"Hello priestess!"

"Cadmus!" Kalliope threw her arms around the warrior's neck.

Cadmus laughed, his white teeth gleaming through his beard, "well this is a nice welcome. Have you changed your mind about my offer?"

Kalliope shook her finger at him, "shame on you Cadmus, when are you going to learn the meaning of the word 'no'?"

"You can't blame a man for trying, especially when the woman is as beautiful as you."

Kalliope rolled her eyes, "why are you here warrior?"

"Well first the important business," he pulled out a small package wrapped in leather, "close your eyes."

Kalliope gave him a questioning look, but went along with it. Once her eyes were closed she felt something cool around her throat.

"How do you like it?"

Kalliope opened her eyes and looked down, "oh Cadmus it is beautiful," she fingered the blue beads on the necklace.

"Its lapis, I thought a regal priestess such as you should have something truly royal."

"Do you realize that the only two pieces of jewelry I own came from you?"

Cadmus smiled, "well, from the way you're glowing I'd say that you have found another man to give you jewelry."

Kalliope instantly changed the subject, "so why did Rheia send you here?"

Sirius frowned at the note in his hand. He hadn't recognized the owl that brought it or the handwriting. He thought for a long moment. The sender, whoever they were, requested his presence at the Three Broomsticks at noon.

He glanced at the clock, and realized he had just enough time to walk there. He tucked his wand into his pocket, making sure that it was readily accessible should he need it.

During the walk into Hogsmead he tried to come up with an answer as to who would have sent him that note. But none of the guesses he formulated made sense. He only hoped that he wasn't walking into a trap.

He also hoped that if this turned out to be a trap of some kind he would be able to handle it. He didn't like that the two death eaters who had been caught were being held at the school. If only he could be certain that this didn't have anything to do with them...

Sirius warily entered the Three Broomsticks, his quick gaze sweeping the crowed room. So far he had noticed nothing out of the ordinary when suddenly his legs were attacked.

Sirius smiled down at the top of a head of straight black hair that belonged to the most adorable four year old ever, as she clung to her legs. "This is a nice surprise," he said as he swung Willow up into his arms. The little girl giggled and buried her face in his shoulder, "and what will be an even nicer surprise is if your mother is here too." He looked up into the brilliant blue eyes of his fiancé.

"Hello Sirius," Elizabeth Darcy rested her hand against Sirius' chest as brushed his lips with a soft kiss. "Your girls were lonely for you, and we were rather hoping that you were feeling a bit lonely for us."

"Of course I was, how could I not be lonely for the two most beautiful women in all of Britain?" He wrapped an arm around Elizabeth's waist, "and now I suppose the chivalrous thing for me to do is buy you lovely ladies lunch."

The trio headed to a table and Sirius couldn't keep the grin off of his face as he sat down with Elizabeth across from him and Willow next to him, this was the way it was supposed to be. Now if only William would come around...

Once they had their drinks, and Willow was too busy playing with her straw to notice anything else, Elizabeth leaned forward a bit and spoke quietly, "there's another reason why we came to see you now. I received a letter from Remus; he was feeling pretty bad about the way he treated you concerning a young lady from Greece."

Sirius swallowed roughly, "Elizabeth, I'm so sorry, I didn't know..."

"Shhhhh... Sirius I'm not mad at you. I just want you to know that I'm here for you, no matter what."

Sirius looked into the eyes that he loved so much as he raised her hand to his lips, "thank you, I want you to know that..."

"Sirius?" Willow interrupted.

"Willow, don't interrupt." Elizabeth gently corrected her daughter.

Willow bit her lip uncertainly, and looked between her mother and her future step-father.

Sirius gave Elizabeth a small smile before turning back to Willow, "yes, my darling Miss Willow, can I help you with something?"

Willow giggled a bit at the silly face Sirius made at her, but then made a serious face, "we have to talk," she said in a manner far too old for her four years.

"Am I in trouble?" Sirius asked, wearing a particularly comic expression.

Willow laughed into her hand, "no, but you're really silly."

"I'm sorry I acted silly, now what is this serious talk we need to have?"

Willow frowned a bit, "last night I had to go to bed early," she pouted, "I wasn't very good yesterday."

"It's hard to be good sometimes," Sirius sympathized with her.

"When you're my daddy will you make me go to bed early too?"

Sirius leaned in close until he was nose to nose with his future step- daughter, "I'll make a deal with you, you be just as good as you can be, and we'll never have to find out."

Willow frowned at him for a moment, "Mama says that you're gonna be a... a..." she struggled for the word, "pushover when it comes to me, is she right?"

Sirius laughed as he hugged the little girl tightly, he couldn't wait to be married and a true family man.

"How are you coming with that essay?"

