Chapter Two – Peeves, The Great

"I bet she feels guilty."

Tia stopped. She spun around and saw two students chatting with each other. One, she recognized, was fourth-year Ravenclaw Elsie Simmons, a girl Tia frequently saw browsing through books in the common room. While they acknowledged each other here and there, they never exchanged more than simple, courteous words.

Upon seeing Tia, Elsie stopped.

"Hello, Tia," she greeted, her tone subtly laced with pity. "I'm sorry about your cousin."

"Thanks," was the semi tense reply Tia could manage.

"Do you think it's true?" The fifth-year Hufflepuff, Simon, asked. "The weird creatures, I mean?" Elsie nudged him to which he responded with a quick, "Sorry! I thought that maybe–"

"It could be," Tia interrupted, looking at them squarely in the eyes. The thought had been haunting her since she left the library, curiosity and guilt coming in waves.

"There was supposedly another sighting," Elsie admitted quietly.

"And someone's in the hospital because of it," Simon added.

"Who?" It took Tia by surprise at how fervent she sounded.

Elsie and Simon exchanged a glance before she said, "Violet, the fifth year from Slytherin."

Tia wasn't too surprised. To her knowledge, Violet and Mina had always been close, often being caught together for their crazy shenanigans. According to Roxanne, the teachers had to give them separate detentions as they were "a force to be reckoned with."

"Really? He actually described them as 'a force to be reckoned with?'" Rose had asked, fighting back a smile.

"'Dealing with them separately would be so much easier,'" Roxanne had said, mimicking Professor's Flitwick.

Tia smiled. "He has a point."

"How did it happen?" Tia asked.

Elsie bit her bottom lip before responding. "They… didn't want to believe Mina was really gone. So, they snuck out after hours to the lake to investigate."

"I saw her in the Hospital Wing the other day," Simon added, looking sympathetic. "She looked pretty bad."

"Hey!" Two Gryffindors Tia didn't recognize were waving at them. "You guys coming to lunch or what?"

Elsie turned to Tia and asked, "Do you want to join us?"

"Might take your mind off things," Simon suggested.

Tia shook her head. "Thanks but go ahead."

Simon nodded. "See you around then. Try not to let the rumours get to you."

Elsie gave Tia a sympathetic glance before joining the group. She watched briefly as the two Gryffindors whispered to Simon before giving her a quick glance.

Tia sighed and turned around, her suspicions slightly aroused when she spotted a piece of parchment lying innocuously on the floor.

Curious, she picked it up and read the messy scrawl as the school wall began to open.


"You're late, Rose."

With a swift wave of her wand, a piece of parchment and a quill came flying out of Rose's belongings at her work table at Hogwarts Daily, the student-run school newspaper.

Rose had her necessities in her hand and was about to walk out of the office when she came to a sudden halt as she saw a familiar pink and white quill twirling close to her face.

"You're late, Rose," the tall female Gryffindor repeated haughtily. She glanced at the parchment and quill. "Where are you going?"

"Nowhere," Rose said as politely as she could.

"You do know that you have deadlines to make, right?"

Rose had to look up to face her housemate, Margaret Skeeter, the niece of the infamous Rita Skeeter at the Daily Prophet. "I'm aware. Thanks for your concern."

"So, where are you going?"

"Don't tell me you're going to investigate Case M?" Rose and Margaret turned to their third-year Slytherin colleague, Kenny. There was a quick moment of silence before Kenny added, "It's what we decided to dub the situation now. It's much easier, don't you think?"

Rose turned to Margaret who was habitually twirling her bright pink quill around her slender fingers. "I thought of the name," she said, smiling.

"Great," Rose said sarcastically. Then, "Does it really matter if I'm looking into it or not?"

"If you are, you're doing us all a huge favour."

Rose looked at Margaret skeptically. "In what way?"

"Good luck trying to get to speak to him," Margaret said. "Since the poor boy's really starting to lose it, Madam Pomfrey's not allowing him any visitors."

Kenny nodded rapidly. "I went to try to talk to him earlier today. He almost attacked me!"

"Well," Rose mumbled, "It's worth a shot."

