For Maria Mississippi's The Pets Challenge

The Smallest of the Bunch

"Ooh! They're so cute!"

I couldn't deny that Hermione was right. The little pygmypuffs scrambled around in invisible pens. They were all shades of purple and pink. They ran around stupidly, bumping into the edge of their cage because they couldn't see them.

"That's not very fair," Hermione announced testily. "They should be able to see where they're going!"

"Going to start poop?" I asked. Hermione frowned. "Pygmypuffs Out of Pens. You started spew, didn't you?"

Hermione huffed and muttered something I didn't quite catch. I didn't really mind, though; we would have a real laugh about it later.

The names were taped to the pens, and I looked at each one. I had decided that I wanted one.

"Simon," I read aloud. The name certainly fit.

Simon was the most serious of the bunch. The dark purple pygmypuff sat at the edge of his cage and watched the others bustle about in a vague version of amusement.

Not him I thought, turning to the next cage. Too serious.

The next pygmypuff (a girl) was a sort of light, sherbet pink. She was twirling about, showing off for all the other pygmypuffs. If a pygmypuff could be a diva, this one was it.

"Lyla," I murmured as I read the tag. "No, too… glamorous."

The next one's name was Lava. There was no explaining needed. The pygmypuff was bright red, and, when one of its neighbors got too close, would charge at the cage. The other pygmypuffs would back off, scared.

There was also Bumble (who had an unusual array of stripes) and Polka (who had a lot of little dots). The final one was Bone, who had a mutation and was white. That was the only one I even considered. The others had too much… well, just too much!

Then, I noticed another pen.

If a pygmypuff could cry, this one was. A little, tiny pink pygmypuff sat at the far end of the cage that bordered Lava. Lava would occasionally ram into the little one's cage just to startle him.

"Arnold," I read aloud. It was cute. I reached for it.

Arnold darted away. He was certainly frightened. I let my hand go dead, and little Arnold crept towards it. The other pygmypuffs stopped running around to see why the runt of the litter, the smallest of the bunch, was getting the most attention. Arnold finally hopped into my hand.

"Are you sure you want that one?" asked George.

"It's the smallest of the bunch," Fred put in.

"Arnold's the cutest," I retorted, stroking the little pygmypuff.

"Suit yourself, little sis," George sighed.

"But you get that one for a discount," Fred added.

"Five galleons,"

"Instead of ten."

"That's such a bargain," I said sarcastically.

"It's half off!" Fred exclaimed.

"Well, I'm glad you're talking little Arnold here off our hands," George announced.

"Yeah," Fred agreed. "The other pygmypuffs bully him. Though I was looking forward to finding out if they're cannibals."

"FRED!" I shrieked loudly; so loudly that I startled Arnold. He jumped into Lava's pen.

Lava bared little fangs at Arnold, and Arnold whimpered in reply.

"Happy?" I demanded, scooping Arnold up. "You found out they're cannibals."

"Only joking, sis," George defended. "So, cough it up. Five galleons for little short stuff, here."

I handed George the money, and cuddled the little pygmypuff. He may have been the smallest of the bunch, but he was still the best.