A/N: I give you the long awaited chapter to TPT. Also, there's some major stuff going on in here, so you might not want to skip this chapter, even if you have seen the movie a thousand times.
The Parent Trap
Chapter Four
Twins
It was pouring rain and the wind was howling. In the Isolation Bunk, Hallie Potter was in her flannel pajamas and a sweatshirt, pinning up postcards and photos over her cot. Hilary was wearing a matching sweater and pants and playing solitaire on her own cot. Now then, they would each sneak glances at the other.
A sudden gust of wind blew the window open, sending Hallie's photos flying into the air. She let out a frustrated scream, trying to salvage them to no avail. So then she rushed to the window, trying to shut it instead, but it wouldn't budge, either.
Hallie wished she could use her magic, but she wasn't starting school until this fall and the small spells her dad had taught her would only give her away to Hilary, not to mention the Ministry warning her father would receive upon her behalf.
Seeing the distressing events take place, Hilary decided to help Hallie with the window.
"Oh gosh, it's stuck!" she exclaimed, as the two girls pushed and tugged at the windowpane.
Finally the glass slid back in place, putting an abrupt stop to the strong wind. Together, the girls tied down the blinds and then squatted to the floor to pick up the remaining debris.
Hilary found the stuffed animal that Hallie always slept withlyingon the floor. It was worn and ragged, obviously from yearsof use. The animal itself looked like an overgrownferret.
She awkwardly handed it back to Hallie, "Here's your..." she thought it looked an awful lot like a --
"Jarvey," finished Hallie.
Hilary gasped with wide eyes. "You know about Jarveys?" she asked.
Hallie gave her the same look. "You know about Jarveys?" she asked back.
Then, at the same time, they realized, "You're a witch!"
"Why didn't you tell me you were a witch?" gushed Hilary.
"Hello? How was I supposed to know you weren't a Muggle?" asked Hallie. "I don't exactly go around telling everyone I meet that I'm a witch."
Hilary rolled her eyes. "Well, I suppose that's true. Anyway, now we know."
"Yes, we do," said Hallie as she began gathering her photos and magazine cut-outs.
"Any of your pictures ruined?" asked Hilary.
Hallie held up a torn and wrinkled photo. "Only the beautiful Terrence McHiggins."
Hilary seemed confused. "Who?" she asked.
"You've never heard of Terrence McHiggins?" asked Hallie in surprise.
Hilary shook her head no.
"Well, he's a singer from Edinburgh but he's been living in the U.S. Are you sure you haven't heard him on the WWN?"
Hilary shook her head again. "You know, we could easily fix that with a spell," she said, pointing at the glossy page that once belonged inside a gossip magazine.
"Yeah, if only we could use our magic," sighed Hallie.
"Hey, how come your pictures aren't moving? Terrence McHiggins is a wizard, right?" asked Hilary.
Hallie nodded, "He is, but you couldn't very well expect me to bring moving pictures to a Muggle camp, could you? My dad checked all my stuff . . . twice just to make sure I wasn't taking anything that might give us away." She rolled her eyes, "Fathers."
"How far away is your home, Hallie?" Hilary asked curiously.
"California's way at the other end of the country," said Hallie. She picked up a picture from the mess and showed it to Hilary. "Actually, here's a picture of my house."
Hilary took the picture and examined it closely. "Wow. It's beautiful," she commented.
"Yeah, we built it when I was little," explained Hallie. "We've got this incredible porch that wraps around the whole house with rocking chairs and a hammock and stables, back that-a-way . . . and this great pool with a sliding board . . ." she trailed off as she saw Hilary wasn't really listening, but had her eyebrows furrowed at something in the picture.
"Wh-who's that?" she asked softly, pointing to the back of a man.
"Oh, that's my dad. He didn't know I was taking the picture or he would've turned around," said Hallie, reminiscing. "He's kinda like my best friend. We do everything together. He actually grew up near London, if you can believe it."
Hilary reacted strangely to Hallie's answer. As if she was cold, she started to rub the goosebumps on her arms.
"What's the matter?" asked Hallie, genuinely concerned.
Hilary pulled down the sleeves to her sweatshirt, "It's chilly in here, that's all."
Hallie walked across the cabin to her trunk and took out a bag of Oreos. She saw Hilary watching her and asked, "Want one?"
"Sure, I love Oreos," replied Hilary. Then, she hesitated and added, "At home, I eat them with . . . I eat them with peanut butter." Now she was prepared to be utterly laughed at.
Instead of laughing, Hallie stopped, surprised. "You do?" she asked. "That's so weird! So do I."
"You're kidding!" exclaimed Hilary. "Most people find that totally disgusting."
The other understood perfectly. "I know! I don't get it."
"Me either."
The two girls laughed, feeling a little guilty for enjoying each other's company instead of hating it. Hallie dug a jar of peanut butter from her trunk and opened it, and found a seat next to Hilary. They talked and shared the Oreos, dipping them in the jar every so often.
