Life Re-Enchanted

Sirius: Nah dude. My animagus form, the reflection of my innermost soul, is a dog, the most loyal animal ever. You should probably go with guy who turns into a rat instead, the universal symbol for betrayal.

Her face was contorted with confusion. She knew it was dark because she couldn't make out any shapes that resembled anything in her room. But it smelled like day. In fact, it smelt of bacon and sausage and pancakes. And it was really warm.

Too warm. She started kicking her blanket off of her body, eyes still closed, and flipped her pillow over to the cold side. Outside her window, there sang a chorus of birds, all absentmindedly singing their own songs and hitting different notes all at the same time. Downstairs, she heard the rustling of people and remembered.

Casi's boyfriend was coming over today.

Deciding she was better off waking up before her parents banged on her door, she opened her eyes one at a time and sat up in her bed.

"Edna," her dad's voice rang from outside her room. Damn, she thought.

"Huh?"

"Someone's on the phone for you."

Edna jumped out of her bed as quickly as she could, almost tripping on the duvet that had wrapped itself unceremoniously around her ankle. Tearing her door open, she wrenched the phone out of her dad's hand, smiled sweetly at him, and slammed the door shut once again.

"Jake?? Did you tell your parents? What did they say? I'm dying to know," she spat out as quickly as she could.

"Edna, I don't know who Jake is, but I am not him," said another voice, slightly nasal, but lighthearted and teasing. Edna's shoulders slumped in disappointment, but perked right up again at the prospect of speaking to the one friend she'd ever had.

"Mack!" she said, happily, walking to her closet to rummage for something suitable to wear. 

Mack was her best friend, they'd known each other since infancy and knew practically everything about each other. Except for one thing; Mack was a muggle, from a long line of normal, muggle, no nonsense type of people. Despite their closeness, she'd always had to keep the magical part of her life a secret, which tore her up inside a great deal. But when his family packed up and moved to America, it became a little easier for her to keep her secret.

"How are you," she asked, jumping right into the conversation and not giving him enough time to answer her question. "You'll never guess what happened yesterday! You remember that school that mum and dad sent Casi to? Well, I just got my acceptance letter and I'm so excited! Can you imagine? An entire nine months a year without having to ask for parental permission to do anything?"

Mack was laughing a little bit on the other line. "The all girl's school? You're happy about that?"

"Well of course," she said, with a little more caution. "Besides, I don't think it'll be an all girl's school for long," she answered swiftly. She knew that if she were to continue talking to Mack for any period of time, she'd have to change the story up a bit in order to include Jake and other friends she might make at Hogwarts.

"Are you sure that's decent," he asked, a bit worried.

"Oh don't worry so much. It's perfectly, one hundred percent decent. My parents are fine with it, so you should be, too," her tone getting mildly defensive she added, "besides. It beats going to a public school that could corrupt my innocence far quicker than this private school."

"I know," he conceded, the line crackling a bit from the distance. "I just hope you don't change like Casi did."

Edna was silent. She had no idea what he was talking about. "What'dya mean?"

"Well, Casi used to be fun. Then she went to that school and got weird. Like, you know what I mean?"

Sure her sister had stopped playing with them and hanging out in her room at in Diagon Alley with her friends more often, but Edna had always just thought that it was because she was growing up.

"I think that's called getting older and not hanging out with your dorky kid sister. I don't think the school did anything to her."

"Yes it did," Mack insisted. "She said weird things and there was just this super weird feeling I got around her. My mum even started warning us not to talk to her too much because she thought she'd gotten in with Devil worshipers or something of the sort."

"I think you're crazy," Edna said quickly, her heart pounding and her throat going dry. "And your mum's barmy. She always has been."

"Whatever. Just promise me you won't change."

She couldn't give him that promise. She finally understood what he was getting at, and it was a little bit heart-breaking. She never took into account that some muggles were so closed-minded. Especially the religious ones.

"You know what, Mack? My dad's calling me down for breakfast. I gotta go." She hung up, throwing the phone onto the bed and sinking down to the floor.

"Edna," Came a soft voice from the other side of the door. Without knocking or waiting for a reply, Casi walked into Edna's room and saw her on the floor.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah," Edna said, clearing her throat and walking over to the desk where she'd set down her Hogwarts letter last night. "Look," she said cheerily, handing the letter to her sister.

"You got it! You're not a squib," Casi laughed. "Let's go show mum," she said happily, grabbing Edna's hand and pulling her down the stairs to the living room.

"Mum, Edna got her letter!"

*********

Thirty minutes later, Edna and her mother were preparing themselves to go to Diagon Alley for her first year school supplies when a knock came at the door.

"Hurry, take off your cloak, the neighbors don't need to see it," her mom said. 

Edna shrugged out of her cloak and opened the door to see Jake standing there with Sally and a strange woman with purple robes. Sighing in relief, she shrugged back into her cloak.

"It's just Jake, mum. He got a Hogwarts letter, too."

"I hope you don't mind us barging in like this," said the woman in purple, stepping into their house and making her way over to the fire place. Jake and his mother stayed at the door, looking completely unsettled and somewhat annoyed.

"You guys can come in," Edna told them quietly and closed the door behind them. Silvina, Edna's mom, clenched her jaw shut and stared at the other woman who had taken over her sitting room.

"My name is Lavender Brown and I'm a Ministry Official. I've come with the Osti's because their house isn't connected to the Floo Network, and I know for a fact that the Grant residence is. So if you don't mind, why don't we make a fun trip of it and all go into Diagon Alley together?"

Edna, finding this woman to be ridiculous, but somewhat amusing, stifled her giggles at Jake's angered face.

"What's the matter," she whispered to him.

"I'll tell you later," he replied through clenched teeth.

"Alright then," Lavender spoke loudly, making Silvina jump in annoyance, "lets all go through! Hold on," she turned toward Edna and Silvina. "How about you two go first? It is your house, anyway," she said, her voice sickeningly sweet.

Edna walked up to the fire place, grabbed a handful of floo powder and rolled her eyes in Jake's direction, making him crack a small smile.

"Diagon Alley," Edna pronounced clearly, and she was consumed by green flames which spat her out into the Wizarding world. Not a minute later came her mother muttering something about bossy Ministry Workers being pushy and incorrigible.

As soon as the rest of them had arrived, Lavender began to speak again, but was swiftly cut off by Silvina.

"You know, how about Edna and I go do our own shopping? I think I know my way around the place," she said icily.

Lavender's eyes grew wide in realization of her offensive nature toward a fellow witch. Swallowing she replied, "Yes. Yes, of course. I'll just," she jerked her head toward the opposite direction, grabbing Jake's arm and pulling him with her. Silvina pursed her lips and nodded, eyes narrowed at the witch in purple.

