They walked around Clearwater for quite some time, sticking their heads in a shop every now and then, looking for Tara, which was turning out to be harder than they thought it would be.

"What do you suppose Tara even looks like?" asked Harry.

"No idea," said Hermione with a shrug.

"We have got to narrow it down," said Ginny. "There are too many people in this city to make blind guesses."

"She's right," Draco agreed, glancing at the people who were walking down the same street as them. There were at least two hundred, and the city probably held plenty more.

"I'm betting she's in middle school," Ron offered, "and she'll be dressed in things from Hot Topic." He turned to his kind-of-sort-of-girlfriend. "Hermione, do you think you could recognize Hot Topic clothes of you saw them?"

"Maybe," she replied. "I've only been there a couple times, when my family took vacations in America."

"Let's look in that music store," said Luna, pointing at a building across the street.

The others nodded in agreement. It was a start, at least. The six teens rushed across the street (almost getting run over in the process) and walked up to the store. Ron pulled open the door and held it open for the girls and Harry. Draco was about to go in, but Ron let the door slam in his face. Grumbling, the Slytherin yanked it open himself.

A bell rung as they entered the shop. There were a few other customers flipping through the CDs and records, but none of them looked like they could be Tara. The only person in the shop under 30 was working there, cleaning the counter. She noticed the group and said, "Whaddya want?" as she (loudly) chewed her gum.

"Um… sorry, we're in the wrong shop," said Ginny, beginning to open the door again. "Sorry, we're not from around here."

As they left, the woman muttered, "Always tourists, never girl scouts."

OoOoO

They continued to wander around the downtown of Clearwater aimlessly, trying to find Tara. After a couple hours, they sat down on some benches to rest their feet.

"This is gonna take forever," said Ginny. "We have no clue where she is!"

"Wait," said Hermione, suddenly thinking of something. She pulled out her wand and muttered, "Accio phonebook."

A phonebook landed in her lap, and she opened it, saying, "Okay, what was her last name again?"

"Gilesbe," said Harry. "But she was never consistent in how she spelled it."

"Gilesbe… Gilesbe… Gilesbe…" Hermione muttered, searching through the book. "Tara Gilesbe…"

"Wait," said a voice behind them, "did I just hear you say that you're looking for Tara Gilesbe?"

They turned, and a girl of about age twelve was standing there.

"Yeah," said Luna, "we are. Do you know her?"

The girl wrinkled her nose. "Sadly, yes. My older sister is her best friend. Why would you want to talk to Tara? She's a lunatic! She's a snob! She never shuts up! And she can't even spell."

Yep, that definitely sounded like the Tara they were looking for.

"Oh, trust me," said Harry, "we figured that out awhile back."

"But we have to talk to her," Ron added. "The fate of our school sort of depends on it."

"Well, I don't know where Tara is," said the girl, "but I know where Jenny- my sister- is. I was just about to go meet her. I can take you, if you want. I bet Jenny knows."

Hermione smiled warmly at the girl. Finally, they were getting somewhere with this mission! "That'd be great," she said, getting up. "What's your name?"

"Juliet," she said. "What's yours?"

"Jean," she replied, shooting the others meaningful looks.

Following suit, Luna said, "I'm Lucy."

"James," Harry said.

"Bill," said Ron.

"Molly," said Ginny.

"Drake," said Draco. He figured his middle name, Lucius, was a bit outlandish.

"Well," said Juliet, "my sister's at the mall. It's just around a corner."

"Great," said Luna/"Lucy."

"Hmmm…" said Draco/"Drake."

"What is it?" Harry/"James" asked.

"This is a bit too convenient," he replied.

Ron/"Bill" poked him. "Don't complain."

"Still… I call it lazy writing."

Suddenly, a newspaper flew at him and landed on his face. The headline read, "RANDOM TOOL OF AUTHOR REVENGE."

OoOoO

"Jenny!" Juliet called as they entered the food court.

A girl dressed in all black looked up, her eyes surrounded by eyeliner. "Yeah?"

"These people need to talk to Tara."

"And you, too," said Hermione/"Jean," remembering Jenny's role in My Immortal.

"Well, I'm gonna go waste a couple bucks in the arcade," said Juliet.

"Thanks for your help!" Harry/"James" shouted after her.

Jenny smirked at them. "Let me guess," she said. "You're here to discuss My Immortal."

Luna nodded. "Yes."

"We need you to take it down," said Harry, as politely as he could. "You're not gonna believe this, but—"

"Ah, ah, ah!" Jenny said, holding up a finger. "You have to talk to Tara, too."

"Fine," Ginny sighed. "Where is she?"

"She's here. I'll take you to her. Then we can all discuss this."

"Okay."

As they walked through the mall, Draco asked, "So was My Immortal a joke? You seem too smart to have helped write… that."

Jenny smiled. "That depends on who you ask. To me, it was a joke. But Tara… to her, it's anything but. She thinks she's the next J.K. Rowling, but, as I'm sure you've noticed, she's not even close."

"So you were just doing it to piss people off," said Ginny.

"Uh-huh."

"But she was serious?"

"Correct. Ah, here we are!" Jenny said, stopping in front of a clothing store called…

"Hot Topic?" groaned Hermione, facepalming. "How did this not occur to us before?"

Jenny snickered. "Good question. It's usually the first place people check."

"Oh, shut up," Ron snapped as they entered. "Where is she?"

"Follow me."

Jenny led them to the back of the store, to a clothing rack. She pushed some clothes aside, which revealed a keyhole. The key-shaped charm on her bracelet fit perfectly. She unlocked the hidden door and pushed it open.

"After you."