Who: Ginny Weasley & Zoey Rivers What: A week after and Arnold is still missing, but Ginny hasn't given up hope. Where: Courtyard When: 10th October, 1997; 4.30 pm Status: Incomplete/In progress Rating: Most likely only PG.
Seven long days it had been for Ginny to wait for her pet to return. She hadn't given up or lost hope. She continued to search around every inch of the immense castle keeping her ears and eyes open for any sudden movement or sound. She had caught three rats and had returned Neville's toad to him. She found a hair pin, a sugar quill, and a broken ink pellet. She had found things that people thought were lost or things people tried to get rid of. None of those things were the thing she was looking for. She had tried most hallways that were open to students, a fair few of classrooms, through the Great Hall and had made a mess of her dorm and common room which had made a few of her housemates annoyed.
She didn't listen to others as they told her her beloved Pygmy Puff was gone, that something must have happened or that he ran away. She insisted that he was still around, he was just playing a game. A long game that Ginny was growing tired of. She was running out of Pygmy Puff treats as she left them around the castle, attempting to lure out the ball of fluff. She had written to her brothers, asking for advice on how she could possibly get him back. They suggested she either left treats around for her to trap him, or give up. They had also written that it would be easier if Hermione had given her cat, Crookshanks, to Ginny instead of leaving him behind at the Burrow. He would either find the Pygmy Puff (but eventually eat him) or be a replacement pet. Ginny had written back that they should re-think how they thought about their products and not think of them as a joke. Of course they had written back saying that she was stupid and they were only joking with her, that they thought highly of their Pygmy Puffs as there were one of the big sellers at the store, and that if they could think of anything that might help they would write again, but not to get her hopes up.
Ginny was now in the Courtyard, crawling around on the cold stone floor on her hands and knees searching for Arnold. She knew it was a long shot that he might be here, that a predator may have swooped down and grabbed their next meal but those thoughts only made Ginny look even harder. She searched under seats and inside pot plants, finding nothing but dirt and dust. She had felt a few drops of rain but thought nothing of it as she proceeded to crawl around. So consumed in her search with her head down and eyes focused to places that a creature might hide, she hadn't noticed a pair of legs standing to the left of her, until she swept around and knocked her head into their shin. She was slightly stunned and confused as she looked at the shoes. She then fell backwards as she realised she had bumped into somebody. "Sorry," She mumbled, looking up to find a face. "didn't see you."