Angelica found that she didn't like making the Shadow Teleportation Potion very much. Oh it was simple, sure, simpler than most of the things she did in Potions class, but it was finicky and this was the third time in a row it had exploded on her! She dumped her cauldron out into the bathroom sink and started again. Moaning Myrtle's bathroom was a . . . . surprisingly peaceful place to brew, actually. She stayed away from the toilets, though - she had no clue if they were clean or not, and didn't want to contaminate her potion. She didn't want her body in California and her head in Peru, after all . . . That would hurt. Angelica shuddered.

She managed to make the potion properly after an hour and two more attempts. Finally! Yes! She smiled a little to herself and focused on Chris' Aunt Paige's image, as she'd seen her over break. Red hair, red lipstick, taller than Angie, pretty clothes . . . She threw the potion down onto the stone floor and tried not to gag at the smoke surrounding her.

The next thing she knew she was stumbling back into a counter. Ow . . . She unscrewed he shut eyes and saw that Paige was staring at her in shock. At least she wasn't in the middle of something . . . Angelica gulped. "Erm, hullo, Miss Paige. I'm not sure if you remember me, but I'm Chris' friend Angelica. You met me at the train station a while ago, when you were there to pick him up."

Paige nodded. That was good. "Is he okay?" Paige asked, looking over Angelica. The dark haired girl realised belatedly that she might have wanted to change into something other than the clothes she'd had on in the Chamber . . . She winced.

"Eh, sort of. He's Petrified, you see. Someone set a basilisk on the school, and it was Petrifying people. No one got a direct look, so they're not dead, it's just that - well, they're . . . frozen. Petrified." Seeing Paige's shocked look, Angelica hastened to continue. "But I stopped the basilisk, so no one else is going to get hurt, I swear. I just - the school doesn't really have a policy of letting people know about Hospital wing visits until the end of the year, after students had gone home, and I just thought that you deserved to know, since you're his family and all . . . Um, I suppose I should have asked if Miss Phoebe was hear too, so I could tell her, as well, bit I didn't think of it . . . "

"What?"

Angelica whirled around with a jump, to see a long-haired brunette woman standing in front of the couch past the half wall dividing the kitchen from the living room. Several other people were there, most of whom Angie recognised, but the woman, the blond man, and his equally blond son, she didn't. She wondered who they were. Silently praying that they weren't Muggles Miss Paige had invited over for the evening, she said timidly, "Er, I'm Chris' friend Angelica. Someone was making a basilisk go around our school petrifying people, and Chris is too, now. But the basilisk thing is over with," she added hoping to placate the angry woman. The woman held up her hands and flicked her wrists.*

The next thing Angelica knew, most of the people that had been in the room were gone, and Chris' Aunt Phoebe was standing in front of her, looking worried. "Are you alright?" she asked. Angelica nodded, a little confused.

"Erm, yeah . . . Where did everyone go?"

Miss Phoebe smiled a little. "Most of them went to the Manor, to see what could be done about Chris being Petrified. Paige, Henry, Harry and the twins are upstairs. Paige should be down in a moment. We wanted to ask you a few questions."

Angelica shifted on her feet, nervous. Questions? About what?

"It's nothing bad, so don't feel nervous," Phoebe explained, "but if you could talk to us, it would help a lot. Okay?"

"A-alright." Phoebe smiled.

"Great! I'll go get you something to drink - you look dead on your feet. You like cocoa?"

The Ravenclaw witch grinned. "I love chocolate!"

Phoebe laughed. "That makes two of us."

By the time Paige came down from upstairs, Phoebe had handed Angelica her mug of cocoa, and the two of them were sitting on the long couch, sipping from their mugs. Paige nodded to them. "Hey," she said casually. "You okay?" she asked, looking at Angelica. She nodded, and gestured to her outfit. "I'm sorry," she apologised. "I didn't think to change my clothes after making the Shadow Teleportation Potion to get her, and before that I was below the school with the basilisk, so . . . " She shrugged. "Yeah. I'm a bit of a mess."

Paige nodded. "'Kay then. How long has Chris been . . . What did you call it?"

"Petrified. Erm, I think it's been about a week, now, give or take a few days. It was just after he'd sent his last letter to Mel. He and Hermione both were."

"Oh."

What followed was a long conversation, describing basilisks, which led to descriptions of the past two years at Hogwarts, and a small, hesitant question as to who the blond man and boy were. That had been a little awkward . . . And Angelica had to wonder why Paige and Phoebe were s surprised at some of the things that happened at Hogwarts. Okay, the troll thing in first year, and the defence teachers were pathetic. Snape was a grouch, sure, but weren't there teachers like that everywhere? He wasn't all that different form some of the ones she'd had in Primary School, though admittedly they saved their ire for just her, not the whole class. Also, was the curse on the Defence position so unusual? No one at Hogwarts treated it like it was . . .

By the end of it, Angelica was rather happy when Paige offered to Orb her back to the castle - the girl had forgotten to bottle a second vial of potion, and was quite happy not to have to make another batch.

.

The end of second year was . . . bitter-sweet.

Basil caught the Heir of Slytherin the next time they came down to the Chamber. It was a good thing, too – apparently the guy had possessed a student to do everything. Angelica didn't know what the diary thing he controlled the girl with was, but it felt like the dead, only . . . mutilated. She fed it to Basil. The Mandrake Restorative Draught worked. Madame Pomphrey even handed out copies of the recipe to anyone that asked, as a precaution. All of that was great. Really, it was.

But Chris' mom was pulling him out of Hogwarts.

The world sucked.

.

AN/AR: I'm pretty sure that Piper's power only doesn't work on othe Halliwell witches . . . Right? If I'm wrong, erm . . . . Artistic license? Oopsie . . .

And, yeah, kinda short . . . . and late . . .

So here's the deal: I've been given the advice to only split a story into a sequel when there's a real tone change. With Chris gone, there will be. However, I'm considering essentially summarising third year in five chapters or less, probably including the summer before it in that. Fourth ear will get some more detail, just because of the Tournament and Angelica's growing up and changing. There will be switching between her and Chris' POVs,and letters included. So . . . yeah. Not separating, yet, but will after year four, when the change in the story is more significant. Unless that would cause me to be lynched by anyone reading this . . . ?

- M. 7-23-2012