My name is Rachel
We all watched as Jake clutched the lightning-bolt charm in his fist. All his muscles were tensed in anticipation. His eyes were screwed tightly shut. He looked ready for anything.
Then, suddenly, he relaxed. He teetered dangerously and just sort of collapsed into a heap. Cassie was immediately at his side, bending down beside him and holding his head up.
I ran over and squatted down beside them.
"He's still breathing, and his heart-rate is normal," Cassie said, looking very concerned.
"At least he's not dead," Marco replied with a shrug.
I ground my teeth. "Not helping."
He held up his hands and bowed submissively. "Okay."
Maybe he'll come to in a second, Tobias suggested.
"One," Marco said helpfully, peering down at Jake.
To my utter amazement, Jake's eyelids fluttered. He blinked up at our faces. "Why am I on the ground?"
"It worked!" Marco yelled.
I do not think it was because of your counting that awakened him, Marco, Ax said, I believe it was a coincident.
"Killjoy," Marco muttered.
"You collapsed when you used the necklace," Cassie explained to Jake, "It looked like you were knocked out. We didn't know what to do, or if we should wake you up. Did you contact Harry and Hermione?"
He nodded, propping himself up on his elbows. "They're on their way, and by thestrals. We've morphed them before, remember? They're the fastest animals alive, I'd say."
"When do you think they'll get here?" I asked, rocking back on my heels and standing up. Cassie got up and helped him to his feet.
"I'd say in ten minutes at the most," Jake said, "Thestrals can really move."
Tobias swept out of the barn to check and see whether anyone was coming. Cassie's parents weren't home, and Tobias reported that there was no one for miles.
We waited in an uneasy silence. Tobias kept his eye in the sky, searching. Cassie kept looking at her watch.
Five earth minutes have passed, Ax informed us.
"Dude, I'm on Earth, you're on Earth, we're all on Earth," Marco said, sounding exasperated, "When you're on Earth, they're everyone's minutes."
Six earth minutes have passed, Ax said vehemently.
Marco sighed and buried his face in his hands. "He's hopeless."
"Much like you," I said.
He hissed through his teeth. "Three-nada."
They're here! Tobias yelled, shrieking and flapping his wings.
All heads turned skyward. Sure enough, two black figures appeared above the treetops. The closer they got, the better you could see the thestrals, and the two figures astride them. Two figures with very red hair…
"What is Ron doing with them? I thought you said it was only Harry and Hermione!" I exclaimed.
Jake, too, looked surprised. "That's what I thought."
The two thestrals landed. They were both recognizably Weasleys. One I knew was Ron, but the other I had never met before. I guess you can say she was pretty. She had wavy, flowing red hair that went down to the small of her back. Her cheekbones arched high over her slender face. Freckles dotted her small, button nose. Her brown eyes were alight with interest. She was tall, just an inch or two shorter than Ron, and thin as a rail in an attractive kind of way.
The other way I knew she was pretty was the way Marco went after her like a dog after a squirrel.
"Let me help you," he said, gliding forward and holding out a hand to help her down.
She arched an eyebrow and slid down off the thestral's back without his help. She snorted derisively. "Who are you? The knight in shining spandex?"
Marco looked horribly pained and turned to Jake in despair. "She's like Rachel!" he wailed.
"Is that necessarily a bad thing, monkey-boy?" I asked, eyes twinkling.
He mimed a knife in the chest. "Cuatro-cero," he gasped in mock pain. Then he looked to the sky and shook his fists at it. "Of all the girls to have come from Hogwarts, it had to be the one that doesn't like me!"
The thestral the Weasley girl had been riding melted into Hermione. She took a weird-looking purple tote bag from her mouth and dug around inside it. To my shock and amazement, she pulled out a regular sized wheelchair and set it on the ground.
Hermione quickly levitated Ron off the thestral's—Harry's—back. Harry instantly demorphed. He looked around him and grinned. "So this is America," he said.
"Yeah, it's not much different than Britain," I said, "Except that it's warmer."
Harry pulled off his sweater. "I can live with that."
Cassie's dad is coming! Tobias yelled suddenly.
Jake jumped. "Scatter!" he cried.
Harry, Ron, Hermione, and the Weasley girl fled. Ax galloped off into the forest and Tobias took to the air. Cassie's dad then came around the corner, looking slightly befuddled. He looked at Cassie and said slowly, "I could have sworn I head someone speaking with a British accent."
"That was me," Marco lied glibly, "Rachel and I are practicing for a play. I'm a British newcomer to America, and Rachel's the woman who falls madly in love with me." Then, he added, not so glibly, "And it ends with this great make-out session."
Now that was laying on a bit thick, and trust him to totally ruin the moment with an ending like that. I curled my hands into fists and smiled, tight lipped, not saying anything.
He would pay later.
Cassie's dad raised his eyebrows. "Uh-huh. Well, I'll leave you four to your—practice," he said. He walked by us and went into the house, whistling and twirling his keys on his finger.
Jake glanced at the house and trotted off to where the Aniwizards had darted, motioning for us to follow. We followed.
The Aniwizards, Ax, and Tobias were sitting and having a conversation by the time we arrived.
"—like a centaur," the Weasley girl was saying.
I am not sure whether we Andalites are related to your earth species, the centaur, Ax replied.
"Magic earth species," Hermione corrected him, "Muggles don't even know they exist. Well, all muggles except you six. Though I'm not sure I should call you muggles, since you've acquired wizard… er… essence? DNA?"
"DNA," Jake said, stepping forward and startling them.
"Oh, it's only you," Ron said, looking relieved. He grinned up at us. "We've been trying to convince Ax that magic isn't technology. I think he's in denial over the fact that magic exists."
Jake cracked a grin. "I'm sure he is."
It is, quite frankly, not possible, Prince Jake! Ax said, sounding distressed.
"That's why it's called magic," Jake said, then added, "And don't call me 'prince'."
Yes, Prince Jake.
The Weasley girl laughed and, when she saw no one else did, stopped.
Marco sidled up to her and looked up—yes, up, he was shorter than her—into her eyes. "And what is your name, my perfect little dewdrop of beauty?"
She ignored him.
"It's a hopeless case, Marco," I said. "What is your name, by the way, kid?"
"Ginny," she replied, "Ginny Weasley."
Marco's eyes shone. "Aaah, the perfect name for the perfect girl," he said with a sigh.
In retort, she turned her back on him. "Hsst," I said, licking my finger and running it down the air as if I were dousing an imaginary flame. "The very good, old-fashioned cold shoulder."
He glared at me, making my grin widen.
Jake cleared his throat. "Okay, now down to business. What are we going to do about this new Yeerk threat?"
And, with that, our planning went underway.
A/N: Hobey-ho, in the famous words of D. J. MacHale! I have completed chapter tres! (Yes, I just started taking Spanish ::cough cough::) I'm sorry about Ginny's character… I haven't really gotten the feel for it yet. This is the first time I've used her as a major character in a fic, so bear with me. Stick around for Chapter 4, which is told by Hermione but has no title as of yet…