Author's Response to Reviews:

An overwhelming response to the first chapter – over 30 reviews, and I hadn't even introduced any of the HP characters! Thanks heaps. Reviews do so much in motivating someone to write. If I know there are people out there reading my work, and enjoying it, updates are likely to be much sooner. So you reviewers are just as important as a writer, in creating a story! :)

Yes, the character 'Tony' is based on me; more to the point – the character 'Tony' (legal name 'Evelyn') is me. And my best friend really is Trina. (Note to Zailie Eauphana Marinu: There's an explanation of my seemingly-unrelated nickname on my website – which is linked to, in my profile) So those characters are already fully built, and living in the small country of New Zealand. Everything we say and do in the story, will be fitting to our real character – so most likely will be what we'd actually say or do in those situations. (The discussion about the name "Bon-Bon" was an excerpt from a conversation that actually happened – a fact that Trina found highly amusing when she read this.)

Note to Sinaris: Although parts of your criticism would technically be flaming, I do see where you're coming from. And I do take flames seriously. That is, after I laugh at them. Thankyou for your balancing praise on my writing technique, and as for my story being too foolish-schoolgirl-daydream, I'm trying my best to avoid that common occurrence in a fic. Silly little 'I-met-HP-and-we-fell-in-love-and-were-friends-with-everyone' stories annoy me to no end, too. So I'm trying to make this story more than that; to make it a story that many people would be interested to read, not just Trina and me. A large element of the story will be adventure – those from Hogwarts trying to find their way back. Any relationship-building will be secondary.

Note to Madame Yoshimoto: Uh, I guess that's a compliment…as far as flames go. But seriously, as for indulging my fantasies…none of that here. Besides the fact that in my fantasies Draco would be several years older anyway, I'd really much rather be a mermaid in a nice warm sea somewhere, than have 4 magic people inconveniently turn up at my door when I'm trying to have a relaxing night :) So, again, I'm trying to have a story that's not the schoolgirl fantasy norm.

But, you all didn't come here just to hear my Author's Ramblings, so…on with the story…!

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Chapter 2: Waiting and Wondering

Tony and Trina stopped abruptly, in mid-laugh. By the bright moonlight filtering down through the caravan's small skylight, they could see each other freeze, listening. The only sound that came was of the bitter wind, and of an empty cardboard box from a storeroom over the road, as it was being blown roughly down the street, the hollow thuds protesting loudly to the treatment of the wind.

"You did hear that, right?" Tony asked, tentatively. "Not the box. Before the box."

Trina paused a little longer, before responding, "I thought I heard a voice- yeah, yeah, I did. But you know what? It was probably some idiot from across the road being a dolt. Nothing interesting." As if to emphasise her point, she drew Tony's sleeping bag further up around her shoulders, and rolled over.

'Hastings Youth Centre', a youth-based activity centre, could be seen from Tony's end window when she drew back the curtain. A few lights from it were winking through the waving boughs of nearby trees. Several silhouettes could be made out by the main entrance, accompanied by the sound of a skateboard being noisily dropped to the ground, and the occasional disruptive cheer rising noisily into the air.

"Yeah, probably," Tony agreed, watching the tops of several heads just visible over the fence next to the driveway. The heads grew bodies as they walked across the driveway entrance in full view, swinging their arms or fiddling with cellphones, still talking jovially. People from the Youth Centre would still be trickling home for the next half hour, Tony guessed.

A streetwise-looking girl in the group that had just walked by turned back, an amused grin on her face. She accompanied her friends in a mocking laugh, which was blatantly directed at several figures still behind the fence.

Tony drew the curtain closed and lay down, listening to the snippets of energetic conversation from various homebound youth.

"-and then I just told him where to-"

"-check out this text-"

"-maybe someone botched a spell-"

"-there's a party at Danny's-"

Hang on, Tony thought, sitting up again suddenly. That spell comment's not supposed to be there…

Trina had evidently come to the same conclusion, as she'd sat up too, an equally puzzled look on her face.

"Is there a Wiccan out there," Trina began, "or someone who's been exposed to more damaging Harry Potter radiation than us?"

"I don't know," Tony replied, listening for more of the strange conversation now that the bulk of the noisy youth had moved on.

"-just go up to any place and knock, or something," came another British voice.

"Oh, and say what?" came the mocking reply, in an arrogant drawl. " 'Excuse me, Muggle, but we've been transported to the middle of a great big nowhere, we don't know how or why, and we want to go back to all the other nice witches and wizards and other magic things'?"

Tony incredulously turned to face Trina and whispered, "I'm going with the damaging Potter-radiation theory."

The heated discussion outside continued.

"Look," a voice piped up. This one sounded female. "It may be not our fault that we don't have our wands – as we don't know how we got here, maybe they were deliberately kept back by the person that sent us."

An indignant scoff interrupted her before she continued, "So we can't get the Knight Bus. But unless you three want to stand out here and freeze to death, we're going to have to ask for help."

Silence followed the girl's speech. From the silence, Tony gathered that although the rest of the group hadn't liked the idea, they didn't appear to have much of an option.

Trina faced Tony with a sombre expression and whispered seriously, "We can all learn a lesson from this…" she paused for dramatic effect, poised as if she were giving a speech to a class. "…Don't take drugs."

Tony couldn't hold in the loud laugh that escaped her at this, but she hurriedly clapped her hands over her mouth, wondering if she'd alerted the group outside. The last thing she needed were hallucinating teens banging on the windows.

"There," continued the feminine voice. "There's obviously someone awake in there."

Tony silently cursed herself.

For a few minutes Tony heard no more – no talking, no approaching footfalls – and she hoped the group had moved on.

Thud, thud.

The knocks on the caravan door echoed dully around the interior. With her hands still clapped tightly over her mouth, Tony stared wide-eyed at her friend, who was looking back with an expression that had, 'Now you've done it', written all over it.

Tony was glad that she'd finally got into the habit of locking the caravan door at night. When you had plenty of electronic equipment and lived in the centre of town, you couldn't take too many chances.

The girls stayed quiet, wondering if the visitors would go away.

"They're not going to answer," someone said, worriedly.

"Excuse me, in there," the girl quietly called. "We really need your help. It's really cold out here and we have no where to go."

Silence.

The girl continued, with a note of desperation now.

"I'm sorry to bother you so late at night. But I know you're in there – I can see you sitting up, through a chink in the curtain-"

Tony lowered her hands from her face, and made a mental note to give herself a good kick in the head, in the morning.

"-if you could only tell us where to go, or anything that could help us."

The voice stopped.

"You know," Trina said resignedly. "They sound almost genuine. Why not help them out a little? You could point them towards a…police station, or something."

She hesitated, and then added as an afterthought, "Besides, if they're bad, you could just do Tae Bo on their asses." She grinned at her defence plan.

Tony rolled her eyes, although she doubted Trina could see it. "It's an exercise regime, not a kick-butt one."

Trina smiled, "Yeah, well. Whatever works."

Tony pushed back the duvet from her bed, and slowly brought her legs around to the side of the mattress and stood. Already her legs, knees peeking out from her oversized t-shirt, were starting to get goosebumps.

"This cold is insane," she commented. Trina only sighed. Tony knew she felt the cold easily, and that it probably wasn't nearly as cold as she made out – a fact which Trina constantly felt the need to remind her of.

She switched on the fairylights, bringing a soft colourful glow over the room, as she crossed it to switch on the heater before turning to the door. When she'd switched the lights on, footsteps that had slowly began to trudge away stopped suddenly and quickly returned.

Tony reached for her keys and unlocked the door…holding her breath as she pulled the handle down to push it open.