An American's View on the British Wizarding World

~Riku~

Leaving a country permanently is a lot like leaving for college. You know that feeling you get when you're packing everything and your mother is trying not to tear up while your father has this proud look across his face. They know that you did good. That you're going to college and securing your future.

Of course, it also feels like you're running away from home. Like you're leaving everything behind and using the last of your money to make an incredible getaway. In my case, I was probably running away.

I glanced over at my adoptive brother who was tapping his fingers on one of the armrests and lightly bobbing his head to what only could have been My Chemical Romance. A smile tugged at the ends of my lips, but it was soon brought back down as anxiety gripped me once again.

I tapped the tips of my fingers to my thigh, glancing out the window to my left every so often in nervousness. Kyle must have noticed because he spoke up and got my attention.

"Hey, you wanna listen?" He reached towards me with a coffee bean earbud. I rolled my eyes at the strangeness of the headphones before accepting the bud and placed it in my ear. The song Skylines and Turnstiles blared and chilled me to my core. Though I could not figure out why.

I glanced back out the window in anticipation, watching as the clouds sped past and started rising.

~Kyle~

I smiled at the irony of the song blasting in my earbuds. Nothing like music about crashing planes while flying over the ocean. I glanced over to my sister Riku, who clutched the armrests a bit tighter than necessary. I was about to say something to her when the plane suddenly lurched. My heart raced for a moment and my stomach leaped into my throat. The plane went back to normal. I turned back to Riku, who had shut her eyes tightly.

I was about to say something reassuring as the plane lurched again. The overhead lights flicked, people shouted, the plane rocked. It felt like a roller coaster with sudden drops and smooth spots. The overhead oxygen masks fell down, a flight attendants voice came in over head.

"Please remain calm and seated. Place the oxygen mask over your nose and mouth. If you are accompanied-"

We couldn't hear what we may have been accompanied by. The plane went nose first. The seatbelt dug into my waist. I reached towards Riku, trying to keep her on the seat even though I knew she also wore her belt. The oxygen mask in front of me smacked me in the face as we plummeted. My ipod fell towards the front bathroom of the plane, crashing hard into the door. I heard something that I first thought was a scream. Then I felt the wind as the plane ripped into two. I felt like I could vomit as we suddenly were falling backwards. I looked over to Riku one last time before I shut my eyes and braced for impact.

~ Riku ~

The sensation of falling is always something that can pull you back to reality. Whether you're dozing off, or even dead asleep, falling is a known sensation that will wake you without warning. Falling to your death, however, is different all together.
The moment the plane started falling, I reached for Kyle. I was just barely able to grab his arm before I could feel the pressure of heat all around me. I was still clutching it when winds were whipping through my hair and the sensation of falling was prompting me to sleep.

Yes, falling to your death does cause a different reaction to your consciousness.

I woke up with sand and salt in my mouth. Not a pleasant sensation, I'll tell you. Heat radiated on my back and I could feel water lapping at my thighs. I sniffed and grimaced at the burning scent nearby. I spat out a wad of sand and coughed whatever seawater made it's way in the back of my throat.

It took awhile to realize that my hands were empty and that I was just clutching sand. Bolting up, I looked around for Kyle, panicking as memories of the crash. "Kyle!" I said, wincing at the soreness in my throat. Ignoring it, I called out louder. "KYLE!"

"Nuuhumpt!"

I turned, taking in the sight in front of me with a mixture of relief, horror and amusement.

Kyle was sitting face-up with one leg buried deep in the sand, along with an arm. Seven suitcases were sprawled around him while one was opened and over his head like jaws. Clothes were falling out of said suitcase, most of which consisted of underwear and really skimpy swimsuits.

My brother pulled his free arm to his head, ripping the offending object off his head. "I'm here! I'm . . .okay . . .I guess." I stifled laughter as I noticed a delicate pink bra placed on his head that he had failed to notice. It was placed next to a speedo that was hanging from his ear. I could only guess that he was too disoriented to feel anything.

I sighed and walked up to him, limping on a sore ankle. "You know . . . ." I wondered for a second if I should mention the piece of cloth. " . . .just because you're a bit of a sexually frustrated teenager doesn't mean you should steal peoples underwear."

Kyle blinked at me with golden-brown eyes in confusion before looking at the suitcase he threw away and finally noticed what it once contained. I giggled at his gaped expression and lack of comeback (something that probably had to do with the crash, as he normally would have one by now) before digging out his appendages from the sand.

~Kyle~

I yanked the damnable speedo from my ear and held it out at arms length with disgust.

