Chapter Ten: "Didja See Their Faces?!"
Ron and Draco stopped in the middle of the scar and stood facing each other. Ron scowled and put up his fists threateningly.
"You wanna fight, Malfoy? Fine! Let's fight!"
Draco snorted. "Please, Weasley! You know I could kick your - "
"Ahhhhh!" The pair of antagonistic wizards were interrupted by terrified squeals from somewhere in the jungle.
"Roar!" Fred and George, adorned with mud, leaves, twigs, and anything else they could find that they thought would make them look like the kind of mythical animals Hagrid was always bringing around, leapt out from behind the trees, their arms flailing wildly.
The three painted children cast their spears to the ground and ran.
"Ahhhh! The beasts...the beasts!"
"What's that?" Hermione asked nervously. "It sounds like someone's hurt..."
Simon shook his head. "They're just yelling about their beast again." He sounded sad...no, more than sad. Melancholy.
"Their...beast?"
Simon nodded slowly. "They talk about a beastie," he sighed, "a snake thing, in their sleep. Sometimes when they're awake."
Hermione tilted her head slightly. "How do you know they talk in their sleep?" she asked Simon, helping him up, "Do you stay awake at night?"
"Sometimes," he yawned.
Harry could see Ron and Draco arguing. He briefly marveled at his own luck, finding them before they murdered each other. Ignoring the screams ricocheting through the air, Harry jogged toward Ron and Draco.
"Whadda you doing, Malfoy?" he snarled.
"Don't look at me!" Draco spat. "Weasel here started it."
"Did not!" protested Ron. It suddenly struck Harry that they sounded like a pair of squabbling two-year-olds.
Fred and George collapsed on the ground in a mess of hysterical cackling.
"Did...you...see...their...faces?" Fred gasped. George was laughing too hard to say anything at all.
But the pair of jokers weren't laughing for very long.