IT BEGINS
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Charlotte's father had always told her, "find a couple of good friends and keep them for life". She'd followed her father's advice, but what she soon realised was that, in actual fact, three is a crowd. A couple was too many.

So, she settled for one. Zara Afasy.

Of course, Charlotte Cardleman had the potential to collect many friends. She was certainly outgoing, and liked to be around people. An extrovert through and through. But not many gained the title of friend.

And when the one girl who had disappeared with her twin, without so much as a word, and no explanation when Charlotte questioned Zara's parents, her heart broke a little.

And then when said parents were found dead in their home, clearly murdered but no proof of such a death, leaving police baffled, Charlotte concluded her friend would never return, no matter how many times she called (although she did anyway).

So, she had made another friend, Flynn O'Riley. He was more of a classmate before Zara disappeared, loud, hilarious and slightly obnoxious yet always alone. Charlotte figured he wasn't too bad.

For Charlotte it was simple. One parent. One friend. One lover. One day.

"Hey, Zara," she said, holding her mobile to her ear as she leaned her head on her hand, sitting on a canteen table surrounded by people but frankly feeling quite alone. Her friend hadn't answered her phone. Again.

"Just checking in. To be honest, it's quite embarrassing that I do this. I mean, why do I leave these stupid fucking messages? I don't even know if you've listened to them or not. But I guess I'll talk anyway," Charlotte sighed, with a sad smile. "You're probably just mourning. I wish I could say something more than I'm sorry for your loss but in these situations that's all you can say. So... I'm sorry for your loss. Your parents did tell me that you were fine before they died. That you were in school."

Charlotte looked around the canteen, around her group of classmates and sighed once more. "But you're not though are you? I was wondering whether you might have gone to visit your grandparents but you wouldn't go back to your home country without saying anything, right? Either way, everything's alright here. Nothing much to do besides revise for our GCSE's and stuff."

"Charlotte," a voice said, and Charlotte looked up to find Flynn shaking his head at her with raised eyebrows as he dumped his tray and sat down in front of her.

"Flynn's about to tell me off," Charlotte said quickly. "Oh yeah, I'm still keeping him around. To everybody's surprise. I'll keep you posted."

"Charlotte, you're going to get that thing confiscated you know," Flynn stated as she hung up the phone and stuffed it in her pocket.

"The only people here are kids and lunch staff," Charlotte laughed, rolling her eyes. "Nobody's going to say anything!"

"Whatever," he shrugged. "But I won't wait for you outside of detention next time you get one."

"Oh, you will," Charlotte laughed, taking a mouthful of the spaghetti before instantly spitting it out. "This is gross."

"I'll take your word for it," Flynn grinned, tipping the contents of his plate onto Jarrod Preston's plate (a sleazy idiot who was only sitting next to them because there was nowhere else).

Jarrod didn't look up from his conversation with a pretty brunette, picking up one of Flynn's meatballs and eating it. Charlotte laughed loudly, and when Jarrod's table turned to look at her, she quickly silenced.

"How did none of them notice that?" Flynn said, genuinely shocked. "The pudding must be killing brain cells."

"Honestly, with the hygiene standards of this school, I wouldn't be surprised," Charlotte complained, heart swelling with dreams of a wonderful school she'd been told about so many years ago- a school fit for a queen.

"So, any luck with Zara?" he asked and Charlotte sighed, tucking her blonde hair behind her ear.

"Nah," she answered, savouring the knickerbocker glory ice cream in her bowl. The only good thing school dinners served, and it was out of a tub. "But her mum told me she and Layth are safe. I suppose we'll never know what's going on until we see them."

"Until you see them," Flynn corrected. "They barely know me. You didn't until this September."

"Yeah well, that's probably because you didn't make any friends," Charlotte teased.

"Yet everyone likes me," Flynn frowned. "Interesting."

"I get you, mate," she chuckled. "Except people only like you 'cause you're funny-"

"And people only like you because you're pretty," Flynn shrugged, and Charlotte gasped, flicking a bit of melted ice cream onto his shirt. He laughed and wiped it off. "I can't believe we're honestly still here. I just want to leave already."

