So this is the same as my last chapter - a pre-written one. This story is still on hiatus :(
Chapter 5
Every one of our grins falls, and Xinia goes pale.
"No, Ciena, please. You can't make me do that," she begs dramatically. "You can't!"
"I can, and I am," Ciena laughs.
I shake my head, not annoyed, just surprised.
"Harsh," I sigh. "Where did this rebellious Ciena come from?"
"Oh, I'm not being rebellious. You guys are," Ciena shrugs, flipping her short red hair.
"What's the time?" Xander asks suddenly.
I glance at my watch.
"Quarter past eleven," I tell him. "Why?"
"Damn," he curses. "It's not even close to our curfew. We could have gotten off alright if it were earlier."
"Ha! If we're getting in trouble, so are you," Xinia smiles, obviously feeling a little better about the dare.
"Damnit, why did we agree to play this?" Wyrene mutters to Jason.
I grin.
"So what are we doing?"
Everyone groans at my evident enthusiasm, except for Anica.
"We should do it around...Lupin's quarters. He'll be the nicest. We won't get in as much trouble," she suggests.
"I wanna go first. That way, I can go straight to my dorm," Xinia pipes in.
I look at her in suspicion.
"You just want to bluff your way out of trouble," I decide.
She shrugs.
"That, and as more people go, the more obvious it will be we're up to something."
"Awesome. Dibs on going last," I grin.
"Me too," George challenges. "We'll go together. See who can cause the most trouble."
"You're on."
Xinia sighs and then gets up.
"How do I deliberately get in trouble?" she asks, looking a little worried.
"Just make a bunch of noise. Scream maybe," Anica suggests.
"While you decide, I'm going to bed," Ciena announces. "I don't want to be around when you get in trouble."
She leaves the room with a warning that if we don't all get detentions, there'll be hell to pay.
One by one, we sneak out of the room and hide behind some statues around Lupin's quarters. Xinia takes a deep breath before walking out. She looks around the empty corridor helplessly before starting.
"Ahh, Ahh," she says unenthusiastically.
"Louder," I hiss.
She glares at me.
"Ahh," she says a little louder. "AHH!" She practically screams that one.
She keeps screaming and shouting, and it doesn't take long for someone to come out. I have to stifle a cackle when I see who it is, though. Weasley.
"Miss Ren, what is the meaning of this?" she demands.
Xinia doesn't answer. Instead, she shouts a bit more without looking at the older woman. I watch her in confusion. What is she doing? Weasley seems confused, as well.
"Miss Ren!" she says, louder this time.
Xinia suddenly jolts and looks around, seeming confused.
"Professor Weasley? What's going on?" she asks with furrowed eyebrows.
"I believe I should be asking you, Miss Ren," Weasley answers sternly. "Why were you screaming and shouting?"
"I was?" confusion is evident in her voice.
I glance at Anica and everyone else, all of whom look confused.
"What's she doing?" Anica hisses at me.
I shrug, watching the two Ravenclaws in front of us.
"Oh, I'm so sorry, Professor, I didn't realise," Xinia apologises. "You see, I have a problem with sleep-walking. Sleep-talking too apparently. I'm so sorry."
I stare at her in amazement, shaking my head. That little…
"Very well. Please return to your dormitory Miss Ren," Weasley says after a moment.
I clench my teeth to stop a protest. Xinia nods and walks off, sending a smirk our way when Weasley can't see her anymore. Weasley takes a quick look around before shaking her head and walking back into the office.
"That git!" Xander bursts out angrily once the door is closed.
Several of us, including me, shush him.
"She didn't do it properly! She was supposed to get a detention!" Xander continues, a little quieter this time.
"I mean the only condition was to get in trouble after curfew deliberately," Jason points out. "Ciena only said she wanted us to have detention. It wasn't required."
"That little git," I curse under my breath. "No one else gets to do that," I declare, looking around at the group.
"Why not?" several people ask.
I glare at them.
"Because A, it's cheating, and B, you'll have hell to pay if you don't. I kind of pity Xinia when she tells Ciena she doesn't have a detention."
They stay silent for a moment before agreeing.
"Okay, who's next?" George asks excitedly.
