Chapter 7: Midnight Mischief
I sighed and got to work.
I will not disrupt the class with my unnecessary outbursts.
I will not disrupt the class with my unnecessary outbursts.
I will not disrupt the class with my unnecessary outbursts.
I will not disrupt the class with my unnecessary outbursts.
Oh, Merlin, this was going to take a while.
I will not disrupt the class with my unnecessary outbursts.
I will not disrupt the class with my unnecessary outbursts.
I could feel my head slowly sagging.
I will not disrupt the class with my unnecessary outbursts.
I will not disrupt the class...
I will not...
"Bay? Bailey! Wake up!"
"Let's go...we can't be late for detention," I mumbled, almost inaudibly.
"Bailey! C'mon, get up now. We're supposed to be doing lines. Merlin, do I need to wake you up with a bull horn or something?"
I felt someone shaking me.
I made a sudden movement and jerked my head up rapidly and yawned when I heard a whooshing sound nearby.
"Watch out!" one of the girl's from the other corner of the room warned.
"Hmmm?" I said sleepily. But unfortunately, I got what was coming and something hit me hard on the head. "Ow!"
I rubbed my head and looked down to see a broken ink bottle, the leftover ink staining part of the front of my white shirt and tie.
The girl with black hair gave me a weak smile. "Um, I like your shirt," she complimented. "I'm Cho."
"Erm---I'm Bailey..." I blushed furiously and inclined my head to her as a thank you as I tried blotting out the ink before it dried.
Alyson rolled her eyes. "Sourgify!" and my shirt was good as new.
"Sorry," I muttered sheepishly as I tried scribbling the rest of my lines down onto the parchment. I must've looked ridiculous.
Once the point finally came when I felt relaxed again, I heard a sound that I wasn't exactly happy to hear. The jiggling of the doorknob.
"Crap!" I said as I started writing the sentences down at top speed.
"Oh move over," Alyson said to me as she pushed me aside and began muttering a spell.
I looked at her curiously as she hunched over the paper and when she moved aside, my writing copied itself all the way down.
I smiled thankfully at her. "Dude, I love you."
Alyson nodded like I couldn't have said a more obvious thing and laughed silently.
Snape walked into the classroom and examined all four of our papers.
He looked up at Cho and her friend. I think her name was Marietta. I distinctly remember Harry telling me about them last year but I didn't think Cho and her friend were that big of a deal. It just added to the list of people at Hogwarts that I don't know, and vise versa.
Snape stared at us suspiciously. "You're free to go," he said in his flat tone of voice he used daily.
Cho, Marietta, Alyson and I got up to leave when we heard Snape's sharp voice ring out through the room.
"Not you Ruffino, Orsino. Just Chang and Edgecomb."
"Um, nice meeting you," Cho said politely as she hurried out the door.
Marietta just rolled her eyes and gave me a pathetic look and followed Cho out like a dog.
"Here," Snape said. He waved his wand and two pairs of orange rubber gloves materialized. "You don't have to use these but I recommend to do so," he said. I could hear the sick enjoyment out of his voice.
"HA!" Alyson said as she put them on.
Snape sneered at her and smirked. "But don't throw them out right after. You still have one last assignment."
If anything could make Alyson angrier than angry, it was Snape's previous statement.
I heard her swear under her breath as I reluctantly followed Snape into the next room, now upset with Alyson for getting us in more trouble.
Harry and Ron were still doing homework by the light of the fire, Hermione was talking to Ginny when we entered the Gryffindor common room later that night.
Hermione winced at the sight of us. "Well. I'm guessing detention didn't go well?"
I glared at her and wrung the bottom of my shirt.
Ron did a double take when he turned to look at us. "Bloody hell! What happened to you two? It looks like someone threw up on you!"
My face fell. "Thanks, Ron. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to take a shower."
I could feel Alyson's eyes following me and heard her pick up a comb from the table and begin attacking her knotty hair with it. "I think she's mad."
