The Shit Squad - Modern Hogwarts AU

Drabble 10 - A Walk in the Woods

  "My feet hurt."  Claire called from behind the group.
  "There's no wifi out here."  Alice whined from the middle.
  "I'm hungry."  Sam whispered from beneath her scarf.
  "Why did you drag us out here!"  Alice yelled to Preston who was leading the pack with the Marauder's Map in hand.
  "I want to take a break from the same brick corridors and boring classes.  I wanna explore the forest.  Well, at least the part we're allowed to explore."  The Hufflepuff told the group.
  "Well.  I'm just wasting time that I could be binging Steven Universe!"  Alice screamed.
  Preston rolled his eyes and continued along the path, making sure he didn't take his friends on the wrong path and that no professor saw them out there.  It was early in the morning, a little before dawnbreak, and Preston had managed to maneuver through the halls undetected, and bring his friends out into the forest.  The soft wind brushed through the leaves of the tall trees that surrounded the engraved path.  Preston had wanted to take the trail before the first classes began, and before the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher came to take in the beautiful sunrise.
  After half an hour, the group began to appreciate what their friend had done.  Getting them out of the hot and stuffy common rooms and out into the great outdoors.  Sam and Claire began to rub their hands along the lush and moist leaves that lined the trail.
  Alice wasn't impressed.
  "Look!  Why can't we go into the restricted section of the forest!"  She bellowed while pointing to a gigantic fallen tree in the middle of a clearing.  "It looks harmless!"
  "It's off limits for a reason.  Only the professors that have been here for years know what's in the forest.  They tell of dark demons, poisoning pixies, and carnivorous centaurs!"  Preston replied in a dark and oddly sophisticated tone of voice.
  "Uhhh, Preston.  They just lie so that kids will stay out of it.  Maybe that's where teachers go to..."  Alice nudged Preston with high eyebrows and a sinister grin.
  Preston couldn't help but laugh, which gave Alice the perfect opportunity.
  She hopped over the brush that divided the path with the restricted section of the forest, and made a run for the fallen tree.  She sped across the fallen leaves that littered the ground, and put her arms up.
  Preston took notice and ripped his wand out of his robes.  "Accio branch."  He pointed his wand at a branch on the ground.  It flew up to his hand, and he immediately used it to smack the brush out of the way in order to catch up with Alice.  "WAIT UP!"  He called.
  Sam and Claire looked at each other, shrugged, and ran after the two, who were heading to the gigantic tree that had fallen over in the clearing.
  When Preston had jogged to the tree, he found Alice crouched underneath the gargantuan roots of the tree.  He bent over panting for a moment, and he looked back up at Alice, who seemed to have had no effect because of the run she made.
  "I think this looks like an awesome spot to hang out.  We could come here on weekends, for hangouts, and come here all the time!"  She cheered.
  "Yeah...I...think...it...looks...great."  Preston heaved between each breath.
  Sam and Claire didn't follow until about a minute, both of them struggling to breathe.  Alice explained what the exhausted Slytherin and Gryffindor had missed out on.  But they obviously were just tuning in, for they both had blank stares and tired expressions the entire time.
  "Cool.  We'll come here...on weekends.  Let's...go home."  Claire demanded in between breaths.  Alice began getting ready for a run back to the path, but Sam immediately put her arm in the way.
  "Can we walk back...please?"  She cried out from behind the scarf.
  The happy Ravenclaw nodded, and they returned to the path slowly.
  When they approached the castle, the sunlight of an early dawn gleamed across the roofs of the majestic castle.  Preston maneuvered the group back into the castle, avoided professors, and made it to the great hall, just in time for breakfast.

-MA