Author's Note: Okay, I've tried to make this chapter longer than previous ones. I've borrowed a line from a Buffy episode (the 'brain stems' comment) and Trina co-wrote this chapter – she picked up my laptop when I got tired, and wrote some good stuff I decided to keep.  There are some terms used in here that may not be familiar to those outside of New Zealand or the UK. Those I can think of:

'Milo': This a chocolate hot drink

'Lift': Alternate term for 'elevator'

'OE': 'Overseas Experience'. This is a common practice for Kiwis (New Zealanders), usually happening in their 20s, where they go overseas to see the world – usually touring Europe. London is typically the place where most young Kiwis base themselves when on an OE.

Chapter 6: Into Action

"It's been done," the low, slinky voice uttered.

The reply sounded equally sinister.

"They've been sent?"

"Yes, and without their means of protection, as planned. They also have been covered by a charm to not allow anyone to detect their whereabouts magically."

"So they cannot be found by any of their wizarding friends, who do not know their location. Excellent." The second leering voice continued, "Abandoned in Hastings… Our Master will be pleased. He'll be meeting them soon."

~ ~

Harry had lain on Tony's bed just staring upward for most of the night, trying to ignore the seemingly endless squabbling between his worst enemy and his best friend.

Well, scratch that, he'd thought. Second worst, maybe. That would put Voldemort at number one.

Thoughts and speculations as to how they had arrived here ran through his mind at lightning speed, but no theory sounded any more plausible than another. Maybe they'd each unknowingly touched portkeys…but why had their wands stayed behind? At least, Harry assumed they'd stayed behind. All he knew, was that when he and his friends – and Malfoy – had arrived in this dark, new place, they had all been without wands.

The sudden time difference was wreaking utter confusion over him, and although the morning sun was peeking over the buildings spanning the road, Harry felt like it was evening, and soon he'd go to bed in his Gryffindor dormitory, and then wake up the next day, still at Hogwarts. A small glimmer of hope in him suggested that this was a dream itself, and despite all appearances that said otherwise, he would wake up to the sight of his familiar curtains around his familiar bed.

He closed his eyes, envisioning normalcy.

He opened them.

No normalcy.

He heaved a sigh. "We don't even know where we are," he muttered.

Draco looked up from twanging the strings of Tony's guitar, with a superior expression.

"Hastings, obviously," he said haughtily.

Harry propped himself up onto his elbows and looked at the platinum-haired boy. "How would you know? Have you been here before?"

Ron lowered the Veterinary Nursing reference book he was idly flipping through, not really reading at all, and rolled his eyes at Draco's apparently knowledgeable attitude. "Tony told him. Remember? She said something about how the heater 'wasn't going to heat the whole of Hastings'."

Draco looked thoroughly put out, now that the one foothold he had above the others had been taken from him. His distaste reverberated around the caravan in the form of an extra loud twang from the bass string of the guitar, accompanied by a dark scowl.

"But how can this be Hastings?" Ron questioned, the absurdity of the concept suddenly occurring to him. "They don't even sound like us. How can we be anywhere in England?" He turned to Draco and said bitingly, "and in case you haven't noticed, it's night." He looked out the window towards the rising sun. "Well, it was, when we got here. England's not big enough to have time zones that far apart."

Draco returned his attention to the mindless twanging of the guitar, in an effort to not look as stupid as Ron was determined to make him look.

"Maybe Tony and Trina are just visiting from somewhere?" Ron speculated.

"Not likely," Harry responded. "Considering everyone else was speaking in their accent too."

"Well there's some clever deduction," Draco said, sarcastically.

Harry's brow drew together in a frown. "If you can't say anything constructive, Malfoy," he retorted heatedly, "then shut up so the rest of us can think in peace."

Malfoy looked like he desperately wanted to say something in biting response to this, but he either thought better of it, or just didn't think it was worth the effort. He settled for looking distinctly impatient, reflecting Harry's frown back at him.

Ron heaved a large sigh as he tossed the book he'd been browsing through onto the tabletop. His boredom and despondency was short-lived, as a loud banging on the door sounded suddenly, bringing a sharp cry of fright from Ron, which in turn brought a smirk from the ever-patronising Draco.

