The Fourth Musketeer
By bitmaxmouse
Rating: pg... so far
Disclaimers: Harry Potter and Smallville don't belong to me. Both belong to their respective writers and companies. I am not making a profit out of this.
Note: Chloe's mom leaves Gabe 7 years later than in the Smallville timeline. The story crosses over with Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and on…
~~~
"I can believe you!" Annie Sullivan screamed at her husband, Gabe Sullivan. The two of them had been arguing for last half out outside so that their daughter, Chloe Sullivan, who was only twelve years old, wouldn't hear.
"Annie. What will the people say, what will the neighbors say after they've found out that you left?"
"I need to leave, Ministry business." She stamped on the dirt in the backyard. She was wearing her black wizard robe with her wand hidden on the inside pocket. Next to her sat two enormous trunks, ready to be levitated and disappear with her.
"Again with that nonsense!" Gabe hissed his face grew a slight bit more red than it already was. He hated it whenever his wife brought up the fact that she was a witch. Couldn't she just give that up and just settle down with him and be good housewife?
"Typical Muggle." Annie sneered as she crossed her arms. Gabe's eye twitched as his face turned a bit purple. Another thing he couldn't stand was when she used that word: "Muggle".
"Shut up." Gabe said, shaking and becoming angrier by the second, "Just shut up!"
Annie's eyes narrowed and she shook her head. There was a slight look of pity in her eyes. "I thought out of all people, you would have understood. You would have accepted what I was. That's why I married you! I never thought you'd be like every other pathetic MUGGLE and completely go insane the moment I told you."
"Anyone would have freaked out if they found out their wife for the last decade was a witch!" Gabe hissed.
"I have sat around like a good house wife for the last fourteen years. But now I really need to leave!" Annie insisted.
"Why?! They've probably already forgotten about you!"
Annie scowled, clearly offended by her husband's comment, "Then why were you chasing and screaming at those owls who flew around our house?"
Gabe hated owls, ever since he saw the first one toss a letter at his wife. She had left for an entire week and then reappeared without any explanation whatsoever on where she had been and what she had been doing. It was eerie. These strange creatures that kept giving her strange information that was filling her head with nonsense. And now, now she wanted to leave him because those damnable creatures has sent her three large letters, obviously with the same garbage that was making her unreasonable.
Gabe looked at Annie dead in the eye, "Why are you going?"
"I've already told you, Lord Voldemort and his followers have been appearing, there have been signs that he's going to come to power soon." Annie explained, but it was quite obvious that her husband thought that this was all rubbish and that she should be sent into a mental hospital.
"Again with that nonsense!" Gabe screamed; he wasn't watching his voice anymore. He was clearly pissed off. His face was so red and inflamed that it looked like it was almost going to pop.
Suddenly a small voice could be heard from the screen door, "Mom? Dad?"
Both parents stopped arguing. Annie was looking at Chloe with a neutral expression, careful not to give anything away. Gabe, on the other, hand looked horrified.
"How long have you been there?" Gabe whispered, face completely pale now.
Chloe opened the screen door, walked outside, and shrugged. "Not long, just came down stairs, 'cause I heard you yelling. Are you and mom fighting?"
"No…." Gabe said, a bit too sweetly.
Annie, on the other, hand looked sour, she didn't want to lie to her daughter anymore. Chloe had the right to know. "Yes."
Gabe quickly spun around in horror. Annie's eyebrow rose, daring her husband to challenger her, she knew he was scared of her.
Chloe, as observant as ever saw the trunks next to her mother, "Are you leaving?"
"Yes." Annie repeated. She knew she should have just stopped at that, but… Chloe's Hogwarts letter was lying at the bottom of one of the trunks. She had such potential and now her stupid Muggle father was trying to stifle her. A feeling of resentment rose in Annie and she continued, "… You can come if you want."
Gabe gasped and then pointed a trembling finger at her, "N-n-no!"
Chloe looked at her father with utter surprise. He had never shown such anger before. Then she turned to her mother, "Where are you going?"
Annie glanced at Gabe who was shaking his head furiously as he mouthed to her, "Don't you dare tell her. Don't you dare tell her. Don't you dare tell her."
Annie glared at her husband, "I have been keeping two years worth of Hogwarts letters from her. In fact, I even had to write to the Headmaster to stop sending them. Hogwarts only takes transfer students up until the third year. This is her last chance Gabriel. I think she should have a say in whether she goes or not. Don't you?"
