Delightful suspense... Or not?

[Victoria Chase]

The young Chase wrung her hands together as she saw the staircase that led to the dungeons. That staircase led to never ending darkness or dimness, if there was any light in the dungeons anyway. She only meant going to the dungeons when she had a Potions class so technically, she had to drag herself there or better yet, ask a fellow Gryffindor to drag her down the stairs. This time however, she was alone with no other company. If descending the staircase was such a chore, what more was ghost hunting in the dungeons? "Clearly this wasn't a good idea." Vicky gulped unconsciously, her green eyes darting as she looked at the darkness below. She blinked rather nervously but refused to back out. What was so wrong with the dark dungeons? Especially now that it was nighttime, with most of the students out in the Great Hall to eat dinner? Victoria kept her calm and summoned her courage to overpower her childish nervousness. What would Tommy Hayes now say if he found out she was nervous? He would probably laugh and tease her. Victoria hated being teased by her friends 24/7 and to have Tommy tease and prod her was something that she did not want to go to. Setting a foot forward, she proceeded to go down the stairs and look for her younger friend.

The walk itself made her heart pump in suspense and she did not dare look at the darkness that went further into the dungeons. With each step came her increasing pulse, that beat like a clock pressuring her to move faster. Why in the first place did she agree to go ghost hunting? Her hands were cold and she continued to wrung them nervously. Victoria raced to the base of the staircase, wherein she agreed to meet Tommy. She knew the way to the Potions classrooms however, their route for ghost hunting would have to start at the opposite direction, in which Victoria never placed a foot on, hence on why she felt nervous on how to get back. She tried promising herself not to scream if she saw a ghost or else all hell in her (and most probably in Tommy) would break loose. Where was her Slytherin friend anyway? Was not he here yet? Victoria let her eyes adjust to the surrounding dimness of the light and ignored any strange that sounds that threatened to vibrate against her eardrums. She could not let herself be frightened now. They have not even started yet! A frown toyed with her fleshy lips. How did Slytherins bear this dreadful place? How did Benjamin suffer in this place for six straight years? How will Tommy find his way to his common room? Before even calling out the younger boy's name, she illuminated the tip of her wand. "Lumos," Victoria breathlessly murmured. A bright light appeared and it helped her green eyes look around for any small figures of a blonde boy.

"Tommy?!" Victoria called softly and looked around briefly. With no response to her soft voice, she bit the inside of her cheek. The silence was freaking her out, not to mention the darkness itself was just creepy. She was a Gryffindor! Where was her courage and boldness? She wanted to live up to the traits of a true Lion and right now, it was just not really working. Cowardice was one of the things she hated to see from herself. The thought of being a coward here was humiliating, but hell, this should only be considered as pure fun right? "Tommy?! Are you there?!" This time her voice was quite louder and with a few steps she found her friend and with a big relieved smile she approached him. She knew that in a few years he'd be inches taller than her. That would be sad, because Victoria would dislike the feeling of being short compared to most people. She looked at him and looked at the direction they were supposed to be going. "Told you this place was creepy. But hey I'm not backing out," muttered the second year and looked back at her friend. Not knowing if they should proceed, she waited for any comment from Tommy Hayes. This was going to be fun and suspenseful at the same time, but Victoria was leaning towards the suspenseful part. She was already feeling it in her blood!
​

 

[Tomas Hayes]

Tommy vaguely knew his way around the dungeons. Remembering the twists and turns of this area was nearly impossible - they all looked the same. He tucked his hands into his robes and continued to totter along. He could no believe that he was in Slytherin. It was a lovely house, he wasn't going to stand around crying about having to wear green and parade around with a snake mascot - even though his father would be having a heartattack at the colour combination. Blue eyes did not match with this emerald green stuff, and he didn't even want to think about Austiin's fear of snakes. He smirked. Perhaps leaving his robes around with the Slytherin emblem would be a fun thing to do at home. In fact, he was sure Cameron was scared of snakes. A smirk formed on his face. Well, perhaps it was not so bad. Except for the fact that his only friend was not in Slytherin. She was in Gryffindor - the red house - the house that would not have clashed with his eyes and had a lion or something as its mascot. That was so unfair. He had hoped that the hat would put him there too, only to have the thing say that he'd be okay there - but Slytherin was better. He lived in a dungeon for Merlin's sake. Someone needed to invest in a new hat - or better housing standards for students. Dungeons were terrible places to house children for their education. For all he knew rats ran around down here. Rats were disgusting and unhygienic. He could catch a disease.