Harry wriggled to the end of the bed, and reached an arm out to open the door. Tony stood there in her long t-shirt, which was now rumpled from her restless night.

"You decent?" she cast the question into the room, smiling as she hoisted herself up into the caravan. She didn't receive any response from the boys, so she continued, "Hey, I keep my clothes in here, so can you shift off the couch, Ron? Then I can take some inside and change."

Ron, not knowing what to say, obligingly moved off the narrow berth, and Tony lifted the top, exposing a mass of clothing. She rifled through them, draping a few items over her arm before ducking under the table to get to one of the drawers under there. She hurriedly retrieved a few items from it and stuffed them under the clothes almost shyly, before turning back around.

"Okay," she said, seeming in a hurry to get back out. "Bye."

The door had opened and closed before the boys had time to react, leaving them gazing at each other, processing what had just happened.

"Uh, bye," Harry belatedly responded to the door, which had been closed for several minutes now.

In the lounge things weren't any livelier. Hermione had managed to doze, perhaps because she just didn't have an interesting alternative. Trina, however, was still blissfully sleeping…until Tony rushed in from the bathroom across the hall, fully dressed.

Trina blearily opened one eye. "What time is it?" Her voice reached out groggily beyond the warm confines of the sleeping bag.

Tony looked over to the digital display of one of the VCRs. "Almost half past six," she responded.

Trina looked as though Tony had just uttered the biggest obscenity know to humankind. "Six?! What are you doing up?! You stupid…" Whatever she was going to call Tony was lost as she buried her face into her pillow, obviously lacking the energy to follow through with the insult.

"Well, I just don't want to be sleeping in for ages so that my sisters come in and see us," Tony explained. "Because then-"

Bethany, Tony's ten-year-old sister, trotted excitedly into the lounge in anticipation of Saturday morning cartoons, and stopped short suddenly when she saw the bushy-haired stranger look up at her in uncertainly. "Who's that?" she rudely directed the question to Tony.

"-that will happen." Tony finished her statement to Trina.

Tony impatiently turned to her sister. "She's someone who's come to steal everything we own, and she will then rip our heads off and drink from our brain stems."

Bethany was distinctly unimpressed. "I was just asking." She saw that Tony wasn't going to offer any more information, and would certainly not let her sit down to watch irritating cartoons, so she grumpily trudged out of the lounge and back to her room.

"You need to be nicer to your sisters," Trina commented, now sufficiently awake from the commotion to form a coherent sentence.

"Yeah, and we also need world peace," Tony replied, "but you don't see that happening any time soon, either."

Trina sat up and pushed her mass of tangled hair from her face. "So what's the plan for today?"

Tony's irritated expression still loitering from the interaction with her sister drained away, to be replaced by a serious one. "I have been thinking about that," she admitted. "And I've had some thoughts- and yes, Trina, it hurt. Whatever. Anyway, I think we need to talk about it with the other guys too."

Trina looked strangely ripped off that she hadn't had the opportunity to say her characteristic mockery of Tony's brain activity. Her brow furrowed in thought and she began to crawl out of the sleeping bag.

Tony sighed quietly. She knew it would be an hour before Trina was ready to join the conscious and consistently coherent world.

She was wrong. It was two hours.

Finally, with the aid of a steaming cup of milo, Trina was awake, alert, and ready to discuss…whatever it was that came after the Draco-shut-your-sarcastic-gob part. She counted it as a miracle that she was even awake at half past eight on a Saturday morning.

"So what are the bright ideas of yours?" Draco said to Tony with a sneer that plainly said he thought she wasting everybody's time.

"Well," Tony said with faux excitement to the group. "The plan so far, is that we throw Draco Smart-Arse Malfoy out into the streets to freeze and find his own way home, and the rest of us who are willing to co-operate and work together actually get home."

Draco shut up.

