Catch The Snitch

It was late fall, almost winter, as Nautica made her way through the halls, trying her darndest to look inconspicuous. She'd read something in one of her history books about how there were a variety of hidden passages and the like in Hogwarts and after some digging, she thought she'd figured out the location of one of them. Anything had to be more interesting than sitting there listening to the gaggles gossiping about who was going to the dance with who. She'd asked some nobody who nearly tripped over himself with surprise. She didn't care, she just needed a warm body to show up. She wouldn't plan to go at all, but, of course, anyone who knew her sister couldn't stop talking about how damn graceful she was at it when she went.

Nautica made a gagging sound to herself, shaking her head. She had seen it for herself but it was just one more thing that drove her insane about her sister. She loved her, but damn that shadow she cast would never end. She ran her hands along the wall, trying to feel for any kind of switch or loose brick. That was usually what gave away those kinds of things right? She glanced around, hearing some people coming her way. Swearing a bit to herself, she turned to face the wall, looking like she was admiring the tapestry on the wall, smoothing out where she'd run her hand behind it. The passing students gave her an odd look but she just gave a tight smile and a wave. Deciding not to invoke whatever mood she might be in with that look, the students just waved back and kept going.

Nautica rolled her eyes, muttering something about "cowards" before going back to what she was doing. Though she found herself questioning a bit how exactly she had wanted them to respond. She stopped and pinched the bridge of her nose with a sigh. She had been stressed since the mirror incident and since "Storm" had found her and given her quite the beating, so she was sure she'd come off as.... bitchy to put it lightly lately. No wonder no one wanted to talk to her, which was probably why she'd been bored long enough to look into this kind of thing.

"Whatever," she grumbled before looking back to the wall, looking around for anything that stood out, going back to not paying attention to anyone else that might come along.

"Nautica Anderson." The voice was graceful and sing-songy, which meant it belonged to none other than Leiliana Bell. She was, by far, the most outgoing, enthusiastic, and, for the most part, friendly Slytherin girl you'd find. Whether or not her personality was genuine, well, that was a debate for another time. However, geniune or not, she'd taken an interest in whatever it was that Nautica was doing all alone in the corridors. "I haven't spoken to you in ages. You've become quite the recluse lately. Is everything okay?" Her brow furrowed full of concern. All the while, she slowly made her way closer, hands clasped behind her back. "I couldn't help but notice that you've been walking around in these corridors for quite some time. You were here when I left for my dealing club practice and you're still here...admiring the tapestries?"

Leiliana smiled, and eyed the walls, curious as to what she'd been expecting to find. "If I didn't know any better I'd say you were up to something. Are you arranging a meeting with a secret pal...? Maybe...trading off some sort of note...? Or are you searching for something?" Leiliana began running her hand along the wall, tracing the ins and outs of the stone until she arrived at one particular spot. She traced her fingertips around the outline of it then tapped each of the corners and then stepped back as the wall began to shake. "Is this what you'd been hoping to find?"

Again, Leiliana gave her the brightest smile she could manage, spinning on her heels to face Nautica. "And Nautica, I'm just very fascinated by this shift in you. Care to share with a fellow Slytherin?"

Nautica's face went flat as she heard her name being said in such a way, knowing who it was attached to. Of all people... She sighed, her shoulders going slack a bit as she looked over, having a look on her face that made it clear she was not in the mood for all the chipper chatter, but didn't say anything outright to send her away. Of course, Leiliana didn't leave much room in her questioning for Nautica to even answer, but when the wall shook and opened up, Nautica's face went completely blank as she tried not to show her outright irritation. It was right there?! She pinched the bridge of her nose again, taking in a slow breath, trying to not lose her temper.

She gave Leiliana a tight smile, "You sure you're in the right house? I swear you scream Hufflepuff," she made a hand motion towards her person before starting towards the passage that was opening up, clearly not answering the question, "It's nothing to concern you, so thank you very much for finding the stupid stone, but that does not merit me pouring my heart out," she clasped her hands over her chest in a somewhat dramatic fashion before giving Leiliana a look over her shoulder, "Plus half of what I'd have to say would make most people think I belong in St. Mungo's, trust me," she muttered before pulling out her wand, using a quick "Lumos" to be able to see in the darkened passage.