"So, what's your dad like?" asked Hallie, figuring she might as well as the girl about her father. "I mean, is he the kind of father you can talk to or is he one of those workaholic types that says, 'I'll talke to you later, honey,' but never really does?" She rolled her eyes and shook her head briefly as she added, "I hate that."
Hilary's lip formed a sort of sad, small smile. "I don't have a father actually," she replied. "I mean, I had one, once, I suppose, but my parents divorced years ago. My mother never even mentions him. It's like he evaporated into thin air or something."
Hallie sighed reassuringly. "It's scary the way nobody stays together anymore."
"Tell me about it," put in Hilary, rolling her eyes this time.
They ate the Oreos and peanut butter for a little while before speaking, each lost in her own thoughts.
"How old are you?" Hallie finally asked.
Hilary's mouth was full, but she answered, "I'll be twelve on October eleventh."
Hallie choked on her biscuit. "So will I!"
Hilary's eyes widened. "Your birthday's on October eleventh?"
Hallie nodded.
"How weird is that?"
"Very," replied Hallie in disbelief. Then, she looked out of the window and realized, "Hey, it stopped raining. Want to go get a popsicle or something?" Not waiting for her reply, Hallie started towards the screen door.
Hilary didn't answer, but walked slowly towards Hallie, looking her up and down curiously. She studied her closely, biting her locket. Hallie could practically see the wheels turning in the other girl's head but looked down nervously as she felt her eyes on her and started fumbling with her chain.
"W-what's the matter?" Hallie asked, trying to keep her voice steady.
Insteading of telling her what was wrong, Hilary answered with a question. "Hallie, what's your mother like?"
"I never met her," she answered truthfully. "She and my dad split up when I was a baby, maybe even before, I'm not sure. He doesn't like to talk about her . . . but I know she was really beautiful."
Hilary furrowed her eyebrows, the exact same way Hallie had done before. "How do you know that?"
Hallie was out on the wooden steps by now.
"Because my dad had this old picture of her hidden in his sock drawer and he caught me looking at it, like, all the time, so he gave it to me to keep." She had a deep feeling to change the subject, so she said, "Look, I'm really thirsty, you sure you don't want to go to the canteen and get something to drink?"
Hilary looked absolutey insulted. "Will you stop thinking about your stomach at a time like this!" she exclaimed.
"At a time like what?" Hallie asked unfazingly.
"Don't you realize what's happening!" questioned Hilary, but continued when it was obvious that Hallie didn't. "Don't you find it peculiar that we both look so much alike and have the same birthday and . . ." she seemed to talking more to herself now, as she pieced everything together. "Oh man, this beyond coincidence, this is beyond imagination! I only have a mother, you only have a father. You've never seen your mum, I've never seen my dad. You have one old picture of your mum, I have one old picture of my dad. But at least yours is probably a whole picture--" Hallie gasped and Hilary could hear her footsteps retreating back into the cabin, "--mine's a pathetic, little thing, ripped right down the middle and . . . what are your rummaging in your trunk for?"
Hilary had followed Hallie back to see her tossing things frantically out of order. The other girl finally turned and answered, "This. It's the picture of my mom . . . and it's ripped, too."
Hilary was a little spooked now. "Right down the middle?" she asked.
"Right down the middle," confirmed Hallie with a nervous nod.
Hilary rushed to her trunk, widly tossing things out her things in the exact same way Hallie had done just moments earlier. She pulled out a small, tin box and opened it carefully, taking out a ripped photograph. She stepped towards Hallie, holding it against her chest.
"This is so freaky," she commented. "All right, on the count of three, we'll show them to each other, okay?"
They counted down together. "One . . . two . . ." they brought the pictures together, " . . . three!"
When placed next to each other, they fit perfectly, forming one complete photo. Hilary's mum sat cozily next to Hallie's dad. Behind them, was a life preserver with 'QE2' printed on it.
Hallie was biting her nails, "That's my dad . . ." she mumbled.
"And that's my mum," Hilary said softly.
The girls stared at the photo, then at each other. A formality of strangeness settled on them. They both reached for their lockets as a bell rang in the distance.
"That's the lunch bell," said Hilary.
Hallie shook her head. "I'm not so hungry anymore." Then, as if putting all these bizarre events together, she said, "So if your mom is my mom and my dad is your dad . . . and we're both born on October 11th, then you and I are, like . . . sisters!"
Hilary laughed shakily, "Sisters! Hallie, we're, like, twins!"
Frozen, Hilary laughed again as tears sprang to her eyes. Hallie's eyes filled up, too, and soon, tears were streaking her own cheeks. The girls put their arms around the other. They pulled apart, looked at each other, smiled, and then began to laugh. Hallie started to bite nervously on her locket again.
Hilary noticed it for the first time. "What's that your biting?"
