Hey guys,

I just want to let you know that the next chapter is with Harry, back in heaven.

Thank you so much for following my story and I would love to hear some reviews!

LilyMoons

Chapter Ten; The Muggle Games

The girl!' shrieked Bellatrix, 'The girl, we need that girl!'

'She is gone. None can find her.'

'Look more, look! This cannot work without the girl!'

Everything went black and Charlotte jolted upright. It must have been a dream, nothing more, Thought Charlotte, though it had felt a bit more than that. It had the usual floating feeling and fogginess of her dreams, but it had felt sharper, a little more distinct. Charlotte tried to shove the dream out of her mind, and she had had enough of Bellatrix and her acts for a lifetime. Charlotte looked around the room, and spotted a book shelf with several games. She stood up and walked over to it, intently. Each step she took she clutched something to keep her balance

There was a deck of cards, mancala, Jumpin' Monkeys, Connect four, and scrabble. Charlotte, with interest, pulled out her two favorite games; Mancala and Connect four. The mancala set was wooden and smooth. When she opened it up, she was startled by the beautiful mancala marbles of several different colours. She reached her hand out and picked up a particular marble, one of which that was a turquoise. It had swirls of purple and was quite flat.

"You like the set?" Charlotte jumped and turned towards the door, where Kat was standing. Charlotte nodded. Kat stepped closer. "My Gramps made them for me, each one was hand done." She smiled at Charlotte, and the ends of her eyes crinkled, "Now you look a lot better with a fresh pair of clothes, don't you? How's your ankle?"

"It's better, but still quite swollen." said Charlotte.

"Well I brought some ice for it." Kat pulled out her arm that was behind her back to reveal and ice pack wrapped in a dish towel.

"Oh thank you!" Charlotte put the games down and hobbled over to the bed, sat down, and Kat handed her the ice pack which she wrapped gingerly around her ankle and foot

"No problem! Do you want to play any of these games?"

Charlotte was about to say it was fine, then realized she really did want to.

"Yes please. Can we play a game of connect four?"

"Of course." Kat smiled and walked over to the bookshelf picking up the game. She then walked back to the bed, and sat on the other end. Charlotte was leaning on the pillows of the headboard, her good foot folded over her bad leg that was sticking out with the ice wrapped on it. Kat was sitting in front from Charlotte, in a criss cross position. Kat set up the game and split the colours.

"Would you like to be red or black?" she asked.

"Black, please. So you can start then." said Charlotte. Kat nodded then split up then gave Charlotte the blacks. As Kat made her move, she started a conversation.

"I used to play this almost everyday, it's been one of my favorites." said Kat.

"Me too, and it's quite addictive, isn't it? After one round, you want to play on and on and on." responded Charlotte.

"Exactly." smiled Kat.

"Hermione and I would play it together usually. Been playing this since we were friends, and that's been ten years. Then she went off to your boarding school, and now we only see each other in the summer. But when we do, we cherish every moment." As they each spoke, they played the game.

"That's really sweet."

"What about you, do you have a bestest friend?"

"I never really had a true one until I went to Ho- my boarding school. There, I met Jacelyn, or Jackie. She's really quite funny and we confide in each other. I'm going to visit her house this summer, and we-" Charlotte's face dropped. No, she wasn't going to visit Jackie at her house, Jackie was dead. It took everything it could for Charlotte not to cry.

"Are you ok?" asked Kat kindly, and put her arm on Charlotte's shoulder. Charlotte looked up into Kat's big eyes.

"Yeah, I just remembered I left my… uh… cat at school."

"You left your cat at school?!"

"Stuffed cat." said Charlotte quickly, "She's very special to me." But Charlotte had left her owl at school. Something dropped in her stomach. The last thing she needed was to loose her pet, Gwenaël. He probably flew off to safety during the battle, thought Charlotte, knowing that was something she could be reassured about. They continued to play the game, talking about pets and binkies, and finally Charlotte exclaimed, "Connect Four!" Kat groaned and lay down, then sat right back up.

"Well that was quite a long game wasn't it?" chuckled Kat.

"It sure was." said Charlotte. A moment later and Hermione stepped out of the bathroom, in her jeans and a shirt and sweater. Hey hair was still bushy even when it was wet.

"Have you guys been playing connect four?" laughed Hermione.

"Yes. Turns out this little one is pretty good!" Kat patted Charlotte on the head.

"I have my strategies." muttered Charlotte.