Chapter 7
Caitlyn stretched against her white cotton sheets as she pulled them closer around her. It was cold in bed that morning and she reached for Blue, cuddling with him would always make her warm again. Instead, her hand hit his empty pillow and her eyes shot open as she groaned as the events of the previous evening came back to her.
"Should've told them…" Caitlyn muttered as she brushed some long strands of hair off her face and pulled her robe around her. She paused in the bathroom to wash her face and brush her teeth, then made her way down the short flight of stairs to the kitchen, where her father was sitting at the table.
"Morning," she mumbled as she went to the stove.
"Good morning," Harry answered, setting the Daily Prophet down. "Did you sleep well?"
"All right I guess," Caitlyn shrugged. "What about you?"
"All right," Harry said, but she could tell he was lying. The dark circles under his eyes were only magnified this morning.
"Want some breakfast?" she asked, pulling out a pan and grabbing some eggs.
"Sure," Harry replied. She made some eggs quickly and brought him a plate. "Thanks," he said as he shovelled the food in his mouth. He hadn't eaten in days, and until now he had no idea how hungry he was.
Caitlyn watched him as he ate, a dull pang going through her head as she did so. "Are you going to talk to Mum?" she asked before she could stop herself.
Harry's head shot up as if he was surprised to hear her ask, although he really wasn't. He looked at his daughter for several long seconds before looking back down without answering.
Caitlyn sighed heavily. "The longer you stay away the more she thinks you blame her." She said. "And now with the media hounding us all…"
"I told Ron to spread the word." Harry spoke now. "I don't want a repeat… I don't want a repeat of what happened before with Hermione…"
"Why didn't you tell anyone then?" Caitlyn voiced a question she'd always wanted to ask.
Harry rubbed his eyes before pushing his glasses back up on his nose. "I was stupid," he confessed. "I was so much younger then… I had you to look after and I didn't want to have the press bothering you as you grew up. That's why I left… and I regret it to this day that I never tried harder to find her." He ran a hand through his hair, and he looked more exhausted to Caitlyn than he ever had before.
"So… are you going to go talk to Mum?" Caitlyn asked again several minutes later.
"I'll try," Harry replied. "If she doesn't kick me out," a slight smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.
Caitlyn returned it. "Good," she said, reaching across the table to squeeze his hand. "Do you want me to go with you?" she asked as she took the dishes to the sink.
"No, I'm sure I can handle it. Besides," Harry got up from the table. "I know you want me out so that Blue can move back in…" a genuine smile crossed his face as he heard his daughter begin to protest as he left the kitchen.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Draco silently went down the stairs to the dungeons with the last bit of food they had in the Manor. Something inside him wouldn't let the two children starve. It scared him, made him think he was becoming a bit soft.
"Not for Potter's brats," he muttered as he came upon the cell. They were both sleeping, curled up next to one another for warmth, as he hadn't tossed any sort of blankets down there. Draco made not a sound as he opened the bars and went inside. His Animagus form was certainly true to nature, as it had taught Draco how to slink around silently when he wanted to. He set the plate down as he watched for any sort of movement.
The girl turned and sighed in her sleep. "Daddy…" she whispered and Draco froze. He didn't move a muscle until her breathing became regular again. The boy was curled into a little ball and had obviously not heard his sister talk.
Not realising at first what he was doing, Draco sat down next to the girl, looking at the way her midnight curls fell over her face. With fingers that were feather light, he brushed them away, rubbing them gently between his thumb and index fingers. She was a beautiful child, far more good-looking than he would have thought a reproduction of Potter and the Mudblood would be.
"You could have been mine," he whispered. "I could have a wife, children, money...a life. But no, Potter and your Mudblood mother took that away from me. Such youthful beauty..." His nose turned up in a sneer at the thought of The Boy Who Lived.
Carl fought hard not to tremble as he watched the thin blond man stroke his sister's hair through lidded eyes and whispered things he couldn't hear. He was terrified of this man; he didn't know what he wanted with them, and he didn't know if he was planning on hurting them.
"She could have been just like you," Draco continued to run his fingers through the girl's black locks. "If Potter hadn't done what he did to me and my family, I could have been happy with a daughter just like you… Instead your father left me here with nothing! You could have been mine," he repeated, "…could have been mine." He leaned over and at the same moment, the boy shifted onto his back and drew in a sharp breath. Draco fell back and looked around wildly, not sure what he was doing. Scrambling to his feet, he fumbled for the barred door and left the cell, locking it up behind him as he tripped back up the stairs.
