“Exactly” Ginny smiled “and I honestly think Snape loves Miss MacLeod” seeing the look on Harry’s face, Ginny bowed her head “at least thats what it looks like to me.” she finished softly.

Harry sighed, he didn’t mean to upset Ginny “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to be like that... its just I want her to be with Sirius.” He explained. “Have you ever seen the two of them together?” he asked her.

Ginny shook her head no.

Harry let a warm smile spread across his face “Its wonderful to see them together, you can tell how much they love each other.” he told her as he replayed over and over in his mind the talk he and Sirius had together right before the Ministry had shown up. Harry watched as the light in Sirius’s eye grew brighter and brighter as he talked about Cat, and Cat always had the same look in her eyes when she spoke of Sirius, even when it made her cry. Harry had begun to suspect her crying was more because she missed him than over anything he had done.

As they approached the portrait of the fat lady, Harry turned to Ginny “Oh no, I forgot my wand in the robe Cat got me... I’ve got to go back to her room” turning on his heals he waved goodbye to Ginny and dashed back towards Cat’s rooms. He needed to know why she wanted Ginny to leave so badly. Harry reached Cat’s door in record time and banged on the door before he walked in.....

“Cat whats going on? Is something wrong?” Harry blurted out as he entered her room. One look at her made Harry stop and catch his breath. She had changed out of her black teachers robes and was wearing on of the new ones she had bought this evening. The only word he could think of to describe her was breath-taking.

Cat was now wearing a long velvet robe, it was a very deep jewel-like blue color, and she had left her hair down. Harry watched in amazement as the light of the fire reflected off of her long hair. “Wow. Are you going somewhere special?” Harry asked as Cat turned to greet him.

Blushing slightly Cat smiled warmly at Harry. “Well maybe I am a little overdressed” she said as she averted her eyes from Harry. “I was supposed to meet someone tonight, but he hasn’t shown up.....again.” she sighed softly as a look of sadness crossed her face.

Harry winced “Not Professor Snape” he moaned as Cat gave him a teasing stare.

“Hey, at least he shows up when he makes a date” Cat responded, trying not to sound hurt at Harry’s reaction to Severus. “He is someone who can be counted on Harry, in many different ways. I can honestly say Severus has never let me down, not ever.”

Harry could tell he had hurt Cat with his comments. He walked over to her and hugged her, he smiled as he felt her squeeze him back tightly. “I’m sorry, I know I shouldn’t be so against the idea. But I really wish you and Sirius would talk things out” Harry said as he felt Cat’s hands tussling his hair again “its hard for me when you to can’t even talk to each other without crying. He’s the closest thing I have to a father”

“Speaking of the devil...” Cat said somewhat tersely, “Have you seen your godfather. We were supposed to talk today”

Harry quickly pulled away and stared directly into her eyes “You and Sirius, .... you are finally going to have a conversation?!!!” Harry smiled happily.

“We *were*.. .. he told me we would talk today... but as you can see, he hasn’t shown” Cat sighed dejectedly “some things never change I guess...”

Harry could hardly contain his excitement, they were going to talk, and she must have dressed like this just for Sirius. Suddenly a question snuck into Harry’s mind “Cat, when did he tell you he would talk with you.... did he send an owl or something?”

“No, he was here last night... I ran into him, quite literally, shortly after you and Severus left.” she explained. “I was chasing after your dog and ran into him”

Harry smiled widely, not only had Sirius snuck into her room, he had finally managed to talk to her. But where was he now, “I hope nothings happened to him” Harry said out loud, suddenly very concerned for his godfather.

“What do you mean *happened*?!!” Cat couldn’t bear the thought of anything happening to Sirius, no matter what may pass between them she promised herself she would be there for him. She had always stood by Severus when she dated Sirius, she saw no reason not to stand by Sirius now that she and Sev had started seeing each other. “Harry do you know something? Is he alright? Do you know where he is?!!” She could feel her heart tightening at the thought of anything happening to him.

“If he’s still in the school I’m pretty sure I know where he’ll be” Harry said quickly as he saw the look in Cat’s eyes “Do you want to come along” he asked as he held out his hand.

“Do you even need to ask?” Cat replied as she took Harry’s hand. They ran down the hall towards Dumbledore’s office. “Here, he’s with Albus?” Cat asked looking puzzled as Harry nodded his head vigorously. Cat paused to catch her breath and straighten out her robes. gummy wands she said as the statue moved aside and they entered Professor Dumbledore’s office.

Harry motioned Cat to be quiet, “we don’t know if anyone is here” he whispered as the crept quietly up the stairs. Harry hoped that the Ministry had left the grounds by now, he didn’t fancy running into any of them, especially with what had happened yesterday. As the reached the top of the stairs, Harry knocked on the door to the office, they waited, but heard nothing but silence.

