Cats and Dogs

A/N: There isn't really much I can think of to say about this story other than I hope you all like it. As always, constructive criticism is greatly appreciated, as are all your reviews and follows. Let me know what you think about this first chapter. -SIMP

Chapter One

'We will leave with this Portkey at 9:45,' said Dumbledore to everyone seated at the table.

Nearly all the Order were gathered at Number 12. Sirius was looking excited and expectant; the prospect of getting out of the house, even if it was to another, less depressing house, was a welcome change. To his left, Remus looked apprehensive and anxious, as did most everyone else there. Kingsley shifted a bit in the corner behind Moody, whose magical eye was spinning rapidly hither and thither. He seemed to be scanning the house.

'Where is it we're going, exactly, Dumbledore?' asked Arthur from Dumbledore's right.

'A friend's,' replied Dumbledore mildly. 'She contacted me last week offering to help us in the fight, and I am pleased that she is able to. I had been under the impression that she wasn't in the Wizarding Community anymore, but apparently I was incorrect.' He smiled a little as his gaze fell on Sirius. 'I dare say you'll be pleased to see her, Sirius.'

'Why is that?' asked Sirius. It wasn't his usual growl that he had adopted since returning to his family's house.

'You'll see,' said Dumbledore mysteriously.

About seven minutes later, the small cauldron that Dumbledore had made a Portkey glowed blue as everyone gathered around it, each touching a finger to whatever bit they could reach at their awkward angles, and it pulled them out of the kitchen and across London to the outskirts of the city. When they landed, a palatial manor whose gardens were bordered with large hedges with an elaborate gold gate at the end of the path to the double front doors appeared out of the haze.

Remus heard Sirius' sharp intake of breath in the darkness.

'This – This is…' Sirius stammered, sounding a bit awestruck. He walked briskly toward the gate, which opened at his approach. A deep voice sounded out of the air: 'Wizards for tea.'

The rest of the Order followed Sirius, who was several paces ahead of them, up the path, Dumbledore bringing up the rear and smiling a bit to himself. On the front step, Sirius pulled the bell rope and a large-sounding gong-gong rang out somewhere above their heads. The door opened slowly and a man looked out at them all from the foyer.

'Master Sirius!' said the man, gesturing everyone into the house. 'We're pleased to welcome you back, sir!'

'Hello, Stefan,' replied Sirius, looking around excitedly.

Most of the people behind him were also looking around, nervously taking in their surroundings. While this was clearly the house of another old Wizarding family, it had none of the dark nefariousness of Grimmauld Place. Instead of serpents carved into everything, there were marble statues of fairies and wood nymphs lining the walls of the hall, which was very well lit with a marvellous gold chandelier hanging low from the ceiling between a double grand-staircase and intricate gold candelabras stationed between the statues. The ceiling was a solid mirror to help reflect the light in the room to all nooks and niches.

'I thought you went with Catty to the Continent?' Sirius asked Stefan. 'Austria, wasn't it?'

'I did, sir, yes,' replied Stefan, closing the door softly behind them all and coming back level with Sirius.

'Have you left her service, then?'

'Oh, no, sir.' Stefan shook his head, his eyes sparkling with the candlelight, but also with some excitement that also shone on his face.

He was a fairly tall man, slightly taller than Sirius, and wearing what seemed to be a Rococo-style footman's uniform which suited his figure quite well.

'But then…' Sirius looked up to the top of the staircase, behind which a massive stained-glass window was that seemed to glow with magical light. A woman stood at the banister equidistant between the stairs, beaming down at them. Her long black hair was loose, straight, and trailing down her back nearly to her knees.

'Sirius!' she squealed girlishly, running down the stairs to meet him. She flung her arms around him as he picked her up and spun her around, her dark purple gown flowing lightly. 'It's wonderful to see you again!' she said as he set her down. 'Welcome, everyone!' she said turning to the group.

The rest of the Order were clustered together in the middle of the hall, still looking around curiously, but some of them were watching the exchange between Sirius and the young woman.

'Come in, come in.' She gestured for everyone to follow her into a room off the hall as Stefan threw the doors wide. These, too, had intricate gold details; it seemed filigree had been laid into them creating leafy and flowery patterns.

Remus was watching Sirius with nervous interest. Moving over to him, he whispered, 'Who is that?'

'Everyone,' said Sirius, speaking to the Order, 'this is Catherine Aurelia Montague. We've known each other since we were kids.'

Catherine waved jovially with both hands and gestured to the powder blue French loveseats stationed evenly around a marble-topped coffee table. Sirius sat relaxedly next to her, throwing one leg up over the other, his arm flung over the back of the sofa. He smiled warmly at her.