As they other three made their way over toward Gringott's Bank, Silvina shook her head in disgust. "Poor Sally," she sighed, wrapping her arm around Edna's shoulders. "We'll talk to Jake and his family later, yeah? Make up for the Ministry's nosiness?" Edna nodded her head vigorously.

"Jake did not look happy," she noted.

Mother and daughter stood in the middle of the busy alley for a while before smiling at each other brightly. 

Jake rubbed his eyes as he fell into his bed face first his eyelids feeling like lead. Who knew there was so much to know? Jake quietly thought to himself as he closed his eyes and let his mind go over the events of the night. 

"Right so here is some parchment and quills and ink for you all, I hear that muggles are quiet fond of the written word so I brought this all for you to feel a bit more comfortable with the situation as it were." Lavender Brown spoke as she waved her wand and parchment, ink, and quills appeared over the dining table that Jake and his parents were now sitting at. Jakes younger brother who was only four lay asleep in his bedroom and Jake was silently thanking whatever sentient being in the universe there was for that, he had enough questions himself without worrying about answering the endless chatter his little brother would be sure to bring to the table. 

"Right so where do we begin?" Sally responded bravely with a smile as she picked up a  piece of parchment along with a quill before dipping it in the ink. Jake looked over at his mother in disbelief wondering how she was taking all of this so calmly without even batting an eye. His father was showing little more suprise than his mother besides a little color that had drained out of his face but it was quickly returning as he sat drinking his ale while quietly watching the transaction going on at the table. 

"Right well you'll have noticed i'm sure that in the adoption records you had when you adopted him that there was a possibility of this happening so all the information you needed was in there so i'll go over a few quick revisions in that and we'll go on from there shall we?" Lavender spoke fondly while looking kindly at Jake. 

"Wait...mentioned in the adoption records?" Jake sputtered looking over at his parents with confusion on his face. "You mean you knew that I was a w-wizard and you never told me?" Jake asked confused stuttering over the word wizard. 

"Well honey we didn't really know at all really we just knew it might be a possibility-" his mother began before Jake cut her off. 

"What do you mean you knew it might be a possibility? Wait...is that why you never got mad at me when weird stuff happened around me because you knew?" Sally averted her eyes towards the parchment in her hand while her grip tightened on her quill but Jake couldn't see his mothers face past her blond hair. 

"Well it was quite impossible to know for sure of anything with you really." Lavender broke through the awkward silence with a tender voice while reaching out her hand to touch Jake's. 

"What do you mean?" Jake asked a little more forcefully than he intended and he flinched as he felt Lavenders hand flinch a little bit away from his before holding his hand firmly in hers. 

"Well you see, it's only become very recent these past few years to be exact that we've started delving so deep into family history records you see and in all respective terms you could have been born a muggle...you see your a wizard but you were muggle born." Lavender explained patiently looking into Jakes eyes with her most sincere look she could muster. 

"What do you mean I was muggle born?" Jake asked curiously his mind racing with ideas that were more ridiculous with each passing second. 

"Well-" Lavender began before Sally interuppted her. 

"She means both your parents were muggles, non-magical folk like me and your father." Jake looked over at his mother and felt his heart tug as she wiped her eyes and got up to retrieve something from a cabinet. "It's all in your records, I re-read them every year when odd things would happen just to make sure in case something like this happened we'd be prepared." Sally spoke softly as she pulled out a dusty old binder covered in cob-webs and dust. "Here it is."

"Ah perfect, this will make the whole situation much easier!" Lavender responded excitedly waving her arms dramatically motioning for the binder. 

"Will someone please explain what's going on here!" Jake shouted finally as the confusion began to pound in his head like a headache. A loud clattering sound exploded from the kitchen as a metal tray of left over lasagna flew from one end of the kitchen to the next splattering it's contents across the wall. Everyone stilled before Jakes father Steve gruffly got up and made a coughing noise while rolling up his sleeves. 

"I'll get it Sal, you got the tea exploding a week ago so it's my turn." Jake ducked his head in shame as his father winked at him before making his way into the kitchen. 

"Quite a temper you'll have to work on that for sure...how long has this been going on exactly do you know?" Lavender spoke directly to Sally now her calm demeanor all gone with a tough business exterior showing. 

"Since he was quite young, we're not sure when the first time he used magic was we just know he has always seemed to be good at it from the looks of things." Sally smiled at her son as she spoke pride blossoming across her face. 

"Yes well I wish you would have reported something earlier than we might have been able to explain things a bit sooner instead of going about it this way. After all there are another twenty muggle familys I need to visit and that's time permitting. We're very booked at the Ministry of Magic and wasted time isn't something we like to do." Lavender lectured causing Sally to shrink a little. At this moment was the first moment that Jake realized he wouldn't like this Lavender woman. His mother was a proud and proper woman and anyone who didn't see that didn't deserve his respect. 

"How were they supposed to know if it was me or not? I mean my neighbor she's a witch, maybe she was the one making all that stuff happen?" Jake shot back not sure what he was doing just knowing he was picking words that would push at Lavenders buttons. 

"What are you talking about your neighbor is a witch? How do you know that?" Lavender asked narrowing her eyes causing Jake to feel the hairs on his neck stand on end. 

"I saw her get her letter. I was up late and I saw an owl fly and drop off her letter and then it dropped off mine. Hers must say the same thing as mine right?" Jake responded arrogantly trying to hide the panic he was feeling at the prospect of getting his friend into trouble. Now that he knew he was a wizard would she get in trouble for showing him magic?

"I see..." Lavender responded her face softening before she cleared her throat. "Anyways back to the main subject I guess i'll explain the situation since we seem to have all the papers and such with that you muggles are so fond of." Lavender spoke while pulling out her wand and tapping it against the notebook. It opened itself and flipped the pages till it stopped on a random page Jake had never seen before in his life, and he had often opened the book and flipped through it curious over his birth family and what his lineage might be like. "Ah here we go," Lavender said while turning the notebook towards Jake and his family so they could read as she spoke. "As you'll see we do a thorough check of family lines now a days to follow the process when an adoption comes up revolving around someone with magical blood." 

"Wait I thought you said I was muggle born" Jake said trying out the word but not liking how it felt on his tongue. "That means I was born to non magical parents right?" 

"Well yes, but you see there is more to it than that you didn't just get the magical gene out of thin air after all. This is magic not spontaneous miracle apparition" Lavender spoke placatingly towards Jake acting like if she spoke to fast he would get lost. "You see being muggle born just means that somewhere far back in your family lines that you had a magical ancestor and the blood got diluted after awhile most likely to them giving birth to a squib like your mother." Lavender spoke non-nonchalantly while waving her hand in Sally's direction. 

