Come on Over

[Kiera Kaster]

InCalifornia, it was a warm spring day with the sun shining down on the front of the Potter's house. Inside, was a tiny, young girl rushing around the house, cleaning and cooking at the same time. While Kiera Potter was a witch, she often forgot it when it came to housework. She had been raised without magic and had to clean her house the normal, muggle way. So that was the way that she did things now.

Kiera sprinted to the front door as she heard Cyndi ring the doorbell. She was dressed in very casual clothes for this afternoon. Kiera grinned as the large front door swung open to reveal her best friend.

"Cyndi!" Kiera squeeled as she pulled the other girl into a hug. "I'm so glad you could make it! I hope you didn't have any problems finding the house?"she asked as she stepped back to let the other girl in the house. Kiera's eyes scanned her friend. It had been several months since she last saw her school friend. Kiera had been busy with James, the Harpies, and her gymnastics and unfortunately didn't write as much as she should.

Kiera smiled as she lead Cyndi to the kitchen. "Are you hungry?" she inquired. "I made a chocolate cake when I got your owl back. I'm so happy you came to see me." she said brightly. "Its been way too long." she said with a grin.

 

[Professor Cyndi Kingsley]

Glancing once again at the piece of parchment in her hand to be sure she was stepping up the walk of the right house, Cyndi brushed down her outfit. It had been such a long time since she had seen Kiera and she was really excited to have been able to get away for the weekend to enjoy some time with her. The house was beautiful from the outside and she couldn’t wait to get inside.

Knocking gently on the door, Cyndi only had to wait a moment before the door was opened and she found herself in a hug, which she returned. “Kiera!” she said in equal excitement to her friends and shook her head as she stepped into the house. “No…not at all. You gave me great directions.” she added with a huge smile as she glanced around the home. “This place is sweet!”

As Kiera continued on, asking Cyndi a bunch of different questions, she put her bag down and followed her into the kitchen. “My favorite!” she said as a huge smile crossed her face when she heard what Kiera had made. “Me too. It has been waaay too long. How’s James?” she asked wondering how her friend’s husband was doing.

 

[Kiera Kaster]

Kiera was pleased when Cyndi said that she didn't have a problem finding the place. It was good news since Kiera wasn't always so great with directions. As she led the way to the kitchen, she heard Cyndi ask about James. Kiera turned with a smile on her face. "He is doing well though we don't get much time together. His Quidditch team keeps him busy as does mine. I miss him." she said, a hint of sadness creaping into her eyes. Kiera quickly shoved that emotion away. She just had to make the most of it when she did see James. "Though even though we have been married for over a year now, James still gets some outrageous mail from crazed fan girls. Sometimes I still get a hate letter or two." she said rather amused. Would those girls ever give up?

Kiera grabbed a hand towel off of the counter as she reached for the oven. Opening it, she swiftly took out the cake and placed it on the counter. Waving her wand, she cooled the cake down magically. She summoned chocolate frosting as well as a spoon to smooth the icing before summoning two plates and forks. Kiera looked at Cyndi as she frosted the cake. "So what's new with you? How is everything at the school? I'm afraid I haven't heard from Kat or Andy in quite some time." she said with a frown.

 

[Professor Cyndi Kingsley]

Cyndi leaned against the counter and listened to Kiera speak about missing James. She could only imagine how difficult it had to be for both of them since they were both huge quidditch players and not for the same team either. When her best friend mentioned still receiving hate mail. "Are you serious?" she laughed, shaking her head. "I still remember some of those letters..." she added, remembering the day that everyone found out that James and Kiera were dating. It had been chaos in the Great Hall. Now though, it seemed that things couldn't be better for the couple.

Watching the cake being frosted, Cyndi rolled her eyes at Kiera's question. "Where to begin?" she wondered aloud. "I just found out my roomie is dating one of my students...which I wouldn't really care about if it wasn't that the girl is suuper nice. And Riley's a super flirt. I'm trying to stay out of it, but..."she added with a shrug. Cyndi had never been really good about keeping out of other's business, mostly because people usually came to her for advice and help.

