CHAPTER TWO:
The Mystery Of The Missing Locket, Pt 1
"Bloody Hell.. It can't have just vanished. I know I fastened the damn thing properly." Charmaine swore as she crawled around on the floor of the Great Hall, peeking beneath tables, looking under chairs, glaring at Pansy, the one she figured would steal the damn thing, if it were to be stolen.
"What?"
"You know what, Parkinson. Give it to me." Charmaine held out her hands as Pansy smirked, then giggling said "Look like the little Mudblood's finally gone completely, barmy, Dracy Poo."
"Indeed she has, Pansy." Draco muttered glibly as he shooed her.
"If you've stolen my locket, Parkinson, I'll beat your ass into the ground, I swear to Merlin." Charmaine said in a rare tempermental moment, her friend Rosa grabbing her wrist, guiding her back and away as her friend Josie muttered, "It probably fell off in the hallway or something. Let's go look there, yeah?"
"Yeah." Charmaine grumbled, giving the Slytherin girl a piercing and angry look of loathing as the four females turned, slunk out of the Great Hall, and into the hallway to continue the search.
"Are you SURE you had it on?"
"She never takes it off, Mary Beth, don't be a prat."
"But it falls off a lot as of late.. Maybe it fell off and she shoved it in the pockets of her uniform?"
"I checked already." Charmaine grumbled as she searched on her hands and knees awkwardly in the mini skirt she wore, near a potted plant by a tapestry on the wall above.
"I had it before the feast last night, now it's gone."
"Why's it so damn important we find the bloody thing?"
"It just is, damn it, girls. Less yammering, more looking." Charmaine swore as she wondered herself why it mattered so much.. Every time she was without the thing, she felt this burning urge to find it, like she couldn't go without wearing it, like it was of utmost importance to her.
Someone had cared enough to send it to her when she was a first year.. She'd kept it safely all these years, though the damn thing wouldn't open, she'd tried every charm, spell and incantation known to man and wizard kind to open it, even trying to pry it open with a scouts knife one year while at the Muggle military base she called home.
She thought she spotted something silver and she lunged, falling rather ungracefully on the top of a pair of boots. She looked up and her eyes met with the piercing blue of Neville Longbottom's eyes and she muttered calmly, "I assure you.. There is a perfectly logical explanation I am crawling round on the floor."
He bent down slightly and asked in a quiet tone, "I didn't hurt you when you landed on my shoe.. Did I?"
"No, not really. Damn it, I can't.. I can't reach.. Rosa, give me something, there's something shiny back here, I can almost get my hands on it..."
"What in the name of Merlin are you doing?" Neville asked calmly as he stretched out on the floor, reached far back behind the potted plant and produced an earring, looking at it with a raised brow as he held it out in his hand and asked, "Yours?"
"damn it, crap.. So that's where the damn earring I lost last term went.." Mary Beth murmured as Charmaine answered Neville's question with a quiet, "Looking for my locket. I was wearing it the entire train ride nearly, then it fell off once we got to the castle.. It's white gold, has something engraved on the back?"
"The one you wear all the time?" he blurted, mentally kicking himself as she nodded and smiling brightly asked, "Have you seen it?"
"Just when you wear it. The clasp is nearly broken you know."
"I know.. I think I'm doing the Spell O Tape wrong, it keeps bloody snapping."
His eyes caught a moment on the hint of lace peeking from the back of the silky looking pajama bottoms and he coughed, his face reddening like mad as he said quietly, "If you find it.. I'll fix it for you if you like?" being helpful, extending a friendly offer.
She smiled brightly and then with a bit of a cheeky wink said "I'll take you up on that. Things.. They tend to go awry when I try and wave my wand, recite a spell."
"She's the only girl we know who can turn on the lights and shatter the bulb, purely by accident." her friends replied with smirks as they eyed her.
"Hafreakingha."
"I'm off now." Neville mumbled quietly as he helped her from the floor, practically ran from the hallway. Around the corner, he stopped to collect himself.. He wasn't very good with girls, you see, and that particular one was this wild, childlike free spirited sort.. Polar opposite of his quiet, reserved and thoughtful mannerisms.
Besides, everybody knows the geeks never get the girl, he reminded himself as he walked into the Gryffindor commons room, flopped onto the couch.
The girls continued their search, bumping into a just woken Luna who asked, "Did the Nargles take something of yours?"
"No, I've bloody lost my necklace, Lu.. Have you seen it?"
Luna thought a moment and then said quietly in her dreamlike voice, "Not that I remember.. Weren't you wearing it on the train?"
"Mhmm.. And on the boat ride here.. After the feast is when I realized it was missing."
"All of this utter shit for a locket she can't even bloody open." Mary Beth grumbled as Josie nodded and asked casually, "What is the deal with you and this locket, Charmie?"
