She was home.

She was home!

Chloe started to bounce in the backseat. Normally Cole would give her a dirty look, but he was just as excited to recognize their neighborhood.

"They remodeled the Howell's!" She gasped. The Howell's were one of their neighbors. The couple had to be at least a few hundred years old, they don't like the idea of change. Kassy turned around from her seat of shotgun, "They had their niece and her kid move in. They're the nicest people I've ever met."

"Oh! How old is the kid?"

The conversations went like that for a while. All smooth and friendly. Just like the twins never left… Chloe found out that Aiden shaved his head to support his drama club friends who had cancer and couldn't safely act anymore. That made her think, can't wizards make a potion to stop cancer? A spell? Something? She should ask for a book, Luna probably was one. Speaking of books, Chloe thought back to the two books on werewolves she needed to give back to her friend. The girl tenderly reached back into her pocket and crinkled the piece of paper. She couldn't wait to owl her friends, maybe even Ginny.

"Chloe!" Cole violently shook her shoulder, breaking Chloe out of her thoughts. "We're here!"

Their home sat in between many trim hedges and flower beds. It had an attic, the main floor with a kitchen, bathroom, master bedroom, dining room, lounge, and two bedrooms in the basement. The twins shared the furnished attic. In their room there was a bunk bed, two small desks, posters and other decoratives were splayed on the walls, a handful of beanbags, and a moderately large bookshelf.

The twins sped out, leaving the trunks for Aiden and Kassy to haul in, just like usual. They pounded up the driveway and burst into the house.

"Dad! Mum! We're home!"

Chloe took a second to notice the smell, the smell of her family mingled with each other.

Then she heard an exaggerated gasp, one that could only belong to one of her favorite parents.

"Who are these little children? Ludmilla? I don't seem to recognize such big and grown up kids!"

"Dad!"

"Daddy!"

Chloe gave him a huge hug. "Ow. Chlo, a little less of a death grip?" Why? What's wrong… She jumped back, like the time she touched a burning stove. Her eyes must have shown some horror. "Nononono. It's fine. My tummy just hurts a little, it's fine."

"Why does it hurt?" Cole asked.

"Had a surgery a few weeks ago. I'm still getting better."

"Why didn't anyone tell us?" Chloe pouted.

Dad did look really pale… Not like last year.

"I was sure your Mum would've," He looked sincere. "But she didn't…"

"But she didn't…"

"Guys! Bring your crap upstairs!" yelled Aiden while dragging a trunk inside. Chloe looked away and giggled. She decided not to dwell on the thing with her dad, it would only cause her pain. Anyways, there home, why should it matter?

XxXxX

Later that day Chloe and Cole loitered in their room. Chloe was in the process of putting the two werewolf books in a package. She couldn't send it till Luna sent an owl. Cole was cleaning his trunk, something they both neglected to do when they got home.

He held up one of the quidditch posters Lucas gave him. The BlueGyspies flashed and zoomed across the poster. She snorted, "you can hang it up. I don't care."

"Thanks!" He hopped u to go get some wall tacks, "Did you know we could try out for quidditch next year?"

"We just got home and you're thinking about next year?"

"Of course!"

She rolled her eyes.

Chloe went to pick a book from her bookshelf. Kassy had a hard time explaining to her that she couldn't fit thirty books in her trunk when they paked last summer. Next year it was Chloe's goal to learn how to shrink things. She could probably ask Hermione to teach her.

They started to hear their older sister stomping up the stairs. "It's dinner time! Mum's here, and it's pizza!" The two dropped the book and poster to run down. Now all of her family was in one place. There was no stupid snakes trying to kill them, or anything else.

"Mum! Oh, mother of mine!" Chloe squealed before hugging her mother. She smiled and patted her rambunctious child's head. "It's nice to see you, my brave kids." "We love you, Mum," Cole almost purred. "I love you guys too! Now go on, sit down. You Dad's been waiting for a while…."

XxXxX

And the summer holidays kicked off. Dad started to have more color on his cheeks. Mum even talked to the twins. Kassy took them out for ice cream and met the new neighbors. They were really nice, even played tag with all of them.

Besides that, nothing interesting happened during the first week. On a Monday they decided to walk to a nearby playground. Chloe could tell Cole was starting to get more… preteen boyish. He wouldn't go outside with her anymore or read books for hours on end. He even said no to going over to a neighbor's house! Cole's never done that before. It was an accomplishment to get him to go with her. Though, she had to bribe him by bringing a picnic lunch to the park.

