Chapter 2 Letters
Upon walking into a large entrance hall, a woman with square shaped glasses walked briskly up to Chloe, Katie, and Oliver. For a moment Chloe was afraid they were going to get reprimanded for being too loud, but the woman sharply gazed over all of them. She curtly nodded to Oliver and Katie and turned to Chloe.
"Miss Thompson, I presume? My name is Professor McGonagall. I am the deputy Headmistress here at Hogwarts as well as the Transfiguration teacher. I am also your head of house. I see you have found a few Gryffindors so I will let them show you around. Good day and welcome."
Chloe watched her retreating figure, in awe. "Does she always have such a sharp tone?"
"Yeah," Katie replied. "But she has got to be one of the most interesting professors here and her subject is definitely fun."
"Transfiguration? Fun?" Oliver looked confused. "I think the two must have been placed under some wizard's spell. But whatever, I am hungry. Let's go!"
Oliver grabbed Chloe and Katie's hands and pulled them away in the direction of what appeared to be the Gryffindor table. Once there, Chloe gazed up at a line of young children standing in front of the Great Hall. "Why are all of those kids standing in the front of the room? They look so scared and so cute."
Katie laughed. "They are really cute. They are first years waiting to be sorted. They are going to try on the hat that Dumbledore made you try on and figure out which house to be in. The only rule is that if someone is sorted into Slytherin, you do not clap."
"Oh, I get it. Thanks, I would have looked like a big dork."
"You mean you don't already look like a big dork?"
"Shut up, Ollie!"
"Both of you shut up!" Katie screamed. "You are acting like you are three years old or something."
Katie's tirade was interrupted by Professor McGonagall reading the name 'Potter, Harry.' The Great Hall erupted in hurried whispers as everyone strained to get a glimpse of the Boy Who Lived.
"I hope he's a Gryffindor," Oliver said. "I hear his father was one hell of a Seeker and we could definitely use him if he has even one eighth of James Potter's talent."
Chloe and Katie groaned and rolled their eyes. "Shut up about Quidditch!"
An hour later, the feast was over and Katie and Chloe had finally escaped Oliver's clutches and were walking up to the Gryffindor common room in a heated discussion about something.
"OH MY GOD! ARE YOU SERIOUS?"
"Shhhh, Kate. Yeah, I am pretty sure. I kept thinking about it during the entire feast."
"But how?"
"I don't know how. I just think that I accidentally looked at my father's records and happened to see that he was under investigation."
"PASSWORD IF YOU PLEASE" shouted a loud voice right over their heads. Startled, Chloe screamed.
Katie merely sighed and explained "Chloe, this is the fat lady. She is the entrance to our common room. The password is animagus. Don't pay any attention to the fat lady. She has the patience of a three year old. Kind of like you and Oliver" And with that the two scrambled into the common room, eager to continue their discussion.
Chloe awoke to the earth shaking beneath her. All she could think about was that she was in the middle of a terrible earthquake and needed to stand in a doorway in order to save herself. However, when she wiped the sleep from her eyes, all she saw was Oliver grinning mischievously at her.
"What the hell are you doing here? It is only five o'clock in the morning. You scared me half to death!"
"Payback's a bitch, isn't it Sweetums?"
"What?"
"This is your payback. I told you I didn't like to be called 'Ollie' but you kept doing it anyway. So now I'm going to wake you up every morning at five and call you Sweetums. And the punishment will only get worse if you keep calling me that name I don't like."
"What name?" Chloe asked innocently. "Oh, you mean 'Ollie'"
"GRRRR," Oliver growled. "I'm gonna get you. I can't figure out what I'm going to do yet, but just you wait"
"Yeah, I'm real scared. Now get out of here now before you wake everyone up and we all kick your ass."
"Too late," groaned Katie.
"Way too late," mumbled Angelina.
Alicia didn't say anything. She just threw a pillow in the direction of the door and continued to sleep.
"Chloe, you really need to stop flirting with him. It's annoying!"
"Katie, you of all people know that I flirt with EVERYBODY! It's when I'm not flirting that you have to be careful. That's when I like the guy."
"You don't like Oliver?"
"No. I mean he is really good looking, but that's about it."
