A/N: Oddly, I have nothing to say. *Looks around at the relieved faces* Oh, stop looking so smug.

But as always,

Enjoy.

Disclaimer: You know, after two year of doing this, it amazes me that you people haven't figured out yet that I actually am JK Rowling, and I have decided to start giving away for free that which I usually sell for more money then you will see in your lifetime and......*Breaks down into a giggling fit*...Oh dear! I'm sorry. I just knew I couldn't get through that with a straight face.

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Where We're Headed

Despite her words, Orion couldn't help but see changes in Katlin over the next few weeks after her surgery. Physically she recovered well enough, but he wasn't so sure how she was handling things emotionally.

For starters, she out-rightly avoided ever going into the wing of the house where the nursery had been. If she needed anything from that part of the house, she sent Tets to get it. The rest of it she simply buried so deeply inside of herself, to look at her one would never know anything at all had happened.

Orion did his best not to interfere with how she chose to handle things. Richards had strongly cautioned him against trying to impose his views on her about the situation. 'Everyone handles things like this in their own way. So let her.' had been his warning. And Orion tried his best heeded it.

For himself, Orion took a more philosophical view of the whole matter. While he was disappointed, he was much stronger in favor of the 'planning' side of things. He, for one, had never intended to start his family out of wedlock. 'Right and proper' was the way to do things.

Something that was strongly on his mind one night as he rolled over on his back with a very contended sigh.

As he lay staring at the ceiling a slim, white arm crept its way over his chest. Orion wrapped his arm about Katlin's naked shoulder and pulled her closer to him as she cuddled up against his body.

"Meitz!" He exclaimed softly with a light chuckle. "That was too good for words."

Katlin gave a soft, contented sigh of her own. "So I heard." She replied.

Orion sighed happily again as he let his body relax over the soft mattress beneath him. Making love with Katlin was almost always a uniquely pleasurable experience in and of itself. But sometimes it was just extraordinary.

Tonight it had been extraordinary.

What the woman could do with her body Orion swore half the world hadn't even thought of yet. All things she had conjured up just to please him. To make sure that when they had to part in the morning, the sole thought on his mind was how fast he could get back to her.

A determined hand with talented, well practiced fingers slowly slid up his thigh under the covers. Orion chuckled slightly.

"Why Ms. Griss." He commented as the nails lightly brushed over their destination. "I do believe you're trying to seduce me."

Katlin gave a lazy sort of half smile as she watched her hand's progress under the white satin sheet. "You think so?" she asked.

"I would hope so. Hate to think I've been wrong all these nights."

Katlin pulled herself up until she was leaning over him, a shower of dark auburn silk cascading over his face. "Well, I have news for you." She informed him. "You have been."

"I have?"

"Yes." Katlin replied, leaning down and kissing him lightly on the lips. "Because half the time it's been you doing the seducing, Mr. Black."

Orion smiled at her as she slipped back into his arms and happily cuddled back up against him.

They lay for a long while like that. Orion watched the sky slowly begin to pale with the coming morning. Early morning was rapidly becoming his favorite time of the day. When they would both wake up, but still have a good hour or more to simply spend together before either had to leave. Living together was definitely one of his better ideas. But it was still a bit incomplete to him.

He sighed quietly at the thought, brushing a bit of the silk auburn hair back from his lover's face as he stared down at her.

"Katlin?"

"Hmmm?" Came the sleepy reply.

"Where do you think we're headed?"

Katlin shifted slightly so that she could see the window. "Well, it's not too late." She replied, turning to him with a eager smile. "How about round two?"

Orion laughed softly. "No." He corrected. "I mean.....from here?"

Katlin pulled up closer to him, lightly biting his ear. "Round two."

Orion eased her back. "I meant further than the next five minutes, Love."

Katlin sighed as she settled back into his arms. "What does it matter, Orion?" She ask. "We're together. We're happy. What does it matter where we're headed."

"Don't you ever wonder?"

"No." She replied, cuddling up to him again. "I'm happy right where I am."

"In the arms of your Auror lover?"

"Yup."

Orion gave a happy sigh as he nestled against her hair. "Who would have ever imagined we'd end up together, hey?"

Katlin shrugged. "It's not so strange."

"Really?"

Katlin shifted again until she was laying back against her own pillows. "My Dad was a German and My Mum was English. Those two should never have gotten together. And they met during the war. But my Dad met my Mum, they fell in love, and politics be damned. They met, they fell in love, they got married. That was that."

Orion sighed contentedly as he closed his eyes, "Sounds nice."