"Everything else is a-ok. I haven't seen Andy in a while but I think things are ok with her. And Kat's busy with Chace but she's doing great." With the mention of their other friend's name, Cyndi suddenly remembered Kat mentioning to her that she was going to be trying out for a quidditch team. Just as she opened her mouth to share the news with Kiera, she remembered Kat asking her to keep it quiet and she closed her mouth again.

 

[Kiera Kaster]

Kiera laughed as Cyndi mentioned the previous letters she had gotten back in the Great Hall. "Yeah I remember those were not pleasant at all." she said shaking her head. It seemed like such a long time ago. She hadn't been involved with James at the time and actually had been dating Alex. That article had stirred up quite a bit that now all was a distant memory. Kiera's thoughts lingered on Alex. She hadn't seen him in months but she realized she missed him. He was her best friend but she had hurt him in the most cruel manner. Even now, Kiera felt guilty about it. There was so much that could have been different with them... but Kiera loved James and things were the way they should be. Right?

Kiera realized she had drifted off in her own thoughts when she heard Cyndi still talking. She laughed. "I'm not sure you can stay out of it, knowing you." she teased her best friend. Kiera cut a piece of cake for both Cyndi and herself. She handed the plate over and sat down on a bar stool. She picked up her fork and took a bite of the cake as Cyndi continued to talk.

Kiera smiled sadly at the older girl. "You know I think our dorm room four girls are finally seperated." she said, hating the words as they came out of her mouth. "Kat will be graduating this year, and Andy next year. We will all be seperate and off doing different things. I never talk to the two of them as it is." she said with a frown.

 

[Professor Cyndi Kingsley]

Cyndi chuckled as Kiera stated the obvious. She knew she wouldn't be able to stay out of it either. As a plate was passed over to her, Cyndi pulled herself onto the stool beside her friend and took a bite, savoring the chocolately goodness. "This is ah-mazing Kiera" she said after taking another bite. Chocolate was one of her favorite things in the world.

She sobered up, however, as Kiera continued to speak and stated whatt Cyndi knew to be true but was still trying to deny to herself. Pausing in between bites, Cyndi felt a sadness in the pit of her stomach. "I know..." she said softly. "I work in the same place as them and still hardly see them." She took another bite of her cake. "It seems like forever ago that we were the dorm four girls swearing to be friends forever..." she added with a sad smile. "At least we still hang out" she said, brightening slightly at that.

 

[Kiera Kaster]

Kiera grinned as Cyndi complimented her chocolate cake. "Thanks. My grandmother taught me. She is an excellent cook." she said with a laugh. As the conversation continued on to the dorm room four girls. She nodded her head as Cyndi spoke. The two younger girls were definitely losing touch with the two older girls. It hadn't been that long ago that the four of them were inseperable. "I guess that's the sad part of growing up. We each go in different directions." she said quietly. Kiera's eyes were sad but brightened slightly at the last words. "At least we still take time together. Promise me that we will always make time for each other?" she said, slightly demanding. Kiera couldn't bear the though of loosing Cyndi as well as Kat and Andy.

 

[Professor Cyndi Kingsley]

Cyndi nodded as she listened to Kiera speak, thinking about the girls that had been such an important part of her time at Hogwarts. Regardless of whether or not they continued to remain friends, she knew that she would always have memories, fond ones at that, of the times they'd had.

When Kiera asked Cyndi to promise that they'd always keep in touch, she didn't hesitate. "Of course we will. It'll take more than the Pacific, your quidditch career and my teaching to keep us apart" she added with a laugh. The girls were each extremely busy in their respective careers but she was glad the two made time for each other as well. Even though she and Kiera hadn't become close until Cyndi was a much older student, the girl had quickly grown to be one of her best friends. They were alike in many ways as were Kat and Andy, and she supposed that might have something to do with the drift. It was still sad, but Kiera had been right to suggest that it was part of growing up.

"How's your team doing?" she asked. Usually, she was pretty up to date on quidditch, but lately she hadn't found the time to keep track of her friend's teams.

 

[Kiera Kaster]

Kiera grinned as Cyndi reassured her they would always keep in touch. She leaned over and hugged her friend. "Good. I was hoping you would say that." she said with a small laugh. She knew that she would try to make the same effort with Kat and Andy but she had a feeling it would only hold true between her and Cyndi. The two of them were alike in many different ways.

