Here is Chapter 2 of my latest story! I already had much of it typed up, so please don't expect an update all too soon. Not until summer which, may I remind you, is very close at hand. Please be patient with me until then!

~Mari


It had been a pleasant day with clear blue skies and a warm breeze, something not too common in the London she had grown up in.

Skipping merrily along the sidewalk was none other than Emry Cayes, a twelve-year-old musical prodigy with a spunky and outgoing attitude. It just so happens that this young girl was on her way back home from one of the most important musical auditions of the year…

And she had made it.

It was no wonder that people stared as she passed, her smile blinding and her green-blue eyes sparkling merrily. As she slowed down to a walk she continued to wave and greet even those who were strangers to her, all the while slowly approaching one spot that seemed to be such a significant place in her life.

Soon enough she was upon it; the brick wall standing there as ordinary as ever, a dull brown-red clearly weathered over the years.

"Either this is a really long shortcut or a really short long cut. Take your pick," she murmured to herself with a mischievous smile. It was one of her favorite sayings to describe places she didn't quite want to go, but felt pulled towards or had to go anyway. With a sigh and a jovial shrug of her shoulders she approached the stretch of brick wall with a bounce in her step, waving to the people in the windows of the store to the wall's immediate right.

Feeling elated and rebellious, she did without thinking, something she never thought she would do. When she finally reached the brink wall, skipping merrily past it she shared one of her smiles – one of her secret smiles – with it, and gave a little wave. Had anyone seen her commit such an act they would have thought her totally off her rocker, but she didn't care. After all, she never really did care what others thought of her, especially when she was in a good mood.

Somewhere in her heart she was a little disappointed when nothing happened, a little disappointed that she had given up her last chance at her dreams. You see, she always regarded that wall with a sort of fear. Not the kind where one would believe a monster would reach out and snatch her, but the kind that if she indulged in acknowledging that brick wall and nothing happened, then those fantasies that lay beyond it in her little creative mind would suddenly turn into bricks. She, like the rest of the adult world, would be weighed down with the terrible feeling of clipped wings. That brick wall was her last chance at childhood, she figured. It was her very last chance. As such, she'd been bottling and saving it up for the right moment. When? Well, she never quite knew that herself, but she fancied that she would when the time came.

Despite this feeling, she put stock in what she had done. 'Not everything has an immediate outcome. Who knows? Perhaps it'll just take time. Anyway, if I go thinking about it and making wishes, I might just jinx it.' And so, she resolutely directed her mind towards other topics, primarily the cause for her lighthearted mood, and continued on her way home, smile blinding and eyes merry.

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'Same-old, same-old,' were the thoughts of a magical reporter. You heard right – magical. This reporter is none other than twenty-year-old witch, Mariah Bakely, newest intern of the Daily Prophet. At the moment she sat in the downstairs pub of the Leaky Cauldron after a long afternoon in the office, gazing out the window to people watch. With her finger, she idly led a spoon to stir her tea – one of the very few bits of wandless magic she knew and quite useful if you were to ask her.

Mariah's grey-green gaze skimmed over the crowds of muggles, searching out the regulars that were as punctual as always. Something, however, seemed a bit off in the completely normal scene of oblivious muggles, and it wasn't until she saw a golden blonde head highlighted with various vivid colors that she noticed what it was. The little muggle girl was late, though Mariah couldn't fathom why. She had always come trotting down the way at exactly four thirty-two in the afternoon – sometimes four forty if she stretched it. Now, though, it was nearly four forty-five. Ever the creative one, our magical reporter's mind leapt to all sorts of crazy excuses the girl might have.

Perhaps she had a boyfriend? Didn't girls her age have boyfriends nowadays? Or had there been a car accident down the way that held her up? Perhaps a muggle mugger had tried something on the twelve-or-so-year-old, or better yet, perhaps a teacher at her muggle school had held her back in class for a moment? No, that wouldn't be right. Summer started nearly two weeks ago, after all. All these seemingly ordinary parts of a muggle's life fascinated her. She had been born and raised in a purely magical community and so found the muggle world very backward, but very interesting. No, she just didn't know how those non-magical folk did it, nor did she think she would ever.

Regardless of the countless thoughts running through the woman's head, the was room yet left for her to easily take note that the bright, colorful figure so easily discernable from the crowd seemed to be skipping. Indeed she was, and all but glowing, too. Muggles skittered out of her way left and right, a few giving nervous smiles or strange looks to her amiable and quite obviously excited demeanor. Others brushed past her without a single care and the rare one or two smiled back at her – even threw in a "good afternoon" for good measure. Mariah's natural reporter-curiosity begged to know what caused this deviation from the norm, but had to be suppressed. It wouldn't do to badger some poor muggle girl about her personal life, especially since she was a complete stranger.

The muggle slowed to a walk for a moment, a bounce evident in her step. Soon enough she would walk past the brick wall the magical pub appeared to be without a second glance as always and one of the brightest – literally – rays to be found in the cloudy streets of London would pass from sight once more.

Mariah twirled a bronze strand of hair around her index finger as she took a sip of her herbal tea. She wondered what she would look like with those bright, multi-colored highlights. She probably shouldn't, though. Her boss wouldn't take her seriously and she needed this job.

The sound of a shattering glass brought her out of her reverie and her gaze snapped to her right to see several other witches and wizards staring in shock at the window to her left. Tom had been the one to drop a small tankard, though it was nothing a little magic couldn't repair. The sense of alarm caused Mariah's gaze to sweep more quickly in the popular direction in time to see the pretty blonde's smile and wave at the seemingly-brick-wall that was actually the storefront of the Leaky Cauldron. For once, Mariah was at a loss for words.

'Could it be…?'

As soon as the girl passed from view the entirety of the pub was in an uproar.

"A muggle girl saw us! A MUGGLE GIRL!"

"Maybe she's just loony, ya know?"

"Did you see that gleam in her eye? She knows something! How can she know something?"

"We need to contact the Ministry!"

"Tom, what happened? Is the Leaky Cauldron not safe? How did a muggle see through the magical barriers?"

"QUUUIIIIIEEEEEEEEETTTTTTT!"

All sound stopped and a young man cleared his throat, clearly bearing ministry attire. He had been the one to call for silence but had, a moment later, assumed a rather more dignified air.

"It just so happens that I am head of the Department of Magical Seals and Bonds in the Ministry and I believe there is a rather common and simple explanation for this. You see…"

What do you think? Please read and review! Tell me what you think will happen!

~Mari