Unable to take it anymore, Gabe gave one last futile yell, "Fine! Go you stupid witch!"
Then he turned to Chloe, "If you go with her to this Hogswhatever! You are no longer my daughter!"
Then he walked past Chloe and slammed the door shut behind her.
Chloe was left to confront with her weary looking mother who was shaking her head while whispering, "I wish he could just understand…"
Chloe took a few tentative steps forward. She analyzed her mother's strange attire but didn't say anything about it. "Understand what?"
Annie sighed and then looked up at her daughter with a weak smile, "That I'm a witch."
Chloe was silent for a second… and then started to laugh, "Okay mom, you can stop joking now."
Annie shook her head kindly, "I'm not joking honey."
Chloe stopped her giggling and then looked at her mom strangely, "Come on, witches don't exist."
Annie started to nod, "Yes they do. I'm a witch, you're a witch."
Chloe gave her mom a baffled look, "Right… how do you know I'm a witch, I can't do all magicky stuff."
Then Annie decided to kill two birds with one stone. She pulled her cherry wood wand out of her cloak. She pointed at one of the two trunks, "Wingardium Leviosa"
Suddenly the trunk started to levitate. Chloe gasped as she backed up a step. Then the trunk opened up as Annie swished her wand. From the trunk floated a letter with a red wax seal. The letter floated in front of Chloe and waited for her to take it into her hands.
Curious, Chloe took the letter and opened it.
Dear Ms. Sullivan,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School
of Witchcraft and Wizardry: Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and
equipment.
Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.
Yours sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall,
Deputy Headmistress
Chloe looked up and gaped at her mother like a fish, her reporter instinct was kicking in and she wanted to fire a million questions at her. But her mother's body language was a bit tense, so she held her tongue.
"Are you done reading it?" Annie asked. Chloe nodded quietly. Then Annie gave a deep sigh. "You can stay if you want. Or you can go with me and you can attend Hogwarts. It's solely your choice. I can't force anything on you."
Chloe looked inside the dimly lighted house, she knew that her father was sitting in the living room quietly with the faint table lamp on. He was waiting for an answer, he was waiting for her to come back inside and be his daughter. His little girl.
Chloe looked up at her mother, who was as quiet and apprehensive as her father. She was also waiting for her answer. It was now a very pivotal point.
Chloe then looked down at her white sneakers, contemplating the situation and not wanting to be influenced by her mother's expression. Chloe thought about all the wonderful things she had here in Smallville. She had Clark and Pete and Whitney and Lana…
Then, a bitter voice in the back of her mind rose, 'Actually, you don't. Because the moment Lana bats her eyelashes and whines like the stupid girl she is. All your friends are suddenly hers.'
Chloe darkly remembered being left alone at the pool after Lana had convinced Clark, Pete, and Whitney to got get some ice cream while she was using the bathroom. It was the most horrible feeling ever, being left behind… She had packed up her things and left the pool quietly. She suspected that they didn't notice, and they didn't, because even two days later, no one called to apologize to her.
And at school, she didn't really have friends outside of Clark and Pete. Most of the kids didn't like her because she was such an avid reporter. They always shied away from her whenever they saw her walking around with her tiny tape recorder. They girls would congregate after school and make fun of her naturally fluffy hair, telling her that she looked like a dog. They even spit black licorice in her hair once. Then the guys would vandalize her stuff, stealing her books, putting dents and popping the tires in her bike. It was also thanks to the guys that her precious tape recorder was smashed into a million pieces and floating at the bottom of Sherman's river.
Then Chloe thought about her dad and all the happy times she has with him. She remembered picnics, the county fair, harvests, and playing Frisbee with him…
'But that was years ago. He doesn't do that anymore with you does he?' The annoying voice in the back of her mind questioned again. Chloe felt a bit sick because she knew it was right. Ever since LuthorCorp had been putting pressure on the Smallville plant for the last five years, he was never home. He left early in the morning, sometimes before Chloe even woke up and then he would come back late after dinner. Not to mention that he worked on weekends too.
Then there was her mother, Chloe looked up at her mother's reserved face. She looked tired and sad, like she had been shouldering a burden for years. But even with that burden, she was always there for Chloe. Sure there were some strange times where she would disappear for a few days, but now as Chloe thought about it, her disappearances made sense. Her mother had other responsibilities to a different world.