'Sirius and I were arranged, at one point in time,' said Catty conversationally, smiling back at him.

Sirius barked with a short laugh, but it rung out through the room with a more happy sound than it had in a long while. Remus' eyes flickered from Sirius to the young woman and back.

'Arranged?' asked Molly.

'To be married,' Catty clarified. Her voice was light and seemed to have a musical quality to it, like the tinkling of little bells or someone adeptly playing a Pan-flute. She was of an excitable nature, and continued beaming around at them all as if her whole life had led to being their hostess.

Nearly everyone raised their eyebrows in slight surprise and looked over at Sirius with mild curiosity.

Sirius sat forward a bit and waved a hand. 'I doubt it would have come to that anyway,' he said, a bit of laughter in his voice at their looks. 'Catty had been betrothed to just about every pureblood heir by that time, and they'd all fallen through –'

'I don't think it would have fallen through,' Catty cut across him, sounding a bit indignant. 'If you hadn't left,' she added, her musical voice falling slightly. She was looking at him with a small amount of disappointment in her eyes.

'I couldn't have taken you with me!' Sirius replied bemusedly. 'You were ten years old when I escaped that wretched house! Even if I had wanted to –'

'Well, that's all in the past now,' said Catty airily, waving a hand dismissively and turning back to the others. 'Anyway, I heard that you all were staying in, as you say, Sirius, "that wretched house" – and it is wretched, really –' She scowled a bit thinking of the dingy darkness of the Black family house. '- and I thought you'd all be more comfortable here! I don't know how long Dumbledore will allow you all to use this house as headquarters instead –' She looked up at Dumbledore expectantly. '- but I think it suits better for so many people, and is so much more comfortable.'

While her voice was light and pleasant, there was a certain air of smug entitlement in it.

Dumbledore inclined his head a little to her. 'A generous offer I was pleased, but a bit apprehensive, to accept, Mistress Montague.'

'Apprehensive?' she asked politely.

'Oh, not because of anything with you, my dear,' he said, smiling. 'But because of the grandness of the house.' He gestured around the room. There were marble statues in front of the large windows, which were shuttered from the inside with great doors that also had designs of gold filigree.

'Oh, the house is cosy enough.' Catty waved her hand dismissively again, grinning broadly. 'Happy to be of service.'

Stefan re-entered the room, followed closely by another man in the same uniform carrying a tea tray. He set this nimbly on the coffee table and bowed, walking backwards to beside the doors and standing, with his hands folded behind his back, against the wall. Stefan had brought over a matching tray of small sandwiches, bowed, and backed to the opposite side of the doors, one hand behind his back, the other bent at a right angle in front of him, a white linen napkin draped gracefully over his forearm. Catty heard Sirius scoff softly next to her as she reached to pour everyone tea.

'I like my comforts,' she said playfully. 'So sue me.'

Sirius rolled his eyes behind her back, reclining on the sofa again, his arm flung back over it.

As the sandwiches slowly disappeared everyone seemed to get more at their ease. Sirius had introduced Remus to Catty, who was rather pleased to meet him, having heard stories about the antics the Marauders had gotten up to at Hogwarts when she had been little, excited to eventually attend the school and lapping up any information she could get.

'Know who that is, Catty?' asked Sirius, pointing at Tonks.

'No. Who?'

'You remember my cousin Andromeda, don't you?'

'Andy! I like her; she was always so nice.'

'That's her daughter.'

'No!' gasped Catty, her gaze flicking rapidly back to Tonks, her mouth slightly agape with surprise. 'Really? How is she? Tell her I said hello, would you, please?'

'Sure,' laughed Tonks, taken aback.

A couple hours later everyone had started to yawn widely and eyelids were starting to droop. Catty stood and stretched as Stefan came over to her from his post near the door.

'Everything's ready, Your Grace,' he said in an undertone.

'Perfect!' Catty turned to her guests. 'If you all would like to follow Nathaniel,' she indicated the second man by the doors who bowed low, 'he will show you all upstairs to the Guests' Corridor and the accommodations that have been made up for you.'

Everyone rose and stretched. Sirius made to follow Nathaniel as well, but Catty put a hand on his chest. 'Not you,' she said with a sly smile and a twinkle in her eye.

Sirius raised an eyebrow. 'No room for me, eh?'

'Oh, plenty of room for you. You'll see.' Taking his hand, she led him up the stairs after everyone had already gone up, but took him in the opposite direction, toward the Family Corridor. 'I thought you'd like a bit of company, so you're bunking with me,' she trilled over her shoulder at him.

