Chapter one
The girl who survived
Paula woke to hear her mother calling her name. She opened her eyes and saw the sun shining in through the window. Paula rubbed her eyes. She reached for her glasses and placed them on her face as she sat up in her bed. "I'm up mom," Paula called down. She swung her legs out of bed and then stood up. She stretched her arms high above her head in a big stretch. After she was fully awake she went and got dressed.
She ran downstairs at the smell of french toast. She just loved french toast. And knew that her mom must have good news for she only made them when something special was happening, or she had great news. Paula ran into the kitchen and dining room. They only used the dining room as a family. And with her father away on a business trip, it was just her mom and younger brother. So they ate in the kitchen.
Trish was in front of the stove and Connor was seated in his buster seat. Paula went to her chair next to her brother. "What's the news, mom?" Paula asked as she patted her brother on the head. "You know me too well, kiddo. A letter came in the mail for you." Trish said still making the french toast. Paula looked down at the yellowish parchment.
The address was written in emerald-green ink. There was no stamp in the far corner of the envelope. Paula turned the letter over and saw the wax seal on the back and thought. Who sends letters with seals anymore. This is the 20th century. The seal had a crest with a lion, an eagle, a badger and a snake surrounding a big letter H.
Paula opened the letter. And ignoring her ever curiosity, Paula began to read the letter out loud. "Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore. (Order of Merlin, First class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. Of Wizards) Dear Miss. Potter, We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of necessary books and equipment. Term begins on September 1. We await your owl no later than July 31. Yours sincerely Minerva McGonagall. Headmistress."
Paula looked up at her mother who had placed a full plate of french toast on the island and was distributing them to three plates. "What is...?" Paula looks down at the letter and reads. "Hogwarts?" Her mother would not look her in the eye. "It is a school. They said so in the letter." Her mother replies and places a plate in front of Connor.
"I know it's a school. But why have I never heard of it? And why do I need to go to a new school if I am already going to a school? Elementary school." Paula says, really confused. "My teacher told me that the middle school was called something else. Not Hogwarts. What is this." Paula waved the letter in her hand.
"Shool. Connor wants to go to shool." Connor said next to Paula. Paula looks at her brother. "In a year you will be going to school, bud. You will start kindergarten." Paula says rubbing his back. Her brother was only three years old. He has short dark brown hair and green eyes. Her mother has shoulder length dark brown hair and brown eyes. Her father has short blond hair and blue eyes.
Paula has long black hair and green eyes. Paula looks at her mom. "Mom. Why did I get a letter to go to a wizard school? Is this a joke. There are no such things as wizards and witches. They are made up."
Her mother finally looked at her. "Paula, you are a witch." Paula blinked a couple of times. She must not have heard right. "Wwwwhat?" Paula shook her head. "Yes, Paula. And in three months time, you will go to a school and learn about magic and different things like that." Her mom said calmly.
"Me a whish too," Connor said in a happy voice. Paula could not believe it. She pushed the plate in front of her away. "I am not hungry anymore. I think I will go to my room." At that, she left the island and slowly walked to her bedroom.
Once there she sat on her bed and stared out her window. She began to talk out loud to no one. "Me a witch?" Paua shook her head. "How can I be a witch?" Then a memory popped into her mind. She has a chest that she likes to put her favorite things in. If she lost something, or something was stolen, it would always be in the chest when she would come home.
Then there was the time when she looked in the mirror and her face looked sick, but when she got to school all the boys would not stop looking at her. Paula got up from her bed. She walked over to her desk. She sat down in her chair and pulled the bracelet from her drawer.
Dangling from the silver band was a heart, and in the middle of it was a P. She always thought that it was her name. But it was not till recently that she found out that it was, in fact, her signia. Her mother told her that it was in her basket when she was just a year old. Paula was told she was left on their doorstep.
When she asked what happened to her mother and father, they told her that they died in a house accident. Paula would always get more curious but they would not say anymore. The bracelet was too small for her wrist, but Paula still kept it because it is the only thing that links her to her mother and father. For inside the band was the words, "Love mom and dad".
The metal was made of silver and when she took it to a jeweler they told her it was real silver. Paula looked down at the small heart feeling that there was more to the story behind this bracelet.
"There is something mom is not telling me." At this, she got up and ran downstairs. She found her mother and brother still in the kitchen. Paula stood in the doorway and watched her mom trying to teach Connor how to say his 123's, and ABC's.
Paula smiled. She knew she was not like her family. Not only did they not have the same color hair and eyes, but they did not look like her. She was always pretty, she did not need makeup. Her mother was lovely in her own way but when they had their picture taken Paula looked like a swan among ducks.
Her father was on the heavy set side. He was ok, not too fat, just right. But she could not see how they were her family. That's when she asked about her real mom and dad. She was 8 years old.