"We'll go," Wyrene says, indicating her and her friends.
"Okay, hurry up," Xandler pushes her away.
She calls him a fair few unflattering names before emerging into the corridor. The four older Slytherins whisper for a moment before starting. One of the girls suddenly lets out a loud laugh, followed by the other three.
"Good one Yorka," Wyrene calls loudly.
"No teacher's gonna catch us out after curfew!" one of the others yells.
"What the hell is going on?" I hear Weasley complain from inside.
She comes back out the door, clearly annoyed.
"You Slytherins better give me a good explanation."
"Wyrene made us do it!" Yorka yelps.
Wyrene doesn't even look bothered by being thrown under the bus.
"Are you serious? It was your idea, Yorka!" one of the girls laughs.
In seconds they are in a full-on argument, throwing insults and curses at each other until the professor interrupts.
"Girls. Girls! Just go to bed, please!" Weasley calls over them, pinching the bridge of her nose. "And five points each!"
They then just start to laugh, some even falling to the ground.
"B-but, what about m-me Professor?" Jason cackles. "I'm not a g-girl!"
"Fine! You all have detention with me tomorrow. Now get to your dorms before I take more points and give you all another detention."
They all quickly shut up, walking away with their heads down. Weasley turns and walks back into the room with an audible sigh.
"Who's next?" I ask with a wide grin.
Xander, Xandler and Bailey all volunteer to go, leaving Dylan, Nick, George, Anica and I still hidden.
"You think they'll figure it out yet?" George asks as the older boys prepare themselves.
"Surely," I answer. "They're not that dumb."
"We've still yet to see Lupin," Anica points out.
"Yeah. Maybe George and I can drag him out," I grin.
The four of them roll their eyes. George goes to say something but is interrupted by Bailey.
"Ow! Xander! Why the hell did you do that?" he cries from his place next to Wealsye and Lupin's door.
"Me? It was him!" Xander shouts, pointing at Xandler.
"I didn't punch him!" Xandler retorts loudly.
"Guys, shut up! That's Lupin's office!" Bailey interrupts.
"Poor Hufflepuff doesn't want to get in trouble!" the boys shriek in unison.
I vaguely wonder if they've said something like that before or if they figured it out beforehand.
"OW!" Bailey yells, even though no one had hit him. "Stop it! Xandler! Get off!"
Xander and Xandler were chuckling as Bailey called out random things.
"POOR HUFFLEPUFF!" Xander shouts, eyeing the office door and I catch on to what they were doing.
They were trying to get Lupin to surface.
"WEAK HUFFLEPUFF!" Xandler mocks, a smirk evident on his face.
"Excuse you," I suddenly hear, before the door opens to reveal Lupin.
Bailey's shoulders shake with suppressed laughter as Xander and Xandler act afraid.
"Sorry Professor!" Xandler says.
He adds a small 's' when Weasley appears.
"You lot should be in your common room or dorm!" she scolds him.
"We're doing our Prefect duties?" Xander phrases it more like a question than a statement.
"Xandler I don't want your excuses," Weasley says sternly.
"He's not Xand-" Bailey gets cut off.
"You're an idiot!" Xander says gleefully, taking advantage of Weasley's mix-up of their names.
"Xandler that is very inappropriate!" Weasley doesn't realise her mistake.
"Hey!" Xandler complains. "I hate you, Professor!" to get back at Xander.
"Xander!" Weasley admonishes, again mixing the two boys up.
I can see Anica trying very hard to hold off her laughter.
"I don't understand," Dylan whispers in confusion.
The squabble continues for a moment before Lupin eventually takes pity on his wife.
"Mr's Ren and Muply, ten points each and Mr Muply, detention for being out after curfew," he says tiredly. "Oh, and five points Mr Dinnick for disrupting us."
"Why don't they get one?" Xandler complains, pointing to Bailey and Xander.
"Cause, dummy, we're Prefects," Bailey laughs. "We're allowed out. You're not!"
"Fudge Nuggets!"
"Good night!" Lupin announces before swiftly closing the door.
The boys high-five each other before sending us thumbs-up's and then disappearing.
