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“WHERE IS SHE!?” Ginny almost growled at Zabini as she was holding unto him by the collar which judging my the Slytherin’s complexion was a tight grip.
“PUT HIM DOWN WEASLEY!” Draco pushed the redhead trying to save his friend from choking to death.
Ginny fell on her bum and gave the blond a glare “WHERE IS FOWL?!”
Theodore was raising his hands “Please stop yelling” he pointed to the door of the classroom they were on “They might hear us”
“I would if this damn peasant didn’t start attacking like some rabid animal!” Draco looked down at the Gryffindor with a sneer.
Ginny quickly stood up “Oh I’ll show you what a rabid animal really is!” she was about to pounce on Draco only for Pansy to grab the girl by the shoulder.
“Weasley he may be an ass but now is not the time,” Pansy said.
“Then someone tell me what on earth is going on!” Ginny pulled away from Pansy.
Blaise was on the floor massaging his cheek “Why do I keep getting attacked when one of them gets kidnapped”
Theodore whispered “Blaise . . .”
“Kidnapped!?” Ginny let out a yell again.
“Would you shut up if before I Silencio you” Draco pointed his wand against the girl?
The redhead did a frown and crossed her arms “Fine, explain”
“Alright” Draco lowered his wand “From the really brief note Fowl left it seems as though . . . Lovegood may have been taken by an acquaintance of his”
Ginny closed her eyes “Where did they take her?”
“He didn’t say,” said Theodore “All we know is that at around one or two in the morning he went to Hogmeade to get Butler and gave us this clay thing that we would put in one of the beds to make it seem like they’re in the hospital wing”
Ginny’s jaw set “So you basically have no clue either”
“Oh shut up!” Draco squeezed his hands into fists “It’s not like we had any choice in the matter anyway”
At this Ginny snorted “So is that how everything runs with you guys? You just sit back and wait for Fowl to pop up with a solution?”
“We’re not his goons if that’s what you’re thinking” Blaise pointed a finger at the ginger “You have no idea the times we had to save that damn Irish boy’s behind”
Theodore clapped his hands in order to get everyone’s attention “Alright, we’re stressed and tired from exams . . .”
“I’m sure there are other things to be more stressed about than that” Pansy interjected.
“Anyway . . .” Theodore continued “We must calm down, we’re both worried about our friends”
Once again Pansy butted in “Um no, while yeah Artemis was nice to me I consider him more of a close acquaintance and Looo. . . . Lovegood is . . . somewhere there as well”
At this Ginny rolled her eyes “Really? After everything she’s done for you?”
“I didn’t ask her to be nice to me!” Pansy crossed her arms and looked away “And neither did I ask for your opinion”
“Oh, here we go again” Ginny lifted her hands.
Theodore looked at from one girl to the other “Umm . . . guys?”
“Why are you always like this?” Ginny pointed “Just when I thought you aren’t that bad of a person you start going ohh I’m a high and mighty pure-blood and call me a peasant”
“I have not called you a peasant!” Pansy defended herself “The moment we stepped into this room I have not mentioned anything about your overcrowded family!”
“THERE YOU SAID IT!”
“That’s because you were asking me to say it!”
“Weasley no one cares about your dumb family” Draco finally spoke up “She didn’t say anything it was me!”
At this Pansy raised a brow “Oh so now you’re being nice”
Draco scrunched his eyebrows “I wasn’t being nice; I insult her kind almost everyday I’m owning up to it”
“What the heck is wrong with you people?” Ginny looked at the Slytherins “Is being nice that hard for you?”
“Well it’s a matter of pride you see” Blaise was still massaging his neck “Especially for Draco cause you know daddy issues”
“I don’t have daddy issues!” Draco yelled.
Blaise shook his palm “Nehh . . . you kinda do, I mean . . . yeah you do”
“Yeah, he has point” Ginny agreed.
“Shut up, you know nothing about me nor my father”
“I know enough to know that he’s probably gonna join up . . .”
“OKAY THAT IS ENOUGH!” Theodore banged his fist on the table.
Immediately everyone turned to see that the Slytherin had banged his fist so hard on the table that there was a dent and his hands looked quite red.
Theodore took a deep breath and looked up to the heavens before facing them with his usual smile “Now why don’t we have lunch first?”
