Beautiful Mistake Chapter 2
Close Call
Chloe rapped once more on the large oak door, waiting to hear a response or something from the other side. Ryan gave a cry, still in her arms. If Mrs. Dubose wasn't home, that meant Chloe would have to bring Ryan alone with her to Diagon Alley. That was the last thing she wanted to do.
"Where are you," Chloe muttered under her breath, bouncing Ryan on her shoulder, trying to make him stop crying. She moved around the front, and on to the side of the house. She peered through the kitchen window, and saw nothing but dark.
Grumbling, she realized she had no choice. She was already going to be late picking Danielle up if she didn't leave than. Rushing back over to her own house, she unlocked the door, and walked as fast as she could upstairs to get her sling so she could carry Ryan more easily. She laid him in his bed, and got the sling, and wrapped it around her. Picking Ryan up again, he seemed to calm down a bit once she put him in the sling. She wiped his tears away, and grabbed the small baby bag, just as she saw the taxi cab pull up in front of the house.
Holding Ryan close to her, she left the house, and climbed into the taxi. By time she had made it to the heart of London Ryan was already asleep. She thanked the cab, paying him, and stepped out on to the street.
There wasn't anyone around, like she had expected, and she walked towards the old door that led to the Leaky Cauldron. As she neared, she found her breath short. She was afraid she would see someone she knew, and she had no idea how to explain Ryan to anyone. She opened the door, and was thankful that Ryan was still fast asleep.
Stepping inside, she was surprised to see how clean the Leaky Cauldron was. She hadn't seen it this nice looking for a long time. It was mostly full of younger students and there parents. There were a few older ones that she recognized, but no one she knew. She spotted Danielle almost immediately. She was standing near the door that led to the alley in the back, talking to a group of her friends.
When Danielle saw her, she did a wonderful job at hiding her surprise of seeing Ryan there. She said goodbye to her friends, pointing to Chloe. She said something to them, and Chloe hoped it wasn't about Ryan.
"What is Ryan doing here?" Danielle asked in a low voice, glancing around the tavern seeing if there was anyone there who might know them, just as Chloe had.
"Mrs. Dubose wasn't home; there was nothing I could do. Now come on, let's go before anyone I know sees me." She said pulling her along, shoving the baby bag in her hands. They managed to get outside without anyone stopping them. "Come on, we're meeting Mum up the street." Chloe said, towing her sister down the street.
"I just can't believe you brought him here. What if-" Danielle started.
"Chloe, is that you?" someone familiar shouted behind them.
Danielle stopped, but Chloe ignored it. She knew exactly who it was, and as much as she wanted to talk to her, she couldn't, not with Ryan.
"Chloe stop!" Lily Evans shouted.
Chloe stopped, not facing her old friend. Sure, they hadn't been the best of friends the last time she saw her, but it didn't stop her from missing her. Slowly Chloe turned around, and saw her redheaded friend's face change into a look of surprise.
"Who's kid is that?" a handsome boy with wild black hair and glasses asked from behind Lily.
Chloe quickly regretted turning around once she saw James Potter. Her stomach twisted, and churned as she felt the nervousness grow. Would they see the resemblance? They did go to school with him.
"It's our cousin, Ryan." Danielle supplied, puling Chloe out of her state of shock.
Lily smiled, "Oh, how cute is he!" She said grinning, moving forward to Chloe. "I can't believe it's you," she said reaching out to hug her.
Chloe slowly leaned forward hugging her friend, making sure not to squish Ryan. "I can't believe it's you either… and with him." Chloe added glancing at James, who stood a few paces behind Lily.
Lily's cheeks tinged red for a moment, before returning their normal shade. "He's changed a lot since fifth year." She muttered, hoping James wouldn't hear, not wanting his head to get any bigger, Chloe was sure.
Chloe found this hard to believe, but smiled in response. "Well, I'm happy for you." She said, though she wasn't sure if she believed herself. The last time she remembered Lily and James talking, was not a pleasant experience.
"Mama," a small voice said.
Chloe froze as she looked down and saw Ryan staring up at her with tired eyes. She felt Danielle shove her in the back slightly, breaking her out of her surprise. Smiling, and pretending to laugh, she pulled Ryan out of the sling. "Silly little Ryan, I'm not your mama, I'm cousin Chloe." She said sweetly, than placing him back inside.
Looking to Lily and James, she gave another convincing smile –well what she hoped was convincing. "I watch him so much, he started calling me Mama." Chloe's heart was beating so loudly and so fast she wondered if James and Lily could hear it.
Lily laughed, though she saw James looked a little un-amused. He had never liked Chloe much, not since she broke up with Sirius. Sure, Sirius deserved it, but for some reason James couldn't accept it. He blamed her for the change in Sirius, and maybe it was her fault. But it was his fault; his fault that they broke up.
"He's really cute," Lily commented again. She looked to Chloe, "So what are you doing in London? I thought you were in France."
Chloe cleared her throat. "Yeah, I was, but I'm moving back. I didn't really like Beuxbatons much, and Dumbledore said I could return to Hogwarts." Chloe explained the story she had practiced over and over in her head.
Lily's face lit up. "That is so great!" she gushed. "It will be so cool to be going to school with you again. The whole gang will be together again." Lily finished.
Chloe nodded, actually letting a genuine smile fall on her face. She was happy to see Lily again, even if Ryan had been seen. She knew one day it would change, that one day she would have to tell her friend about Ryan. But she wasn't going to do it now. Not when they hadn't talked for a year.
"Chloe, were going to be late." Danielle said, reminding her of the meeting she had with her mother, if not making an excuse to leave.
Chloe looked at her sister, sending her a thankful look. She looked to Lily and James. "We've got to go; my Mum is waiting for us up the street." She told them.
Lily frowned slightly, but James looked indifferent. "Oh, okay!" Lily said, moving forward to hug her goodbye. "I guess I'll see you on the train, than. In our normal compartment." Lily reminded her.
Chloe smiled. "Don't worry, I haven't forgotten." She said.
"Goodbye than," James said, giving her a half smile.
She smiled back, happy for the gesture. "See you later," Chloe said, and turned leaving. Danielle walked next to her, and she breathed a sigh of relief. Chloe looked back at and Lily waved, as she moved toward the Leaky Cauldron. Giving a small wave, Lily disappeared and Chloe looked to Danielle. "God, that was close."
Danielle gave her a look. "You should have waited for Mrs. Dubose to come home; it would have saved us a whole lot of trouble."
Chloe rolled her eyes. "Stop being so dramatic, they believed our story." She said, trying to convince herself it were true. She knew it was close, but she could only wonder of someone else. What would have happened if Remus were there?
Danielle shook her head, but didn't say anything back. They soon reached the end of the street, and found their mother waiting impatiently for them.
"Where have you been, and why is Ryan with you? Do you want to be seen? I mean, you are the one who refuses to tell any of your friends about him." Her mother ranted.
"Mum, be quiet." Chloe said, handing Ryan to her to take the sling off. "Will you take Ryan, my back hurts?"
Her mother gave her an exasperated look. "It appears I have no choice in the matter."
A/N: Yes, I did have to leave another sarcastic remark in there. I hope your finding my story interesting, and not a total piece of sht. It took me a while to figure out how I wanted to get her to 'bump' into Lily so that it wasn't too cliché. 'Cause obviously I failed miserably at not being cliché.
I am not too sure when the next chapter will be up. I have quite a few other stories that I have vowed to myself to try and finish by the end of summer, so I may not update for awhile, but not too long. Just not within the next week or two. So thanks for reading, and I will try, soon to update! Oh, and please review!