Chapter 1 - Mum, am I a squib?

Regina Hailie Potter sighed as she laid down on her bed. She had just finished the last day of Muggle Primary School but already wanted summer to be done as well. Most children find the summer holiday to be exciting and fun, but Regina just thought of it as just another period of waiting until her first day at Hogwarts. Her 11th birthday would be coming at the beginning of her Hogwarts year, and so her letter had to come at some point this summer.

"Gina! Annie! It's time to get your sisters from the train station!" Her dad called from downstairs.

"Okay, Dad! Let me just change out of my uniform!" She responded.

"No, we've got no time! We're already late!"

"Oh, fine." Regina groaned. She left her bedroom and scampered down the stairs in her pinchy shoes. Out of all the Primary Schools her parents could've have chosen for her, they had to choose the one with the worst uniforms. Her black skirt squeezed around her waist, and the fact that her itchy gray shirt was tucked into it didn't help either. All of her cousins went to much better Primary Schools. Regina managed to untuck her shirt and take out her hair tie by the time she met her little sister and parents in the living room.

At least they didn't have to take the car to London and back. They usually either took a Portkey or she side-apparated with her parents. It was much better than their cramped old Muggle contraption of a minivan.

Regina grabbed onto her mum's arm, and the two disapparated. Annie and her dad soon followed. The four of them apparated a small alley in London, where their magic wouldn't be noticed. They were right across the street from King's Cross station, and they found Claire, Dorothy, Louise, and Ellie sitting alone outside the entrance to the station.

Claire spotted them and said, "Took you long enough!"

"You weren't on the platform, and you weren't waiting outside platforms 9 and 10 either. We walked out here and have been waiting for 45 minutes." Dorothy complained. "I don't understand. You're usually so punctual." She grumbled.

Dorothy and her mum started talking and then Claire noticed that Regina didn't look so happy. "Hey, what's the matter, Gina? Aren't you happy about summer?"

"I suppose," Regina mumbled.

"C'mon, Gina. Tell me what you're really thinking."

"I think I really just want to go to Hogwarts already. Summer's just in the way."

"Well, on the bright side, you do get time to relax. And soon enough your official Hogwarts letter will come, and then Mum promised she'd take us shopping in Diagon Alley for supplies."

The next evening…

"Is the seating chart ready yet, Mum?" Regina asked her mum. To celebrate the summer, their family always held a dinner at their house. All the children and grandchildren of the 'Golden Trio' ( which was what Regina called her Grandpa Harry, Great-Uncle Ron, and Great-Aunt Hermione) were always invited. Regina ran through the list of guests in her mind. Uncle James, Aunt Cecile, Ronnie, Winnie, Aunt Lily, Uncle Aron, Daniel, Danielle, Sadie, Aunt Rose, Tutra, Uncle Hugo, Franny Snell, Great-Uncle Ron, Great-Aunt Hermione, Grandpa Harry, and Grandma Ginny. Then, of course, there was also Regina herself, her mum and dad, Annie, Claire, Dorothy, Louise, and Ellie. It was a lot of people, but thankfully they had a fairly large house. But, what Regina didn't really understand, was the need to invite Franny. Sure, she was Uncle Hugo's fiancee, but she didn't really feel like family. Second of all, she was a muggle, not that there was anything wrong with that, but she didn't quite understand the importance of it and often got very confused. She only had background knowledge from her sister, who was a Muggle-Born witch. Third of all, Franny was extremely girly and was always trying to give Regina, and her sisters, and her cousins, MAKEOVERS. A few of them didn't mind and said Franny was doing them a favor, but Regina and the other girls hated it. She would arrive at the house with a makeup purse and practically chase Regina and her sisters around the house trying to give them lip gloss.

Regina remembered all her time dealing with Franny with no one else but Annie, while her older sisters were away at Hogwarts, and she realized Annie would have to deal with Franny on her own now. She actually felt a pang of pity just then for Annie, remembering Franny's high pitched voice, "Oh, girls! Guess who's here! It's me! Franny! I'm here to pretty you up!" Annie would have to evade the torture without Regina's smart strategies.

Just then, The doorbell rang. Louise opened the door to Uncle James, Aunt Cecile, Ronnie, and Winnie.

