Mischief Is My Middle Name

[Charlotte Owens]

It was now the second semester of the year which gave perfect opportunity for more exploring. Hogwarts was her favourite place and it was going to take ages to accurately explore everything and get to know the castle inside out but Charlotte was willing to do whatever it took to try and discover its secrets. She was going to be at Hogwarts for the next six and a half years but she still had to start early and now was the perfect opportunity to continue her exploring from last semester.

Quietly taking her small backpack and throwing her dressing gown over her, she quickly tiptoed down the dormitory stairs and out of the Slytherin common room. Everyone should have been sleeping as it was just past midnight. Besides, her destination wasn't far and she was only going to be a few minutes. She had never been to the kitchens before and was looking very forward to seeing how exactly the Hogwarts house elves cooked her meals everyday. She had never seen house elves either and knew that right now was the best opportunity to find out and probably see if she could steal some food for safekeeping.

As she walked down the corridor that led straight to the kitchens, she tried her best to take her time despite the overwhelming excitement that rose with every small step she took. She didn't want to make any noise and was quite glad that she had made it so far without getting into any trouble. Half of her hoped that the house elves were sleeping or that they wouldn't be horrible enough to get her into trouble. She had had too many encounters with her head of house this year for her liking and would do anything to not have to see his cold eyes stare back at her bright ones in such a dark way again. She was only half certain that what she was doing was perfectly okay. She was not going to get into trouble again.

 

[Daniel Rosemary]

Daniel had not wanted to miss an opportunity to explore the school, as it was midnight he figured it would only be right for him to go see what sorts of secrets the ancient castle held within its walls. It was the second semester of his first year, he could do better by sneaking out into the night, since he couldn't sleep anyway. He realized he would only have fun with his twin, so he had decided to meet up with her outside her common room. He felt excited, he hadn't done anything like this for a long time. Dan knew that he would only get in deep trouble if they got caught and was ready to take the blame for himself if it meant Amy did not have to get into trouble. Still, he knew she wanted this as well, so as he made his way down to the Common Room, he did so as quietly as possible before stepping out of it and making his way to the Hufflepuff Common Room, which wasn't as far as he thought though in the dark he had to be careful to not make a sound slip.

Great, she's here. Now he just had to tell her what he was planning to do. Besides, the Slytherin thought, it's not like if we get some food from the kitchens it'll be really bad if we get caught. We could always come up with an excuse. He motioned for his sister to follow him and without a second glance to see if she was second-guessing the idea, he tiptoed without a sound until they made it to the kitchens. He frowned. The twins weren't the only ones in there. "We're not alone. There's somebody else." His heart sank as he thought of all professors and prefects that could be here. Dan hesitated a moment before shrugging it off - maybe it was a first year, and Daniel was too curious now to see who could be possibly sneaking around at this hour just like them. The two entered the kitchens and hoped the House Elves wouldn't want to get them in detention for grabbing some food. They could always make more, right? They weren't exactly stealing from them. No, they were borrowing the food for an extended amount of time. That's right. They were borrowing the food without giving it back. Simply taking it without permission. So it should be fine. At least Dan hoped.

 

[Amy Rosemary]

Tonight. Midnight. Your common room. Dan's words kept running through her head, over and over. At first she had hesitated, who knew what sort of trouble they would be getting into if they got caught by a professor? Or worse, professor Styx? She had seen that cold look that meant they shouldn't cross him. And yet, even with this thought in mind, Amy still wanted to feel that rush again, the last time she had been caught by somebody was the flying professor in the Forbidden Forest in the middle of the day when she had met that Gryffindor boy - Christian was it? - and it wasn't even that bad. It was barely an excuse to get detention, they were just talking after Amy had fallen on the rocks (nothing serious). Anyway, that time was ages ago, before the first semester was in full swing. Lessons had barely started. But now, she was ready to make up whatever excuse necessary to get the twins out of trouble. Amy certainly wasn't going to let her brother always take the blame for something they had both done. Although, to be fair it was his idea to go raiding the kitchens, so she wouldn't have to take all the blame. She could...partially be blamed for the sneaking out.

Amy stood outside the Hufflepuff Common Room, the adrenaline coursing through her, as she waited for Daniel. What's taking him so long? She thought impatiently. She was itching to go grab some food. Hopefully the Elves were actually nice and were not going to make sure they received their punishment. Amy felt kind of guilty for stealing food - or better yet, 'borrowing without permission' as her brother put it - as she knew the hard work put into making it all. However, she decided it was worth it if they did get caught and they would have to help with making the food, or something. They were after all, only first years. They didn't know their limits. Once he arrived and they set off on their mini adventure in search of great food and were about to enter the kitchens, she whispered, "woah, wait not alone?" She so did not want to get into trouble this early in the semester. Erm, this early on their mini adventure. She shook her head and wondered what the heck Dan thought of in that brain of his sometimes. Nonetheless, she followed him and suppressed a giggle. If they weren't alone, it had to be another student. Why else would they be sneaking around? "Okay let's grab some food. Quickly." She tossed her bag she had brought along with her in her brother's arms and looked around her, squinting in the dark. She stood frozen as other footsteps were heard coming in their direction. She prayed it was actually a student, otherwise they were doomed.