"Wait my mothers a what?" Jake asked curiously looking at his mother watching as she bowed her head hiding her face from his view. 

"She's a squib, um someone born to a magical family without showing any of the obvious ability's that come with magic. Basically the opposite of a muggle born, a muggle born to two wizards" Lavender explained quickly laughing at her own joke before going into a longer explanation to draw Jake's attention from worrying about his mother back to her information. "You see muggle borns have had a magical ancestor of some kind it's just that your lineage is that of squibs and muggles so the magic gets lost and then the magic resurfaces usually after many generations so the magical legacy these familys have get lost. Until a muggle born witch or wizard is born that is and then they get quite a shock and reminder let me tell you." Lavender hadn't noticed how quiet the room was and as she stopped talking she realized she had lost her young pupils attention span once again to his mother who was hiding her face. 

"Mommy are you alright?" Jake asked sounding feeble even to himself. He reached out his hand to tug on her sleeve and felt his own eyes begin to water as she sniffed and looked up with a smile covering her face. 

"Fine, I promise dear." Sally spoke as she hugged her child close to her heart. Lavender feeling uncomfortable with the turn the conversation had taken cleared her throat and began talking once more.

"Um well cutting to the chase Jake you see your mother being a squib naturally tried to commute with muggle society to make life a little easier on her, but she didn't like the fit so she came back into magical society and when her little biological clock started ticking she came to the Ministry of Magic to adopt a Witch or Wizard." Lavender spoke with a smile on her face and Jake was sure no one else could see it but he felt his stomach churning with revulsion as a feeling overcame him that he now knew was magic. He wasn't quite sure how it worked yet but he knew that's how he knew what people were thinking and feeling all the time and he knew without a doubt right now that while Lavender was speaking sincerely to him she had nothing but disdain for his mother, maybe not intentional but an uncomfortable type of fretful feeling all the same. 

"I'm glad she did, I wouldn't want to be with anyone else she's been the best mom anyone could ask for." Jake responded proudly while reaching over and grabbing his moms hand squeezing it as tight as he could to show her how much he loved her. She smiled and he felt relief at knowing the message was received. 

"Yes well..." Lavender began feeling a bit uncomfortable it seemed while tugging at her robes she was wearing. "You see naturally after the Dursley Act Of 2000 we are very careful of who we let adopt magical children and our restrictions have slammed down very hard on finding suitable persons to take in such children so when she came in asking for a child... you have to understand we take in to account the best enviorment that a witch or wizard can be raised in so when she asked for a magical child we had to think it over very carefully..."

"What are you getting at?" Jake asked curiously unsure of where this was going. 

"Well naturally a pureblooded magic baby wouldn't be comfortable growing up with a muggle and a squib. Their needs wouldn't be properly met so we did some digging in our records. Muggle born children are hard to find you see because they're so random records arn't kept on their family trees so it was almost fate that you happened to be in our care when she came asking." 

"You gave me to her hoping i'd be a dud..." Jake responded in shock causing Lavender to stop moving and his mothers hand to tighten around his. 

"Don't be ridiculous, we knew there was a chance you might have ended up attaining magic we just thought it would be a more likely fit, a muggle born with a squib and if you got magic amazing if not it would still work out after all most magic using familys wouldn't adopt a muggle born so it was luck that your mother came looking for a child. Besides when she layed her eyes on you she couldn't take them off she loved you the moment she saw you so we signed the paperwork and let you go on your merry ways. All that we asked was that your mother send us a letter should you start exhibiting signs of the abnormal. There was no word so when the headmaster of Hogwarts decided to send you out your letter you can only imagine the surprise we felt and naturally I rushed over from the Ministry as fast as possible" Lavender finished staring directly at Sally now causing her to look away.

"Why would it be a surprise?" Jake asked suspiciously as Lavender stood up and closed the binder before lugging it up in her arms. 

"Well you see we had an agreement with your mother that should you start exhibiting signs of magic she would inform us immediently so we could properly...handle the situation." Lavender spoke in a weird tone that had Jake's skin crawling before realization hit him like a wall.

"You wanted her to write to you so you could take me away if I turned out to be a wizard..." Jake whispered in shock causing his mother to look up an unclear expression on her face. 

"Now don't be ridiculous Jake..." Sally began to speak softly turning to her son before he shook his head tears welling up in his eyes. 

"No they wanted you to write to them if I started showing signs of magic so they could take me away! You gave me to my mom hoping i'd be a dud and she didn't write to you because she knew you'd take me away! But she wouldn't do that she loves me!" Jake shouted tears welling in his eyes but he refused to let them fall as he stared directly into Lavenders daring her to contradict him. 

"Jake calm down..." Sally spoke before Lavender put down the binder and came over to Jake laying a hand on his shoulder a sickeningly sweet smile on her face. 

"You have to realize Jake the Ministry of Magic just wants these adoptions to go through without a hitch. Put kids in a right match with the right family's. Wizards and Witches deserve to be put in an enviorment where they can nurture their magic, use it freely without feeling inhibited or used and abused. A squib and a muggle father is hardly a suitable household for a growing wizard." 

"Well why not?" Jake asked feeling sick the longer Lavender touched him a predatory look in her eyes. "I love them and they love me and I'm not going anywhere. If you take me away I-i'll find my way back again! I won't go anywhere! I'll run away and always come back!" Jake shouted while closing his eyes wishing for anything to happen. The family table they were sitting at rumbled and shifted scrapping the floor before it flew against a wall shattering a picture. This momentary distraction caused Lavender to release him and Jake bolted for the stairs that would leave for his room. "I won't leave them they're my family and i'm not leaving!" shouted Jake as he ran up the stairs and paused at the top peering down while hiding to make sure he wouldn't be seen. 

"I apologize Lavender he usually is so calm..." Sally spoke softly while getting up to start picking things up. 

"Oh really let me." Lavender spoke before waving her wand. "Reparo," she spoke and the table flew back together in the middle of the room along with the picture of smashed glass from the wall. For awhile an awkward silence filled the room. 

"Is it true what he thought...did the Ministery send you to..." Sally let her voice break off.

"Well naturally they wanted me to suggest maybe a temporary...relocation. You have to understand Mrs. Osti this type of household is not our first option." 

"But there are tons of muggle born children every year," Sally spat venomously towards Lavender. 

