Hogwarts, Assignment 4, Divination, Task #2: Write about a character who's unable to find the source of their problems.
They had been there just a few hours ago, but now they weren't. It was as if they had vanished into thin air. Maybe one of his roommates had taken them. Or perhaps somebody with more sinister intentions had stolen them...
"Hey, Scorpius, have you seen my socks?" Albus asked, straightening up from where he had been crouched at his trunk. He was all dressed in his robes except for his socks, which he could not find anywhere.
His roommate shook his head. "No, I haven't. Are you sure they aren't in your trunk? You probably just skipped over them without thinking. It happens all the time, you know, when you think you've examined something carefully but then the thing you were looking for was right in front of you," Scorpius said, starting to ramble like always.
"I've looked through my trunk seven times already. I don't think I just missed it. Do you think maybe Nott or Zabini took them?" Albus asked, staring at his trunk as if his socks would magically appear where they had been just yesterday.
Scorpius shrugged. "Maybe. They have no reason to mess with you, though. Probably one of the younger Slytherin girls snuck in and stole them."
Albus burst out into laughter. "Why would any younger Slytherin girls ever want anything to do with me?! They don't care about me at all."
Scorpius started to say something, but then just coughed awkwardly before opening up his mouth again. "No idea. They'll show up by the end of the day, hopefully. For now, you can borrow a pair of my socks. I have a few extras!"
"Thanks," Albus said, smiling warmly at his friend. "I certainly hope they show up soon, especially since it's almost wintertime."
He changed into one of Scorpius's pairs of socks, and the two of them headed off for the Great Hall.
His stolen socks had never turned up, of course, and so Albus kept on borrowing Scorpius's socks until Christmastime, when he got his dad to owl him a few new pairs.
However, after Albus thought he had gotten a break in his torment, all of his sweaters mysteriously disappeared on New Year's Day.
"Where the bloody hell could they have gone? And who is the bloody person who keeps stealing all of my bloody clothing?!" Albus exclaimed frustratedly, thwacking his pillow down onto his bed in anger. "And it's not like I can just wear one of my summertime shirts."
Scorpius made his way over from where he had been previously flopped down on his bed and sat down next to Albus. He hesitantly placed his hand on Albus's elbow. "I have a few extra sweaters you can wear until we find who keeps stealing your clothing," he said with a small smile.
Albus grinned slightly. "Thanks, Scorpius. But I still can't grasp why anybody would just keep stealing my clothing, let alone who it was."
His best friend flushed a bright pink with color and Albus almost brushed it off until he connected the dots. "... It was you, Scorpius?!"
Scorpius only blushed even more brightly. "Um... I... no, of course not, why would it be me?" he said, stuttering.
"You just wanted me to wear your clothing, didn't you? You could have just asked me, you know, instead of stealing my clothing. You're a terrible liar," Albus said with a laugh. And then, without even thinking, he planted a kiss on Scorpius's cheek.
Albus hadn't thought that it was possible for Scorpius to become even pinker than he had been, but then he was. "I, um, sorry about that, you can just forget that ever happened..."
"Of course I wouldn't want to forget that," Scorpius said, kissing him right back.
