A/N - Hello all! Glad everyone enjoyed the family fluff in the last chapter. Question for all of you - do you want to know if Catherine and Sirius are having a boy or a girl or would you rather be surprised? Let me know in a review or drop me a PM if you'd rather. And as always, thanks so much for reading and reviewing!

Chapter 36

Possibilities

8 July 1996

Catherine didn't think she'd ever seen Albus Dumbledore in such a temper. She and Sirius were sitting on a couch in the library at Grimmauld as Dumbledore paced in front of them, his mouth set and no hint of a twinkle in his eyes.

"Just what, exactly, were you thinking?" he asked again, but continued to talk before either of them could get a word in. "Do you realize how dangerous this was? What could have happened if you had been seen or recognized? How easy it would have been for Voldemort to get to Harry if he knew he was no longer in the safety of the Dursley household?"

"With all due respect Albus, Harry has hardly never left the Dursley's house these last 15 years," Catherine managed to interject. "Arabella has taken care of him on more than one occasion and there are his trips to the Burrow, Diagon Alley," she trailed off as Albus rounded on her.

"That is not my point as you well know," he said, his voice clipped. "I can see that you have not outgrown the recklessness of your youth Sirius." Sirius opened his mouth to protest, but Catherine beat him to it. She jumped to her feet, her face reddening in anger.

"Now wait just a minute," she said. "This entire thing was my idea, so if you're going to be angry at someone, it should be me."

"Believe me, I am sufficiently angry with the both of you," Albus replied. While she might have backed down before, the realization she had come to regarding Harry last week, combined with the raging hormone cocktail currently coursing through her body, only made Catherine fiercer. She drew herself up to her full height and put all of her emotion behind the glare she now gave the headmaster.

"You listen to me Albus Dumbledore," she snapped. "You may be the most powerful wizard in the world and the leader I have pledged loyalty to, but you have absolutely no idea what that boy needs emotionally. He is not just a chess piece that you can move about your board as you see fit. He is a child. A child that needs support from the adults in his life right now, not two weeks from now, now. The Dursley's may have housed him and fed him and clothed him, although marginally at best, but they are not now, nor have they ever been, a true family to him. Sirius and I are his family and we will decide what's best for him. Not you, not the Ministry, us. And if you don't like it, well that's just too damn bad."

Her face was bright red by the time she was finished and she could feel her hair starting to swirl around her. She pulled in a breath, forcibly pushing the magic back down. She glanced at Sirius from the corner of her eye who simply sat on the couch with his mouth hanging open. Managing not to smile, she looked back to the headmaster, expecting to see a look of murderous rage on his face. Instead, what she saw was something she couldn't exactly place. It seemed to be a mix of shock, a bit of resignation and maybe just a tiny bit of pride. She maintained her glare and crossed her arms in front of her. Albus finally smiled.

"You are right," he said, his admission nearly causing Catherine to gape along with Sirius.

"About which part exactly?" she asked instead.

"Harry is a boy, not a weapon for me to wield and I do tend to forget that. However," Dumbledore's voice turned harder, "the fact remains that what the two of you did was unwise and could have resulted in a much less pleasant outcome for all involved." Catherine relaxed just a fraction. He had not acknowledged her claim of Harry as her own, after all.

"I understand that, but at the time there didn't seem to be any other way," she said. "I'm not sorry that we did it, because I do think it was what was best for him, but I am sorry that we didn't tell you about it."

"I will have Harry here with you, Sirius, within a week. However you must promise me that you will not try and spirit him away from the Dursley's again in that time." Catherine glanced at Sirius who grimaced a bit, but nodded all the same.

"All right," he replied. "I'll have to write him and explain." Dumbledore nodded.

"I shall let you know when exactly I will bring Harry," he said. Then his face softened. "I know how much the two of you love Harry and believe me, nothing makes my heart happier. But the fact remains that he is very important to our cause and as such, I must insist on the precautions that I do."

"We know that Albus, but you need to remember that he is a child first, the Boy-Who-Lived second," Catherine said. "Nothing is more important to us than his happiness and safety." Sirius nodded in agreement, rising to stand next to Catherine and Albus inclined his head in response.