Tommy pulled his wand from his robes gently. He was still getting used to it, since it was his first. He had held wands before - but they were never his own. He relied on the magic of his father to do everything for him, now he had to rely on his own. It was a strange feeling - independence. He always thought that he wanted it, but now he'd rather just be at home with his father and Cameron and just watch a weird muggle movie they had found, or go travel to some country that Tommy could grow to loathe. Doing those things were simple and fun. New places were unsettling. But hey, at least he was going to meet Victoria and hunt ghosts! He had been planning to do that for ages. Ghosts were intriguing - and he had never actually seen one. Of course, he knew that existed. His father told him once of a time where he saw a ghost at school and found that they were good company. Tommy wanted to know what they felt like. And what they actually looked like. Austiin had said that they sort of looked silvery, silky white almost. Tommy was not entirely sure what 'silky white' looked like, but his father did have a way of describing things in such a way that made Tommy tilt his head. It was as if the older man enjoyed confusing him. Considering he had the emotional stability of a child, Austiin probably did enjoy confusing his son.

"Lumos," with a gentle flick of his wand, the dungeons lit up a little. Now he could see better. His blue eyes scanned the area, finding a second source of light - though not from torch. He heard his name, and continued to move closer to the source. It had to be Victoria. He smiled as he closed in on her position, the part-veela was nearly running now. The dungeons were just so boring and blah - he needed a friend to brighten the place up. "Victoria?" He grinned and slowed back to a walk when he saw her. The first year stood promptly in front of her. "Well, if you're really really scared, I guess we might as well search the gardens for ghosts. Flowers aren't as scary as stoney floors and walls." He was mocking her because he could, because she had decided to reveal the fact that she was nervous. He, on the other hand, was not going to reveal anything. For all she knew, he was completely comfortable in this dark, possibly rat infested place. He nodded behind him. "Come on, let's try going this way. I bed we'll find a ghost soon."
​

 

[Victoria Chase]

Sometimes, Tommy was incredibly funny in his dramatic ways. Perhaps not sometimes, but normally. Victoria at least, found it amusing and tolerable. She was more of the talker between the two and she did love being with him. She just hated the fact that people teased her about it. Especially her older brother, Merlin's pants! Life was totally unfair when being the only girl in the clan happened - her brothers quickly assumed that her closest best guy was already her boyfriend. Well, what morons they were. Victoria always got scolded at when she teased Benjamin to, well, anyone really. However, Benjamin always got away with his hopeless, mean and infuriating mocking. Her green eyes looked at Tommy and then to the corridor before them, hoping in vain that Benjamin would not even know about this. Seeping in her veins was suspense, but excitement mingled with it thoroughly in her bloodstream. Lovely combination, it was.

"Oh, shut up. I love flowers." Their very scent intoxicated Victoria. The good ones, at least. Considering how much of a girly little thing she was, her love for the flowers would not surprise Tommy most probably. Actually, Victoria already half knew that Tommy would not at the least be surprised. Quickly glancing at the hall where Tommy was looking at, she followed him forward to the darkness. She held her wand firmly, briefly imagining herself dueling some sort of sinister being. What a picture she had painted in her mind! The dimmed corridors played with her eyes, making her blink to adjust to the darkness. It was quiet, cold and to tell the apparent, dim. To her it smelled quite damp and she quickly remembered that they were under the Lake after all. She took a deep breath and released. The constant lookout they both had was becoming tedious, even if they haven't even had their first three minutes walking. Still, the adrenalin was pumping more than normal and sooner or later, it might drive her mad. "Do you think ghosts make these weird sounds? Like spooky whistling?" The girl was nervous, so secretly, one had to forgive her nervous talking. She looked around with her big emerald eyes, and nibbled on her lower lip. She felt like something or someone was watching them. With every step she took, she felt that she was as lost as a pup. She thought she heard a water drop, but knowing the normal silence of the dungeons, that was nothing. Damn the paranoia.