Katlin caressed her hand slowly down his chest. "It was. They really loved each other."

"Maybe that's what we should do, Katlin." Orion suggested casually.

Katlin pulled up with a happy smile. "What? Love each other? Great! Round two!"

Orion just managed to grab hold of her to stop her from landing right on top of him. "No." He told her. "Not that. At least not now. I meant the other part."

"What?" Katlin asked. "Meet?" She grabbed his hand and quickly shook it. "Katlin Griss. Deatheater. Pleased to meet you. Wanna shag?"

Orion held her back again. "Noooo." He stated a bit firmer. "Keep going."

Katlin stopped in her attempts to jump her lover and slowly pulled back. "Orion, all that leaves is getting marr....." But Katlin stopped herself in mid-sentence.

Orion smiled at her. "There we go!" He announced happily as he watched the realitazation dawn in her eyes.

"You.....you want to........get married?"

"Why not?"

"Orion!" Katlin stated sharply, pulling up to her knees in the bed. "Will you be serious?"

"Sounds kinky." He replied. "Maybe later. Never knew you had a thing for my younger brother though."

"Orion!" Katlin stated again. "We can't get married."

"Why not?"

Katlin held her arm up, clearly showing the dark mark burned into the skin. "Helloooooo! Deatheater? Auror? Not a match made in heaven, Orion."

"Do you love me?"

Katlin stopped short as she stared back at the man next to her. Nothing but complete sober seriousness showed in his eyes past his love for her.

"Well?" Orion asked.

Katlin gave him a small smile. "You know I love you. Why do you ask me things like that?"

"Because people in love usually get married. But you seem less than enthusiastic about the whole idea."

Katlin through back the covers and quickly crawled out of the bed. "Everything to you is black and white." She stated, grabbing her robe off the small silk covered bench at the foot of their bed. "And I applaud you. If you can actually manage to live your life that way. But Orion, face facts. There is nothing black and white about our relationship. And in that we have to accept certain limits that it has. Among them, we can not be married."

"Why not?" Orion stopped her before she disappeared behind the bathroom door.

Katlin paused for a moment, clearly thinking over her answer. But finally she turned back to face him. "Because we can't."

Orion sat in the bed, facing the closed door with a deep frown. She hadn't thought that long just to say 'because we can't'. Whatever answer she had been thinking of, he had gotten it.

But he didn't feel he had to go far to find the answer she hadn't wanted to give him. It was the same answer that had been between them since the day they met. The same one that always stood between them. That steered her, manipulated her, and demanded everything of her to the point there was no room for anything...or anyone else in her life.

Voldemort.

A small smile crept its way across Orion's face as he continued to stare at the closed door.

She worshiped the man. Had willingly dedicated her life to him and his cause. But where would that faith be if she knew the truth?

The smile continued to spread.

She just needed to see the truth.

Q&A

Sailor Sol: No, Dear, there never was a baby. Will there ever be one? That remains to be seen.

Silverfox: Man! You keep me on my toes, Dear.

Ummmm, actually............being a Deatheater is what Katlin does in her spare time, so to speak. It's not her job. It just takes up a lot of her waking hours. However, a job? Nope. I refer you back to a previous chapter where Orion made that very same point to Katlin in reference to her living conditions. She very plainly remarked that Deatheaters were not employees, as were Aurors to the ministry. Many of them had regular 'day jobs'. They followed Voldemort because they believe in his ideals. Not because he pays them.

Of course Aaron rescues lots of werewolves. Orion wouldn't waste his time hating someone who wasn't a major pain in his backside.

At the time of the last chapter you could safely assume Charly and Treaks did not know there was no baby. By the end of this chapter you can safely assume they do. As that Orion would have told Charly and Charly would have told Treaks. (Even though it was never written. See! You do learn little side things by reading the Q&A!)

O.K., here's where the keepin' on the toes thing starts.

First, no, Bo doesn't acknowledge The Power.

Next, I never said the Power's effects were always negative. For Bo it was a very positive thing.

The question you're facing is this; 'What would happen if you took an unbelievably powerful force and stuck it in the mind of a creature who was little more than instinct?'.

Trying looking at it this way; basically, one dumbed down, the other brightened up. As a result, they evened each other out, and you were left with Bo.

So, is he one or the other? Go back and read the last two lines again.

No, protecting the house is not abusing The Power.