Chloe started to skip down the pavement. Cole audibly sighed.

"What?" Chloe spun around and started to walk backward.

"Nothing," he grumbled.

"Oh come on. You've been angsty all week, it doesn't suit you."

"Shut up, Chloe."

"Why? I'm not doing anything baaaad."

"You're being annoying!"

"I'm so not."

Cole glared at her, then turned around. She assumed he was going to walk backward with her, instead, he walked forwards.

"Oh don't be like that," she hissed.

"Okay. Chloe. I've been too close to you for these past few days! I'm. Sick. Of. It." Cole started to stomp as he moved away. "I thought we were just acting like normal!" She started to follow him. Her eyes stung.

"Stop it. Go have the bloody picnic by yourself!" "But-" "-Maybe acting like a lame five-year-old isn't normal." He snapped, then started to run.

Chloe didn't dare follow. She rubbed her eyes. Stupid Cole. Chloe knew he would be in their room, sulking. She should just continue to the park. She could share with the squirrels or something, maybe an odd magical creature that Luna has told her about. The darkette ignored the stinging and walked on.

She started to hum. Chloe got so immersed in her notes that she didn't notice that someone was sitting on the swing. Not until the person said, "-hello?" Chloe jumped, a familiar black haired and lightning foreheaded boy was before her.

"Harry! I didn't know you lived around here! Well, I guess I didn't even know you existed before Hogwarts, but wow!"

She flung herself on the other swing. "Your Chloe, right?" He pushed his hair out of his face. Which proved unsuccessful as it fell back. "I'm her. Where do you live?" Chloe got a realization, "What if we went to the same primary school! That'll be so cool." Harry looked at her for a while be for finally saying, "Um. Privet Drive."

"Wow. That's only a few blocks away." Then Chloe beamed. "Do you want to have a picnic with me? Cole was supposed to… but it's whatever." Harry looked touched, "You don't have too-"

"Please. It's better than eating with the squirrels isn't it?"

"Um…"

Chloe still had on the beam and set out the towels she had as a pseudo picnic blanket. She brought out sandwiches, little fruit cups, and packets of juice.

In hindsight, it might have been overstepping her bounds to pull Harry on the towels and hand him a plastic fork. He let out a little chuckle, it's hard to ignore people like Chloe. If other people like her existed.

Harry started to settle more into the towels, getting comfortable.

"Hey, Chloe. Is anything wrong?" He asked. She froze for a moment, thinking about it. She honestly should be more surprised that the great Harry Potter was talking to her. Chloe must have been more upset about Cole than she thought.

The girl sadly shrugged, "I don't know. I think me and my brother might just have had a fight. And that hasn't happened since forever. And by forever, it's our first one. I think."

Harry smiled, years later he might confess that it was his first taste of being an older brother. "Cole, that's who he is right?" She nodded. "Well, Cole probably just needs to cool off. I bet he's just worried about being away from Hogwarts. I know I was, and still am."

Harry went on to tell her some of the stuff he had happened last year. The true story about the old Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. About a three-headed dog and a game of wit. Chloe was threaded into the words he spun, no pun intended. They sat for a while, swapping stories and enjoying the food the Ravenclaw had put together.

XxXxX

Cole wouldn't talk to her. Chloe didn't understand what she did. She just wanted to play and enjoy the feeling of summer. Stupid Cole.

She wished Luna would write soon. It was close to getting unbearably boring without Cole. She was forced to sit in the lounge to stay out of his way. They both didn't like television much, maybe it was their magic brains telling them that it wasn't right.

One evening Kassy came in with a bundle of summer school work. She turned on the electronic and plopped down, right next to Chloe. Her sister probably just wanted a distraction while she 'worked'. The darkette blankly stared at the screen. It was the usual England heatwave warning, Chloe sighed.

She opened the journal sitting next to her and picked up a quill. The girl found that her handwriting was more legible with it. She'd been trying to make an essay to convince Mum to get her a pet kitten, or owl, or anything really. Chloe could've left Cole out of it, just from spite. She was not going to give him more reasons to be mean.

But deep down it could be because she couldn't do it.

"Please be on the lookout for this man-" The television announcer said before the screen cut to a picture of a ragged man. "-He escaped from prison yesterday and is probably in London. Please call-" Kassy groaned and changed the channel, having to stand up to do it since they lost the remote a few years ago.

"This crap. I hate it. Did you know that they haven't even said what prison he escaped from? Dad says it's a sham, complete rubbish. And I couldn't agree more."

