Chapter 27 Visitors RSVP
Ron and Harry were playing chess when Hermione ran up to them "Harry, we have to talk, now, its important."
"Come on Hermione, what could be that important." Ron said sounding annoyed as Harry was beating him this time.
"Its about...Snuffles" she whispered "I have to tell you about something that just happened."
Harry looked at her with panic, "Is he alright, has something happened to him?" he couldn't even bare the thought of losing Sirius, he was the only family he had.
"No, he's not hurt. Lets go somewhere to talk" She said as she walked out of the common room into the hall.
Hermione headed straight for the library, Saturday, no one would be in here. "Harry, did you know Sirius and Miss MacLeod knew each other?" Hermione asked excitedly
"Well yeah, kind of...Remus and Hagrid had said they used to date." Harry told her feeling a little uncomfortable.
"Date!! Harry if what I just saw is any indication, they did more than just date." she said adamantly.
"Reeaaally," Ron said, suddenly interested, "Exactly what 'did' you see Hermione?"
"Ron, grow up" she said shaking her head disapprovingly.
"No, Hermione, really what did you see" Harry's heart was skipping a few beats, and his mouth suddenly became dry. He must have looked terrible, because Hermione stopped and stared at him strangely.
"Maybe you should sit down Harry, you look kind of 'funny'" she said sounding concerned.
Grabbing a chair quickly "No, honestly Hermione, I'm fine. What did you see? Did they run into each other? Are they dating again?" Harry was beyond curious now, he had to know.
"Actually I was walking back to her classroom with her, after we left the locker room and we heard yelling. It was Snape, Remus and Sirius. Snape and Sirius were fighting about something, but as soon as Sirius saw Miss MacLeod, he got this funny look on his face and he couldn't even talk anymore." Hermione said quickly
"Yeah, and" even Ron was getting interested now. "Did Sirius punch him or anything?"
Hermione shot Ron another disapproving look as she continued "Miss MacLeod just stopped, right in the middle of the hallway and turned this horrible pale colour, and then she started blushing, she walked right through the group of them and made some sort of comment about how they were still fighting after a decade or something and went up to her classroom. Sirius started yelling about why didn't anyone tell him she was at the school, and Snape got very nasty with him and said "Why would we, you two didn't part on good terms" or something like that and walked away" she paused to take a breath.
"You mean she didn't even talk to him" Harry moaned, crestfallen "not even a little. Did she at least wave or wink or something"
"I'm getting to that" she told him "after Snape left Sirius and Remus were talking and then Sirius was crying"
"Crying, Sirius was crying. Why? Hermione what happened?" It hurt Harry to think about Sirius crying, just picturing it made his heart ache.
"If you would stop interrupting me, I could tell you a lot faster" Hermione said impatiently. "Anyway, while they were talking Miss MacLeod came back down and just stood there, on the steps. Remus saw her but he didn't say anything at first, he just kept talking to Sirius, then he 'finally' asked Sirius if he wanted to see her or just leave. Sirius didn't think she wanted to see him, but Remus said well she's standing behind you. Harry you should have seen what happened when they finally looked at each other...... I've never seen anything like it.." she paused remembering every thing she had seen.
"Hermione, don't you dare stop now" Harry yelled, this had to be good news, it just had to be.
"Harry, it was amazing and kind of sad" she saw Harry's face drop as she said that "Don't worry I think it ends well"
"You think" Harry rolled his eyes as he dropped his head to the table "Hermione don't do this to me. Is it good or not?"
"Well yes and no, but I'm pretty sure we can make it a definite yes." Harry lifted his head up quickly when he heard her say that "When Sirius saw her, he couldn't talk, he tried but nothing came out, just these big tears. Oh Harry he looked so sad." Hermione said softly "All he could do was hold out his hand, like this, and then MacLeod walked over to him and started crying too, she grabbed his hand, and then Sirius reached over and touched her cheek. Next thing I knew he was hugging her, and she was hugging him and they were both crying, it was so romantic" Hermione paused for another breath.
"Yes!!! That's great Hermione, they must still be in love." Harry was grinning from ear to ear, he was going to have a family, that was all he wanted, not too much to ask for, especially seeing how Sirius and Cat already got along.