"Well yes but a squib household is not the most ideal living enviorment is it?" Lavender spoke before collecting the paperwork and shuffling it all together. "I'll be back tomorrow to discuss school supplies and we'll go from there, goodnight Mrs. Osti." Lavender spoke before waving her wand and then Jake blinked and heard a loud crack and she was gone. Holding his breath Jake watched as his mother knelt down at the family photo before picking it up and holding it to her chest. She began to sob and his father came out and held her in his arms.  

"It's alright Sally he's not going anywhere...they can't take him...we won't let them." 

"But can we really do anything if they decide to?" she whispered into his chest and he chuckled in response. 

"Well I don't know about us but our son sure packs quite a punch." Both Jake's parents laughed and Jake couldn't help but smile as well. 

Jake opened his eyes wide his memories of the night shattering as a sound filled his room, but he calmed immediently as he saw that it was just his bedroom door opening. The shadows of his parents filled his room as they came over to his bed and laid down on it with him. For a moment they all lay there silently not thinking just feeling. Finally Jake let the tears flow from his body as his parents held him and he held them back as tightly as he could.

"Mommy, daddy?" a soft voice filled the room causing everyone to look up and see Jake's younger brother Ian enter the room rubbing his eyes and holding his teddy bear tight to his chest. "Is Jake okay?" He asked worriedly running up and hopping on the bed before grabbing his brothers face and staring worriedly into his eyes. For a moment no one answered before Jake sniffed and wiped the tears from his eyes before grabbing his little brother in a giggling frenzy. 

"Your big brother is fine as long as you'll let me go to sleep." Jake responded huddling close to his parents warmth while holding his brother. 

"I had a nightmare and I came to find you guys cause I couldn't get back to sleep." Ian responded lightly before yawning and closing his eyes. 

"Well we'll all just have to sleep here tonight, I think we all could use the company to chase away bad dreams." Jake's father responded softly while pulling a giant quilt over everyone so they would be warm. Jake smiled up at his mom and dad before looking over at the door and seeing the lights were still on in the hallway. Looking quickly up to his mother he saw her looking at him with nothing but love and all his fears melted away before he closed his eyes and the lights shut off in the house. 

"Goodnight," everyone whispered to each other all at once before Jake snuggled into his family and closed his eyes. He listened as they all began to slow their breathing and fall asleep one by one. He didn't want to be taken away from his family, he just wanted everything to be perfect like they were in the story books. He was a Wizard, he had magic, so where was the happy ending? Jake smiled a grim smile  as he thought of his friend Edna and her cynical sense of logic and humor and what she would say.

"What do I suppose that means? What do you think it means, you nitwit," Edna raged quietly, lest her parents hear anymore than they already had. "It means exactly what it says on the tin!"

Jake stared at her silently, trying to comprehend what she meant by 'tin,' seeing as how there wasn't a 'tin' anything in the room. Ultimately deciding that she was using another bizzare English expression, he concentrated on  the letter. 

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, it said. But hadn't they just been talking about that earlier? Suddenly realization peeked through his wide eyes.

"No shiz," he said, disbelief laced through his voice in a heavy and intricate weave. "You weren't kidding! You said you were a witch! You weren't kidding," he accused, voice growing steadily higher and louder.

"Shut it," Edna whisper-shouted at him. "If you get any louder, I will push you out that window," she warned him, poking him in the chest and backing him up against said window. "I'd like to see you wish your way out of hitting the ground," she added, eyes narrowing fiercely.

Jake, however, seemed to have realized something, as his face slowly configured itself into a self-satisfied smirk.

"What," Edna asked warily, cornering him with a suspicious glare. His grin continued to widen as he took  her shoulders to move her aside and plop himself down on her bed. He crossed his legs and leant back on her headboard, hands folded behind his head.

"Nothing. Just that I was right. I told you I was a wizard," he gloated.

Edna's eyebrow shot up instantly, ears prickling with a chance to argue and conquer.

"No you didn't. You were being sarcastic in order to prove I was crazy. That doesn't count," she quipped.

"Yes it does. I clearly said that if you thought you were a witch, then it was very possible for me to be a wizard."

"But you said it sarcastically! You were making fun of me, therefore you're claims were used rhetorically and don't count."

Jake raised his own eyebrow-- partly in confusion, but mostly to mock his friends behavior. "I have no idea what that's supposed to mean, but I was still right."

Seeing that arguing this point would be futile against the infuriating boy on her bed, she replied with a curt nod, a roll of her eyes, and a shove on the shoulder.

"Shift," she stated.

"What?"

"Shift," she repeated, almost in exasperation. He still looked confused. "Move over," she sighed, pushing him as hard as she could until there was room enough for her on the edge of the bed.

"Oh," was all he could say. 

And so they sat there in silence, each thinking to themselves. Edna was relieved that her letter had finally come through. Casi, her sister, had even suggested that she could possibly be a squib; that was a thought that had been terrifying her a great deal with each passing day of the letter's failure to appear. Her mother had had to reassure her that she wasn't a squib, telling her that her spazzes of magic were proof enough to assure her a place in the Wizarding community.

That never stopped her from worrying, though. She finally felt like she could breathe, knowing for sure that she would be boarding the train at Platform 9 and 3/4 that coming September. And the best part yet, was that the first friend she'd ever made would be joining her.

Jake, however, was thinking something else entirely. It didn't make sense to him that someone could train an owl to deliver mail without proper postage-- and he was sure it wasn't just a British thing. He wasn't ignorant enough to believe that the letter was a hoax. In fact, he was certain it would explain a lot about his wishing and what his mom called his "third eye."

He always knew things about people, and this explained to him how he knew that. Well, at least he hoped it could be explained later one. No one could actually be sure of why he had that particular ability... Edna didn't seem to have it.

"Edna," he stated uncharacteristically quiet. 

"Hmm," she replied, staring off at the opposite wall-- the one covered in posters.

"How many kids get to go to Hogwarts?"

"Oh," she said excitedly, turning her body around to face him. "So many! It's like we get to go to the middle of Scotland without parents and surrounded by so many other magical kids! It's gunna be a blast!"

He nodded quietly. "But how did you know you were a witch, when I didn't have any idea I was a wizard?"

"My mum's a witch," she told him. "And so are both of my older sisters. It's in the genes, I guess."

"But no one in my family was magical..."

"Kids from muggle families turn out to be magical all the time. It's not surprising," she rambled. Realizing something, though, she backtracked. "But you told me you were adopted. You could have come from a magical family and been adopted by muggles! Although, that wouldn't make sense. The ministry is usually careful about magical adoptions. Muggles normally aren't allowed to adopt magical children since the Dursley Act of 2000..." she continued.