Kiera smiled as Cyndi asked about her Quidditch team. "Oh actually we are pretty good. We have lost a couple of games but then again you can't win them all." she said with a shrug. Then she laughed again. "We play the Chudley Cannons next week. That should be interesting. I've only ever played Quidditch for fun. You might want to come to that match." she said grinning. "How's things at school?" she asked.

 

[Professor Cyndi Kingsley]

Cyndi listened to Kiera speak about her team and smiled, glad that the Harpies were doing well. When Cyndi told them what team they were playing next, she grinned. "Isn't that James' team?" she asked, finishing off her cake. If it was, it would definitely be an interesting game to watch.

"Oh, it's been fine" she answered. "There's no quidditch going on this year because there's another Tri-wizard tourney going on. It's over at Beauxbatons this time though. But Mike made it! He's the school champ, isn't that awesome?" she said proud for their ex- house and teammate's participation in the tournament. "I hear he isn't doing well though" she added with a shrug.

 

[Kiera Kaster]

Kiera laughed as Cyndi asked her question. The younger girl nodded her head with a wicked grin on her face. "It is indeed. I told him I was going to wipe the floor with his team." she said. "Would you like tickets? I can get you a couple to watch the showdown." she said jokingly. Kiera knew it was going to be a very difficult game for her. It would be almost impossible to view James as an opponent especially if he got hurt.

Kiera grimaced as Cyndi said there wasn't any Quidditch that year. She shook her head. "Poor Kat. Its her last year and they don't even get to play." she said, hating that her friend was missing out. As talk turned to the Triwizard Tournement, Kiera listened intently. "Oh wow! Mike!?" she said excitedly. She was friends with the younger boy and he had been her teammate. "I'm surprised they gave it another shot after the last tournement. I really think Cam would have won that one." she said with a smile on her face.

 

[Professor Cyndi Kingsley]

Cyndi nodded her head vigorously. "Absolutely! I'd love to" she said quickly. The Chudley Cannons were a great team and so were the Harpies, so she knew it would be a tough game for either team to win. Plus, the added drama of husband and wife squaring off made the match must see in Cyndi's opinion.

When Kiera showed her surprise at Mike being the champion, Cyndi nodded and listened to her friend speak. "I know, but they said things were going to be safer this tournament and so far they have been." She shrugged and thought back to the triwizard that their school had hosted when Kiera's brother had entered the tournament. She nodded in agreement. "You're probably right about that. He was kicking a$$" she said with a nod. "What's he up to? He was a couple of years older than me, right?" she asked, pretty sure she was right.

 

[Kiera Kaster]

Kiera grinned at her best friend as she willingly, almost instantaniously accepting the tickets from her. "Great! I will owl them to you when I get them at practice monday." she said happily. It would make her happy to have one of her former teammates and best friends watch her at the game.

Kiera nodded her head as Cyndi talked about the tournament being safer. Of course, they had said that before the last one as well. Everyone knew how that turned out. Personally, Kiera was a bit skeptical on the whole situation. Her grin was almost cocky as Cyndi agreed with her. After all, it was Kiera's brother. "Oh no. He is only 21. He's two years older than me but only one older than you." she said answering the question. "He works as an Unspeakable for the ministry." she said, smiling once more.

 

[Professor Cyndi Kingsley]

"Thanks so much!" she said excitedly. She hadn't been to a professional quidditch game in a long while, since she was a teenager in fact, but now with so many of her friends joining quidditch teams, she had a feeling she would be going much more often. It was again on the tip of Cyndi's tongue to mention the secret that Kat had revealed to her before the holidays, but she stopped herself in time.

"Oh? That's all?" Cyndi was surprised to hear that Cameron was only a year older than her. For some reason, she'd always thought of him as much older. What surprised her even more was his career. She'd been expecting to hear either something quidditch related or something in the ministry, but not an unspeakable. "That's...awesome" she said in awe. She knew that the unspeakables had one of the most secret careers in the ministry and couldn't reveal what exactly they studied, which of course made every super curious to figure out just that. "I bet he'd have tons of stories to tell if he could actually speak about his work" she mused.