"Well Harry, it would be.....If Snape hadn't come back" Hermione said hesitantly
"SNAPE! What does he have to do with anything" Harry was livid, he couldn't screw this up for him, not after everything he and Sirius had been through.
Hermione was shocked by his reaction, but it did prove why Harry was having these mood swings "Yes, Snape showed up and saw them hugging each other, and Harry, you can't even imagine the look on his face."
"Bet it was really nasty and mean" Ron said disgusted.
"No, it looked like someone had just torn his heart out. Then he, I don't know, it was almost like he put a mask on or something. His face just became blank, and then he said something about he and MacLeod having plans and they needed to go" Hermione said this part very gently, she didn't want Harry yelling again.
"She didn't go with him, did she?" Harry asked her
Hermione just nodded, as Harry groaned. "But Harry, it was the way he was treating her." Hermione began
"If he did anything to hurt her, so help me" Harry's temper was flaring
"No, Harry that's just it. He was so ...'sweet' to her. She was still crying, and he wiped her tears and then gave her his hanky. I don't know what to even think about that. I'm not even sure it was Snape." She finished
"Oh, it was Snape alright." Harry said glumly, "You should see him when she's around. But what did Sirius do. He didn't just let her leave did he?"
Hermione gave him a half-hearted smile "Well its not like Snape drug her away or anything. But there's more". She said brightly "Before she left, she had said something to Sirius about his wife not feeding him."
"Wife,.... Sirius doesn't have a wife" Harry said puzzled
"Exactly, Remus seems to think that the only reason MacLeod left was because she assumed Sirius was married. Harry, you should have heard Sirius after that, he was talking about marrying her and having children and everything." Hermione told him excitedly " I really think he loves her, but I also think Snape is going to be a bigger problem than Remus does, I've never seen him act like that. He can actually be 'charming' it was so strange." Hermione finally finished and she could tell by taking one look at Harry, that his mind was racing.
"Hey, you two wouldn't be interested in helping me with something, would you?" Harry asked suspiciously
"And when have we not" Ron said proudly, grinning widely, he had seen that look on Harry's face before.
"Hermione? What do you think the chances are of Sirius and Cat getting together? Honestly" Harry asked seriously "Its really important, do you think they have a chance?"
"Sure, I think they have a chance." Hermione answered hesitantly "Why?"
Harry simply gave them his most charming smile. As Ron and Hermione gave each other concerned glances, they had the feeling this would be trouble.
"Harry, what's going through that head of yours" Ron finally asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.
Harry, still smiling, put his arms around his friends and said quietly "Have you ever heard of the game 'cupid'?" he started walking with them towards the door "Its going to be three against one."…..
Cat had pretty much stayed to herself, 'laying low", as it were, she really had no desire to repeat Saturday's festivities. Severus had been very sweet to her, but she could tell he was worried, and hurt that she had so willingly gone to Sirius. She was beginning to cry again at the thought of him, "This is completely pathetic," she was talking to herself again, "I've become a sob sister. What is wrong with me?" Stupid question, she knew exactly what was wrong, Sirius Black, he had waltzed back into her life just as suddenly as he had left it.
Cat was wiping away her tears again, "its been 17 years Catri, get over it" get over it, that was the problem, she thought she was over it. That's what she had been telling herself since Albus asked her to return to Hogwarts to help defend the students, and to protect Harry. Albus had warned her about Voldemort and his stupid deatheaters and everything else, he had even let her know that Severus was teaching at the school, told her he didn't want her to be surprised. Well Shazam, maybe someone should have warned her that Sirius was still roaming the halls as well. She knew what she had to do, she had to make every effort to avoid him, it was the only way she was going to get through this.
And then there was Severus, what was she going to do about him. He loved her, she knew that, without doubt, without question, he loved her. And until Saturday afternoon, she was completing willing to return his affections. Cat paused for a moment remembering the way Severus had of making her feel as if she was the only person in the world. The way he would hold her hand when they were walking, the gifts he was always sending her, just little tokens, a book, a pin, the music box, and of course the flowers, almost everyday she would find a flower of some sort, on her desk, on a book she had been reading, on her chair at diner, although she was a bit concerned when she found some on her bed. Cat was taken with Severus, but the thought of sharing a bed with him was a bit, well, intimidating to her.