Whatever pushed her even forward, Victoria had to admit that she was good at this bravery thing. She glanced at Tommy, looking at him curiously. He still has not had that huge growth spurt but soon, oh very soon, he'd have it like the rest. His eyes were the same blue orbs and his hair was, blond still. It was his personality that Victoria grew to tolerate and like very much since it was pretty much the opposite of hers yet they were, in small ways the same. Quizzical interest painted itself on her face as she cocked her head. "You never told me if you were scared or not," Victoria softly uttered. She nudged him playfully on the shoulder, grinning normally for the first time during their walk. Someone just had to cast away the buzzing silence and Victoria made the move to break it. "Ha, admit it! How about a little bit?" Ghost hunting made the hairs implanted on her skinny neck stand up erectly and it gave her goosebumps at the most unexpected of times. She hated the feel, but now was not the time to verbalize that thought of hers. She was genuinely interested in what the blond boy had to say about what he felt regarding this. Anxious, calm, excited, paranoid - whichever it was, Victoria wanted to relate to know!
​

 

[Tomas Hayes]

</FONT>

<FONT font="georgia">Tommy rolled his eyes. Sometimes, Victoria could be a really big girl. Since he was used to not being near girls often, sometimes he actually forgot that Victoria was a girl. Then he'd look at her hair and her unusual habit of being particularly girlie and it would all come back to him. Sometimes, Victoria would be a girl - because she was a girl. "I like flowers just as much as the next person - but we're hunting ghosts, not bumblebees. I think ghosts would lurk around dark, creepy places-" he waggled his fingers for effect, "-if we go anywhere else, we might as well try to find gnomes." He frowned slightly. "I hate gnomes." And with the topic of flowers settled, the Slytherin began preparing himself for an adventure through the dungeons. He was not as horrified to be here now that he had located Victoria. For starters, everything seemed a little less daunting when a friend was nearby, someone he could rely on. What Victoria would be able to do if they ever got in trouble, Tommy was not sure, but if he had to face a troll or something down here (not that there would be something like that down here) it would be nicer to have a friend nearby to scream with, rather than screaming by ones self. He was rest assured that if they found something dangerous down here, he would not die alone. Victoria would probably die with him. Unless she ran faster, which was possible, but not very likely. Tommy was quite sure that, if faced with a particularly unappealing creature, he would be able to hightail it out of there faster than lightning.

They then began to walk. Tommy held his wand up, his lumos eliminating the corridors. As expected, Victoria's was a little brighter because she had actually been actively studying magic far longer then the blonde himself. Because of irritating underage magic laws, he was not allowed to perform magic. Why a stupid law like that existed he wasn't sure. Life would have been so much simpler if he were able to perform his own magic at home, instead of having to rely on older family members. His thoughts were crossed out when he heard Victoria speak, she sounded rather nervous. He pursed his lips in thought. What would a ghost sound like? "Well, my father said once that he spoke to one - and it was good company." He shrugged. "But he talks a lot, so it could have just been a drooling mess and he'd probably like it. But they might whistle, like... to scare people and that." If the Slytherin ever became a ghost, he was sure he would spend the majority of his time spooking unsuspecting students just for fun. Who wouldn't? The last thing one would care about when dead was the wellbeing of the living, well, that was what Tommy believed. Once something was dead, it probably wouldn't give two tosses about what he living were up to. After all, the living often forgot about the dead after a while. One would have to actively haunt someone to be remembered.

