Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter... but I want to. Some charactors are J.K. Rowling's. Chloe Palmer is my own charactor, based on a friend.

Chapter One

Chloe Palmer shuffled her note cards into one neat pile. Sighing, she gently placed them into her backpack. Taking a look around her messy room, she picked up some homework assignments, glanced at a clock, and sprinted out the room. She was late for summer school (she had failed math). Jumping down the stairs, Chloe grabbed her sack lunch, yelled out "Bye Mom!" and ran out into a bright sun. Blinking quickly, she rushed down the street to her most favorite place in the world. Steamin' Hot was a small café, a bit on the shabby side. It had ratty chairs that had lost half of their stuffing, week old food, and to Chloe's opinion, the best iced coffee in the whole of Boston. Chloe stood in line, impatiently tapping her foot. Soon, she placed her order.

"Large iced coffee." She didn't believe in saying "Please" to strangers.

The new cashier boy frowned. "Ran out of ice. Is it okay if it's room temperature?"

Chloe muttered a colorful string of words under her breath, and jogged out the door. Keeping her pace, she reached Boston Middle School with three minutes to spare. Students were milling around, talking to their friends. The front courtyard was the most popular place to talk before school, because it was near both the lockers, and homerooms. Chloe looked around her friend, her only friend, and thought, If I don't see him in the next minute, I'm gonna ditch him. Chloe couldn't afford to be late to class again. She was tardy three times this week, and the old hag might actually give her a detention.

Finally, after only forty seconds, she spotted him. Her best friend, her confidant, and the one person she trusted with her life.

Chloe grinned (the second time this week) and yelled out, "Yo! Derek! Over here!"

He spun round, smiled in that familiar smirk of his, and walked over to her.

"Hey, you're late. I was just about to ditch you."

"You're late!" said Chloe, poking him in the gut.

Derek grabbed himself and shrieked and moaned in a creepy voice, "Help me, I'm dying!"

Chloe laughed to herself, and walked in a wide circle around him to her homeroom.

Chloe had known Derek since they were in second grade. As the saying went, "Opposites attract." Chloe, as a seven year old, was as stubborn as hell and rude to the point of being outright evil. She had no friends for those very reasons and had given up trying to be friendly; they had just run away from her like she was Satan himself. Chloe had tortured many young teachers, who were nice to everyone, into total breakdowns, and most of them had resigned. The remainders had learned to steer clear of "The Mule." This was all until Derek transferred schools, and they met each other. Derek was quiet and polite. He was always dressed neatly, always kept clean, and was shy, painfully shy. They had learned to trust each other, two lonely outsiders on the same team. And this was good fortune, because he, and only he, had a way of calming her down and getting her to do whatever it was that the world wanted little Chloe to do.

After the final bell, Chloe stuffed her locker's contents into her bag and waited by the cafeteria. Soon, Derek strolled into view. Chloe waved him over, and they started walking down the hill that led to the main street of shops.

"Can I stay at your house for a while?" asked Derek.

"Sure! Mom always loves seeing you," answered Chloe.

They walked along in comfortable silence, until they reached Chloe's house. Derek ringed the doorbell, and Mrs. Palmer answered the door. She was wearing an apron with flowers sprinkled on a cream- colored surface, and white jeans. Hands still wet, she dried them on her apron, smiled, and hugged Derek.

Looking at Chloe, she said sternly, "Homework's first."

Chloe sighed, said "Fine, Mom," and pulled Derek up to her room. In the bright light, her room seemed messier than when she had left it. Chloe blushed, said "Sorry," and started to collect dirty clothes. Derek helped, stacking books in a tall tower from the paperbacks that were scattered around her bed.

"Really Chlo? Still obsessed with Harry Potter? I thought that you got over this stuff a month ago," teased Derek, dangling Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban in her face.

