It was a typically cool afternoon in November and fifteen-year-old Chloe-Anne Alesandra Duncan, or Chloe as she was more commonly known, lounged around her spacious Vancouver home. Book in one hand and a glass of lemonade in the other, she sipped lightly on the liquid before setting the glass down on a table. She laid down on the window seat in her bedroom's alcove and opened the book again. She was reading the latest book in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series. She was halfway through the book and couldn't wait to find out all the book's secrets. She moved her glasses up on her nose and then continued to flip through the pages and laugh or feel sad at the points that required such feelings.
Near the end of the seventeenth chapter, Chloe heard a soft knocking on her bedroom door. She got up from the window seat, pulled her long auburn locks into a high ponytail, and ran to the door. She pulled the door open and stared into the face of her caretaker. Her parents worked practically 24/7 and barely had time for her or her younger brothers and so they had hired a caretaker to watch over the children. It wasn't like Chloe needed the woman anymore as she was nearing her sixteenth birthday, but she continued to watch over Chloe.
"What do you want!" The hazel-eyed teen asked staring at the woman who had taken care of her since the age of 7.
"I have your clothes, Miss Duncan," The caregiver, Mrs. Evans, responded. She was standing at the door with a pile of clothes in her arms. "I was wondering if I could place them where they belong."
"Very well," Chloe replied moving aside so Mrs. Evans could enter the room.
Mrs. Evans made her way into the room and put Chloe's clothes in the large walk-in closet that Chloe had demanded be made part of her room. After placing the clothes in the closet, the caregiver bowed to the girl and headed out of the room. Chloe slammed the door behind the caregiver and then returned to her window seat and book. Lying down on her stomach, she re-opened the book to the page where she had left off and continued to read. Her red-haired head soon drooped down on top of the book's pages and just minutes after closing her eyes, our heroine had entered dreamland.
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Waking up hours later, Chloe blinked the sleep from her eyes and sat up. She looked around the area in which she had fallen asleep and didn't recognize any of her surroundings. She wasn't in her bedroom, that was for sure. Where am I? Chloe thought as she looked around the room. Scarlet bed sheets were wrapped around her frame and she had to fight to remove herself from them. She fell from the bed and glanced around at the room she was in.
There were four other beds in the room besides the one she had just fallen out of and all of them were identical. She got to her feet and looked around at the belongings of the room's other inhabitants. It was very obvious that five girls stayed in this dorm, one of them being Chloe herself. But as she turned around and was faced with a mirror, she didn't recognize the reflection. Her glasses were gone and her hair was no longer red. At least her eyes were the same colour.
Staring back at her was a blonde girl she didn't know. She blinked a few times and then screamed. Loudly. What the hell is going on! Chloe thought while staring at the reflection in the mirror. She heard running footfalls coming up a flight of stairs and the next thing she knew, a girl with bushy brown hair followed by a dark-skinned girl with a long brown plait down her back had entered the room. The girl with the long brown plait was the first to address Chloe. She walked over to her and rested a hand on Chloe's shoulder.
"Lavender? It's me, Parvati. Are you okay?" The girl with the long plait, who had just revealed herself as Parvati, asked.
Chloe stared at her, a look of bewilderment across her face. This girl, Parvati, had just called her Lavender. She blinked at Parvati and then glanced over to the bushy haired girl who was still standing next to the door, and then back at Parvati. The girls didn't look familiar, but their names sounded like she had heard them before. Then it hit her. Hit her like a big bucket of ice water, including the bucket itself.
The previously red-haired girl knew just where she was. If that's Parvati, that must be Hermione. She thought, referring to the brown-eyed girl at the door. And they called me Lavender. That must mean I'm in a Harry Potter book. And in the body of Lavender Brown no less. This cannot be happening. Chloe stared at Parvati and Hermione with a shocked expression. She gulped and then walked backwards and collapsed onto the bed that she had fallen out of.
"Are you okay, Lavender?" Hermione asked glancing at the now blonde girl. "We heard a scream and ran up here."
"I -- I," Chloe wasn't sure just how to respond, "I, uh, I saw a spider. You both know how I hate them."