"So after we've done that, then what?" Trina questioned, and looked at Tony with a raised eyebrow before addressing the newcomers. "Seriously, we really need to think here, because if Tony's parents find you and recognise you, then we are so beyond needing help…" She let the sentence hang in the air.

Tony nodded in agreement, as did Hermione.  Draco kept looking everywhere except at the people around the caravan, determined to not help at all.

"First things first, we need to figure out what actually happened, and how we got here." Hermione said, and showing renewed vigour since her apparent despair during the night, grabbed a pen out of the jar on the table, and then grabbed a pad of refill-paper that lay nearby. "We need to list those who have anything against any of us. First and foremost, of course, Voldemort."

Ron shuddered a little at hearing the name. He was getting used to Harry and Hermione's frequent and casual use of it, but all the same, he found it a little worrisome.

Harry looked thoughtful as he said, "But if he did this, then why? I mean, he is over there, and we're here. Wouldn't he want us to come to him to wreak his havoc?" He looked puzzled, before adding, "Wherever 'here' is."

Tony stood up suddenly, shoved her arm under a pile of junk by her bed, and pulled out a book. The large lettering spelling 'Atlas' was visible to the group, on the front. Sitting down again beside Trina, she opened the book in the middle, turned a couple of pages to find what she wanted, then turned the book towards Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Draco - who was trying his best to look uninterested.

"This is New Zealand," she said, as if she was talking to a bunch of five-year-olds, her tone predominantly aimed at Draco. She flicked a few pages from the world map, her audience still reeling from the sheer distance from home they found themselves, to a double-page layout of New Zealand, before continuing, "and this little red dot here," she continued, "in the North Island, is where we are. A small town called Hastings."

Harry, Hermione and Ron poured over the book with interest, while Draco glanced at the book for a moment, before pulling a face and saying snidely to Tony and Trina, "What's wrong with the shape of this place? It looks like it's had bites taken out of it in places by a sea monster or something." He filled with contempt as he continued, "If anyone came from this place, they sure shouldn't be proud of it."

At that moment, Tony wanted nothing more than to replace his pot of hair gel with an identical pot of paste.

Trina could see Tony getting more and more peeved with the platinum oil slick, and she hoped that her friend ripped off that little toad's head.

"Well, I am so sorry, Mr Malfoy," Tony responded, with a sneer that frighteningly resembled Draco's own. "I will go directly to the Head of Department of Planet Creation, and tell them it will have to be changed!" 

"I don't know if this has occurred to anyone yet," Trina started. "But they," she motioned to the four English youths, "can't stay in this caravan forever, and they can't go walking around looking like, well, looking like…like them."

She and Tony looked at each other. The next idea must have occurred to them at the same time, as Tony began to form a small smirk, and Trina looked equally amused.

"What?" Ron said, decidedly nervous.

Trina looked at him with a comical glint in her eye.

"Operation Make-Over."

~ ~

Minerva McGonagall was uneasy. Ron, Hermione and Harry had not turned up for Transfigurations Class, and although Ron and Harry were known to be late for classes due to their adventures around the school, they rarely missed a class entirely, and Hermione would rather chew her own arm off than skip the lesson. The deputy headmistress had asked various Gryffindors if they knew the whereabouts of their three missing housemates, but none had shed any light. Nor could Filch, and the most that Mrs Norris could shed was an amount of distasteful fur.

Upon seeing that the trio didn't turn up for dinner either, McGonagall swiftly strode to visit Dumbledore's office to inform him of their absence. She thought it unusual that an enemy had taken them while the rest of the school was blissfully unaware, but the idea was just plausible enough to be worrisome, just the same.

She reached the gargoyle statue leading to the headmaster's office, and uttered the password.

"Strawberry Chupa-Chup."

She couldn't help but shake her head at her peer's choice in passwords – infamously known to be a sweet of some kind.

The gargoyle had moved, revealing rotating stairs moving up like a lift, and she stepped onto them. Arriving at Dumbledore's door, she knocked and waited until she heard the kindly old voice invite her in.

He was sitting at his desk, his faithful phoenix, Fawkes, looking over his shoulder.

"Lemon drop?" he asked amiably, holding out a small tin of the lollies he liked so much.

