I want to say, the prank that Fred and George have instigated in this story in no way will truly harm the students it affects. Do I know how late this is? Yes, I do. I am so sorry I got so behind with these stories. I hope you like the story! Also, I plan on writing one long story for the month of December. I'm not sure what fandom I should write it in, so let me know if you have any thoughts. I have a google form link on my tumblr if you want to respond that way! Otherwise let me know in a review!
-owl
Hermione was going to send a howler to the Weasley twins one of these days. And it was not going to sugar coat anything. It would get straight to the point. For example:
FRED AND GEORGE! IF YOU TWO SEND EVEN ONE SINGLE MORE PRANK BOX TO HOGWARTS, I WILL TELL YOUR MOTHER. THE COSTUMES WERE BAD ENOUGH, BUT THE BOX THAT ONE OF YOUR SIBLINGS — I'M GUESSING GINNY — SET OFF LAST WEEK THAT HAD THE BLAST-ENDED SKREWTS ON SPRINGS WAS TOO MUCH.
NOW, TODAY, WHATEVER YOU TWO SENT TO BE TRIGGERED THAT PRODUCED A GAS THAT WHEN IT CAME IN CONTACT WITH ANYONE IN FIRST THROUGH FOURTH OR SEVENTH YEAR, IT TRANSFORMED THEM INTO A BLOODY GARDEN GNOME HAS GOTTEN ME TO MY LIMIT! THIS HAD BETTER BE RESOLVED EASILY, BECAUSE OTHERWISE, YOU WON'T NEED TO WORRY ABOUT YOUR MOTHER, YOU'LL NEED TO WORRY ABOUT ME. AND! HEAVEN FORBID ANOTHER PRANK BOX COMES INTO THIS SCHOOL WHILE I AM STILL AT HOGWARTS.
"What are you thinking about?" Draco asked her, breaking up her thoughts.
Hermione glowered. "I'm going to kill the Weasley twins for this. Why did they have to be so… I don't know, chaotic with their pranks. When I went to primary school, sometimes there would be a prank, but never something this mean."
Draco nodded. "I guess that makes sense. I'm annoyed with them because of the extra work this whole thing has given us."
Right, that was the other thing about the pranks, the prefects had to do damage control. Hermione and Draco had been paired together and sent to find any wayward student-gnomes that might have run into the forest. And of course it was damn near the middle of the night at that point, so the only light they had was from their wands.
The wind whistled around them, chilling Hermione and blowing her hair into her face, restricting her vision. Because of that, she tripped on a tree root. She fell into Draco's arms.
Draco's face betrayed his surprise, either at Hermione falling or him being able to catch her so easily. "Try not to get hurt before we even get into the forest, please."
She sighed and responded dryly. "So do I."
He laughed as they reached the edge of the forest. "So, are we thinking divide and conquer?"
Hermione shook her head. "That is a horrible idea. Need I remind you of our first year, in detention? Or what about the time Harry and I nearly got the centaurs to kill Umbridge?"
Draco raised his hands up in surrender. "Ok, ok. We'll stay together. Do you have a plan, then? What would be the most efficient way to search the forest?"
"I'm not sure, I hope the spell has worn off by now, and the only reason the students haven't returned to the castle is because they've gotten lost. I also think that most people understand the concept of staying in one place when lost so as to not get even more lost."
"And how are we not going to get lost?"
"I found a spell that will help us retrace our steps."
Draco sighed, but nodded and the pair took the plunge into the forest, rather than skirting around it. "Fine, but if we do get lost, I'm blaming you."
As soon as they had passed the first few trees, it got a lot darker. Bushes and low-hanging branches loomed in front of them, barely visible. The wind made the tree branches of the canopy rattle and sway against each other.
"I've never noticed how creepy the trees are," Hermione commented, carefully stepping over a root so she didn't trip.
Draco didn't get the chance to respond before they heard a crying noise to the left of the path they were following.
They immediately left the path and followed the sound to a tiny clearing, barely as big as the boats the first-years used to cross the lake. Near one side, leaning against a tree trunk was a tiny terrified first or second year girl, crying.
Herminoe approached her quickly. "What's wrong, love?" She asked, gently pulling the girl into her arms.
"The mist got me. Then I was tiny, and I had to get away from everyone," the girl sobbed.
"How long ago did you… 'get big' again?" Draco asked.
"A while ago, but I didn't move from this spot. Momma always says to stay put when I get lost." Then, as an afterthought she added, "I get lost a lot."
"You did a good job, and now we've found you, so you don't need to be worried." Hermione stood up, holding the child against her hip. Her mind was racing. This girl had to be in first year, she was even smaller than Hermione had originally thought, seeing as she could hold the girl on her own. She was also warring with herself about how she wanted to proceed. As she turned to ask Draco a question, the girl sighed and Hermione looked down to see she had fallen asleep.
Draco's eyes were wide as he spoke. "Well, that was fast. Who do you think she is?"
Hermione replied in as soft a voice as she could, as to not wake the sleeping child. "I've never seen her around, and her tie is quite caked in mud, so I'm not even sure of her house. I'm more worried about how we're going to continue looking for others, having her with us."
"Let me take her back to the castle," a voice said from behind them.
Hermione and Draco turned around to see Firenze, the centaur divination teacher standing half in the bushes.
"You two keep looking for the children, I fear if they see me, they'll get scared and run. But, this child isn't likely to wake, so I don't think that'll be an issue."
Hermione looked at Draco, who nodded. "Ok," she said, carefully handing the girl over to the centaur.
"I'll take good care of her," he said as he turned around and began heading back towards the castle.
Once he was out of sight, Draco and Hermione returned to searching through the spooky trees for more wayward children.