"Who... wears these?" I muttered, ignoring RIku's giggle. I reached to my head and grabbed the frilly pink bra that had landed on me. I looked at it for a moment, getting a very strong urge to do.. .something. Something stupid.

I turned away from Riku, pulled the bra awkwardly over my soaked shirt, and spun around dramatically to my sister.

"Riku," I said in my most sultry feminine voice, "Feel my breasts!" I jerked myself towards her.

She began giggling in a high pitch voice. I started chuckling. Then we were both hysterical, rolling in the sand and clothes the suitcases had spilled. I couldn't breathe, my eyes welled up, I couldn't tell if I was laughing or crying or both. Probably both. After a few moments of insanity, I tried to catch my breath.

"What- the- fuck- happened?" I wheezed.

"I think- I think we survived a plane crash." Riku panted.

"Huh- I wondered if anyone else did." I said, my breathing now under better control.

"I dunno." She closed her eyes in contemplation.

We got up, Riku leaning on me. Her ankle seemed to be sprained or broken. My left wrist hurt badly, and my right leg seemed to be bleeding. The beach seemed surreal, fog spilling over the land, bits of plane scattered throughout the area. We walked through the sand silently. I saw bodies floating in the water, unnaturally still. Or maybe too naturally? A stuffed bunny lay in pieces along the water, cotton floating like little clouds.

I took a deep breath in, trying to take in the whole scene. Beside me Riku was giving shuddering breaths. Up ahead of us, I saw two familiar suitcases. One was bright green with a stuffed skull key chain hanging from one of the loops, the other one orange with blue polka dots. Riku and I had brought other suitcases, but they were nowhere in sight. I grabbed mine, pulling it up with my right hand. The fabric felt surprisingly dry. I unzipped it, bracing myself for the disaster I knew my laptop was going to be in.

To my utter shock, everything looked undamaged. My laptop turned on fine, though it quickly died from lack of charge. My clothes were dry, though most were unfolded.

"How the hell is all my stuff fine?" I muttered.

"Mine is too." Riku said as she looked through her suitcase.

"This doesn't make any sense." I shook my head in disbelief.

Riku tilted her head, red strands of hair coming undone in her loose ponytail. "Normally I would say dumb luck or coincidence . . .but I don't believe in either of those things, especially not in this . . .circumstance."

"What do you think.. happened?" I meant with everything that happened, not just the suitcases.

"Maybe creepy robe guy and give us an answer." She responded, pointed ahead of us.

I looked to where she pointed, tensing up. Who the fuck was this? I stood, helping Riku onto her feet.

"Hey!" I shouted towards the robed figure, hoping he was just there to help.

"So . . .grim reaper or alien?"

"It better be a fucking alien. I don't wanna be dead!"

"Oh! Maybe we need to play rock-paper-scissors to determine if we live or die, like in The Sims!"

"Yeah, in The Sims you can get a medical job without doing well in school. I don't think it works like that."

"It'd be cool if it did. So, alien then? Or maybe just a fairy?"

"Yeah, maybe he did magic to save us!"

"Fairy's aren't that nice, those are Angels."

"Well the Fairy didn't like the other people on the plane." I said, being a bit too grim.

Riku was quiet for a while before answering, "No . . .no it didn't." Suddenly her mood did a 180 degree turn, "So! Mr. Fairy! Are you here to help us?"

"Fairy . . . ?" The man whispered, obviously put off.

Before I could answer, Riku piped up, "Well yeah, I mean. If you aren't a fairy then what are you? Oh, dramatic man in robes?"

"I'm Arthur Weasley." Riku looked up at me with questioning blue eyes, as if prompting me to speak.

"Umm. Nice to meet you. Were you on the plane with us?" I asked, thinking of nothing else to say.

" . . . .I'm afraid not."

"Did you call an ambulance? I'm sure there are others who survived." I looked back around at the beach and ocean.

Riku huffed at me, "Kyle, we're in the middle of nowhere, who knows if he even has a phone on him."

"Well, I dunno why he's here!" I turned to the man, "Why are you here?"

The man paused, "To help, I guess. But I am also looking for something."

Riku's eyes sharpened putting the man under a hard stare, "For what?"

The robed man was obviously startled but responded all the same, "Someone. Someone who . . .probably survived. Most likely less injured than the rest . . . ."

I glanced at the bodies in the water. "I think you found them."

A sigh was given from the man's lips as he looked on at the bodies gravely, "Yes, I think I did as well."

Me: A friend and I came up with this as we were talking about Harry Potter. I have a few . . .complaints on the wizarding world and how it functioned and also wizard's complete ignorance on the muggle world. So, we came up with this in response to the total lack of muggle-ness.