“So, you’re Fowl’s schoolmate?” Luna turned around to see a red-haired elf with a heart-shaped face dressed in a green garment that hugged her skin.
Luna did a small curtsy “Yes I am” she cocked her head to the side “You’re quite pretty”
They had managed to break-out Holly out of prison and were now being hunted by an army of LEP officers under the command of a very irritated Commander Sool. The two were currently in the passenger area. Holly had parked the shuttle on the floor of a secondary chute close to the surface while they were waiting for Artemis to finish his work on the computer.
A small blush appeared on the fairy’s face “Oh . . . thank you” she extended her hand “Holly Short, Captain for the LEP . . .” she paused “Or in this case wanted by the LEP”
The blonde girl took a closer look at the older woman’s face “Are you perhaps related to Cupid in someway?”
“Was it that obvious?” Holly let out a laugh “He’s actually my great-grandfather, only met him once when I was a baby though”
“I never met my grandfather” Luna mused “I only saw him through drawings on my mother’s journal”
Holly was taken aback “I’m sorry to hear that”
“It’s alright” she smiled “I see him every once in awhile when I go look for gulping plimpies by the swamp near our house”
This piqued the captain’s interest “Gulping plimpies?”
Luna’s face lit up “Well they are this certain breed of plimpy who have a distinction from normal ones due to their very large digestive track that it takes up almost majority of their entire body mass”
“Well . . .” Holly nodded not sure how to properly react “That’s quite something”
“It’s actually quite easier to see if you look at a dissection of one” Luna continued on with her discussion “I have tried to dissect one, but I’m always disturbed by the Nargles”
“Nargles?”
“They’re nasty creatures, they may seem small and insignificant but if there’s one thing they are very capable of doing it’s causing even the smallest number of annoyances that would rile you up for a day”
“If there are creatures that bring annoyance it’s definitely the swear toads” Holly’s face almost twisted in memory of them.
Luna cocked her head “I might have heard of the talking toads”
“Oh they talk alright” the fairy rolled her eyes “You see they were some silly prank made by a couple of college warlocks messing around who decided to give normal frogs the power of speech but being silly college kids they made sure the only words they knew were swear words”
Luna tapped her chin “Do they only swear in one language?”
“As of now yes” Holly explained “But let me tell you aside from the profanity they’re also literal pains in the butt, I got bitten by one once and it was horrible”
“So they’re venomous?”
“They only cause swelling, but I had to get a shot to prevent further infection and that was more painful than the actual bite” she shivered in memory.
This piqued the young Ravenclaw’s curiosity “If it would not trouble you would it be possible to see these creatures?”
Holly smirked at this “If Artemis somehow manages to convince Sool to pardon me then I won’t mind”
“You seem to have a lot of faith in him” Luna suddenly asked.
Immediately Holly busted out laughing “Oh you could say that I usually have no choice in the matter really”
“He seems like the type to have more enemies than friends”
The comment made the officer laugh out louder “You’re definitely right about that”
“I sense irony in your statement”
“I’m sorry, it’s just so true” Holly was holding back tears “I’m sure he hasn’t told you how we met?”
Luna raised a brow “He did seem uncomfortable when I asked him about it”
“It’s quite a long story but let’s just say . . .” Holly’s mouth set in a hard line “He was a very different person back then”
“Would you say its for the better?”
A small smile formed on her face “Definitely, say are you the only friend he’s got in Hogwarts”
“He’s quite popular in the Slytherin house, there are a couple of boys who he is quite fond of”
“That’s good” Holly nodded “It’s nice to see him growing somewhat. He may seem like the type to have the whole world figured out sometimes I wonder if he ever experienced being a kid really”
She gave the fairy a once-over before replying “You must have been through a lot with him”
“You could say that” she shrugged “So what about you?”
Luna’s forehead furrowed “What about me?”
“How close are you two?”
Immediately images of what happened in the cubicle flashed in her mind.
“Not as close as you two,” said Luna.
Students' eyes were on the Slytherin table as a certain member of the Weasley family was found to be eating with the group. The young girl stood out from the sea of green with her matching red hair and robes. As a result, there was chatter around the Great Hall where students pondered on what on earth was going on.
“Even with Artemis gone we’re being looked upon like some freak show” Theodore groaned as he ate his slice of Plimpy Pie.
