Hey everyone!

Sorry for the long delay. I've had some personal things going on in the past few months that have taken me away from writing. I hope that you all have had a lovely Christmas/Holidays and are looking forward to 2016.

Thank you to everyone who reviewed either here, or on , I appreciate it very much and I've enjoyed reading your comments. I've had some reviews questioning my choice of houses for Max (Hufflepuff) and Chloe (Gryffindor).

These two houses just felt right for me personally. Max, though using her powers for personal gain in the series most of the time also uses them to help/save others (e.g. Kate, Alyssa) – I didn't feel like that sort of manipulation was grounds for making her a Slytherin. Ravenclaw and Gryffindor didn't feel right either (plus I feel like Hufflepuff doesn't get enough love!)

As for Chloe, she's got the determination of a Hufflepuff, but she's far too headstrong to belong in that house. She's more impulsive than Max by far, and less timid than Max when it comes to confrontations.

For simplicity's sake, I'm making Arcadia in the UK. On with the chapter!

Disclaimer: Still don't own it.


"Max? Hey, Max come on…it's going to be okay!"

The girl sniffled and cuddled closer to her best friend, shaking her head repeatedly "Nuh uh, Chlo! My parents are gonna think I'm crazy!" she sobbed.

11-year-old Chloe snorted at that and poked her best friend in the side, making her squeak "You sayin' I'm crazy for doing magic?"

Max shifted, her wet, brown eyes large as they latched onto Chloe's "N-No…But Chloe, my parent's aren't magical remember?" she moaned, pulling out blades of grass underneath her worriedly. She glanced through the sliding doors, watching her parents speak with William and Joyce.

The older girl shrugged before throwing her a grin "You gotta admit…it was kinda funny!"

Max pouted as she recalled the last half an hour.

"Arrrgh! We gotta find the buried treasure!" Captain Chloe declared, brandishing her sword to the sky.

Max nodded and pulled out a worn piece of paper that they were pretending was an ancient pirate map. She gasped and pointed at the red 'X' "Look Cap'n! I think the treasure is over there!" Max exclaimed before leading her best friend over to Joyce's flowerbed.

Chloe poked her side and whispered "You didn't actually bury it in the flowerbed did you? Mum would get super mad if we touched her flowers!" The pair glanced over to their parents, who were sat at the outdoor table, talking about adult stuff.

"Of course not!" Max giggled before walking carefully through the flowerbed to a small shoebox that was hidden behind one of the bushes. She held it up victoriously.

Chloe let out a hoot of joy "We're rich, First Mate!"

Max handed it over to her Captain obediently before using her hand to scrub at her nose "Your mum's flowers smell pretty, but they make my n…" she began before letting out a loud sneeze.

When Max opened her eyes, she let out a scream of terror. She was in the sky! Looking down, she could see Chloe's opened mouthed expression of terror as she began to fall rapidly back to the ground.

"MAAAAX! Mum! Look!" Chloe shouted to her mother.

Max felt the wind whistling in her ears as gravity pushed her faster and faster to the ground, she squeezed her eyes shut and hoped it wouldn't hurt too much when she crash landed.

"Oof!" Max groaned and pressed her hands against the surprisingly soft grass beneath her bottom. It had barely hurt at all!

Chloe tackled her into a hug and laughed joyfully "Max! You did magic! I told you the tests were worth it!"

She grinned for a moment before seeing the terrified and confused looks on her parent's faces.

"Chloe, stay here and look after Max…Daddy and I need to have a talk with Mr and Mrs Caulfield" Joyce said calmly.

"I don't like flying." Max muttered, wiping at her eyes.

Chloe giggled, "That was more falling…Dunno why we didn't try that when I was testin' you." She replied thoughtfully.

Max rolled her eyes at that. Since Max had befriended Chloe almost three years ago, she had been randomly trying to see if Max was magical as well.

"You don't have to have magical parents to be a Witch, Max. Mum told me that Muggle families like yours can have kids that are magic." Chloe had assured her then 7-year-old self.

The most recent test Chloe had tried was encouraging Max to jump off the swing as far as she could. That had only resulted in bloodied knees and a strong telling off from Joyce.

"Cheer up Max! This means we might be able to go to Hogwarts together!" Chloe said happily, practically vibrating with excitement next to her.

Max did feel her spirits lift when Chloe mentioned the magical school – When Chloe had told her that she would be heading to Hogwarts in the September after she turned 11, Max was devastated as that was only months away. While Max wasn't upset for not having magic most of the time, she was upset at the thought of not seeing her best friend every day.

A familiar shadow passed over the pair, they looked up to see the friendly face of Chloe's dad, William "Hey kiddos, come on inside – don't be scared Maxie, everything's okay."