"Very well," he said. "I shall speak to you again in a few days." With that he left the room. Sirius turned to Catherine then and stared at her. She opened her mouth to speak but before she could say anything, his lips captured hers. The kiss was slow, but fiercely passionate and it was quite some time before the two of them came up for air.

"You are bloody amazing," Sirius said, holding her face in his hands. "Extremely scary, but amazing." She laughed and he kissed her again. One hand tangled in her hair and the other made its way under the edge of her shirt. She moaned into his mouth as his hand began its exploration.

"How long until you have to be at work?" Sirius gasped out as her hands began their own journey.

"An hour," she replied breathlessly.

"Plenty of time," Sirius replied, returning his attention to her neck, waving a hand at the door behind him. And after that, there didn't seem to be a need for any more talking.

Later, as she was getting ready to leave, Sirius sighed. She turned and looked questioningly at him.

"I don't know what to tell Harry about the trial," he said. "He'll ask. He knows that Albus was going to talk to the Minister the other day."

"I don't think it's a good idea to tell him in a letter," she replied, walking back towards him and wrapping her arms around his waist. "Besides, it's not as if Scrimgeour refused all together. Albus said he just didn't seem to be too open to discussing it."

"I know, but I think I may have gotten Harry's hopes up just a little too much," Sirius admitted, looking sheepish.

"Sirius," Catherine said in exasperation. "What did you do?"

"Nothing, it's just that every time we talked about things, I just made it sound like I was already free," Sirius said. Catherine sighed.

"Harry is a lot older than his years in a lot of ways," she said. "Except when it comes to family. Then he's like a little boy on Christmas. You know that Sirius, how could you have encouraged him thinking like that?"

"Maybe I was just trying to be optimistic," Sirius snapped. Catherine's arms tightened around him. When Albus had told them that Scrimgeour was less than enthusiastic about discussing the possibility that the Ministry had been wrong about Sirius all along, they had both been more than disappointed. Although she understood where the new Minister was coming from, admitting now that they had thrown people in jail that weren't actually guilty wouldn't bode well, it didn't make it hurt any less. It was starting to seem as if finding Pettigrew might be their only option, one that was almost surely impossible.

"I'm sorry," Sirius said a few moments later.

"It's all right," Catherine replied. "I'm as upset as you are." He sighed and pulled her closer to him, resting his chin on top of her head. "I've got to go to work."

"I know," he said, but he didn't let go of her.

"And my appointment is today," she said. He pulled back a bit.

"I wish I could be there," he replied.

"I know," she said echoing his earlier statement. "I was thinking about that actually." He cocked his head and looked at her quizzically. "Well, Poppy knows everything about the two of us and since its summer there won't be any students in the castle. So I was thinking that if you want to know what we're having, we could get Albus to open up the floo for us and Poppy could tell us." His grin had gotten wider as she spoke.

"Do you really want to know whether it's a boy or girl?" he asked. She shrugged.

"I never knew with my three, they didn't really do that back then, so I'm fine with being surprised if that's what you want," she said. "But it might also be nice to know, so we can work out how to prepare the kids."

"What do you mean?" he asked in confusion.

"If it's a boy, you know that Harry is going to feel displaced," she said. "Maybe Rory too, come to that. And if it's a girl, well, I don't think you realize just how Miranda feels about you." His brow furrowed. "She asks me about you constantly, wants to know when you're coming back and why you don't visit more often. She asks about Remus too and the two of them have always been close, but it's different with you." Sirius smiled. "I know that the two of you spent a lot of time together when Celia cursed me and when I was recovering at Hogwarts last month. She's never had a father that she can remember."

"You think that she thinks of me that way?" he asked, a bit of awe in his voice. Catherine smiled.

"She's much more perceptive than we all give her credit for," Catherine said. "She loves Remus, but she knows that he and I are just friends. But she knows that I love you and I don't doubt that she knows exactly how you feel about me as well. I just don't want her to be afraid that she's going to be abandoned again."

"You know I'd never do that," Sirius protested.

"I know that," Catherine assured him. "And you know that, but she's only nine."

"So you think we should find out then," he said.

"I think it might be a good idea, but I'm not going to force it if you'd rather wait," she replied.

"Just when have I been good about waiting for anything?" he asked, arching an eyebrow.

"Gryffindors," she said rolling her eyes and shaking her head.

