Nick opened his eyes, staring directly up at a clear blue sky. Where am I? He wondered.

The ground beneath him felt soft. As if he were in one of his many dreams.

He sat up and realized that he'd ended up a meadow. "Guys?"

Jenna gasped. "Is everyone still here?" She called. "Nick? Katie? Anybody?"

One by one, the other students stood up.

"We're here, Jenna! Wherever here is..." Nick looked around.

"Ah!" Emily clutched her head. "OW!" She hit her head on a rock when she landed.

Meanwhile, Jenna tried to stand up but got too weak and started shaking.

"Jen! Hey, are you okay?" Emily immediately rushed over with the rest of the group, ignoring the thin trail of blood that seeped in her hair. "Guys, what do we do?!" She started to panic.

Their friend suddenly stopped shaking and slowly got up. "Whoa. That was... odd," she said. "Em, you're bleeding."

"Yeah," Emily groaned. "Maybe once we get outta here, we could head back to Madam Pomfrey and she could fix me right up."

"Or..." Jenna whipped out her wand. "Episkey!"

"Ah!" Emily felt the cut close almost immediately. "Thanks, Jenna."

"So... where exactly are we?" Raven asked, looking around.

"And how did we even get here?" Katie added.

Meanwhile, 13 year old Alexander DuVall left his cottage, bored out of his mind. Both his older cousins were currently attending Hogwarts. He still had his younger cousin Adeline, but she wasn't into the stuff he liked.

He thought of himself as a squib, being that his powers hadn't materialized yet. But perhaps he was just a late bloomer.

He walked out towards the meadow. Living in the countryside was nice and all, but there weren't many kids around. Especially during the school year.

Suddenly, he started hearing voices:

"Guys, I know we're lost right now, but look on the bright side—"

Michael sighed. "Katie, what bright side? In case you hadn't realized, we're in the middle of nowhere!"

"Would you shut it, Michael? We're gonna get out of here. Trust me," Nick said.

The boy ventured forth and found a group of kids arguing. "Oi! what are you guys doing all the way out here?" He asked.

The fourth years stopped their conversation.

Alex sighed. "Why are you guys here?" He repeated.

"Hogwarts is vanishing," Nick said.

"Come again?" Alex raised an eyebrow.

Jenna approached the boy. "Hi, we're students from Hogwarts. We're in a bit of a predicament right now. D'you mind helping us get back to Scotland?"

Alex scanned each of the students, his eyes narrowing when he saw Michael. "Yeah, but I'm getting odd vibes from the kid in green," he said. "Seems like a bit of a prick. If you want, my aunt and uncle know a spell to turn him into a toad."

"No, that won't be necessary," Jenna chuckled. "Michael's still a friend."

Alex raised an eyebrow. "You've a weird definition of 'friends.' But, c'mon. Let's head back to my place. I'm sure my aunt has some floo powder laying around or something."

The group followed the boy back to his place along a gravel road, where his sister was waiting on the front porch.

"Auntie! Alex brought some friends home!" The little girl raced back into the house.

Moments later, a woman with dirty blonde hair stepped out of the house, a wand sticking out of her apron. "Where are you kids from? You don't live 'round here, do you?" She asked.

"No, they're from Hog— wait a minute." Alex looked back at the students. "You mean to tell me, you all left Hogwarts... dressed like that?"

The teens looked down at their outfits. All of them were still in their pajamas.

"Oh, bollocks..." Nick muttered.

They waved their wands and quick-changed into different variants of their house uniforms. They then tucked their wands away into their scabbards.

"Better?" Jenna chuckled.

"Much better," Alex's aunt smiled. "Now, how did you kids end up all the way out here?"

"There was something about Hogwarts vanishing, and that they need help getting back," Alex replied. "We do have floo powder, don't we?"

The woman paused for a moment. "I believe so. I'll have to check." She nodded. "Why don't you all come in? I just finished baking cookies."

They followed Alex and her aunt inside and were instantly greeted by the smell of chocolate and cookie dough.

"Mmm..." Jenna smiled. "Nice place you've got here."

"Thanks," Alex replied. "It's been in the family for generations. My mum and uncle both grew up here, and I've lived here all my life—"

"Alex, come help with the cookies!" His youngest cousin called.

He disappeared for a moment and came back with a plate full of chocolate chip cookies. "By the way, you never told me who any you were."