"Well duh! Best books ever!" exclaimed Chloe, grabbing the tattered paperback and holding it to her chest. "Remus John Lupin! Oh, how I love you so!" said Chloe, being overly dramatic and holding it up the light.

"He's just a fictional character. Nothing so interesting about him anyway," said Derek, lazily sitting on the floor and leaning against the wall.

Chloe put a No Way expression on her face. "He's a bloody werewolf! Don't you dare soil his name with your Muggle-ness!" exclaimed Chloe, in her best British accent.

"Like you're not one too?" asked Derek.

Chloe faked a gasp. "How dare you! Crucio!" Chloe whipped out the Remus Lupin wand she had bought at Orlando and proceeded to wave it at him. They both stared each other and then burst out laughing. Soon, their giggles subsided into silence. They stared at the ceiling for what seemed to be hours, but what was really ten minutes. Just then, the doorbell rang, breaking them out of their trance. Chloe jumped up, said "Hold on!" to Derek, and ran down the stairs. She reached the door at the same time as her mom, and as a routine that turned into a habit, they opened the door together. Standing on the faded Welcome mat was a tall, bald African American. He was dressed like people who sell insurance, which was another way for saying that he wore a business suit. But this guy didn't have the typical briefcase. His hands hung loosely at his side.

"Uh… hello," said Chloe, a bit lamely.

"Good afternoon," said the man, holding out his hand. Chloe shook it firmly (He had a British accent). He continued on. "My name is Kingsley Shacklebolt. I have come to speak to the Palmer family about a special scholarship that Ms. Chloe Palmer has received for the Hogwarts Academy. May I come in?"

Chloe stood there shocked. Hogwarts Academy? Kingsley Shacklebolt? This wasn't true! It was probably a dream. A great dream.

"Hey Chlo, everything okay?" called Derek from her room. When no one responded, he walked downstairs, where Chloe, her mom, and Kingsley were standing in front of the door.

Turning to Chloe, Kingsley asked, "Is this young man part of your family?"

Chloe snapped out of her shocked state, and looked dazed, "Uh, no. Not my family. He's a friend."

"Then I am going to ask you to leave, please," said Kingsley, pleasantly. Derek looked from Kingsley to Chloe. Chloe nodded stiffly to him. She needed to find out if Kingsley was kidding about Hogwarts. Derek nodded back at her. He knew he could trust her; he just wasn't sure about Kingsley.

"I guess… I'll see you later," said Derek, who let himself out.

Kingsley shut the door. The silence that followed was broken by Chloe's mom.

"Hogwarts Academy, you say? Is this some kind of joke?"

"No, Mrs. Palmer, if you would just allow me to explain," said Kingsley, reassuring Chloe's mom.

With a nod, she led Kingsley and her daughter to the living room. They all sat, a little tense. Kingsley pulled out a slim letter from an inside pocket of his suit. He handed it to Chloe, as he explained everything to her mom.

"Chloe, as I said, has received a scholarship to a… unique school. The proper name of Hogwarts Academy is the Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. Chloe has the potential to become a great witch, with special training that is best at Hogwarts. But this school is in London, so she has to travel. And Hogwarts is a boarding school that takes the place of her normal school. Hogwarts normally would start at age eleven, but we did not locate you as a witch, though we suspected one in the area. But Chloe probably knows this. She has read the Harry Potter books, yes? Written by our Muggle Studies professor, who interviewed Harry. It has made explaining this that much easier," concluded Kingsley.

"But… I never had the anger- magic connection," said Chloe.

"Yes, I know. You are a special case. Some private lessons are arranged to fix everything with our best teachers. But for now, I assume, you will be coming to Hogwarts?" asked Kingsley.

Chloe looked at her mom with her best If you say no, I'll die expression. Mrs. Palmer sighed, and said,

"I guess you're the witch of the family."

