Detention

Disclaimer:  The Weasleys belong to J. K Rowlings, Kristen Mimswell belongs to me and Professor Alectrice does not, as to my knowledge, exist in the Harry Potter sequence – in other words, I created her.

Now:

Percy stood up from the toilet, gasping for breath as he reached out and flushed the toilet, wiping his mouth off with his free right hand.  This had been going on for a week now, since that day he ran downstairs.  Because the next day he had a caught a glimpse of her in a crowd, a fleeting crowd, and he had tried, unsuccessfully, going after her.  But she disappeared in a crowd of people going into the Knight Bus, and off..off somewhere into the night. 

            He washed his hands, watching the retch slip off his hand and into the sink, pouring down into the drainage system of the Ministry of Magic building.

            He watched the vomit slip down the drain as so many memories of his childhood had, but he soon turned the water off and retreated out of the bathroom and up the stairs, back into his cold, lonely office, simply remembering and recalling his fourth year.

            A pair of blue eyes shot open and immediately turned to the clock on his dresser.  "……" Percy slipped on his glasses and blinked, getting the red digital numbers in focus. 

            Cursing under his breath, Percy jumped out of bed.  He had ten minutes to get to class. 

            After five minutes of scuffling into his robes and hastily running a brush through his hair, he grabbed his books and took off, rushing toward his class, pushing aside other students whose classes were nearby or who simply didn't care that they were running late and ignoring their cold, callous glares.

            Glancing at his watch, he smiled as he dashed down a red-carpeted spiral staircase.  He'd make it in time.  "No problem," he murmured.  "I'll be in time before the – AAARGH!!," he shouted as he collided against someone and was knocked backwards back onto the staircase, quills and parchment flying everywhere.  To top it all off, there was a small explosion and an unholy smell of what could only be a dung bomb being let off. 

            Rapidly shoving his things back in his bag, he ignored the giggling and laughter of the twins,(For, indeed, it was the Weasley boys, his own brothers, who had set it of.)

 and more importantly, the unearthly stench. He stood up and was about to run off to class when the bell rang.  He was late. 

He looked up to reprimand his brothers when out of the corner of his eye, he saw a strange, bushy-looking something move.  Stopping in mid-sentence, he turned and stopped dead at the sight he saw:  Mrs. Norris standing next to an extremely gleeful looking Filch who had an amazingly vicious-looking smile on his face. 

            "Well, well, well," Filch said, studying all of them over.  "Seems to me that Professor Snape will have no trouble scraping toad bowels off his tables tonight." 

            "Late for class, causing a mess and hold up in the hallway, and setting off a dung bomb," Filch went on with glee.  Holdup in the hallway!, Percy thought, The corridor was completely deserted!

"Let's see now,"  Filch looked around at them, "Fred and George Weasley..," he paused to scribble down their names which, by now, he had learned by heart. 

            Percy knew it was no use to argue – Filch would no sooner listen to explanations, alibis, or excuses from students than he would skip around the hallways, passing out sweets. 

            "Percival Weasley..", he felt his stomach flop around in his stomach as if he had just eaten a case of Chocolate Frogs.

            "And who might you be?" Percy heard Filch inquire and Percy leaned forward just slightly in his chair, catching sight of the person whom he collided with and recognizing a very pale-faced Kristen sitting in her chair.   

            She spoke out in a voice that was obviously stronger than she felt at the time, "Kristen Mimswell." 

            She glanced at him a quick, fleeting moment and raised her cool expression back up to Filch, somehow knowing that an explanation would get her nowhere with this twisted and very-much hated custodian.

            "New student, eh?" Filch stated rather than asked as he observed her.  "Not a very good way to start a year," he remarked as he wrote her name down, oblivious to the momentary flush in her cheeks.

            Percy observed his brothers, unsurprisingly finding bored, nonchalant expressions on their faces rather than the nervous dread-filled expression he wore behind his cool, unconcerned mask of a face.

            "Weasleys, Mimswell!," Filch barked out to them.  "In addition to scraping frog entrails off of Professor Snape's desks after today's classes, you will all accompany Professor Alectrice Friday night to assist in locating the rogue vampires that have been spotted in the Forbidden Forest."

            At this, the Weasleys all turned a pale, greenish hue, while Kristen, however, showed an apparent spark of interest which she automatically concealed.