"Is that all?" Hermione asked, her tone suddenly changing to one of annoyance, "we thought it might have been something important." And with that, Hermione had turned and left the dormitory.
Parvati crossed the room and sat next to Chloe on the bed, "Oh, don't mind her Lav, she's just been in a rotten mood lately."
Chloe nodded, "Yeah, I'd noticed that. What's gotten into her knickers?" If she was in Lavender's body, she might as well play the role of Parvati's best friend.
"Does it matter?" Parvati questioned glancing at her friend.
"None in the least." Chloe, or as she was to be known from now on, Lavender, answered.
"Exactly. Now, get yourself into your robes and meet me downstairs in the common room so we can go for breakfast, okay?"
Chloe watched as Parvati stood and walked toward the dormitory door. She nodded at the brunette and then slid off the bed. Bending down at the end of the bed she had occupied, she lifted open the trunk at the bed's foot and pulled out a pair of plain black robes. She slipped the robes over her body and fastened them before she headed out of the dormitory herself.
The now blonde-haired girl was welcomed to the sight of a full common room as she descended the stairs from the girls' dormitories. There were Gryffindor students of all ages running around, playing games of Wizard's Chess and Exploding Snap, and just sitting around chatting with each other. She walked down the stairs and stopped just short of the bottom. Sitting in front of the fire next to Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger was none other than Harry Potter himself. She took a deep breath, composed herself, and then walked past the trio and met up with Parvati. The two girls walked from Gryffindor Tower and headed for the Grand Staircase. They manoeuvred themselves through the staircases and then made their way into the Great Hall for breakfast.
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Meanwhile in the world that Chloe had left behind, a certain blonde was waking up from a very cramped position. Sitting up, the hazel-eyed girl bumped her head off the window sill and shouted a very loud "bloody hell" into the air that was encased in the room. She seriously hoped that no one had heard her. Glancing around the room, she noticed that she was not in the Gryffindor dormitories. She was in, well, a bedroom. Just a plain bedroom in a house. That was it.
But it was obvious from looking around that it was not her bedroom in her own house. The room was too big for one thing. Way too big. It was about the size of the entire upper floor of her house. She glanced up and ran her fingers through her hair and then pulled at the bangs that came free from the ponytail. Now was time for her to scream. She stood from the window seat and ran towards the full-length mirror that lay adjacent to the four poster bed in the centre of the room.
Her blonde hair was now red. What's going on here? Where am I? Lavender thought while staring at the reflection she didn't recognize. This face had glasses and freckles running across the nose. And Lavender Brown did not have glasses or freckles. At least, she hadn't when she fell asleep in the Gryffindor dormitories the night before. She turned from the mirror, unable to stand her new reflection any longer and ran back to the window seat. Glancing down at the book that lay there, she closed it over so that she could see the cover.
Running her hands over the soft cover, her body suddenly seized up and she dropped the book to the floor. The book in question? Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. It was, of course, the book that Chloe had been reading before being transported into Harry's world. Lavender picked the book back up and stared at it. Harry Potter? A book about Harry Potter? The blonde girl thought, quite unable to form words at the moment. Who would write a book about him? She glanced lower down the book cover and spotted the author's name.
"J.K. Rowling? Who's that?" Lavender asked aloud, shocked by the different voice that came from her lips. "Mustbe a muggle or something." She placed the book down and then decided to explore this new house that she was in.
Lavender walked to the door, opened it, and then walked through the upper halls of the house before descending the stairs and entering into a new world that she had so unceremoniously been shoved into. She walked into the main hall of the house and then stepped through a door on her left which lead to an oversized library. Bugger, it's Hermione Granger's paradise. She laughed at her own thought and then left the library in search of a kitchen. Her stomach was growling and she was in desperate need of food.
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Chloe followed Parvati into the Great Hall and settled down next to the brunette girl at the Gryffindor table. As she pulled some of the breakfast foods towards herself, she looked around the hall. She glanced around the hall and spotted a few people that she recognized. There's Neville Longbottom, Dennis Creevey, Ginny Weasley, Luna Lovegood, Marietta Edgecombe, Zacharias Smith, Hannah Abbott… Her thoughts trailed off as her gaze travelled to the Slytherin table. There's Pansy Parkinson… and there's Crabbe and Goyle… so, that must be Draco Malfoy. Why doesn't he look as good as that bloke who plays him in the movies? Goddamn false advertising. She shook her head and then dug into her food.
