~Chapter 1~
There was a short knock on Eileen's bedroom door. Eileen considered it for a second, then called out, "Passcode?" A sigh sounded from the other side of the door, but Eileen firmly repeated the word. "Magic," her twin brother called. "Can I please go in now?"
Eileen flung open the door. "What is it? I hope you're not asking me anything stupid – I have places to go, things to do."
"I have an idea!" her twin brother, Harry Potter, said, his face brightening. "It's not what you think." He added quickly.
"Oh, I'm sure it's exactly what I think, genius." Eileen put her hands on her hips. "It's going to be one of those 'plans' to build a portal to another dimension where you can learn magic. It's not happening."
"Why not?" Harry pouted.
"Several reasons," Eileen started ticking the reasons off her fingers. "One, you're not smart enough. Two, another dimension of our world doesn't exist. Three, you can't build portals to the imaginary dimension. Four, there's no such thing as magic."
"No such thing as magic? Then why is our secret passcode 'magic?' Why did I find books under your pillow about magic? Why did I read your diary and read pages and pages full of wishes and magic?" Harry said, dryly.
"Just go away. I'm not in the mood to talk." Eileen turned her back. Harry sullenly dragged his feet on the way out. "And don't think of reading my diary again!" Eileen slammed the door.
"Pest," Eileen muttered under her breath, searching in her desk drawers for her diary – that Harry Potter had invaded and read – and sighed when she finally found it. She grabbed a pencil in her hand and sat down on the floor. "Hmm." Then, she plucked a bird's feather from inside her diary. She examined it carefully – she had just found it the day before and decided that it was a 'quill.'
The bird's feather was white all around its edges, and incredibly soft, almost as soft as clouds if you touched it, but on the outside, it was shades of black and grey, and stiff. She then took out a pot with black stuff inside of it. That pot contained 'ink' especially for writing in her diary. She dipped the bird's feather in the ink and began to write, slowly, carefully.
Eileen's writing was a bit wobbly and her hand shook as she wrote it, but the writing was distinguishable. Then, to her fury, she had found that her brother had written in the margins of the diary, "Haha!" or "Wow!" or even, "Eileen's got a boyfriend!" She flipped to the back of the diary and found unmistakably, tears. Her brother's tears.
In that section, Eileen had written letters to her deceased parents. She never knew much about their death, as their caretaker, a Mrs. Henrietta Figg, had never felt up to mentioning them. This was probably because Mrs. Figg loved dozing in her armchair, watching opera, or putting new pictures in her cat album. But from what she did know, they had died in a car accident. Harry and Eileen had apparently escaped, only having a small scar to show that the accident really did happen.
Eileen flipped to a letter and felt all the feelings rush through her. She remembered this letter. Much too clearly!
Dear Mum and Dad,
I miss you guys so much. I feel like the world is crashing down on top of me, and I don't have anywhere to run. I feel like everything's my fault – actually, I know it's my fault. You know how you guys told me that life is like a storybook – when you're having a bad day, you're just in a bad chapter of the book. But you always know that there is always going to be a happy ending in life! I feel I've been stuck in a bad chapter almost all my life and I'm still waiting for my happy ending to come.
Today was probably the second-worst chapter of my life – my first-worst chapter was when you guys died. You probably know Beatrice, because you said you'll always be watching me, even in death. You probably know she's always been there for me and she's always been nice and comforting and she's my bestest friend in the whole entire world! There was an accident, and she died and it's all my fault!
It was a beautiful spring day today. We went on the swing the teachers told us not to go on because it's dangerous. It's just a rope, that hangs over the stream, and we love to swing on it, back and forth. The river was getting a bit high and I told Beatrice not to go. But Beatrice really wanted to since there was such nice weather. She swung on it and she fell and bumped her head on the bank. I was screaming for help since I couldn't swim, and when someone finally arrived, they brought her body up.
It was horrible! I should have told her no. I should have warned her. It's my fault for not helping her! I miss her so much! I wish you guys were here to help me through it, but now there's two empty holes in my heart. I miss her so.
It's just like Bridge to Terabithia – she was my Leslie.. and I abandoned her..
How could I?
Heartbroken,
Ellen Potter
My brother's tears dotted all over the page, and in faded pencil marks, he wrote, "I'm sorry.."
I picked up my quill, dipped it in ink, and began to write.
Dear Mum and Dad,
I still haven't found my happy ending. I feel like I'm close though. Mum, Dad, Beatrice, are you watching me up there? I believe in magic. There. I said it. I really do. Because that's what's going to help me find my true happy ending!"
Eileen carefully stuck her quill back in her diary and hid the pot of ink in her desk. She rushed downstairs, holding her diary, her face glowing.
Ms. Figg called, "Supper, Eileen, Harry!" and Eileen raced off to find a supper of roast beef, mashed potatoes, and Yorkshire pudding, as always. She dug in, greedily, and Ms. Figg chuckled, "Never thought you'd find my meals delicious, Eileen!" Eileen thought that everything was a bit too dry and didn't have much flavor, but she just nodded. Then she rushed off to Harry's room, where he was reading Lord of the Rings.
"Harry!" Eileen shouted.
"What?" Harry replied, rather sullenly.
"I believe in magic now!"