Chapter 1
The Ride

They were squished- crammed, really- in a 4-door, 4-seater European car. Lissa was driving, having the most experience driving the band around. Yim, sitting in the passenger seat, controlled the radio.
"God, what do they have on these bloody British radio channels?" cried Lena from the back seat. It was bad enough she had to be crammed into two seats with Erin, who knew the words to every Beatles song ever written, 'except two,' as Erin always said, but she had to also be crammed in with Bee, the most hyper band member.
"They have the Beatles!" Erin said joyfully. The rest of the car groaned. They didn't mind the Beatles, but not being able to find anything else, this was too much. They had just gotten into Lena's car as they landed in the Welsh airport.
"Why did we land in the Welsh airport anyways?" asked Erin.
"Because Chez said it was a cheaper flight," answered Yim patiently. They had left Chez, their manager, back in New York. They missed her, but her sister was sick and Chez didn't want to leave her so soon.
"Bee hasn't spoken lately," said Lissa from the front seat "and God, what is that smell?" Erin and Lena both looked at Bee, who was facing the window, her face out of sight. Erin reached around Bee, and tugged a yellow can from her fingers. Bee tried snatching the can back from Erin but Erin held it away from her.
"What is it Erin" Lena grabbed the can and held it up so she could read the peeling plastic on the side.
"Okay, who gave Bee the easy-cheese?" said Lena holding up the can with her black fingernails. Bee tried snatching it back, but as she was quite giddy, she missed the can entirely, her pigtails swaying with the motion of the car.
"Why? Is she allergic to it?" asked Yim, concerned.
"I wish," said Lena and Erin together, and smiled.
"That smell is back again..." said Lissa
"Bee!"
"What? I didn't do anything!" said Bee insistently. Erin shoved Lena with her shoulder, motioning for her to scoot closer towards the door. Lena reluctantly moved over, now completely cornered in the nook between the door and back seat. There was a gap between Erin and Bee, which Bee put her legs on.
"Thanks for the smell," she said smiling, showing that she really did nothing "I needed some room."
"Lena what did you have for lunch?" asked Erin, picking up something from the floor with two fingers. It smelled like rotting fish and was wrapped in wax paper.
"Fish and Chips, why?" asked Lena, now looking at the bundle in Erin's hand.
"Cuz, that's what's causing the smell, not Bee."
"Well then bloody well scoot over," cried Lena. Erin shoved Bee's legs down, but she wouldn't budge. Bee pushed Erin back, who bumped into Lena. Lena, Erin, and Bee pushed each other until Lissa yelled from the front seat, "We still have half of England to go, and unless you want me to wreck this car I suggest you shut up!"
"Fine!" yelled the back seat in unison. They all were quiet, thinking about what they were doing in the middle of August in England. They had received a strange letter from an Albus Dumbledore telling them to come play a gig at his school. They had wondered why someone in England would want to have an American band play for their school. They didn't care, they weren't that popular of a band, and if they played at a school, it would give them more publicity. As they pulled up to Lena's apartment, Bee hopped out of the car and ran to the bathroom. She often got carsick if she was in a car for too long. Lissa shifted into park and got out of the car, releasing the trunk as she swung the door shut. They all helped carry in their crap, even Erin, who, on a regular basis, made up some stupid reason to not carry stuff in. As Yim pulled her keyboard from the back of the car, she heard Erin gasp. They all turned around to see a brown owl fly onto Lena's shoulder.
"Get it off, get it off," cried Lena flapping her hands at the bird that now flew around her head.
"Lena, calm down. If you're still it won't hurt you," said Lissa looking at the bird warily.
"You try having a bloody bird land on you randomly," said Lena. After trying to decapitate the bird, and failing, Lena handed the bird to Yim who took the piece of parchment from its leg. The owl clicked its beak and flew off cuffing Lena with its wing as it went by.
"Well open the letter," said Bee, her curiosity getting the better of her. Yim opened it and held it in front of her so everyone could read it. The letter was written in the same handwriting as the first letter had been, only this time it had more information. Welcome to England, I am sorry for the brief letter last time, but I couldn't be sure if the owl I sent could fly safely across an ocean. I hope you will come to play for my school's opening ball. I cannot tell you everything about me or my school in case this owl is intercepted. All I can tell you is to buy the things on the supply list on the next page, and to be at King's Cross Station on September 1st. The train to my school leaves at 11 o'clock in the morning. I hope you come.
Sincerely,
Professor, Albus Dumbledore
"That's the weirdest letter I've ever heard of," remarked Lissa.
"Maybe he's trying to abduct us and take us to his freaky school," said Bee taking her black microphone out of the trunk. Lena looked at her questioningly, but kept her mouth shut. Lena had waist length red hair, tied back into a large bun. She wore a black shirt and black pants. She picked up her black guitar and looked over at Erin, who was taking her blue bass guitar out of the trunk. Erin had shoulder-length blonde hair, and bright blue eyes; about 5' she was thin, with a red long sleeved shirt on (she was always cold). She wore blue jeans that looked rubbed in some parts, where the bass rested on her leg.