But why hadn't she told her own daughter the truth? Why wait until now when she was about to leave. If she hadn't come down stairs, surely her mother would have left without ever telling her.
The voice came back again, 'Hey stupid! Think about it. I mean, if Dad freaked out when he found out about mom being a witch… wouldn't she think that you'd do the same?'
Well, that did make sense…
Wasn't the choice obvious now?
Chloe took a step forward, still holding the letter, she whispered, "Okay."
Annie's head shot up, she tried to hide her expression of utter shock, but failed miserably, "What?"
"I said okay. I'll go with you. But…" Chloe trailed off.
Annie leaned her head in, "But?"
"You're going to have to tell me everything. You know, like why you disappeared and where you went all those times…No more lies."
Annie nodded, her mouth was opened slightly. Still a bit in shock. Then she closed her mouth and then looked at Chloe intently, "Go pack some of your really important things, nothing too big though. And only bring a few pairs of clothes, you'll be getting uniforms anyways."
Chloe nodded and dashed back into the house, she quickly ran upstairs to her room. To her amazement, there was a large trunk in her room. Her mother must have put them there. But how? Chloe quickly brushed the question away, she'd ask her later. She packed her clothes, a stuffed otter, toiletries, a photo album, her favorite literature books, and miscellaneous things. Then she turned to her desk and considered bringing a few small notepads and pens that she always had with her for reporting.
'But reporting always got you in trouble…'
Chloe put the notepad back down. She was starting a new life now.
~~~
As Chloe started downstairs to ask her mother for help carrying the trunks, the trunks levitated and followed her. Her eyes widened, 'How cool.'
Then she quickly turned started down the second set of stairs, only to find her father at the bottom, looking at her with pleading eyes. Chloe refused to look at him. She walked down stairs until she was only inches away from her father.
"Please don't do this honey." Gabe whispered, but he didn't touch her.
Chloe still couldn't look her father as a bit of shame flushed on her face. Then she choked a whisper, "I'm sorry."
Chloe quickly dashed for the back door and ran out to her mother with her trunks following her. Annie gave her a slight smile and hugged her, "You make me so proud."
Chloe beamed as she looked up at her mother, but then her face fell as she turned around and saw the silhouette of her father standing in front of the screen door with the dark orangish weak light behind him.
Chloe gave him a small parting wave and then turned to her mom, "Let's go."
Annie nodded and held out a round rock that Chloe had painted into a ladybug when she was four years old. "It's a portkey honey. It'll take us to our destination. Touch it."
Chloe held out a tentative hand and then touched the red painted shell of the ladybug and suddenly she felt a pull on her stomach as she and her mother disappeared from their house in Smallville.
~~~
They arrived in some strange city, it was late morning. Chloe looked up at her mom, "Where are we?"
"London."
Chloe gaped, "W-w-we just teleported to Europe?"
"Well… yes. But it's better if you say Portkeyed."
Chloe nodded. She looked around and saw many people ambling around and felt that the two of them looked a bit peculiar standing in the middle of nowhere with big trunks. She looked up at her mother, "Wouldn't people have noticed we teleported?"
Annie smiled, "Muggles aren't very observant. Besides, there are memory charms along this street, so if a Muggle sees something strange here, they'll forget it in a few seconds.
Chloe frowned as she tried to make out this strange word her mother kept using, "What's a Muggle?"
"Non-magic Humans."
Chloe nodded, "Oh… well" She then thought back to what her mom said earlier, it made sense now.
"Can you tell me about memory charms?" Chloe inquired.
Annie smiled, "Let us get into Diagon Alley first before I tell you anything else."
Chloe started to follow her mom, their trunks continued to levitate behind them, the soon came upon this dark, dirty old place called the Leaky Cauldron that she wouldn't have noticed at all if her mother hadn't been heading towards it. Annie held the door open and Chloe walked in after her.
The Leaky Cauldron looked a bit cozier inside sic ether many more customers than she had anticipated. There were a few scattered along the bar and groups at the round tables laughing, conversing and drinking to their heart's content. Chloe looked behind her and saw that the windows had been deliberately painted up, 'Of course, this is a secret world, they don't want Muh-Muggles knowing about it.'
