A/N: I hope everybody enjoyed the last chapter. As promised here is Chapter 4. Things are really going to start picking up. Everleigh is growing up and starting to learn about who she is. Enjoy!
DISCLAIMER: Since I forgot to add this last chapter. I'm not JK Rowling therefore I do not own Harry Potter or anything you may recognize form the franchise.
The next few years passed without much incident. Everybody settled into a new routine nicely. David and Laurel were able to spend time with their grandchildren. Jason started Kindergarten the following fall, and Lucas and Everleigh continued to be little terrors; always getting into things they shouldn't together, much to the amusement of their grandparents and brother and the chagrin of their parents. Life for the Garrison's couldn't be better.
As Everleigh got older, though, she began to realize she was different from the rest of her family. By the time she was in first grade, she had experienced her fair share of bullying—first due to the fact that she looked different from the rest of her family, she was very petite with deep auburn hair and hazel eyes, while Jason and Lucas were the spitting image of their father with a tall frame, dark hair, and dark eyes; and then because odd things began to happen around her when she was bullied. One time, she made a boy's milk carton explode in his face after he had pushed her. Another time, after a particularly bad day, when she was made fun of because of her red hair, the next day she woke up with jet black hair that matched her brothers. Not knowing what to do, her mother kept her home from school that day, but by lunch it had changed back to the naturally beautiful auburn. After the hair incident, Michael and Charlotte decided to sit both Lucas and Everleigh down and tell them that Everleigh was adopted.
"Lucas, Everleigh! Will you come down to the living room?" Michael shouts up the stairs of the brownstone they live in.
Hearing little feet running down the stairs, Michael joins his wife on the couch. The two six year olds walk into the living room and the first thing out of Lucas's mouth is, "Whatever it is, we didn't do it. We've been in the playroom since we got home from school."
Both Michael and Charlotte roll their eyes. "You're not in trouble, we just have something we want to talk to you about," Charlotte tells them. "Now, I know Everleigh that it hasn't been easy at school. We want to tell you why. First, both your dad and I want you to know that we love you very much and we always will, no matter what. A little over two months after you were born, Lucas, we found a baby outside of our home in London one night. We were able to figure out the baby's parents was an old friend of mine growing up and her husband. That baby was you, Everleigh. We contacted the police and did everything we could to find them, but they had just disappeared. When they wanted to put you in an orphanage since they couldn't find your parents, we knew we couldn't let that happen, so we made the decision to adopt you."
"I'm adopted? So you're not my real family?" Everleigh timidly asks with tears in her eyes.
"No. We are your real family. From the second we held you, we loved you. We chose to love you despite you not being born to us. We are your parents no matter who gave birth to you, and we will always be your real family," Michael vehemently tells his daughter.
"And that's why I don't look like Lucas or Jason?"
"Yes. But you are the spitting image of Lily, your birth mother, except your eyes. I never met your birth father, so I can only assume you have his eyes," Charlotte gently says to Everleigh while going to sit next to her.
The entire time, Lucas is quietly processing all of the information his parents just told them. He doesn't care how Everleigh came to them, she is his sister and best friend, and he tells her as much. With a hug the two siblings slowly make their way out of the room to go back to their playroom.
"Well that went better than expected," Michael breathes a sigh of relief.
"Were we right in not mentioning the journal or telling her the full story or about Harry?" Charlotte worriedly asks.
"Yes. She's only six. If we need to tell her in a few years we can but for now I think it's best for her to just think that Lily and James disappeared," her husband assures her.
With the resilience only a child can have, Everleigh bounces back from the announcement that she was adopted quickly. She feels every day how much her family loves her, and now the next time somebody makes fun of her she can just tell them the truth and that her parents chose to love her instead of her being born to them.
July 13th, 1992 - Garrison Residence, Manhattan, New York
Another five years pass before Everleigh's world is flipped upside down again. It's the month before she and Lucas turn eleven and they are packing for the beach with their dad's parents, while waiting for their dad to get back from the airport with their mom's parents, who are visiting for a few weeks.
Lucas, who is still her best friend, walks into her room and looks around at the mess Everleigh has made while packing, "Do you really need all this stuff? We're going to be gone a week!" he laughs.
"Don't make fun of me. And yes I do. We don't know what we're going to be doing besides laying on the beach. Plus I don't know what I may be in the mood to wear," Everleigh retorts.
"Okay, maybe, I can understand that. But even you can't read 15 books in five days. That's insane."
"You're right. I can't do that. But again I don't know what I'll necessarily want to read every day, so there," Everleigh says and sticks her tongue out at him. Zipping up her suitcase, Everleigh declares, "There I'm done. Come on let's go see if Jason is ready."
Running up the stairs to the third floor where their older brother has his room the two siblings yell, "JAAAAAAAASON!"