 

[Charlotte Owens]

Charlotte froze when she heard talking inside the kitchens. She could barely hear what was being said and leaned her head against the kitchen doors to find out. She heard nothing but silence through the wooden door and took a big sigh of relief. She was probably just hearing things from thinking all those thoughts about Professor Styx and slowly opened the door, trying to think positive thoughts. If she succeeded she was able to get her own stash of food and who wouldn't want their own stash of food to eat late at night when they're hungry?

The positive thoughts disappeared when she heard moving in the dark. Could it perhaps be a house elf? The house elves should have been asleep. She hoped to Merlin that it wasn't going to be a professor. "Hello?" she said shakily into the darkness. If it was a prefect or professor then she knew she was done for and should probably go back to her common room and start packing because she was surely going to be expelled if Professor Styx knew what she was doing this time at night. "Are you a house elf?" she added. She probably sounded silly but it was worth a try.

 

[Daniel Rosemary]

Dan did not look at his sister for one simple reason. She could be looking at him annoyed and he did not want to be reprimanded for being wrong about making her go with him to the kitchens to grab some food. He ignored her sighs of exasperation and shushed her by putting his finger to his lips and motioning for her to stay behind him, just in case the noise they had heard was indeed a professor. Or worse, Professor Styx, Dan's head of house. Well, if it was truly him...they were done for. There was no way he would ever want to disrespect the man, but come on, he was hungry! And it wasn't like he offended the professor or anything. Maybe the house elves, but not the Slytherin head. "No, we're not," he replied to the voice who came from somewhere in front of the twins. It sounded like a girl's voice, and a young one at that. So most probably not a professor. He had to make sure before he revealed who they were though. "Who are you?" He had to make sure, otherwise if it wasn't another student like he was suspecting they were seriously in trouble.

 

[Charlotte Owens]

When Charlotte heard a person's voice she was a bit disappointed and felt a frown upon her face. She really hoped she'd be finally able to see a house elf but even if she did they would probably tell someone that she was out of her bed past curfew and Charlotte didn't want that. But whoever this new person was (or people) had scared Charlotte just as much. It was a boy's voice and sounded like someone young so it wasn't a professor but was it a prefect? She had only ever met one prefect during her time at Hogwarts so far and he seemed pretty nice but she still had to watch out for one just in case. They just had too much power and not even the guy she met would let her get away with what she was doing.

Charlotte almost forgot who she was when the boy asked. She didn't want to give too much away so she thought about her words carefully. "I'm a student." she said simply, trying not to give the boy a thorough hint to who she was. Besides, they probably didn't even know each other as she couldn't seem to recognise the voice. And who was the other person that was with him? Was it perhaps a professor? Questions kept flooding her mind but she stayed quiet. It was too early into her journey now for her to get into trouble.

 

[Amy Rosemary]

Amy almost wanted to slap her brother for being silly, but she refrained. She wouldn't make a good first impression to whoever was speaking to them from the other side of the kitchens. She just hoped it wasn't a professor. Her spirits lifted when she heard the young girl's voice, too young to be a Hogwarts staff member so it had to mean she was a student. Yup, a student alright. she thought as the person confirmed her suspicions. "Dan, be more careful next time. You might land us into trouble with a prefect, or professor or something." She fought the urge to roll her eyes at her brother (after all, he was the one who brought her along and she gladly agreed after some convincing). Amy looked ahead of her into the dark, not really seeing anything even though it was clear there was someone else there. After relaxing, she spoke again this time to the voice. If the other girl was really a student like them and not a prefect of any sorts (at least Amy hoped) then they were safe. She ignored her brother's warning looks and took a step forward. "We're students too," she said slowly ensuring she didn't say too much. "We thought you were a prefect, or something. You aren't, right?" she hesitated at the last sentence. Maybe she had spoken too much. Nonetheless, she waited for the girl's response and she went back to stand next to her brother again. Might as well assume and take risks before somebody else found them and they really were in a deep mess. From the way the girl spoke, she didn't seem to be like an authority figure. Amy was getting hungry and she wanted to find out who the other person was, without a doubt Amy would be embarrassed for the rest of her life if it was a prefect.

 

[Charlotte Owens]

In all her life Charlotte had never been so relieved. The two passerbys weren't prefects and certainly weren't professors. She heard the girl tell her friend to be careful and it made Charlotte wonder what exactly they were doing in the kitchens late at night. "Yeah, I'm not a prefect. In fact, I'm only a first year!" she exclaimed with a slight chuckle. She hoped she didn't give too much away but there were too many first years in the school anyway so it would be hard to figure out which one she was exactly. But she felt flattered that they thought she was a prefect. She didn't think of herself as a leader or even a little bit responsible at times but they had only just met her and didn't even know her name or her appearance. "I'm Charlotte by the way!" she said cheerfully, smiling into the darkness. She really wanted to know who these people were and to see if they could be potential friends. After all, Charlotte loved making friends and she could never have too many.