Chloe cheered, and the adults fell into a boring conversation that Chloe ignored. She looked down at the thin letter in her hands. It was addressed to her. Turning it over, Chloe saw the crest of Hogwarts. Chloe grinned, and felt like she might die from happiness. Opening the envelope, she saw two sheets of paper, a train ticket and a plane ticket. Chloe unfolded the first sheet, and read,

Dear Ms. Palmer,

I am pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to the Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please come to King's Cross Station in London on September 1st. The Hogwarts express will leave promptly at eleven o' clock. Enclosed are the supply list, and the plane and train ticket. The Minister of Magic, Kingsley Shacklebolt, will personally escort you from Boston to The Leaky Cauldron, a week from September 1st. This will give you plenty of time to shop, and get ready. Please bring much money, as this will be expensive. You can change your Muggle money in Diagon Alley. You should limit your luggage to one trunk. Look forward to another great year at Hogwarts.

Sincerely,

Headmistress McGonagall

Hands slightly shaking, Chloe pulled out the tickets and the supply list. She was too excited to examine them closely. Chloe felt slightly dizzy, so she stretched out on the couch, and drifted off to the sound of voices, conversing on the details of her new life.

Fidgeting slightly, Teddy Lupin peeked out from his spot under his bed. He caught Harry's eye and winked. Harry winked back from his spot behind the door, and they waited for another treacherous minute. Just as Teddy was about to yawn, Ginny walked into Teddy's bedroom. She knelt at the dresser, and put away clean laundry. Counting to three with his fingers in full view of Harry, they both jumped out and fell to the floor, screaming horribly as though they were being tortured. They writhed on the floor as Ginny stared in horror. Crying with shock and worry, she pulled out her wand. Healing spells ran through her head as she tried to calm down. Ginny decided to improvise, and looked down- to find an empty floor. She narrowed her eyes, which were still gleaming with tears, which made her seem as scary as she was, for once.

"HARRY JAMES POTTER! TED REMUS LUPIN!" Ginny shrieked. "COME OUT THIS INSTANT!"

Hands above their heads, the boys walked back into the room. Harry gave her a grin, while Teddy was muffling his laughter. Ginny shot them a look that could kill, and conjured up a tissue. Using it to dab at her wet eyes, she pointed her wand at Harry.

"Don't ever do that again," Ginny said, quietly, as yelling wouldn't help, in Harry's case.

But not for Teddy.

"DON'T YOU KNOW BETTER THAN TO ENCOURAGE HIM BY NOW!" screamed Ginny, to Teddy, but talking about Harry.

Teddy caught Ginny's eye, said, "I won't do it again… unless I get bored."

At that, Harry and Teddy cracked up, and Ginny groaned. Teddy smiled, and dragged his partner in crime out the door. Walking down the stairs, side by side, they slapped each other's backs for a prank well done. Harry led the way to the kitchen, where Ginny was cooking. Harry jumped. Teddy sat at the table.

"Bloody hell! How did you get down here so fast?" Harry looked apprehensive.

Ginny smiled and said, "Wouldn't you like to know."

Harry grinned, dropped a kiss on her forehead, and joined Teddy at the table.

They decided to annoy Ginny, whining at the same time,
"Give us foo~oood!"

Ginny put one hand on her hip and grasped her wand tighter in her wand arm. Waving it, she managed to heat up some steak and bean pie, from the night before. She sliced it, slid the wedges onto plates, and served the pie to her two whining boys. They shut up, and dug in.

Ginny grinned, ruffled Harry's hair, smoothed Teddy's, and poured them some water. They ate like they would never eat again. Suddenly, a Patronus leaped into the kitchen through the open window.

"Harry, come quick. Emergency!" said Ron, who sounded tense.

Harry jumped up, kissed Ginny quickly, and ruffled Teddy's hair. He ran outside, through the magical barrier, and Disapparated.

"He's going to be okay," said Ginny, whose voice was shaky. Harry had never been called on emergency duty before.

"I hope so," answered Teddy. He couldn't imagine a world without Harry, and neither could Ginny.