As Anica, Dylan and Nick get ready to go next, I hear the couple murmuring inside their quarters.
"Who'll be next, do you think?" Weasley whispers.
"Not sure. Either the second year boys or the girls, that's for sure. I don't think anyone else is behind the statues," Lupin answers.
"They so know," I chuckle to George.
He smirks.
"Why didn't you tell me the two of you were dating?!" Anica suddenly screeches at the boys next to the door.
"WE ARE NOT!" they yell in sync.
"Then why are you both naked in the dark?"
"Anica!" Dylan whisper-shouts as she cackles.
"I'm sorry for pointing out the obvious!"
"Are you blind, woman?" Nick shouts.
"Do you know a spell for removing their clothes?" George whispers to me conspiratorially.
"If I did you reckon they'd still have clothes on?" I answer.
"Ah, my eyes!" Anica cries. "My eyes! Oh, my poor eyes! I'm scarred for life! I'll never be the same again! Ahh!"
It takes everything I have not to fall on the floor cackling. Just then, the door opens to reveal an exasperated Lupin and Weasley.
"Ten points from all three of you," Lupin says. "Detention tomorrow afternoon after Miss Wore's with Professor Malfoy. Please tell the rest of your friends the same thing."
"What friends?" Dylan asks, feigning confusion.
Lupin levels his stare at him.
"You know which ones," Lupin answers.
"I believe Miss Ren should also visit us tomorrow afternoon," Weasley directs the statement at Anica, who laughs but quickly tries to hide it.
"Back to your dormitories now," Lupin says, shooing them away.
This time, however, the couple doesn't close the door.
"Does anyone else want to make an appearance tonight?" Lupin calls out with a raised eyebrow.
I glance at George, who shakes his head slightly. I grin. Instead of staying put, however, I move away through the shadows, making sure to keep myself hidden. Smartly, George doesn't make any noise, but he glares at me, gesturing for me to come back. I shake my head, poking my tongue out with a grin.
Since George had declared war, I had been planning how this would go. Now I was putting it into action. Quickly yet quietly, I cast a few charms on myself and some certain objects before morphing my hair bright pink and matching robes on. I then grabbed a sword from one of the statues, silencing its protests, before grinning.
"Game time."
I let out a yell before charging into the hallway Lupin and Weasley had just been about to close their door on. Immediately, it opened wide, and the couple looked out expectantly. I ignored them, instead heading for George's hiding place.
"You git!" I yell, pointing my sword at him, looking positively enraged. "Take the spell off. Reverse whatever the hell you did!"
George's eyes widen at my bright appearance before he glares at me.
"I didn't do anything!" he yells back, taking the sword from the statue he was hiding behind. "You set me up!"
"You think I voluntarily made myself look like a barbie doll?"
"I don't know what a barbie doll is you arse!"
"This!" I gesture towards my attire, holding off a smirk as his eyes darken.
"Mr Jones. Miss Dinnick!" Lupin calls.
I freeze, making sure my expression looks scared. Slowly, I turn to him, morphing myself into a Prefect as I do.
"Who?" I ask stupidly, dropping the sword.
"Don't you dare try to get out of this Gena!" George threatens.
"Who the hell is Gena?" I reply. "Get back to bed!"
George rolls his eyes but manages to retain his angry expression.
"You go back to bed!"
"How dare you talk to a Prefect like that?"
"Oh sod off, everyone saw you morph!"
"Miss Dinnick!" Weasley says sternly.
"For the love of Merlin, who is that?" I cry, turning back to the Professors.
For effect, I morph into a different Prefect, acting like it's completely normal and not at all disproving my claims.
"I'm, uh," I glance down at myself. "I'm the fifth-year Ravenclaw Prefect!"
I was desperately fighting back a smile at everyone's exasperated looks.
"Miss Dinnick, how many times have I asked you not to use a Prefect?" Lupin asks.
"Prefect? What are you talking about?" I ask, morphing myself again. "Bailey and Xander are the Prefects, not me," I had assumed Xandler's body. "Oh, hey, George. What's with the sword?"
George looks at his hand in confusion before tossing it away with an impatient huff. Lupin closes his eyes briefly, and Weasley takes a deep breath. This time I don't stop a smile as I morph into Nick.