"Wait! Turn it back. I'm curious." Her sister gave an exaggerated sigh but complied anyway.

Chloe scanned the picture of the man, Sirius Black. She jotted the name in the margins of her journal. "Keep it on. I wanna grab something."

The excited Ravenclaw said before speeding to her room. Forgetting Cole was in there. She beelined to the bookshelf, focusing on the large amount of magic books. Cole probably looked at her in surprised, she was too focused to even glance at him. She pulled out Hogwarts; a History and a book about the wizarding war she permanently borrowed from Jinx, not that the girl knew it.

Chloe said a quick 'bye' before going down. He must have been curious and followed her down. She opened the wizarding war book and turned through the pages. "Is that one of your magic textbook things?" Asked Kassy, who leaned over her shoulder to see the book.

"Yeah. I know I've seen that name in here," she said. "What name?" asked Cole, completely clueless on her endeavors.

Kass responded, "Sirius Black. He just escaped prison and it's alllll over the news."

"Yikes. So Chloe thinks he's a wizard?"

"Do I look like the smart sister?"

All Hallows Eve. Chloe began to read, due to her attention span Kass went to get all of them popsicles. That girl could get bored of a zombie apocalypse. On Halloween night Lord Voldemort found the Potter's house. Sirius Black, their secret keeper told He-shall-not-be-named where they were hiding. Afterward Black killed twelve muggles and one wizard, who was his childhood friend, with only one spell.

Chloe gasped, "Cole. See this," She shoved the book toward her brother who took longer to read but still gasped.

"He must have been s-sent to the wizard prison… What was it called?"

"Azkaban, it says so on the next page-" She turned it "-see?"

"H-how did he get out?" Chloe shrugged, "No idea."

Kassy finally came back with three popsicles. The twins explained Blacks true background, they didn't care about any secrecy laws. Her sister was surprised. "Damn. Wizards are terrifying."

"Totally," Cole nodded, worry on his face.

They stood in silence for a small minute.

"Hey, Cole. Wanna go for a walk?" Chloe asked after only a breath of thought. He gave a sad smile, "I'd like that." They both grabbed the cool treat and went outside.

The students delayed talking till they got down the street. "So…" They both said. Cole gave a small giggle, "You go."

"Okay… I'm sorry for acting like a little kid and not realizing how it might affect you… I'm supposed to be the smart one, right?"

He rolled his eyes, "And I'm sorry for acting like a Cole."

She chuckled," I forgive you."

"Me too."

Chloe's eyes went wide, "Oh! I was mad and didn't tell you something earlier."

"What?" Chloe leaned in, not minding that her popsicle might drip on her brother's toes. They both happened to be barefoot. "Harry Potter lives in Privet Drive, only a few blocks over. I met him at the park."

Cole was shocked but recovered quickly, "we should visit him. Think about how bored he must be."

"Sounds great, Let's go to the park first, he could be there." Then Chloe grinned, "I'll race you!" She ran away before Cole knew what was happening. He yelled before going after her. A few minutes later they sat, on the swings, out of breath and feet burning. No Harry in sight.

Chloe pulled out the jagged piece of journal paper she tore from it, she was planning on it being the main purpose of the walk. "Look at this." It was the essay from earlier.

"This won't work," Cole said with finality.

"Why wouldn't it?"

"You just gave reasons why we'll take good care of them. Which may or may not be true. We should start acting really good, like doing all our chores and letting the dogs out-"

"-Then make sure they notice!-"

Their `voices got higher and higher as the planned, or rather, schemed.

"-Then on our birthday we can set up an agreement-"

"-Like joining some club next summer-"

"-Just so we're out of their hair-"

"-Excluding Aiden of course-"

They giggled.

"-Maybe we could babysit the little cousins during Christmas break-"

"-Mum will cry tears of joy-"

"-Then we won't have to live with whatever danger Hogwarts is in next year-"

"-But we'll need to get a job for the animal's food-"

"-We could start babysitting now-"

"-We'll have to ask Aiden about it, he babysat-"

"-He quit for his drama club, right?-"

"-He became the president of it-"

"-Or we could run some odd job store-"

"-Like that one book!-"

"-But didn't the main character have to quit?-"

"-She quit because her Mum died-"

The twins got distracted and started to talk about the book. It seemed like they had bottled up all the words during the few days they didn't talk to each other, they talked at unparalleled speeds. But their little bubble was broken by a familiar black haired person trudging near the park.