Dierna frowned at the papers in front of her, she had spent a good five hours on this damn essay, it had taken her longer than she planned. The final blow had come when her father handed her a dictionary and told her that every word had to be spelled correctly. "It's done." She handed the parchment over to her father. "Can I go now?" she pleaded.

"No, you will stay here while I read this, and then I have a few things you can help me prepare for my classes tomorrow."

Dierna sat back in her chair huffily; she had been hoping to sneak out for awhile. Her plans thwarted she picked up a book and paged through it, looking for something interesting.

"Your command of colorful and obscene language is really quite pronounced," Severus commented dryly as he read through the essay. "This is absolutely appalling;" he set the papers down, "well written, but appalling."

Dierna smiled sweetly, "you didn't tell me I couldn't use language like that. In fact, I followed you instructions perfectly. All you said was five pages and no spelling errors; I think you'll find that I met those requirements."

Severus frowned at her, "and of course you're impertinent enough to find a way to make this punishment into something for your own enjoyment."

"Of course. Didn't you like the part where I described what I thought of overprotective parents?" She quoted a couple of lines from her paper, looking as angelic as possible.

Severus continued to frown at her, "I ought to wash your mouth out with soap for that language." He crossed his arms over his chest menacingly.

Dierna's grin turned wicked, "but I got that phrase from you. Isn't it nice that I used something you taught me?"

Severus looked sternly into her bright green eyes, which were sparkling in amusement. "You're going to get yourself into a lot of trouble someday with this attitude of yours."

"I thought I already was in trouble."

Severus shook his head at her flippancy, "there are much worse things than a detention and a grounding young lady, and it's high time you learned it. You are stubborn to a fault and have more guts then common sense. You nearly died and this," he brandished her essay, "is your response."

"Dad it's not a big deal. I had a little fun during detention, what's wrong with that?"

"Adelaide, you are young, but that's not an excuse for your behavior in this situation. This is going to stop now. You will serve out the rest of your punishment with good grace and no more of this defiant attitude. Is that clear?"

"But Dad..."

"Just do as you are told."

"Have you questioned them?" Ron Weasley asked Zach as they came to the holding area where the two death eaters were being kept. He had been sent, along with several other aurors to retrieve the two prisoners.

"No, we thought it best to wait till Ministry officials arrived."

"Dad!"

Ron turned around and smiled as he children rushed up to hug him. He gladly embraced them back and gave Andromache a quick kiss on the cheek while he ruffled fourteen year old Hektor's hair and eleven year old Helen clung to his arm.

"Why didn't you come see us first?" Helen pouted.

Ron smiled a bit grimly, "I'm here on Ministry business. You three run along, when I'm done I'll come find you."

As the two men continued down the hallway Zach let the curiosity get the better of him, "I've noticed that there are an awful lot of Weasleys in this school."

Ron grinned, "Yes there are, I'm one of seven and our children certainly make up a good portion of the student body. There's my three that you just saw, plus I have one still at home, Gwen, she'll be here in a couple of years. Let's see... Charlie's five are still too young, Bill has one that started this year, and one still at home. Fred and George both have six children, four of Fred's are here, and three of George's. And Ginny has two here and one still at home."

Zach noticed that Ron had left out one of his siblings, but didn't comment on it. "I bet holidays are a mad house."

"Yep, it gets a bit crazy. Plus Alberto usually spends the holidays with us, that's always interesting. I'm sure that he and Charlie will insist that you spend Christmas with us this year, unless you have other family you'd like to spend it with."

Zach shook his head, "no, there's no one in my family that I spend the holidays with."

"Good! I'll go ahead and tell my parents to expect you this year, Christmas is coming up quick."

"Thank you," Zach said sincerely, the few members of this family that he had already met he enjoyed tremendously. And for the first time in years he found himself actually looking forward to Christmas. "Now, I suppose we better get back to business. The death eaters are right in here."

Later that evening Dierna curled up on the sofa with a book she had taken from her father's office. She was lost to the world when she read, unaware of everything going on around her. So she jumped with surprise when someone sat down beside her.

"Hey beautiful, I was kinda hoping for a warmer greeting than this, you've been ignoring me."

"Stefan," Dierna whispered, her eyes wide, as she threw her arms around his neck.

"That's more like it," he held her close to him, as he fought back tears; he had missed her so much during the last few months.

"Come on Sev, give them some time alone," Morgan pulled at her husband, practically dragging him to their bedroom. She could see that he wasn't pleased with her.

"They should not be left alone," he growled at her once they reached their bedroom and Morgan had shut the door.

"They don't need constant supervision Sev, give them some space, it's been three months since they've seen each other."

Severus continued to glare at her.

"I'm sure I can take your mind off of it," she bit her lower lip as she ran her hand across his chest.

