(A/N: Well this got done quicker than I expected….
This is the sequel to Return to Me, so if you haven't read that, turn back now and do so, because there are a lot of OC's you won't recognize unless you read that story.
Like I stated many times in the last few chapters of RTM…this fic focuses more on Caty/Blue, but I do promise a number of H/H moments since I'm placing this fic in that filter.
Enjoy! :)
"Ugh!" Caitlyn Potter crumpled up her third piece of parchment and threw it into her bag. She had just been up to Dumbledore's office, he and Professor McGonagall had been happy to inform her that she had the highest marks in the graduating class, therefore she was required to make a speech at the ceremony the following day. So far, everything she had come up with was just wrong.
"We the graduating class of Hogwarts are happy to be…no, no wrong!" She crumpled up another piece and sighed heavily.
"Tree killer!" a voice rang out across the room. Caitlyn turned and grinned as she saw her best friend of 7 years come loping across the room. "Hey gorgeous." Blue Weasley leaned over and pecked her on the cheek.
"Sexy." She replied. "What's up?"
Blue flopped himself on the couch next to her, then positioned himself so his head was in her lap, covering the parchment she was trying to write on. "I'm bored." He said. "All our friends are partying in Hogsmeade tonight, and I'm stuck here with you." He stuck his lower lip out.
"Well I'm sorry you're bored, why don't you go throw some dungbombs at the Slytherins?" she said, patting his cheek and then pushing his head away.
"Because I don't know where their common room is." Blue said, refusing to move. "Besides, we already did that after dinner."
"Blue!" Caitlyn said, laughing. "You and your cousins are just terrible, you know that."
"It's a Weasley thing!" Blue protested in defense. "Let's go to Hogsmeade!" he exclaimed loudly, causing a few students to turn and look over at them.
"SHHHH!" Caitlyn hissed. "We can't go to Hogsmeade now, we've missed the carriages!"
"Why not?" Blue asked. "You have an invisibility cloak AND the Marauder's Map." He pulled on her hand and she was forced to stand up, spilling her parchment all over the floor. "You've got all the essentials for rule breaking and sneaking out and you don't want to!"
Caitlyn looked at him for a moment, biting her lower lip. "Will you help me with my speech?" she asked.
"Sure." Blue instantly agreed. Caitlyn grinned, then summoned all her parchment to her hands and dashed upstairs, grabbing the map and the cloak from her neatly packed trunk.
"Okay." She said, running back down to the common room. "Let's go." Blue grabbed the end of the cloak and threw it over the two of them, and then he used his wand to make the map appear.
"Okay, all clear." He said, and they huddled close as they left the Gryffindor Tower and headed to the secret passage that would let them into Honeydukes.
"We're almost there." Blue said, grabbing her arm and holding it tight.
"I know we are." Caitlyn said. "Blue, you act like we've never been down here before."
"Heh heh…" Blue heckled. "I know we have."
Caitlyn looked at him as if he'd lost his mind. "Are you okay? You started acting weird when we got in the tunnel.
Blue looked at his best friend for a moment. She was so pretty, her long chestnut brown hair that she had straightened back in their 5th year, her striking green eyes and her slender figure. He had fallen for her long ago, but never worked up the courage to tell her.
"Blue, what are you staring at me for?" Caitlyn was starting to get very exasperated.
"It's just that…I think you…" he leaned in close to her face. "You have a big smear of chocolate on your face!" he said and leaned forward and planted a large sloppy kiss on her cheek.
"Blue!" she yelled. "I wasn't even eating chocolate!" He clapped a hand over her mouth as the door opened and one of the owners peered down.
"Anyone there?" he asked. Hearing and seeing nothing out of the ordinary, he shrugged and closed the door.
"That was close." Blue muttered. He pulled the cloak off them and stuffed it into his pocket. "I think it's safe to go up now."
They ascended the stairs and came out the back entrance, blending right into the crowd.
"How about a butterbeer?" Caitlyn asked.
"Sure." Blue agreed. They made their way over to the Three Broomsticks, where Caitlyn scurried to one of the only open tables and Blue got the butterbeer.