But Jake didn't say anything else that night until he announced that he was going home. This came as a shock to Edna, who had been hoping he'd ask her more questions. After sitting in silence for so long, she was bristling with excitement, and was ready to give him the crash course on the Wizarding World. He didn't seem to ask too much, though, and she was rather disappointed. 

They said their goodnights and he was out the window, lightly chattering about his need to show his parents the letter. Deciding that this was appropriate reaction from the boy, she pushed her disappointment to the back of her mind and closed the window behind him. She'd have to get a goodnight's rest tonight because the next day was sure to be bustling with excitement, and hopefully, since it was so late in August, she and her mum could go into Diagon Alley to get her stuff.

She'd have to bring Jake along with her.

Jake was up in his room by the time he opened his eyes.

"You're going to have to learn when it's appropriate to use that magic, now that you've been accepted to Hogwarts," said an annoyingly high pitched voice from behind him. "We need licenses to apparate in our world, like muggles need licenses to drive."

He turned slowly to face the woman by his window. She was tall and slender, with soft lines on her face and dull brown shoulder length hair. She wore bright purple robes with a badge fastened above her heart that read MoM Official L. Brown. She was smiling at him, so he was sure he couldn't be in trouble. At least, not yet anyway.

"What are you doing in my room" he asked calmly. She chuckled lightly in response.

"That's usually not the type of reaction I get, although, I should have expected it from you."

Jake continued to stare at her in wonder. Was it possible that his parents didn't know she was there? She must have gotten in the same way he got to Edna's. 

Edna sat on her bed thinking over the events of the day when a thump hit her window. Thinking it was probably just another cat from her neighbors yard she looked at her lamp on the far end of the room and blinked her eyes and in response the light went out. Smiling quietly to herself she blinked her eyes three more times and the light flickered on and off and back on in response. Chuckling Edna became agitated as another louder thump hit her window, clearly this specific cat had no idea whose window it was exactly thumping. Hopping out of her bed she made her way to her window and stared curiously as it became quite apparent that no one was standing in front of the window. Confused Edna began to turn but quickly jerked her head towards the window as it gave a very sudden and far more powerful shake than the two small thumping noises it had made before. Looking around her room for something to use as a weapon she picked up her stuffed pink elephant Mr. Snuffle ton and made her way towards the window slowly while being prepared to immediently smack the first thing that came into sight that seemed aggressive. When she reached the window Edna carefully looked about the window to see if there was anything out of the ordinary but nothing appeared out of place. Biting the inside of her cheek Edna let out a blood curdling screech as her friends face appeared out of nowhere in front of the window. Catching her breath and thankful that her heart had not stopped Edna glared up at her friend Jake and marched her way over to the window before ripping it open. 

"What do you think you're doing?" she hissed at him as venomously as she could considering the fact that just moments before she had appeared about as threatening as a fainting bunny. 

"Waiting for you i've been waiting out here for god knows how long I thought you were never going to open the window!" Jake responded with a smile as he launched himself gracelessly into his friends room scrambling to try and catch his landing but ending up tripping over the windowsill and falling into Edna. 

"I'm going to kill you." Edna promised as Jake groaned in discomfort from the odd angle their bodies had ended up bending while making contact with the floor. 

"I think I bruised my femur" Jake whimpered causing Edna to make her own noise of discomfort at the ridiculous prospect. 

"Jake you didn't even hit your thigh, and even if you did you couldn't have hit it hard enough to bruise your femur." Jake stared at Edna with confused eyes for a moment before he opened his mouth to respond. 

"Edna who said anything about my thigh? My back is what's killing me." Edna's eye twitched. Trying to contain her anger Edna opened her mouth to make a retort but was cut short as a noise akin to feet stomping up stairs reached her ears. All the color drained from Edna's face as she took in the disheveled mess that now littered her floor along with the fact that a boy was in her room without her mothers knowledge. 

"Edna is everything all right in there?" Edna heard her mother speak through her door while knocking. Jake opened his mouth to respond that they were fine but Edna grabbed his face and covered his mouth giving him a glare that could have wilted flowers. 

"Yes mother everything's fine I just dropped some books is all." Edna spoke a little on edge never letting her eyes full of fury leave Jake's face. 

"Oh well try not to hurt yourself alright, I'm cooking food for your sister's new boyfriend he's coming to visit tomorrow and I don't need you not able to attend dinner because of some silly accident that could have been avoided." 

"Wait I thought sis was still seeing George," Edna questioned to the door confusion on her face as her hand stayed firmly over Jake's face keeping him effectively quiet. 

"No dear now it's some new guy i'm not sure of his name, Fred, or John, or something like that. Either way he's coming over tomorrow so make sure your able to make it to the dinner table in one piece" Edna's mothers voice echoed through the door as she descended the stairs. Edna listened while holding her breath until she couldn't hear her mothers footsteps anymore before exhaling.

"Mhmmm" a muffled Jake began to talk through Edna's hand and she glared at him effectively silencing him before releasing his mouth and getting to her feet.  

"Shush, my mother would kill me if she knew a boy had snuck into my room, and she wouldn't just kill me either." Edna spoke firmly but quietly as she made her way over to her bed and sitting down on her comforter. Jake nodded a yes to indicate he understood and satisfied Edna relaxed visibly before turning her attention back onto her friend. "So what is it you wanted anyways, and how did you get up here? My room is on the second floor." Jake shrugged before making his way over to Edna's bed as well before ploming down beside her. 

"I don't know how for sure, but it's like I told you before. I closed my eyes and I wished to get in your room, but I ended up on your roof instead." Jake replied bashfully while rubbing the back of his head. Edna squinted at Jake assessing how much of what he was telling was the truth. After awhile an awkward silence had settled over Jake and he began to fidget while looking at his fingers. 

"Are you sure you didn't just climb up and hit your head or something? Because that would make a lot more sense and does seem like something you would do." Edna spoke in a very matter of fact tone before getting off of her bed and making her way over to her closet to pick out her nightgown for the evening. 

"I didn't hit my head I closed my eyes and I wished and I was here! I know for a fact I didn't climb up because I already looked around and there wasn't anything to climb up so I wished instead." Edna turned to look at her friend a slight hesitation in her eyes before shrugging her shoulders. 