Annie approached the bar tender and talked to him quietly and showed him two fingers, indicating that she wanted a room with two beds. The bartender with crooked teeth and balding head nodded, bobbing his head up and down, and turned around to pull a set of key from a wall of keys behind him. Annie crooked her finger and gestured for Chloe to follow her.
The two of them quietly walked around a few circular tables and headed upstairs towards their room.
The room was nice, simple, and rustic. The beds were made out of wood, There were a few paintings on the wall which were moving. Chloe walked up to one in awe and stared at the closely, it was a field of grass billowing like the sea with soft white clouds floating overhead and disappearing into the distance. Annie let out a soft chuckle, "In the wizard world, almost all pictures move."
Chloe turned around and saw that while she had been staring at the picture, he mother had neatly stacked their trunks next to their beds. Annie sat down on her own bed and patted Chloe's bed, which was across from her, indicating to Chloe to sit down. Chloe walked around and sat down at her bed so that she was facing her mother.
Annie relaxed and smiled, "We're going to stay at the Leaky Cauldron for two days alright?"
Chloe nodded.
Annie then continued, "Tomorrow, we're going to go into Diagon Alley and get some of your supplies for school (she pulled out the Hogwarts letter and handed the second piece of paper to Chloe which had been behind the acceptance letter. Chloe scanned the letter, raising her brows further with every item she read off. She looked up at her mother, "Why are there so many books with Gilderoy Lockhart?
Annie rolled her eyes, "Oh… that pouf… I can't believe they made him the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts this year… Right coward he is, probably made up all those stories." Chloe's mother continued to mutter under her breath.
The she noticed a line near the bottom, "An owl?"
Annie stopped her ramblings and then looked up at Chloe with a smile, "Yes, owls are also familiars."
"Cool…"
Annie smirked, "I'm guessing you want an owl."
"Can I?" Chloe looked up at her mother with bright glowing eyes.
Her mother laughed as she nodded her head. Then she stood up, "Let's wash up and go to sleep. We have a big day ahead of us tomo- " Annie stopped and looked down at her watch, "… today."
Chloe nodded ecstatically, that night she could barely sleep as she anticipated the new exciting life ahead.
~~~
Cont…?
Author's note: Please respond? I don't know whether I should continue this story or not. Thanks for reading.
By bitmaxmouse
Rating: pg... so far
Disclaimers: Harry Potter and Smallville don't belong to me. Both belong to their respective writers and companies. I am not making a profit out of this.
Note: Chloe's mom leaves Gabe 7 years later than in the Smallville timeline. The story crosses over with Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and on…
~~~
"I can believe you!" Annie Sullivan screamed at her husband, Gabe Sullivan. The two of them had been arguing for last half out outside so that their daughter, Chloe Sullivan, who was only twelve years old, wouldn't hear.
"Annie. What will the people say, what will the neighbors say after they've found out that you left?"
"I need to leave, Ministry business." She stamped on the dirt in the backyard. She was wearing her black wizard robe with her wand hidden on the inside pocket. Next to her sat two enormous trunks, ready to be levitated and disappear with her.
"Again with that nonsense!" Gabe hissed his face grew a slight bit more red than it already was. He hated it whenever his wife brought up the fact that she was a witch. Couldn't she just give that up and just settle down with him and be good housewife?
"Typical Muggle." Annie sneered as she crossed her arms. Gabe's eye twitched as his face turned a bit purple. Another thing he couldn't stand was when she used that word: "Muggle".
"Shut up." Gabe said, shaking and becoming angrier by the second, "Just shut up!"
Annie's eyes narrowed and she shook her head. There was a slight look of pity in her eyes. "I thought out of all people, you would have understood. You would have accepted what I was. That's why I married you! I never thought you'd be like every other pathetic MUGGLE and completely go insane the moment I told you."
"Anyone would have freaked out if they found out their wife for the last decade was a witch!" Gabe hissed.
"I have sat around like a good house wife for the last fourteen years. But now I really need to leave!" Annie insisted.
"Why?! They've probably already forgotten about you!"
Annie scowled, clearly offended by her husband's comment, "Then why were you chasing and screaming at those owls who flew around our house?"
Gabe hated owls, ever since he saw the first one toss a letter at his wife. She had left for an entire week and then reappeared without any explanation whatsoever on where she had been and what she had been doing. It was eerie. These strange creatures that kept giving her strange information that was filling her head with nonsense. And now, now she wanted to leave him because those damnable creatures has sent her three large letters, obviously with the same garbage that was making her unreasonable.
