Officially Lost

[Charles Abberline]

Charlie walked around nervously with his hands inside the pockets of his new, blue Ravenclaw hoodie as he was trying to remember the way to the bathroom without any sunlight shining into the now dark corridors of the castle. It was also much harder to navigate through the school without the corridors being full of other first years that needed to be at the same classroom as he was suppose to be, so it was only a matter of time before he would officially consider himself lost. Charlie knew that he was going to get lost eventually, but he didn't expect it to happen so soon and within the first week of school. With fear and adrenaline running through his veins, the Ravenclaw student tried his best to find his way towards the bathroom without being seen by a professor or prefect, because he was sure that once he was seen, he'd most likely be punished for wandering through the castle at night when all he wanted to do was pee before going to bed.

 

[Rose Holland]

Sneaking out at night might not be the wisest thing to make a habit of this early in the year, but Rose couldn't help herself. Every time she went to bed at night she felt a restless energy and an itch to go explore. There was so much she had yet to see! And it was always more exciting to see things at night. Hogwarts especially looked extra spooky in the dark, making it all the more appealing.

But just like last time, she heard footsteps echoing through the corridor. Rose froze in her tracks, her eyes wide as she tried to make out who she was hearing. Her heart was beating in her chest as she took in her surroundings. No classroom or library to duck into quickly. Oh, she was going to be in so much trouble.

But the figure walking towards her wasn't big enough to be a teacher. It had to be a student. "Hello?" Rose said quietly, though it felt to her as if she was shouting when everything around her was so quiet. Squinting in the dark, she could just make out the telltale blue of Ravenclaw, and she made a guess. How many adventurous Ravenclaws could there possibly be? "Edwin, is that you again?"

 

[Charles Abberline]

Charlie entered yet another unknown corridor and couldn't help to sigh out of irritation. How were students suppose to navigate through the castle at night if they woke up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom and then back to sleep because he clearly wasn't having any luck whatsoever. The Ravenclaw sauntered through even more corridors before the thing he feared most would happen. His heart sank the minute he heard a voice in the darkness. Charlie stopped dead in his tracks as if he was paralyzed. How was he going to explain that he got lost on his way to the bathroom? But then he heard the voice again, and this time he could hear it more clearly; it was a girl's voice. ''I'm not Edwin.'' he said confusingly and walked a little closer towards the dark silhouette until he could see her face properly. ''I'm Charlie.''

 

[Rose Holland]

Rose wasn't sure what it was with her and running into Ravenclaw boys at night, but this had to be some sort of record. Two different ones, before the term even started properly.

She stepped closer slowly, trying to make out the other person better. "Oh, sorry." She said. It really wasn't Edwin, he looked different and now she had heard his voice she knew that was different too. "You know you're not supposed to be out at night, right?" She asked. Rose knew she was doing something she wasn't supposed to, but she wasn't convinced this boy was aware of that fact as well. It would suck if he got caught on something he didn't do on purpose. It would suck even more if Rose was caught as well. "Oh, I'm Rose by the way." She added quickly, remembering it was rude not to introduce herself. She figured that still counted even in a strange sort of meeting like this.

 

[Charles Abberline]

Charlie sighed with relief once he could see the girl's face more clearly, and knew that he wasn't going be in trouble just yet. ''Says the girl who is also out of bed.'' the Ravenclaw replied back quickly. He knew he had a perfectly good reason to be out of bed at this hour but wasn't sure at all if she was out of hers with the same intention as him. Charlie figured that the girl in front of him was exploring the castle at night, because admittedly he had wanted to do the same thing ever since he arrived at Hogwarts but was too scared out of fear to get caught by a professor. ''Nice to meet you, Rose.'' he said smiling at her when she introduced herself as well. ''I eh.. Do you know where the bathroom is? I've been looking for ages now and I really need to pee.'' he said and put his hand between his legs, crossing them furiously because he had to pee for awhile now.

 

[Rose Holland]

Rose grinned. "I know I'm out of bed, but I was aware of the risks when I left the Common Room. I was just trying to find out if you did too." She said happily. She wasn't bothered by the idea of getting into trouble too much, she figured she would end up in detention at least a few times anyway. It was sometimes smart to have low expectations, then things could only go better than expected.

