Things that go bump in the night [open]

[lala]

A loud grumble echoed through a Hogwarts corridor, the sound being amplified by the stone walls and the emptiness of the corridor. Peter winced and put both hands over his stomach, knowing very well the action wouldn't stifle the sound coming out of his body the slightest bit. Walking even more carefully now, the Gryffindor glanced in all directions, closing his eyes in relief when he realised nobody had noticed him. After all, it was well past the time students were allowed to be out of their common rooms, and certainly there would be prefects patrolling the hallways; as nice as they might be in other occasions, Peter did not want his path to cross with a prefect's. If only he had had dinner, all of this could be avoided. But no, he had to follow Remus's advice for once and barricade himself in the library, not leaving his seat until he got that stupid essay for Binns done. As the result, once it was ready Peter had been shooed away by Madam Pince and had gone straight to his dormitory, completely oblivious to the fact that it was past dinnertime. It was only when confronted to 'Where've you been all day?' questions that the short boy realised he had missed the most important meal of the day – many claimed that title belonged to breakfast, but to him it was dinner -, and if he wanted at least a snack he had to go down to the kitchens and ask the house-elves to fix him something. However, try as he might, Peter was unable to find James and ask him if he could borrow that wonderful cloak of his, so he had no choice but to resort to the old-fashioned method: tiptoe his way to the kitchens and hope he won't get caught.

He was already in the third floor – Why must Gryffindor Tower be on the seventh floor, anyway? Peter thought – when a sound that sounded frighteningly like footsteps reached his ears. Peter stopped on his tracks and stood very still, scanning the darkness with his squinting eyes. He hadn't risked using Lumos on his endeavour for fear of being caught, and had to make do with the faint moonlight that shone through the windows. The source of the sound seemed to be getting closer to him, and Peter stood rooted to the spot, not knowing what to do. A metallic gleam was visible a few feet ahead of him, and Peter silently thanked the moon for its light and the armour for being there. Very carefully and as silently as possible, Peter walked over to the armour, quietly wedging himself into the small space in the niche, between the armour and the wall to its side. I do need to go on a diet, Peter thought dejectedly, scared by how loud his breathing sounded. He tried to inhale and exhale more slowly, hoping it wouldn't make the act quite so noisy, and fervently wished that it wasn't loud enough for whoever was strolling through the corridors at that time to hear.

[claire]

Yes, Claire was aware that sneaking down to the kitchens in the middle of the night was a bad idea for several reasons. Firstly, if she were to get caught by a teacher or prefect, she'd get in enormous trouble, especially considering that (second,) she was muggleborn, and (third) a rather small girl. Not that it was much of a defense, but in her defense, she did have her wand clutched tightly in her hand, and she was wearing a long grey-green-blackish cloak that blended quite well into the shadows. The hood was down, though, to expand on her field of vision, and the moonlight reflected off her porcelain features. Chocolaty curls spilled down around her shoulders, swirling from side-to-side reminiscent of a dancer's skirt whenever she glanced around the corridor anxiously. Under the cover of her cloak, Claire's midnight blue shift skimmed the top of her soft-soled black flat slippers. Good shoes for sneaking around in.

The corridors were so quiet though that she could hear her own footsteps as she descended the stairway onto the third floor. She'd been having second thoughts about continuing on her way, but by this point she was more than halfway there (not much more than halfway, but still more) and she was still hungry. Claire had been studying at supper, and so while she'd physically been there in the great hall, her mind had been locked on the potions text book, and she'd been mechanically eating buttered roll after roll, eating nothing of substance. So of course, by now, she was quite hungry, and after much internal deliberation, came to the conclusion that sneaking down to the kitchen would be the best of neither good idea. Besides, it wasn't the first time she'd ever snuck down to the kitchens--granted, she'd done it only twice before, and both times had been with other people, and it hadn't been her idea. But the point was that she had done it before, and so knew how to get into the kitchen. And she knew that the house elves welcomed rule-breaking students with food. Lots of good food, in fact.

Thinking she heard other footsteps in the corridor, Claire slackened her pace slightly, raising her wand from where it was resting by her side, so she'd be more ready to use it if need arose. The footsteps ahead of her stopped rather suddenly, and she backed against the wall to avoid standing in a pool of moonlight. The footsteps started up again, as well as a slight metallic groan, as though one of the statues was being moved. Should she go back? Or was she being scared by a mouse? Claire wondered, cautiously tip-toeing forward, taking care to breath silently, despite the increase in her heart-rate.

Alright, what were her options...Go back, or go forward. Assuming there was a person in the corridor, and assuming said person had malicious intent, she'd probably either die or get hexed either way. Going back would just make it easier for her to be attacked from behind, so at least if she kept going she might get a shot in. Assuming it was a mouse or rat or something, nothing would happen either way, so going back would just mean she'd be hungry for the rest of the night, and lay awake all night wondering if it was a rat or human she'd been frightened of. So, either way, the best solution (again, 'best' solution of no good solution, what was her problem with getting into situations with no good solution tonight?) seemed to keep going, try to stay calm, and hope for the best. Not exactly ideal, but none of the things in her life were exactly ideal most of the time.