She laughed to herself and shook her head. Severus tended to be subtle, but he was getting a bit insistent about her spending the holidays with him, in fact after Saturday's episode, quite insistent. Part of her wanted to go with him, she definitely had a tender spot for him in her heart, but she felt it would be 'dishonest' of her to go with him if she had any doubts about her feelings. Cat looked in her mirror and sighed deeply, doubts, right now that's all she had. Doubts about Severus, about Sirius, about agreeing to come back here. Right now the only thing she had no doubt about was the time, Monday morning, and they would be expecting her a breakfast. She was half tempted to just skip it, but she knew that would only make it worse, they would probably come looking for her. Remus and Severus had tried to find her several times in the last two days as it was, she just didn't feel like talking to anyone, not even Remus.
Cat dreaded having to face them, but better publicly were they had to at least pretend to be adults. And she would need to talk to Remus about Tuesdays class, she was just waiting to see if her "visual aids" would be available to help. Bless Albus Dumbledore, Cat thought he would nix the entire idea, but he thought it was wonderful, gave them his complete support. Uncle Alby.... he always had so much faith in people, no wonder her father adored him. Taking one last look in her mirror, trying to make herself look as presentable as possible, Cat took a deep breath and headed towards the great hall to face her fate.......
Remus was still trying to calm Sirius down, "What do you mean no ones seen her. Remus, she didn't just disappear, are you sure Snape hasn't done anything with her?" Sirius's grey-blue eyes were flashing with worry and anger, Cat hadn't been seen since she walked down the hall with Snape.
"Sirius, I'm sure. I caught Snape looking for her as well." Remus said calmly trying to reassure his friend "You know how she is, sometimes she just needs time to think. Its not like she hasn't done this before."
"But she's always gone to you or Lily before." Sirius said agonizingly "She the type that needs to talk when she's upset. She needs to get it out in the open, it only hurts her more when she keeps it inside." Sirius sat down on his cot again, running his hands through his hair, his eyes were full of concern, this was not like her, not at all "You don't think some thing happened to her, deatheaters, or MOM or anything." He needed reassurance that she was alright, if anything happened to her,... his mind went numb at the thought of it.
Remus looked at his friend, he hated to see him suffering like this. "Sirius, trust me...No one has done anything to her. I've seen her fight. Magic and physical, and believe me either way the whole school would have heard it." Looking at his wristwatch Remus moved to the door "Listen Sirius, its almost time for breakfast, its Monday morning and she has class. In fact, I'm pretty sure Harry is in her first class. If she's not at breakfast, then we start to worry. Deal" Remus said hopefully.
"Alright, deal" Sirius answered glumly "I just need to know she's alright. Do you think Harry can watch her, make sure she's fine?" He hated bringing Harry into this, especially right now, but he couldn't stand the thought of her being in pain with no one to talk to .
"Harry, not a problem." Remus laughed "He spends so much time with her now, no one would even notice."
"Really, Harry spends a lot of time with her." Sirius repeated "What does Snape say about that?"
"Nothing he can say." Remus told him in a very matter of fact voice "You know Cat, family first, and let me assure you Sirius, she considers Harry her own flesh and blood." He was about to leave when he turned to Sirius and added "By the way Sirius, just so its not a surprise to you. Her family considers Harry her son as well, you know clan law and all."
"Clan law, I can't even tell you how long its been since I heard that phrase." Sirius said wistfully, pausing a moment he grabbed Remus as he was walking out the door. "Wait, you understand that whole 'clan law' thing, right?"
"Pretty much, but its very complex. Why?"
"Well if they consider Cat his mother, and I'm his godfather. What does that mean by 'clan law', they won't fight me for him, right." Sirius said hesitantly
"Actually, I think they would make you and Cat share him." Remus said smiling "Of course, they don't like to share children, so they would probably insist you join their clan in some way or another."
"And exactly how would I "join their clan" I'm not related to them." Sirius responded sarcastically.