McGonagall declined.

"I have something which may be of great importance, to tell you," she started. "I'm afraid that Harry, Ron and Hermione have all gone missing. No one can tell me where they are."

A sombre shade passed over Dumbledore's eyes, as they grew serious and lost their twinkle.

"Ah, yes," he responded. "And Mr Malfoy too."

McGonagall's eyes widened a little in surprise. She had indeed noticed the tranquillity of her classes with Draco Malfoy gone, but had assumed he was just displaying his characteristic irresponsibility in more direct ways.

"Why would Malfoy go with them?" she asked in her surprise. "Surely he wouldn't want to have anything to do with those three."

"He would not go willingly, we know this," Dumbledore agreed.

Dumbledore selected a lemon drop and slowly sucked on it, before speaking the words to McGonagall that made her blood run cold. "Wherever they are, they are quite defenceless. Their wands were found on the path to the Great Hall, several hours ago."

For a moment, the deputy headmistress was unable to speak, before she faltering uttered, "Do- do you like they're alright, Albus?"

"Let us hope, Minerva," he said. He cast his eyes downward for a moment as he regretfully admitted, "I have tried to locate the four, using various magical means, but..."

As his voice trailed off, Minerva McGonagall was looking increasingly alarmed. She waited for the headmaster to speak again. When he did, it was to confirm her conclusion.

"…it seems that Mr Malfoy, Miss Granger, Mr Weasley and Harry…have simply disappeared."

~ ~

"Operation what?" Ron shrieked.

Tony and Trina quickly shushed him, and Tony glanced nervously towards the house to see if her parents had heard anything. Her mother would still be asleep, she assumed, from her night shift at the hospital the previous night. Upon glancing at the side of the road to see her father's work vehicle gone, she deducted he'd gone to work on their recently bought property, which they then planned to lease.

"You are not going anywhere near me," Draco said, his face incredulous.

"We won't change you hugely," Trina assured them. "Just enough for you to not draw too much attention. Although you look somewhat different from those guys," she motioned to the pictures of the actors portraying their corresponding character, "you still look enough like them to make you stand out, especially if you stay together in a group."

"Which you will," Tony sharply added to Draco, who was looking more than ready to suggest they don't have to stay together at all.

She looked at Harry, and then at an image of Daniel Radcliffe in his character. "At least your eyes are different," she commented. "I still think it was stupid of them to have them blue in the movie, when the book adamantly describes them as green. There's a reason God invented coloured contact lenses. But anyway, that will work for us, now."

Trina looked at each person around the room, her glance finally landing on her friend. "What are we going to do with the rest of them?" she asked.

"We won't change them too drastically," Tony agreed. "There's no need to get stupid about it. We'll rely on the fact they don't look too much like the movie characters, to get away with it."

Looking at Hermione, she said, "You can keep all your hair, Hermione, so no need to look stricken. You could perhaps just tie it back. Or not. It might be okay." Glancing at Ron, she added, "The same goes with you, Ron. In normal clothes – normal for 'Muggles', that is – you won't be too suspicious." Her gaze continued along the group, to settle on Draco. "But…"

Draco stared at her levelly, as if daring her to finish her sentence without regretting it.

"Harry and Draco really are the most obvious of you," Trina piped up. "Harry has the round glasses that everyone knows about, and Draco has gelled platinum hair."

At the implication that they were going to change his hair, Draco narrowed his eyes and tried to look menacing.

Tony was getting readily sick of this boy's attitude. She quickly stood up and took a step toward him. "Look, Draco Malfoy," she said, as if giving an ultimatum. "Your attitude is really not helpful right now. Considering you're a long way from home, and you don't have your little stick to help you look threatening, your best chance of getting home is by working with us. Or at the very least, co-operating well enough to let us work things out ourselves." Her eyes flashed angrily. "As long as you're here, you're in no place to be so arrogant."

Draco opened his mouth to respond – probably to say something in which the words 'my father' would entail. Tony anticipated this and quickly added, "And don't you say anything about your father! He's not here right now and of no help to you. And quite frankly, I'm not seeing how a man who ties his hair together with a pretty little bow is meant to strike fear into the hearts of anyone."

