A/N. Thanks for the reviews. To answer some questions Lacy could only freeze Ryan because he was in his human form, in his demonic form she won't be able to. Ryan, Morgan and Jude all have the same powers: shimmering, energy balls and shape shifting.

Chapter 6 – Patty

I'd been at Magic School for two weeks and I still couldn't find my way around. The place was just too big and there were just too many corridors. How was anyone supposed to know where they were going? And it's not like the classrooms were in any kind of order. For example, my magical defence class was near the dinner hall, but my friend's was near the assembly hall at the other end of the school. I swear they do it just so we're late and they can give us a detention.

Oh, that's right. In the two weeks I've been here I've managed to make some new friends. And the great thing is Taylor, Laura and Stephanie all like me for me, not for my family. And the staring has stopped too. Seems Mom was right; once people realised I was no different from them they lost interest.

I stopped dead still in the middle of the nearly empty corridor, realising I was totally lost. I'd never been in this place before. The walls were a drab grey and the light fixtures on the ceiling flickered precariously. In fact it reminded me of the kind of place Harry Potter would have had a potions lesson. Definitely not the place for P.E.

"Are you lost?"

I spun around to face the male voice behind me. He had a prominent English accent. A boy in the year above was smiling kindly down at me. He had jet-black hair that skimmed the top of his ears; the biggest, darkest eyes I've ever seen and he was tall and lean, unlike most boys his age.

"I… uh… yeah," I admitted when the power of speech returned to me.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."

"You just startled me, I didn't hear you come up behind me."

"Sorry," he repeated with another kind smile.

Something about that smile put me at ease. It seemed to spring readily to his face and reached his eyes.

"So, where are you supposed to be going?" He asked.

"Uh… the gym."

"Oh, do you have a map?"

If I had I wouldn't be lost, I answered silently. But I wasn't about to say that out loud. "No, I left it at home." I also wasn't about to admit that I'd lost it.

"Oh, well you can take mine."

"No, I couldn't."

"Honestly, I don't need it. I know my way around."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive. And you can keep it, just in case you lose one."

"Thank you," I said sincerely, breaking into the first smile since he spoke to me.

"No problem. You'd better go, it's right at the other end."

"Oh." I turned and walked away, my pace quick.

"By the way," he called after me. "I'm Toby."

I turned around again but carried on walking backwards to look at him one last time. "I'm Patty."

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As I dumped my school bag in the hallway of our apartment I couldn't get Toby out of my mind. Why would someone who didn't even know me be that kind? Maybe he was a demon? No, I'd seen him round school before, so unless he's been undercover for two whole weeks without making a move, he couldn't be a demon. It didn't make any sense. Unless he was just being kind, which I doubted even more than him being a demon. People our age didn't tend to do stuff for people they didn't know out of the goodness of their hearts.

A slim, pale hand waved in front of my face and with a start I realised Prue was standing in front of me.

"Are you listening to me?" My big sister demanded.

"No, sorry."

"You were totally zoned out, what's wrong?"

"Just thinking about something strange that happened today."

"Tell me," Prue urged as we made our way into the kitchen.

"Well… I was lost earlier today-"

"There's nothing strange about that," Prue interrupted, delving into the fridge and pulling out a lump of cheese, immediately biting into it.

Honestly, I don't know where she puts it. She eats like a horse and still she has the figure of a super model. It's sickening. "I hadn't finished yet," I told her.

"Oh, carry on."

"As I was saying, I was lost and this guy called Toby appeared behind me and gave me his map. With nothing in return."

Prue shrugged, put the cheese back and then bit into an apple. "Maybe he was just being kind."

"You really think?"

"Sure. Not every one is a demon."

"I know," I said defensively. "I never said he was."

"You didn't have to -" Prue was about to say more when a ripple in the air caught our attention.

Uh oh.

As the ripple turned into a full demon, Prue sprinted over to me. Like I've never fought a demon before. Oh… not one like this though. She was huge with rippling muscles and nearly six-foot tall. In fact, she looked like the demon Holly had described, except she had lime green skin and black hair cascading down her back.

Prue flung out her arm. Normally that would have sent anyone or anything careening backwards. But not this demon. She just stumbled back a few steps and smirked at us.

"Cool parlour trick, witch."

"Thanks," Prue replied, equally sarcastically.

This time I tried, even though I didn't expect my freezing to work. I wasn't wrong. The demon kind of moved in slow motion for a second, but then spurred into fast forward. Without any warning she fired an energy ball at us.

Prue swung her arm and sent it straight back, but it had little effect. Another one came immediately after, forcing Prue to levitate above it. The energy ball zoomed behind us, connecting with a delicate crystal vase.

"That was Grandma Patty's," Prue growled. She squinted and the biggest kitchen knife we owned flew at the demon.

With satisfaction we watched as it embedded in her skin with a dull thud. Her body dissolved in ripples as she shimmered away.

Prue turned to me, her ice blue eyes scared. "What the hell was that?"

A/N. Please review