"Ravenclaws," he returned, kissing her neck and slowly moving his lips to that place behind her ear that made her melt every time. "Are far too analytical and sensible."

"Sirius," she hissed, then moaned. "I've got to go to work."

"No you don't," he said, moving down her jaw to her lips. Breaking the kiss, she pushed herself away from him.

"Yes," she said breathlessly. "I do." He pouted and she rolled her eyes again. "I'll kiss you good-bye, but only if you promise to behave."

"Marauder's honor," he said and she snorted. "What?" he asked indignantly.

"Never mind," she replied, kissing him quickly. "Think about what I said and we'll talk more tomorrow."

"I love you," he called after her as she walked towards the door.

"Love you too," she called back and gave him a smile over her shoulder.

9 July 1996

"Mum, Owen wants me to come over today," Rory said at breakfast.

"Me too," Miranda added.

"Owen wants you to come over?" Catherine asked Miranda in amusement. Miranda huffed.

"No, Mum, Alexis and Anna want me to come over," she said. Catherine chuckled.

"And Ethan's asked Will and Tess and me to come as well," Ellie said. Catherine noticed that her daughter pointedly avoided looking at her.

"All of you hm?" Catherine asked. "Well, I've got to work today, so it's good timing I suppose. Let me just talk to Myra." She stood from the table and cleared away her dishes, then walked into the lounge to floo her friend.

"Are you sure you want the entire lot over there?" Catherine asked once Myra had answered.

"Believe me, it's a much better option than listening to the four of them whine that they're bored," Myra said. "At least they'll keep each other occupied."

"Yes, it's the 'occupied' part that I'm a bit worried about," Catherine returned. Myra laughed.

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, Tess hasn't flooed here once and the only letters that Ethan has gotten were from Ellie and Will." Catherine's brow furrowed.

"You know, Ellie hasn't gotten anything from Will either," she said. "Although Tess has been here a couple of times. Maybe she's bringing notes from him with her."

"Maybe Will is doing the same for Tess," Myra replied thoughtfully. "In any case, don't worry, I'll be keeping close watch on all four of them."

"I never doubted you," Catherine replied with a grin. She was sure that the teens wouldn't get much 'alone' time with Myra on the case.

"Are you alone?" Myra asked and Catherine smiled, knowing what she was asking.

"Yes, but everything's going perfectly," she said.

"Did you find out?" she asked.

"Not yet," she said, then quickly outlined what she'd told Sirius the day before. "I'm heading over there before I go to work, so we'll see what he's decided."

"Well you already know my guess and I'm telling you, I've never been wrong," Myra pointed out. It was true. Myra had accurately predicted the gender of all of their friends' children, as well as her nieces and nephews and many of Ian's co-workers.

"Yes, I'm keeping that in mind," Catherine teased. Myra shook her head in amusement.

"Just send them all through when they're ready," she said. "I'll have them home for dinner."

"Thanks Myra," Catherine replied, then broke the connection. She walked back into the kitchen. "All right you lot, you've been cleared." Rory whooped. "No one goes through until you're all ready and behave yourselves." She gave them all a stern look and they dutifully nodded, then raced out of the kitchen to get dressed and gather their things.

"Well, I guess you've got a free day," Catherine said to her mother who was currently loading the dishwasher. "However will you spend it?" She fluttered her eyelashes at her mother who gave her a scowl. "Is Edward free today?" Catherine continued.

"Teasing does not become you," her mother said with a glare. Catherine laughed and her mother's face softened. "It just so happens that he is. He was going to come over and have lunch with the children and me, so I suppose that the two of us can go out on our own instead." She moved toward the telephone and Catherine grinned as she left the kitchen.

She went upstairs to ready herself for her day. She was putting on her make-up when the yelling started.

"Come on, Ellie," Rory shouted. "What's taking you so long?"

"Mind your own business you nosy git," Ellie yelled back. "And get out of my room!" Catherine sighed, hoping that would be the end of the confrontation, but apparently not.

"Don't call me a git!" Rory retorted. "What are you putting all that junk on your face for? It's not going to make you look any better."

"Rory, get out!" Ellie screamed and there was the sound of a slamming door and then a yelp of pain. Catherine rushed from her room and found Rory sitting on the floor of the hall outside Ellie's door, cradling his fingers. He was trying valiantly not to cry.

