Chapter One: Esmeralda/Madeline

  Esmeralda pulled on her Ravenclaw Quidditch robes, excitement flowing through her veins. It was her fifth year at Hogwarts, and her fourth playing Quidditch. That days game was against Gryffindor, her brother's team.

  She glanced over at one of her best friends, Jake Smitty, as he approached her, also wearing his Ravenclaw robes.

  “We’re gonna cream’ em,” he said, smiling wickedly.

  “Watch it, my brother’s on the team,” she replied with a smile. The two grabbed their brooms, the new Nimbus 1990, and headed to the Quidditch Pitch. Esmeralda immediately spotted her other best friend, the Slytherin Bucky Carter, amongst the students. Bucky was screaming and waving her hands frantically, like she did every game. Esmeralda smiled.

  A strange feeling stirred in her stomach. She let out a deep sigh.

  “We’ll do amazing, Esme,” Jake reassured her, the same nervousness on his face.

  Esmeralda looked across the Pitch and saw her brother with a few of his best friends. She sent a smirk their way. The three boys sent it back.

A young Madam Hooch started the game by releasing the Quaffle ball high into the air. The Chasers set into motion, flying around like a disturbed nest of angry hornets. Jake was among them.  She flew high above the others, gripping her Beaters bat tightly. She watched both Bludgers with a close eye as they zoomed around the Pitch, but not aiming themselves at any of the players. She found this strange. Then she spotted the Bludgers both go after the same person, the one with the Quaffle. Jake.

She sped to her friend’s aid. Just before the Bludgers hit their mark, Esmeralda and her fellow Beater knocked the Bludgers away.

Jake nodded and smiled at her. She grinned back. Jake’s smile fell and his eyes widened.

“Esme! Look out!” Bucky’s voice reached her ears from across the Pitch. Before Esmeralda could turn, the Bludger came in contact with her back. With an earsplitting crack, and a scream from many people in the stands, Esmeralda flew from her broom and bashed her head against the goal post. As she fell, she could see Bucky climbing down the Pitch and Jake flying towards her. The last thing she heard before her entire world blackened was “Esmeralda Potter is down! Esmeralda Potter is down!”

          * * * *

Madeline, or Maddy as her friends call her, woke up sweaty and afraid. Only for a fraction of a second did she remember her dream, though for the rest of the day she had a sickening feeling.

She arrived at school on time, just as her friend, Jacob, did. The two chatted about the normal things they talk about, books, movies, music.

Maddy looked over to the table across from hers where an empty seat was. She sighed. Carrie wasn’t there, again. Maddy was extremely worried about her friend. It had been two days since Caroline had been at school.

Her teacher, Mr. Hofsteen, began his morning talk, as usual. A couple minutes later, Caroline came running breathlessly in. Shooting a quick smile at Maddy, she shuffled over to her seat.

Jacob, Maddy, and Carrie were all working on a project together, so when their teacher set them free, the three clumped together.

“How are you doing?” Maddy asked Carrie.

“Better.”

The three started working on their project, laughing and talking about random things that really had nothing to do with the project. After a while, Carrie grabbed the computer they were using and with a very distressed face, typed something and handed the computer back to Maddy.

“‘Esme, it’s me, wake up?’” Maddy read. Tears rolled down Carrie’s face but she didn’t say anything, she just simply grabbed Maddy’s hand. Jacob took the computer and wrote something himself.

“Wake up, Esme. WAKE UP!” Maddy was getting worried. She noticed the eyes of all her classmates on her. She glanced around with wide eyes.

After a few seconds, everyone went back to what they were doing. Maddy looked at her friends. They were laughing hysterically at something or another. Maddy shook her head, blinking quickly.

“Maddy? You alright?” Carrie asked.

“Yeah, fine,” She scowled, “Perfectly fine.”