It would have been impossible for Nautica to have hidden her injuries after Storm's attack and she'd come back after meeting her own reflection completely disoriented, but she had hoped most people might just ignore her and worry about themselves. It was bad enough that Valtoris had given her quite a talking to being the prefect of their year and all, last thing she needed was to bring more people into the mess they'd gotten into. Though why did she also wish she had someone she felt she could confide this chaos to? There was no way she could talk to Lestrange about it, not without drawing more attention to the issue, and she already felt bad enough with how involved Rhysln was now, considering how it could damage everything she'd worked towards...

She started to walk into the passageway, not looking to see if Leiliana followed or not, but somehow she just had this inkling that she would, "Might as well find something less dangerous to mess with, right?" she muttered

"Oh Nautica," she giggled as she gave the girl a big, flashy smile. "I could ask you the same, but the differences between you and your sister are clear as day." It wasn't meant to be as much of a dig as it probably would be to Nautica, but it was enough that Leiliana established herself as being perfectly representative of a Slytherin in at least some way. "You're quite welcome. I'm happy to help a fellow Slytherin." She paused, running her tongue over her lips, peeking to the side as if contemplating whether she would press any further. Her curiosity got the better part of her though and with a quick glance back toward Nautica, she made her decision. "Hey! Wait up!"

The blonde bounced after her as she sped up. The light of Nautica's wand lit enough that she could still see her housemate even as she was still catching up. "Oh? Rumor has it that your sister bounded into Hogsmeade and nearly lit the Three Broomsticks on fire. We both know that is not in character for her." Leiliana reached up and grabbed Nautica's shoulder. "Try me." Her look was serious, no hint of the bubbly girl that usually made her way around the school. Her eyes scanned Nautica's face, noting the bags under her eyes. The tired look. It wasn't just from overloaded amounts of schoolwork, that would be clear to anyone who took enough time to look.

"We may not be friends, but we are in the same house, which means we look out for each other. At the end of the day, I'll have your back." It was a stretch to just go out and tell someone that it was okay to trust them and expect for them to just go with it. Especially the Slytherin students. Many of them could actually be the opposite and find it easier just to maintain a barrier between their peers and what was going on between the scenes.

Nautica's eye had definitely twitched at the comment about her and her sister, but she didn't comment. She didn't seem to care that Leiliana decided to tag along before looking over at her as she grabbed her shoulder. She'd heard about the incident and Three Broomsticks when the real Rhysln had to try and deal with the aftermath of Storm's parading about. She watched her for a moment, seeming to take her in just the same as the other girl was doing to her. She tapped her finger on her wand, wondering something for a moment.

"Just..." she took a deep breath, and the exhale sounded like someone exhaling way more than just her nerves of how to explain the situation, "If you can tell that something is off about someone, trust that instinct to steer clear of them," she said. It would be nearly impossible to explain the reflections right now, especially since she didn't wholly understand it herself.

She turned and kept walking into the passage, looking around for anything interesting. She hadn't read what could be found in this tunnel, she kind of stopped reading after she saw it was near the common room. She was just looking for a distraction after all... "Hopefully this doesn't turn out to be some secret entrance that's not super well protected that mischievous look-a-likes can come through," she muttered almost to herself.

Leiliana decided not to comment on the situation further. But she listened to what Nautica had to say, weighing the actual meaning behind it all. Her usually sparkling green eyes were now searching Nautica's face carefully. In truth, she typically did try to trust her instincts, and they were spot on in most cases. But there were moments of weakness where curiosity got the best of her and she acted on those curiosities. Instinct told her that she should just leave Nautica to sulk over whatever it was that she was mixed up in--it was clearly bad news. But, curiosity told her that she should follow the younger Anderson down this hidden corridor. Nevermind the rumors of the odd mishaps around school or the fact her sister just tried to light a village on fire. "Riiiight..." She sighed, halfway expecting an elaboration that would never come.

Leiliana cleared her throat before answering in her cheerful tone. "Maybe it's just an exciting new adventure!" She sang, before actual analyzing her housemates words. "Look-a-likes?" Now the puzzle pieces were at least turning in her mind, even if she wouldn't come to the complete conclusion on her own. "Now you're just started to sound like those delusional Gryffindors." But Nautica's statement...the odd behavior of some of their classmates...the conversation she overheard in the corridor...no. "Do you have a look-a-like?" She expected the obvious answer was a no and that Nautica would confirm that.

"Wouldn't it be great if this path led to a sunny beach somewhere?" The dreamy look on her face hinted that she was already halfway dreaming up a scenario where she was sunbathing and soaking up the warmth of the rays as she listened to the waves roll in.