Chloe stood up, ending the conversation. She shuffled into the bathroom and took a shower. When she emerged, she found Katie still standing in the same place. In her hand was a letter adorned with an American flag design. "Open it Chloe!"
Two letters fell to the ground after Chloe tore into the envelope. She picked up the shorter of the two and squealed, "It's from Brooke. She is my best friend from Salem Academy." Chloe cleared her throat and began to read:
Chloe-Bear!
We all miss you sooooooo much! This year is definitely not going to be the same. That evil bitch Rachael tried to room with us but don't worry, we told her she was not getting anywhere near us. Not after all the drama… Anyways, things here are exciting. Sarah and Patricia are here with me when I write this, and they want to tell you that they will be keeping an eagle eye on Ben for you. They will write you every day and tell you what he wore. But, on to more important things. We plan on carrying out the master prank that we planned during this school year and we want you to come. I'll be having a Muggle Sweet 16 birthday, so it is the perfect excuse to get your ass over HERE! Start bugging your mother and father so you can come. I'm in History of Magic and I better go because Hutchins is still a psycho. We love you (I love you the most, of course) and can't wait to see you.
Love, Brooke
"What's your master plan?" Katie, Angelina, and Alicia all exclaimed at once.
"Just a prank that we have been wanting to pull for a very long time. We never got around to it but we were going to do it this year. I guess we still are…if I can get my parents to let me go to Salem. In fact, if you guys want, I can let you guys get into it."
"Chloe, that would be awesome." Katie said. "Count me in."
"And me." (Angelina)
"And me." (Alicia)
"Chloe, don't forget about your other letter. I wonder who that one is from." Katie ventured.
Chloe bent down and picked up the piece of parchment with a smile on her face. Suddenly, her face paled and she froze, with an astonished look on her face. "Guys, I need to read this one on my own. You guys can go down to breakfast. I'm not really that hungry."
Chloe ran to her bed and pulled the hangings shut. Her heart was beating so quickly it felt as if it were going to jump right out of her chest. She was sweating and her hands were trembling. 'Why would they write to me?' she kept asking herself.
Chloe,
We didn't leave things on the best of terms. In fact, we left things painfully unresolved. I thought a lot about you this summer. It was hard for me to come to terms with the fact that we would not be going to the same school this year. It was even harder for me to realize that you were pulling away and I was losing my best friend, the most important person in my life. I mean, when you are dating someone for so long, you don't ever envision your life without them. I always pictured us together. Not just during school but when we are older. I want you to know that I am incredibly sorry for what happened. It didn't mean anything to me. I know you've heard this hundreds of times from me, but it's the truth. Chloe, I am miserable without you in my life. Things would be much more bearable if I knew that there was a possibility for a future together. I love you, Chloe, and I always will.
Love always, Ben
Chloe looked down at the now tear-stained parchment. She was silently sobbing, trying to sort through everything in her mind. Ben still loved her, that was obvious. And she still had so much love for him. She hadn't even looked at another guy until Oliver Wood. They had been through so much and it had ended so quickly. Confused, Chloe picked up two pieces of parchment and began to write.
My Girlies,
I miss you guys too. I can't wait to be part of the master plan. I think I got us three more accomplices (yay!) and I don't think getting to America will be a problem. I'm great and this school is fabulous. I met a really cute guy (the first guy I have thought was cute since Ben) and he's fun but a little Quidditch obsessed. I think we can be FRIENDS. Ben sent me a letter too. I'm not sure how I'm going to handle it. I want so badly to work it out. I have to go, but I love you all and take care.
Love, Chloe
With a heavy sigh, Chloe picked up the second piece of parchment. She was dreading writing this letter.
Ben,
Your letter surprised me. I haven't heard from you for a while. I still have strong feelings for you too, but I don't know if anything could ever work between us. We live in different countries and given what happened when we were still in the same country, I don't know if we have enough trust. You hurt me so horribly. I gave you my heart and everything I had. Ben, you are and will always be my first love. But does first love always last forever? I can illegally hook up the Floo Network for tonight. Meet me in my common room at midnight and we can talk, if you are still interested in seeing if we can still have a friendship, at the very least.
Yours, Chloe
Chloe immediately summoned her owl, Merlin, and ordered him to fly to Salem as fast as he could. She knew that Merlin could get there before lunchtime and wanted to give Ben all the time she could for him to make a decision.