When he asked her where the bathroom was and told her he needed to pee, Rose couldn't help herself. She started to laugh. Quickly, she covered her mouth with both her hands but there were still muffled giggles escaping. It was just so unexpected and he looked so funny crossing his legs that way. She turned away to calm down, hoping he didn't take offense. "Oh man, I'm sorry." She said after a moment, a little breathless. "That's just... poor you. No wonder you're out during the night." So it seemed like she hadn't actually encountered two rare adventurous Ravenclaws. Just one, and another that just had extremely unfortunate bladder timing. That thought was almost enough to make her laugh again but she bit her lip and held it in.

"I actually think there's one at the end of the hallway, over there." She said, hoping that her helpfulness would balance out the uncontrollable laughter from before. And also hoping she was actually right and not just sending him the wrong way. "I... could walk with you? I mean, I'm going that way anyway." She added hesitantly. It might be a weird thing to offer, but she could see that Charlie wasn't entirely comfortable being out here alone. Besides, the sooner he went back to his dorm the sooner she had time to go exploring more.

 

[Charles Abberline]

Charlie's cheek turned bright red out of embarrassment when the girl in front of him suddenly started to laugh. ''It is not funny, OK!'' he whined, crossing his legs even more furiously this time because he could almost literally feel his blatter explode. As Rose continued to giggle, the Ravenclaw boy stomped his feet and pouted angrily. Had she been one of his friends from back home Charlie would have punched her right on her arm to make her stop giggling, but because she wasn't one of his few friends from back home and he needed new friends to survive his frist year without being utterly alone because he didn't have Aslan around as much as he used too anymore, Charlie decided that it was probably for the better if he wouldn't punch the first person he met during his first week at the castle. When it looked like Rose could finally contain herself Charlie spoke again. ''If the school would have placed bathrooms closer to the common room's I wouldn't even be lost in the first place. So if I'm going to wet myself tonight, I will blame the Headmistress.'' the Ravenclaw said jokingly trying his best to be less embarrassed by the fact that he looked absolutely ridiculous by the way he stood before Rose. ''Could you please walk with me? I don't want to get lost. Again.''

 

[Rose Holland]

Rose grinned at him. "It is a little funny." She said. "Alright, I promise if I'm ever in a similar situation, you have total permission to laugh. Does that make us even?" It was unlikely, but she hoped the offer would make him feel a little better. She didn't want him to think she was mean, she just hadn't expected to run into someone with this problem in the middle of the night. For some reason, everything seemed to be funnier at night.

She steered him in the direction of where she thought the bathroom was and walked with him. "And you're right, the layout of this castle is totally ridiculous. Like, it's medieval. I mean, I guess it was built in that time but they have magic they can change it if they want to." She said dismissively. "If you did pee your pants, I would support you in blaming the Headmistress. Though I can't imagine going to tell her something like that. "She cracked a smile. "I guess you could show her your trousers as proof?" She said, starting to giggle again at the mental image.

 

[Charles Abberline]

''Like that if ever going to happen.'' Charlie said grinning back at her. ''Like, seriously, what are the odds of that happening to you when I'm out exploring the castle at night, mh? Yeah, zero.'' he explained, still slightly grinning at Rose. Although Charlie was a little embarrassed that he found himself in this kind of situation, especially with a girl, he got the feeling that even if he peed his pants in front of her she wouldn't tell anyone about it. He listened to Rose as she steered him in the right direction and smiled when she agreed with him on the lack of bathrooms in the castle. ''If she expects me to clean it up, she's wrong, I can tell you that much'' Charlie said, laughing softly. ''And hey, maybe she will decide to add a few more bathrooms to the school if I pee in my pants.. That wouldn't be so bad to be honest.''

 

[Rose Holland]

Rose grinned at him. "Not zero, especially not if you go out exploring a lot in the future. We'll be in this castle for seven more years, a lot can happen in that time." She laughed. "So who knows?"

She walked with him, passing a few suits of armors and some portraits. "I wonder if the people in these paintings ever tattle on students." She said in a low voice. "That would suck." Maybe that was even why they were here, as some sort of security measure. "Well, I suppose we'll see." She said, unconcerned.

When he talked about the upsides of peeing his pants, she laughed again. "Are you talking yourself into doing it? Because I'm not cleaning it up either." She paused. "And see? I was right, the bathroom is right there." Rose pointed it out proudly.

 

[Charles Abberline]

Charlie smiled back at her. ''So you see yourself in my situation when we're seventeen? I hope not.. That would be weird. I hope we have found a few shortcuts by then so no one has to.'' Automatically inviting her to his next adventures in and around the castle.

Curiously looking at some of the portraits as he and Rose walked to the bathroom, he shrugged at her remark. ''I don't know. I don't hope so..'' Charlie said, watching the portraits closely to make sure that they were all fast asleep. ''Don't think mom and dad would be happy if they hear that I got detention in my first week at school.''

