Note : * and now the moment you've all been waiting for...* Caspian's introduction, finally ;) !

Edmund meets Caspian in his fifth year. Well, it's not exactly true- he has actually seen him several times. He and Susan used to date last year. The four Pevensie hanged a lot together back then, because it was the first and the last time they were all gathered here at Hogwarts, so Edmund had some opportunities to make acquaintance with his sister's boyfriend during the few weeks of their relationship.

But at the time Caspian only looked like one of Susan's umpteenth suitor, another one who spent his day ogling at her as if she was a reincarnated goddess, which knowing him now, was probably the case. This explained Edmund's only mild interest in him. And then Susan left him for yet another boy as she used to do a lot, and that had been pretty much the end of the story.

So Edmund actually meets Caspian at the library, during the month of April of his fifth year. He's got a whole pile on unstable equilibrium in his arms and he happens to stumble on Caspian who's currently standing in front of shelves, his mouth wide open in wonder.

"Have you just discovered the existence of this library ?" he asks in a rather dry tone-after all, he nearly fell on the floor because of the man-and Caspian immediately turns in his direction. As soon as he meets Edmund's disapproving stare, he begins to stutter.

" What ? No I- I haven't, I knew it was there obviously, I just never took the time to, er, explore it entirely. And my NEWTS are in two months, so.."

I thought Hufflepuff were supposed to be hard-workers Edmund considers quietly, taking a quick look at his scarf, before catching himself. He has always prided himself as someone, unlike his Slytherin fellows, who didn't judge people according to their house only. He's supposed to have abandoned this bad habit for years now.

" And is Magical Creature Care one of your options ?" he asks, glancing at the nearby shelves.

"Er no." answers Caspian, taken aback. I just passed next to this stuff and I was frankly astounded by the diversity and number of books you can find in this place. Do you realize there must have at least one hundreds books only about dragons ?"

"Well, it's Hogwarts's library. ยป states Edmund as a matter of fact. " They've got pretty much every books about every subject, except maybe dangerous one, and you can find plenty of that in the Restricted Section. I found a book about how to turn Doxy's fangs into decorating objects once."

Caspian chuckles softly, which earns him a disapproving glare from Ms. Pince, currently rearranging one nearby shelf.

" So, do you know where I could find Metamorphosis's book ? Because that's the part I need to study the most for my NEWTS I think."

" Well," ponders Edmund- did this guy really ignored the existence of this place until now?- "You should look more specifically there and there." As he speaks, he moves and gestures to different areas of the library. He ends up designating one shelf near him. " You may prefer to check this one first though. It contains books which are more fitted for advanced students, I think."

" Okay." nods Caspian dutifully, looking as though he's trying to memorize all the different locations-Edmund wouldn't be surprised if he was. The Hufflepuff proceeds to walk where he's been indicated, but stops after two steps look at him.

"Thanks a lot, er... Edmund, right?" Edmund can't help but frown-he's a bit surprised Caspian still remembers his name to be honest-but the end of the sentence clears his confusion. "...you're Susan's younger brother, aren't you?"

One look at Caspian's face as he pronounces his words is enough for Edmund to find one explanation- he's still besotted. The Slytherin can tell from his dreamy eyes only. Poor chap. Dear Susan often underestimated to impact she could have on boys.

"Is she alright? Susan I mean." Caspian goes on, without waiting for his answer. Edmund represses a smile. You see her nearly as often as I do he wants to point out- after all, they're in the same year and have some courses in common-but he answers anyway, because that would be petty.

"Yes, she's fine. A bit stressed about her incoming NEWTS though."

"Well, aren't we all?" says Caspian with a small smile. Edmund nods and, as the Hufflepuff walks away, he makes a note in corner of his mind-he'll ask Susan if she can have a little chat with her former boyfriend one of these days.

After this first introduction, Edmund keeps meeting Caspian over and over at the library. He doesn't go there more often than usual- his own exams are coming of course but he's confident in the fact than he doesn't need to study that much to get the OWLs he want, and he doesn't lead any personal research at the moment-, so it must means that Caspian is the one who increases his visit. He always seems very studious when Edmund spots him, surrounded by pile of books, usually about Metamorphosis, Defense against the Dark Arts and Potions. Sometimes there are other Hufflepuffs at his table- other seventh year who fled the common room in a desperate attempt to find quiet to study-, but most of the time he's on his own, his nose buried in his notes. Caspian doesn't always remark him, but when he does he waves in order to greet him. In this case, Edmund always feels like it would be rude to just wave back, so he walks to him and chit-chats a bit, much too Mrs Pince annoyance- she used to consider him as her favorite student before then.

They talk about the subject Caspian is studying at the moment, the reason which brought Edmund to the library-always different-, and sometimes, but less and less often as the days go by, about Susan. As promised, he talked with her sister about Caspian. She assured him with a smile she'd go and see him but that she was pretty sure he wasn't as hopelessly in love as Edmund thought.

"We broke up almost one year ago. And he didn't struck me as particularly devastated as the time."