 

[Kiera Kaster]

Kiera grinned at her friend. "Its no problem really." she reassured Cyndi. "You watched me play for such a long time you should still be able to watch me." she said with a laugh. "I like having a cheering section." she said still grinning. The only time Kiera did like public attention was when she played Quidditch or doing gymnastics.

Kiera nodded her head at Cyndi's question about her brother. "Yeah. Just a year. I guess maybe he looks older." she mused more to herself that Cyndi. Kiera laughed at Cyndi's last sentence. "Yeah I know. I was bugging him about that the other day. He actually has time to hang out with me now that he and his girlfriend broke up." she told her friend. Kiera didn't harbor any ill will towards Marleigh. She knew how Cameron could be when he truly loved something. The two just weren't meant to be together.

 

[Professor Cyndi Kingsley]

She nodded. "True, and I saw you at your gymnastics tournament" she pointed out, reminding herself that she had seen Kiera perform in one form or another quite a few times before. She smiled then and listened to Kiera say that she didn't even know what her brother did. Being an unspeakable seemed pretty hardcore. "That's kind of crazy. He's never even let anything slip? " she asked and then listened as Kiera added that he'd broken up with his girlfriend recently. "That must kind of suck. For him, anyway. You're probably happy to get to spend time with him. I bet it doesn't happen that often with your jobs."

"Has that gossip lady bothered you guys lately?" she asked. She couldn't remember seeing any articles on the Potters recently but that didn't mean that the lady whose name was unfortunately similar to her own wasn't planning something. She'd seemed to make it her personal job to follow the Potters.

 

[Kiera Kaster]

Kiera grinned at the reminder. She nodded her head. "Yeah I remember. It was really great you came." she said, remembering. Kiera had been with Alex at the time but James had still shown up, even though he knew absolutely nothing about the muggle sport. She smiled at the memory. It was both happy and sad. Kiera rarely saw Alex anymore and she missed him.

Kiera laughed as Cyndi talked about her brother. "No never. He can really keep a secret." she said with a grin. Her face fell slightly. Her feelings about the break up were conflicting. She shook her head. "I don't know. I get to see him more but he isn't happy. He needs someone to get his mind away from Marleigh. Someone else that is better than she was." she said shaking her head. Kiera didn't know what to say.

Kiera shook her head at Cyndi's last question. "No she hasn't bothered me or James in quite some time." she said with a grin. It was a fact she was very pleased about.

((I was assuming this was before Bleak Street since Kiera said she hasn't seen James for a month at the beginning.))

 

[Professor Cyndi Kingsley]

((Me too. I just thought it'd be a question Cyndi would ask ))

"It was so fun. I'd only ever seen gymnastics on tv before that, but it was definitely much more exciting being there in person" Cyndi explained. She could remember how nervous she'd been when Kiera had to leave to compete and she'd been left alone with both Alex and James. She'd been afraid that they might have started a scene during the competition, but both guys had tried their best to get along with each other and had been gentlemen.

Laughing along with her when she said that he was good at keeping secrets, Cyndi's face grew serious as Kiera shared her worries about her brother. Patting her friend's arm, Cyndi replied, "Aww...don't worry Kiera. I'll bet he'll be on the rebound in no time." Cameron was a good looking guy and she knew that if he wanted to find someone, he probably wouldn't have all that much trouble.

"That's great" she said with a smile when Kiera told her that she hadn't seen the lady in a while. The less anyone saw of that woman the better.

 

[Kiera Kaster]

Kiera grinned at Cyndi as she said it was exciting. "Yeah though I think we are lucky it wasn't more exciting." she said, amused. "I know I was praying the whole time that James and Alex wouldn't get into it." she said laughing. Looking back on the situation it was rather comical. However, at the time it had been nerve racking as she thought a fist fight would break out in the stands.

Kiera nodded her head. "You are probably right. He certainly has never had a problem with female admirers before." she said laughing. The she shook her head. "I only hope she is nice. Poor Cam. He has a good heart with the best intentions. Some girls just can't handle that I guess." she said rolling her eyes.

 

[Professor Cyndi Kingsley]

Cyndi laughed out loud as she nodded. "Ohmygosh! Me too!" she said, "You should've seen me when you left to go warm-up." It was so easy to laugh about the situation now, especially since nothing did end up happening. The boys seemed to have understood how important the day was for Kiera and nothing had occurred.