Tommy kept himself stone-like. He was not entirely sure if he was nervous or not, but he was excited. He knew that much. The dungeons just weren't an inspirational place. If they had something nice down here, then it'd be easier to bare. It just made him feel a little depressed and ready for bed, like the walls themselves were crying. Then again, they were under the lake, weren't they? Water probably seeped through from time to time. He stole a few glanced at Victoria, finding it weird if he were caught to be staring or something. She was a little taller, but his male genetics would soon clear that up in a few years. She still out outrageously long hair. It was not that long to some, but Tommy had grown up around people with relatively short hair, his aunt having the longest hair and even that was not too long. He was not sure how Victoria kept it from getting knotty or something. It seemed impossible to the boy to control such long hair. She still had those big, green eyes, and they looked even greener in the light their wands were producing. They reminded him of algae - but in a positive way. The sort of algae and mosh-like substance that was put on rocks in Bonsai Tree displays to give some credit and colour to the otherwise (in his opinion) bland, swirly tree. He laughed when she nudged him in the shoulder and shook his head. "Me, scared? Pah-lease, I thought you knew me. You're the scared one." Sure, he was a teeny, tiny bit put off by their surroundings, but that wasn't exactly being scared, that was just being cautious. Yes, cautious. That was the word he was using and he was going to stick with it.
​

​

 

[Victoria Chase]

Running back was not an option at all and so was begging Tommy to just take another route. The beat of her pulse flooded her every sense and she suddenly felt fidgety. The whole thing about ghosts crept her out and she felt images build up in her mind randomly. One was a ghost that had its mouth opened wide at her, blood stains evident on its transparent form. Another looked fierce - like it were to strike her anytime of the day. The eerie silence was what made her as jumpy as a kangaroo. Every time she heard something - a faint whistle, soft footsteps or a small 'plop,' she resisted the urge to grab onto something for dear life. Dealing with the darkness was something she did not do normally and this challenge that Tommy posed was something she could not back out from. Thinking thommy instead. "Oh my God that is so weird. What if they chase us whilst screaming at us? Holy crap," swore Vicky. She hated guarding herself since, she was practically used to somebody else guarding her safety and sanity. She constantly led herself away from the staircase that will lead her up to the Great Hall where she thought her safety was perfectly guarded.

Damn right, she certainly was the terrified one. Rather, the nervous one. But she did not offer any movement that was to confirm that. Instead she looked at him and directed the conversation back at him. "Mhmm, you really are scared," Victoria half teased. Little did she know that she sounded more like her older sibling but Tommy did not really know the ways of Benjamin Chase. She looked around the darkness dimness and let out a sigh. Merlin even knew that she needed to calm her nerves down. Her chilled hands relaxed slightly and she stood up straighter to prove her courage - even if she felt that it was totally failing her at the moment. What kind of Gryffindor was she? Not brave, not exactly adventurous and not daring. Frankly, she figured in the past that she really was fit for a Hufflepuff. Currently, that lion heart that her mother had been trying to implant inside of her was not working and she felt discouraged by the hat's decision. She loved Gryffindor but its traits and values was just not functioning correctly in her right now. Tommy was fit for a Slytherin and now she could see why but even in her second year, she still wondered why did that old hat put her with the Lions. Now was the time to prove if she really was worthy of the good old hat's decision, she thought.

A trickle of water resonated and Victoria looked over her shoulder. Paranoia easily tracked her ass down, making her the little paranoid Lion whose idea of ghosts is of a child's. Well, she was a child technically but Victoria did not let people treat her so. She glanced around the dancing shadows and bit her lip. Did Tommy hear that? It was like water slowly leaking out of a crack. She shook her head to herself and in the process bowed her head a wee bit. Her dark brown hair hid the expression that was mingling in her eyes with the help of the darkness surrounding them. She looked up again and blinked when she saw movement ahead. Or was it just the flicker of some of the torches? The shadows seemed to be playing tricks with her eyes and it was driving her more than nuts. "Is there someone there or..." trailed the second year and she glanced at Tommy nervously. Her big, green eyes questioned him their next step, whether or not they should approach the dark corner where the shadows where playing with themselves or they should just go straight ahead. Heart hammering in her chest, Victoria waited for the insight of the Slytherin next to her.

