Author's Notes: I know, I know, I know, it's been nearly forever since I last updated this story. Well, I'll tell you why. I've taken on too many responsibilities, plain and simple. I've spent way too much time on the SBMB and ended up committing to moderating duties inside the chat room. Plus managing a website, school work, studying for my driver's test (which I've yet to take even though I turned 16 in March and it's now May) and having to work on another fic with a bunch of other people which can get very demanding at times. but it's worth the effort. I don't plan on letting you all hang for another half a year or something on this story, really, I don't. Once again, I'm sorry it took so long but you can't rush creativity.

Disclaimer: All Harry Potter characters and related items are the property of J.K. Rowling, not me.

Nasty Little Buggers

Chapter Six: Where's Wood!?

Oliver sat in the sand barrier of the pitch for what seemed like eternity, reflecting in his mind everything that had happened to him. He knew the supposed "date" with his "girlfriend" had been a set up by the twins. That much was for certain but what bothered him now was the fact that if the twins had been lying about Cassandra what else had they lied about?

*If only I could remember anything,* thought Oliver exasperatedly. *Then I could figure this all out.*

Doubt began freshly creeping into his mind. Was Percy really a schizophrenic? Well. come to think of it, he was quite odd. The twins could be right there. Marcus Flint also did look like quite the troll but if he ate people they wouldn't allow him to attend the school. would they?

"Maybe I should talk to my father." mused Oliver, remembering the sallow skinned, hook nosed, greasy haired man the twins had pointed out to him. Then again. if they were lying to him again. that older man hadn't looked like the sort of person you would want to confront as a long lost father.

So what was he to do? Everyone he passed by in the halls gave him queer looks. Whenever he spotted a professor coming closer, the twins would usher him off down a side passage so he wouldn't be seen.

"There are no answers for me here, that's for sure," said Oliver, getting to his feet. "And sitting in this dirt isn't helping me either." He brushed off his pants and headed for the exit. "There has to be someone around here who I can talk to!"

* * *

Fred and George had spent their entire afternoon coming up with a lesson plan for Oliver, with help of course, from the girls who had stood, peering over their shoulders to keep them on task.

"This is slave labour!" Fred complained loudly, crumpling up yet another piece of parchment and throwing it into the ever growing trash heap.

"You broke him so fix him," Angelina reminded Fred, sending him back to work with a stern look.

"We're not teachers, girls," sighed George, putting the last touches on what he hoped was a working lesson plan the girls would approve of. "We don't know how to do this."

"You can't expect Oliver to just believe everything we tell him," put in Fred.

"Well so far he has," replied Katie. "Poor guy."

The other girls nodded in sympathetic agreement as Fred and George hunched over their parchment more, pretending not to care. Oliver wasn't THAT bad off. The girls were just over exaggerating.

"All right, how's this?" asked George, finally holding up the parchment. Alicia took it and read over, the other two girls reading over her shoulder.

"You know, when you two want to you can be quite smart," commented Angelina. "Why don't you do it more often?"

"We don't want our reputation ruined," grinned Fred, snatching back the parchment. Smiling, the twins walked up the stairs to the fifth year boys' dormitory to fetch Oliver. They met Percy on their way up.

"He isn't up there," he said, "which is probably a good thing. Hopefully, one of the teachers found him and brought him back to the hospital wing." He shot the twins a stern look. "Just wait until McGonnagal finds out what you two did."

"McGonnagal doesn't scare us," scoffed George. "We've gotten on her bad side lots of times."

As Percy passed by them down the staircase, Fred furrowed his brow in thought. If Oliver wasn't upstairs in the dormitory then where could he be? Knowing his state, he could be anywhere. That meant he was in danger of being found by a teacher. And if a teacher found him. well, that wasn't good for the twins.

"George, if Oliver isn't upstairs in his dormitory then where is he?"

George paled, suddenly realizing what this meant. "He could be anywhere. And if we don't find him first-"

"We're dead," finished Fred.

The twins looked at each other and ran down the stair case and into the common room. They flew out the portrait hole, trampling poor Neville Longbottom on their way. They stopped only after they had taken two flights of stairs down; suddenly realizing they had no idea where they were going.

"Should we split up and look for him?" asked Fred. "It's a big castle, he could be anywhere."

George was about to agree, then a plan hit him. He grinned. "The map."

"Of course!" exclaimed Fred, pulling the old tattered parchment out of his pocket.

"I solemnly swear I'm up to no good," chorused the twins, tapping the parchment with their wands.

Fine ink lines began to slither their way across the paper until what looked to be a castle blue print had printed itself onto the paper. Little dots with miniscule labels moved around the map. Peeves was zooming around the trophy room while Snape sat in his office. Students wandered the corridors while some congregated outside in the evening air. It was the "Marauders' Map" as the elegant title revealed, and Fred and George had found it in Flich's office the previous year. They could see where everyone in the school was and could track anyone's movements. It was the quickest way to find Wood before anyone else did.

But there was a slight problem. There was no tiny Oliver Wood dot anywhere on the map. The twins stared at the map, going over every square inch of the parchment, determined to find him. Eventually, they gave up, stuffing the map away. Oliver wasn't on the Marauder's Map, which meant only one thing. He had left the school grounds.

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Well, after making you wait this long, you didn't think I'd let you all just smile and nod. I had to throw in some sort of a plot twist. Leave your reviews, it motivates me to write faster! :)