Once he was out of the dungeons, Draco leaned back against the wall and clutched at his chest while he tried to catch his breath. What the bloody hell was he doing down there? Getting involved with Potter's children was not in his plan.
It was time to set the next part in motion.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Harry tumbled out of the fireplace in his living room and dusted himself off. The house was silent, a sombre atmosphere falling over the normally happy rooms. His piano stood in the corner untouched for a few weeks now, a light covering of dust over the keys. Peering through the curtains, he saw to his astonishment that there were still several members of the media camping out on their lawn. Harry bit his lower lip and went into the kitchen, where he saw Hermione crouched over the table. Her hair hung in limp stringy pieces around her pale face. There were dark smears under her eyes, and her hands hugged a mug of tea.
Hermione looked up the moment he entered the kitchen and they stared at each other. "Hello Harry," she finally said, and her voice was cracked.
"Hermione," he replied in greeting. He didn't move for several long minutes as an uncomfortable silence hung between them. "May I sit down?"
"It's your house too," she replied coolly. Harry sat down across from her and she noticed that he looked just as bad as she did. Her mind told her that it was a good thing while her heart thumped painfully, telling her how much she truly missed him.
Harry bit down harder on his lower lip as he tried to think of what to say to Hermione. She simply looked back at him with a sad, haunted look in her eyes that made his insides collapse with guilt. "I'm sorry," he heard himself choke out finally.
"What?" she asked.
"I'm sorry," Harry repeated. "God, Hermione, I'm so sorry…" his last words were muffled because they had both jumped out of their chairs and embraced each other in the middle of the kitchen. "I never blamed you Hermione… I am so sorry," he could feel her sob into his shoulder, and had a hard time holding back his own tears.
"I'm so glad you came back…" Hermione was still sobbing. She pulled back from Harry and rubbed at her red eyes. "You don't blame me… that's what I needed to know."
"I never blamed you," Harry said gently, wiping away tears from her face. "I needed someone to blame, I was just so angry! I had to travel all over the place while I had no clue what was going on, and it just burst out of me." he pulled her close again.
"You shouldn't have said it though, Harry." Hermione spoke into his chest. "It hurt me so much," she let out a long, shuddering sigh.
"I know," he replied in a low, ashamed tone.
"Have you heard anything…" Hermione started to ask, but she didn't need to finish her question as she saw the look on her husband's face.
"Not a damn word," Harry said, his voice tight. "I was over there before I came here… it's been days now and there's no news."
"I need them back Harry," Hermione's eyes grew wet again. "God, if something's happened to them…I want to get out there and look but I'm terrified if I leave, someone will contact us…"
"I'll find them; I promise I'll find them." Harry said forcefully. He held his wife against him again for several long minutes. "Listen, Hermione, I need to talk to you about something else."
"What is it?" Hermione wiped her nose and sat down in one of the chairs.
"I…" Harry faltered for a moment. "I want to take Colin from Hogwarts and have him here with us."
"What?" Hermione looked shocked.
"Colin. I want to bring him home." Harry repeated. "He'll be safer here where you and I can look after him."
Hermione got up and walked to the sink, gripping it's edges tightly. "No, Harry."
"What do you mean no?" Harry asked sharply.
"Harry Colin is safe at Hogwarts! Do you think Dumbledore is going to let anything happen?" Hermione's voice was growing strained. "We can't deprive him of an education if there are no threats to him!"
"Like there were no threats on our twins?" Harry asked, suddenly furious. "I suppose we're to be notified if something is going to happen to our children!"
"Stop it Harry!" Hermione screamed.
"Stop what?" Harry shouted back. "Stop caring about what happens to my kids like you?"
"You're doing the same thing you did before!" Hermione was disbelieving. "Flying off the handle and accusing me of things you KNOW aren't true!!!"
Harry said nothing, only glared at her, and that made Hermione even angrier. She reached behind her and picked up the first thing she could find, which happened to be a water glass. "BASTARD!" she screamed, throwing it at his head. He ducked away in time and moved to the hallway.
"This time I won't be back!" he shouted, going into the living room. Hermione heard him throw some Floo Powder into the fireplace and mumble something, and then heard the whooshing sound and she knew he was gone. Falling into her kitchen chair again, she began to sob harder than she had by far, feeling that this was the lowest point of her entire life.
Blue Weasley followed the rest of his team into the locker rooms. They had been practising harder than ever and each and every one of them was exhausted. He looked forward to getting back to Doyle's flat and getting a good night's sleep. As he headed towards his locker, Blue noticed a tawny owl sitting on top if it.
