Chapter 1: The Letter

Peggy was excited for Hogwarts. It was all she ever talked about. Since the age of four, when she had exhibited her first signs of magic, she had gone on and on about the spells she was going to do when she got to Hogwarts, the potions she would brew, the broom she would fly. She talked incessantly about how she was going to get eight N.E.W.T.s, just like father, and how she was going to be a proud Ravenclaw, like her parents had been.

But not Alice.

Alice didn't want to go to Hogwarts. Oh, yes, at a young age she had heard the stories her mother and father had told. Her father talked again and again about the enchanted castle full of ghosts and hidden chambers and growing young witches and wizards. Alice's mother talked about how she had been the best in her class in Herbology and had been on the Ravenclaw Quidditch team that had won the house cup for three consecutive years. Alice had wanted to go, back then. She truly had. But as she grew older, her goals changed. She did not want to go to Hogwarts because then she would have to leave Jeff.

Jeff was Alice's best friend. He and Alice did things together that Alice could never do with Peggy, who was bored by boyish games and had a constant fear of ruining her beautiful dresses and hair. They would climb up to the top of the tall tree near the creek, throw mud at each other, or play toy soldiers with Jeff's brothers. The only times Alice felt that she could be herself was when she was wearing boys' clothes, riding bikes, or playing with Jeff's dogs.

Alice was tall and very slender. She was sometimes awkward on her feet and clumsy. She didn't do well in high-heels or dresses or anything girly. She had wavy, dirty-blonde hair that ran down her back, but she usually wore it back in a pony-tail to keep it out of the way. Nothing in Alice's appearance was particularly attractive, in her opinion. Peggy, on the other hand, was gorgeous. She was petite and she had dark, curly brown hair and a rosy complexion. She loved clothes and she always looked well-dresed. She was good at everything ladylike. Alice would just rather not bother.

She would much rather be playing boyish muggle games than playing tea party or dress-up or dolls with Peggy and her friends. And Alice didn't think she could make anyone understand that she would rather stay home and play with Jeff than to leave him and become a witch. As exciting and fun as doing magic sounded, it was nothing when she could share it with no one. And Alice, devoted as she may be to those who were her close friends, did not make friends easily. She was too quiet, too muted. She didn't like to put out the effort to be nice to other people who may not like her back.

So on that cloudy Friday morning when Alice received her Hogwarts letter, she did not smile or cheer like she knew Peggy would next year. Her parents, knowing that the letter had indeed been expected, did not comment on her lack of emotion, although Alice's mother did look at her with a bit of disappointment. Clearly Alice was supposed to be like her sister, jumping up and down and excited.

Instead, Alice slipped into her bedroom, pulled out her copy of Emma, and began to read. In Alice's opinion, the only true world that was always friendly was the world of books. It offered an escape when life became unbearable, and when the scenes in a book proved hard to bear, Alice could remember that these scenes were indeed not part of her real life.

As Alice read, Peggy skipped into the room. Or, at least, it sounded to Alice like she had skipped; Peggy always seemed to make so much noise doing everything that she did. Ignoring the fact that her sister was immersed in her literary world, Peggy cried out loudly, "I heard you got your letter!"

Paying her sister no mind, Alice turned the page and continued to read.

"So tell me, what house do you want to be in?" demanded Peggy eagerly, determined to get her sister to talk about Hogwarts.

Alice reluctantly looked up from the beloved paragraphs and met her sister's eyes. "What does it matter?" she asked. "The hat chooses, not me."

She looked back down at the book only to have her sister tug on her sleeve.

"But you can still have it in mind where you want to go! I want to be in Ravenclaw!" Alice sighed. Her sister was so sure of herself, so happy. She wished she could be that way. And she certainly would be much more cheerful, if only she would know anyone that would be at school when she arrived in three months.

Alice's thoughts and Peggy's continued ramblings were cut off by the sharp ring of the doorbell. "I'll get it!" sang Peggy as she proceeded to make her noisy exit from the room.

Alice rolled her eyes and returned to the world of Emma, only to be interrupted from her fantasy once more, this time by a different voice. "Hey Alice."

Alice looked up to see Jeff.

"Oh, hi," she said in disappointment. She didn't want to tell him, not yet. Alice would have wanted to wait until tonight, or tomorrow...or perhaps the end of the summer before she would have to tell Jeff that she was leaving him. But now, she knew, was the best time to tell him.

"Well, you don't have to sound so cheerful about it," said Jeff. This, of course made Alice smile a little. She opened her mouth to tell Jeff about the Hogwarts letter when Jeff cut her off.

"I have something to tell you," he said. "I-er-I got accepted into a boarding school that I'm going to this fall, so I won't be seeing you until Christmas."

Alice's eyebrows shot up into her hair. Could it be! Her voice rose several pitches as she responded, "What school?"

"Er...it's called Hogwarts," said Jeff. Noting the sheer look of alarm on Alice's face, he said, "I'm not sure where it is exactly...Scotland, I think."

When Alice still said nothing, he said, "What?" Alice took in a deep breath.

"I'm going there too."