Gabe looked at Annie dead in the eye, "Why are you going?"
"I've already told you, Lord Voldemort and his followers have been appearing, there have been signs that he's going to come to power soon." Annie explained, but it was quite obvious that her husband thought that this was all rubbish and that she should be sent into a mental hospital.
"Again with that nonsense!" Gabe screamed; he wasn't watching his voice anymore. He was clearly pissed off. His face was so red and inflamed that it looked like it was almost going to pop.
Suddenly a small voice could be heard from the screen door, "Mom? Dad?"
Both parents stopped arguing. Annie was looking at Chloe with a neutral expression, careful not to give anything away. Gabe, on the other, hand looked horrified.
"How long have you been there?" Gabe whispered, face completely pale now.
Chloe opened the screen door, walked outside, and shrugged. "Not long, just came down stairs, 'cause I heard you yelling. Are you and mom fighting?"
"No…." Gabe said, a bit too sweetly.
Annie, on the other, hand looked sour, she didn't want to lie to her daughter anymore. Chloe had the right to know. "Yes."
Gabe quickly spun around in horror. Annie's eyebrow rose, daring her husband to challenger her, she knew he was scared of her.
Chloe, as observant as ever saw the trunks next to her mother, "Are you leaving?"
"Yes." Annie repeated. She knew she should have just stopped at that, but… Chloe's Hogwarts letter was lying at the bottom of one of the trunks. She had such potential and now her stupid Muggle father was trying to stifle her. A feeling of resentment rose in Annie and she continued, "… You can come if you want."
Gabe gasped and then pointed a trembling finger at her, "N-n-no!"
Chloe looked at her father with utter surprise. He had never shown such anger before. Then she turned to her mother, "Where are you going?"
Annie glanced at Gabe who was shaking his head furiously as he mouthed to her, "Don't you dare tell her. Don't you dare tell her. Don't you dare tell her."
Annie glared at her husband, "I have been keeping two years worth of Hogwarts letters from her. In fact, I even had to write to the Headmaster to stop sending them. Hogwarts only takes transfer students up until the third year. This is her last chance Gabriel. I think she should have a say in whether she goes or not. Don't you?"
Unable to take it anymore, Gabe gave one last futile yell, "Fine! Go you stupid witch!"
Then he turned to Chloe, "If you go with her to this Hogswhatever! You are no longer my daughter!"
Then he walked past Chloe and slammed the door shut behind her.
Chloe was left to confront with her weary looking mother who was shaking her head while whispering, "I wish he could just understand…"
Chloe took a few tentative steps forward. She analyzed her mother's strange attire but didn't say anything about it. "Understand what?"
Annie sighed and then looked up at her daughter with a weak smile, "That I'm a witch."
Chloe was silent for a second… and then started to laugh, "Okay mom, you can stop joking now."
Annie shook her head kindly, "I'm not joking honey."
Chloe stopped her giggling and then looked at her mom strangely, "Come on, witches don't exist."
Annie started to nod, "Yes they do. I'm a witch, you're a witch."
Chloe gave her mom a baffled look, "Right… how do you know I'm a witch, I can't do all magicky stuff."
Then Annie decided to kill two birds with one stone. She pulled her cherry wood wand out of her cloak. She pointed at one of the two trunks, "Wingardium Leviosa"
Suddenly the trunk started to levitate. Chloe gasped as she backed up a step. Then the trunk opened up as Annie swished her wand. From the trunk floated a letter with a red wax seal. The letter floated in front of Chloe and waited for her to take it into her hands.
Curious, Chloe took the letter and opened it.
Dear Ms. Sullivan,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School
of Witchcraft and Wizardry: Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and
equipment.
Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.
Yours sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall,
Deputy Headmistress
Chloe looked up and gaped at her mother like a fish, her reporter instinct was kicking in and she wanted to fire a million questions at her. But her mother's body language was a bit tense, so she held her tongue.
"Are you done reading it?" Annie asked. Chloe nodded quietly. Then Annie gave a deep sigh. "You can stay if you want. Or you can go with me and you can attend Hogwarts. It's solely your choice. I can't force anything on you."
Chloe looked inside the dimly lighted house, she knew that her father was sitting in the living room quietly with the faint table lamp on. He was waiting for an answer, he was waiting for her to come back inside and be his daughter. His little girl.