"What could you two possibly want right now? I'm busy!" Jason replies with only a hint of annoyance at his younger siblings.
"Are you ready yet? We want to leave as soon as Dad gets home with MumMum and PopPop," Everleigh says in excitment.
"Yes. I've been ready for two days. Unlike you two who decided to pack just this morning," Jason teases, "I'll meet you downstairs. Now get out of my room."
Lucas and Everleigh head back to their rooms to grab their bags. Meeting Jason in the foyer, all three leave their bags by the front door and head to the back of the house to see their mom in the kitchen. Halfway to the kitchen, there is a knock on the door.
"Can one of you get that? It's probably your grandparents!" Charlotte shouts to her children.
Jason turns around while Everleigh and Lucas keep walking. Opening the door Jason realizes it is not his grandparents. Standing on the doorstep is a very well dressed older woman with light brown hair and grey streaks, definitely too well dressed for a Saturday in July in the New York heat. "Can I help you?" Jason asks.
"Yes. Are your parents home? My name is Gwendolyn Brown. There is an important matter that I need to discuss," the oddly formal woman states.
"Umm….sure? MOM!" Jason shouts, "It's for you. It's not Grandma and Grandpa!"
Charlotte walks out of the kitchen and down the hall to find a woman she doesn't recognize and her son.
"Hi. I'm Charlotte Garrison. Can I help you with something?"
"Hello Mrs. Garrison. My name is Gwendolyn Brown. May I come in? This is a conversation better discussed indoors."
"Yeah, sure. Can I get you anything to drink?" Charlotte inquires.
"No thank you. Is your husband home as well? It might be best that all of us speak," the strange woman continues on.
"Not yet. He should be home soon though. He is picking my parents up from the airport," Charlotte responds. "Jason why don't you go into the kitchen with Lucas and Everleigh while I talk with Ms. Brown?"
Jason doesn't question his mother and heads to the kitchen to tell his brother and sister about the woman at the door. No doubt both of them will eavesdrop; neither of them can keep their noses out of places they don't belong. As predicted, Lucas and Everleigh immediately press their ears up against the door leading from the kitchen into the living room, hoping to hear something. Not wanting to be left out, Jason does the same.
Leading Ms. Brown into the living room, Charlotte and her guest take a seat opposite each other.
"Now I'm sure you're wondering who I am and why I'm here," Ms. Brown starts, "First off, let me say this is about your daughter Everleigh and her education. I am an admissions counselor of sorts for a school called Ilvermorny."
"Ilvermorny? I've never heard of it. It's not in the city is it?" Charlotte asks.
"No. Ilvermorny is located in Massachusetts. It is a very special boarding school that can be attended by invitation only. Ilvermorny is a school of magic. I am a witch and so is Everleigh," the older woman finishes.
Before Charlotte can respond or even process what Gwendolyn just said, the door to the kitchen crashes against the wall and all three of her children rush in.
"I'm sorry did you say magic?"
"Are you insane?"
"I'm a witch?!"
All three start to speak at once.
Charlotte interrupts them, "That's enough. Sit. Now. Now, Ms. Brown forgive me, but that's not possible."
"Oh I can assure you it's quite possible," Ms. Brown states calmly as she pulls out a thin piece of wood and proceeds to turn the lamp into a kitten. Everleigh immediately jumps and runs over to pick up and cuddle the kitten, while the rest of the family simply stares between the kitten and the woman who is claiming to be a witch. At that moment, Michael walks in the front door with Charlotte's parents.
"We're here! Where is everybody? Ready to go?" Michael shouts.
Michael's voice breaking her from her stupor Charlotte responds, "In the living room."
"Oh I didn't know we had company," Michael walks into the living room with Thomas and Mary, "When did we get a kitten?"
"We didn't," Charlotte responds.
At that moment, Gwendolyn speaks up, "Perhaps Mr. and Mrs. Garrison and I can speak privately?"
"Yes," Charlotte agrees, "Mum, Dad, can you and the kids go in the kitchen? And not listen in this time," she finishes with a glare at her children.
Everybody leaves without too much of a fuss while Michael takes a seat next to his wife, "What is going on?"
"Michael, this is Gwendolyn Brown. She works for a boarding school. Apparently a school of magic," Charlotte informs her husband with a bit of a hysetical laugh.
"Yes. Your daughter is a witch, like me. Ilvermorny is the best place for her to learn to control her powers and for her to become a member of our world," Ms. Brown informs them kindly after turning the kitten Everleigh left behind back into a lamp.
Both parents are in complete shock. Magic? It can't be real. Yet...both Michael and Charlotte are thinking of one Halloween night, a baby appearing out of thin air, and a journal that discussed protection charms, dark curses, and an evil dark lord hunting down a young family.. Could it be real? Could Lily Potter have been a witch and therefore making Everleigh one as well?
"When you say magic, do you mean like charms and curses and things like that?" Michael asks hesitantly.