"How the hell did everything fit in the back of the car?" asked Lena. Miraculously they fit everything, including Lissa's drum set, into the trunk of their very small car.
"I put a spell on it that would make it big, so that we can fit everything in," said Yim, the smart one of the five.
"Can we go in? I'm freezing," announced Erin. Bee started inside and was followed by the rest of the band. When they got inside, they looked around amazed. Lena's apartment, which they had never been inside, was huge. The wallpaper looked like stars, so you would step off in to oblivion if you hit the wall. She had red couches that were set upon the white floor. Lissa immediately threw herself onto one of the couches.
"Hey, should we practice our songs?" asked Yim
"I don't know about you, but I'm gonna get something to eat," said Bee, raiding Lena's fridge. Bee slammed the fridge shut and squirted something into her mouth.
"Oh shit, not easy cheese again," said Lena exasperated.
"If you didn't want me to have it, you shouldn't have bought it," said Bee, glaring at Lena.
"Okay, you guys, we need to get to this Diagon Alley place that's on this letter," said Lissa, now looking at the paper that had been behind the letter. She read it to them and when she was done she put it aside.
"Well, that would mean we would have to go tomorrow, because the day after tomorrow is September 1," said Yim, looking at her watch. It had the date on it.
"I'm tired," said Erin She got up and immediately tripped over Lissa's outstretched feet. "I'm okay," she said jumping up and blushing. They all laughed as Erin stumbled into the bathroom. As Lissa turned back to look at the rest of her friends, she saw, like a mental picture:
*#AN- um... all italics and yah those will be premonitions... so yah... keep reading... it's about to get gooooooooood... End AN#* Bee was yelling at some cute blonde boy in what looked like a compartment of a train. She saw the rest of the band looking from the boy to Bee, like it was a tennis match, slightly worried; they knew what happened to Bee when her emotions got out of control. The two oafish boys behind him stepped up, looking like bodyguards. He said something snidely to her. She yelled back, her anger obviously getting the better of her. She started floating inches off the ground, then feet. The boy looked horrified at the sight of the girl in front of him floating. Erin was now pulling on Bee's legs, to try to get her down. Her brown hair was blowing over her face wildly. Her eyes glared at the boy with the utmost hatred. She looked insane. The boy retreated; two other larger boys followed him also looking scared. Her premonition popped like a bubble in her head. "Um... Lissa?" said Yim uncertainly. She looked oddly worried. Bee pushed her aside and said "What did you see? Tell me now!" "Well, I saw this guy that you were yelling at. I couldn't tell what you were saying, but you were yelling at him, and you were flying," Lissa said. Bee smiled and toyed with a brown pigtail. She knew that the person she yelled at would regret meeting her if she was yelling. She got hyper off of sugar and easy-cheese, and when her emotions got out of control she flew or floated. She also had an anger-management problem. She looked down at her shoes. They were chunky- soled, about four inches high, and bright pink. She wore her trademark necklace with a small Tinker Bell on it, which she fiddled with when she was nervous. Bee loved Disney. Lissa was dressed in black, baggy pants and a green long sleeved shirt. Her black, massively curly hair had been put behind a silver scarf. It still poofed around the sides, but it was better than what it would have been if she just let it down. Erin came out of the bathroom that instant looking worried. She tripped again, this time over a book on the floor, and seconds before she hit the ground there was a shimmer and Erin was gone. "Erin, where are you?" asked Bee, looking around for some sign of Erin. Another shimmer in the air and Erin was behind Bee. "Boo," she said in Bee's ear. Bee screamed loudly and jumped. She was three, then four feet in the air. She looked at Erin angrily, "Look what you made me do!" she then floated as if on air down to the ground. Lena came back into the room wearing her pajamas. "I just went to go visit grandma," she said referring to her friend who lived in 1579. Lena could travel back and forth in time, so she met interesting people like Shakespeare, and Queen Elizabeth. "How was she?" asked Lissa. "Good," said Lena "but I think she's figuring out that I'm not her granddaughter. I accidentally said something about a microwave, and I had to cover for it by telling her it was a crazy idea in my head." "I'm wanna sleep," said Erin. They all looked at her, deciding what to do. They would never admit it, but they were tired too. Yim yawned and Erin snapped her head around looking for the source of the sound, "You guys are tired too!" "Well, I have two guest bedrooms, each with two single beds, so you can take those," said Lena, yawning and walking slowly into her room. "Is this an apartment or a mansion?" asked Lissa. "It's a 'townhouse' and if you don't shut up I will course you into oblivion," said Lena poking her head around the corner. Lissa scowled down at her. The night ended there, Lissa and Yim went up to the room they shared, while Bee and Erin went to theirs. Yim tried to see what the other members of the band were dreaming about, but they had all put up a mind block; something she taught them to do.