Open Won’t You Come and Get Lost With Me?

[Harper Alston]

In hindsight, buying a portkey off a stranger on the side of the road probably hadn't been the smartest idea.

Harper wasn't sure where she was, but she could tell this was definitely not Mongolia. For one, it was still light out. She was also not standing in the middle of a desert. When Harper had heard about a festival happening in the middle of the Gobi, getting a quick portkey there had been a no-brainer. Her decision was made even easier when a couple of people at her magical hostel mentioned that there was a wizard nearby who sold portkeys for cheap. Harper had never been poor, per se, but money had definitely been tight growing up, and the promise of a cheap, last-minute portkey was too good to pass up.

At least that's what she'd thought before she'd ended up — well, wherever the hell this was. She supposed she should be grateful the portkey hadn't dropped her off in the middle of the ocean or a room full of muggles. With a sigh, Harper vanished the flyswatter-slash-portkey she was holding — she definitely did not trust it to get her back to Bangkok — and set off looking for some clues as to her location. Thankfully, it wasn't long before she came across someone, and she tried to get their attention. "Excuse me, can you help me? I think I'm lost." Now she just had to hope they also spoke English.

 

[Xenia Nikolaidou]

((sorry if this doesn't work I can bow out!))

Xenia was loving the ability to apparate. Sure, she couldn't use it in front of her family (and half the time when she thought she was in appropriate privacy, a cousin would round a corner and thwart her plans), just like she couldn't use magic in front of her family. But she could use it outside of school when she had enough space to do so, and she was making the most of it where she could. Like now, as she'd apparated to a deserted area close to the beach, saving herself a lot of walking. Lazy, perhaps, but convenient. It hadn't taken her that long to get the lay of the land in Crete, letting her take advantage of apparition as long as there weren't many people around.

Though she thought she might have been screwed when she saw another girl in the area that she'd just apparated to only a few moments ago, and hastily prepared an excuse. Though as she spoke, Xenia realized that the older girl was too preoccupied to have noticed, and relaxed slightly. Her accent was odd - New Zealand? Sounded like the Hogwarts quidditch players. Xenia was also relieved it was English, and not any other language. She would've preferred Greek, but at least she didn't have to stumble through a sentence in French. "Are you looking for the beach? It is a bit of a walk, but you're almost there."

 

[Harper Alston]

((this is perfect!))

Harper nearly sighed in relief when the girl spoke in English. She had an accent, but Harper couldn't place it, which was a little unfortunate since she wasn't exactly sure how to ask "what country am I in?" without setting off some alarm bells. "I—" Harper began before realising that she hadn't thought this far ahead. It wasn't like she could say she was trying to get to Mongolia. "Yes," she finally said though it sounded more like a question than a statement. "The beach. Are you headed that way?" At least she knew she was somewhere by the ocean. (Unless the girl was referring to a lake beach in which case she could be anywhere).

Dipping her hand into her pocket, Harper touched her wand before settling on her phone. She glanced at the girl. Things would be so much easier if the girl was also a witch, but what were the chances of that? "Is there WiFi at the beach?" Harper asked, deciding that the word "WiFi" might be a little more obscure than "internet" to the average magical person. No sooner had the question left her mouth did it suddenly occur to Harper just how bad things could get if she was somewhere magical, and this girl thought her a muggle. She immediately gripped her wand, though she was careful to keep it concealed in her pocket just in case this girl turned out to be a muggle after all.