Sirius stopped and pulled his hand out of hers. 'I don't think that's a good idea.'

'And why not?'

'Well, because you're…you know…you're…' He gestured at her.

'I'm not ten years old anymore, Sirius.' Her voice wasn't bell-like anymore; it was sultry and warm. It made the hairs on Sirius' arms stand on end like he'd been electrically shocked.

'No, I know that.'

'Do you think I haven't lived? Haven't been with anyone? I know my way around a man, Sirius. I can only imagine how long it's been for you. Don't you think a nice release might help you sleep better? You seem so tense, no matter how hard you try to hide it. Or is that the fact that I'm getting to you?' She smiled coyly. 'Either way, it doesn't matter to me. But I really would like to know what I missed out on.'

Sirius gulped. It had been a while since he'd been with a woman, and in truth, the last one he was with was more a girl than anything. After he'd left school and joined the Order, there hadn't been much time, if any, for leisure; he'd been too busy trying to stay alive and protect his friends. And then shit hit the fan and Peter…well, everyone that mattered now knew how that had turned out. He gulped again, trying to think clearly but the blood from his brain was rushing south. Catty was looking up into his eyes, trying to read him. She was about a head and a half shorter than he was, with sapphire-blue eyes that seemed fathomless. Standing a little ways back from him in the bright candlelight, he could see how well she'd…developed. She certainly wasn't a little girl anymore.

When he didn't seem able to answer, Catty shrugged with a little 'hmpf' and walked down the corridor toward her room, her hips swaying a little more than they usually would have done, taunting him. She looked back over her shoulder as she opened the door; Sirius was still rooted to the spot.

Stefan had come up the stairs shortly after Catty disappeared into her room. 'I told her not to be so brash, sir,' he said apologetically.

'That's alright, Stefan.' Sirius' voice shook slightly as he spoke.

'She wasn't entirely truthful with you, sir.'

'Oh?'

'Well, as far as she knows, she was, but I had one of the maids ready a room for you without Her Grace's knowledge.'

'Thank you, Stefan.'

'I thought it was for the best, sir,' said Stefan, nodding in a knowing way and gesturing back down the Guests' Corridor. 'If you'd like to follow me, sir.'

Sirius gave a last glance towards Catty's door and turned to follow Stefan.

'What's gotten into her?'

'She's a bit smitten, sir, if you'll pardon the phrase.'

'Meaning what?'

'She's worked up this character of you in her mind, Master Sirius, based on the stories you told her when you were children. She's marked you as a sort of, if you'll pardon me, sir, Don Juan figure.'

Sirius laughed. '"Don Juan figure"?'

Stefan didn't blush, but a red tinge came into his face slightly. 'Yes, sir.'

'I don't know what stories she's remembering, Stefan, but she's much mistaken if she's remembering me telling her any stories that would put me in that light!'

'I completely agree, sir, but there it is.'

Sirius thought for a moment. 'Has she been drinking this evening? Before we arrived?'

'Not that I'm aware of, sir.'

'Hmmm.' When he first saw her, Sirius never would have thought that she'd have come on as strong as she did, especially not to him.

'Here you are, sir.'

They had reached the room that had been made up for Sirius. A little tassel on the door handle had a tag that read 'Occupied: Master Sirius'. It was far enough down the corridor that Catty wouldn't have been able to tell it had a tassel.

'Thank you, Stefan.' Sirius shook Stefan's hand and entered the bedroom. The large canopy bed had been draped in gold and scarlet, and he could make out rampant lions on the duvet that was folded back. A fire had been lit in the large grate, a warming pan placed between the sheets (the handle was sticking out), and some white linen pyjamas had been set on a stool near the washbowl. She always did go all out, Sirius thought to himself. He didn't like all the frills and frippery Catty was going to, but knew that it was her way of showing that she wanted to help and meant it.

He didn't change into the linen pyjamas but lie down on the bed fully clothed and fell asleep watching the light of the fire play across the canopy.

Everyone ate breakfast the next morning in the small dining room; Stefan and Nathaniel were serving again, helped by two maids: Margaret and Charlotte. Catty didn't join them, but when they'd finished she appeared in the doorway into the hall, beaming at them all.

'I'm sure that you all would like to continue your work on convincing other people of Voldemort's return so I had Stefan open the larger study. If you'd all like to follow me, I'll take you down there.' She turned on her heel and flounced off down the hall.

Sirius caught her up. 'Would you like to explain what last night was about?' he whispered out of the corner of his mouth.

Catty's eyes had that odd twinkle again as she looked up at him. 'I just thought you might like some company, that's all,' she shrugged nonchalantly. She didn't bother to lower her voice.