Chloe looked up at her mother, who was as quiet and apprehensive as her father. She was also waiting for her answer. It was now a very pivotal point.
Chloe then looked down at her white sneakers, contemplating the situation and not wanting to be influenced by her mother's expression. Chloe thought about all the wonderful things she had here in Smallville. She had Clark and Pete and Whitney and Lana…
Then, a bitter voice in the back of her mind rose, 'Actually, you don't. Because the moment Lana bats her eyelashes and whines like the stupid girl she is. All your friends are suddenly hers.'
Chloe darkly remembered being left alone at the pool after Lana had convinced Clark, Pete, and Whitney to got get some ice cream while she was using the bathroom. It was the most horrible feeling ever, being left behind… She had packed up her things and left the pool quietly. She suspected that they didn't notice, and they didn't, because even two days later, no one called to apologize to her.
And at school, she didn't really have friends outside of Clark and Pete. Most of the kids didn't like her because she was such an avid reporter. They always shied away from her whenever they saw her walking around with her tiny tape recorder. They girls would congregate after school and make fun of her naturally fluffy hair, telling her that she looked like a dog. They even spit black licorice in her hair once. Then the guys would vandalize her stuff, stealing her books, putting dents and popping the tires in her bike. It was also thanks to the guys that her precious tape recorder was smashed into a million pieces and floating at the bottom of Sherman's river.
Then Chloe thought about her dad and all the happy times she has with him. She remembered picnics, the county fair, harvests, and playing Frisbee with him…
'But that was years ago. He doesn't do that anymore with you does he?' The annoying voice in the back of her mind questioned again. Chloe felt a bit sick because she knew it was right. Ever since LuthorCorp had been putting pressure on the Smallville plant for the last five years, he was never home. He left early in the morning, sometimes before Chloe even woke up and then he would come back late after dinner. Not to mention that he worked on weekends too.
Then there was her mother, Chloe looked up at her mother's reserved face. She looked tired and sad, like she had been shouldering a burden for years. But even with that burden, she was always there for Chloe. Sure there were some strange times where she would disappear for a few days, but now as Chloe thought about it, her disappearances made sense. Her mother had other responsibilities to a different world.
But why hadn't she told her own daughter the truth? Why wait until now when she was about to leave. If she hadn't come down stairs, surely her mother would have left without ever telling her.
The voice came back again, 'Hey stupid! Think about it. I mean, if Dad freaked out when he found out about mom being a witch… wouldn't she think that you'd do the same?'
Well, that did make sense…
Wasn't the choice obvious now?
Chloe took a step forward, still holding the letter, she whispered, "Okay."
Annie's head shot up, she tried to hide her expression of utter shock, but failed miserably, "What?"
"I said okay. I'll go with you. But…" Chloe trailed off.
Annie leaned her head in, "But?"
"You're going to have to tell me everything. You know, like why you disappeared and where you went all those times…No more lies."
Annie nodded, her mouth was opened slightly. Still a bit in shock. Then she closed her mouth and then looked at Chloe intently, "Go pack some of your really important things, nothing too big though. And only bring a few pairs of clothes, you'll be getting uniforms anyways."
Chloe nodded and dashed back into the house, she quickly ran upstairs to her room. To her amazement, there was a large trunk in her room. Her mother must have put them there. But how? Chloe quickly brushed the question away, she'd ask her later. She packed her clothes, a stuffed otter, toiletries, a photo album, her favorite literature books, and miscellaneous things. Then she turned to her desk and considered bringing a few small notepads and pens that she always had with her for reporting.
'But reporting always got you in trouble…'
Chloe put the notepad back down. She was starting a new life now.
~~~
As Chloe started downstairs to ask her mother for help carrying the trunks, the trunks levitated and followed her. Her eyes widened, 'How cool.'
Then she quickly turned started down the second set of stairs, only to find her father at the bottom, looking at her with pleading eyes. Chloe refused to look at him. She walked down stairs until she was only inches away from her father.
"Please don't do this honey." Gabe whispered, but he didn't touch her.
Chloe still couldn't look her father as a bit of shame flushed on her face. Then she choked a whisper, "I'm sorry."
Chloe quickly dashed for the back door and ran out to her mother with her trunks following her. Annie gave her a slight smile and hugged her, "You make me so proud."