"A secret person sent it to me via owl our first year.. You all know that."
"Maybe the Nargles have hidden it." Luna inserted as Rosa stared at her a moment and then said "Or that prat Blaise took it. Remember that really big fight you two had last year, when he hid the necklace?"
"And I tried to turn him into a pig, but instead, he turned into a crow.. Yeah.. I remember.. If that git has my necklace, I'll.."
"Calling me a git and you've no reason.. Charmaine, princess.. If I had your.. trinket.. It'd be to get it fixed or maybe replace the disgustingly old thing with something new and prettier.. But of course, you broke up with me, so.."
"Because you called me a Mudblood and you SLEPT WITH PANSY! TWICE FOR FUCKING MERLIN'S SAKE!" she grumbled, her voice raising at the last sentence. She growled at him and the five girls made their way down the hallway, trying to puzzle out where the necklace just might be at.
They turned down another corridor, the girls searching noisily right outside of the Potions classroom door. Professor Snape opened the door, grumbling inwardly when he saw the corridor full of girls, the Hufflepuff that'd somehow gotten her hands on Lily's necklace apparently ringleading a search party for said necklace. He stood a moment, watching the girls, listening to their crude and dirty banter back and forth, the locket passing through his thick and rough hands as he did so, waiting on them to turn round, see him there.
"Girls, if you must be noisy.. Go to another area of the castle." came the stern command from the doorway as Charmaine stood, straightening herself, giving the form fitting camisole a rather hearty tug downward, covering her midriff, the small 'muggle body art' a black rose tattoo on her hip that the pajamas were maybe a little too lowcut to hide, as she said sheepishly, "I, ermm, sorry sir.. Won't happen again.. But while you're out here, sir.. Have you maybe seen a locket? It fell off my damn neck at the feast last night, and now it's vanished. I've searched the whole bloody castle over and it's gone."
Snape shook his head. He could have given it to her, but it didn't belong to her, to his knowledge.. It belonged to Lily, it would have belonged to their daughter together, had she not been taken from them and given to some family to raise.
A good look at her up close.. He mused to himself that the older the girl got, the more she did sort of resemble a younger Lily Evans with dark hair.
"Professor Snape.. You alright, sir?"
"No, I haven't seen your locket.. Now if you all don't mind, find another part of the castle to search and invade with your noise and nonsense?" Snape said firmly as he shut the door with a resounding thud behind him.
He slid the locket out of his overcoat pocket, muttered the incantation that opened it, and smiled a little as he saw her again.. And on the other side, their angel, their baby girl, the one person Snape would
give anything to find, to see now..
Was she a witch? Or had the Muggle family that'd adopted her completely shunned this life when her owl came?
Maybe she'd gotten into Beaubatons or another wizarding school.
"When all of this is done.. I'll try to find her, I suppose." he said quietly as he slid the locket into his desk drawer.
The sense of familiarity that'd come over him at seeing the 16 year old Hufflepuff in the hallway just now came again and again, he pushed it out of his mind..
Because there was no sense in him to feel this way, he reminded himself.
Down the hallway, the girls were trying to teach Luna Lovegood how to sing a Muggle pop song that may or may not have had slightly suggestive lyrics as the throat cleared from behind them and they turned, all springing up from the floor, trying to feign innocence as their eyes met with the eyes of a disapproving Dolores Umbridge who clucked her tongue and said "In my day and age, girls acted like little ladies."
"In your day and age, ma'am.. did dinosaurs roam the earth also?" Charmaine asked, her hand on her hip, a smirk on her full lips.
"Is that sass from you? Of course, you're a common Muggle, I really expect no less."
"If it were sass, ma'am.. You'd know it.. You haven't seen sass from me yet." Charmaine turned on her heels as she told her other friends goodbye, thanked them for helping her look for the damn necklace.. But she'd wasted half a Saturday and there was no sign of it.
Luna giggled and then asked, "Are we off to feed the Thestrals?"
"Mhmm.. Then I said I'd teach that little firstie from Ravenclaw how to make daisy chains. The sooner I'm away from that disgusting.." she started, her voice trailing off as she gave Umbridge's retreating fat arse a glare.
"I wish she weren't here.. I do hope you find your necklace and that the Nargles haven't stolen it." Luna said as Charmaine nodded and the pair walked out of the castle, on to the grounds, Charmaine carrying her shoes in her hand as she went.
Sooner or later, the necklace would turn up she figured.. No sense in panicking about it. There were apparently going to be bigger problems at hand this year, the key one being a pig like lady who wore entirely too much pink and had a creepy fascination with kittens and cats.
Anyone like that was suspect enough in Charmaine's mind.. And the woman just struck her as the heinous cruel type.
Kind of like her parents when she was home for the holidays.