"What happened?" Catherine demanded.

"Ellie slammed Rory's fingers in the door," Miranda said from the doorway of her own room.

"Let me see sweetheart," Catherine said to her son, gently taking his hand in hers. He winced as she gently felt each of his fingers. She ran her wand over his hand and was relieved to see that nothing was broken. "Miranda, run into Mummy's bathroom and get the jar from my cupboard that says 'bruise paste' please." Miranda did as she was bid and Catherine looked down at Rory again.

"Nothing's broken," she said.

"What's the bruise paste for? There's no bruise either," Rory grimaced.

"There will be," Catherine replied grimly. "And it has a pain reliever in it, so it should help." Miranda returned and handed Catherine the jar. "Are you ready to go Miranda?" The little girl nodded. "Why don't you go down and help Grandma in the kitchen then, all right?"

"Okay Mum," she said and then went downstairs. Catherine uncapped the jar and began to lightly rub the paste into Rory's fingers. He hissed and gritted his teeth.

"Care to tell me what that was all about?" she asked.

"You said that we couldn't leave until everyone was ready and Ellie takes forever," he replied.

"She's a girl," Catherine began, but Rory cut her off.

"Manda's a girl and she's ready," he said.

"Ellie is a teenager, Rory," Catherine said, giving him a look that told him she wasn't pleased with his interruption. He colored a bit. "Girls take longer to get ready than boys, teenage girls even more so."

"Well that's stupid," he said. Catherine chuckled.

"Stupid though it may be, it's the truth," she said. "And what you said to her about her make-up wasn't very nice." Rory looked confused.

"Why not?" he asked.

"Rory," Catherine said in exasperation. "You told her putting it on wouldn't make her look any better, implying that she looked bad without it."

"That's not what I meant," he protested. "I meant that she doesn't need to wear that stuff. She looks fine without it." Catherine stopped massaging his hand and stared at him in astonishment. He looked nervous all of a sudden. Catherine leaned forward and pulled him into a hug, kissing the top of his head.

"Mu-um," he complained. Catherine released him.

"You are very sweet, do you know that?" she asked. He shrugged.

"Everyone knows that Ellie is pretty," he said. "I mean, I don't think so really, but everyone else does," he added in a rush, blushing when he finished. Catherine hid a smile and nodded. She stood and then helped him up.

"Come on," she said, knocking on Ellie's door.

"What?" Ellie snapped, whipping the door open. "Oh, sorry Mum."

"You owe your brother an apology," Catherine said sternly. "You smashed his fingers in the door."

"Well, he should have left me alone, like I told him to," Ellie huffed.

"Eleanor Catherine," Catherine warned.

"Fine, I'm sorry," Ellie said in exasperation.

"Ellie," Catherine admonished, but Ellie had already gone back into her room. Catherine turned to her son. "Go downstairs and wait with Miranda." Rory nodded and flexing his fingers experimentally, made his way down the stairs. Catherine pulled in a breath and went into her daughter's room.

Ellie sat on her bed with her arms crossed in front of her, looking very much like she was trying not to cry. Catherine sat gently on the edge and looked at her.

"El," Catherine began, but Ellie shook her head.

"Did you hear what he said to me?" she demanded.

"Yes, but you misunderstood," Catherine replied.

"Misunderstood, right," Ellie scoffed. "As if there's anything to misunderstand when someone says something like that."

"Actually in this case there is," Catherine continued. "Rory wasn't insulting you. He was complimenting you." Ellie stared at her incredulously. "I know what it sounded like, but Ellie, he told you that the make-up wasn't going to make you look any better because he thinks that you look fine the way that you are. He even said that you were pretty."

"Yeah, right," Ellie said, rolling her eyes.

"I mean it," Catherine said. "When I questioned him about what he said, he looked completely confused. He wasn't trying to hurt your feelings." Ellie stared at her for a few minutes.

"Did he really say I was pretty?" she asked in a small voice.

"Yes," Catherine answered with a grin. "He tried to deny it afterwards of course, but he really did say it." Ellie laughed, then sobered.

"God, I'm a brat," she said.