Parvati glanced at Chloe and noticed that the blonde's eyes were somewhat glazed over as she looked around the Great Hall. It wasn't like this was the first time her friend had been in the Great Hall, so why did she look like that? The girl was probably coming down with something. It was the only conclusion that Parvati could come up with.
"Are you okay, Lavender?" Parvati asked of her blonde friend.
"Huh? What?" Chloe asked snapping out of her trance. "Who's Lavender?"
"You are."
"Uh, oh, right. Of course I am." Chloe replied with a forced smile.
"You sure?" Parvati questioned, a confused look across her features, while placing her hand on Chloe's forehead, "Maybe I should take you to see Madam Pomfrey before class."
"I'm fine, really. I'll be okay." Chloe stood from the table and walked out of the Great Hall. Parvati stared after the blonde girl and then returned to her meal.
---
After a few wrong doors, Lavender finally found herself in the house's kitchen. She stalked over to the refrigerator and pulled open the door only to have a loud shrill voice yell at her. Closing the door, she looked down at a small redhead boy who was staring up at her. Who's this? She pondered while staring down at the child who was currently tugging on her skirt.
"Who are you and what do you want?" Lavender asked in the calmest voice she could muster.
"Cwoe, it's me. Cwory." The child, who looked around three years old, replied.
"What did you call me?"
"Cwoe." The child stated simply, still tugging at her skirt.
"Chloe?" Lavender questioned and the child nodded. So, I'm in some girl name Chloe's body. Oh, this day has just started off wonderfully. "And you're Cory?" The boy nodded again.
The child continued to stare at Lavender. She obviously didn't know who the boy was, but he seemed to think she was this Chloe girl. Lavender leant down and picked up the child. He let out a second shrill yell and she had to fight against her best judgement and not drop the kid and run. He's just a child, he won't hurt you. Lavender reassured herself to no avail. Cory continued to scream at the top of his lungs, and Lavender patted his back softly.
"Shh, someone will hear you." Lavender said, rocking the child in her arms as she had seen her mother do with her sister when she was younger.
"I don't cware." Cory replied and then screamed louder. If that was at all possible.
Lavender soon heard running footsteps and was greeted by the faces of two more young red-haired boys and an older woman with greying hair. Maybe she's its mother. Lavender thought while smiling weakly at the three new occupants of the kitchen. The woman stared at her sternly and then came over and took the child who had referred to himself as Cory from Lavender's arms.
"What's going on in here?" Mrs. Evans, the caregiver asked bluntly, rubbing Cory's back with small circles.
"I came down to get something to eat and as soon as I opened the refrigerator door, he started screeching at me. The child is absolutely nutters."
"Nutters?" Mrs. Evans repeated appalled, "Cory is the most sane of the four of you."
"Hey!" The other two children, who shall be referred to as Craig and Chris, respectively, from this point on, shouted.
"He's only three!" Craig, the second youngest of the four children, hollered, "how can you know that he's not insane?"
"You're not any better, Craig." Chris, the second oldest child stated, "you are only eight years old."
Craig pouted and turned from his brother to his sister, "You didn't hurt Cory, did you?"
"Of course not," Lavender replied, "why would I? He's just a child."
And with that, Lavender left the kitchen, her stomach still growling. She headed for the library and sat down on a large couch after picking out a few books. If she couldn't eat just then, why not read something? I hope the only thing to do in this house isn't reading. Or else this is going to be a really boring vacation. She sighed and opened the first book that she had chosen.
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A.N: That's it. Do you like it so far? This was a little something that popped into my head a few months back and I finally got around to writing it. I don't know if I'll write anything past this first chapter, but I do want to know what you all think. So, review please? I may keep writing if I don't get any reviews, but you do know that criticism, constructive or not, really helps authors out, don't you? I'm just kidding… or am I?