"Whatever you say" she said before going though her wardrobe and picking out something she liked. Both of the friends were quiet for a long moment as Jake considered what to say next. What he didn't know was that Edna was actually deep in thought about how eccentric her friend was and if there was an actual possibility to what he was actually saying. From the looks of things his family seemed fairly much like muggles that she could judge from but then again her sister told her that when she went to school one of the top students in her year was muggle born so it could be fairly plausible that maybe her friend could be magical but be muggle born. Edna hadn't realized she was staring but while she was deep in thought she had been looking at Jake with an intense gaze as if she were looking at him under a magnifying glass looking for an answer hidden somewhere in his skin.  Jake uncomfortable with the gaze and the awkward silence coughed into his hand before looking around his friends room. The first that came to mind was books for they seemed to decorate all of her furniture in her room, and the second thought that entered his mind was along the lines of astonishment of how every time he set his eyes on a book it seemed to multiply by two everywhere his eyes moved. Finally after awhile Jake set his eyes on the Lamp Edna had been staring at earlier and he slowly turned his gaze to her before asking a question that had been burning in his mind since he had found himself outside of Edna's window. 

"Do you do that alot? With the lamp I mean?" Jake asked curiously looking over at his friend. "Edna are you alright you seem a little pale?" 

"What do you mean do I do that alot with the lamp?" Edna felt panick quicken in her vains as her friend looked at her with confusion beggining to cover his face. 

"I mean do you do that thing that you were doing earlier, you know where you blink and you can make it go on and off? It was pretty wicked and I was just curious if you could teach me how is all." Jake shrugged his shoulders and nonchalantly picked up a book and began to flip through it unaware of the panic that was going through his friends mind. Someone had seen her do magic, and not just any someone but a muggle!

"I-I don't know what you're talking about." Edna stuttered out trying to think of the consequences, it was forbidden to do magic in front of muggles, would the ministry come for an eleven year old? They would understand it was an accident after all she couldn't have been the only child that had broken the rules unawares. 

"Hey calm down." Jake's voice broke through her panic causing her to look at him. "I won't tell anyone, I just thought it was cool is all. No one has to know, and as long as I don't tell anyone no one will find out right?" Jake's eyes bored into her skull and she simply nodded as she felt the stress melt out of her body as Jake smiled before turning back to her book he held in his hands. Opening her mouth to retort something she felt her throat clog as a screech broke through the night. Both the friends looked up from what they were doing and looked at each other in confusion before another screech tore through their confusion and had them both standing up at attention looking at each other in apprehension. "What was that?" Jake asked nervously making his way over to his friend so he could cower behind her. 

"I don't know it sounded almost like a..." Edna's voice broke off as she slowly and curiously made her way towards her window. 

"It sounded almost like a what?" her friend whimpered before slowly following her carefully towards the window. Edna opened her mouth to respond but instead found herself screaming for the second time that night as an old screech owl flew at her face and dropped a letter in her hands before turning and swooping out of the window. Shaking from adrenaline Edna looked down at her hands and found her body filling with a new kind of adrenaline as she looked at the white thick envelope in her hands. The address read: Ms. E. Grant, Third Bedroom On The Left, Second Floor, 7 Whitley Drive, Suberbia Lenton, Magnolia. The thick white envelope sat in her hands for an unaccountable span of time as her palms became slick with sweat and her heart threatened to burst out of her chest. Taking a deep breath with shaking hands Edna ripped open her letter and took out the papers and began to read reverently the words scribbled on paper absorbing them into her mind to solidify the reality of the situation. While later she would be able to recall the letter with perfect recollection without even having to glance at it right now through her watering eyes only one sentence was legible. The sentence read as: Dear Ms. Grant, We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School Of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Trying to hold back tears Edna felt herself smile  before she heard her friends high pitched nervous voice break through her hysteria.

"Edna..."

"Yeah Jake?" Edna sniffed and wiped her eyes and she turned to look at her friend thinking of a million excuses to try and cover up the events of the night. The lamp she could explain as a technical electrical glitch she was sure, but the owl would be a lot harder. 

"What's this?" Jake responded holding out something that had Edna feel as if her blood had frozen. From where they were standing what her friend was holding looked like nothing more than a flap of paper, but what had caught her attention was the writing that was scribbled across the front: Mr. J. D. Osti, Third Bedroom On The Left, Second Floor, 7 Whitley Drive, Suberbia Lenton, Magnolia.

"Let me see," Edna said as she ripped the envelope from her friend thinking of the odds and how this had to be some weird mistake. Things like this didn't happen in real life, they happened in horrid books of fairy tales and magic where dreams came true and the word impossible didn't mean anything. Horrid books filled with cliche's and character plots as well as original twists. Taking a deep breath Edna ripped open the envelope and read over the paper inside twice just to make sure she had read it right. 

"Well? what is it?" Jake asked nervously unsure if he should feel frightened or intrigued

"It's a letter..." Edna responded in a monotone like voice that had Jake even more fidgety than he was only moments before. 

"Well I know that I mean what does it say?" Jake responded frustrated snatching the letter from his friend and reading it over himself confusion clouding his face. "Dear Mr. J. D. Osti We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School Of Witchcraft And Wizardry." Jake read before looking up at his friend. "Well what do you suppose that means?" 

It only took a week and a half for the two neighboring children to establish a healthy friendship. Jake was a decidedly rambunctious little person, making sure to enjoy every moment that he was given. No amount of ordering the child to calm down could dissuade him from his adventures, as he was always running around at inhuman speeds and causing destruction to anything that had the misfortune of crossing his path. 

However, the boy was meddlesome. He'd know things about people that Edna had decided he had no business knowing. He'd tell her things about herself that scared her with their accuracy. Of course, whenever he'd pegged her, she'd swallow her curiosity and scoff at him-- denying each claim and brushing it off as a good guess. But there was one thing he'd been very clear with about, which was the part that Edna had feared the most. He'd made it his personal mission to bring her out of her shell and teach her to enjoy life. She was far too timid, in his humble opinion.

The deciding factor in determining their friendship came on the Monday following the Osti's move-in. The two had been playing at the park down the street from both of their houses, when an intimidating group of secondary students had stumbled upon them.

"Oh, look at the new kid," one girl with long brown-plaited hair had said, sneering and pointing at Jake. "Last I saw hair like that, it was on my Aunt Maureen!"

"Don't," Edna started, standing up and placing herself between her friend and the bullies.

"Oh come off it, Ed, we all know you aren't going to do anything," Another girl, around thirteen, said to her. Looking down the street both ways, she continued, "you can't even run to mummy fast enough to stop us from--"

"No! But I can call my sister. She can hear me scream," Edna interrupted her, eyes wide and starting to panic. Jake reached over to pull on her sleeve, but she ripped her arm away from him. "I swear, I'll call her right now, if you don't leave us alone!"

The band of young teens began to laugh, the tallest of the boys approaching her quickly.

"Your sister doesn't scare us. She's just as much of a freak as you are," he'd said to her. "Are your folks gunna send you to that prissy-girl school this year, too?"