"Yes, well, I do think you need to give him a sincere apology, but it wasn't just you," Catherine said. "I thought the same thing. And he shouldn't have been bothering you to hurry." Ellie nodded, but remained silent. "Is there something you wanted to talk about?" Ellie shook her head slowly, then stopped and looked up at her mother. Catherine could see the insecurity in her eyes. "Sweetheart, what's this all about? You've never worn more than a bit of lip gloss. Why all the make-up all of a sudden?" Ellie shrugged. "Does this have something to do with Will?"

"No," she said immediately, then seemed to get a bit flustered. "I mean, maybe. I don't know." Ellie stared at her lap for a few moments. Catherine's brow furrowed.

"Have you spoken to Will since you've been home?" she asked. Ellie looked up at her in confusion. "I know that you've gotten letters from Tess and Ethan, but I haven't seen any from Will. Has Tess been giving them to you herself?" Ellie seemed unsure for a moment, as if she was trying to decide what to say. "I don't mind you know."

"Um, well, yeah, that's what we've been doing," Ellie finally said. "Tess brings me notes from him and takes mine back with her."

"Whatever for?" Catherine asked.

"Well, it's just, you know," she was biting her lip and twisting her hands in her lap. Catherine was beginning to wonder what was going on. "It's his mum, sort of."

"Has she said something to you?" Catherine demanded. Although she was a pureblood, Anastasia had never seemed to have anything against muggleborns, but given the current climate, one never knew.

"No Mum, honest," Ellie assured her. "It's more just that she's sort of…strict?" Ellie looked at Catherine hopefully.

"Are you asking me or telling me?" Catherine said.

"Telling you," Ellie replied, but her eyes were still shifting away from Catherine's every time she looked at her daughter.

"Why do I feel like you're not telling me everything?" Catherine asked. Ellie's eyes jumped up to Catherine's then back down to her lap. When she looked up, she wore a smile that Catherine didn't truly believe was genuine.

"I am Mum," Ellie said and Catherine didn't fail to notice that her daughter didn't follow up her statement with 'I promise' or 'I swear' as she usually did. Something was going on, but it seemed that Catherine was not going to get the answers she wanted today.

"Tell Rory and Miranda I'll be down in a minute," Ellie said as she stood and went back to her closet. Catherine looked warily at her for a few more seconds, then rose from the bed.

"All right, I'll tell them," she said and then left the room with one last glance at her daughter. She closed the door and leaned against it. Teenagers, she thought. Why oh why couldn't they all just stay little forever?

Catherine flooed to Grimmauld shortly before she needed to leave for work. Sirius was sitting at the kitchen table, seemingly waiting for her.

"So have you decided?" she asked.

"Yes," he grinned. "I think we should find out." Catherine smiled back.

"All right, I'll talk to Poppy as soon as I can," she said. "Have you heard back from Harry?"

"Yes, just," he said. "He was disappointed of course, but he's glad to know he'll be out of there soon. Actually he was more worried that he'd gotten us into trouble somehow." Catherine sighed. He was always taking the blame for something.

"I hope you wrote back and told him he was being ridiculous," she said.

"Of course I did," Sirius replied. "Although I was a bit nicer about it." His eyes shone with amusement. She shook her head at him. "What is it?" he asked after a few moments. She looked up at him in surprise. He chuckled. "You can't hide much from me, love. I can read you too easily."

"It's Ellie actually," she said. She proceeded to tell Sirius what had happened earlier that morning.

"So you think she's lying to you about Will?" he asked.

"I don't know," Catherine admitted. "I don't know what reason she would have to. He's a great kid, they've been friends for years, and it's not as if I wouldn't approve of him or something."

"You don't think things have gone, er, further than they should have?" Sirius asked nervously. Catherine gaped at him.

"Good god, Sirius, she's only fourteen!" Catherine exclaimed. Sirius shrugged.

"When I was fourteen," he trailed off when he saw the look on Catherine's face.

"Please, I don't need to hear about your many conquests while we were in school," she said. Sirius scooted his chair closer to hers.

"You know that none of them ever held a candle to you, don't you?" he asked quietly. "And after you, there was no one else." She looked at him in surprise. "Ever," he finished.

"Not even after we broke up?" she asked and he shook his head. "What does that say about me then?" she said with a choked laugh.