Becoming impatient, Cat walked past Harry and opened the door to Albus’s office. “Hello” she sang out as she looked around the room. “No one is here Harry” she said somewhat disappointed, she had truly hoped to see Sirius again. Cat so desperately wanted to talk to him, she needed to know what had happened, why had he become so angry with her at school, she had always thought they had a good relationship, she thought they would always be together.

“Wait Cat, its this way...” Harry said as he motioned for Cat to follow him. Harry paused as Cat quietly followed his lead and walked towards the tapestry behind Albus’s desk. Cat watched with interest and surprise as Harry touched the tapestry with his wand. The side of the tapestry shimmered brightly and opened like a door, Harry quickly slipped inside and motioned Cat to do the same. They walked down a short dark corridor which opened onto a small room.

Cat stood still as her eyes adjusted to the dimness in the room, there were no windows and only one small lamp for light. “Harry where are we?” she asked quietly, her hand moving to Harry’s shoulder, “Carefully sweetie” she said as she held him back, he was about to trip over something on the floor.

Harry looked down and squinted, he saw one of Sirius’s boots, “How could you see that? Its almost black in here.” He became instantly quiet as Cat held up one of her hands, motioning for silence.

Cat heard something in the room, someone else was in here, she could hear them breathing. Moving Harry behind her, she waited as she closed in on the sound, it was coming from the far corner of the room, near the wall. Cautiously Cat crept towards the sound as Harry followed closely behind her. The breathing was very steady and deep, whoever it was didn’t seem to be bothered by their presence. Picking up the lamp Cat moved slowly toward the wall pausing as the lamplight cast a faint glow against the wall, outlining a small table, some books, and a bed.

Harry watched Cat’s movements in the lamplight, she was moving like a tiger searching for prey, but it was her face that surprised him the most as it went from flashing eyed coldness, to a very confused stare. He watched as she suddenly lowered the lamp and stood up very straight, she apparently believed the danger was gone.....

. Cat couldn’t believe her eyes, she should have recognized the breathing... how many nights had she felt his soft breath on her neck as they cuddled together. “Sirius” she whispered, more to herself than anyone else. Her eyes grew soft with emotion as she saw him lying on the cot. Setting the lamp on the small table, she gently touched his cheek, he barely even stirred. “Poor baby,” Cat sighed, he had looked very tired last night and of course far to thin, she gazed at him wondering what had happened to him over the years. His face was still beautiful to her, but she really couldn’t call him handsome anymore, and he looked far older than he should. She really didn’t mind the silver in his hair, actually she rather liked it, but the lines on his face disturbed her, they weren’t laugh lines, they were lines of pain and sorrow, she had seen them before on others. Cat's mind ran wild with ideas of what could have happened to her dear Sirius to cause him to look like this. She had been so overwhelmed the first time she had seen him, that she hadn't really notice. And as for last night, the only thing she could remember was the tenderness in his sweet blue eyes as he held her.

Cat turned up the lamp light slightly as she smiled at Harry, who grinned back at her. Looking back down at Sirius all she could do was sigh. He had a book laying across his chest his left hand on top of it, and his right arm stretched over his head. He must have fallen asleep reading, no wonder he hadn’t come to her. Cat gently sat on the edge of the cot, she touched his cheek again as he sighed softly, Cat closed her eyes for a moment as she remembered the sound. Gingerly she lifted his hand and removed the book, placing it on the table with the lamp. She held his hand in hers for a few moments before gently placing it on his stomach. She felt her insides quiver as she touched him, thin as he was, she could easily feel his muscles, taunt and strong under his shabby robes.

She smiled sadly as she tenderly brushed his now long and unmanageable hair off of his face, reaching above his head, she took his right arm and laid it next to his side. She so wanted to kiss him, just to see if he would wake up, but she thought better of it, after all they weren’t together anymore, that had ended a long time ago. And of course, Harry was there, watching them intently.

Sighing softly Cat reached over to the end of the bed and picked up a warm blanket, it was far too cold to let him lying there with nothing to keep him warm. She stood up as she covered him with the blanket, tucking him in to make sure he wouldn’t catch a chill. “We can talk later” she said to Harry as he watched from near the small stove. As she finished she knelt by his side and softly kissed his cheek “deep sleep and blessed dreams muirneach aon” she whispered lovingly. Standing up she held out her hand to Harry and quietly left the small room.......

Harry looked at her curiously, judging by the way she just acted, she must love Sirius, so why was she still seeing Snape? “Uhmm Cat?” Harry asked as they closed the door to Dumbledore’s office behind them “What exactly is going on between you and Sirius? I tried to ask you before, but you always seem to cry when I bring it up.”

“That’s because it still hurts me sweetie” Cat replied softly “Some pain you never seem to be able to heal” she said sadly as they walked hand in hand towards Gryffindor tower in silence....