"Service with a smile." Blue said, turning his lips inside out and putting her butterbeer in front of her.
"Blue!" Caitlyn said, laughing. She loved her friend's sense of humor. "Help me on my speech." She pulled the parchments out of her pocket and spread them across the table.
Blue snorted as he read some of her beginnings. "We, the graduating class of Hogwarts 20-"he mimicked in a high falsetto voice.
"You ass, I do not sound like that!" Caitlyn threw a piece of parchment at him and laughed.
"When you get nervous you do!" Blue insisted, his eyes betraying the serious tone he was trying to convey. "That time that McGonagall made you get up and give a speech on Animagi, I thought you were going to pass out."
"I was NOT!" Caitlyn retorted.
"Fine, whatever you say." Blue smirked, bringing his chair over to Caitlyn's. Their butterbeers kept filling back up as soon as they drained their glasses, and about an hour later, they had had too many to count and Caitlyn's speech had been written.
"You are NOT going to stand up and laugh during my speech tomorrow!" Caitlyn remarked loudly as Blue threw a few Galleons on the table and they stood up to leave. "If you do I'm going to YELL at you!"
"You will, huh?" Blue grinned. "Well I will just have to YELL back!" they both laughed heartily as the door to the Three Broomsticks banged shut behind them.
"I don't want to go back to the castle yet… look everyone from 7th year is still out here celebrating!" Caitlyn said, stumbling a little and leaning up against Blue.
"Okay." He agreed, not wanting his time alone with her to end either. "How about we walk some of this butterbeer off in the park?"
"Suurre." She said, giggling. Taking advantage of her state, Blue reached down and wrapped his hand around hers. She looked as if she were going to pull away for a moment, but then left her hand in his. They strolled down the street in a comfortable silence, not noticing the whispers of some of their classmates.
Caitlyn saw an empty bench and broke away from Blue to claim it. "My bench!" she sang out, giggling harder. Blue grinned and sat down next to her.
"No it's mine." He said, pushing her over.
"Hey!" she squealed. "I was here first!" by now they were both laughing again. She shoved him back hard and he almost toppled off the bench.
"You're too strong for your own good!" Blue said as he got back up. She grinned devilishly at him. "This bench really must be special to you."
"Yes I am stronger and I'll kick your ass for this bench too!" Caitlyn grinned as he sat back down. This time he tried to push her away but she was too fast, once again succeeding in making him fall onto the ground.
"Caty!" he said, getting up. "That one hurt!"
"Awww poor baby!" she giggled again. "Want me to kiss it and make it all better?"
"Well since you brought it up…" Blue turned around so his rear was in her face. "Do it."
"GROSS!" She screamed and shoved him away. "You're really disgusting sometimes, you know that?"
"Yeah but you still love me." Blue said. "I'm totally irresistible."
"Whatever." Caitlyn rolled her eyes. Blue finally sat down next to her and leaned his head on her shoulder.
"Anyone who sticks their ass in my face…" Caitlyn turned and mock glared at him. They looked at each other seriously for a moment, then both burst out laughing. It was Blue's turn to push her off, and she grabbed the front of his robe bringing him down on top of her.
"Oof!" they both said at the same time.
"My head." Caitlyn groaned. She reached up a hand and pressed it to her forehead. "Thanks Blue!"
"Sorry." Blue said, not really meaning it, as he was lying on top of her, and she was so involved with her head she didn't even realize it. "Here let me see." He said, pushing her hand away.
Caitlyn stared up at her best friend as he examined the bump. "Blue." She said quietly.
"What?" he asked.
"You're on top of me."
"I know." He grinned at her despite everything.
"Well would you mind getting off?" she asked, a bit annoyed.
Blue raised himself off of her and she sat up, too quickly.
"Oooh, with that butterbeer and knocking my head, I'm a bit dizzy." She said. "We should probably get back."
"Okay." Blue muttered. He had almost had his chance to kiss her and he'd waited too long. Since they hadn't taken the carriages to Hogsmeade, they could not go back with the rest of their class, so they had to put the invisibility cloak back on and trudge through Honeydukes. Once safely back in the now deserted Gryffindor common room, Blue handed her back the cloak.