Chloe beamed as she looked up at her mother, but then her face fell as she turned around and saw the silhouette of her father standing in front of the screen door with the dark orangish weak light behind him.
Chloe gave him a small parting wave and then turned to her mom, "Let's go."
Annie nodded and held out a round rock that Chloe had painted into a ladybug when she was four years old. "It's a portkey honey. It'll take us to our destination. Touch it."
Chloe held out a tentative hand and then touched the red painted shell of the ladybug and suddenly she felt a pull on her stomach as she and her mother disappeared from their house in Smallville.
~~~
They arrived in some strange city, it was late morning. Chloe looked up at her mom, "Where are we?"
"London."
Chloe gaped, "W-w-we just teleported to Europe?"
"Well… yes. But it's better if you say Portkeyed."
Chloe nodded. She looked around and saw many people ambling around and felt that the two of them looked a bit peculiar standing in the middle of nowhere with big trunks. She looked up at her mother, "Wouldn't people have noticed we teleported?"
Annie smiled, "Muggles aren't very observant. Besides, there are memory charms along this street, so if a Muggle sees something strange here, they'll forget it in a few seconds.
Chloe frowned as she tried to make out this strange word her mother kept using, "What's a Muggle?"
"Non-magic Humans."
Chloe nodded, "Oh… well" She then thought back to what her mom said earlier, it made sense now.
"Can you tell me about memory charms?" Chloe inquired.
Annie smiled, "Let us get into Diagon Alley first before I tell you anything else."
Chloe started to follow her mom, their trunks continued to levitate behind them, the soon came upon this dark, dirty old place called the Leaky Cauldron that she wouldn't have noticed at all if her mother hadn't been heading towards it. Annie held the door open and Chloe walked in after her.
The Leaky Cauldron looked a bit cozier inside sic ether many more customers than she had anticipated. There were a few scattered along the bar and groups at the round tables laughing, conversing and drinking to their heart's content. Chloe looked behind her and saw that the windows had been deliberately painted up, 'Of course, this is a secret world, they don't want Muh-Muggles knowing about it.'
Annie approached the bar tender and talked to him quietly and showed him two fingers, indicating that she wanted a room with two beds. The bartender with crooked teeth and balding head nodded, bobbing his head up and down, and turned around to pull a set of key from a wall of keys behind him. Annie crooked her finger and gestured for Chloe to follow her.
The two of them quietly walked around a few circular tables and headed upstairs towards their room.
The room was nice, simple, and rustic. The beds were made out of wood, There were a few paintings on the wall which were moving. Chloe walked up to one in awe and stared at the closely, it was a field of grass billowing like the sea with soft white clouds floating overhead and disappearing into the distance. Annie let out a soft chuckle, "In the wizard world, almost all pictures move."
Chloe turned around and saw that while she had been staring at the picture, he mother had neatly stacked their trunks next to their beds. Annie sat down on her own bed and patted Chloe's bed, which was across from her, indicating to Chloe to sit down. Chloe walked around and sat down at her bed so that she was facing her mother.
Annie relaxed and smiled, "We're going to stay at the Leaky Cauldron for two days alright?"
Chloe nodded.
Annie then continued, "Tomorrow, we're going to go into Diagon Alley and get some of your supplies for school (she pulled out the Hogwarts letter and handed the second piece of paper to Chloe which had been behind the acceptance letter. Chloe scanned the letter, raising her brows further with every item she read off. She looked up at her mother, "Why are there so many books with Gilderoy Lockhart?
Annie rolled her eyes, "Oh… that pouf… I can't believe they made him the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts this year… Right coward he is, probably made up all those stories." Chloe's mother continued to mutter under her breath.
The she noticed a line near the bottom, "An owl?"
Annie stopped her ramblings and then looked up at Chloe with a smile, "Yes, owls are also familiars."
"Cool…"
Annie smirked, "I'm guessing you want an owl."
"Can I?" Chloe looked up at her mother with bright glowing eyes.
Her mother laughed as she nodded her head. Then she stood up, "Let's wash up and go to sleep. We have a big day ahead of us tomo- " Annie stopped and looked down at her watch, "… today."
Chloe nodded ecstatically, that night she could barely sleep as she anticipated the new exciting life ahead.
~~~
Cont…?
Author's note: Please respond? I don't know whether I should continue this story or not. Thanks for reading.