Out of Character:

I cry because of my lateness.

 

[Tomas Hayes]

and I cry because of mine!

---

Tommy's face scrunched up at the thought of some pesky ghost running after them and screaming, he glanced at Victoria for a moment, and she seemed rather serious. Could they do that? Were ghosts capable? "Would their voice bounce off the walls like ours?" he mused, running his fingers across the cold dungeon walls. He truly had never seen a ghost, and even though he had thought about it, he was not entirely sure what they would and would not be able to do. Could they possess people? His father had never mentioned that, but Tommy had never asked, either. If you didn't ask something, Austiin tended not to tell. The occasional, eerie sounds of the dungeons were made worse with the nagging feeling that was growing in his stomach. It was hard to explain, but he felt as if it would be better to just run. He had walked along here many times, being in Slytherin and such, but it was different when looking for a dead person. That's what ghosts were. Dead things. The blonde had no idea why one became a ghost, or how one became a ghost, but he was sure that it only happened after you died. Either way, he doubted this would end with them having tea with a ghost. Somehow, he felt like this was not the wisest idea, but he wasn't a wise boy. He was a child, and wanted to go adventuring. All he hoped was that Abbigale not find him doing silly things like this, or she would kill him.

Tommy puffed out his chest stubbornly, refusing to be seen as scared. His pride was his downfall, and he knew this. He was not about to let himself appear any more scared than Victoria. "Not nearly as much as you," he retorted. "I might be a little bit cautious, but you look about ready to turn into a ghost yourself." Nevermind the fact that Tomas was not entirely sure what a ghost looked like, or how it would work. As Victoria sighed, the Slytherin found himself sighing as well. He was obviously excited to go for a ghost hunt, but excitement and anxiety were rather close, and were fighting for control within his small frame. If he were to be perfectly honest, he would rather stop this and go outside and find something to do. Perhaps wandering the grounds. This was just getting less exciting and more disturbing. Every (rather common) noise was making his hair stand on end, and it was Victoria's fault. Her anxiety was mixing with his anxiety and making him react to things much like a cat on a freeway. He glanced at his hideous green robes, and shook his head. This was probably going to be a long night, but if they manage to find a ghost, it might just be worth it. That is, as long as it was not a terrible ghost that would scream through the halls. A headache was not something he needed right now, nor did he need thirty years scared off his lifespan.

Tomas continued to hold out his wand, which was still illuminating the corridor, but it was also making suspicious shadows from the cobbled walls and the odd hanging torch. However, he continued to place one foot in front of the other and match Victoria's pace step for step. He was not going to run away, because that would make him look like an idiot. Even if anxiety and paranoia were sitting on his shoulders tonight, he did not have to listen to them. That strange bubbling in his stomach would die down as the night continued, if he didn't die first. He heard a few drips, and attempted to find the noise with his eyes and wand. Unfortunately, his eyesight was finding it hard to spot anything, even with the torches and wands, it was still an eerie darkness, with dancing shadows and various 'threatening' light flickers that were playing with his imaginative mind. As Victoria spoke, Tommy attempted to look where she was looking, and felt the pressure as she looked at him. It was a dark corner. He could hear his father telling him to not approach the creepy dark corner. Only idiots would do such things. Curiosity was so not worth this, he was sure. However, the Slytherin found himself tugging on his Gryffindor friend's sleeve, encouraging her to follow behind him as he went to investigate the dark, definitely not inviting corner. There could be all sorts of terrible things there, but there could also be something amazing and fun there too, sort of. Maybe a ghost was there. He did not nearly give himself a heart attack to only run away from corners. He had to know. "Come on..."
​

<i></i>