"Well, goodnight." He said, leaning forward and pecking her on the cheek.
"Blue?" she said as he was walking towards his dormitory.
"Yeah?" he turned around.
Caitlyn came forward and hugged him tightly. "Thanks for helping me with my speech tonight."
"Sure." Blue said, wrapping his arms around her. "I'd do anything for you, you know that."
"I know." She pulled back and smiled at him. They looked at each other for a long moment, and then in a surprising move, Caitlyn raised herself up and kissed him lightly on the lips. She could feel his shock at her action, but when he started to respond she pulled back.
"Blue I shouldn't have done that, I'm sorry." Caitlyn said, looking away.
"I'm not." Blue said softly. He tilted her face back again and once more brought his lips to hers. She tried to push away at first, but found herself giving in after a moment. He swept his right hand up her back and into her long locks, loving the feel of the silky hair between his fingers. His left hand cupped the side of her face, lightly rubbing his thumb across her cheek. Caitlyn made a soft whimpering sound and he took that as a sign she liked this and tried to deepen the kiss. Blue gently stroked his tongue across her bottom lip and she opened her mouth to his, matching his kiss with her own. Pushing her tongue into his mouth and flicking it lightly against his, she wondered why they hadn't done this before.
"This feels so nice!" One part of her screamed out, making her run her hand around the back of Blue's neck to keep him close to her. "But he's your best friend!" the other half of her screamed back. However, that part was not strong enough at that moment to break what was going on between them.
Blue was ecstatic, he could not have planned this better himself. And she had been the one to initially kiss him! He pressed harder against her mouth and began to move their bodies over to one of the sofas. Turning her around, he fell back onto the couch first so that she'd be on top of him. Her hair fell around them, creating a curtain that shut out everything else. Blue wove his fingers into her locks and crushed her mouth against his, using his other hand to run down the side of her body, his lower half aching.
"Oh, God…Blue…" Caitlyn mumbled into his mouth, kissing him harder as well. Despite her hormones raging overtime, that annoying voice in the back of her head started to nag again. "He's your best friend, you've never even had an argument with him, having a relationship could screw things up forever between you…. best friend best friend best friend…" the thoughts echoed in her head until she could not take it anymore.
"Blue…" Caitlyn pulled her mouth away from his and pushed herself off of him. "We can't do this."
"Why?" Blue asked, sitting up and brushing his longish red hair out of his eyes.
"Because…" she struggled to find the right words. "Blue we have too good a friendship, we can't screw this up."
"Caty, we aren't going to screw anything up." Blue moved over on the sofa closer to her.
"How do you know that?" Caitlyn asked. "What if we go out and break up? You have been too good a friend to me all these years. I couldn't lose you like that."
"Caty…." Blue took her hand in his. "We wouldn't break up."
Caitlyn rolled her eyes. "Blue, in case you don't remember, you do not specialize in Divination."
"I'm being serious." Blue said, which was quite uncharacteristic for him. "I love you."
Caitlyn looked at him, startled. "What?"
"I love you." Blue said quietly.
"Holy Merlin's beard..." Caitlyn pulled her hand away from Blue's and buried her face in them. "Blue you don't love me."
He reached out and tried to pull one of her hands away. "Yes I do. I've loved you since our 5th year."
"We're too young to know what love is." Caitlyn said irrationally. "I mean, we're not even 18 yet, we haven't lived on our own, love is something that happens gradually."
"It did." Blue replied. "Two years it took me to realize just how I felt about you!"
Caitlyn groaned and got up, crossing over the room to the fireplace. "Blue, this was such a mistake tonight."
Blue bit his lower lip, feeling his insides burn. "A mistake?"
Caitlyn felt bad, she hadn't meant to say it like that. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it that way."
"How did you mean it?" Blue asked, jumping off the sofa and coming over to her.
"I just…" Caitlyn put her fingers to her forehead and pinched, she could really feel a headache coming on now. "I don't know, Blue, I'm just really confused right now."
"Caty, please…" Blue felt a bit desperate. "Everyone already thinks we're going out, it really wouldn't be much different than we are now, except we'd go out on dates, we'd kiss…."
