Order Beneath the Façade of Chaos

Ch 3

When love is not madness, it is not love.

~Pedro Calderon de la Barca

All through Christmas break Peeves was an intolerable bundle of energy. Never in all the years that he had graced the halls of Hogwarts did they experience such unvarnished complete chaos. Lovesick and bored nothing would take his mind off that one kiss. In the centuries that he existed, his only kiss. Slowly ticking off the days till Luna, his Luna, came back. However, until she did the tables and benches in the Great Hall were stuck to the walls and ceiling. The entry corridor perpetually had six inches of ice and every evening Peeves could be seen skating across it. To which most of the staff shrugged and eventually joined him. Each incident escalated as the day the student would come back drew near. The day the students were due to return Peeves had played with the plumbing in the staff room's loo. Professor Sprout had to miss a day of class.

Sitting on a chandelier in the entry way, with a handful of chalk, Peeves waited. Soon the students poured in whispering almost cheerfully as they quickly made their way to their common rooms. At this point was their only haven from the Carrows. Soon the mass of children turned into a trickle, until there were no more. And Peeves waited.

It was well in the evening after dinner that he finally moved. Confused and hurt Peeves headed to the Gryffindor tower. He passed through the picture of the Fat Lady then solidified so he could walk into the common room. No need to scare anyone yet, especially when he wanted something. Many of the student's heads turned as they watched the tall red headed man in a violently bright green suit enter. Next to the fireplace sat Soggybottom and his friends. Yes, he would be the one to ask. He is a friend of Loony.

"Where is she," Peeves asked as he flopped on the couch next to Neville. Then Peeves proceeded to stare intently in Neville's eyes while he scooted less than an inch away from Neville. To which Neville stared back in surprise.

"Excuse me." Neville said.

"Where is Luna? I know you are a friend of hers Soggybottom," Peeves' voice cracked as he tried to resist the urge to fling dung bombs all over the common room. No, he needed to be a good Peeves if he wanted the boy to talk to him. I'll short his sheets later, Peeves promised himself.

"Oh," Neville said and looked down at his hands. "I don't know. Not really… There is some talk…"

"What do you mean you don't know?"

"She was…" Neville began to squirm under the sharp eye of a poltergeist that was becoming progressively angrier as the conversation went on. "She was taken. We think she might be in Azkaban but we really don't know."

"Azkaban," Peeves voice dropped to a whisper. The air around him began to crackle as small sparks began to fly out of his hair. At this point Neville got up off the couch and began to back away from Peeves. "Who," his voice bellowed sending a surge of energy strong enough to make all the glass in the room and the windows of the tower shatter. Many of the older students started to herd the younger students up to the dormitories.

Like a light that had been switched on, an understanding quickly swept over Neville all of his anxieties were moot. "Death eaters," was all he said as he picked up his books and headed to the boys dorm. He didn't want to see how Peeves was going to react. The most dangerous place in the world is between a mother and her child; now apparently between Peeves and the object of his affection. The stragglers followed Neville's example and hurried up to their rooms as Peeves stormed out.

Approaching the portrait door, Peeves snapped his fingers and it flew open; much to the loud protest of the fat lady. Storming down the hall the energy flowed off of his solid form, blowing strongly around him. Suits of armor were blown over, windows blew out as he walked by, sconces were blown out and ripped from the walls. He made his way to the headmaster's office. Approaching the gargoyle he made himself transparent to enter but found he still couldn't enter. Growling loud his rage, he pushed all his energy forward blowing the gargoyle to bits then he was able to go up the stairs. When presented with a fine example of English oak, Peeves easily blew it into splinters.

Snape looked up from his paperwork bewildered but wand in hand ready. Peeves stopped at the edge of the desk and leaned forward until he was inches away from Snape's face. That's when he changed form. Peeves eyes went glowing black and his skin molted grey. Making his mouth grow wide like a shark with large sharp teeth, he screamed in an unearthly deep voice, "Bring her back." When he pronounced the k a much larger wave of energy flew out from him. Not just shattering the glass but blowing it apart. Shards of glass rained down on both of them. He stared at Snape waiting for an answer, Peeve felt a bit of sadistic pleasure when he saw a thin line of blood start to trickle out Snape's nose.

"I…" Snape started with a weak voice but stopped and cleared his throat. "I have no idea what you are talking about," Snape while he managed a stronger voice Snape clearly was struggling to keep the stoic demeanor.

Peeves growled as he picked Snape up by the throat and lifted him over the desk, then turned and threw him against one of the stone columns. Snape hit and slid down to the floor. Peeves turned and left him there on the floor moaning.

He wanted his Luna back and he wanted her now. There were two other people in the castle that Peeves was going to hold personally responsible. And they were going to pay.