Keeping her wand raised, Claire started forward again, this time taking extra care to keep her footsteps as quiet as possible in the deafening silence. The only sounds that broke the dead silence were her soft footsteps on the stones, the whisper of her cloak skimming the ground and...someone's breathing? Or was she imagining things? Unfortunately, she was equally sure that either one of those was possible, though she was hoping that it was her mind playing tricks on her (not that one usually hopes they're hearing things, but extenuating circumstances...). She didn't see anything as she approached the statue cautiously, but the nook in the wall was completely black, so she couldn't be certain....

[lala]

Peter had the sudden urge to bring one hand up to his mouth and start chewing his fingernails off, so nervous he was feeling. If before he had thought the footsteps could not be just his imagination, now he was positively sure of it. To make this worse, a faint rustling that sounded a lot like a cloak had also made itself noticeable. Fear soared through his veins like fire, and the adrenaline rush made him want to dash off, back to the Gryffindor common room or to some equally far place. However, as Peter knew fully well, it was impossible to do so, and that impossibility only made him more nervous and uneasy. This is the last time I ever attempt this Peter thought, swearing to himself that he would never, ever find himself in this sort of situation again. What the boy forgot to remember was that he had taken this same oath in several occasions, usually when a prank hadn't gone the way the Marauders had intended it to. Yes, Peter was a bit of a chicken, so what? He might not have the best marks - that would be Remus -, but he wasn't completely stupid, and knew that if he got expelled, not only would his parents be very disappointed but also he wouldn't be able to find a decent job in the wizarding world, since he wouldn't have completed his education. Peter had told himself 'never again' lots of times, and lots of times he had ended up scrapping his decision from only days, or even hours before, and tag along with others, or do what he thought was best.

Peter snapped out of his reverie - it seemed his tendency to get distracted by the smallest things did not only show itself during classes, risky and dangerous situations were game for it too - as the sound of footsteps grew very near - frighteningly so, in fact -. He held his breath instinctively as he squinted to get a glimpse of the person or being that had approached. The feeble light didn't do much for his cause, but he did see the outlines of a cloak. That explains the rustling, the boy thought, trying to encourage himself as his body demanded air at once. He took one slow, careful breath, filling his lungs with much needed oxygen, and went back to his 'guess who' game. Peter's heart skipped a beat as his eyes caught sight of long dark curls, a tell-tale sign of their owner's gender. No way...

The moon decided to lend Peter a hand, and the soft moonlight incided upon the suit of armour, reflecting off the metal and providing the boy's eyes with a little light. He used it wisely for once, identifying the intruder. "Claire!" he let out in a shriek, immediately bringing his hands up to his mouth, covering it. If it wasn't her, he would be doomed. But he was fairly confident it was - after all, he hadn't been ogling her insistently for the last term of their fourth year for nothing, had he? -, and it was that confidence that gave him the courage to whisper her name. "Claire! It's me, Peter. Next to the armour," he supplied, eagerly awaiting her acknowledgement. Claire was a good, righteous girl - not to mention very pretty -, much like Remus: she would never tell she had seen him down here, though probably it was because she would be in trouble herself if she did so.

[claire]

At the unexpected sound of her name, Claire gasped in surprise and managed to swallow a scream. She did jump about a foot into the air, however. Well that was quite unexpected, she sighed in relief as she placed the unseen voice as that of Peter Pettigrew, a friend and fellow Gryffindor. Thank Merlin it wasn't someone else. It was almost funny, in a not-funny-at-all way, here she'd been thinking that she'd been walking into certain death (or enormous trouble), and it turned out to be Peter, who had probably been just as terrified of her as she'd been of him. Quickly going over to the cover of the shadow by the armor, Claire replied to Peter in a whisper, once she was sure she'd restored her breathing rate to normal.

"Merlin, Peter! I don't think I've ever been so relieved to see anyone in my life--I thought I was about to get expelled or something for being out after-hours." She whispered, her good humor returning as the shock wore off. "What are you doing down here, anyway? Other than scaring the wits out of me, of course." She asked curiously, wondering if she maybe wasn't the only one breaking the rules for a midnight snack. The kitchens were still three floors down, so if Peter was headed there--or anywhere close--company would be more than welcomed. Two heads were better than one, and two wands were certainly better than one.

