Only In The Kitchen

CHAPTER 2.

GINNY WEASLEY WOKE UP IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT TO THE SMALL PITTER-PATTER OF HOUSE ELF FEET.

"House elves! At this time?" She muttered groggily to herself as she got up from her bed, careful to not tread on the painting that was given to her for her birthday. 'Wait...' She thought sleepily to herself. "The painting!" She roared, springing to life. She then heard a distinct 'Pop!' of a house elf appearing, and she knew at once — "That bloody house elf has stolen my painting and gone to the kitchen." Ginny raced as fast as she could without disturbing the other students' sleep, all the way to the dorm room exit, then tip-toed all the way to the fat lady painting, exiting the Gryffindor common room.

Another glimpse of the house elf walking along the staircases with her birthday painting made her very, very mad. "OI!" She yelled, sprinting after it and onto the staircase.

Then, in only a second, the staircase Ginny was on swerved sharply to the left and just as she reached for the house elf's arm. She fell over the staircase, clutching a torn piece of cloth. 'Could it be?' She thought to herself. Nope. She nodded glumly as she felt the torn cloth rag from the house elf's apparent 'Butter' wrapper.

Ginny didn't even realize that she was falling until she hit the ground, or should I say — ANOTHER staircase. She didn't know wherether to stay on the stairs or go, but the stairs decided for her. They started to swing hesitantly left, and Ginny knew that she needed to get off this rollercoaster RIGHT NOW. She hopped off the staircase just in time and it swerved awkwardly upwards, almost crashing into another staircase right above her.

All Ginny wanted to do was to get her painting and go back to her warm, soft bed. But of course, NO ONE can always have what they want, especially right when they want it.

The next best thing was food, but OF COURSE she couldn't get food at this time, unless... The Kitchens! But where were the kitchens?

Maybe that house elf could help her, or another one. She saw a glimpse of an oversized ear, with cotton lumps (most likely lint) sticking out of one. She started towards it, but then it disappeared.

"Wait! I won't hurt you! I'd just like a way to the kitchens, if there is any here, please!" She shouted.

A hesitant eye peeked out at her, and then a thin, bony hand grabbed hers, followed by a large 'Pop!' noise just like the one before.

A swirling vortex of blue appeared around her and the elf and Ginny freaked out. Her head stared hurting, and she suddenly regretted even going after the elf in the first place.

All of the sudden, the misty blue space disappeared and they landed back o ground again. It took all the courage Ginny had in her to not throw up from the dizziness. Oh, how she was so dizzy!

The house elf looked at her, and back at a wall, motioning with its head. Ginny looked at the wall so quickly, she cricked her neck.

Hanging on the velvet wall was a painting of a pear, in a bowl of fruits. It looked fairly new, or at least when compared to the rest of the paintings nearby.

She looked over at the elf, unsure of what to do. It just stared back at her with its blank, bulging eyes, doing nothing else.

She murmured quietly. "Uh... Do you have any idea how to open this? If this is even a door?"

The elf instantly raced toward the painting and... well... tickled the pear.

To her surprise, the pear started giggling, or laughing as one might say (but you weren't there, so you wouldn't know the differences between the two).

The hinges (which she now just noticed) on the painting swung open and a bountiful amount of aromas sprang at her.

Monkey bread, Fairy cake, Fruit Salad, Scrambled and sútied egg, Freshly cooked Naan bread, Brandy snaps, Blancmange, Flummery, Liverpool Tart, etc.

She rushed through the enterance and was greeted with lots of stares from house elves... and a giant silver frying pan?