"Yes, Charms is a course your daughter will take all seven years of her schooling, and she'll learn about some curses but we do NOT condone Dark Magic being taught at Ilvermorny," the witch informs the still stunned parents. Ms. Brown continues on, "May I just say you are taking this rather well, which is very much appreciated."
"Well….we may have already known about this. Sort of," Michael tries to explain.
"What do you mean?" Gwendolyn inquires.
"Everleigh was adopted. She is the daughter of a childhood friend of mine and her husband. We used to live in London and one night almost eleven years ago, we found Everleigh on our front step with a journal in her hand. Obviously we read it and thought that Lily was delusional when she wrote in it. She talked about something called a portkey and a Fidelius Charm and some dark wizard she called Voldemort. It made no sense to us. We contacted the police, but they couldn't find anything on Lily or her husband, James," Charlotte reminisces about something that seems like a lifetime ago at this point.
Realizing what the couple is referring to, Gwendolyn is slightly stunned. Of course she heard about the disturbance over in the UK over a decade ago at this point but never really thought much about it, considering blood purity was never a big deal in the States. From inside her bag, she pulls out Everleigh's acceptance letter, a piece of parchment and a quill and begins to write, "Here is Everleigh's letter for school. It also has her supplies list. A lot of people over here heard about the war in England when it was happening, but, honestly, I don't know much about it. Here is a list of books that may give you more information about where Everleigh came from. I suggest you read them before telling her anything. From what I remember hearing, it was pretty gruesome. I'll be back in two weeks to find out your answer about Everleigh's attendance and if she accepts, I will take the two of you and her shopping for her supplies. The wizarding world does have laws against No-Majs, or non-magical persons, from finding out about our world, so please do not inform anybody outside of the immediate family of this. Enjoy the rest of your day."
And without waiting for either Michael or Charlotte to respond, Gwendolyn sweeps out of the living room and out the front door.
"It's real. I can't believe it's real," Charlotte mutters to herself. "How could I just assume Lily was insane? She was my best friend. I know her better than that."
"It's okay. You didn't know. What else were we supposed to think?" Michael tries to soothe his wife. "Now what should we do? Do we let her go?"
"Mom, Dad. Please let me go. I want to learn more about this. I know this is who I am. I belong with other magical people. You know I've always felt different than the rest of the family, and it's not because I was adopted." Everleigh has snuck back into the room and interrupts her parents.
"This is what you want? To go to boarding school? To be a part of this world?" Charlotte asks her daughter.
"Yes."
With one look, Michael and Charlotte know that this is the best option for their apparently witch daughter. "Okay. You can go. Ms. Brown is coming back in a couple of weeks to take us shopping for your supplies," Charlotte concedes.
With a bright smile, she runs and gives her parents a hug before shouting thank you and running back into the kitchen to tell her brothers.
Taking a deep breath, Charlotte looks at her husband. "Let's get these books before we decide if we tell her about her birth parents or not just yet."
Michael agrees and they both get up and head into the kitchen as well to discuss these new developments with Everleigh. Eventually Michael's parents join them as well and are informed of Everleigh's new witch status. They are disbelieving as well but are eventually convinced. The large family then piles into two separate cars for their vacation.
A week after the Garrison's return from the beach, Gwendolyn Brown returns as well to take Everleigh and her parents to the Wizarding District in New York. She is able to buy all of her school supplies as well as her new uniform, which includes a blue skirt, a white button down shirt, a cranberry-colored tie, and a set of blue and cranberry robes. Currently the robes have the crest of Ilvermorny on the left side but once she is sorted the crest will change to the emblem of the house she is sorted into. Everleigh is so fascinated by everything that she doesn't notice her mother slip off in the bookstore to pick up a couple of extra books.
That night, after the younger Garrison's go to bed, Charlotte reads the truth of what happened to her best friend. James and Lily Potter were being hunted by the dark wizard known as Voldemort. They went into hiding with their young son Harry and eventually cast a Fidelius Charm to protect them. Unfortunately their assumed Secret Keeper, Sirius Black, was a traitor and gave the location of the family to Voldemort. On October 31st, 1981, he went to the Potter's house in Godric's Hollow, determined to kill everybody. James and Lily were murdered but, and nobody knows why, baby Harry somehow defeated Voldemort. Harry lived while Voldemort vanished, thus ending the war that had been plaguing England for years. Thankfully though, there is no mention of Everleigh in any of the books. Charlotte spent the rest of the night crying in her husband's arms for the loss of her oldest friend and the tragic way that both Harry and Everleigh lost their parents. The next morning, before heading downstairs to make breakfast, Charlotte and Michael agree that it would be best to wait until Everleigh is a little older to tell her everything. She is excited to become a part of the magical world and neither parent wants to ruin her happiness with the ugliness of the world.
