Hello readers!
This is hardly my favourite chapter, but I'm planning long-term at the moment. Next chapter will be full of confrontations and near-confrontations. I will then introduce the last of the Marauders.
Roma Lupin = Remus Lupin
Alex Fawley = Alice Fawley (I'm not sure what Neville Longbottom's mother's maiden name was)
Juno Filch = Argus Filch
Thank you everyone who spent the time and reviewed, read, followed or favourited this story!
Hogwarts was a truly magical place - in every sense of the word.
Gracie was amazed by the amount of stairs, doors and passageways which would either move, become invisible or actually be a solid wall in disguise. The castle was a labyrinth which she constantly found herself lost in. This was most definitely a good thing, as a gave her places to hide.
Life had been difficult for Gracie, ever since she was sorted into Slytherin. Word had spread about her father's deeds and Gracie was horrified that most of the students in her year actually approved of his actions. They all expected her to start spewing the same pureblood nonsense as the rest of them and when she didn't, they simply put it down to her being a "filthy halfblood". Gracie avoided the dungeons whenever she could.
Unfortunately, Slytherins weren't very welcome outside of the dungeons. With the rumours of the so-called "Death Eaters" and the obvious support they were getting from Slytherin House, the other Houses were even less welcoming than usual. Most snakes only left the dungeons in groups, for protection, while Gracie resorted to finding new places to hide.
However, the worst thing about going to Hogwarts was that she didn't get to hang out with Rowan. Whenever a Gryffindor and Slytherin wanted to talk by themselves, their housemates would often interrupt, as if thinking they would rip each other's heads off if they spent more than two minutes in private. Trying to talk to Rowan had made Gracie even more unpopular in Slytherin House and it made her ache inside whenever she saw Rowan with his new Gryffindor friends.
Gracie hid in a corner and pulled out her potions textbook. If she was going to hide, then she should at least do something useful with her time.
Rowan sat between the golden hangings of the boys dormitory, wand in hand. Books and laundry were scattered across the floor, overflowing from the boys' trunks. It was dark outside the tower, but Rowan found that he couldn't sleep.
He hadn't heard a single word from Hawthorne since he had arrived at Hogwarts. Fine, Rowan thought. I wouldn't read anything he sent me anyway, unless it was an apology for being so jealous...
Hating to admit that his brother's silence was getting to him, Rowan concentrated at the task at hand. Glancing down at the book in his lap, Rowan practised the wand movement yet again. He thought he had it now, maybe he could practise the incantation? Rowan shook his head, it would be stupid to practise magic unsupervised. But he was fairly sure he knew what he was doing now...
Rowan sighed as he gave into temptation. Maybe it was time to give into his Gryffindor recklessness.
"Wingardium Leviosa!" Rowan's voice echoed around the silent room.
The dirty sock Rowan had pointed his wand at did nothing. He wrinkled his nose in disgust - trust Alex's socks to be so smelly they were magic-resistant. Taking a deep breath, (those socks really did smell) Rowan tried again.
"Wingardium Leviosa!"
This time the offending item rose a couple of inches, before sinking back down to the floor. Rowan felt a smile play across his lips, knowing he was going to outperform everyone else in Charms tomorrow morning.
Alex grunted and rolled over in his sleep.
While Rowan was practising levitating his dorm-mate's smelly laundry, Jane had much bigger fish to fry. Scurrying down the moving staircases, Jane and Spica ran from Filch. If they were caught, it would mean detention for sure. Dashing through another corridor, Jane wheezed trying to find her way back to the Fat Lady's portrait. Filch had spotted them when they were on their way back from the Owlry.
Pushing open yet another door, Jane wondered if she would have to do much more running if she was to fulfil her ambition of becoming the finest prankster Hogwarts had ever seen. Judging by the distance she and Spica had travelled just to get away from Filch, the answer was a lot more. She had only attempted a few pranks so far and this was her biggest yet, so she was determined not to get caught.
Finally reaching the entrance to the Gryffindor common room, the two first years skidded to a stop, grasping for breath and relieved to have reached safety. Only, the Fat Lady had gone on a midnight stroll, leaving the two girls stranded with Filch on the warpath.
"We're doomed aren't we?" Spica said.
Jane shook her head. "There has to be somewhere we could go... Come on, let's keep moving, we can't let Filch find us!"
Rowan grinned, eyes drooping as he now attempted sleep. He had finally mastered the levitation charm, so after a silent celebration, he had crept back into bed. In his tired state, Alex's snoring started to sound rhythmic and soothing and less like a mini-earthquake.
Dazed, Rowan was about to close the hangings around his bed, when he caught sight of a light outside his window. Appreciating the view, Rowan decided to leave the hangings open and he fell asleep under the light of a full moon, oblivious to what was going on outside...
The pair of pranksters took off again. Through cobwebbed corridors, down the moving staircases and past the rude portraits. Yet still, they could hear Filch in the distance.
"Any ideas?" Jane asked.
Spica shook her head. "Although... wait a minute!"
Jane looked at Spica like she was crazy. "I'm not going to wait a minute - Filch will be here any second!"
Spica grabbed her hand and pulled her down another corridor. "I think it's this way."
If Jane had thought all was lost before, she well and truly thought so now. They had barely been in the castle a week and would get lost at every turn. Spica, however, was worse than most and had an awful sense of direction. Jane swore she had to draw her a map just to get to breakfast on time.
Just as Jane reckoned they were going to get caught, Spica opened a door to reveal a row of beds. They could hear the meowing of Filch's cat, but otherwise the hospital wing was silent.
Spica leapt onto one of the beds. "Quick, draw the curtains around you!" She hissed.
Promptly, Jane did as she was told and no sooner had she pulled the curtains to, Filch's voice could be heard throughout the ward.
"Where'd they go, my precious?"
Her only reply was a small meow.
"Alright, then." They heard Filch's shuffling footsteps move away from the door to the Hospital Wing.
Jane pulled the curtain away from the bed. "That was a brilliant idea, Spica! I thought we were going to be serving detention when Filch discovered those streamers!"
"I remembered that one of the girls in our dorm was feeling ill, so I thought that even if Filch did catch us we could just claim to be visiting her." Spica held a smug smile, no doubt because she had actually remembered where something was inside the school.
"Bloody brilliant, Spica." Jane glanced around at the surrounding beds, seeing them all unoccupied. The full moon provided enough light to see by and it flooded through the windows. "But where is she?"
"Who?" Spica asked, who was already trying to decide whether they should try again to get up to the Fat Lady's portrait or if they should just spend the night on one of the beds here.
"Roma, the girl who was feeling really ill today." Jane checked the moonlit beds again. "She isn't here."
Spica shrugged. "Maybe she felt well enough to go back to the dormitories. We'll ask her in the morning."
Before Jane could answer her, she heard Spica's snores from the bed next to her. A distant howl could be heard, most likely from the forbidden forest. It was going to be a long night.
Sorry this chapter wasn't the most exciting, but it is kind of necessary for the following chapters.
Jane has caught the first clue to Roma's secret, while also gaining confidence with her pranking. Rowan is completely unaware of what is going on elsewhere in the castle, while Gracie is struggling to make new friends. Meanwhile, Hawthorne has been conspicuously quiet...