"Well, you could go through the ceremony, like Lily did, or..... you could always marry into Cat's clan." Remus said brightly as he closed the door and hurried off to breakfast, he wasn't sure if he wanted to see Sirius's face. He had the feeling that he might be blinded by the smile that was surely shining on his friend's face now......
Cat had timed it just right, everyone was busy talking and preparing for the days classes. She arrived in the hall just as they were about to announce breakfast, Albus gave her a knowing look as she entered. He's just a bad as poppa, he can always tell when I'm upset she thought. Even Minerva looked concern, great tell me the entire staff knows. Smiling at Albus and Minerva, she walked to the far side of the table to take her seat, unfortunately that meant she had to pass most of the staff, including Severus and Remus. Why o why had Minerva insisted that my chair be next to hers. Cat walked past without making eye contact with either Severus or Remus, sitting down quickly she said as cheerfully as possible "Sorry, I didn't mean to be late. Had some things to take care of."
Albus nodded at her, he knew, it was written on his face. Nothing to do now but make the best of it. Cat could tell Remus and Severus where trying to get her attention, but she refused to look at them, she didn't want to chance it. Instead she and Minerva began talking about the plans for the holiday ball, it was only two weeks away. "And what will you be wearing Kitty dear? I hope nothing like those gowns that you and Lily insisted on wearing." Minerva said in a not so subtle tone.
Cat actually had to laugh, she had forgotten about those gowns "No, Minerva, not anymore. Besides its not as much fun without a partner in crime." She said merrily, "By the way, you do realize that it was Lily's mum who picked out those dresses for us. All of them." Cat almost laughed the food right out of her mouth, if Minerva could only see the look on her face.
Mrs. Evans had always insisted on taking 'her girls' shopping for their gowns, or anything else for that matter. She was so much fun, and she loved to see Lily and Cat together, they were such happy times. Cat remembered how Mrs. Evans used to show them off at all the boutiques and restaurants, passed them off and her twin girls. Petunia only ever came with them once, that girl was such a pain, never laughed, never enjoyed anything, how could she and Lily have the same blood in their veins. And Mrs. Evans, there was no way Petunia was her daughter, she was almost as much fun as Lily. Talk about a trouble maker, no matter how daring Cat and Lily got, Mrs. Evans was always a step ahead of them, those gowns were a perfect example. Neither Lily nor Cat would ever think to buy something so provocative, so....well, bare in some cases, but Mrs. Evans, she would have them try on gown after gown, always picking the most form fitting, curve making ones in the store, and then order two of them, in complementing colours.
Thank heavens James and Sirius had only come along with them once, because it didn't look like their hearts could take to much more. Mrs. Evans would have 'her girls' try on dress after dress, modelling them, every lacy, strappy, how does that thing even stay up dress in the store. But the final straw was when Mrs. Evans lead them all into the 'lingerie' section of the store, "need a good foundation for anything" is what she had said. James and Sirius took one look at all the lace and silk and became beet red, they couldn't even speak properly. James finally managed to cough out that he and Sirius needed to go get something to eat and they would meet them in the restaurant around the corner. Mrs. Evans had laughed herself silly, as Cat and Lily glared at her. "Mother how could you" Lily had said, utterly embarrassed, but Mrs. Evans sat there on the floor of the changing room laughing until the tears ran down her cheeks "Oh Lily I'm sorry, but it was just too easy. Besides you don't see Cat getting upset with me." Lily looked from her mother to Cat "That's because she's too shocked to even speak" Lily had roared back. Cat just looked at Lily's red face, and her mother still sitting on the floor holding her sides laughing.
Cat was smiling brightly now, just remembering those happy days, all the fun they had. Minerva looked at her with a look of mild surprise "Are you feeling better now dear." she asked cautiously.
"Yes Tanta, much better, thank you." Cat gave her a wink
Professor McGonagall gave Cat a mild look of anger "Catri what have I told you.."
"Yes, mam, I know, as long as we are at school, it is either Minerva or Professor McGonagall" Cat replied, bobbing her head as she repeated the mantra.
Minerva couldn't hold back a smile, such trouble this one, but still, she was a good girl at heart, if only she could learn to behave better. "Yes, well, please try to remember that in the future."