Ronnie, being the show off she is, kicked off her shoes and skipped over to Regina, an envelope in hand. "Hey, GINA! Guess what I got!"

Regina rolled her eyes. "What?" She replied expressionlessly, trying to get the message to Ronnie she wasn't interested.

Ronnie grinned. "My Hogwarts letter, of course! I hear Daniel and Danielle got theirs too! And you?"

Regina inhaled loudly in frustration. "No, I haven't."

Ronnie's smile got bigger. "Well perhaps you're a squib then!" She skipped off and fluffed her long, wavy, dark, perfect hair in Regina's face. How jealous Regina was of Ronnie's hair! She had inherited it from her mother, Cecile, who sadly, was not related to Regina. Regina, on the other hand, had curly hair, but it was unruly and impossible to control, like her grandfather, Harry's hair. She had tried to straighten it once, but the next morning, it fluffed back to its curly state, only neater. But the neatness only lasted a day, and soon her hair was back to normal. It was infuriating. But now, Ronnie also had rubbed her Hogwarts letter in Regina's face. That made her angrier than ever. She stomped to her room and locked the door, and she planned to brainstorm revenge on her snotty cousin.

She had just pulled out her notebook and quill when Dorothy knocked on her door to announce that dinner was ready. She came down to find Aunt Lily's family had arrived and was sitting at the dinner table. She saw Aunt Rose greeting the grandparents, taking her usual role as door holder, and her daughter, Tutra, who was Regina's age. Tutra did the usual, she pulled out a thick book, and nestled herself in the corner of the sofa, instead of sitting at the family dinner table. And next, Aunt Rose greeted… Uncle Hugo and Franny. Franny had a crazy smile on her face. She squealed, "I'm so honored to be invited to a wizarding dinner even though I'm no witch!"

"You're nearly part of the family, Fran. We couldn't not invite you!" Aunt Rose said. Regina gagged. Franny? Family? Those words did not go well together in Regina's mind.

Ronnie, Winnie, and Claire were the only ones to jump up and give Franny a big hug. She saw Ronnie slink her hand into Franny's makeup purse and pull out an eyeshadow palette. "Oh, makeovers after dinner, girls!" Franny took the palette out from Ronnie's hand.

Regina walked down the stairs and into the kitchen. She glanced at the seating chart that her mum had made, which was hanging on the refrigerator. It was a muggle contraption that Mum insisted on using, seeing as she grew up in a muggle household and all. Naturally her mum had worked very hard on an organized seating chart. It was supposed to be by age, but it wasn't very accurate, as usual. Regina never said anything though. Her mum worked hard enough on other things anyway. Regina was supposed to be sitting in between Ronnie and Tutra. That wasn't very good luck. Ronnie was only going to brag the whole time, and Tutra wasn't likely to join the table. Tutra always had her nose stuck in a book. If things were accurate, Regina would be in between Danielle and Annie.

Annie wasn't much luckier. She was seated in between Winnie and Little Sadie. Winnie, much like her older sister, loved to brag and be rude. Sadie was a 1 year old, and loved to fling her baby food into people's faces. Mum's seating chart also prevented Aunt Lily from sitting next to Sadie and restraining her.

Once everyone had settled into their proper seat (besides Tutra), everyone started serving themself. Regina thought she'd start off her meal with a nice salad. She loved her dad's homemade dressing. She was about to lift her fork, when Ronnie flicked it off the table. Daniel snickered, but no one else noticed. Regina was bending down to pick it up, when Ronnie whisper-chanted into her ear, "Squib Gina! Squib Gina!"

Regina stood up and asked her mum, interrupting her conversation, "Mum," she paused. "Am I a squib?"

Her mum answered almost immediately, "Of course not!"

"Well, there's always a chance, Amy." Aunt Cecile mumbled in between bites.

"But we've seen Gina prove magical ability!" Her dad corrected.

"Your eyes may have been deceiving you, Albus." Uncle James argued.

"What is a squib?" Franny was confused.

All of the adults started shouting and arguing with one another. Regina was fed up, and she stormed up to her room, slamming the door behind her. Everyone fell silent after that.

She stayed in her room until all the guests had left, and eventually until it was time to sleep. She only let Annie enter, because it was her room too.

Regina fell asleep, but late at night, her dad crept into the room. He held an envelope in his hand, and set it down on Regina's bedside table.