"Oh, damn. How did I get back here?" I act stupid. "My small, stupid brain doesn't understand."
Despite himself, George laughs, and I grin, morphing into Ciena.
"George! What are you doing out of bed? You're going to get in so much trouble! Oh, hi, Professors. I apologise for George. He often does stupid and reckless things without thinking them through."
George swats my arm, sending me a glare. Lupin stares unamusedly at me.
"At this rate you've got three detentions lined up and fifteen points. Would you like to make it more?" he asks.
I suddenly grin before morphing into Lupin and shouting.
"IMPOSTER!" I yell, pointing at Lupin.
However, George had also leapt into action upon Lupin's question.
"Three detentions?" he stops and looks at me with exasperation before continuing. "Why don't I get that? I deserve at least five. And thirty points! Why does she get more than me? That's so unfair!"
"Mr Jones!" I cry, still looking like Lupin. "Why would you ever want that? You're the perfect student! Fifty points to Gryffindor!"
"Stay out of this Gena. I'll fight you if I have to!" he growls.
I scoop up both of the dropped swords, levelling them at George and morphing into Xinia as I do. He lunges at me and grabs my arm, causing me to drop one of the swords. He grabs it out of the air and points it at me.
"You wouldn't hurt a girl, would you?" I pout.
He just jabs at me, and I have to jump out of the way. I jab at him and we 'fight' while Lupin and Weasley try to stop us. We ignore them, 'swiping' and 'cutting' each other as we move back and forth across the hallway. I had since morphed back into my usual look, so I didn't feel awkward as we fought. At one point George pointed the sword at my chest, indicating he would have stabbed me was this a serious fight, but I just swat him away and swipe at his legs.
"Cheater!" he cries.
"That's what you get for calling me a stupid Hufflepuff!" I laugh maniacally.
"I take offence to that," I hear Lupin declare quietly, but I ignore him.
"Oh, this is stupid!" Weasley huffs, and before I can register what she's doing, suddenly both George and I are levitating upside down.
I quickly morph my robes away into a t-shirt and jeans, so they don't fly down over my head. Our swords drop from the unexpected jolt, and I feel the blood rushing to my head.
"Both of you will join your friends tomorrow afternoon for detention," Weasley declares. "And the next four days after that. Thirty points each!"
"Oh, come on!" I complain.
"Another five from Slytherin!" Lupin says sharply.
"Yes," I cheer under my breath.
George protests.
"Hey, no! Take the points from me!"
Weasley opens her mouth to scold him but then closes it abruptly.
"Seriously?" she exclaims after a moment. "You two are competing for who can get in the most trouble?"
George and I exchange slightly guilty looks, as best as we can from upside down.
"Honestly, it's not even the second day back!" Lupin sighs.
Despite myself, I grin.
"Well, I've gotta make a reputation for myself," I laugh.
"I think you handled that fine when you pulled that stunt last year," Weasley grunts, albeit sounding slightly amused.
"Don't forget this morning!" George pipes in. "I'm amazed that everyone in the Hall was paying attention."
"Well, it was a bit hard to ignore the Howler," Lupin comments dryly.
As I laugh, I feel the blood in my head start to hurt.
"Don't 'spose you could let us down now?" I ask nicely.
Weasley rolls her eyes but flicks her wand, and I sigh in gratitude as my blood returns to my toes. I quickly check to make sure I've morphed everything back to look like my usual self before turning to the Professors.
"Will that be all?"
Lupin and Weasley glance at each other before sighing.
"Yes. Go on now," Lupin huffs.
I grin before linking arms with George and turning to walk away. Before we turn the corner, I call out.
"Sorry for all the disturbances!"
George laughs.
"I so won by the way," I inform him.
He stops, and so do I.
"You did not!"
"I did. I got the extra points at the end."
He opens his mouth and then shuts it.
"Damnit," suddenly, he pulls away from me, doubling back the way we had come from.
"No, George, what are you doing?" I yell, racing after him. "George!"
He ignores me, coming to a stop in front of Lupin's door. He bangs on it desperately, pushing my attempts to pull him off away.