They looked at each other and sat Paula down in the living room. "Paula." Her father said in his gruff voice. "Your mother and father are no longer alive." Her mother said in a soft tone.
"What happened?" Paula asked. Her mother and father looked at her with sad eyes. "They had an accident when you were very young." Paula's eyes teared up. "Did they love me?" Trish ran to Paula's side. "Of course they love you. They wanted the best for you." Trish said holding Paula in her arms. "They were our closest friends. I knew your mom and dad from school."
Paula looked at Trish and Bob. "Do you love me?" Bob went to the other side of Paula and said. "Of course we do. Why would you ask that? Don't you feel loved? You will always be our daughter." Paula looked up at Bob.
"I have felt nothing but love from you two. I am glad to be your daughter." The three hugged, as Paula cried from feeling the overwhelming love from them, and the loss of her mom and dad.
Paula blinked back the tears from the memory. She was brought back to the present by the sound of her brother's laughter. Paula walked into the kitchen and sat down in her chair. "I see you have come down. Would you like your french toast?" Her mother asked. "Yes, please. And I am ready to talk." Her mother brought Paula's plate over and asked her if she wanted them warmed up.
At this Paula just shook her head and dug in. "So you must have a lot of questions." Her mother said. After swallowing her bit Paula asked. "How did my mom and dad really die?" Trish's face fell. "I guess you are old enough to know the truth. But keep in mind that what I tell you must stay in this kitchen." Paula nodded her head and began to eat.
"Your mother and father were one of the greatest witch and wizards I ever knew. Your father is my cousin and your mother was my best friend. I met her at Hogwarts. But there is a dark wizard that did some bad things." Paula's hand paused before her mouth. "What is his name?" Trish was at a loss for words.
A scared look was on her face. "People, as in wizards and witches, were so terrified of him that they don't speak his name. But he is known as Lord Voldemort." Paula looked at her mother with wide eyes. "So how is he linked to how my mom and dad died?" Trish fiddled with the chain necklace that she wore.
"On the night that your parents died, You-know-who went to their house and killed your mother and father. He would have killed you too, but your mother put the bracelet on your wrist, so he did not see you." Paula pulled out the charm Trish was talking about. "You mean this?" Trish looked at the bracket and said. "Yes. That is the vary one." Paula looked down at it.
"Why is it that when I wore this, he could not see me?" Trish laughed. "It makes you invisible to anyone." Paula could believe that. How else could she have survived the attack at just a year old, if she had not been invisible? Paula had finished her plate and was looking at the bracelet.
"I have only one last question." Trish looked at Paula with a quizzical look. "Just one question? The famous Paula only has one question. You usually bombard me with a hundred questions." Paula chuckled. It was true. She was likely to ask a lot of questions. But today she just felt like it was not a normal day. "How is it you know so much about the wizarding world and Hogwarts. If you are not a witch?"
Trish looked at her family portrait. "You are right. I am not a witch. But I am not a muggle either." Paula looked confused but excited. For now, she was learning about a whole new world. "Muggle? What is a muggle?" Trish laughed. "A muggle is a non-magical person. Your father, Bob, is a muggle. Your brother is a muggle."
Trish pauses. Paula nodded in understanding. "So if you're not a muggle, then what are you?" Trish looks at Paula. "I am a squib." Paula looks questionably at her mother. "Huh? What is that?" Trish tries to find the right words. "A squib is a non-magical person born into a wizard family." Paula starts to understand more and more of what her mother is saying.
"If you went to the same school as my parents, then you must know magic." Trish nods her head. "Yes and no. I only could learn basic magic. Light a candle. Small mending. Things like that." Paula looked at her empty plate. "How come I never seen you use magic?" Trish explained. "It was best for you if I keep that from you. Dumbledore's orders."
Trish looked at the time and gasped. "Oh, Merlin's beard. I am going to be late for work. I need to drop off you brother at the Gray's in less than an hour. Could you help me get him ready dear." Paula jumped up and picked her brother up out of his booster seat. She then carried him up to his bedroom and helped him pick out his clothes and get him dressed.
Paula was just finishing putting Connor's shoes on when her mother walked out of the master bedroom wearing her favorite pinstriped suit. She worked at this grand building as a secretary for a business that made drills. Her mother walked with them to the car after putting on her high heel shoes. Paula buckled Connor into his car seat and kissed both her brother and her mother goodbye.
She waved as her mother drove out of the drive and headed for the Gray's house. After the car was no more than a dot, Paula walked back into the house and cleaned up the breakfast dishes and cleaned the island. She then walked to the front door and grabbing her house key, locked up the house and walked the short distance to the park.
Auther's note- This is my first time putting a story on here. I am welcome to any feedback. I will try to post chapter two on here as soon as I finish it.