Caitlyn pushed her hands through her hair. She had heard those rumors as well, but had never put any stock in them. Apparently her best friend had, however. "Blue… those were rumors, they weren't true." She said softly.
"But they could be!" he said, reaching out for her hand again, forcing her to come up against him. His other hand tipped back her chin and he could see the confusion swimming around in her eyes. "Caty…please…just give us one chance, and if it doesn't work, I'll let go and everything will be fine, just please…" Blue leaned down and brushed his mouth against hers again, and Caitlyn didn't pull away but she didn't kiss him back this time either. They stood there with their lips locked for a few more moments before she finally pulled her head away.
"Blue, I can't, it would never be the same." Caitlyn started walking towards the dormitories. "I'm sorry…." was her final offering before she ran up the stairs.
Blue stared at the now empty sofa for a long moment before sitting down heavily on it. From deep in his pocket he pulled out a tiny box; he opened it and looked at the trinket inside. "It was going to be so perfect…" he mumbled to himself, watching it sparkle in the firelight.
***** ***** *****
Back in England, Harry Potter was currently sitting on the sofa with his wife Hermione, rereading the note from Dumbledore telling them that Caitlyn had the highest marks in the class.
"I'm so proud of her." Hermione said softly, resting her head against Harry's shoulder.
"Me too." Harry said. "Highest marks, wonder who she got that from?" he teased, looking down at Hermione.
She smiled. "Well I'm certainly glad my love of studying didn't die with me." They both laughed.
"I still can't believe my little girl is graduating tomorrow." Harry said, feeling a tug in his stomach.
"Are we feeling a bit emotional right now?" Hermione asked, gently touching the side of Harry's face.
"Yeah." He replied. "I mean, it feels like yesterday she was just leaving for Hogwarts as a first year…." He trailed off, turning his lips into Hermione's palm.
"Thank God you've been here all this time." Harry pressed a gentle kiss into her hand. He was about to do more when a small black haired figure hurtled into the room.
"When are we leaving for Caty's school?" Colin Potter, aged 6, was very impatient to see his big sister.
"Colin James, you are supposed to be in bed!" Harry admonished.
"I know." Colin stuck his lower lip out and Hermione was extremely amused to see how much he looked like his father when he pouted. "But I want to stay up until we go!"
Harry grunted as he left his comfortable spot next to his wife. He picked his son up and swung him high into the air, making him laugh. "Come on, to bed with you, the sooner you go to sleep the sooner it'll be time to go." Harry looked at Hermione. "I'll be right back." He threw Colin over his shoulder and went down the hallway to his bedroom.
Hermione picked up the parchment once more and read over it, bursting with pride. She couldn't wait to see her daughter tomorrow and tell her how happy this had made her. She traced Dumbledore's words lightly with her index finger, and never noticed as a lone tear made it's way down her cheek.
"Hey." Harry said, coming back in the room and resuming his spot. "What's the tear for?"
"I didn't even know I was crying." Hermione said, brushing the tear away. "I'm just so happy for her Harry, I know she's worked hard and she deserves this honor."
"Just like her mother." Harry said, his words muffled because he was trying to place little kisses along her jaw line and neck. "Just like the woman I admire most in the world…. and love most…and she also tastes really good…"
"Harry!" Hermione laughed. "You're incorrigible."
"Yeah I know." Harry grinned. He stood up and held his hand out to help his wife up as well. "We should get to bed, we have to get up early."
"Right." Hermione agreed, and they made their way down the hall, stopping quietly by Colin's room to make sure he was still in bed and not hopping around the room.
Hermione slipped one of Harry's nightshirts on over her head and got under the cool sheets, shivering with pleasure as Harry got in next to her and hugged her tightly.
"Night Harry." She said, raising her lips to his.
"Night Mione." He replied, kissing her. "And goodnight, you two." He reached over and placed a kiss to their twins, still housed in Hermione's stomach.
(A/N: Well there you have it, the first chapter of the sequel…. hope it's good so far and that you're enjoying it. Next chapter, everyone arrives at Hogwarts for the graduation, and Caty and Blue face each other for the first time since their argument! Thanks for reading, and please don't forget to review!)