"Lupin! Weasley! I know you can hear me!" George shouts. "Open the door!"
"Please," I add sarcastically, glaring at George. "So rude."
He rolls his eyes as the door opens to reveal a furious looking Professor Weasley.
"Congratulations," I drawl at George. "You've managed to piss her off!"
"Language!" I hear Lupin scold from inside.
"Honestly, Mr Jones! You know what?! Neither of you has detentions, and I'm only taking an equal amount of 20 points each! GOOD NIGHT!" Weasley says sternly.
"Wait! No detentions?" I interrupt. "That's not fair! We're not allowed to leave without them!"
"I SAID GOODNIGHT!" she yells, slamming the door.
I glance at George.
"We can't leave without getting at least one!" I cry, fully aware both of the Professors can hear me. "What can we do?"
"You can leave!" Lupin calls out.
I ignore him, looking at George. His face pales.
"We can try a different professor," he suggests.
"Sounds great, now leave!" Lupin answers for me.
"Stop listening! This is a private conversation!" I call back.
"Outside of my quarters at midnight!"
"Is it midnight?" I ask, sidetracked, glancing at my watch. "Huh."
"This is your last warning!" Lupin calls out, and I hear a bit of scuffling and a grunted, "Ow! Vic!"
I give the door a confused look before shrugging it off.
"So what do you think?" George asks. "Should we try a different professor?"
"Well, it depends," I answer. "Who won't give us lifelong detentions?"
He bites his lip in thought.
"Uh," he glances at me with a helpless look.
I sigh. Just as I open my mouth to say something, we're interrupted.
"OH FOR THE LOVE OF MERLIN! DETENTION! TOMORROW! NOW LEAVE!"
I grin at George.
"Thanks, Professor Weasley!" I call out before grabbing George's arm. "Now let's run!"
We sprint down the hallway and through the school, using shortcuts and hidden pathways to stay out of sight. When we finally come to the turnoff for Gryffindor Tower, we come to a stop.
"I'll see you tomorrow?" George asks, panting slightly.
I grin.
"See ya."
He walks off, and I set off towards the dungeons. When I say the password to get into the Common Room, I walk inside with the intent to head to my dormitory. Unfortunately, I'm stopped by the waiting Prefects. I cut off their scolding as I walk towards the dormitories.
"Save it!" I say. "I've already got detention and points taken and no doubt Malfoy will know I've been out by tomorrow morning."
With that, I leave the Prefects looking astounded and walk into my dormitory. I see Anica waiting up with a grin.
"How'd it go?" she asks.
I settle into my bed with a grin and tell her everything. Eventually, we drift off in the early hours of the morning.
September 3, Wednesday
"Oi!" Anica whispers. "Wake up!"
"What?" I groan.
"You have to come! Quickly!"
"What time is it?"
"Seven. So get up!"
I quickly morphed into my robes before following Anica up to the common room.
"What is it?" I ask wiping the sleep out of my eyes.
She pulls me out of the common room and to the Great Hall where I see Xinia, Ciena, George, Nick and Dylan sitting along with some other Ravenclaws.
"What's going on?"
"Ciena took that 'hell' thing to heart."
As we walk closer, I can hear someone crying and yelling, and I soon realise it's Xinia.
"What happened?" I ask a little worriedly.
Xinia quickly turns around, taking off the towel covering her head.
"Oh, my God!"
I do my best to hide a laugh, but I end up massively failing. I double over with laughter as Xinia glares at me, more tears rolling down her face. When I finally settle down, I give her an apologetic look.
"I'm sorry! It's just, well…"
Her once beautiful red hair with different lowlights and highlights was now platinum blonde! Her hair was wet, hanging in untidy curls around her head. She looked, well, it didn't look terrible, but it didn't look great either.
"What happened?" I ask. "Despite the obvious, I mean."
"Well, Ciena got some of the others to lift me to the hand basin during the night and bleached it!" she trembles. "Curse my heavy sleeping!"
"The muggle way?" I gasp. "That'll take forever to fade!"
"IT DOESN'T FADE IDIOT! I HAVE TO EITHER GET IT DYED BACK OR GET HORRIBLE REGROWTH!"