Chloe grabbed Max's hand tightly and half dragged her into the living room, where Joyce and her parents were sat. The former winked at Max, making her blush. When she looked tentatively over at her parents, they were both clutching a cup of coffee and looking at her as if she'd turned her hair blue like Chloe could.

Max took a seat at the dining table next to her mother and across from Joyce. Chloe had taken head of the table between them. William was smiling comfortingly at Max's parents from his position next to Joyce.

Clearing her throat, Joyce broke the silence, focusing on Max "So Max, I know what happened out there was scary for you, so William, myself and Chloe are going to try and help you understand."

Eyes watering, Max shook her head "I didn't mean to do magic, I swear! I didn't think I could…" she blurted out before smacking a hand over her mouth.

Chloe groaned at her best friend for spilling the beans, while the elder Price's looked at Chloe curiously "Yeaaaaahhh…Funny thing happened. I may have shown Max my little…trick when I met her in the park the first time." She said sheepishly.

"Chloe Elizabeth Price! What on Earth were you thinkin'!" Joyce scolded "Did I not teach you about being careful around Muggles?"

"Muggles?" Max's father repeated in confusion.

"Non-magic folk" William said kindly.

Playing with her hair, Chloe sighed exasperatedly "I swear I thought she was like us! I thought her camera was magic since it spat pictures out straight away!"

William hummed "To be fair, honey – I did too until I did some research into older muggle cameras, ingenious!"

Joyce huffed before looking back at Max, who was still trying to hold back sniffles "How much did Chloe tell you about the magical world, Max?"

Max looked quickly over at Chloe, who just shrugged – she was in enough trouble already.

"N-Not that much. I know that magic people like you have wands, and there is a special school for kids who do magic here in England. I…I also know that families like mine can sometimes have magical kids." Max answered quietly "What I did was accidental magic, wasn't it?"

She'd tried not to ask too many questions of Chloe after finding out her magic was supposed to stay a secret. She'd found out about wands after William had accidentally left his on the counter when Max was over a few years ago.

Joyce nodded "That's right, Max. Because you're so young, and you can't control your magic properly, sometimes it will appear when you get upset or angry…or sneeze apparently." She chuckled.

That made Max grin. Joyce and William took turns to explain what they had told Max's parents about the wizarding world. They also revealed more about themselves, which Max was excited about.

"I work for the Ministry of Magic in the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office. That means I go around telling people off for making muggle items do magical things." William explained before beginning to tell a story about a man he had confiscated a bewitched toaster from until Joyce cut him off.

Shaking her head at her husband, Joyce continued, "I manage an Inn called the Leaky Cauldron. Nothin' too wacky." She said casually.

"Mum makes amazing waffles." Chloe gushed. Max's stomach growled at the mention of food. Joyce wasted no time preparing lunch for everyone, while William answered any other questions that the Caulfield's had.

Max felt her mother place a hand over her own after she had finished her sandwiches, "Well…at least we know Max isn't going to be alone." She said shakily "This is a lot to take in."

Chloe took Max's other hand and grinned at the Caulfield's, her crystal blue eyes shining "Don't worry Mrs Caulfield, I'll look after her!"

The younger girl blushed lightly before looking at Chloe's parents "I'll try and keep her out of trouble." She joked.

"Hey!" Chloe whined, her hair turning a brilliant red in her frustration and embarrassment.

Max's father seemed unfazed by Chloe's sudden hair colour swap "No need to be hot headed, Chloe." He joked. Max groaned along with her best friend. Her father was definitely back to normal if he was chuckling along with William.

When the Caulfield family were due to leave, Chloe pulled Max into a tight hug "I can't believe today was real, Chloe." Max whispered to her friend.

Laughing, Chloe pulled away and shoved her lightly "Of course it's real Magic-Max! Wait until you get your Hogwarts letter, then you'll have to believe it!" she promised.

A few months later, Max and Chloe looked down at the newest photo in Max's collection. It was one of two photos Max owned that moved. It showed Max and a blue haired Chloe slinging their arms around each other's shoulders. They both held up two open letters from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, grinning excitedly.


Alright, that's it for this chapter! I hope you enjoyed! I know it was slightly shorter than the last one, but I wanted to get something up for you guys since you've waited so long…

I'm still trying to decide what to do with William – do I kill him off or not…I really don't want to, but it kind of shapes Chloe's character. I was going to bring David in somehow anyway, so I can make it go either way.

The next chapter will be Max and Chloe going through Diagon Alley with Joyce – I didn't want to spend too much time with pre-Hogwarts Chloe and Max, so I hope this is enough for you guys.

Please leave comments/reviews/constructive criticism – I love to hear from you guys! I promise there won't be such a gap for the next chapter!

- LittlePiecesofTime