Disclaimer: I didn't steal the Harry Potter characters…or the gumballs when I was three…or my brother's candy bar…or my sister's hair scrunchies…I'M INNOCENT I TELL YOU INNOCENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hey….what's with the flashing lights….NO DON'T SUE ME!!!!!!!! I DID NOTHING THE CHARACTERS ARE NOT MINE…..Except for Meggie…
A/N: I am back from the dead. If I ever was dead. If I was, I'm back, if I wasn't, let's just pretend that I never left. Okay? Okay, that's good. So this is the part where I give you the chapter and you don't roast me on a stick over a very very hot fire…right? Hey guys…put…put the stick down….down…
Dedication: To Lady Lily3!! The one who actually motivated me to post this chapter. And, Lady Lily3, I was going to do that with the hawk in Saving Grace, but then I got a better idea. At least, a more evil idea spurred on by the plot bunnies in my head.
Chapter Whatever-this-number-is-supposed-to-be
"So," said Harry as he walked through the Forbidden Forest right behind the elf, who was in front of everyone else. It had been about five minutes or so, and no one had said anything. Yet. Except for Ron, who had tripped over a tree root and landed face first in something that everyone was rather afraid to ask what it was. "What are we supposed to call you? I mean I know you said I didn't need to, or we didn't need to know or anything, but, it's kind of, well, awkward, and…"
But his bumbling and failing attempt at a conversation had been cut off with definite cries of, "First my shirt, and now my shoe!! Amber!" And Draco was looking down on the happily barking puppy, who most obviously thought that if her master was excitedly jumping up and down on one foot, that whatever she was doing must have been the right thing to do.
"That's kind of gross, Dra…Ethan. Hey that's neat! I think I'll call you Drethan!" Draco's response was to roll his eyes at Meggie, and shake his head as if to say 'Americanism. It must be getting to her.' And then go back to holding the hyperactive Amber's tongue away from his nose to prevent drowning now that he was carrying her.
They were shot a look by the Elf that caused Meggie to stick her tongue out as soon as he turned back around. "And please kindly stick your tongue back into its proper place." He had never even looked back at them to see her tongue out. Ignoring the icy glare on his back, he continued the conversation that he had been holding with Harry. "Yes. Well. I guess I can't continue without giving you something to call me."
"How about a cell phone?" asked Meggie caustically.
Why are you upset with me? The Elf's voice infiltrated her head.
Why do you think? She shot it forcefully from her mind.
So I slowed your fall. Are you happy I admitted to it now?
No. Her mind voice was full of vehemence, though outwardly, she was just studying a passing bird.
Why not?
You should have let me die. Years of regret swept through her thoughts this time.
The look the Elf turned and gave her was sharp. "No." Everyone else thought he was talking of cell phones, but Meggie recognized the double meaning, and her gaze was as steady as his.
"Too bad. There are other ways." Again everyone else thought that she meant of calling someone, but her meaning was picked up by the Elf.
I'm watching you.
You do that. Just watch. Don't interfere.
He looked away then and turned forward. "As I was saying. You may call me Eoin." And with that Eoin took off twice as fast.
"Nice going," said Draco smiling.
"Yes, well, I'd watch out or your pants may be next on Amber's list." Draco stopped smiling and the group continued on in silence.
"So, when are we stopping for dinner?" asked Ron.
"We're not," was Eoin's response, as he once again quickened the pace.
"Here Reric," said Meggie, who had successfully renamed everyone in the group except Eoin. "Catch." She tossed him a bag which he caught and opened as they continued walking. "It's Muggle candy."
Hermione opened her mouth to warn Ron, but it was too late. "Ish suck to my teef."
"Oh, yes, gummy worms from third grade need to be eaten in little bites."
By the time they stopped for the night, Ron had managed to get the gummy worm off of his teeth. Or, at least most of it. "I could go for a nice piece of chicken," he muttered under his breath.
"Elves don't eat chicken," said Eoin. "We eat what we can gather from the earth, Eric. We try to live in harmony with the animals. Unicorns even come to our society because they trust us enough not to harm them. And we do not carry food with us. We find our own when we are hungry."
"No…no chicken?" asked Ron.
"No stupid," said Hermione, thoroughly tired and frustrated after the day's walk. "He just said that."
"Then, what are we eating tonight?" asked Harry.
"That's your first lesson, Emrys. You eat what you find."
"What if you don't find anything?" asked Draco.
"Then, Ethan, you don't eat," said Eoin matter-of-factly.
Amber's response was to mark Draco once again as her territory. "This is turning out to be a rotten day."
An hour later, Hermione and Meggie were discovered to be the only two that knew which plants were edible, and which weren't.
"DON'T EAT THAT DRACO!!!" Draco immediately dropped the berries that he'd been about to pop into his mouth. "That's Poison Nightshade!" said Hermione. "It will kill you! And if it doesn't, you'll be as sick as a dog. No offense Amber."
"But why aren't those mushrooms edible Meggie? I mean Elizabeth."
"Why don't you try them and find out, Emrys."
"Nevermind, I'll take your word for it."
"So, where are we sleeping tonight?" asked Ron, after he'd finally figured out that Raspberries were safe, and bark was not. "I mean, I don't see a tent or anything."
"We sleep up there," said Eoin, beginning to climb one of the trees.
"Up there?" asked Draco. "What if you can't climb trees?"
"Consider it as lesson number two, Ethan."
"Maybe I should just stay on the ground with Amber."
"Trust me, you are an elf," said Eoin. "And elves were born to climb trees."
"Maybe you made a mistake," said Draco.
"Yes, maybe he's a Dwarf," said Meggie. "They live underground."
"Shut up." And with that, Draco took to climbing trees.
"AHHH!!!!" Splat. "Ow. Falling out of trees is a very very bad way to wake up in the morning, muttered Ron sleepily. When Meggie laughed and jumped down gracefully beside him from her perch he just glared.
Draco meanwhile didn't seem to like that idea. "Just how do you get down without jumping?"
"Fall," said Harry, as he took his turn jumping out of the tree, only to land on Ron who had just gotten out of the ground. "And hope Ron's there to break your landing."
"That's Eric to you," snapped Ron, trying to get up and dislodge Harry, but that was when Draco decided to jump down, and landed on top of both of them, only to be greeted by a flying pink tongue. "Geoff me!" came the muffled voice from the bottom. Hermione rolled her eyes and jumped down to land just as gracefully by Meggie.
"I have a lot of work to do," muttered Eoin looking at the pile on the ground.
"You can say that again," replied Hermione smiling.
"All right boys," said Meggie. "You can stop frolicking around now." The three finally untangled all of their limbs and pulled themselves upright, only to all fall down again when Draco tripped.
"This is going to be a very long day," sighed Eoin to himself.
A/N: I know that its short. But, unless I get reviews, I can't get out the next chapter, because…I don't know why, but I'll come up with some sort of reason. Don't worry. So click the button on the left bottom of your screen and we'll all be friends. Honest. And…I'd appreciate it if you put the sticks down…now…