"Christmas hols are coming up at the end of this week," Charlotte shrugged. "Be patient."

"Every other school's broken up already! I mean honestly, they say it's for our education but its destructive learning if everyone just wants term to be over-"

Flynn's rant was cut off by a beep coming from Charlotte's pocket. Both of them froze.

"It's probably just my dad," Charlotte said breathily, with a nervous laugh.

"Yeah," Flynn nodded, sarcastically. "Probably."

Charlotte rolled her eyes and pulled out her phone, checking her texts with shaking hands.

From: Zara

I'm coming home tomorrow. I'll explain everything.

~

"Where have you been?" Charlotte gasped, as she pulled Zara into a bone crushing hug. She'd been waiting all day, taking time off school to wait for her friend to visit, and it felt so surreal to see her in person, after so many months.

"I heard about your parents," Charlotte rambled. She was vaguely aware that Zara hadn't spoken yet, and needed to fill that space. All the months' anxiety would spill out soon, she knew it. "I'm so sorry, the police have been trying to figure it all out for ages, and we know there was a car wreck in the lake, but I already knew you and Layth weren't in town, so- speaking of, how is he? All his mates have been worried sick. Why isn't he here? Oh, I've missed you so much, come in, come in."

Zara grinned as she entered the small terraced house, still not speaking. But that was okay. Charlotte finally felt comfortable, like she'd been wearing too tight clothing for months and only now found her size. Zara was the only person she could talk to, really talk to, ramble for hours and she would just listen.

"Things have been really boring while you've been gone. Ooh, actually, no. Katy got with Jarrod, oh my god it lasted like one day, because he said he didn't like her and he liked Bethany instead! So now Katy wants to go lesbian, and I told her you can't just go lesbian and oh my god it's so stupid," Charlotte rolled her eyes. "You wouldn't believe the shit that's happened, Zara."

"Neither would you," Zara replied, with a sigh, and Charlotte nodded, realising that she'd talked far too much. Even if Zara didn't mind her rambles, it was still rude.

"Where did you go then? You didn't come back to school in September and-"

"I moved," Zara interuppted, before she could get into another rant. No matter how much she tried, Charlotte needed stopping every now and then, and Zara knew exactly how to do it. "To boarding school in Scotland. I wanted to call, but my phone doesn't work up there, and Layth doesn't have your number."

She was lying, and Charlotte knew it. Layth Afasy did in fact, have her number, the boy insisted on having it in case something were to happen to Zara one day. But, boarding school in Scotland, technology not working...

This was all so familiar to Charlotte, and her mind drifted off to thoughts of the wonderful world she'd heard so much about, from the only one of her father's girlfriends she'd ever liked, Marilyn, and her son.

"Are there hot guys there?" Charlotte asked, eyes twinkling, pushing her daydreams of the family she almost had away.

Zara laughed loudly. "A few. Where's your dad, anyway?"

"Work, I'm home alone," she answered vaguely. "A few though? You got a boyfriend?"

"Sort of."

"Sort of?" Charlotte grinned, although her brain quickly began to overthink. Was that why Zara hadn't been in touch? She'd been replaced by hot guys, and boarding school friends?

"We haven't been on a proper date yet," Zara admitted with a shrug. "There aren't many places to go up there. Meeting him today though."

"Ooh, is he Scottish?" Charlotte asked, clapping her hands, trying to be happy for her friend.

"No," Zara laughed. "He's English."

Interesting.

"Name?"

"Theodore," Zara said, and Charlotte's heart skipped a beat. That was the name of Marilyn's son, from all those years ago. He'd be about their age now.

Is it possible? She caught herself thinking, but stopped herself. It was so unlikely. And besides, if the school was the same one as her Theodore's, Zaa would've attended since age eleven, and they'd never have met.

"Posh, that, isn't it?" Charlotte grinned widely, attempting to mask her shock.

"Because he is."

"Wow, who would've thought?" Charlotte laughed. "Zara Afasy and a posh boy. Height?"

"Tall," Zara answered.

"How tall, though?" she pressed.

"I dunno, just taller," Zara laughed, again. "Than me, anyway, that's for sure."

"But you're massive!"

"I'm five foot eight, hardly massive," she replied.

