A/N So, this is "Scheming". Thanks for the story alerts, favorites, and occasional reviews! Please repeat the process vigorously!
The first step of my plan: Research.
This is because, my mother being who she is, I've decided to take a logical approach. So I'm going to investigate around the Slytherin dorms, maybe even talk to a few kids there (let's hope it doesn't come to that) and then see if I've got any good information on Malfoy's whereabouts.
Albus tells me how to get inside the dungeon, though he doesn't bother asking me why I want to know, and then by the time I reluctantly whisper, "Purity," to the stone wall, I'm already regretting this step of my plan.
Stupid Gryffindors. Why do we have to be so compulsory?
But it's too late now, for I'm already inside. Looking around, there's a few dark green and black sofas. The room has a pretty low ceiling compared to the rest of the castle, though there's still about half a meter above my head. The place is ridiculously dark, and it being a dungeon, there's no windows. I look around at the few dim lamps. If I were in Slytherin, I'd be pretty pissy all the time, too, I think, looking around at the skull handles on the dark wood cabinets. Having to stifle a laugh, I walk away, looking for someone who can tell me which dorm is the seventh year boys'.
I see a guy who's in my Transfiguration class, Collin Flint. He's reading the Daily Prophet on one of the green sofas. I sit down next to him and greet him with a cheery, "Hey, there!"
He raises a skeptical eyebrow at me. I guess Slytherins aren't quite as friendly as us Gryffindors. Maybe smiles are a foreign concept to them or something.
"What do you want, Weasley?" he asks rather menacingly, putting down his Prophet. I roll my eyes at him like he's just made a joke and give him a grin.
"Why do you assume I want something? Maybe I just came here to hang with my Slytherin pals!" I joke, though he doesn't smile. My smile wavering, I decide to get to the point. "Well, okay. I do want something. Could you tell me which door leads to your dorm?"
His eyes narrow. I worry he thinks I'm some sort of spy for McGonagall or something. I bite my lip nervously.
"Why do you want to go in there?"
"To... uh... get the book I lent Albus," I invent on the spot. "You see, he's been a bit weary about, uh, his, um, hair line receding! So it was a book about, um, hair... charms." I feel like slapping myself in the face. Why must I be so terrible at making things up?
"Whatever. It's the farthest door to the left." He hides his face behind his newspaper once more, and I take that as my cue to leave. I walk over to the door, and open it to see a couple of his dorm mates who are sleeping in. One is snoring, and the other, I notice, isn't wearing a shirt. This should be interesting...
"Morning, mates!" I salute loudly, hoping I'm loud enough to wake them.
"Whaaaa?" the snoring one groans, and groggily sits up. The shirtless one, who I now recognize as Peter Blishwick, is rubbing his eyes. Peter's always been Scorpius' closest friend, from what I've gathered. He's often laughing while Scorpius and I go at it. Arguing, that is.
"What the fuck?" Peter mumbles as he opens his eyes. "Weasley, what are you doing in here?"
Which, really, is a very decent question. What am I supposed to say? "I'm investigating your friend's disappearance!" sounds weird and bad and lame. So what do I say?
"Hey, uh, Peter, can I talk to you for a second?" I ask him, and he gives me a shrug and a look that clearly says, "If you must." He gets out of bed, and I notice that not only is he not wearing a shirt, but he's also not wearing pants- which means the only thing between him and nakedness are a pair of thin cotton boxers. Fortunately, before I can get too distracted, he pulls on some flannel pants that were lying on the floor and I lead him out of the room into the common room, where Collin has apparently left.
"So what is it, Weasley?" he asks, glancing around the common room to make sure nobody's listening in on our conversation.
"I was just wondering... well, do you have any idea where Malfoy might be?"
He sighs in what I guess to be exasperation. "Really, Weasley? As though every authority on this campus, not to mention a zillion girls, hasn't already asked me."
Okay, maybe I should have guessed that, too. But whatever! A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do! So I ask, "Well, what did you tell them all, then?"
He rolls his eyes at me. "That Scorp decided to take a nice stay in the Hog's Head, of course. What do you think I told them, Weasley?"
Though he's looking at me like it should be obvious, I haven't got a clue. "What?"
He blinks at me. "That I have no idea where he is. And even if I did, I wouldn't go around telling everyone."
Oh. Well, that makes sense as well... but still, there's got to be something that can get me on his trail.
"Okay then. Did Malfoy keep a journal or anything?"
Blishwick snorts at me. "Come on, Weasley. You can't be serious."
I ignore the blush rising in my cheeks.
"Anyways, why do you want to know so bad?" he asks almost teasingly, an eyebrow raised.
"Because," I say defiantly, "I'm going to find him."
I can see it takes all of Blishwick's self restraint not to laugh out loud. "Sure you are, Weasley. Good luck with that. I'm going back to bed."
"Wait!" I call as he turns his back. "Don't tell anyone where I'm going, okay?"
"Whatever, Weasley." I take that as a yes.