"It says that you moved on like I told you to," he replied, taking her hand and kissing the back of it. "I'm not going to lie and tell you that there weren't offers and that I wasn't tempted. If for no other reason than to just try and forget for a while, but I could never follow through." She put a hand to his cheek as she felt the tears gather.

"Thank you for telling me," she said and he shrugged. She leaned forward and kissed him gently. "How did we get from Ellie to this?" she asked with a laugh.

"I know how to distract you," he said, waggling his eyebrows. "But I have wanted to tell you for some time. I just wasn't sure how to." She kissed him again and then looked at her watch.

"I've got to get to work," she said.

"Try not to worry about Ellie," he told her. "Things have a way of working themselves out."

"I'll try," she replied. She kissed him once more and then rose and stepped back through the floo, blowing him a kiss before she disappeared.

13 July 1996

The patronus came through the wall of her bedroom and Catherine nearly shrieked as she grabbed her wand. Realizing what it was, she took a breath and listened to the message.

"Dumbledore just arrived with Harry," Sirius' dog said. "He wants to speak with us if you're available." Catherine glanced at the clock as the patronus faded. It was nearly 1:00 in the morning. She was only up because she'd had to go to the loo, a nightly occurrence now. She sighed and conjured her own patronus, sending it off to Sirius with her reply. Pulling her clothes back out of her closet, she noticed again that her skirts and trousers were getting a bit tight around the middle. She wouldn't be able to hide things much longer, she realized.

Once dressed, she quickly wrote a note to her mother and left it on her bedside table, then went through the floo to Grimmauld. Sirius and Dumbledore sat at the kitchen table when she came through, sipping cups of tea.

"Ah, Catherine, excellent," Albus said, smiling at her genially.

"Where's Harry?" she asked.

"I've sent him up to bed," Sirius said. "He was nearly asleep on his feet."

"I do apologize for the lateness of the hour," Dumbledore said.

"It's all right," Catherine replied. "I'm just glad Harry's finally here." Albus nodded and then picked up his cup once more.

"Merlin Albus, what happened to your hand?" she exclaimed. It was blackened and shriveled looking

"Ah, an old man's folly, unfortunately," he said. "Severus has sorted it as best he can."

"Severus?" Catherine questioned. "You haven't seen Poppy?"

"No, this was more Severus' area of expertise," Dumbledore replied somewhat cryptically.

"A Dark curse then," Sirius said.

"Indeed," the headmaster agreed.

"Albus, I know how intelligent Severus is, but perhaps you should be seen at St. Mungo's," Catherine urged him.

"No my dear, things are as well as they can be," he replied. "St. Mungo's would be able to do nothing more than Severus has already done." Catherine opened her mouth to protest again, but closed it with a look from Sirius.

"So, Harry is here for the rest of the summer then?" she asked.

"Yes," Albus replied. "Molly has asked that he visit the Burrow and I'm sure that the two of you will have no problem with that. We've increased the security there already, given the Weasley's status in the Order." Both Catherine and Sirius nodded. "Now there is another matter I wished to discuss. I have met with Rufus again." Catherine held her breath. "He has come more toward our way of thinking."

"He's agreed to give Sirius a trial?" Catherine asked hopefully.

"Not as such, no," Albus replied and her heart sank. "But he is willing to have a private interview with the key parties involved in Sirius' case."

"You mean the children," Catherine guessed and Albus nodded.

"Yes," he said gravely. "He also wants Remus and Sirius there. He wants to question all of you under Veritaserum."

"No," Sirius said immediately. "No way."

"That was my immediate reaction as well," Dumbledore agreed. "I pointed out to Rufus that Harry, Mr. Weasley and Miss Granger are still minors and as such, their parents or guardians must agree. I have no doubt that Molly and Arthur would say no and I am sure that the Grangers would decline as well, once it was explained to them. The Dursley's could be persuaded to refuse as long as they were told it was something Harry wanted." Sirius snorted.

"What did the Minister say?" Catherine asked.

"He agreed to view the children's memories of the night in the Shrieking Shack instead and we can obviously provide him with only what he needs without mention of the time-turner or how Sirius actually escaped," Albus explained. "However, he still insists on questioning Remus and Sirius with Veritaserum."

