"Where have you been?!"
Molly stood by the river with her hands on her hips, roaring at Bill, George, and Fred.
She and Arthur had just been shouting their names across the river. They had nearly gotten into a boat to search along the river for them.
"We got trapped by a mechanism," Bill said guiltily.
Pomona sneered from the side.
If no one had gone looking for them, those "explorers" might have been trapped there for who knew how long.
"Shall we leave?" Severus leaned close and asked in her ear.
"Wait a little longer. There's no rush," Pomona said casually.
She caught sight of Barnaby, Ben Cooper, and Leeds whispering among themselves again. They were probably getting their stories straight.
Children preferred playing with older children and did not trust adults. That had always been the case, unless the parents could be like Arthur.
"All right, dear, aren't they back now?" Arthur shielded the children as usual.
"They could have run into danger! What if they got hurt?" Molly shouted angrily at him, but Arthur merely nodded perfunctorily.
"She actually didn't say, 'If you'd helped me keep an eye on the children, they wouldn't have been missing for so long,'" Pomona muttered.
"Why would Molly say that?" Severus asked.
"You're grounded," Molly told Bill, George, and Fred. "Until you understand how serious this was!"
Bill did not care much. School would be starting in a few days anyway.
George and Fred let out howls of despair.
"You can't do this, Mum," the twins protested together.
"Thank you." Arthur came over and shook their hands. "Thank you for helping us bring them back."
Severus ignored Arthur's outstretched hand entirely, while Pomona shook it.
"You need to be more careful next time," Pomona said with a smile. "Don't let your