Blaise on the other hand was just staring at his plate “The only freakshow is this fish sticking out of the pie” he poked the plimpy head with a fork “Like whose idea was this?”
“It tastes fine” Theodore shrugged “It’s actually kinda chewy”
The dark-skinned wizard pushed his plate away “I’m not taking my chances with this one”
Pansy stabbed her fork on the pie in frustration and turned to the redhead beside her “Weasley, why on earth are you eating here anyway?”
She was poking her pie with some determination in her face “Is it a crime, Luna eats over at our table all the time”
“That’s a separate case altogether” Pansy reasoned “Gryffindor table would accept just about anyone and Lovegood is like mushroom that pops wherever she feels like”
“They seem fine with it” Ginny pointed her fork to Draco and friends.
Draco had been glaring at the Weasley the entirety of the meal, but he did not say anything. Theodore on the other hand whispered into the girl’s ear “They’re actually talking, and I’d rather not repeat what I have heard” he paused for a moment “Just don’t pass the girl’s bathroom when you go for Charms later”
“I think you have other problems to worry about Weasley” Blaise pointed at a grumpy Ron Weasley marching to their table with Hermione who seemed to be trying to calm him down and Harry who looked like he wanted to be somewhere else.
“WHAT THE BLOODY HELL IS THIS GINNY!?” Ron barked at his sister “Why are you eating with these snobby bastards?”
“Ron!” Hermione swore if she didn’t have any self-control she would stun the boy but alas nagging was her only option as of now.
Ginny lifted her chin “I’m fine, you don’t need to worry about me”
“I mean she fits right in” Blaise chimed in “I mean wasn’t she Slytherin’s heir?”
Immediately the boy received looks from several people on the table.
Pansy sighed before she turned to the male Weasley “She’s a grown girl she can handle herself, let her relish in her dumb decisions”
“She’s . . . right” Ginny rolled her eyes before facing her brother “As I said I can handle myself”
“Handle yourself?!” Ron raised both his brows “Remember what happened last time?”
At this, the girl stood up “You won’t let me live that down, you just keep bringing it up every damn time!”
“I’m just trying to look out for you” Ron pointed at her chest.
“You’re babying me!”
That was when a certain pair popped out of nowhere.
“Alright,” said Fred.
“Settle down,” said George.
“What’s going on?” asked Fred.
George then realized where they were “Oh, eating with emotional kids are we?”
Draco groaned “Why did all the annoying Gryffindors decide to congregate in here? Of all places”
“Well it’s not by choice,” said George.
“We came here to talk,” said Fred.
At this Hermione raised a brow “To whom?”
“Our investor!” George grinned.
Hermione’s eyes went wide “Investor? Someone actually decided to invest in your business?”
Ron on the other hand look disgusted “You let a Slytherin invest in you?”
“Oh of course,” Fred said.
“These people make better business decisions,” said George.
In here Harry finally spoke, “Wait . . . don’t tell me your investor is . . .”
At this, the twins sang in chorus “Artemis Fooooooowwwwwwl”
“Oh yeah,” Blaise snapped his fingers “He did tell me that . . . I think he convinced me to buy stocks with you”
“Did you say stocks?” Hermione gasped “You don’t even have a store!”
“Don’t underestimate Fowl Incorporated” Fred said.
“No, I think it was Fowl Tech?” George corrected.
“Anyway . . .”
“Where is he?”
“He’s at the hospital wing” Theodore responded “He didn’t feel well”
“Wait we’re getting off topic!” Ron waved his hands “Ginny why are you in the Slytherin tables? And where’s Luna?”
Ginny sighed “She’s also in the hospital wing, she got a fever as well”
“As well?” Fred smirked.
“Oh my” George smirked back.
“Did they got lover’s pox?” this got Fred a hard nudge from Hermione.
The trip back to Hogwarts had been composed of Mulch talking about his cousin’s house in Miami and Butler’s acquaintance with the bartender of the Leaky Cauldron. They had managed to stop Opal’s drilling plan in the nick of time and save Holly from being thrown to prison (again).
Right now Luna was eating one of the truffles that she had managed to take after she snuck into Opal’s shuttle. Artemis on the other hand was tired from trying to pilot the shuttle while Holly tried to fend off the LEP. He was dozing off in the seats and was advised to not be awoken unless you wanted to have your internal organs burned.
