Chapter Twenty-Eight

                                    

                                          
"Alright you two, turn around and busy yourself with those plants and potions for a minute." 
"Natty, what have you done?"
"Just turn around!"
I took Poppy's arm and turned her around, pointing at some mallowsweet while I started up a new batch of wiggenweld. We exchanged looks a few times and I know both of us were fighting inwardly not to just turn and ruin said surprise. 
Poppy plucked a few dead leaves off of the plant she was tending before half turning her face toward me, her cheeks pink. "Oh. Elena, while I have you here, I remembered something I've forgotten to tell you in all the latest excitement. I started seeing-"
"Alright ladies, turn around!"
Poppy went red in the face and whispered. "I'll tell you later."
Three mannequins sat before us, wearing identical dueling outfits. But their bodices and overcoats were different colors. 
Red for Natty.
Yellow for Poppy.
Green for me.
"Natty! What...?What did you do?"
She merely laughed, bouncing on the balls of her feet, so terribly excited it was hard for the feeling not to catch. "I feel like the Three Musketeers. Aren't they amazing? Sirona told me Mr. Hill nearly shut down the shop just so he could make them."
Poppy and I had two very different reactions.
"Wait. Hold on. Both of them know what we're doing?"
"...Who are the Three Musketeers?"
Natty laughed. "I forgot you don't really read any muggle books, Poppy. And yes, Elena. They know. Sirona has managed to get a hold of a few people at the Ministry that aren't as easily bribed like Harlow would have us believe, so they're trying to help but it's moving slow. Said she doesn't want to put something like this on students but we're the only ones helping so she doesn't feel like she has much choice and wants to help if she can. So...she made sure we were outfitted accordingly."
"Well..."
Natty suddenly looked a little nervous. "Do you not like them, Elena?"
I laughed. "They're wonderful. But we need to hurry up and change or we're going to miss the poachers."
~~~
In what seemed like no time flat, we were moving through brush and mud, trying to keep as quiet as possible, though that was easier said than done with the squishing and popping sounds our boots made as they were sucked into the ground before being pulled free again by our steps. 
"Who decided it was a good idea to move Diricawls through a bog like this?"
"It makes sense, really. Who's going to want to follow you? And there's technically a road, we're just not on it."
"If I see any toads, I'm leaving. Immediately."
I laughed a little. "Poppy. Of all things, toads are where you draw the line?" 
"Listen. You try getting rid of the warts those things give you. I was at St Mungo's for a week. Not again, no thanks." 
"Ladies. Not to interrupt your absolutely thrilling discussion of toad related illnesses, but...Don't you think we should have run into them by now? Heard something, caught the light of a lantern, anything? Not to mention, Diricawls aren't exactly quiet when they're stressed."
"...You're right. We didn't get turned around, did we?"
"We were talking an awful lot."
"But we're right on course."