Margaret scoffed loudly. "Sweetie, if I can't get him to talk, you surely have no chance."

Rose was just about to step out the door but spun around and looked Margaret straight in the eyes. "Wanna bet?"


Tia couldn't believe it still existed.

It was supposed to have been destroyed in the Battle of Hogwarts, and no one had spoken of it or seen it since. But there she was, standing in front of a large arched door that led to God-knows-where. What purpose did she have for it? Regardless, she slowly pushed the door open and carefully stepped inside.

The Room of Requirement.

Behind her, the entrance quietly began to merge with the stone walls with only the sound of a lock notifying her of its complete disappearance. The small room was empty, equipped with only a few support pillars one commonly saw around Hogwarts.

"It's like the beginning of a cat-and-mouse game, isn't it?"

Tia spun around, her eyes darting around as the male voice echoed throughout the spacious vicinity.

A low chuckle.

"I wonder which one you'll be."

Tia frowned as the realization dawned upon her. Though she had yet to piece together how this situation came about, she mentally scolded herself for being so foolish.

"Bored, are you?" Tia asked loudly as she stepped further into the room, "Is that why you want to get in on the action like everyone else?"

"Oh, no need to be so rude, my dear. I'm only trying to help."

Tia took a deep breath and turned around, unfazed at seeing a wicked grin on Peeves' face. She took out the note she had slipped into her robe. "What's this about?"

Lucas didn't kill her was the message scrawled across the parchment.

"Are you mad because I'm telling the truth?" Peeves asked, a mock hurt expression on his features.

Tia's gaze hardened. "It was you, wasn't it?" Peeves smiled. "You're the anonymous witness."

"I thought it was only right to be the voice of truth in the noisy world of gossip that's only been getting worse since these creature sightings. I want to do some good for a change."

"Right," Tia said sarcastically. "What do you want?"

Peeves grinned maliciously. "What makes you think I want anything?"

"Enough with the mind games," Tia snapped. "Why tell me what you've already told the entire school?" She took a cautious step towards the poltergeist. "You want something. Whether that's from me or from this situation."

"By establishing that means you're already on board. Otherwise, you would've left it as is." Peeves stroked his chin in mock thoughtfulness. "I thought you weren't interested in your cousin's death. I mean, the two of you never got along well."

"You're right. We didn't. But I don't see how any of that has to do with you."

Peeves was silent for a brief moment. His countenance turned serious for a brief moment. Once Tia blinked, it was gone, replaced by his usual wicked and mischievous grin.

"All I'm saying is Lucas didn't kill her. The poor kid's innocent. But he won't be for very long."

Tia's gaze turned skeptical. "What are you talking about?"

"Let's just say that your cousin's life wasn't the only one he failed to save." The poltergeist took a step towards her to which Tia immediately took a step back. "I could say that there's something dangerous lurking out there, something that'll really get people talking.

"But I'll leave you with this haunting thought: if you don't finish what those lovebirds started, you or your friends may be next."


"I'm sorry, Rose."

"Please, Madam Pomfrey, just five minutes!"

The matron shook her head apologetically before shutting the doors. Rose sighed loudly as she stared angrily at the closed entranceway.

While she wasn't surprised that Madam Pomfrey had refused everyone else, she was rather peeved at her rejection as she had volunteered at the Hospital Wing throughout her Hogwarts years. However, this fuelled Rose's curiosity to dangerous levels as she was never the type to take rejection particularly well.

"Rose?"

The Gryffindor spun around. "Tia? What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to speak to Lucas."

Rose eyed her friend suspiciously. "Why the sudden change?"

Tia sighed. "I'll explain later. But let me guess, you're here for the same reason?"

"Getting to the bottom of Mina's death is one thing, but I'll be damned if I let Margaret Skeeter think she can step all over me." Rose shook her head in disappointment. "I can't believe Madam Pomfrey won't even let me speak to him."

"When there's a will, there's a way."

Rose met Tia's gaze. "What are you thinking?"

"It's like what you told me your mother once said: it's kind of exciting, isn't it? Breaking the rules." Tia's countenance turned serious. "I think I have a plan."

Author's Notes:

Merry / Happy Christmas, everyone! Thanks for reading.