Much to their surprise, there was a shuttle port not too far from the main campus of Hogwarts, even more, surprising was that it was just across Hagrid’s hut. The shuttleport hadn’t been used in sixty-five years which meant that it was kinda rusty and their already bumpy landing just became a lot more uncomfortable.
Artemis had awoken from the sudden crash and Luna’s truffles flew into the air and several ended up hitting Mulch. Butler had come to the conclusion that he was going to have a very stiff back throughout the rest of the week.
“Well . . . looks like we’re here!” Mulch said enthusiastically, he was obviously the chipper one in the group.
The large Eurasian man quickly opened the door and stepped outside just so he could feel his legs “Ah . . . I can’t wait for fresh air”. The port was currently dark, and several cobwebs had formed.
Luna followed suit leaving her fallen truffles to Mulch who gladly ate them “Well . . . that was an . . . eventful evening”
“We better get you back before they notice you’ve been gone” Butler turned on his torchlight and proceeded to look for an exit.
Artemis was completely exhausted, he now wondered how Holly managed to handle the pressure from piloting such things (he would later realize that he had been doing it all wrong from driving it on automatic). The Irish teen rubbed her forehead as he exited the shuttle “The exit is over there” he pointed lazily.
Luna shivered “It’s quite cold in here”
“Do I have to do all the work here?” Mulch went around the port as if he actually lived there (which he did around 50 years ago) and immediately located the exit.
When they got out Butler sighed in relief as he was able to stretch his legs “The LEP should really consider at least making one human sized shuttle” he stretched his back “Or at least give me some back adjusting contraption”
Mulch shrugged “With Sool as chief? I’d rather mate with that centaur if that ever happened”
The two young wizards came out of the port “Isn’t that Hagrid’s hut?” Luna pointed at the gamekeeper’s residence.
Artemis turned around “And here comes Hagrid”
Indeed the giant was there holding some sort of weapon “What are ya doin’ here at dis time of da day?”
“Good evening” Artemis yawned “I assume you wouldn’t accept sleepwalking as an excuse”
Luna then replied, “We were just here to visit Mr. Butler” she pointed at the man who was slightly shorter than Hagrid.
“What was your business with him?” the gamekeeper asked.
“He was having Rexiptablots, its an illness from St. Marianne’s Besslops that makes your skin dry and vision blurry” she referred to Mulch “The only cure for them was dwarfs saliva and we just so happened to stumble upon one”
“A dwarf you say?” he said looking over the burglar “I’ve never seen a dwarf like you before”
“I’m quite a looker, aren’t I?” Mulch smiled.
“Well, I’m better now and I think it was time to bring these two back into campus” Butler played along with Luna’s story “Artemis was exhausted extracting the saliva”
“That’s because he didn’t know where to poke” Mulch grunted.
Artemis just waved his hand not caring as long as he would get to bed ASAP “Fine whatever, let’s just go”
“I still have Raipi energy drink do you want some?” Luna offered.
Artemis raised a brow “Are those the ones from Finland that use rat urine?”
“They’re not from Finland, they’re just popular there”
“I’ll pass,” he said as they went for the campus.
Luna was trying to sneak into Ravenclaw Tower undetected but upon reaching the steps she found quite a surprise. Sitting on the bottom steps in awkward silence were Ginny Weasley and Pansy Parkinson.
It was Pansy who lifted her head as she approached “Told you Weasley” the girl said in a monotone “She’s back”
Immediately Ginny stood up and attacked the Ravenclaw with a hug “Thank heavens you’re alright” she tightly squeezed her best friend “I was worried sick”
Luna gave a faint smile and gently patted the girl’s back “Sorry for worrying you”
Ginny pulled away but still held onto Luna’s shoulders “What the hell did Fowl do this time?”
“It . . . wasn’t his fault” Luna kept her smile “It was mostly mine”
“Of course, it is,” Pansy said standing up and dusting her pants “Did you know how long we had to wait in here? Filch would have caught us if I didn’t bring a rat to distract that squib”
Ginny rolled her eyes “Well we wouldn’t have been in that situation if you brought something to stop your sneezing”
“Not my fault I’m allergic to whatever you’re wearing” it was here that Luna realized the girl had a box of napkins next to her.
“It’s nice to see that you two got along while I was gone” Luna commented.
Immediately the two girls had disgusted looks on their faces.