"What the…" he muttered, accepting the message it had for him. The owl flew away as he opened the note.
Alan Francis Doyle, or as he preferred to be called, Doyle, watched as his friend read a note, grow pale, and proceed to change clothes so fast one would have thought he was that Muggle superhero, Superman.
"Tell Monaghan that I have to go," Blue tossed his bag over his shoulder and brushed his hair out of his face. "Family emergency."
"Everything all right?" Doyle asked, concerned. He knew about the Potter twins disappearance due to the media coverage.
"I don't know." Blue replied. "I'll see you later though, all right?" he was already on his way out the door. Once he left the stadium he was able to apparate to his front door. Letting himself in, he dropped his bag in the hallway and went into the living room.
"Blue!" Caitlyn raised her head as soon as her boyfriend came in. Fresh sobs rose in her throat as he came over and pulled her up into his arms.
"What's wrong love?" he tried to ask soothingly, but a ball of fear tightened in his stomach. "Did… did you hear anything…"
"No nothing!" she choked. "God, we have no idea what's going on and now my parents have fought again and my dad said he's not going back this time… my mum is a complete mess…." She began to cry too hard to talk as his arms tightened around her.
"Shhhh…." He tried to calm her down. "Come on, you know they're going to work it out."
"I don't know, not for sure," Caitlyn pulled away and wiped her nose. "I'm so scared…"
"We all are," Blue smoothed some stray hairs back that had escaped her braid. He pressed his lips softly to her forehead, wanting to comfort her any way he could. "It's all going to be all right," he whispered as he moved his mouth down to her cheek. "We're going to find your brother and sister, and your parents are going to make up…" he kissed her other cheek. "Everything's going to be fine," he rubbed his thumb across her other cheek, wiping away a stray tear.
"Do you really think so?" Caitlyn asked softly. He nodded and rested his forehead against hers, not taking his hands from the sides of her face. She stared into his eyes for a moment, and then leaned forward so that their lips brushed against one another. Blue responded more from his body than from what his head was telling him at the moment. Even though they'd only been separated for a day, he found that he had a craving for her.
Caitlyn kissed him harder, opening her mouth as his tongue swept inside. He pushed his fingers up into her hair above her braid with one hand while his other pulled her down onto the sofa on top of him. She let out several small cries into his mouth that nearly drove him mad as their bodies pressed together. Blue reached up under her shirt, stroking her bare skin as Caitlyn ran her hands through his hair repeatedly.
"Blue, make love to me…" she muttered as she drew away from his mouth for some air and then pressed back down on him. "I just want to feel good again, please…"
Blue tried to respond but it was impossible as his girlfriend seemed determined to snog him as hard as she could. Little alarm bells started going off in his head. He wanted to make love to Caitlyn, but at the same time, her father was just a few rooms away and could walk in at any moment much like he had done the first night he got there. With that in mind, Blue tried to push her away as gently as he could.
"Come on, Caty, your dad is just upstairs…" he pulled away from her mouth.
"So?" she seemed unperturbed by the thought.
"Well what if he walks in on us?" Blue hissed.
"We can go to our room," Caitlyn seemed insistent.
"Well…" Blue looked around the room as if he was trying to find an excuse. "We're not exactly the quietest couple…"
"Are you trying to get out of it or something?" Caitlyn asked, suddenly frustrated. "Are you scared what my father will do if he finds us?" her tone turned mocking.
"Hey," Blue sat up, his eyebrows furrowing. "Don't get mad at me because you're upset about everything going on."
Caitlyn jumped up from the couch, her eyes blazing. "What's that bloody supposed to mean?" she snapped.
"It just means that now isn't the best time," Blue tried to stay patient.
"Oh, I see how it is. It's only fine for us to have sex when YOU want to!" Caitlyn nearly shouted. "What, have you just decided you don't love me enough anymore is that it?"
"Now you're just being ridiculous!" Blue got up from the sofa. "How could you say I don't love you enough?"
"Well then why don't you want to do anything?" Caitlyn pushed him away.
Blue sighed. "Dammit, Caty!"
"Don't swear at me Blue!" she shouted. "In fact, don't ever do anything with me AGAIN!" she pushed him away once more and stormed out of the room, past her father who had just appeared in the doorway.
Blue looked over at Harry and sighed again, running his hands back through his hair as he sat down on the sofa. "What was that all about?" Harry asked as he came into the room.
"I don't even know," Blue replied and both of them flinched as a loud slam echoed through the flat.
"Caty's angry about her mother and me, isn't she?" Harry sat down next to the younger man.