I bite my lip to stop a laugh. That's right. Muggle ways don't fade.
"Oh. That sucks," I say dumbly.
"No shit Sherlock!"
Just then, I realise something.
"Wait!" I laugh. "You bleached it because she didn't get detention, right?" I glance at Ciena who nods.
At this, George collapses into laughter, and Anica's eyes widen. Dylan and Nick haven't caught on yet.
"Well, Weasley said to bring Xinia to detention today…" I explain.
I think my eardrums just about burst from Xinia's scream. I wince, clapping my hands over my still sensitive ears. Meanwhile, Xinia starts firing hexes and curses at Ciena, who tries in vain to defend herself, although her grin never leaves her face.
"You evil little witch! I can't believe you! I hate you!" Xinia yells.
Eventually, Patil has to come over and stop the fight, threatening another detention and taking points before Xinia finally calms down a bit.
"I mean it doesn't look too bad," Dylan tries to comfort her.
She just glares at him.
"Oh, come on!" I laugh. "He's right. Tell you what. As a late birthday present, we'll be matching until you can get it fixed."
I morph my hair into a bleached blonde similar to Xinia's to support my claim.
"I'll get mum to send some colour if you want?" Anica suggests.
Xinia just sniffs, reaching for the towel and wrapping it back up into her hair. I raise my eyebrows at it but don't comment. Fortunately, the bell rings just then, and we head off to class.
Looking at my timetable, I see that I have a much better day of classes today. First up, we have Double Charms, then Double Transfiguration and unfortunately, Double Potions after lunch. Oh well. At least I wouldn't have to walk all the way down to the dungeons for my detention if I was already there.
Charms is alright if I ignore Parkison and that lot, which I do. I practically sob with relief when Lupin lets us into the Transfiguration class. I'd deny until the day I die, but I did love Transfiguration lessons, and I had missed them. Especially being able to show off in front of all the Slytherins because I was way ahead of everyone.
I feel slightly guilty when I see how tired Lupin looks, but I push it away when he gives me a stern look after telling me off for talking to Anica. Eh, maybe he deserved it, I think with a grin.
Xinia gets a bit of grief about her hair, but we try our best to distract her from it by telling her all about our late night endeavours. When Potions rolls around, and Malfoy tells us we're brewing Strengthening Solutions on our own, I have to hold back a groan. Great. Even more reason for Malfoy to hate me. Usually, it wouldn't disturb me, but the glares Malfoy sends Anica and I's way throughout the lesson makes us realise he's actually quite mad with us.
When finally, the lesson finishes, Malfoy snaps at us to stay behind for our detention. Anica and I sigh, although we knew it was coming, and pack our things up slowly. Rather than Malfoy telling us what to do straight away; however, he leads us over to his desk. He pulls up two chairs and gestured for us to sit down. We do, sharing a nervous glance before turning to him.
"It came to my attention last night that you two, among others, were wandering around the castle and disturbing Professors Lupin and Weasley," Malfoy starts, his eyes hard as he stares at us. "Is this true?"
We nod.
"And you're aware that the Prefects of our house are trying to make sure this doesn't happen?"
Again, we nod. Malfoy takes a deep breath, closing his eyes briefly.
"Girls, this needs to stop," he says. "You've already lost Slytherin countless points, so much that we're still in the negatives, you have detentions lined up for weeks, and we're trying to enforce a proper curfew for you. However, as this doesn't seem to be working, I'm afraid I'm left with no choice but to threaten a suspension from Quidditch, and if it continues, from Hogwarts. Is this clear?"
My eyes widen. Suspension from Quidditch? I wanted to protest that that wasn't fair, but the rational part of me knew it was. So reluctantly, I nodded along with Anica, who looked just as upset.
"Now, I've been holding off because I know how much it means to both of you," Malfoy continues softer than before. "But this is getting out of hand."
"We're sorry Professor," I say honestly, glancing at Anica, who nods. "We just -"
"I know," Malfoy interrupts with a small smile. "Kids will be kids. And that's okay. But your actions can't go without consequences, and because the usual ones don't seem to phase you, this is what it's come down to."