            "The Forbidden Forest hunting vampires!" Fred roared as he walked with George, Percy, and Kristen out of Filch's office and toward the classrooms. 

            "He's really outdone himself this time," George remarked sadly, shaking his head.

            "I hope you two are happy!," Percy hissed.  "When I tell mother what you two have done – Oh come off it Perce!"  George interrupted, awarded with a menacing glare.  "It was a harmless dung bomb!  Filch didn't even mention sending Mum a letter.."  "Yeah, Perce!" piped up Fred.  "I don't reckon it even crossed his mind when he was shouting about hanging us from his ceiling by chains…"  

            "That'd be better than hunting vampires," George muttered.  "Vampires..  That old git!  I wouldn't be surprised if we all came back pale-faced and blood-thirsty!" 

            At this point, Kristen, who had been keeping very quiet, interrupted their tirade against Filch.  "I doubt that.  Very rarely do vampires change the ones they feed upon."

            The twin's and Percy stopped dead in their tracks and stared at her.

            "..And you would know this how, Kristen..? Percy asked politely after a moment. 

            "Well," she started, looking down at her feet.  "I've always been..interested in that field – vampires, I mean.  And I just happened to recall reading that somewhere."  As she turned to them and finding them all gawking at her, she flushed red, but continued, "I'm actually somewhat looking forward to assisting Professor Alectrice in hunting them." As an afterthought, she added, "That is, if we find them which will depend on the time of night we go searching for them."  Fred and George stared a few more moments at this while Percy looked at Kristen with awe and something like respect in his gaze which she did not return as she was too busy engaging in a staring contest with the ground.

            After a few minutes, Percy broke the stunned silence by saying, "Fred, George, aren't you two late enough for your classes as it is?  Get going." 

            With one more curious glance at Kristen, the twins turned down the corridor and headed off. 

            Turning back to Kristen, he remarked, "Well.. we'd..better get on to class, then."  She nodded once and they both quietly made their way to their first lesson.

            Scraping toad guts off of tables wasn't so bad, Percy mused.  True, it would have been better if Professor Snape hadn't insisted on breathing down his neck the whole time, but it still could have been worse, he reasoned.  How it could have remained to be seen, but one must look on the brighter side of things, or at least pretend to.

            Anyway, wiping from entrails off of tables was a better option than what he was about to do tonight. 

            Vampires!  In the Forbidden Forest!  What a nightmare, Percy thought angrily.  Sending us off to hunt vampires!  Why, we haven't even had the proper training to even think about– but his thoughts stopped there, interrupted by Fred and George's grim faces appearing in his doorway.

            "Are you….ready, Perce?" asked a very apprehensive Fred.  George, meanwhile, was behind Fred looking as if he had just been very sick a few minutes ago.

            Percy nodded curtly and went to the closet to collect his cloak.

            Fifteen minutes later, they were all making their way down a dark, cold corridor not unlike those that led down into Professor Snape's potion chambers.

            As their footsteps rang down the freezing hallway, Percy wondered briefly what Professor Alectrice would be like.  He had never seen the woman – or at least, he thought she was a woman. 

            She must not be very social, reasoned Percy, I've never seen her around and someone who spends their day in such an ominous-feeling area can't be too friendly. 

            They reached the end of the corridor and found themselves in a surprisingly regular-looking classroom, much like the ones upstairs. 

            He turned out to be right.  Professor Alectrice was a female and a rather young-looking one also.  Early thirties, he would guess.  Though she was sitting at her extraordinarily tidy desk, he could tell she was of about medium height.  Her face wore an expression of constant awareness and it had a cool, calming expression that he would guess she often wore.  She had dark brown, almost black, hair that was cut a little past her shoulders and pulled back into a low ponytail.  She looked fairly normal except for one strange trait: Her eyes.  Golden eyes. 

            In front of her was Kristen, who seemed to be having a very appealing conversation with her as Kristen seemed to be gesturing with her hands frequently and possessing a very animated tone to her voice. 

            Professor Alectrice nodded to an inaudible question Percy couldn't hear and stood up, walking over to the Weasley boys, Kristen not far behind her.  

            "So," She said in a cheerful, light-hearted tone.  "Are you boys ready to go on a small escapade tonight?", she inquired with a smile and show of bright white teeth.  

            Fred didn't answer and all that came out of Percy and George's mouths were small squeaks.