Catherine looked nervously at Sirius. It was a risk, they both knew it. The Minister could get information out of Sirius that he didn't want to provide, such as just how he had escaped from Hogwarts that night. She thought too of her visit to him in Brazil, not to mention all the people that currently knew where he was. While he couldn't reveal the location of Grimmauld, even under Veritaserum, it was possible that he could implicate the entire Order as accomplices to hiding him.

"I need to know how trustworthy he is," Sirius said to the headmaster. "I'll only do it if I know that he's not going to go after anyone else for helping me."

"I think that Rufus has his own agenda when it comes to your case," Dumbledore said carefully. "I truly do not think he will betray us, but I do think he is hoping he will get something else out of clearing your name." He looked at the two of them and Catherine sucked in a breath at the same time that Sirius' face darkened.

"He wants Harry," he nearly growled.

"Yes," Albus agreed. "Cornelius damaged the reputation of the Ministry immeasurably. Rufus' thought is that if he can get Harry's public support, then he will be able to turn things around rather quickly."

"No," Sirius said again at the same time another voice said, "I'll do it." All three adults turned to see Harry standing in the corner of the kitchen holding his invisibility cloak in one hand.

"I sent you to bed," Sirius scolded.

"I came down for a drink of water," Harry replied.

"Under your cloak?" Sirius said skeptically.

"Professor Dumbledore told me to keep it on me at all times now," Harry informed them. Catherine glanced at Albus, whose eyes were dancing with mirth.

"So I did, Harry, so I did," the headmaster replied. Catherine's eyes narrowed.

"Regardless," she said sternly. "I'm sure that the headmaster did not tell you to lurk in corners and listen to private conversations." Harry had the sense to hang his head guiltily.

"No," he admitted. "But I meant what I said. Whatever the Minister wants me to do, if it means clearing Sirius' name, I'll do it."

"Harry, I appreciate that, but this isn't for you to decide," Sirius said gently.

"But," Harry began to protest, but Catherine cut him off.

"We'll talk about this tomorrow. Well later today, anyway," she amended. "Go back to bed." Harry looked like he wanted to protest more, but after seeing the look on Catherine's face his shoulders slumped and he turned back towards the stairs. "Oh and Harry," she called. He turned back hopefully. "Leave your cloak here with us. I don't think you'll need it between here and your bedroom." Harry glared at her, but then caught Sirius' eye and huffed in frustration.

"Fine," he mumbled, setting his cloak on the table.

"I'll be up in a few minutes," Sirius called after him and Harry raised a hand in acknowledgement.

"Well, I guess that covers why we need to imperturb the door to any room we're talking in," Catherine said lightly once they were sure that Harry had gone. Dumbledore chuckled.

"Well, I believe I have left you with enough to think about," he said as he stood. "I shall speak to you again after the meeting tomorrow night. Good night."

"Good night Albus," Catherine said and Sirius nodded. After the headmaster had left, Sirius scrubbed a hand down his face.

"What a complete cock up," he said.

"What are you going to do?" Catherine asked.

"Talk to Remus for a start," Sirius replied. "He has to agree as well. What do you think?" Catherine bit her lip for a moment.

"I think that if you hope to have any chance at all of clearing your name, then we're probably going to have to trust the Minister," she said. Sirius snorted.

"Easier said than done," he said.

"I know, but Sirius, Scrimgeour isn't Fudge," Catherine pointed out.

"Thank Merlin for small favors," he muttered. He looked up at her as she yawned. "You should go home and get some sleep."

"I'm fine," she told him, trying unsuccessfully to stifle another yawn.

"No, you're not," he said, rising from his chair and then squatting down in front of her. "You need your rest. I shouldn't have bothered you this late." Catherine put a hand to his cheek.

"Nothing concerning you is a bother," she said. He smiled and kissed her palm.

"Even so, go home and go to bed," he repeated.

"Are you sure you don't want me to talk to Harry with you?" she asked.

"Not tonight," Sirius assured her. "If I don't get through to him, we can always talk to him again tomorrow." She nodded and he stood and helped her to her feet. "I love you," he said, wrapping his arms around her waist and kissing her softly.

"Hmm," she sighed, resting her head against his chest for a moment. "I love you too."

"Now go before you fall asleep standing here," he chuckled. She smiled and then travelled through the floo, barely making it to her bed before she fell asleep.