"We understand," Anica says. "And it won't continue."
"Excuse me if I don't completely believe that," Malfoy side-eyes me with a sparkle in his eyes as he speaks to Anica. "I can't stop you from having fun. In fact, I encourage you to, but please. Go about it a different way. Or at least in a less disturbing way."
We nod, glad that it hadn't actually come down to being banned from Quidditch.
"Good. Because I like the two of you," Malfoy grins. "Don't let that get to your head though."
"Aw, and here I was thinking I was just a pain in your -" I cut off at Malfoy's stern look.
"Don't push it Dinnick," he warns, only half sternly.
I grin.
"So what are we doing today?" Anica asks about detention.
Malfoy gives us an amused look before setting us to work. An hour and a half later, he finally lets us go with instructions to meet Lupin and Weasley in twenty minutes for our next detention.
We quickly run up the Great Hall for a snack before heading to the Transfiguration classroom.
"You're late! Hurry up," Weasley snaps.
"Sorry Professor," we apologise, quickly walking into the room.
All the others are already there each sitting a desk apart.
"For your detention, you'll be reading some textbooks and writing out information," Lupin informs us.
Xinia's face seems to light up before he speaks again.
"Except Miss Ren, you'll have to clean the already clean trophy cabinet. We both know you enjoy school work."
"Nerd," Nick and Dylan snicker as Xinia's face falls.
Weasley and Lupin gather up some textbooks and distribute them amongst us. I hear Xandler groan as he gets a History of Magic textbook and I hide a laugh. I try to hide a grin as I spot Weasley coming over, a Transfiguration book on the top of her pile. She reaches for it, looks at the title and then stops, glancing at me. I force my expression into disappointment.
"Don't try that on me Miss Dinnick," she warns before rifling through the stack and handing me a Potions textbook instead.
"Yay?!" I attempt to sound enthusiastic.
She rolls her eyes before giving the Transfiguration textbook to Anica. I look longingly at it for a moment before sighing and looking down at the Potions book. Yuck.
"Now, begin your reading of each chapter, noting the most important points," Weasley explains.
We sit in reluctant silence, following her instructions as Lupin leads Xinia out of the room, presumably to the trophy room instead.
I suffer through each chapter of the textbook, having to re-read several parts that I accidentally skim over, trying to figure out the most important things. Several times Dylan and Nick have to ask about the content in their Charms textbooks, not understanding the first year topics. I have to bite my tongue to stop the sarcastic comments that spring to mind every time they raise their hands. I see Weasley's patience thinning as Nick raises his hand for what has to be the twentieth time.
"Mr Gougley, please work it out by yourself, you did all of this last year!"
"You think that he remembers that?" I blurt out.
Weasley sends me a withering look before turning back to him.
"Okay, Miss Dinnick, you get to teach Mr Gougley and Miss Grace, you can teach Mr Freign."
"Which Dinnick?" Wyrene and I ask at the same time.
We glare at each other as Weasley answers.
"Wyrene."
"What did I do?" Sally and Wyrene ask in despair.
"No arguing!"
They scowl as they walk over to the boys. I turn back to my potions book, turning the page to start the next chapter. I freeze when I spot the title, however. Anica looks at me in concern, noticing my lack of movement. I wave her off before picking up my quill and writing the title on my piece of parchment.
Wolfsbane Potion
I remembered where I had first heard the word; in the room above Ruth and Warren's bedroom. I had all but forgotten about it with everything that had happened afterwards, but everything suddenly hit me. We had no idea why the lab was there, but we had intended to speak about it at another point. What better time than when there was no risk of Ruth and Warren overhearing?
"Dinnick," Weasley's voice brings me out of my memories. "Back to work."
I was so caught up in my thoughts that I forgot I was supposed to be taking notes on my chapter.
I shake my head to clear it and dip my quill back in my inkpot, pushing the potions lab to the back of my mind, but not away. I wouldn't forget about it again.
The detention finishes thankfully soon after, and I can't get out of there quick enough. I grab Anica's arm and without saying as much as a goodbye to the others, haul her away. I drag her into an empty hallway before grabbing out my copy of the Marauder's Map and searching it.