"You are," Charlotte laughed, gesturing to her petite, stout body. "Gigantic girl, gigantic boyfriend. Is he our age?"

"Duh."

"Could be older," she shrugged, eager for more details. She needed to rule out any possibilities. "Hair colour? Eye colour? Fit?"

That last question was probably not relevant. She hadn't seen her Theodore since she was about nine years old, and had only ever looked at him like a brother. But she had to make this about Zara, to avoid any... Awkward situations.

"So many questions, sheesh," Zara laughed, shaking her head. "Brown. Like, dark brown. Eyes: blue. And no, not typically."

"I think yes." Charlotte grinned, with a nod of approval. He fit the right description, but she discarded her wishful thinking altogether. It was simply illogical. "He sounds like the type that would give girls heart palpatations."

"Not really," Zara shrugged. "He doesn't really talk to many people."

"Oh my god," Charlotte gasped, jokingly. "You're dating an invisible!"

That was Charlotte's term for quiet people, she used to use it an awful lot when they were younger, which was ironic, since she was quiet for so much of the school year so far.

"Sort of," she shrugged again. "But I like him. He's nice."

"Can I meet him?" Charlotte grinned, wiggling her eyebrows. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't get that nagging feeling out of the back of her mind.

"No," Zara laughed, shaking her head. "I don't even know where he lives."

"You said you're meeting him today! You know, I knew a Theodore once, we were super close," Charlotte laughed again, nudging Zara in the ribs. "Go on, let me come."

"Fuck off," she replied. "Besides, I'm going back to London, that's where we're meeting. And, well.."

"You moved there, didn't you?" Charlotte asked, grin falling. "You're only here for the day."

Zara nodded, chewing her lip. "We're staying with... Some friends there. Probably permanently. We're not coming back."

Charlotte's heart dropped out of her chest, rolled all the way to the beach, and fell of a cliff.

She nodded slowly, pulling on her jumper sleeves. "Are you getting another phone?"

"It isn't broken," Zara said pulling the device out of her pocket. "It just doesn't work in school."

"So that's it then?" she asked, lower lip wobbling. She couldn't cry. Not now. "We can't keep in touch?"

"We can send letters," Zar smiled, trying to cheer her friend up. "There's really cool owls, that can send letters to people. It'll fly in through your window, and maybe want a piece of bread or something for the journey, but you can use it to send letters back."

"That does sound quite cool," Charlotte smiled, but inside she was screaming.

It was true- Zara was there! Zara was at Hogwarts! And almost definitely dating Theodore Nott, her almost-brother who had told her all about the Wizarding World as children.

She shouldn't actually know anything about their world at all, by their laws. But Theodore and his mother were going to go and live with them, so Marilyn had to tell them. But the day her father was supposed to bring the pair home, so they could be a family permanently, she hadn't turned up, and dad was heartbroken.

He hadn't seen another woman since.

"And we can call and text in the holidays, maybe one day we can meet up again?" Zara said, snapping Charlotte out of her daze.

She contemplated mentioning Hogwarts, and opened her mouth to do so. But Charlotte thought better of it. It was far too risky.

Instead, she grinned happily. "And maybe you can introduce me to one of those fit guys."

"Yeah, I could definitely set you up with someone," Zara laughed.

"Please do," Charlotte nodded, in mock seriousness. "I really don't want to end up with Jarrod."

As Zara laughed, Charlotte Cardleman was already thinking up plans in her head, of how to make sure her suspicions were correct, without sounding like a lunatic.

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Hello everyone!

I hope you enjoyed this chapter and definitely hope it isn't too confusing. Comment any questions/constructive criticism because it means the world to me.

JUST TO CLEAR THIS UP: YES CHARLOTTE IS A MUGGLE WHO KNOWS ABOUT MAGIC.

Basically I'm using Zara Afasy and Theodore Nott as Charlotte's ticket to the wizarding world. Zara is her best friend (you can read more about her in my book "Caecus") and Theodore is the son of one of her father's ex girlfriends, who disappeared the night she was supposed to move in with Charlotte and her dad.

Please vote and comment if you liked this chapter, it helps me a lot.

-Amber.