The point with Bo being the host and not Orion. Again, look at it this way; Bo is the host. The form through which The Power has a physical form. Orion is little more than the channeler for the host. Bo has no concept of The Power. Left as things are, it would have less of an existence than it ever had with Talon Black. (Think about that one for a minute and you come up with one very unhappy little Power.) Then, along comes the person who was suppose to be your host as a wide-eyed, inquisitive, overly-confident seven year old.

Now, can you say 'manipulate the situation to your advantage'?

And that is basically what happened.

How was the Power halved due to Talon having two sons? (Man! Here goes that 'toes' thing again.)

O.K., here's the deal. Talon's father, (that would be Orion and Sirius' grandfather, for the genealogists in the group) used The Power for all it was worth. Day in. Day out. Nights. Weekends. Holidays. Made no difference.

Now, along comes the son, Talon. Who, having watched this Power drive his own father insane, and blamed The Power for that, decided it's time to rid his family of this thing once and for all.

However, Talon was no fool. He knew this thing was powerful, and dangerous, and not likely to go willingly. So he devised a way to weaken it. The parameters of the spell said there could only be one host. And what can I say? For the Black men, the best swimmers were males and the child was always a boy.

Now, Talon thought he had a pretty good idea going. When time came for The Power to go to his son, there would be two. And by the spell's parameters, it had to divide equally between them. Hence, you have just halved The Power's power.

Still with me? Good.

Then one day, here comes your overly-intelligent, if not slightly obnoxious, but still best friend (Hershal), who, one day while you're both looking over the spell, scanning for that elusive loophole, says, 'you know, nothing here says The Power has to go to a blood relative. Just a 'member' of the family. All you need is something considered a member of the family and a few well placed spells and you can get rid of this thing long before it even comes near time for it to pass to your sons'.

And so is a new idea formed.

So, it wasn't halved by Talon having two son's and then going on to one host. Talon's original idea was to divide it between his son's. But in the meantime, Talon and his best friend, Hershal, came up with a better idea, which was to trap The Power in the boggart.

O.K.?

What do you mean 'If Sirius never touched it, how can the Power be affected by him'? The Power has yet to touch Sirius, that is true. But it knows he's there. And it knew, before the boggart incident, that if Talon were to die, there would be issues.

Ah, Hershal. One of my favorites. He does not come up in this story though.

Well, Dear, at least you have hot water.

I would think cold.

Skahducky: Charly and Treaks 'ultimate goal seems a bit in question' up to this point in the story, Dear. I have this thing all outlined out to the last chapter. I know where this is leading, as well as how far reaching Charly and Treaks ultimate goal really is.

Sorry, no baby. But no baby now does not necessarily mean that Orion and Katlin are doomed to a life of 'parentlessness'. Time will tell on that one. Although I think at one point I did say Orion had five children. Just that Katlin was not the mother.

Sweets: Sorry. Dinner with the parents would have been enough for me. Extended family get-togethers just make me nervous. Too many people.

Actually, I think you are referencing the chapter titled Potential. And boy, when you're right, you're right.

And when you're wrong, you're wrong.

First off, the title having anything to do with the movie? No. Sorry. The inside joke there was that I make it a policy whenever possible to never rename my chapters. That one was originally titled Potential Chapter Twenty-five due to the fact until the last minute I wasn't sure what order the last three chapters would go up in, so I temporarily numbered them to give myself an idea of one possible order. Liking it, (although it turned out to be utterly wrong for the flow of the story, as evidenced in this chapter especially), I left the title (sort of) on the one of the three I actually named.

And just for your information, yes, I see some potential for the movie. Although I still stand by my vote that Gary Oldman was a bad choice for Sirius. (But he runs into that 'incident' in two more movies, so what the heck!)

Now, on to 'when you're right, you're right'.

Man! Someone read between the lines big time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Wow! I haven't seen guessing this good in a while! You can just color me impressed.

You bet. What does this whole story boil down to? Who is Katlin more loyal to? Orion or Voldemort. And Katlin is sailing head long into having to make some very hard choices. The good news is, Orion (Mr. Troublewithrelationships) is going to help her with that decision. And that's all I'm saying.

Yes, the scene at the battle was a big time clash of wills, as well as the first sign of Katlin being forced to chose between the two men in her life. (Well, actually there is a third, but he doesn't count......much.) The first round in that fight went to Voldemort. And Orion is none too happy about losing. Time to get out your trusty old deck of cards and start looking for the aces, folks.

Ummmm, why would Orion having trouble with relationships mean Katlin may or may not be in his life any longer? He may have gotten better. *Cough*

Reviews are as of 12072003.

And remember;

Tact is for people who aren't witty enough to be sarcastic.