[lala]

Peter shivered slightly in surprise as he heard, more than saw, Claire jump into the air. Now he had gone and scared her - who wouldn't be scared, considering the circumstances they were in? -, but still Claire hadn't screamed not shrieked like he had. Shame on you, Peter thought, his cheeks flaming, though it wasn't only due to his embarrassment over having screamed like a first-year. The boy was still baffled he was standing so near to Claire, who had always been so nice to him even though they didn't talk all that much and who was the prettiest girl in Hogwarts, without a doubt. His heart rate increased even more as realisation dawned upon him, and his brain processed that he was standing right next to his crush, the two of them alone (possibly). Peter's thoughts only increased his nervousness, and he jumped slightly when he heard Claire whisper back to him, who seemed to have seized the cover the suit of armour provided as well.

"Y-yeah, me too. I honestly thought a prefect had seen me," Peter confessed, his lips curving into a small smile. Claire's natural good humour - one of her best traits, in Peter's opinion - was once again showing through after the initial shock had worn out, and he was glad for it. It helped dissipate the tense mood that had been created when both of them thought they were going to be caught. "S-sorry to have scared you, I-I didn't mean to," Peter stuttered, scolding himself for having done so. ]"I was actually going to the kitchens, missed dinner and my stomach won't leave me alone," he informed, now less nervous. Claire had a soothing, calming aura about her, and she made Peter feel a lot better just with her presence. "What about you?" he asked curiously, wondering two seconds later if he had been indiscreet for doing so. Hopefully Claire would share some information with him, and if they were headed to the same place, which sounded like the most probable hypothesis, he could use the extra eyes and ears, as well as enjoy her presence.

[claire]

"Funny--I'm headed towards the kitchens too. Didn't eat much at dinner, so now I'm starved." She explained, still keeping her voice low. Claire was a bit relieved that she wouldn't have to continue on her way alone. Not that Peter would have ideally been her top choice as a sneaking-in-the-night partner, but he was better than nothing, and he was trustworthy enough. They'd been in the same classes for five years now, so she knew him well enough, even if they weren't best of the best friends. "Let's go together?" She proposed, backing away from the statue slightly to give Peter space to get out. "Only if you want to, of course; but it seems to make more sense than scrambling through the dark alone." She added with a wry grin, to ensure that he wouldn't feel obligated to go with her if he didn't want to.

Though she did step back to leave Peter room to get out from behind the statue, Claire did wisely stay in the cover of the shadow. Stepping boldly into the moonlight didn't seem like the brightest idea in the world, and she wasn't sure she'd be able to avoid a scream at any more surprises. She might be able to--she was tougher than most people thought--but it wasn't a theory she'd like to test at the moment.

[lala]

"At least you had dinner," Peter said, thinking he really should have ignored Remus and just do the essay at night in bed. AT least he wouldn't have been mealless. But he had had no way of knowing that at the time, and his schoolwork spree came out the winner against his laziness - which was better in the long run. He shook his head out of his musings as Claire's voice - like an angel's, Peter thought - reached his ears, and he directed his look to what he thought was her face. "T-together?" he blurted out, not quite believing what he had just heard. "Of course! If you don't mind," he added, hearing the rustle of her cloak and reckoning she had given him some space to get out. Peter went to do just that, huffing and puffing as he realised it had been much easier to get in than it would be to get out. He rotated on his side and carefully wedged himself out of the tight spot he'd got himself into, nearly dislocating the suit of armour's arm in the process.

Wiping his brow with the back of his hand, Peter let out a muttered curse when he realised the moonlight was shining directly on him; he moved to the side quickly, hiding in the shadows once more, and squinted about, looking for Claire. "To be honest I wasn't really looking forward to going down there by myself," he confided, omitting that it was not only prefects and teachers he was afraid of - the dark had always made him a bit uneasy. "Shall we go, then?" Peter asked Claire, extending his arm towards the part of the corridor they hadn't passed yet and that led to another flight of stairs.


((ooc: should we move this to the kitchens now, or do you have any ideas as to what might happen whilst they're trying to get there?))

[claire]

((I agree--moving to the kitchens seems like the best idea.))

Claire smiled slightly to herself in the dark, a bit amused at Peter's difficulty in getting out from behind the statue. She'd never laugh at a friend, of course, but grinning wasn't laughing, and she didn't think he could even see her smile in the dark. "Of course I don't mind!" Claire assured him quickly as he made sure she didn't mind. She wouldn't have suggested it if she had minded. "I wasn't really too keen on going down alone, either." She admitted, in part for honesty's sake and in part because she thought she detected a trace of embarrassment in Peter's voice that he didn't want to go alone.

She nodded, despite the fact that she was sure Peter couldn't see her nod, as he pointed down the corridor towards the stairs that led down to the kitchens, "Yes, let's go." She agreed. Claire loosened her grip on her wand slightly, and reached up with both hands to lift the hood of her cloak over her head, covering the majority of her hair, except what spilled over her shoulders. There wasn't any particular reason to her raising her hood, other than that she simply felt like it. Glancing over to give Peter a grin, she started walking along with him in the direction they were headed.