7 years later….
Talynn Rose paced anxiously around her room the morning she was to finally leave home and spend her first year at Hogwarts. Her Grandmother Elaine sat on the small bed in the elegantly furnished room, watching her in amusement. After that terrible day on the campsite, Talynn's parents had arranged for her to move in with Amelia's mother in England, feeling that the wrong they had done the girl could not be righted. Elaine had listened patiently to her daughter's pleading, shocked at the recollections of how her dear granddaughter had been treated. She had immediately agreed to take in the young girl. Ever since Talynn had lived with her grandmother in the huge mansion on the English countryside.
Every school year she had gone off to board at Mrs. Whitters' School for Young Women, where most of the highbred magic girls of England went. There she learned French, sewing, etiquette, dancing (ballroom and a little ballet, as her grandmother used to dance ballet) and some horseback riding as well as all the traditional subjects like math and science. Talynn's very first day at MWS, as they often called it, she had become fast friends with several of the other students, Mary Harris, Gabrielle DuPont and Alyssa Southerby. It had not been long before the four became insepearable.
Even with all the friends she had, and the company of her loving Grandmother, Talynn often missed her family back in America. She always kept two small framed photos beside her bed; one of her whole family and one of just her and Alex whom she missed the most. She often wondered what ever had happened to him, having not seen him since the day her parents had sent her off to England. Unbeknownst to her, she would see him a lot sooner than she'd have ever thought.
Talynn sat down on the neatly made white lace bed beside her Grandmother. She looked up into the kindly old eyes and smiled. "Grandmother," she said, "I love you so much," and she tentatively leaned forward to hug the woman. A warm rush of happiness coursed through Elaine and she wised that she could keep this moment forever, yet she knew that in just one short hour she would have to let her precious darling go off to Hogwarts where she would begin to turn into a young woman and start pulling away from Elaine. To her, Talynn had been the daughter she'd always wanted. It was if she had finally gotten it right the second try. Her own daughter, Amelia, had been a spoiled girl, headstrong, always trying to get away. Elaine had always felt that she was to blame for the mistreatment Talynn had been done. Were she a better parent to Amelia, maybe Talynn's mother would have loved her as much as Elaine herself did.
Gently shaking away the memory and releasing little Talynn, Elaine smiled mischievously. Talynn looked at her curiously, with her big dark blue eyes. "What is it Grandmother?" She asked. Elaine smiled down at her and then looked towards the door. The maid, Annette, came in carrying a small pink frilled pillow. A small brown and black puff of fur sat in the middle of it. Talynn cocked her head curiously to one side, looking at it. As Annette approached Talynn realized what it was.
"A kitten!" She exclaimed, excitedly. She threw her arms around Elaine once more. ,"Oh Grandmother you're the best!" Then she jumped off the bed and ran over to Annette to look at her new pet. The kitten stretched on the pillow and yawned, lazily looking up at Talynn with it's tiny green eyes. Talynn ran one finger along the pillow and the kitten smacked at it playfully with it's paw.
Talynn looked at Elaine. "Is it a boy or a girl?" she asked.
"A boy," replied Elaine softly, enjoying her granddaughter's delight. Talynn nodded her head and looked at the kitten a moment. Elaine laughed to herself at how deeply the child concentrated, thinking of a name for her new pet.
"Chip," she finally said.
"Chip?" asked Elaine, rather surprised. She'd thought of naming the kitten something more like Francis, or Michaelangelo, but her granddaughter was nodding seriously.
"Yes," she said, "Because he reminds me somewhat of a chocolate chip cookie," she explained, running one of her slender fingers along the kittens head, finally coming to scratch under his chin. The kitten lifted it's head and gave a happy mew. Talynn grinned happily and looked over at her grandmother. Annette took the kitten and put him inside his comfy little carrying case, just as Elaine's chauffer, Maxwell, came to announce that it was time to go.
"So soon?" Elaine asked. The driver only nodded. She sighed and hugged her granddaughter once more. "Now Talynn you be good sweetheart and I'll see you at break, alright?" The little girl smiled bravely and then followed the driver out of the room. Elaine went out onto the balcony to watch as the car was loaded with all Talynn's things. Talynn only looked up at Elaine once, right before she got into the car. From where she sat she could not see the tears in her grandmother's eyes.