But not even that could sway his attention, still upset he sat down in a chair next to the bed, glaring at the door to the living room, as though he hoped to see through it.

"Let it go Sev, they're fine," Morgan lowered herself into his lap, gently cupping his face between her small hands. "I'll let you go back out there soon, just relax for awhile," she kissed him, and relaxed when he kissed her back, his arms coming around her. "This is more like it," she smiled at him and laid her head against his shoulder.

"I still don't like it..."

"You don't have to like it darling, just accept it."

"She's too young."

"She is not too young, you just worry too much."

Severus started a sharp reply, but stopped when he saw his wife was baiting him. "Stop trying to look so innocent," he growled at her.

She only smiled sweetly at him, "but I am innocent Sev, a perfect angel."

His eyebrows shot up, "that is the last term I would use to describe you."

Morgan smiled wickedly, "Severus Snape, you know that I'm angelic, and sweet, and innocent, lovable, charming... should I keep going?"

Severus looked at her with ill concealed amusement, "what happened to you last time you tried to give me the list of your 'virtues'?"

Morgan blushed, "let's not talk about that."

Severus smirked at her, "how long was it before you could sit down again?"

She glared at him before snuggling back down into his embrace, "I promise that list really does apply to me this time."

Severus only smiled and kissed the top of her head, "have I given them enough time yet?"

Morgan rolled her eyes, "fine, go play chaperone if you want."

Dierna was amazed at how quickly the rest of the week had passed, only one more day and she would be free! Stefan had been to see her every day. He wasn't able to tell her about his mission, but did tell her that it was under new orders. Ron Weasley was now heading it, with several other aurors assisting.

Dierna practically skipped back to her parents' apartment after Potions class Friday afternoon. By this time tomorrow she should be back in the Gryffindor common room.

She set down her school bad in the middle of the floor, knowing it would irritate her father. She smiled wickedly, she had spent the entire week trying to provoke him and it had worked. Even though he ended up yelling at her every night she still enjoyed aggravating him.

She slid into her bedroom, quickly changing clothes before looking for her mother. Morgan was usually back by now, and she wanted to show her an essay she had gotten back. "Mum!" Dierna called for her, but got no response.

She went to the door to her parents' bedroom and carefully eased it open, looking inside, "Mum? Are you in here?" She scanned the room from where she stood, and then went very pale. "What happened?" She rushed over to her mother.

But it didn't take her long to figure it out. She knelt beside her mother, who was sobbing. Although Dierna hadn't known that her mother had been pregnant, the blood stained sheet that she had wrapped around her was evidence that she had lost her unborn child. Dierna wrapped her arms around her mother, gently rocking her back and forth, tears filling her own eyes.

Dierna was terrified; she didn't know how to comfort her mother. She felt so lost as she cradled her sobbing mother against her shoulder. Her first thought was to go find her dad, but she knew she couldn't leave. She just knelt on the floor, doing the best she could.

Kalliope turned to frown at Cadmus as he trailed her down the hallway. He had been doing this for most of the past week, "Are you ever going to leave me alone?"

"No."

"I would have thought that you would show some respect for a priestess' wishes."

"I am, I'm following Rheia's orders."

Kalliope continued to frown at him, "but you are also obligated to follow mine."

"That's true, even more than you know."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Wouldn't you like to know, miss high and mighty priestess? Don't tell me that an oracle such as yourself doesn't know everything?"

Kalliope put her hands on her hips, her head held high, "stop talking nonsense Cadmus and tell me what you're going on about."

Cadmus shrugged, "just that Rheia has named you as her successor, she intends for you to be the next high priestess."

Kalliope raised an eyebrow, "is that all?"

"I thought that would have been enough."

"Cadmus, she has named more successors than I can count, and outlived them all. Why should I be any different?"

"Because Rheia is dying."

Kalliope studied him closely, looking for any signs that he was joking with her, "you are sure?"

"Yes, it may still take her a few years yet, but she will go. And there is more. She has refused to make Sophia a priestess at the next festival, your ward will have to wait at least another year."

Kalliope sighed, "She's going to be disappointed. I suppose this has to do with her trips down to your camp?"

Cadmus smiled, "that and her complete disregard for authority."

Kalliope sank down on a stone bench, "that girl has only gotten wilder since I brought her here, I don't want to think about the trouble she'll get in when we return to the temple."

"She is restless."

Kalliope nodded, "perhaps I shouldn't have told her about her parentage, it has only made things worse..."

"But it was the right thing to do. Besides, when you marry this wizard she'll have the two of you as parents."

Kalliope blushed slightly, "I am not getting married."

Cadmus winked at her, "I don't have to be a seer to know when two people are in love."