Chapter 28 Muffin Man

"Well what do you suppose that was about?" Ron asked

"I don't like it, that black bird with the red markings, I've read about them. They are only used by people who practice dark magic." Hermione said ominously.

"Come on Hermione, you know her better than that. There is no way she would practice dark magic." Harry said humouring her

"No, I don't know that, and neither do you Harry Potter. I know you like her a lot. But what do you really know about her." Hermione said shortly "Where does she come from? What did she do before she came here? Do you have any idea at all?"

Harry had to admit, he really didn't know much about her past. He knew that Cat and his mother were best friends, just like Sirius and his father had been. He knew she understood things that other people didn't, more importantly, she understood him. "I just know she wouldn't do anything to hurt us, alright. I've talked to her a lot. Remus trusts her, and so does Dumbledore, that's good enough for me." Harry said softly. He meant it, Hermione was right there was a lot he didn't know about Cat, but what he did know, what he felt, he knew in his heart and his mind that she would never do anything to harm them.....

As they were leaving the great hall Remus signalled Harry to wait. "Harry, can I speak with you before you go" Remus called out "I need your assistance with something."

Harry shrugged his shoulders and looked at his friends "Go on, I'll catch up with you later" he said, as he turned to talk to Remus.

"Harry, I was wondering if you would be interested in helping me with a 'project'?" Remus began, "I've been worried about Cat, she, .... well...she kind of disappeared over the weekend, and she's not looking herself this morning."

Harry just nodded, waiting for Remus to tell him about the scene between Cat and Sirius. "She did seem a bit...I don't know...tired."

"You have her class right now, don't you?" Remus continued, speaking quickly "Do me a favour, talk to her, make sure she's alright. Oh, and give her this" Remus reached inside his robe and pulled out several muffins "she really didn't eat much this morning, and she is looking a bit pale again."

Harry laughed at him "Where were you hiding all of this? You don't actually think she could eat all of this do you?" Harry gave Remus a look of pure amusement as Remus piled the muffins on Harry's books, doing his best not to let any fall.

"What, you think maybe I over did it?" Remus shot back with a crooked smile.

"Yeah, just a little," Harry shot back "looks like more than enough for you and Sirius together."

Remus laughed, realizing how strange this must look, "You're right, Potter. I guess I'm more worried about her than I thought."

"Uhmm, I was wondering about something, about you wanting me to talk to her" Harry began hesitantly as his mind tried to find the correct words "it wouldn't have anything to do with Sirius, would it? I mean, if they are going to get back together..." Harry finished hopefully.

"I wouldn't bring up Sirius just yet Harry." Remus said glumly "It didn't go as well as I had hoped it would......Hey, wait a minute, what do you know about this." Remus questioned.

"Not much, I know she and Sirius were doing fine until Snape showed up. And after she left Sirius was crying and talking about marrying her" now it was Harry's turn to sound dejected.

"And who told you all of this, not Sirius." Remus asked curious.

"Uh, Hermione actually."

"Hermione, strange, never pictured her as a gossip" Remus said thoughtfully.

"She's not, really. She just knows how much it means to me." Harry replied flatly

"Means a lot to you. How is that Harry?" Remus was beginning to sense a pattern here "Is there something I should know about?"

"Its just that," Harry sighed deeply "I want her and Sirius to get married, I mean if she marries my godfather, that would make her my godmother, and then we could be a family. A real family Remus, father, mother, a house. Don't get me wrong, I love my friends and you and Dumbledore and everything. But, I just want to feel like I belong somewhere, .....I know it sounds stupid" Harry was looking at his feet now, not wanting to see the disappointment on Remus's face.

Remus however was far from disappointed, "Harry, are you telling me that you 'want' Sirius and Cat to get married? That you would .....encourage the two of them to get back together." Remus was practically giddy, he never thought it would be this easy. He had been afraid Harry would be jealous of having to share his godfather.

"Sure, if you think it would help." Harry finally looked up and saw Remus's face "Wait a minute, is there something you're not telling me? Did they make up? Are they dating again?"

"Not yet Harry, but I think the odds have just improved considerably" Remus was practically glowing, "Have you ever heard of a game called "Cupid" ...........

Severus made his way to the dungeon smiling slightly, patting the packages in his pocket. 'They should come in very useful in the next few weeks' he thought as he entered his office. Locking the door behind him, he quickly placed the bundles on his desk and unlocked the drawers, two of the packages were from the Belladonna Boutique one from Flourish Botts and the last package, the smallest of them all was simple grey box with the words Gemini Jewels imprinted in gold. Severus held the last box in his hands for a few moments, his eyes had a dreamy look to them, and his smile had become softer and warmer.........

After Harry rushed through the halls and finally managed to get up to MacLeod's classroom, he went right up to her desk, looking completely winded, his hair even more of a mess than usual, and a crooked smile on his face. "Miss MacLeod, I know I shouldn't talk this way to a teacher, but I really earned the right to today," Harry began as Cat stared at him, trying to imagine what could be next "you have the strangest, most idiotic friends in the world." Harry finished as he dumped the muffins on her desk, startling the cougar who had been lounging half asleep on an old tarot book.

MacLeod looked at him with a puzzled grin on her face "Okay.....and the muffins would be....what, a hint or a clue.....throw me a line here Harry."

"The muffins, all of them, are from Remus. He's worried about you, he said you looked tired and pale and you didn't eat enough this morning" Harry was grinning from ear to ear as he saw Cat blush.