Edna swallowed loudly, old insecurities rising. She knew she wasn't being sent to an all girl's school, like her parents had told the neighborhood they'd sent her two oldest sisters. She'd be going to a magical school-- one that taught young kids to wield their powers and trained them into productive Witches and Wizards. However, she couldn't tell these kids anything about the truth. And she wasn't even sure she would be attending that school this year, anyway. She'd been waiting two months for her acceptance letter...

"Scott, you should use your dad's knife to cut off the new kid's hair," a big pale boy yelled. Edna's eyes widened as she tore her gaze away from Scott and focused on Jake's face. He was panicking, reaching for her sleeves yet again and about to break out into a run.

He closed his eyes against the laughing and murmuring coming from the older kids when it happened. It all happened rather quickly, and Edna hardly had time to register any of it. 

Scott, the boy with the knife, had made it halfway toward Jake when he suddenly fell to ground. His knife flew over the top of Jake's head, barely missing a curly strand and lodging itself into the wooden ladder at the monkey bars. She looked over at the boy on the ground just long enough to see that his sneaker laces had been tied together in a complicated knot and the other kids were starting to stare in disbelief.

"Run," Edna calmly told Jake, taking his hand and running back toward her house. She had to get him out of there before he saw what had happened. It only took her a second to realize that Jake seemed to be pulling her along instead of the other way. Reaching her back yard, both children sat on the grass panting. 

While they caught their breath, she had some time to think. She didn't remember focusing on Scott's shoes. Usually, when her magic had an outburst like that, it would only affect the item's she was focusing on. She hadn't so much as thought of the boy's shoes. This worried her greatly, and she also had to worry about what Jake saw. Or at least, what she would tell him he thought he saw.

Jake, on the other hand, was panicking. He'd never done something like that while surrounded by strangers. It wasn't the first time he'd accidentally made something by closing his eyes and wishing, but usually his mom was there to clean up the mess afterward. At least all he did this time was tie a kid's shoe, unlike the last time when he'd unintentionally broken a pitcher of Kool-Aide at his aunt's wedding-- forever staining her eight hundred dollar wedding gown.

He just hoped Edna didn't see.

Finally focusing, he looked Edna in the face and gasped. He knew something else; he knew another thing that she would kill him for knowing.

"You think you did it," Jake said to her. Startled, she opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out. "You think you're a witch."

"No I don't," she denied quickly. A little too quickly, Jake thought. 

"Yes you do. You think you tied that boy's shoes with your mind. And now you think you're a witch!"

"No I don't," she protested, the panic rising in her chest, and blush rising to her ears. "No I don't," she said again.

"It wasn't you, anyway," he continued, using his arms to push himself back up onto his feet and offered her his hand. "I did it. I closed my eyes and wished."

"That would make you a wizard," Edna told him matter of factly. "And we both know that isn't true."

Rising to the unspoken challenge in the subtext of her words, Jake responded.

"Well, I might be a wizard. Besides, you're so certain you're a witch."

"But I AM a witch," she protested loudly, belatedly realizing what she had done, she slammed a hand over her mouth and yelped.

"No, you aren't," Jake said, laughing at her hysterically. "There's no such thing as witches and wizards."

Edna didn't say a word while he continued to laugh at her. He mind was reeling with all the things she would say to him if she were allowed. But she kept her lips pursed tightly together in silence.

Prologue: 

Looking about the chilled rural area one would say that the world was quiet, silent, and most absolutely still. An uncanny grey seemed to envelope the world, and all the windows were either shut or covered to try and keep out the cold. All the windows on the street that is except one where a very small girl sat nervously staring out at the world with an almost uncanny and yet brilliant light in her eyes. The small girl sat by the window staring out at the houses and the tall trees and green scenery while quietly biting her nails. Without blinking she continued to stare out at the road as if expecting something to appear. 

"Oh Edna will you stop fidgeting and go do something productive with your time?" A woman's voice rang out from the kitchen.

"But Mom," Edna spoke as she turned while fiddling with her long thick hair which touched the middle of her back. "I-"

"I don't want to hear it Edna," The woman's voice began to sound agitated as well as louder. Edna sighed before swinging her legs off the small seat that sat just underneath the windowsill. Edna stood unsure of what to do for a moment before turning to look back out the window and willing the fog that had taken over her street to clear. "Edna that's enough your worrying isn't helping the mood of things today and frankly there are better things you could be doing besides moping anyways." A voice rang through the living room causing Edna to jump and turn to see a very normal looking woman who seemed to be completely and utterly average in every possible way. 

"Well I was just," Edna began before the look her mother gave her cut off her reply. "I was just going out," Edna quickly amended before turning to grab her coat off of a rack. Her mother gave a quick nod before turning back to the kitchen. Edna stood by the front door for a few moments before the crashing of pots and pans and sloshing of soapy water could be heard before opening the door and stepping out into the damp cold air. Sucking in a deep breath Edna began to rub her hands up and down her arms before walking into the street. Now for some maybe driving in the fog is a normal expedition but for others it can be a very dangerous thing so naturally when Edna began to hear a car engine rumbling she stepped off the road onto the sidewalk and waited patiently to see who would be daft enough to be driving in such weather where one could barely see the nose on ones face. 

After a long moment a rumbling car the size of a mini boat pulled onto Edna's street and she stared fascinated as the air around it seemed to shimmer and bring a kind of warmth along with it as well. The car parked in the driveway of the house next to hers and Edna felt intrigued since the house had been on the market to her knowledge for the longest time and no one had seemed interested in buying it as far as she knew. Her mother had called it luck since she had liked the silence that had enveloped the neighborhood since their neighbors had moved but Edna still missed the fresh baked cookies that the neighbors had brought her every once in awhile when the mood had struck them. 

Curiosity getting the best of her Edna walked over to the strange boat like vehicle and peered curiously awaiting to see what would emerge from the doors. After all one could never really tell these days. After a few moments the driver side door and the passenger side door opened to reveal two voices. One reminded Edna of a middle aged man with a very calm and likable demeanor, and the other seemed to belong to an eccentric woman who probably had unkempt hair by the sounds of it.  Edna was silently pleased with herself as a married couple fitting her description exited the car talking about something animatedly she didn't quite understand. Something about paints and fumes is what Edna gathered before the woman turned to glance at her a smile gracing her face. 

"Why hello there dear, do you live here?" The woman's face was covered in laugh lines and her face seemed pleasant enough so Edna decided to grace her with an answer. 

"Yes right next door actually, will you be our new neighbors?" Edna asked as the man went to the back of the boat like vehicle and unloaded some boxes. 