She listened to Kiera speak about her brother some more, nodding as she spoke of his admirers. She'd been one of them back at the first tri-wizard tournament, but hadn't seen him in a long while. Thinking back, she tried to recall when she'd last seen him. the wedding...Guess I still am an admirer she realized as she remembered how handsome he'd looked in his suit. "I guess not...we end up going after the bad boys unfortunately and forget about the good ones" she frowned, realizing that she seemed to fall into that trap quite often, dating guys who were terrible flirts and then ditched her without so much as an owl.

 

[Kiera Kaster]

Kiera laughed along with her best friend. "Yeah. I'm glad they behaved though it was like a silent competition for my affection." she said shaking her head. "Glad that is over." she said with a smile. She still missed Alex as her best friend but she was happy with James. They were alike in so many ways, yet still different from each other. It was a good match in her opinion. Kiera couldn't live without James Potter.

Kiera grinned as Cyndi said they ended up going after the bad boys. She nodded her head, thinking back on her past boyfriends. Steel hadn't been that way but then that was just puppy love back in first year. However, "Link was that way, he still is. He was always trouble for me." she said shaking her head. "Alex though, Alex was a good boyfriend and a good guy. His only problem was all his pranks." she said laughing. She had helped him with a few of those pranks. "James is a good one but he did have a reputation for being a bad boy. The circumstances of the beginning of our relationship was kinda bad though." she admitted sheepishly to Cyndi.

 

[Professor Cyndi Kingsley]

"Uh-huh" Cyndi said with a chuckle. That day their competition had been silent, but it hadn't always been that way between the two guys. She hadn't seen or heard anything about Alex in the longest time and figured that he wasn't even in New Zealand anymore. "Alex was a good guy" she agreed. "Have you spoken to him at all?"

As Kiera continued to speak about James being a good boy, Cyndi was surprised to find that she agreed with him. If she'd been asked back during her school days, her opinion would have been quite different. She had been on 'team Alex' for a long while only becoming a convert on her friend's wedding day when she'd discovered that James really and truly did care for Kiera and had only her best interests at heart. "I hate to agree with you on that one though I think Cynthia made things even worse than they actually were" she pointed out. "You guys are really adorable together though" she said honestly with a smile.

 

[Kiera Kaster]

Kiera laughed in agreement. "We had a day out together before the official wedding. He took me on an adventure in London." she said grinning. It had been really exciting and surprising. Alex had even driven the car she had bought him. "But I guess I haven't seen him since the wedding. He's living in Jamacia right now." she said. "Things would have been very different if he had loved me back." Kiera said, not regretting the fact.

James was her husband and the best one she could have hoped for. He loved her and she loved him. Kiera grimaced at the mention of Cynthia. "Yeah that horrible woman certainly didn't help, though I think it would have taken much longer for us to start a relationship if it hadn't been for her." Kiera said, hating to admit the fact. She would not be Mrs. Potter right now if Cynthia hadn't thrown them together. Kiera smiled gratefully at her friend. "Thank you. That means a lot." she said honestly.

 

[Professor Cyndi Kingsley]

Cyndi wasn't completely surprised to hear that Kiera and Alex had spent a day together before she'd ended up married. She nodded her head as she listened and smiled when Kiera said that he was currently living in Jamaica. "I can totally see him there" she laughed and then stopped when she heard the rest of what Kiera said. She didn't comment, knowing that it was the truth.

After rolling her eyes when Kiera spoke about Cynthia, Cyndi nodded with a frown on her face. "I guess all of that was good for something then" she begrugingly said. She hoped Kiera would never admit the fact to the gossip lady. She smiled again though as she listened to how grateful Kiera sounded.

 

[Kiera Kaster]

Kiera laughed and nodded her head. "Yeah I think he is enjoying it a lot. When I saw him, he was crazy dark. Practically black." she said grinning. Jamaica was treating her ex-love well. Kiera knew she really should owl Alex soon, just to make sure he was okay.

Kiera laughed once more as Cyndi frowned. She could practically see the girl's inner thoughts. She shook her head. "Don't worry I would never let that vile creature know I felt that way. James doesn't even know that." she said. "Though I am glad you finally came around to James." she said teasingly.