"Right. Sorry. I'm Jenna," she said before going around to all the group members. "That's Emily, Nick, Raven, Michael, and Katie."

"I'm Alex. Now that introductions are out of the way..." he took a bite out of a cookie then passed the plate around. "I heard someone mention Hogwarts was slowly disappearing. How is that possible?"

"The dreams stopped," Emily said.

Alex scrunched his eyes. "Dreams? I remember my older cousins mentioning something about that," he muttered. "Aren't dreams one of the things that's helping to keep the magic of the school going?"

"Yes. But they've stopped for some reason," Nick replied.

"Probably Nick's fault," Michael sneered.

The young boy immediately glared at him. "Y'know, the first person to point fingers is usually the problem," he said. "How do we know you haven't caused the dreams to stop?"

The Slytherin rolled his eyes while the rest of the group mingled on the couch.

"Jenna thinks someone might be containing them somehow," Emily said.

"Hang on. Alex, how are you not a Hogwarts student?" Raven asked. "You look like you're old enough to be a third year."

"Ah, that. My powers haven't come in yet, unfortunately," he replied, passing the plate of cookies around. "I might just be a late bloomer. Back to the matter at hand, though. How exactly did you guys end up all the way out here?"

"Well... we're not sure," Jenna sighed. "We were discussing Nick's dream journal—"

"I wondered what was sticking out of your back pocket." Alex looked over at Nick. "Mind if I take a look?"

"Uh, yeah." He pulled his journal out of his pocket and handed it to the boy. "I've been keeping records of my dreams nightly up until this whole issue started." He flipped to the first page and his fantasy about Emily. "Oh, uh... Ignore that."

Alex let out a small chuckle and continued flipping through the pages. "Oh, look. Nick actually has proof of his dreams," he said, looking at Mike. "What've you got then, Mr. Bully?"

Sometime later, Alex started reading the last page. "Wow," he exhaled. "You must really like this Emily girl. She's in a ton of these..." He then closed the book and handed it back to Nick.

The statement made the girl blush fiercely as she caught Nick's attention, despite her throbbing headache.

Meanwhile, Jenna explored the house before running into Alex's aunt.

"Sorry 'bout that, love. But, good news... we've enough floo powder left." She smiled, holding an unopened box of powder. "So, if you and your friends are ready, you may return to Hogwarts now, if you wish."

Jenna's stomach started grumbling as they headed back towards the living room. "Is it okay if we stay a bit longer?" She asked. "We're a bit hungry."

"Yeah, we sorta missed breakfast. We've been up since 12:30," Nick added.

"That's not a problem, dears. I'll whip up something for dinner. Feel free to make yourselves at home until then." Ms. Duvall walked to the fireplace and refilled the empty floo powder container before heading back into the kitchen to begin planning dinner.

"I hope she's a good cook," Jenna smiled.

"She is!" Alex grinned. "Don't worry. She's really good at cooking magic."

Meanwhile, Emily approached Nick, who was looking at the family portraits. "Nick... am I really in your dreams a lot?" She asked.

"Yes, Emily. You are." Now he was the one that started blushing. "I haven't had the courage to tell you, but I'm ready now." He slowly took her hand.

Emily smiled. Oh my god, is he gonna say what I think it is? She thought, looking into his eyes.

Nick exhaled. "Emily... I—"

"Hey, there you guys are," Raven smiled. "C'mon. The others are gonna play truth or dare."

Nick sighed. "I guess it can wait. C'mon."

The pair headed back to the group, hand in hand, and sat next to each other.

"Right. So... I guess I'll go first." Jenna cleared her throat. "Alex... truth or dare?"

"Hmm... let's see... I guess I'll choose dare," he smirked.

Jenna smiled. "I dare you to kiss the girl of your choice." She knew that Nick wouldn't let him kiss Emily. And judging by the fact that neither Raven or Katie seemed interested in playing, her plan would work.

"Whoa, wait a minute. I don't know if I like this game," Nick laughed.

"We'll see," Jenna giggled. "It's his choice, after all."

Alex glanced between the four girls. "Huh. Y'know, if I didn't know any better, I'd think you wanted me to kiss you," he replied. "After all, you're the only single girl here. I think."

"No, I think Raven and Katie are as well, but..." Nick looked over as the two girls left the circle to converse on their own. "They don't seem really interested in playing."