'I think it might be best if we just forget about it.'

They had reached the study, which also had large double doors, and these opened of their own accord when the group stopped in the corridor. Catty gestured warmly for them all to enter. It was more like a large library than a study; the bookshelves rose all the way to the vaulted ceiling and each was stuffed to bursting with all sorts of books, some in languages no one could read, some that were glowing or humming slightly, and some that looked like they'd been covered in dragon hide. On the other side of the room, over and around the great fireplace, whose fire was crackling loudly, were a selection of Muggle books; most of them were history books about various French and English royalty, but there were some Jane Austen, Tolkien, and Chaucer.

Catty sat down at the head of the long table that had been cleared of its usual contents, still beaming. The glint in her eyes faltered slightly when Sirius made a point to sit a couple of seats away from her.

'Dumbledore tells me that those of you who are able have been trying to get people at the Ministry alongside. I know how hard that must be with the current views the Ministry is taking, and I would like to offer anything I can to help.' Nathaniel came in from a hidden side door as she spoke and put dark crimson velvet bags tied with gold rope in front of each person. They hit the table with dull thuds and the tinkling of Galleons. A few people were looking awestruck or gasped, but Sirius scoffed.

'You don't get it.' His voice was slightly annoyed, angry even. 'Anyone that we payoff can just be swayed the other way by a larger payoff. What we need to do is actually convince people of what's going on, what they've been blinded to, not –'

'No one can pay more than I can, Sirius. You should know that,' said Catty playfully, but there was a certain hardness in her voice.

'You're so naïve!' Sirius had risen from his chair and was almost yelling. Catty looked fairly nonplussed, gazing into his face interestedly.

'Am I?' she asked innocently. 'Then why don't you enlighten me?'

'You can't just buy people's opinions!'

'Last I checked, we were trying to prove facts to people, not change their opinions. It can't be anyone's opinion that Voldemort has returned; he either has or he hasn't.'

'You know what I mean!'

'Then why don't you say what you mean, Sirius?'

Remus stood and put a hand on Sirius' shoulder, whispering into his ear. Sirius waved him away like an annoying fly.

'You can't buy people, Catherine. Your naivety comes from your belief that you can just shove a bag of gold at a problem to make it go away.' He wasn't yelling anymore, but he was still very clearly affronted.

Catty stood slowly; Nathaniel rushed forward and drew her chair back. 'I'm not trying to buy anyone, Sirius, but a great bag of gold does wonders to opening people's ears to things they'd otherwise not hear. I'm not buying their allegiance; I'm not buying their beliefs. I'm buying their time, making it seem worth their while, so that they'll sit down and listen to those of us who can keep our heads and speak reasonably. The proof is there; it just needs to be brought to light.' She walked toward the door they had entered. 'I'll leave you all to it. When you've decided you'd like more of my help,' she looked pointedly at Sirius, 'please don't hesitate to say so.'

Everyone was now looking at Sirius, who was still standing and looking crestfallen.

'She has a point, Padfoot,' said Remus softly. There was a bit of consenting murmuring around the table.

Sirius sat huffily back in his chair looking grim.

'If we can get people to listen, it doesn't matter if it's with a fat bag of Galleons or of their own volition, surely?' Tonks asked, looking towards Kingsley.

'Voldemort will certainly have people paying others off to keep quiet. Sometimes you do have to fight fire with fire,' he replied.

Sirius opened his mouth to argue.

'I'm not saying going to all the lengths that he or the Death Eaters would go to, Sirius, don't get me wrong,' Kingsley said quickly, 'but showing the ones that we can that it's worth their while to listen to us, and not turn us in, wouldn't hurt. I'm not saying I like it or condone doing so, but it's more than we're able to do now which isn't much to begin with.'

Catty paced her private drawing room, a perturbed look on her face. Stefan was standing near another hidden side door watching her.

'Naïve, am I? I'm not a child! Who does he think he's talking to?' She stopped pacing and looked over at Stefan. 'You agree with him, don't you?'

'Actually, I don't, Your Grace. I think you're going about this in a good way, but perhaps not with Master Sirius.'

'Meaning what?'

'Meaning, Mistress Catherine, that Master Sirius hasn't seen you since you were a child; it makes sense that that's still how he would view you. Perhaps you should show him that you're not a child anymore, that you're a grown woman –'

'He can see that I'm not –'

'But he can't, Madam. He doesn't. He sees the little girl flittering around the Christmas tree at the last party he ever attended, the night he left his parents' house, giggling and pulling him around to show him the ornaments she'd picked out. He sees the little girl who stared in awe when he told her stories of his adventures and lessons at Hogwarts, bombarding him with questions about secret passages and which teachers would let you get away with things. He remembers the little girl who would pull on the corner of his robes trying to get him to show her the new spells he'd learned that year.