"Harry!" Chloe called, waving, "over here!" Harry looked up. His eyes were red and puffy, the telltale sign of crying. He looked stupefied to see the there, it wasn't till later that Chloe noticed the small limp he moved with.

The twins got up and hugged him, on complete instinct. It took a long time for Harry to sink into it, almost like he wasn't familiar with the feeling. "W-what's wrong?" stuttered Cole, who seemed alarmed at the boy leaning on his shoulder.

Harry gave a sarcastic laugh, "I'm bloody Harry Potter. What isn't wrong?" Chloe cautiously patted his back, "Specifically, okay? I don't think we're trained enough to help with all your problems." He sighed, probably not wanting to bother the twins with whatever he thought was not important enough to explain.

"Just tell us," Chloe urged.

"Well… You know how third years have to sign a permission slip to go to Hogsmeade. I don't think my Aunt and Uncle will let me."

"Why?" Cole asked.

"Well. They're muggles. And. They're awful muggles. Plain evil. And I just pushed my cousin, not hard or anything but I just know they'll give me hell for it."

"That's terrible. Maybe you can do something to pay them back. Like… Chores?"

"That's a little too simple to work."

"Yeah. But I bet you need to keep an eye out for something like that. You know, make a deal. It's what we're planning to do to get some pets to bring to Hogwarts."

"Might work," Harry shrugged a bit hopelessly. He moved away from the twins. "I bet it won't be long till Dudley tries to find me, I need to go."

"Okay, Harry."

"See you soon."

He sighed once again and continued to walk.

Poor Harry. Bullies like Malfoy have no idea how rough he's had it. Chloe looked over at Cole, the up to the sky, the sun was close to setting. "They'll yell at us if we don't go home before it's dark." She said. "I guess…" Coel was staring at Harry's retreating form.

But the darkettes didn't leave quite then, for the infamous Dudley Dursley was waddling in.

Dudley. He's Harry's Cousin! In a flash, Chloe grabbed her brother's wrist and pulled him to meet the fat boy.

"Get outta the way!" He barked. Cole's eyes went wide while Chloe kept her face blank. She stepped up to him.

"No thanks."

"Move."

"No way. What are you planning to do to Harry?"

"Going to hit him. I swear he used the buggering- Nothing. Now get out of the way!"

"Do you mean magic? Are you scared of it? Afraid it'll hurt you?"

Dudley's face paled, "W-what? Your one of those… freaks."

"She's not a freak!" Cole spoke up, even if he couldn't try to stand up for Harry he could for Chloe.

"Who's talking? You? You're a freak too, then."

"None of us are freaks," Chloe said with an amazing level of calm. "If anything, Dudley. You appear the oddest. Running, shall I say waddling, after your weak little cousin, what's with that?"

Dudley didn't much care for her calmness, he pushed the twins to the ground.

Cole yelped while his sister's breath escaped her.

The fat boy began to waddle away, though Harry was definitely out of his sight.

Chloe took a moment to regain her composure, just before yelling, "You're a big mean bully! It's no wonder Harry pushed you. YOU DESERVED IT!"

Her calmness was gone and she was acting like her five-year-old self again. At least it felt good.

XxXxX

Luna's Cogitari

Hilonump- They are pure but deadly creatures. Hilonumps suck out evil from people and are generally used to ward away nightmares. But having them around for a long time, without being kept in a jar, could turn you, slowly, into one. They get around by floating and can be described as little gray balls of fluff that get darker and darker the more evil it sucks.

Gorffet- Dumb beings. Eat enormous amounts of food and are considered pests. They get weaker when being made fun of or being used in derogatory comments. Only around six inches tall but are extremely fat. Are referred to 'uglier gnomes.'

Benelens- Mythical creatures. Very smart, helpful, and sweet. Similar house elves but they can do things of their own volition. More likely to help children but will consider childlike adults. Acknowledged, by children, to be really adorable. About a foot tall, Rosy cheeks and colorful outfits. Could be mistaken for very very very small children.

XxXxX

So. Yeah. Hi.

It's been like... more than two months?

I was working on this 'one shot' that actually took up 32 pages in my notebook. It took about a month to work on, and I don't feel like typing it up and uploading. So... that's why I disappeared. But did you noticed I edited the last ten or so chapters? I feel confident in them to upload to Ao3, if I get around to it. And on top of me being lazy its play season for out school. This year I actually got a part in it, and evil snake. We're doing the Jungle Book. It's nice, I guess. We have our first performance on Wednesday so I'm kinda freaking out.