After her monologue, the caravan fell into silence. Harry and Trina were surprised at the outburst, although pleased, and Ron looked close to having a seizure in his happiness at seeing Draco get put in his place. Hermione was looking at Draco levelly as if to emphasise every word Tony said. Draco had been looking indignant, but at the cut-down of his father, he glowered and his cheeks turned subtly pink.

In an effort to call a compromise, Trina suggested, "We won't cut his hair, or change the colour. He'll just have to stop using the gel."

"That's what I was going to suggest," Tony said through gritted teeth. "But now I'm getting more drastic and interesting ideas."

"Well, just leave them as ideas, and in your imagination you can cause him as much pain and humiliation as you like." She slowly pulled Tony back, away from Draco. Although she'd seen her friend in many moods, Tony's anger at times looked positively frightening.

As she plopped back down on the edge of the bed again, Tony glowered back at Draco. "Think you can manage that?" she asked snidely.

Draco appeared to think for a moment, before crossing his arms and retorting, "I don't have any with me anyway, of course."

Although this was true, Tony had noticed his previous inspection of the caravan from his seat, and knew that he would have seen at least some of the pots of wax and gel lying around that she didn't use anymore. As it to confirm this, his eyes involuntarily darted to one of the hair gel tubes quickly, and back again. To Draco's apparent chagrin, Tony got up and gathered all the gel and wax into her arms before sitting down again.

"Just in case," she said, pointedly. "I'm taking these inside so you can't get them."

In a desperate bid to move the negative attention off him, he formed a smirk and said with a note of sarcasm, "As honoured as I am by your rapt attention with me, aren't you forgetting something?"

Quizzical looks were swapped around the caravan.

"I doubt," continued Draco, "that there will be many people out there with those round glasses and a jagged scar on their forehead." He seemed pleased to see the faces of his companions now, which were laden with realisation and worry. "I should be the least of your worries – he's your biggest problem."

Harry looked incredibly guilty, even though he'd of course done nothing wrong.

Tony looked at the lightning-shaped scar. "We can cover that, if we need to," she said. "Concealing Make-up would work."

Ron looked mortified for Harry, but Draco found it very amusing. His face split into a wide grin and he remarked, "Potter, in make-up! That will be a story to tell… How incredibly girly…!"

Trina rebounded the insult with, "I think a more 'girly' thing to do, would be to spend heaps of time getting their hair how they like, fussing about wardrobe and what clothes are most impressive, and aiming to be the best-looking person in the room."

This was sufficient to return the pink to Draco's cheeks, and Trina doubted that the story of Harry in make-up would now be spread.

"As for the glasses," Trina said, "…how much money do you have now, Tony?"

Tony immediately looked defeated. She and Trina had over time been saving money mercilessly for their OE, and although they both had the amount necessary for them to leave, Tony still had a few thousand more than Trina, owing to her expenses not being so high.

"Enough," Tony said resignedly. "Which would you prefer, Harry? Contact lenses, or glasses with frames not so…geeky?"

Harry blushed a little, and stumbled over his tongue trying to get words out.

"Uh, I- I guess-"

"We'll figure something out later," Tony said, to Harry's relief. She turned to Trina. "We have a few hours to work with before most shops close. After all, it's Saturday."

"They can't go out looking like that," Trina pointed out. "I'll stay, and you do some emergency shopping."

Tony nodded. "Ok." She picked up her small carry-bag, making sure her wallet was in it, and headed toward the door.

"Where's she going?" Ron asked.

Trina smiled. "Hallensteins."

"It's Good to be a Guy," Tony finished the store's tag phrase, and left.

~ ~

Author's Note: When I send out an email to those on my update-list, to let them know a chapter's been uploaded, I may well ask in those emails about things regarding the story and how you think it should go. So if you want to be in that loop, leave me your email address for me to send update-notifications to. This time though, I'll ask the question in here:

Should Harry get cooler glasses, or contact lenses?