Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters. This was written for fun and no copyright infringement is intended.

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Chapter 2: What They'd Suspected All Along

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It's not that nobody cared about the plight of Vincent and Gregory. It's just that in the initial excitement of Potter, Granger, and Weasley going missing, the detail that three Slytherins were also missing was sort of overlooked. This was partially Draco's fault; he was so intensely irritating as an individual that most people at the school who'd wondered where he and his two cronies had gone simply shrugged off their absence and counted themselves lucky without thinking about it any further.

Everything changed drastically the next morning, when a care package Draco's mother sent him was returned as undeliverable. Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy descended upon Hogwarts like two fire-breathing dragons who had just discovered their shiniest jewel missing from the hoard.

Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts, did the only sensible thing under the circumstances: he ordered Severus Snape, Slytherin's Head of House and Dumbledore's first choice for the most dangerous and nasty work, to take them away -- preferably far away -- and keep them soothed and distracted while the school embarked upon a second search.

All of the students were rounded up and the prefects performed a roll call. To their considerable chagrin, the Slytherin prefects were forced to report that nobody had seen Draco, Vincent or Gregory since about the time the Gryffindors had vanished the previous day.

Every locating spell known to wizarding kind had already failed to reveal the whereabouts of Potter, Granger, and Weasley, and so it was little surprise when the Slytherins could not be located either. After several hours, the Hogwarts staff admitted defeat. They reported the Slytherins missing to the Ministry (having previously reported the missing Gryffindors) and then Severus Snape was given the rest of the week off so that Dumbledore would not have to deal with the Malfoys again.

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Some three days after the disappearances, the caretaker's cat discovered Vincent and Gregory's statues gathering dust in a little used corridor in the dungeons.

She rubbed against one statue's knees, then looked up at the stony faces and vanished into the shadows with a hiss.

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Twenty minutes later, Vincent and Gregory were fully revived, their faces freshly scrubbed, and they were sitting side by side in the Hospital Wing while Poppy Pomfrey rummaged for something in a cabinet.

Soon they would be standing at terrified attention before an audience of Albus Dumbledore, Minerva McGonagall, Argus Filch, Poppy Pomfrey, Professor Snape, and their and Draco's parents as well as the parents of the missing Gryffindors.

The two took advantage of Pomfrey's distraction and held an urgently whispered and much-needed conference.

"What are we gonna say?"

"I don't know!"

"I don't even know what happened."

"Me neither."

"What about that thing?"

"What thing?"

"That thing Draco was trying to grab."

"Oh. That."

"Yeah."

"Dunno."

"It looked like a triangle. Of metal."

"You saw it?"

"Well kinda."

"What was it?"

"Dunno."

"Couldn't have seen it that good then."

"Who cares? I saw it was a triangle."

"Um."

"Think it was important?"

"How should I know? I was a statue."

"Me too."

"This sucks."

"I know."

"So what are we gonna tell them?"

"We could always tell them we don't know what happened."

There was a long pause.

They weren't supposed to not know what happened.

They were supposed, in fact, to be watching out for Draco. Draco had grown up getting everything he wanted and being able to say anything he wanted. He simply did not know how to keep his hands off other people's things or shut up when his mouth started to get him in trouble. It was Vince and Greg's job to make sure he didn't suffer any more consequences than absolutely necessary. The two of them sat there pondering what might be happening to Draco at this very moment. And what might happen to them as a result.

"My da's gonna kill me," said Vince.

"Same here," said Greg glumly.

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And now, let us see what was happening to Draco at this very moment.

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In the center of a table, in a 24-hour study lounge at a major Muggle university in a major Muggle city very far away, a large paper grocery sack with its top folded shut rocked back and forth slightly as the ferret within it shifted around.

This was the temporary solution that Harry, Hermione and Ron had come up with so that they could keep track of Malfoy without any harm coming to him. At first having nothing else they had tried putting him in one of their book bags, but the books had poked him and squashed him and he'd come out hours later in such a pitiful state that Hermione insisted another way be found. Fortunately they had managed to locate a grocer who would give them a sack for free.

After several more hours had passed the ferret had still not succeeded in making his escape from the paper sack, which only confirmed what the three Gryffindors had suspected about Malfoy's fighting abilities all along.

"I suppose we really ought to transform him back," said Harry now. "It's been days."

"No way!" exclaimed Ron.

"Ron's right," said Hermione to Harry. "Malfoy doesn't know the least thing about Muggles. He'd just get in trouble, or even killed. He's safer the way he is so we can keep an eye on him. We can say he's our pet or something. Some people keep ferrets as pets here."

