Challenge #87: Closeted
Title: Hiding
Rating/Warnings: PG
Characters/Pairing: Albus Severus Potter, Lily Potter II, no pairing
Summary: After an attempted exorcism gone wrong and the accidental destruction of a classroom, Lily is forced to take refuge in a broom cupboard. But why is her brother lurking in the corner?
Word Count: 656
Registered purchases?: I own a quill, but it's not yet officially registered...
There was no going back now. If Filch caught her, he would surely wring her neck until it separated from her body and then display it on a plaque above his office, warning potential wrongdoers why they should obey the rules at all costs. She could see it now… Her gravestone would read ‘Here lies Lily Luna Potter, she attempted to exorcise Professor Binns’. Which would actually not be too bad, considering it would tell everyone that she had at least tried to do something in her life. However, looking back, perhaps she should have found a book in a language she understood, and preferably not from the Restricted Section. Really, she should have known that something was awry when that desk started sprouting tentacles…
Furious footsteps and the telltale sounds of an elderly, deranged Squib on the war path echoed down the empty corridor and, with a small squeak of terror, Lily ducked into the nearest door. It turned out to lead to a broom cupboard.
“Nox,” a voice quickly whispered from one of the corners of the cupboard, and a light immediately went out.
Apparently Lily was not alone in the cupboard.
“Lumos,” she muttered, and re-illuminated the inside of the small cupboard.
Her brother Albus was sitting curled on the floor of the cupboard, tucked cosily into a corner, looking shocked.
“Al?” Lily muttered in slight confusion.
“Lily?” he asked loudly, staring at her.
“No, it’s Moaning Myrtle,” she replied in a whisper. “Would you mind keeping it down? I think Filch is literally going to murder me if he catches up to me.”
“What did you do this time?” Al asked, this time having the decency to lower the volume. He appeared to be trying to sit on his hands, or perhaps hide something behind his back.
“I tried to exorcise Professor Binns,” Lily said matter-of-factly. “Oh, don’t look so confused, everyone’s wanted to do it at some point. I just wanted to see how far I could get.”
“Well,” Al prompted. “How far did you get?”
Lily shrugged in what she hoped was a nonchalant manner. “Well, it probably would have gone better if I’d known what I was getting into. I don’t know what happened, but the desk started to sprout tentacles… there were so many tentacles, and one giant eye, and this thing started taking shape in the air. I think I might have summoned something. I don’t know what it was, but Professor Binns looked really worried. Filch is just upset because the thing ripped apart the classroom and escaped into a lavatory on the fourth floor and he doesn’t know what to do about it besides chase me down.”
“Oh,” Al said, looking both impressed and afraid at the same time.
“So what are you doing, lurking about in broom cupboards in empty hallways?” Lily asked after a moment.
It was hard to tell with him trying to keep in the shadows and not looking at her, but Al appeared to be blushing. “Oh, er, nothing. Nothing at all. Just… sitting on the floor. Hiding from… Peeves.”
“What are you sitting on?” Lily asked.
Al squirmed. “My hands.”
Lily ducked down quickly and darted a hand out behind Al’s back. He squirmed away from her and she bumped her shoulder against the door of the cupboard, but she eventually emerged victorious with something thin and leather-bound clutched in her hands. Al let out a quiet, resigned sigh.
Lily pulled the strange, book-shaped object into the wand-light and opened the front cover, then flipped through the pages. They were covered with neat, cramped writing that didn’t particularly look like an assignment.
“Is this… a diary?” she asked suspiciously.
“Will you tell James about it?”
“No.”
Al sighed in relief.
“But I might use it for future blackmail fodder. Just in case.”
“…Has anyone ever told you that you’re evil?”
Lily grinned in the dimness of the broom cupboard.
(656/30) + 5 = 27 points for Hufflepuff!
Jennifer//Hufflepuff
Rating/Warnings: PG
Characters/Pairing: Albus Severus Potter, Lily Potter II, no pairing
Summary: After an attempted exorcism gone wrong and the accidental destruction of a classroom, Lily is forced to take refuge in a broom cupboard. But why is her brother lurking in the corner?
Word Count: 656
Registered purchases?: I own a quill, but it's not yet officially registered...
There was no going back now. If Filch caught her, he would surely wring her neck until it separated from her body and then display it on a plaque above his office, warning potential wrongdoers why they should obey the rules at all costs. She could see it now… Her gravestone would read ‘Here lies Lily Luna Potter, she attempted to exorcise Professor Binns’. Which would actually not be too bad, considering it would tell everyone that she had at least tried to do something in her life. However, looking back, perhaps she should have found a book in a language she understood, and preferably not from the Restricted Section. Really, she should have known that something was awry when that desk started sprouting tentacles…
Furious footsteps and the telltale sounds of an elderly, deranged Squib on the war path echoed down the empty corridor and, with a small squeak of terror, Lily ducked into the nearest door. It turned out to lead to a broom cupboard.
“Nox,” a voice quickly whispered from one of the corners of the cupboard, and a light immediately went out.
Apparently Lily was not alone in the cupboard.
“Lumos,” she muttered, and re-illuminated the inside of the small cupboard.
Her brother Albus was sitting curled on the floor of the cupboard, tucked cosily into a corner, looking shocked.
“Al?” Lily muttered in slight confusion.
“Lily?” he asked loudly, staring at her.
“No, it’s Moaning Myrtle,” she replied in a whisper. “Would you mind keeping it down? I think Filch is literally going to murder me if he catches up to me.”
“What did you do this time?” Al asked, this time having the decency to lower the volume. He appeared to be trying to sit on his hands, or perhaps hide something behind his back.
“I tried to exorcise Professor Binns,” Lily said matter-of-factly. “Oh, don’t look so confused, everyone’s wanted to do it at some point. I just wanted to see how far I could get.”
“Well,” Al prompted. “How far did you get?”
Lily shrugged in what she hoped was a nonchalant manner. “Well, it probably would have gone better if I’d known what I was getting into. I don’t know what happened, but the desk started to sprout tentacles… there were so many tentacles, and one giant eye, and this thing started taking shape in the air. I think I might have summoned something. I don’t know what it was, but Professor Binns looked really worried. Filch is just upset because the thing ripped apart the classroom and escaped into a lavatory on the fourth floor and he doesn’t know what to do about it besides chase me down.”
“Oh,” Al said, looking both impressed and afraid at the same time.
“So what are you doing, lurking about in broom cupboards in empty hallways?” Lily asked after a moment.
It was hard to tell with him trying to keep in the shadows and not looking at her, but Al appeared to be blushing. “Oh, er, nothing. Nothing at all. Just… sitting on the floor. Hiding from… Peeves.”
“What are you sitting on?” Lily asked.
Al squirmed. “My hands.”
Lily ducked down quickly and darted a hand out behind Al’s back. He squirmed away from her and she bumped her shoulder against the door of the cupboard, but she eventually emerged victorious with something thin and leather-bound clutched in her hands. Al let out a quiet, resigned sigh.
Lily pulled the strange, book-shaped object into the wand-light and opened the front cover, then flipped through the pages. They were covered with neat, cramped writing that didn’t particularly look like an assignment.
“Is this… a diary?” she asked suspiciously.
“Will you tell James about it?”
“No.”
Al sighed in relief.
“But I might use it for future blackmail fodder. Just in case.”
“…Has anyone ever told you that you’re evil?”
Lily grinned in the dimness of the broom cupboard.
(656/30) + 5 = 27 points for Hufflepuff!
Jennifer//Hufflepuff