Nautica glanced at her as she asked about whether or not she had a look-a-like,"One of these days, that optimistic attitude is going to bite you," she concluded when she talked about the path leading to a sunny beach, "Unless there's some kind of port key at the end of this thing, there's no way your little fantasy could come true. Then again, never thought I'd see my own reflection climb out of a mirror, so here we are," she said the last part in a mutter, rubbing the bridge of her nose, "You haven't seen any weird random pieces of glass around the school have you?" she asked. She hadn't followed up to make sure that Laguna got the shards to Rhysln, though Rhysln had definitely come at her about lying about the mirror when she'd learned the truth. Regardless of Laguna trying to lessen that blow, the fact was she still made a conscious choice to not tell her. And now her reputation was on the line because her own reflection had tried to set fire to the broomsticks. Though Rhysln swore that wasn't what she was upset about. She was upset because people were in danger and they'd had the chance to prevent it.

After a moment, the path seemed to end, opening up into a wide open space. Nautica frowned, looking around, the darkness being too much for her lumos to penetrate, "Huh," she muttered, "And here I was actually starting to like the idea of a bea-" just as the idea of a calm beach on a summer's day filled Nautica's mind, the room around them started to change. The smell of the sea started to fill the otherwise stagnant air and the sound of the waves crashing came as the room started to slowly start to grow brighter, the stone under the feet turning to sand, "Is... is this part of the room of requirement or something?" she mumbled, turning to slowly look around. The path back the way they came was still there, but presented itself as a door way into a house on the beach they were now standing on. She gave a laugh, running a hand into her hair, which was actually starting to be touseled by a gentle breeze, "Well! I certainly won't complain!" she said, turning back as the "water" lapped up near them, the horizon seeming to stretch ever onward. The room seemed to warm to match the scene before them and Nautica swore she even heard the sound of gulls.

"You know, Nautica, I recall you at least being tolerable in the past," Leiliana quipped in response to Nautica's remark of her attitude. "Some of us like to make the best of things rather than sulking about the castle. Lighten up." Slytherin was actually full of people who liked to do this. At least in her own opinion. She'd watched it consistently pop up in her housemates over the years. Then again, she'd watched other houses with the same issue at times...maybe Gryffindors were just more audibly pouty than Slytherins, but they sulked all the same. According to many adults she'd quietly overheard that it was probably just a teenager thing. Hormones or whatever. She noted that Nautica did her little mumble again and looked at her with amusement. "If you really didn't want me to keep asking about what's wrong with you, I doubt you'd keep mumbling things that way. You know I can't resist a good secret."

The young Slytherin perked one of her perfectly plucked eyebrows, "Pieces of glass? Will you be asking me if I saw trash by the bins next?" She then smiled and clasped her hands behind her back as she nearly skipped alongside Nautica. "Actually, now that you mention it, I did notice a certain handsome Gryffindor with new gashes in his robe pocket...I thought it was strange that someone would be carrying around a broken mirror, but you know how he likes to admire himself. I figured he was just so busy staring at his reflection that he bumped into a wall or something and dropped the mirror."

Whether she'd known the room would shift as it did, she didn't let on. Rather, she seemed to react with surprise; whether it was genuine or not was another question. There was something about the beach, real or not, that filled her with excitement and made her feel free. "See? Nothing is impossible here!" Hogwarts was magical--in more than just the magic classes kind of way. Leiliana threw her arms out and twirled in a circle, the breeze whipping through her hair. She stopped, grinning as she looked to Nautica, "Isn't this wonderful?"

Hearing Leiliana's initial response to her question had Nautica regretting asking at all, then sighed at the response. Was he really carrying it around?! But it was semi-forgotten when they reached the room.

She looked at her fellow again as she twirled and a smirk came to her face. The lines of tiredness were still there but she seemed... to be more at ease now, like just a good bit of sun and being "away" was enough to lift some of the shadow that'd been following her, "Yeah, it is," she said, taking her shoes and stockings off, feeling the sand beneath her feet, "I don't know how with as old as this place is that is can still have so many surprises left," she said.

She held her shoes and stockings in her hands as she considered, "If I tried to explain to you what's going on, you'll call me mad. I feel I am," she shook her head before looking at her, "That broken mirror isn't normal. Avoid it like it's a plague. Though, I'm not sure what kind of reflection you would have. Do you even have a dark thought in that head of yours?" she gave a wry laugh, shaking her head, "I wonder if there's a spell that will turn glass back to sand," she mused, looking down at her feet again, "End that problem once and for all."