"Oh…I give up!" A small, redheaded girl appeared from behind the bush. "You've hidden it too well, Hermione!"
Her friend laughed. "I may have hidden it somewhere more unexpected… Think, Gin!"
The redhead sighed and disappeared again to search for the ball the girls were using as a snitch.
They had invented a game similar to Quidditch, using a plastic ball and imaginary broomsticks, and they had hit the point where the snitch had to be found. The ball had been hidden, and it was Rae's turn to look for it.
Both of them were strict Harry Potter fanatics, although Rae liked to consider herself slightly more obsessed than Vicky. They had even gone as far as naming themselves as the characters- Ginny and Hermione- and Hogwarts was the subject of most conversations. In fact, Rae's conversations always came back to Hogwarts- Vicky was slightly more controlled. There were other fans among their friends, of course, but Rae and Vicky were the ones who really led the clan.
One of their favourite things to do alone when they met up was to roleplay, live, acting out the characters and making new plots. Harry, Draco, Ron, Ginny, Hermione. All of the characters they ever used, and they were all twisted up in a dramatic and evil plot. They enjoyed it immensely, always making it as dramatic as they could, with a lot of angst, tears, shouting and, of course, duelling.
"Found it!" Rae shrieked. "See Hermione, I told you it was off limits!"
Vicky shrugged, laughed, and made her way to the tall tree in the middle of the field.
Rae raced up to her, her wand sticking out conspicuously from her back pocket. Vicky had already managed to break hers, much to her friend's distaste.
"Come on, you've got to find a new one!" she had protested, when Vicky told her the news, and her friend was forced to find another suitable length one and look after it.
"Ready for a bit of roleplaying?" Rae had already lost interest in the game they had invented, and was returning to their usual activity.
Vicky agreed, and the two of them made their way across the field to a small wood that grew on the edge of it.
"Okay, I'll be Harry, you Draco," Rae commanded. "Same plot as last time, okay?"
"Right- you be with Snape, I'll be with McGonagall," Vicky added. "Detention, Forbidden Forest."
The two of them took their positions in amongst the trees.
"Go!" Rae yelled, and the two of them began to act.
They had not got far into the roleplay when there was a startled yell, and Vicky raced over to Rae to see what was the matter.
"I tripped," Rae explained, "And fell in this hole thing."
Vicky helped her release her ankle from the hole, and the two of them stuck a stick in the ground to warn them where the hole was. Vicky was left to finish the work as Rae had already wandered off.
Vicky sighed and started to pat down the earth around the stick. She had just finished, when there was another surprised yell from Rae.
"'Mione, come here! Look at this!" Rae was standing between two trees, reaching out her hand to touch something just in front of her.
Vicky came up behind her. "What is it now?"
"Watch," answered Rae, "And learn." She stretched out her arm in front of her, and touched the shimmering patch of light that was in front of her. As her finger touched the surface, it vanished, and then her hand, wrist, and finally her whole arm.
"It's like a doorway!" Rae said, excited. She wasn't sure what she thought of the light- but she wasn't going to admit that she was a little scared. "Come on Vicky, this is a fantastic opportunity to discover the beyond, discover our inner aura…"
Vicky rolled her eyes and moved closer to the patch of light, before tripping and falling through it with a small scream. Rae's eyes widened and she blanched. "V-Vicky?" she called timidly. "Vicky?"
There was no answer.
Taking a deep breath, Rae stepped through the patch of light, disappeared entirely from one world….
….and entered another.