'Show him that you've matured, that you're not a flighty child. Only then will he listen to what you have to say. You have to remember, Your Grace, that he fought in the last war; lost friends and loved ones to the Death Eaters; was betrayed by an old friend and almost paid the ultimate price, his freedom, when he was accused of helping the very people he was fighting against.

'I hope I don't speak out of turn, Madam.'

Catty's face softened. 'Of course not, Stefan. I've always asked you to be wholly truthful with me; you know that.' She sighed. 'You're right, of course.'

'We already know that Lucius Malfoy has been throwing bags of gold around to get people on his side at the Ministry,' Arthur was saying sagely. 'He's been doing it for years, to get in with the right people. He's practically got Fudge in his pocket. I agree with Kingsley: it's not the most ideal way to convince people to listen to us, but when we've exhausted all other methods, it couldn't hurt to change tack.'

Sirius was looking moodily into the fire at the end of the room. They were all making fair points, but he hated it, resented it even.

'I think, perhaps, this stems from you wanting to protect this young woman from what we all know is coming – from what we saw before.' Molly's voice was soft and understanding. After all, she had lost her brothers to the last war.

Sirius knew she was right but he didn't want to admit it. Since they had arrived and heard that Catty wanted to help their cause he'd wanted to protect her. Pushing her away, discouraging her from any tactics she would try seemed a good way to do that. She wasn't the ten-year-old he'd left at the Christmas party; wasn't the little girl who didn't know she'd never see him again, first because he wouldn't be at any more parties and then because he'd be sent to prison, wrongly accused and convicted of a horrific massacre. When she'd come-on to him last night he'd pushed her away for the same reason. He was attached to Remus, to Harry. The possibility of losing them was already a great risk; he didn't want or need to add to that by getting intimately involved in a person he already cared for, even if he hadn't seen her in what felt like ages.

'We need all the help we can get, Sirius, and if that means taking suggestions from others then so be it,' said Remus.

Curse you, Moony, for always being the voice of reason, Sirius thought. He stood silently, his shoulders drooping in defeat. 'I'll go tell her to come back, then.'

The rest of the morning and the beginning of the afternoon were spent making and pruning lists of people at the Ministry who might be persuaded to listen. They'd had to weed out people who were likely to turn tail the moment they could or who wouldn't be willing to meet for a private chat. Kingsley, Tonks, and Mad-Eye, as Aurors, were selected to meet up with the remainder of the people on the list. Catty had suggested that they use her townhouse in London as the meeting place; said it showed a 'certain stature of credibility' if the Order had a pureblood that wasn't normally associated with either side working with them. Dumbledore, who had sat quietly letting things unfold as they would, left after lunch. The Aurors followed soon after so that it was only Molly, Arthur, Remus and Sirius remaining.

'Would you like to walk with me round the gardens, Sirius?' asked Catty innocently. Remus looked at her across the table.

'I don't think that's wise.'

'Oh, nonsense! No one's going to see him, the hedges are too tall. And besides, there aren't any neighbours anymore and with all the charms Dumbledore and my late father put on the place, no one would be able to see in anyway.' She took Sirius' hand and led him through the kitchen and out a back door.

'I wanted to talk with you,' she said after they'd walked in silence for a few minutes.

'What about?' He felt awkward, her hanging off his crooked arm like some fancy gentleman and his lady. He'd always hated that sort of thing.

'About last night, about earlier today. I don't want you to think I can't take care of myself.' Her voice was level, not at all her usual girlishness.

Sirius sighed. 'I'm sure you can, but you don't know what it was like last time –'

'This isn't last time, Sirius. As I understand it, there are more people in the Order now and I know there are less Death Eaters. On top of that, don't you all know who most of the free ones are because of that boy?'

'Harry, yes,' Sirius conceded.

'And the more help the Order gets, the more the odds are in our favour, right?'

'Yes.'

'Okay, then. So let me help in my own small way. The gold thing was a last-minute idea. I felt rushed to put some kind of idea forward, and that's what I could come up with in a pinch. You're right, I don't know what it was like last time; I don't have experience with this sort of thing,' she waved a hand, 'so teach me. Or let me figure it out on my own, let me have ideas and put them forward. Poke all the holes in them you like, if you can, but don't treat me like I'm some wilful child listening at the keyhole. Please.'

They had stopped walking; Catty was looking up into his eyes again, but there was no sly twinkle. Sirius sighed heavily, defeated.

'Alright,' he said, nodding. 'I'll try.'