"Maybe he just hides emotion pretty well." answered Edmund- because if Caspian wasn't devastated, he wasn't fully recovered either, even he could see that-and Susan tapped him lightly on the shoulder, in a you don't know anything about relationships gesture he had come to recognize with the time. He knows Susan kept her words and talked to him, but he has no idea what the outcome of the discussion was or if it changed anything-it probably was only idle chatter. Anyway, as the days pass, Caspian brings her in the discussion less and less often-sometimes, he even forgets to ask Edmund how she is- and when he does, his gaze is less dreamy than it used to, which makes the Slytherin think that there may be hope for the boy.

By the end of may, as the days become longer and the time to study for his OWLs really approaches, Edmund find himself sitting at Caspian's table. He pretends its because the Hufflepuff always picks the best one-which is true, its emplacement is ideal-but the real reason is that he's beginning to enjoy their little conversations. Caspian revealed him not long ago that he wanted to be an Auror-which Edmund had partly deduced from the subjects he focused on- and that was why he was studying so hard, to get good grades at the NEWTS he needed. His whole face lightens when he talks about it, and Edmund is reminded of Peter, which had to go through the same trials last year at the same period. His older brother has also the same expression when he evokes his job ambitions-maybe it's a thing Aurors-wannabe share. He helped him study for some of his exams at the time-especially in Potions, since it's his favorite subject and he's exceedingly good-and he remembers part of it, so sometimes he's able to give Caspian a hand. The Hufflepuff doesn't seem offended in the least to be helped by a fifth year- on the opposite, he's always glad when Edmund offers to tutor him. The only thing that prevent him is the fear that the Slytherin'll fail his own exams if he continues to distract him.

"I would never forgive because myself if you missed an Optimal because of me." he tells him one day. Edmund can't help but chuckle and he answers with a smile that it would take me far more than that. Caspian frowns, before he realizes the Slytherin he's acting pretentious on purpose, and he stifles a laugh. That's another thing Edmund likes about him- he gets his humor most of the time. And if he's offended by one of his jabs, it's never for long-unlike Peter or Susan, for example. If Edmund was less clever, he'd explain Caspian's good natural by his house, but he's careful not to make that mistake.

One late-may Wednesday, as they're sitting at their usual table in an almost deserted library-everybody else seem to have decided to enjoy the nice weather-, Caspian tells him out of nowhere "You shouldn't be in Slytherin.".

Edmund stops what he's doing-namely pointing at Potions diagram to test the Hufflepuff- to stare at him. He doesn't seem to be kidding-quite the opposite, his eyes are dead serious. Edmund tries very hard to keep his face impassive and, with a tight smile, he asks him casually

"And in which House should I be, in your opinion ?"

"Ravenclaw." Caspian answers within a beat. "I think you may be the cleverest person I ever talked to-and I used to date your sister."

It is partly intended as a joke- Edmund can feel it from Caspian's bit too jovial tone, as if he's trying to lighten the already tense atmosphere. He diverts his eyes from him, in order to stare at a blank piece of paper and asks him as neutrally as he can "How would you feel if someone said to you had been ill-sorted ?"

"Well, I'd be vexed of course." Caspian answers, suddenly frowning. "But that's not the same thing at all."

" Hufflepuff isn't really considered as the best of the houses." cuts Edmund, regretting the words as soon as they leave his mouth and he sees Caspian's sad expression- but he's trying to make a point. "So in a way, I think it is."

"No it's not." answers the Hufflepuff in an incredulous tone. "I mean okay, there may be less famous wizards coming from our house and we don't get the House Cup as often as you, but nobody is afraid of us the way people are from Slytherins, and.."

"and You-Know-Who wasn't a Hufflepuff, right. You know what, forget about what I just said." cuts Edmund abruptly. He's tired of all of this, to be honest. He can't help but try and defend the honor of his house, from time to time, because come on, they're more than just the bad guys, but he's getting so sick of it. It was stupid to assume Caspian would understand this.

As he eventually rises his head, he sees the Hufflepuff staring hard at the opposite wall, as if he's trying to avoid his eyes. His mouth is tightened and for a moment, Edmund thinks he's going to get angry too. But the moment passes, Caspian's face relaxes and he eventually turns to look at him.

"I'm sorry." he declares quietly. "I meant it as a compliment, because you've been so nice with me these last weeks, and I had never seen Slytherin act this way before, and I just thought that..." he stops for a beat, clearly looking for words, and ends up ruffling his hair out of frustration. "I don't even know what I was thinking exactly, sorry. It was foolish of me anyway. Would you forgive me ?"

The face he makes as he says these words is so ridiculous-one could almost acknowledge it as a puppy look-that Edmund can't help but smile. He tip taps on Caspian's arm and answers casually "Of course I forgive you. I'm sorry I lost my temper so quickly-I shouldn't have attacked your house like that, it was silly."

"Maybe I deserved it." mumbles Caspian, looking at him in the eyes. Edmund feels a sudden rush of affection towards the boy as well as renewed guilt about what he said to him before.

"The cleverest person I know told me I shouldn't presume too much on people's house." he answers in a soft voice. "That's one of the best advice I was ever given and I tried to stick to it as much as I can -it's not easy, though, especially when everybody seem to think the opposite."

"Well, at least, now, that's two of us who think it's a good one." Caspian replies with a large smile, and Edmund smiles back to him. It might be presumptuous of him, but he thinks he may have made a friend.