Professor Dumbledore had been watching them, smiling he said "So, Miss MacLeod, I understand that you and Professor Lupin will be starting your special sessions tomorrow." He felt the need to smooth things over between them, it was as much his fault as anyone else's. He should have told her Sirius was returning, he just never imagined it would effect her like this.
"Hopefully," Cat replied, "I'm still waiting for confirmation." she said uneasily. As if on cue, hundreds of owls began entering the great hall, dropping off mail and packages to students and teachers alike. Cat noticed that Severus had received several items that he quickly stuck in his the pockets of his cloak. She didn't know why, but that made her nervous, she was actually tempted to ask him about it when a horrible noise caught her attention.
Every eye in the hall looked up to the source of the noise, a large black bird had flown into the hall, and the owls were not happy about it. Screeching their disapproval the owls were diving at the black bird, as it zigged and zagged to avoid being hit. The black bird circled the hall several times before finding his target. Letting out a throaty cry, the black bird dived directly at the teachers table, narrowly missing Professor Sprouts hair, as it crashed in front of Remus and Cat.
Remus quickly threw his napkin over the bird to stop the owls from attacking it, as Cat picked it up and held it to her chest. "Careful Cat, you don't know what it wants." Remus said cautiously.
"No, its okay, I recognize its wings." she said quickly as she shooed the owls away from the bird. Once the owls had settled down, Cat gently sat the bird on the table in front of her, taking the napkin off of it. It was a raven, with scarlet markings on its wings, it was a messenger from the Gangrel. Cat quickly removed the message from its leg as the raven boldly jumped onto her plate and began eating her toast.
"Well, what is it?" Remus asked. Cat didn't respond, she just held up her right hand to silence him as she read the letter. She was only half way through the first letter, when a second message arrived. This carrier was even stranger than the first, and also as disturbing to the owls, in fact no one noticed it had even arrived until the owls began screeching and flying away.
Silently entering the hall was a small tawny animal, with large paws and short thick fur. Although it was small, it looked very dangerous, its mouth was large for its size and it had no aversion to showing its teeth, several of the students screamed when they saw it come near them. Several of the teachers stood up and pointed their wands at the beast, when suddenly Professor Dumbledore spoke up.
"I doubt that will be necessary, everyone take your seats please. Simply ignore him, he is here to deliver a message, nothing more. However if your owl is still with you at the table, it may be best to keep it out of sight." Dumbledore said calmly, as if this were nothing unusual.
Severus eyed the creature carefully, he had seen something very similar to it once before, he watched it as it walked purposefully towards the teacher's table. Pausing for a moment the beast coiled its muscles and sprang...
Cat was still absorbed in the first letter when the small beast jumped up on the table in front of her. "Wow, talk about timing" she said as she removed the letter from the cougar's collar. She immediately read the new letter, as an excited look came over her face. "Oh, wonderful, Raul will be coming as well." she said aloud to no one in particular. Smiling brightly she turned to Remus.
"Well Remus, it looks like class is on for tomorrow, they've both accepted the invitation to join us." Cat said as she read the parchments, the raven was eating her toast, as the cougar jumped into her lap rubbing against her arm. Cat absent-mindedly pet the cougar as she read the letters carefully, the cougar began growling at her a little, rousing her back to the present. "Oh poor baby, did I forget about you. I'm so sorry" she was talking to it like it was a child, while rubbing its chin "Here you go, you'll like this, just make sure you leave the birdies alone, okay." she said as she took her plate and sat it on the floor next to her chair. The cougar nimbly jumped off her lap and began to eat her breakfast hungrily..
If it weren't for the disapproving look she was getting from Professor McGonagall, Remus may have actually laughed out loud. "So you're talking to me now, are you." he said, still waiting for her to look at him. "I was beginning to worry"
"Well you should be worried after what you did." Cat said with an injured tone to her voice "Remus, what were you thinking?"
"If you promise not to get upset, I'll meet with you after lunch and explain, alright" Remus told her quietly, making sure Snape didn't hear. Cat nodded to Remus as she and the other teachers left to start their classes.
As soon as Cat stood up, the raven flew around her and landed lightly on her shoulder, the cougar ignored everyone until she had finished everything on the plate, then quickly darted through the students to catch up with her, .........