I turned around and saw Harry give her a strange look then I trudged up the staircase and into my dorm to get my pajamas.
Once in the bathroom, I stripped off my clothes and stepped into the hot shower. The warm water falling from the tube above felt so good on my skin.
After my shower, I decided to stay in my dorm for a while. I sat on my bed, doing nothing in particular. I sighed, bored out of my mind. Then I sang a familiar tune softly under my breath as I absentmindedly looked through the drawer on the side of my bed side table.
"All you have to do is call my name, no matter how close or far away; ask me once, and I'll come, I'll come running. And when I can't be with you dream me near, keep me in your heart and I'll appear. All you have to do is turn around, close your eyes, look inside, I'm right here."
I stopped abruptly as I pulled out a dusty book, bound with smooth, chestnut brown leather. The book looked kind of old in a way, but it was in perfect condition.
I curiously ruffled through the pages, careful not to rip any. And just like the way you might look at a baby cousin, a small smile spread across my face.
This was my old photo album from 3rd year. I remember Hermione was showing me her new cat, Crookshanks in a corner of the common room. I was much shyer than even now, if you can believe it. And somehow, Ron and Harry got a hold of Collin's camera. Apparently, Ron's never used a camera until then...
"Hey, isn't that Collin's camera?" Hermione asked.
I nodded as I saw Ron pushing the same button over and over again, waiting for something to happen. "Ron, you're gonna break it. Just leave it," I suggested as I threw a bright red ball across the room for Crookshanks.
"I will, I will. I just wanna see something!" Ron said as he turned the camera around and around.
"Ron, you're doing it wrong. Let me see," Harry said as he took hold of the camera as well.
Hermione rolled her eyes and motioned me to come upstairs with her when we heard a small explosion from the other end of the room.
"Ron!" Hermione said exasperatedly as she turned around.
I burst into a fit of giggles. Harry's face now sort of looked like Seamus' in our first year when he was casting a spell on a feather in Charms class.
"Thanks, Ron," Harry said bluntly as he attempted to clean the soot---and who knows what else---off his glasses.
Ron winced. "Sorry mate."
I flipped through the pages of the album with care to see all the pictures from years ago...one of Ron and Harry upside down...one with me sleeping on the couch near the fire...one with Hermione and Ginny waving at the camera...
I blushed when I saw a picture of me staring at Draco in the library. I remembered Ron did a lot of running that day. I chuckled lightly to myself and put the album back into the drawer and decided to go down and find Hermione and Ginny.
A few hours later, I curled up under the covers of my four-poster across from Hermione and looked up at the crimson canopy. Everyone was finally in the dorm and the lights were off. I still probably had tons of homework to do but I wouldn't get up, even though I was restless. I rested my eyes for a while but I still couldn't sleep.
I moaned softly because it was beginning to get a little hot under the covers so I rolled over to the side and looked down at the ground with a blank expression. My eyes finally started to flutter as I studied the carpet. I never noticed all the intricate patterns you could find by staring at the ground, if you were bored enough...
It only seemed like seconds later when I found myself on the ground near my fuzzy black slippers. I rubbed my eyes and subconsciously flipped my body around. My eyes jerked open almost immediately as I gagged, trying to sit up and sit still.
"Oh, Merlin! What's that smell?" I screeched.
Luckily, only Parvati shifted in her sleep.
I felt around in the darkness. Actually, it wouldn't been pitch black if it weren't for the soft, dim glow from the crescent moon, partially hidden by a few wisps of clouds.
I grabbed a hold of something soft, which I took to be a sweatshirt and some socks. So I pulled it briskly towards me, only the feel a small, aching pain shoot through my fingers.
"Ow! What the hell---"
Suddenly, I heard a sharp hiss as something furry darted out from under the bed. I was then greeted by a pair of glowing yellow eyes and an angry Crookshanks.