Now I just need to find Jenna, a seventh year Slytherin girl and Malfoy's latest girlfriend. It's not hard to find her- she's gone where all the heartbroken girls go to cry and look "beautifully disturbed" while looking out on a landscape; the stone bridge. She's there by herself, and as I've guessed, she's got tear tracks down her cheeks, tinted with mascara.
"Hi, Jenna," I greet quietly. The stone bridge really isn't a place you can just go about shouting, in my opinion. Though that doesn't stop drunken fifth years from doing that all the time in the middle of the bloody night. Just saying.
"Hi, Rose," she replies, her voice watery. "What are you doing up here?"
Why do people have to ask so many bloody questions? "Um, I wanted to make sure you were alright."
She gives me a slightly confused look, and rightfully too, because Jenna and I have barely exchanged words throughout our six previous years of school. "Well, that was nice of you, I guess," she says quietly, which is nice of her. If I was her, and she was me, I know this would be a lot more awkward.
"So, you really miss him, don't you?" I try, and I hope she gets what she means. She gives me a weary looking thin-lipped smile.
"I guess so. Only, he broke up with me earlier yesterday- you know, before he went missing." She sighs. "I feel like a complete idiot."
That's pretty open of her. I thought Slytherins weren't really the type to open up about feelings, but maybe that was just prejudice?
"So tell me, Rosie, why are you really here?"
Maybe not.
"I told you. I wanted to make sure you were okay," I fib, and very unconvincingly too, by the look on Jenna's face.
"Don't lie to me. We've barely said three words to each other for seven years," she presses, turning to face me.
Um.
"Um."
And Mum was so surprised I wasn't in Ravenclaw.
"That's what I thought," Jenna berates me. She wipes her eyes before she continues. "So tell me the truth, Ginger, before I do something drastic."
Wait. Did she just call me Ginger? I knew I never like Slytherins... What Malfoy ever saw in her is beyond me. You know, despite the perfect figure, the perfect blond hair, the perfect teeth; the list goes on.
"Okay, okay!" I oblige. "I want to know about Malfoy. Tell me about him- did he have any habits? Any places he might have gone? Any secrets he maybe told you about his plan to run away or anything?"
If she didn't look as though she's about to hex me, I would say she's blushing.
"Well, Rose. I don't know what you've heard, but what Scorpius and I did for the most part was more... physical than emotional. At least, on his part anyway," she says quietly. I'm pretty sure I hear her mutter, "The bastard," under her breath, but maybe I just imagined it.
"So, um, I guess that's a no?"
"From this conversation, I wouldn't have guessed you're one of the smartest kids in our year."
Ouch, I think?
"And why do you wanna know so bad anyways, Rose?" she asks again.
I sigh. "Well, Jenna, that's because I'm... going to find him."
She looks at me like I just told her I love eating flobberworms while listening to Celestina Warbeck.
"Whoever said you were the brightest kid in our year was delusional," she quips with a shake of her head. "But, if I were you, Rose, I'd start in Hogsmeade. There's no way he went anywhere without stopping there first."
"Why's that?" I ask, genuinely curious.
"Because he never goes on a trip without getting his hair cut first," she replies. At first I can't tell if she's serious or not, but by the stony look on her face, I'm pretty sure she is.
I extend my hand for a shake, but she just stares at it, so I put my hand back down.
"Er, well, thank you Jenna. It was nice talking with you."
"Whatever you say, Ginger."
I ignore the slight. "And please don't tell anyone, Jenna. I hope I can trust you."
She gives me a noncommittal shrug, and I can only hope she keeps her word- well, at least keeps her shrug, then.
Which brings me to phase two of the plan: packing.
Back in my dorm, I'm not entirely sure what I'm supposed to pack. Clothing, sure, but what kind? It's January here, so it's pretty cold, but who knows where Malfoy is? He could have gone anywhere, now that he's old enough to Apparate.
I flop onto my bed. This is crazy. I'm never going to be able to find him.
And Jenna's right. Why do I want to find him so bad?
No, I don't, I reassure myself. I just know that no one else is going to. It's got to be me.
Right?
Sighing, I throw some clothes, my hairbrush, and my toothbrush into my old rucksack. What else do I need?
I mean, really. How does one go about packing for a rescue mission? I don't even know how long I'll be gone! And who knows where I'll be going! It's not like Scorpius is just going to be hiding somewhere in Hogsmeade, is it? Is it?
I throw a couple extra pairs of panties in my bag, just to be safe.
I mean, you've got to have good hygiene when you don't know where you're going. You never know where you're going to end up.
A/N
NEXT TIME ON GASM*:
Rose visits the hair cuttery- but can she get out before a slightly deranged hairdresser cuts off her auburn locks? Will her treasure hunt come to end? And just where the heck is Malfoy anyways?
*Going After Scorpius Malfoy. Sounds dirtier, no?
So please, please, pleeeeeease review! Just a word, that's all I ask! A single word! I mean, several words would be ideal, but I'll take what I get!
xx
Ali