The Ravenclaw nodded his head, the smile on his face turning into a soft chuckle. ''The only downside would be walking around with wet pyjama pants but if it would help give us more bathrooms..'' Charlie said, thinking about it. ''Why not?'' Relieved that he could finally pee, Charlie quickly ran inside without thanking the girl first. A few minutes later he walked out of the bathroom with a satisfying smile on his face. ''Oh man, that's much better.''

 

[Rose Holland]

Rose grinned at his mention of shortcuts. "I bet we'll have found them all by the end of this year, if we try." She said eagerly. "Especially if you keep needing the bathroom at night." She added as a joke.

At Charlie's comment about his parents, she had to smile. As far as she knew, her own parents would be ore surprised if they didn't get a letter about detention within her first week than if they did. Rose had always been a troublemaker, they were probably just relieved she couldn't pull her sisters into anything right now.

She laughed again when he talked about the one downside to wetting his pants, he was funny and not too embarrassed to make jokes at his own expense. She could appreciate that in people. Honestly, she wasn't sure if she would be as funny about it as he was if the situation was reversed. While he went to the bathroom, Rose went to look at some nearby paintings. They were all still lifes, which was a shame. She bet portraits were really fun to talk to, as long as you found the right one. She prodded a painting of a flower, wondering if it would move. Then she heard Charlie behind her and turned around again. "Glad we're out of urine related danger." She said brightly.

 

[Charles Abberline]

Adjusting his Ravenclaw hoodie, Charlie walked towards Rose, looking at a portrait of some knights camping in a forest while doing so. ''What do you want to do now?'' He asked when he was close to her, wondering whether she wanted to continue to explore the castle with or without him. Charlie honestly didn't mind if she chose to go on her own as his only intention was go visit the bathroom before going to bed, but as he had been out of bed for quite some time now and didn't feel tired any longer Charlie figured that he might as well ask Rose if he could come along while she was wandering around the school at this time of the day. It would only be a matter of time before his parents would receive a letter from the school about their son ignoring the curfew he thought now his blatter was completely empty again, so he might as well make sure he at least had some fun before he would get caught by one of the adults in the schoo.

 

[Rose Holland]

Rose smiled, surprised the boy wanted to do more. "Well, your mission is accomplished. Don't you want to go back to bed? I could walk you, I know the Ravenclaw Common Room is in a tower." She couldn't resist dropping that she knew that much, smiling a bit. "If you don't, we could just explore some more. I didn't have a real plan, to be honest."

Rose wasn't really a planner, she had just been restless and felt like going for a walk through the castle, so she had. "Do you have anything you want to see? Anything you want to do?"

 

[Charles Abberline]

Charlie shook his head. ''After all that,'' he said, jerking his thumb over his shoulder towards the bathroom behind him. ''I'm not that tired anymore.'' that, and having someone around who knew her way around the castle - or so it seemed - were the reasons Charlie decided to stick with Rose for a while, at least until he'd really be tired.

Charlie shook his head again. As he hadn't expected to stay with Rose but only to go to the bathroom, he, too, didn't have a plan of what to do next. ''I don't know, wanna go to the Great Hall and see if there's still some food left there?'' the Ravenclaw asked, having no clue that there were kitchens at Hogwarts where the house-elves prepared the food.

 

[Professor Kahurangi Josephs]

Kahurangi didn't consider herself much of a stickler for rules, but realising the library books on her desk were due back the next morning was enough to send her into enough of a panic to reassess that personal evaluation. She knew she wasn't going to have time to return them in the morning, so surely dropping them back off now would be good enough, whoever came in early in the morning would find them on the returns desk, and it would all be sorted, no problems.

Setting off at a quick pace through the corridors, books in her arms, Kahurangi almost didn't realise what the time was, until the sight of a couple of small figures made her stop dead. For a split second, she felt like a student again, caught guilty out of bed late at night. A moment of thought later, she realised that she was the teacher now, and she had just caught a couple of young-looking students out after curfew. Composing herself quickly, she folded her arms around her books as she cleared her throat to make her presence known. Approaching the students, she eyed them both. "I feel like it's a bit late to be out of your dorms, aye?" She asked in as neutral a tone as possible, waiting to see how they reacted to being caught before deciding whether to apply her Stern Teacher Voice. Desperately lost first years, or mischief in the making?

 

[Rose Holland]

Rose was just about to agree to Charlie's suggestion of finding food, when she someone clear her throat behind her. She immediately knew she was in trouble, that was definitely an adult.