“Got along?”
“Us?”
“You’re off your rocker Looney” Pansy grabbed her box of napkins and stomped away from the two going back to her dorm.
Ginny had a frown on her face and was contemplating on saying something before she yelled out “Thanks for helping me with Defense!”
Pansy stopped in her tracks and spun around with a red face “YOU IDIOT SOMEONE COULD HEAR YOU!”
Ginny just brought out her tongue before dragging Luna up the staircase.
“She lent you her notes again?” Luna asked as they walked up the steps.
“She helped me practice spells for the practical exam” Ginny had her hands in her pocket “I originally asked Theodore since he seemed like the nicest and most level-headed one, but Draco kept butting in and it just turned into chaos after that”
“Speaking of exams” Luna rubbed her chin “Did Artemis leave a clone or something?”
“Oh that” Ginny let out a sigh “Well Artemis told the boys to leave these . . . lumps of clay at Madame Pomfrey’s that stood as a decoy but . . . let’s just say the twins might have spread a weird rumor because of that”
The Ravenclaw just shrugged “Nothing new, it’s been done before”
“I know I’ve asked you a thousand times” the two stopped walking upon reaching the large door with a bronze knocker in the shape of an eagle “But seriously what is going on between you and Fowl?”
Luna let out a sigh “I honestly don’t know, and I don’t think he knows either”
The following day there was talk around the Great Hall and once again it was something to do with the Slytherins.
“What did they do this time?” Ginny asked as she and Luna were taking a seat.
“DRACO WHAT ON EARTH HAPPENED TO YOUR FACE!” the girls turned to see Pansy with a mortified look on her face.
Sitting at the Slytherin table while covering the right side of his face with his palm was an annoyed Draco “It’s nothing” he muttered. There was a bandage wrapped around the area in his right eye.
“When did this happen?” Pansy was not having it as she looked at Theodore “Did he get attacked?”
“The opposite actually” eyes turned to see the resident Irish genius who also had a black eye but wasn’t as bad as Draco’s.
Pansy placed her hands on her hips “What did you two idiots do last night?” she looked at the boys in exasperation “Like . . . I expected better from the both of you”
“I mean we were surprised too” Blaise raised his hands “Like we just woke up and found both Fowl and Malfoy on the floor”
Artemis just took his seat and grabbed his serving of pudding as though nothing was wrong. Draco looked away from the boy and was muttering something under his breath.
“Why didn’t you have that fixed in the hospital wing?” Pansy asked, her appetite had long been gone.
“Oh, he did,” Theodore said taking his slice of toast “But they had another fight this morning, Artemis stabbed Draco’s eye with his wand before Draco knocked him out cold again”
Pansy rubbed her forehead “Oh Merlin, and what do you have to say for yourselves?” she turned to Artemis “Since when did you start brawling with your fists? I thought that was beneath you!”
Chewing his pudding and swallowing “Self-defense” Artemis replied.
“You stabbed his eye!” Pansy raised her hands to the heavens before turning to Draco “And you! What on earth were you thinking of punching him in the first place?”
Draco let out a sigh “Pride”
“That’s it” Pansy pushed herself away from the table “This is obviously a matter that only you guys would resolve, and I’m not taking any chances”
As Pansy walked off Theodore turned to his friends “Good thing we didn’t mention the third fight where Orion came out” he whispered.
“Would Dumbledore still suspend you?” Blaise wondered out loud “I mean exams are already over”
Draco could see from the corner of his still functioning eye Luna Lovegood who seemed to be covering her mouth and leaning forward towards the table “Is she about to throw up?” he wondered.
Artemis also turned to look and noticed that Ginny had a worried look on her face and also a couple of Gryffindors.
“Is she gonna be okay?” Theodore wondered.
“Maybe she got a flu from wherever you came from,” Blaise said.
“No” Artemis resumed his eating “She’s holding her laughter, because she finds this whole predicament between me and Malfoy quite amusing”
And right on cue Luna busted out in laughter surprising the people around her. It was quite strange that the usually quiet and whimsical Luna Lovegood was now hollering. Her face was bright red, there were tears in her eyes and her hands were wrapped around her chest as though she was trying to support herself.
Pansy who had just returned from the restroom and saw Luna couldn’t help but look up to the heavens “Merlin why am I grouped together with insane people?”