Hallie looked down at the golden chain and replied, "Oh, I got it when I was born. It has an 'H' on it for 'Hallie.'"
The other girl pulled out an exact replica of the locket that she was biting on earlier and said, "I got mine when I was born, too. Except mine has an 'H' on it for 'Hilary.'"
Hallie shivered, "Now I've got goosebumps," she muttered. Then, as if suddenly realizing the complete fullness of the situation, she exclaimed, "Oh my god! I'm a twin! There's two of me! I mean, two of us! Wow, this is like . . . I have to sit down," she said as she took a seat on her sister's bunk.
"Think I'll join you," stated Hilary, as she sat down, too.
They sat silently for a minute before Hallie suddenly asked, "Can I see your toes?"
And Hilary felt there was surprisingly nothing awkward about the question. Had someone else wanted to examine her feet at such an out of place moment, she would have given them a strange look, but with Hallie, it felt natural.
She pulled off her sneakers without hesitation, "Sure."
Hallie then kicked off her own shoes and they held their feet out in front of them, side-by-side.
"Identical!" exclaimed Hilary. "Hands?"
They held out their hands.
"Oh my god. Exactly the same," said Hallie. Then, upon furthur inspection, she added, "Except I bite my nails."
"You should stop," Hilary reprimanded. "See how nice they could look?"
Hallie ignored her in not an unkind way and went on to ask, "What's your favorite color?"
"Mint green," replied Hilary.
"Oh my god, oh my god!"
Hilary bend her right thumb down to her wrist. "Can you do this with your right hand only?" she asked.
Hallie shook her head, "No, but I can do it with my left hand only." She preceeded to demonstrate.
"If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be?"
Hallie shrugged. "I don't know . . . pizza . . ."
"Topped with?" prompted Hilary.
"Olives, green pepppers . . ."
"And?"
"Anchovies."
Hilary freaked out. "Oh my god! We are twins!"
The girls hugged once again.
A/N: Yeah, they finally found out that they're twins and witches. The next chapter shows what's going with Harry this summer. Also, I just noticed how similar Harry and Hallie Potter sound . . .well, if you sayit with a British accent, anyway.I didn't mean to do that on purpose, by the way.
THANK YOUS:
angel - Thanks for the encouragement. Hallie's with Harry and Hilary's with Hermione, by the way.
Harry's Lost Twin - Thanks! I'm trying not to give up! This will be so muchfun when Cho gets into the picture.
mellowyellow36 - I'm glad I could make you laugh. Thanks for reviewing!
Lolly O'Neill - Glad you like it! I had no clue I had done that, I'm really sorry for the inconsistency and I'm gonna fix it and reload the chapters right away. Thanks for pointing that out.
caintbestuffed2login - Thank you sooo much! I'm so happy you love it!
AC/DC - Thanks! Here's the chapter and there's more to come, I promise!
Veelagrl9 - Thank you! Glad you think it's gonna rock. I loved the movie, too. So why not do it HP style?
sleepyineattle - I love making people laugh with my writing, so thanks a lot! I hope it was good enough!
sara - Thank you! I'll try to keep it up.
sweetpup - You like it? Thanks! I know, the good part won't be here for a while, but it'll be great when it gets here.
tewin - Here's the update, hope you like it!
LilSlayER723 2003 - Thanks! I'm gonna take your advice (since you're the ony who answered, anyway) and make it Cho grins evilly, can't wait! Oh yeah, I watched the movie before deciding to do this, so I know how you feel. Sorry you had to clean your room because of me, it's a pain, but what can I say?
tigerangel816 - I loved the Disney's 1998 version of it, too, with Lindsay Lohan. Thanks for reviewing, glad you like it! Here's your post.
none yua - Glad you like it!
hahfe 2003 - Here's the update. Thanks!
HarryDrocoPotter - It says in my summary that it's EXACTLY like the movie; that was a warning, so you shouldn't be too surprised. But thank you and I will continue.
Snidget-And-Co - I'm glad you think it's wonderful, that was so nice of you! Thanks! You've never heard of "The Parent Trap"? Well then, you should go rent it straight away. It's really cute, especially the 1998 version from Disney starting eleven-year-old Lindsay Lohan.
Sasha - Thank you so much, I love that you love it!
emma - Thank you, I plan to continue!
Claire - Thanks!
maya - Harry will be tied in more, I promise. Just stick with me long enough and you'll see.
Fiery Pheonix - Thank you!
Christina2002 - Well, here it is! Enjoy!
Ashley AND Hermione30 - Thanks for reviewing. My summary warned you that it was exactly like the movie, so yeah, that was the whole point to use the script from the movie. Sorry to disappoint you, but there will be some original stuff in here later on. This is one of those fun fics to do, not to really show off your work. If you want some original stuff, then check out my other fics. Actually, I have two coming soon that might interest you two. Sorry if you didn't like it that much, but thanks all the same .