"Help me find your sister and Xinia," I tell Anica.
Thankfully, she doesn't question me, and pulls out her copy rather than look off mine.
"Xinia is just leaving the trophy room now," she says.
I nod, my eyes searching Ravenclaw Tower and then the library.
"Ciena's in the library," I say. "Good, we can talk there."
I put my map away and then start towards the trophy room. Anica keeps asking me questions, but I don't bother answering them. Instead, I just grab Xinia's arm as well and lead both of them towards the library. When we reach it, I let go of their arms and gesture them inside. We find Ciena quickly and walk over to her. She looks surprised to see us as we sit down in the booth around her.
"What's going on?" she asks.
"That is something I think we all want to know," Xinia fixes me with a small glare.
I huff.
"During detention, I had to take notes on a Potions textbook," I pause as Ciena and Xinia laugh. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. The point is, it reminded me of something. Remember the lab above your parent's bedroom?" I ask the twins.
All of their eyes widen.
"I can't believe I forgot about that!" Xinia exclaims softly.
I nod.
"With everything that happened we all forgot about it," I say. "But I just remembered now, and I didn't want to forget."
"Does anyone have any idea why Ruth and Warren would have a fully stocked and functioning potions lab above their bedroom?" Xinia asks.
We shake our heads. Just then, an idea strikes me.
"Hey. I've never really asked," I start. "What do your parents do? Like, jobs?" I direct the question at the twins.
"Mum's a stay at home parent, Dad's some sort of Ministry employee" Ciena answers.
I frown.
"What sort of Ministry work does he do?" I ask.
Both girls shrug.
"It's some secretive thing. He's not really allowed to tell us details."
"Is it possible whatever he does is the reason they have all those potions?" Xinia asks, catching onto my thoughts.
"I mean maybe, but I always thought Dad was bad at potions," Anica looks confused.
"Yeah, he's never really been able to help me with understanding the textbook, even though I don't really need help, but still," Ciena says.
"Ugh," I groan loudly. "This doesn't make sense!"
"Sh," Xinia hissed as I gained a few glares from the Ravenclaws around us. "Library, remember?"
"Look, I think we should just drop it," Ciena said quietly. "I'm sure there's a perfectly good reason for why Mum and Dad have a Potions lab above their bedroom. There's no reason for us to go snooping around."
Anica sighs.
"For once, I agree with her," she says. "I don't know why it's there, but I'm not sure I want to. At least not the way we're going about it. Let's just forget about it, alright?"
Usually, I would have pushed. But I realised that neither Anica nor Ciena wanted to snoop around their parents, so I dropped it. So did Xinia.
"Come on, let's go to dinner," Ciena suggests.
She packs up her things, and we trail out of the library. The potions lab is still on my mind, but I try to push it away. To distract myself, I chat with Anica. Finally, we reach the Great Hall, and I rush inside and sit down at the Slytherin table, piling food onto my plate. The others shake their heads at my antics, and I grin.
Soon, we're joined by the boys, and we finish dinner and move into the Community Hall. We talk for a bit and catch up on some homework before deciding to call it a night. As Anica and I head back to the Common Room, one of the Prefects spots us.
"You're actually going to bed on time?" he asks us in surprise.
We roll our eyes as we walk inside.
"Yeah, I know, super surprising," Anica says. "Goodnight."
"Night," he says after a moment, just before we disappear down the steps to our dorm.
I yawned as we changed into our pyjamas.
"What is this?" Anica laughs. "Gena Dinnick, tired before midnight? What's gotten into you."
"Sod off," I laugh, climbing into bed. "A girl has to sleep at some point, doesn't she?"
"Whatever. I still think you're getting too Hufflepuffy," she grins.
I throw a pillow at her, rolling my eyes.
"Goodnight," I say, pulling my curtains around my bed.
"Night," she chuckles.
I crawl under the covers, pulling them up to my chin and shifting around to get comfortable. Then, I fall into a dreamless sleep.
So this is the last of the chapters that I've already written. Unfortuantely, that means you probably won't hear from me again for a little bit. But, I promise I'm not abandoning this story. Just taking a break. One that I will come back from. I love you guys :)