Cat lowered her head into the palm of her hand and started giggling "He did not send you up here with all of that."

Harry's heart leaped about two feet, he had never heard anyone giggle like that, it made him feel like all of his worries were nothing more than bad dreams that were quickly fading away in the golden light of the morning sun.

Cat looked up at Harry again, smiling brilliantly. "Well help yourself sweetie," she said cheerfully as she picked up a muffin "I think there is enough here for the entire class" as she finished her sentence the raven swooped down and landed on her desk. Looking curiously at the muffin in her hand, it began to peck at it.

"Are they yours?" Harry asked her "The bird and the big kitty" Harry had remembered what Hermione had said about the bird.

"No, I'm just keeping them until tomorrow" she said simply "they will go back with their owners then. Oh and Harry, Shashe is a cougar, not a kitty" she whispered "don't let her hear you say that, she tends to be a bit sensitive about her size."

Harry gave Cat a disbelieving look "What do you mean 'sensitive' don't tell me she'll cry"

"Don't be a smarty pants, Potter," Cat chided him "Shashe is very intelligent, she knows what people are thinking. Don't you baby." Cat was scratching the cougar behind her ears.

"You're as crazy as Remus. Do you know that?" Harry said laughing "Say do you think she'll let me pet her?"

"Shashe? I think so, just let her get your scent first" Cat said as she took Harry's hand and placed it a few inches in front of Shashe's nose. The cougar sniffed at Harry a few times before she bothered to open her eyes. Looking straight into Harry's clear green eyes, Shashe rose to her feet and took a few tentative steps towards Harry.

"Its alright, I won't hurt you." Harry said gently as he lowered his hand until it was almost resting on MacLeod's desk. Shashe was still staring steadily into Harry's eyes when without warning she swiftly moved towards Harry. Standing on her hind legs and resting her paws on his shoulders, Shashe yowled loudly at Harry. Harry was dumbfounded, he hesitantly reached up and scratch Shashe behind her ears, "Nice Shashe, good girl"

"Well Harry, it seems as though she likes you." MacLeod said laughing, "I hope she didn't scare you, she likes to do that some times."

"No problem, Miss MacLeod" Harry was laughing now as well "Is the bird as friendly, or is it true what they say?"

"Who is they, and what do they say?" MacLeod replied knitting her brow, she hated phrases like that.

"Well, in some of the books, it says that only dark wizards use birds like that, black ones with red wings. Some even go so far as to say their an omen of death and war." Harry told her, not mentioning Hermione's name.

"Oh really, 'they' say that do they" MacLeod was not happy " well don't let Merlin hear you say that, you do know that his name means little black bird, don't you?" she finished bristling almost as much as Shashe.

"But the book said" Harry began

"What book,...... Ministry approved ones I'm sure." MacLeod said icily, pronouncing each word very clearly.

"You really don't like MOM do you" Harry was shocked at her reaction, he couldn't tell if she was angry or extremely annoyed. He decided he should change the subject quickly.

"Miss MacLeod, would you let me see the parchment that Shashe brought?" he asked, hoping she would return to her normal sweet self "I don't think I've ever seen anything like it. Do you know what kind of parchment it is?"

"Its not exactly parchment Harry" MacLeod's mood shifted quickly, as she eagerly showed Harry what she meant "Its actually a very large leaf, flattened and dried so it can be used as a parchment."

Harry took the leaf from her hand and stared at it. The characters were completely foreign to him, and the leaf had a thick leathery feel to it, it smelt strange as well, a cross between tobacco and daffodils. "Who sent this, I've never seen writing like this before" Harry told her as he turned the leaf round and round, hoping it would somehow make more sense from another direction.

"Some friends of mine who will be assisting Remus and I tomorrow" Cat answered simply, as if it were no big deal "You will be there, won't you Harry? I would really like to introduce you to them." she finished smiling warmly.

Harry like it when she smiled at him like that, it made him feel safe and warm. He hoped she and Sirius would hit it off so they could all be together, the way a family should be. "What exactly is this 'special lecture' about anyway? And why was Professor Dumbledore so happy when he saw these letters?"

"Well Harry, the lesson for tomorrow will be explaining the difference between Gangrels, Garou, and Werewolves." Cat explained, rising from her desk as she grabbed the book on Tarot cards.

"Well what are they and what's the difference" Harry asked as he walked to his seat, carrying some muffins over for he and Ron.

"Guess you'll just have to show up if you want to know" MacLeod said as she winked at him........

Remus was very glad Harry was so willing to help, Sirius was going to need all the help he could get. Remus had no idea what to think about the packages Severus had gotten this morning, but he got the willees just thinking about the small box from Gemini Jewels. 'Please, oh please don't let that be an engagement ring.' Remus thought 'If he asks her right now, I honestly don't know what her answer would be' the thought of Cat and Severus together actually made Remus cringe. Its not that Severus Snape was a bad person, he could actually be very nice and extremely loyal, but Remus knew deep in his soul that it would end very badly for Cat if she married Severus. He couldn't explain it, not even on a bet, its just that every time he thought about it he felt a chill deep in his belly, it almost made him queasy. Last time he had a feeling like that he decided to ignore it, probably just my imagination he told himself, but far too many people had suffered and died because he refused to believe that feeling, and he vowed he would never ignore it again, no matter what.....