"And, yes. I'm single," Jenna added. "And I don't want you to kiss me. Just wanna see who you'll choose."

"Well, let's see. There's you, who's obviously single. And there's Emily. Judging by the way she and Nick are holding hands..." Alex snuck a peek at them. "I guess I'll kiss you, Jenna."

Jenna waited as Alex leaned forward and planted a kiss on her lips. "That wasn't so bad, was it?"

Alex could feel his cheeks heating up. "No, it was... wow," he chuckled. "Anyway... Nick. Truth or Dare?"

"Dare," Nick replied.

"Hmm..." Alex paused for a moment. "Ah. I dare you to catch one of the gnomes and chuck it over the fence." The gnomes in the garden were still fairly young.

He stood up and started making his way outside. "Wait, how do I do this? Mum never taught me."

"Knock 'em out first before chucking them," Emily said. "I've done this before. If you want—"

"Ah! I picked him to do it," Alex chuckled.

Nick walked out and picked up a small stone, turning it in his hand. He quickly threw it and missed a gnome, but managed to hit another one and knock it out. Well, that wasn't so bad, he smiled.

The others watched as he picked it up.

"Wait a minute. Don't these guys— ouch!" The gnome stirred awake and bit the boy's finger in an attempt to run off.

Nick quickly chucked it over the stone fence and ran back inside. "Got it," he groaned. "Emily, truth or dare?"

"Dare," she smiled.

"I dare you to kiss—"

Without hesitation, the girl immediately locked lips with him for a few seconds before pulling away while everyone looked on.

Nick grinned "...Me."

"Guys, we know you like each other," Katie chuckled. "You two have been insepperable ever since you met in Charms first-year."

"Why don't you guys just go ahead and make it official?" Raven added.

Emily looked over at Jenna, who gave a nod. She then looked over at Nick. "Very well."

The group cheered.

"Okay. Now... Mike? Truth or Dare?" Emily asked.

"You already know I've got nothing to hide. Truth," the boy said confidently.

"Um... hmm..." she sighed. "Ah. Name an embarrassing moment in your life."

"Fine. I found this spell that I thought I could use to woo some girl last year," he said. "It backfired. Instead of spelling out I love you, Sandra, it spelt out I hate you, Sandra."

Emily chuckled and rested her head on Nick's shoulder as she leaned into his embrace. "I hope you were able to fix it."

"Uh..." Mike shook his head.

"Aww. You poor thing," Raven cooed.

Emily couldn't stop smiling up at Nick. She was glad that they were finally together as her gaze shifted to the various photos behind his head. They looked fuzzy. Almost as if her brain or eyes were playing tricks on her. Or she was dreaming...

"Guys, I have an idea!"

The group suddenly jumped as the girl sat up straight.

"What if we're all just in one big dream?" She started.  "Like, this doesn't seem real. I mean, aside from us with magical abilities."

"Wait, slow down, Jones. what are you saying?" Jenna raised an eyebrow.

"I mean, what if this house and this field are all one big clue? Just a way for us to fix Hogwarts?"

The group looked at each other as she plucked a picture off the wall of Alex and his family.

Nick looked at the picture and his eyes widened. Alex and his aunt were the only clear ones. The rest of the family all blurry.

"There's a thing I read about in the library. Liquid— no, lucid dreaming. It's when you know you're dreaming, but you still dream, y'know?" Emily continued.

"So, if this is all a dream, how are we supposed to wake up?" Raven asked.

"Well, normally in dreams, you aren't able to feel pain," Alex explained.

Mike shrugged and slapped Nick across the face.

"Mate, what the bloody hell was that for?" Nick asked, his cheek turning a bright pink.

"Just wanted to test it out."

Alex sighed. "I mean, I guess we aren't dreaming since Nick obviously got hurt." He glared over at Mike and shook his head. "Now... how are we supposed to wake up?"

"She said we're real so we'd be able to feel pain," Katie said. "But, she's also sure we might just be dreaming?"

"I am sure. Look at this." She showed everyone the family portrait. "I think we need to find whatever it is we need and embrace it."

Suddenly, Nick pulled his new girlfriend in for a hug. "Everyone, group hug! Now!"

The group members immediately piled on and embraced each other, including Alex. They looked around as the background quickly dissolved.

"I think it's working!" Jenna gasped.

The colors around them disappeared, giving way to complete darkness yet again.