But Harry had already drawn his wand, discreetly so that none of the Muggles surrounding them would see. Grabbing the bag, he turned it upside down over the floor and the ferret was dumped out of the top of it and sprawled disoriented on the floor.

"Finite Incantatum!" said Harry.

Instantly Malfoy was transformed back into himself. His robes and hair were rumpled, bruises covered his pale skin, and he was curled up in what would have to have been an incredibly uncomfortable position.

After a startled moment, he shot to his feet, looking outraged.

"How dare you -" he began loudly.

"Shhh!!" hissed the three Gryffindors at once.

"Keep it down," Hermione urged him. "People are trying to study here. If we make noise, we'll get kicked out."

"My father - " Malfoy began importantly.

"Oh, sod your father," exclaimed Ron in frustration. "That's all you ever talk about is 'my father this' and 'my father that'. You don't hear the rest of us blathering on about our fathers do you?"

There was a pause.

"If I had a father like yours or Granger's I'd keep my mouth shut too," sneered Malfoy. "And isn't Potter's father dead?"

"Right," said Ron decisively. He punched Malfoy in the stomach, knocking him down. Then he jumped on him punching and flailing.

"Right," said Harry and Hermione tiredly. They grabbed Ron and dragged him kicking and struggling off of Malfoy.

Malfoy scrambled to his feet again looking red-faced and even more bruised and tousled than before.

By now many of the Muggle university students around them were staring. A fist fight wasn't something that ordinarily happened in a study lounge. Also, Malfoy was a standout in any crowd, but in this case even more so than usual because he was still wearing wizarding robes. The Gryffindors had removed their robes and stuffed them into their book bags two days before, having had Muggle clothes on underneath as a matter of habit. They hadn't thought to try to find any Muggle clothing for Malfoy however.

Hermione and Harry gathered their things and hustled Ron and Malfoy out of the study room and down a corridor until they came to a quiet spot where nobody could overhear.

"Stop it you two," said Hermione sternly. "We can't afford to get banned from this place. Don't you know how hard it is to find someplace we can stay for free all day and all night without too many people asking questions? Now it's only for a couple more days. If we all work together, maybe we can find out how to get home, and --"

"What did you do to get us stuck here anyway, Weasley?" Malfoy demanded sneeringly. It was clear that after three days stuffed in a paper sack unable to contribute to the situation, he wasn't going to just sit still and shut up. "Whatever it is, it has to have been incredibly stupid, if it's defeated Granger's big head and Potter's accursed good luck."

Ron pointed his wand at Malfoy. "Furrit-"

"Oh stop it," spat the blond Slytherin. "Do you have any idea how many times people have used that tired old curse on me since last year? Why don't I just save you the trouble and turn into a ferret by myself since I have about got it memorized."

"Let's see!" said Hermione with interest, completely distracted from the argument at hand.

"Not on your life Mudblood," hissed Malfoy.

Ron raised his wand again. "Furr -"

"Wait a minute," said Harry, pushing Ron's hand down with a laugh. "How many times have you been turned into a ferret since Moody did it?"

"I lost count after about a hundred and fifty," said Draco, turning his nose up in disdain. "It was weeks before I could even go into the Slytherin Common Room without catching it from all directions. Not to mention every Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff with a weakness for Truth or Dare had to try it at least once."

"Have you done it by yourself though?" asked Hermione avidly.

Malfoy's expression immediately turned wary. "Maybe."

"No," said Ron scornfully. "He's lying. Although why, I can't imagine - why would anyone brag about being able to turn into a ferret-"

Draco bristled. "Forget it. It's none of your business anyway, Weasel."

"That's it," snarled Ron. "Furritus!"

And quick as that, Malfoy was turned into a ferret once again. Before the ferret could run off, Harry caught it around the middle.

"Come on, let's get back so we don't lose our table," said Hermione.

The others agreed, so they quickly sped back to the study room and reclaimed their table and the empty paper bag still lying on the floor beside it. Harry stuffed the ferret back into the bag and carefully folded the top again.

"We were right, admit it," said Ron.

Hermione looked smug.

Harry shook his head. "I guess so. But what are we going to do? We can't just leave him like that forever." He placed the paper sack back in the middle of the table.

"Oh, yes we can," said Ron.

"For the time being," said Hermione firmly. "Just a couple more days."

The ferret inside of the sack shifted about a couple more times, then subsided with a thump and a tiny sigh.

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A/N: Please review this story. Please? Pretty pretty please? Also see my other stories, Blood of Mud, Wing of Bat and Introduction to Auroring. If you'd like to receive an email when this story is updated, please sign up for my announcements mailing list on my home page, www.blast-ended.org .