For a second she considered just running away and hoping that whoever it was wouldn't recognize her later. Would a professor run after her to catch her? Would she be able to keep up? No, that was silly. Whoever it was was a professor at a magic school, clearly they would be able to stop someone from running with magic. Her next thought was to lie, pretend she was lost or scared. But that would be no good either, Rose was a terrible liar. Besides, if her story and Charlie's didn't line up they would be in even more trouble.

With a sigh, she turned around to face the professor. At least she looked friendly. "Would you believe me if I said we just... forgot the time?" She asked, an apologetic grin on her face. It wasn't a very good excuse, especially considering how late it was. Inwardly she braced herself for punishment. Well, at least she was going to find out just how strict they were here.

 

[Charles Abberline]

Charlie was about to grab Rose's hand and walk with her to the Great Hall when he looked right at the face of a professor. He swallowed and backed away a bit out of fear for what would happen next.

He nodded his head at Rose's remark, hoping that the professor would believe them because he knew that his parents wouldn't be happy if they heard that their son had been caught doing something he wasn't allowed to do. ''We-.. We lost track of time because she helped me..'' He began, looking at Rose for a moment ''Because I couldn't find the bathroom..'' Whether the woman would believe this was up to her but at least Charlie knew that he hadn't just lied to a superior to get them out of trouble. Besides, this way Rose didn't have to lie to cover for the two of them.

 

[Professor Kahurangi Josephs]

Kahurangi raised an eyebrow as she listened to the students stories, and the varying levels of nervousness in their tones. Whether the boy's story was true or not, she was hopeful that at least he was already being startled out of future rulebreaking. "It's pretty late after curfew." She said with a raised eyebrow, but kept her tone understanding, hoping a gentle hand would be all that was needed for children so young. "I know you're new to this school and it's easy to get lost, or distracted, or itchy for a good wander, but you have to understand the rules are there for a reason, you have to stay in your house quarters when it gets late. No midnight adventures, understood?"

Sighing and standing up straighter, Kahurangi stepped closer. "I'm going to be taking a few house points off each of you for breaking the rules, and I'll walk you both up to your houses to make sure you get back safely, no detours." She looked between the two children, making sure they looked like they understood they were in trouble. "And I'm not gonna hear about either of you getting in any more trouble any time soon, am I?" She asked with a hint more danger to her tone.

 

[Rose Holland]

Rose tried to keep an innocent smile on her face and nodded when the professor in front of them told them the rules were there for a reason. She didn't actually really believe that, rules were just there to control them, but she knew it was best not to argue.

The few house points lost didn't upset her, it wasn't that much. She dropped the smile and tried to look remorseful. "No professor." She said as she asked if they were going to get into more trouble. She was, obviously, but the chances that this particular professor would catch her again were small. She sighed and glanced at Charlie, hoping he wasn't too freaked out by this.

 

[Charles Abberline]

Charlie huffed as he listened to the professor. He certainly did not agree with what she told the two of them. ''So we are not even allowed to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night?'' He asked harshly. ''You rather have us peeing our pants?'' the Ravenclaw added. Charlie didn't want to be in more trouble, but this was just ridiculous. When the professor asked if they were going to get into more trouble in the future Charlie didn't respond but instead looked right at the professor. Of course he wasn't going to get into any more trouble because that wasn't his intention in the first place.

 

[Professor Kahurangi Josephs]

Kahurangi was surprised when the girl was the one who easily accepted her reprimands, but the boy argued back. Her smile sitting somewhere between kindly and wry, Kahurangi folded her arms. "I'm pretty sure there are bathrooms in your house quarters, if you're having trouble finding them you should ask a Prefect for directions. There shouldn't be any reason for you to need to go outside your house at night, otherwise it'd be a bit silly to have curfews, aye?" Turning her smile back to warm, Kahurangi tried to defuse the mood a little, giving a small gesture to move with her hand. "Come on now, let's get you two back to your houses."

 

[Rose Holland]

Oh. What the professor said actually made a lot of sense. Now that Rose stopped to think about it, she was pretty sure her dorm did have a bathroom. Charlie was in a different house, but it would be sort of odd if he didn't. Maybe he'd just not known, they should explain that sort of thing better, in Rose's opinion. "Maybe a prefect or professor didn't show it to him, that's not his fault." Rose said, defending her new friend. But she still dutifully followed the professor as they started to walk back to their houses, sad that their nighttime adventure was now over. It wouldn't be her last, though, she was sure of that.