"Well yes actually we just bought this house," the woman responded kindly before looking worriedly over at her husband who had winked at Edna before precariously making his way towards the front door. "Do you need any help dear?" the blond haired woman asked as the man nearly tripped and broke his neck over a sprinkler. 

"No dear i've got it." the man responded gruffly before straightening up and making his way up the front porch. 

"Men, that's there way of asking for help without sounding weak." the blond haired woman responded with a wink at Edna before closing her door. "We'll chat again soon I hope?" 

"Yeah sure," Edna responded with a slight nod deciding that she liked this new couple though she wasn't quite sure what exactly they were all about. 

"Good." the woman responded with a smile before turning and grabbing a box of her own and making her way laughing towards her husband. Edna was so preoccupied with watching them trying to get in the front door that when she turned back to the car she nearly screamed as a child's face was smashed up against the window glass staring at her. Catching her breath Edna stared as the boy stared back unblinkingly curiously taking all of her in. 

"It's rude to stare you know." Edna responded harshly narrowing her eyes. The boy simply blinked in response before fiddling with his doorknob and hopping out of the car. He was wearing overalls and a yellow t-shirt with unlaced red sneakers and his black messy curly hair made him look somewhat of an adorable lost poodle. Frankly Edna felt very good about the way she was dressed in her nice warm black hoodie and worn out jeans when she stood next to this boy and she crossed her arms and tapped her food as she awaited for him to say something. He looked her up and down once more before marching up to her and standing without saying a word right in front of her only a few feet away. Edna was beggining to feel a little nervous and as a habit she touched a purple hair clip that was keeping the hair out of her eyes as she tried to figure out what this boys deal was. 

For a moment it looked as if he was going to say something and Edna was grateful for the end of the awkward silence that had surrounded them but found herself quite displeased when it turned out he had opened his mouth simply to put in a red sucker he had pulled out of his trousers. He stood very quietly staring at her and sucking on his candy before finally Edna was frustrated and lashed out at the boy.

"Well are you going to say something are are you dumb?" for a moment Edna didn't think the boy was going to say anything before he slowly took the sucker out and looked away bashfully before speaking almost so softly she couldn't hear him.

"Your really pretty..." Edna felt her face heat up as he looked up through his lashes at her waiting to see what her response would be. 

"Oh..." Edna responded dumbfounded grasping about for something to say. "Well...thanks" she responded uncomfortably before fiddling with her hair again.

"I mean it." the boy continued mistaking her uncomfortable silence with contempt. "I mean really your hair is very nice and shiny, and your very nice looking...for a girl that is." he quickly corrected himself before looking away and then glancing back at her. A long pause followed before Edna finally spoke up figuring someone who noticed her obvious and articulate nature couldn't be all bad. 

"My name is Edna by the way...Edna Grant" Edna said while rocking on the balls of her feet while holding her hands behind her back. When the boy didn't say anything Edna rolled her eyes. "Well now it's your turn go on, tell me your name." 

"Oh uh mine's Jake," the boy spoke quickly while standing up at attention. 

"Your full name." Edna spoke softly with a small smile trying to suppress her laughter at the boy as he hit himself in the face with his hand. 

"Oh right duh, um Jake Daniel Osti, sorry." Jake responded with a swift nod.

"Ah I see, that's kind of a funny name." Edna spoke around a laugh causing Jake to become flustered. 

"Well my name isn't half as funny as yours!" he spat out before putting his sucker back in his mouth and crossing his arms in front of him. 

"Hey! Well at least I talk right what's wrong with your accent? You talk all funny and weird!" spat out Edna in return putting her hands on her hips while glaring at Jake. 

"My accent's funny? ha at least I don't talk like I have a rock in my mouth!" Jake yelled putting his sucker in his mouth and crossing his arms. Both Edna and Jake glared at each other before Edna spoke softly. 

"I don't talk like I have a rock in my mouth, I speak proper English and I've spoken it all my life, I don't know what your problem is." 

"Ha whatever I've spoken English all my life so i'm pretty sure your the one with the problem." 

"Where are you from anyways?" Edna asked in frustration.

"California" Jake spoke proudly while picking a stance Edna was sure he thought looked cool. 

"America?" Edna asked curiously trying not to sound too interested but curious about the foreigner. 

"Yeah what of it?" Jake responded curiously wondering what she was getting at. Edna smirked triumphantly before walking over to Jake. 

"Well than i'm right and your the one speaking english wrong." she said while cocking an eyebrow.

"What are you talking about?" 

"Well your in England now, and Americans split off from us, so while you are a loud and obnoxious bunch now your still talking English just like we do, but we spoke it first which means you changed it which means technically your speaking it wrong." Edna finished her statement by crossing her arms and smiling at the confused look that crossed Jakes face as he tried to figure out a counter argument but his mother called him to help pack things up before he had the chance. 

"I gotta go here take this." Jake said as he reached into his pocket and pulled out another sucker and gave it to Edna. 

"What's this?" Edna said feeling stupid as she was handed the candy. Of course she knew what it was she just didn't know why he was giving it to her. 

"It's a gift, friends do that right? give gifts to each other?" Jake said a little nervously before his mom called him again. "I gotta go but i'll see you around alright?" Jake said as he waved his hand and bolted towards his house to see what his mother needed. Edna stared after the strange boy before looking down in her hand at the green sucker that lay in her palm. For a moment she considered tossing it but instead she held it and turned back to her house and began walking. As she reached the front door of her house she felt the hairs on the back of her neck began to prickle and as she turned she saw her new neighbor Jake waving at her from his family's boat like car with a wide stupid grin on his face. Scowling Edna stuck her tongue out at him and opened her front door and went inside. 

"What was all that ruckus outside?" her mother asked her from the kitchen as Edna put up her coat and made her way up the stairs. 

"Just some neighbors that moved into the old Anderson house." Edna yelled down the stairs as she ran up to her room and shut her door. Creeping her way to her window she peeked outside at the boat like car and watched as the family picked up boxes and took them inside joking and ruffling hair and chasing each other playing what looked to be like a game of tag. For a moment Edna looked down at her candy Jake had given her and she thought about eating it but as her hand came to undo the wrapper something stopped her. "It's a gift, friends do that right? Give gifts to each other?" Jakes voice rang in her head. Edna quickly looked out the window one more time as her new neighbors laughs filled the air and she tightly held the candy to her heart. 

"I wouldn't know." Edna whispered to herself her chest tightening. "I've never really had any friends." A silent tear fell down Edna's face and as her vision blurred she never noticed that the sun had come out on her street and that the fog had cleared.