"Yeah," Blue answered. "She's worried that the two of you are splitting up and that you'll never find her brother and sister."
Harry looked over at the fire. "Her mother and I… we'll be all right. It's just a difficult time for all of us and Hermione and I said things to each other that we didn't mean."
"Does Caitlyn know that?" Blue asked.
"I don't know." Harry replied. "I guess not, if she's fighting with you over it." He paused and smiled a bit at Blue. "She's got my temper I'm afraid."
Blue smiled back. "Yeah," he agreed. "I mean… no…" he tried to take back what he just said.
"It's all right," Harry said. "I know she's a lot more like me than she even wants to admit." The two men sat in silence for a good few minutes. "Do you love my daughter?" he asked suddenly.
"More than anything," Blue replied without hesitation.
"You didn't even have to think about that, did you?" Harry asked.
"No… she's so much a part of me that I can't imagine doing anything without her." Blue said.
"I'm glad to hear that." Harry replied. "I'm glad she's got someone like you."
"Really?" Blue asked.
"What, you think I've never approved of you?" Harry tried to joke.
"Well, no… I just…" Blue wasn't able to put into words what he was thinking.
"I'm glad my daughter chose someone who respects her," Harry interrupted. "You've been good to her… every father should be so lucky to see his daughter that happy."
"Thanks," Blue replied. "It means a lot to hear that," he said honestly. Both men turned when they heard a noise in the doorframe.
"What are you guys doing?" Caitlyn asked.
"Nothing, just talking." Harry stood up, as well as Blue.
"Can Blue and I have a moment alone?" Caitlyn asked. "I need to talk to him." She looked at her boyfriend behind her father.
Harry just smiled and squeezed her shoulder before disappearing into the hallway. Blue and Caitlyn looked at each other for a long moment before she finally came into the room.
"I'm sorry," she said. "I… don't know why I said what I said to you."
"You were mad." Blue replied as they both sat down next to one another.
"I know, but it's not an excuse," Caitlyn wrapped her arms around herself. She had taken her braid out and her long hair flowed down her back, the fire bringing out reddish highlights. "It's just… I'm so tired of feeling upset and angry all the time…"
"It's not right that you take it out on the people that love you," Blue replied.
"I'm not much better than my father was with my mum am I?" Caitlyn bit her lower lip as she tried to keep her eyes from tearing up again. "I don't deserve to have you here right now."
"Oh come on, now you're just having a pity party." Blue wrapped his arms around her and nuzzled her long locks. "Maybe if I join you it'll make you feel better."
"Honestly," she said but it made her smile. "I love you," Caitlyn hugged him around the waist.
"I love you more," he kissed the top of her head then tilted her face back to kiss her on the lips.
Caitlyn closed her eyes as Blue's mouth lingered on hers. "Now I notice you didn't challenge that…" he said when they parted. A small laugh escaped her and he grinned.
"Did my dad say anything to you about you living here?" Caitlyn asked, looking up at him.
"What?" he looked confused. "No, why?"
"He knows," Caitlyn chewed on her lower lip for a second. "I didn't have to tell him or anything, he just… guessed."
"Really?" Blue asked. "He didn't mention it… I guess that means he's okay with it."
"Must be," Caitlyn replied. "He's probably not okay with it… but he's really got no choice in the matter does he?"
Blue smiled down at her. "So I guess this means I'm moving back in eh?"
"I hope so." Caitlyn rested her head against his chest. "I hate sleeping in that bed alone. It's too cold."
"Well let's go warm it up then." Blue helped her put out the fire and they went to bed.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Draco sat at his father's old desk, one of the only salvageable things he'd been able to find in the ruins of the Manor. He was using special ink that he'd had Daniela go find for him, which would leave no trace of the quill used in writing the note he was scripting at that very moment.
"It's coming now, Mudblood." He smiled cruelly as he folded the note and put it in a thick, cream coloured envelope. Pausing a moment, he got out of the chair and went across the room, where he bent down to the ground and pulled a crumbling rock from the wall. Reaching deep, his thin hands soon found a small box tucked to the right side of the hole. Pushing the rock back in, he carried the box back to the desk and opened it.
Pulling a trinket from the box, Draco paused a moment to look at the object in his hand before slipping it into the envelope as well.
"Well, it won't be long now before everything falls into place." Draco stood by the window watching the raven fly away with the note dangling in its claws. He hated using owls… the raven was so much more dark, just like him.
"Everything's coming together now," Draco let the wind whip his pale hair before turning back into the room and shutting it out.