A reception to remember

The reception hall had been decorated beautifully. Several live bats flying over the circular dance floor and a slow rythymed music had soon struck cord. There were many tables and chairs surrounding the dance floor and Caitlin and Erika sat themselves down at one that was closest to the towering white wedding cake complete with red,blue and yellow icing flowers. At once the witches and wizards began apparating everywhere. Caitlin sighed.

"Everyone here is from Hogwarts." she muttered

"Yeah," Erika said "But you aren't shy to talk to strangers once you've had your daily amount of sugar..."

Caitlin shrugged with a grin on her face. "It's not my fault..." she muttered guiltily

Erika patted her shoulder "We know Caitlin, We know..."

Caitlin smiled as the music reached her ears. It was a habbit that when she heard music she just had to dance. So she did but stopped when Harry, Ron and Ally apparated just next to her. She screamed and jumped a foot backwards.

"Don't do that!" she said but they were all laughing. Caitlin sighed and began to dance again. Soon, almost everyone in the hall was dancing with some one else. Ally was dancing with Ron, Erika was dancing with a boy she said was named Neville Longbottom and Caitlin was dancing with Harry. When the music stopped so did the dancing. Erika limped towards Caitlin and Ally.

"What happened?" Ally asked looking mildly concerned

"Oh, Nothing, Neville just kept stepping on my feet..." she said with an impatient wave of her hand

Caitlin laughed and leaned on Ally's shoulder to keep from falling over but Ally needed a source of balance as well. With that, Erika made a loud tutting noise and turned on her heel, joining Neville again on the other side of the room. With a long, exasperated sigh Caitlin managed to control the giggles.

"Well, What to do now Mrs. Weasley?" she inquired turning to Ally

Ally grinned "I like the sound of that... Mrs. Weasley, Miss Weasley, Alycia Weasley...Miss Alycia Weasley"

"Alright Alright... I get it... You know what your name is..." Caitlin said, interupting Ally's muttering spree. Ally smiled

"Yeah, I do... But aside form that... What to do?" she pondered

Caitlin stared stonily into those confused and dazed brown eyes but remained silent. Ally knew exactly what was running through her mind.

"I know you just said that..." Ally prompted for her. Caitlin always had been a little... Slow. But even now she had a far off look in her eye, eyes gazing far off over to where Ron and Harry happened to be standing. Ally followed her stare and hit her over the head.

"It better be Harry that your lookin' at!" she said in mock anger.

Caitlin frowned rubbing her forehead
"Chill, It's not like I'm looking at the ugly red head anyway..." she teased.

Ally gasped, yet again in the same mock anger tone and ran. Caitlin, knowing Ally since the age of 4, knew better then to stand still. She ran. Ally ran after her. Though it was an angry chase both girls were laughing their heads off. As they each zoomed in and out of the crowds, people stared at them. They were used to stares and glares and payed no notice. They ran past Erika and Neville who even stared themselves. After five minutes of running Caitlin and Ally finally stopped to cath their breath and Harry and Ron caught up with them.

"What was that about?" asked Ron as he then slipped a hand over Ally's shoulders pulling her into him. Ally was still laughing, as was Caitlin.

"Nothing... Absolutely nothing..." Ally sighed resting her head on Ron's shoulder

Caitlin giggled and Harry smiled down at her(A/N, I hate being short...), still looking confused as did Ron. But neither of them made any inquiries as another slow tune had struck sound. Ron smiled down at Ally who grinned right back. Placing one hand over hers and another around her waist the two began to dance. Harry glanced over at Caitlin who nodded. He too took Caitlin's hand in his, slipping the other around her waist and beginning to dance. Out of the corner of her eyes, Caitlin could see Erika wincing as Neville would constantly trod on her toes. Caitlin couldn't help but grin as she placed her head on Harry's shoulder letting him lead the slow and calming waltz.

After many hours of fun, laughter and dancing the reception came to an end. To Caitlin and Ally, it seemed that Erika and Neville had become... well... closer then they had been, for they left the hall hand in hand. Caitlin and Ally had found this extremely funny since Erika had never actually had anykind of boyfriend. They had snickered when Erika and Neville had passed Ally, Caitlin, Harry and Ron.
"Erika Longbottom, Nice ring to it huh?" Caitlin whispered to Ally who giggled

"Miss Neville Longbottom..." she added and it was Caitlin's turn to giggle. Both boys each raised an eyebrow and with a simple smile Caitlin had told them that they didn't want to know. With a last hug from Ally and wave from Ron, Caitlin was left alone with Harry. She sighed and hung her shoulders

"You know that feeling when you have eaten all the birthday cake and there's none left?"

Harry looked confused "Uh, A stomach ache? Or the feeling that all the cake is gone?"

Caitlin thought for a moment "A little bit of each!" she said smiling. Harry too smiled as they both began to walk away. Swinging her small backpack off one shoulder she reached inside and felt around the loose papers and books. With a panicked look on her face she knelt on the ground, still searching.

"Um, Are you looking for something?" Harry asked looking concerned

"My house key... My keys are gone. My car keys, house keys and keys to get into the shop... It's all gone..." she said desperately. Harry placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Let's go and look inside..." he said soothingly. Caitlin nodded and rose to her feet. Then, she carefully took steps inside the hall eyes to the ground. Harry's eyes too were upon the floor in search of the keychain. Her spotted something glittering under on of the tables. He walked over to it and bent down. Picking up the black and red keychain he called over to her.

"This them?" he asked holding them up. Caitlin, who was crawling under a different table emerged on hands and knees. Her eyes lit up at the sight of her keychain and ran over as fast as the heeled shoes would carry her. Harry handed her the keys and Caitlin looked as though Cristmas had come early. She flung her arms around his shoulders in a quick hug

"Thank you, Thank you, Thank you..." she said and pulled away. Harry smiled

"No problem..." he said "After all, you gave me free breakfast this morning remember?" he said winking. Caitlin smiled and stood on tiptoe (A/N: THE SHORTNESS!), quickly placing a soft kiss on his cheek. Harry smiled with a slight pink trace in his cheeks. Caitlin swiftly returned the smile and disapparated just as Harry himself did. Once inside, Harry changed, as quickly as he could out of the tuxedo and into lounging pants and a grey T-shirt. He threw himself onto the double bed in the master bedroom of the house, the room that Lily and James had once shared, rebuilt of course. Almost just after his head had just touched the black feather pillow, his eyes shut and he seemed to slide into a silent night's sleep. Caitlin too had changed as soon as she got home. Quickly climbing out of the dress and into a sleek black nightdress. Then, she stepped slowly into the bathroom and hung over the sink. Turning on the water, she bent lower and splashed her face with handfuls of icy water. With a small bunched up bit of the bathroom towel she dotted away the eye liner that ran from her eyes before brushing her teeth. Sighing and gazing into the mirror she undid the knot in her hair and attacked the mess with the bristles of her childhood brush. She tied it up again in a ponytail and slid into her twin bed, sheeted with black velvet linen. She sighed again and leaned her head against her pillow staring at the ceiling. It was a few minutes before she actually fell asleep. It truly was a reception to remember, she thought to herself before she drifter off.