kisses and the few romantic moments they had managed. He wanted to be her husband in name ‘and’ deed, he wanted to be the father of her children, he wanted her to agree to be his wife. “I wish your father were here gra. I’d ask him on the spot.” he whispered, kissing her hair, “I know you didn’t think I was serious when I proposed to you, but I was, and I still am. I ‘know’ your keeping me at a distance because of what you did with Snape, Cash told me all about it before Gustavas attacked us. But I don’t care, and I stand by what I said to him, if you do happen to be carrying his child, I will accept her and raise her as my own, you know I will.” he insisted quietly as a few stray tears trickled down his face. “I love you more than I have ever loved anyone else, I won’t live without you again.”

Sirius jumped when he heard the soft knock on the door. Sniffling and wiping at his face, he smiled with relief when he saw it was Cat’s brother Luke, ‘the calm one‘, as she called him. “Hello Luke, come to check up on us?” he asked as Luke sat on the low table in front of the sofa.

“Something like that,” Luke grinned, “you alright? I heard what they did to you last night, Aunt Orpha isn’t any too pleased about it.” His smile got wider as he watched the tender look in Sirius’s eyes as he looked down at his sleeping sister. “I can’t believe she hasn’t woken up yet.” he remarked as he reached under the blanket and playfully pinched one of her toes, making her groan and toss as she fought to stay asleep.

Sirius chuckled when he saw the delighted look on Luke’s face. “Tsk, tsk, and here I thought you were the ‘nice’ brother. Teasing your little sister like that, for shame.” he teased, shaking his finger at Luke.

“Oh yeah, like you haven’t done worse.” Luke quipped, “and I am the ‘realistic’ brother, not the ‘nice’ one, that would be Matt.” he winked, “Come on, wake her up before breakfast gets cold, we all have a lot to do today, the new year will be here in two days. And unless I am VERY much mistaken, Aunt Orpha intends to make you and Kitty here a big part of the celebration.”

Sirius’s eyes grew large with hope and emotions, “Does that mean the crones have decided I’m allowed to marry her? Will Magnus be here? I need to ask him first, I want to do this right.”

“Whoa, calm down broth…..Sirius,” Luke corrected himself, “to the best of my knowledge no decisions regarding my sister have been made, but I would say this is a step in the right direction.” he added, tussling the wizard’s hair as he rose, walking towards the door. Pausing for a moment, Luke turned back “Sirius, I like you, you’re a good man, but don’t invest too much of your soul in the idea of marrying her. As much as I wish things were different, she is our mother’s daughter, she must have daughters as strong as she is, if not more so. I’m not sure if you can measure up..”

“I know, but Cash told me it was still possible to be her husband, even if I didn’t father all of our children.” he whispered softly, the tears threatening to spill once more.

“You really think you could deal with that? Knowing she would have to conceive by another?”

“I love her Luke, and she loves me, I know it and so do you. That being said, …does anything else really matter?”

Luke nodded silently, leaving the room and its inhabitants in peace as he closed the door behind him. Staring down the hall, he locked eyes with Orpha, “I take it you were listening…..”

Sirius took a few deep breathes, calming himself and hugging Cat tightly. He tried to smile as he heard her stirring. “Wake up sleepy head” he said hoarsely, trying to banish the conversation from his mind. “They already have breakfast on the table and one of your brother’s has already been here.”

“Hmmmmm” was the only reply he got, at least of the vocal variety. He closed his eyes and bit his lip as he felt her body squirm against his, invading him with her warmth as she refused to wake up. He moaned softly as she shifted her legs, causing her thigh to rest against his manhood. “Come on Cat, don’t do this to me, not now” he pleaded, shaking her gently in his attempt to wake her. “Please gra, you’ve got to wake up, you’re killing me here.” He groaned deeply as he felt himself growing harder and harder with each passing second.

“Whaaat, …..Sirius?” she replied softly, finally waking up enough to realize she wasn’t in her own bed dreaming. “What are you doing here?…..Wait, what are ‘we’ doing here?” she added as she tried to sit up, but found herself tangled in his limbs and the blanket. Feeling his rigid member pressing up against her inner thigh, she gasped as a flash of nervous dread pass over her. She stared into his eyes, a questioning look in her own as she wondered what they had been doing.

Sirius shook his head slowly when he saw the inquiring look in Cat’s eyes, “No worries gra, we just fell asleep.” he assured her as he stroked her cheek, “Not that I would complain if something ‘had’ happened.” he added, winking as she sighed and collapsed onto his chest.

“Shame on you Sirius Black” she yawned, “maybe I should have let Duncan finish with you after all.”

“Really? And is that because I didn’t try anything, or because I hinted I might like to?” he teased, yelping as she pinched him for his comment, “Oh the abuse.” he chuckled. Sirius became suddenly quiet as Cat began to giggle, the vibration of her laughter flowing through his chest and warming his heart. It had been years since he experienced this, long, lonely, painful years. He had actually forgotten what this felt like, to laugh against one another, feeling as much as hearing the happiness and joy that now echoed within them both. “I love you Cat” he stated simply as he embraced her. Without waiting for her to respond, he quickly lifted her, bringing her lips to his as he kissed her tenderly, trying to fight off the urge to press her any further. However it was a battle he knew he was losing.

He shifted his hips so her thigh was now firmly against his rock-hard sex, “Cat, I know we can’t” he insisted as he kissed her over and over, “but let me do this, …please.” he pleaded as his strong hands pushed down on her lower back, forcing her hips and legs to press down against him. He closed his eyes as he heard her sigh his name, her thigh moving rhythmically over his cresting passion. He wove his fingers through her hair, kissing her deeply as she rode against him. “Oh Cat…yes, yes, yes….please, yes” he gasped, his hips bucking against her, it wasn’t until he heard her gasping that he realized her position was allowing her to ride on his outer thigh.

He watched, awe struck, as her breathing became deeper and her fingers dug into his arms. She was every bit as needy as he was, a thought that filled him with delight and hope, he had been so afraid it was only him, his needs, his wants, but it was now clearly obvious he couldn’t have been more mistaken. Hearing her gasps turning into moans of longing, he quickly placed his hand over her mouth, the last thing either of them needed was for someone to overhear them. “Cat…..Cat…” he groaned as he came, only to be followed shortly by her. They panted softly, laying against each other, still covered by the blanket as the afterglow of the mutual orgasm faded slowly.

“Does this mean you ‘have’ to marry me now?” Sirius asked, grinning widely, only to cringe as he heard anther knock at the door and a yell to get to breakfast…now. “Oh shit, that was Duncan, wasn’t it?” he grimaced. “Yes, yes it was” Cat laughed, ‘and he sounds rather insistent, we better get going before he opens the door, because you ‘know’ he will.” “And I know you will see to it I have a beautiful service when they bury me.” Sirius dead-panned…….