I sighed and ignored the scratch on the back of my hand and shoved it under the bed again. Next, I fingered something that felt similar to Crookshanks. I tugged curiously at it, half expecting it to lunge at me. But seriously, what else could be under one bed? So I reached in all the way and dragged a mass of a thick and feathery shape.
I couldn't tell what it was so I held it closer to my face, only to be greeted by the same revolting smell as before.
Christ, my slippers smell like shit! I thought.
I shuddered and threw the slippers aside and got up. I heard another hiss.
Note to self: Stay away from Crookshanks for a little while.
"What time is it?" I muttered to myself. I looked at the clock.
2:38 am.
Well, if you were as wide awake as I was at this time of night (or should I say morning), what would you do? Maybe stay in bed and force yourself to sleep? Maybe finish some homework? Maybe go down into the common room? Or sneak down to the kitchens for a late night snack? Or even go find Peeves, just for the heck of it! I considered finishing some of my bloody homework and fall asleep while doing it, but I wasn't about to feel my way around the ground again. The first time was bad enough. And what if Crookshanks missed his litter box or something? I moved my feet a few yards closer to the door.
Merlin, this is a really bad idea...
But like I said before, everyone needs a little adventure in their life every once in a while.
You know, to this day forth, I'm not sure whether what I had in my mind at the time was a good idea or not. But only this would've happened to me: Bailey Lynn Orsino.
I quietly slipped through the dorm and out the common room unnoticed, taking extra caution to make sure no one was in the common room when I left.
I tiptoed off but before I rounded the corner, I took one last glance at the Fat Lady. She was sound asleep. I smiled and continued on.
"If you get in trouble then I'm not letting you back in," someone said from behind me.
I jumped in fear. Dang, I must've cleared at least four and a half feet! Oh, great. Barely 10 feet away from the common room and I'm already in trouble.
I turned around slowly and didn't see anyone following me. But this time, the Fat Lady was leaning against the portrait frame, one eye open and staring straight at me.
"What?" I said.
"If you get in trouble then I'm not letting you back in," the Fat Lady repeated.
I blushed a color which would've probably been a brilliant shade of rose if it wasn't so dark. Then ignoring the Fat Lady's side comment, tip toed along.
"Humpf!" I heard her say faintly.
Now, where to go?
I was definitely NOT going anywhere near the dungeons or Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, that's for sure. So I absentmindedly walked over to a stair case leading down to the sixth floor. I was walking silently and nearly reached the bottom when I heard a groan and a creak and without warning, the staircase changed directions.
Man! I totally forgot about that.
I waited impatiently for it to stop moving and then stepped to the side behind a suit of armor, just in case.
So far, I was absolutely horrible at this "sneaking around" thing. The only thing that would make me completely turn around was if Filch, Mrs. Norris, or any of the professors showed up. As a matter of fact, I was thinking about turning back either way.
But the one thing the made me stop and stare was an unfamiliar doorway.
The door was ever so slightly ajar and something about it made it look more important than any other door in the entire school. The door had beautifully carved borders and rusty-looking hinges. I looked behind me and listened for footsteps or for Peeves and when I was positive I would be okay, I crept forward and into the room.
The first thing I noticed was the tall massive object towering over me in the room. And other than that, the rest of the room was unoccupied. I studied the object and my eyes practically popped.
No. Effing. Way.
>>Rest.n.Results. =]
I couldn't believe my luck. First year memories were flooding back into my mind. The way Harry was so excited to show Ron, Hermione and I what he had stumbled across. The way his eyes and Ron's eyes lit up. The way Hermione and I preferred not to even take a peek. The thing holding your desires was standing right in front of me.
Wasn't it supposed to be moved out of the school? I thought curiously as I carefully touched the dusty frame of the mirror. I had forgotten all about this. And I'm sure Harry probably had too.
But this time, I couldn't resist. I absolutely had to know. I had to know what I would look like, standing in front of the Mirror Of Erised.
