Asking for Trouble

The school had a tendency to be incredibly confusing to the young Feu as it seemed to work in ways that didn't seem possible. She supposed it was because it was a magic school, but sometimes Haruhi found herself so incredibly lost, she wondered if it really was just the cruel effects of magic or her own stupidity. This situation seemed to take the cake on every bad 'lost her way' situation she had been in. Usually the worst outcome was she ended up late for her class. This time, she seemingly was stuck in a portion of the library, not sure how to get out and knowing well that if she was caught, she'd be in trouble.

Only students with signed permission slips from a professor were allowed in the restricted section. Haruhi wasn't exactly sure how she had managed her way in, but as she hit the end of the room and turned around to head back in search of the door out, she found that the section was divided by a gate and a door, which was locked. Haruhi tried the door, but it wouldn't budge. She then cautiously stepped away from it and instead pretended that she was meant to be there. If she was caught by a professor, no doubt she'd end up in detention! However, detention sounded better than spending the rest of her days in a library.

Haruhi paced the rows of bookshelves, trying to devise a plan. Maybe one of the books would aid her in a way out? Though she doubted it. The books in this section were all advanced magic and she struggled enough with her second year spells. She jumped as almost trampled a student sitting behind a bookshelf as she was pacing. "Oh my! Sorry! I didn't see you there!" Haruhi exclaimed, then clapped her hands over her mouth as she realized how loud she was being. She didn't want to be caught. "Do you know how to get out of here?" She asked, in a near whisper. She wondered if this kid had wandered their way in as well, or perhaps intentionally snuck in. Or maybe they had a more honest reason of being there and were there to study. Whichever the case, Haruhi just wanted help to get out of there.

"Stupid extra-credit potions project," Harley mumbled, grazing through the books lined up on the wooden shelves. As of late, she had almost completely bombed a potions test that had brought her grade down to a less than satisfactory number, so she asked the professor for an extra credit assignment to raise it back up. The project entailed finding the history, and ingredients, of three extremely dangerous spells, what they were used for, and then properly make it. And it was due in four days. To find the material for the project, she had to ask him for a special slip to get into the restricted section, Of course, she had sneaked in before, but he would be suspicious if she cited her sources as a book she wasn't allowed access to.

"Aha! Found you," she cheered quietly. Even though she had a slip, monitors in the restricted section would gladly bust you for talking too loudly ("It disturbs the books," they would say). The books was on the very bottom shelf, so she was sitting on the ground, rifling through to see if maybe there were similar books in the area so she wouldn't have to come back down there. Harley was too focused on finding the scroll that she didn't notice a familiar Asian girl stumble around the shelf and nearly step on her. "Watch it," she hissed quietly, suddenly aware of how close she was to have her hand smashed. Wouldn't that be a lovely thing for the nurse. "Be quiet too," she added.

Harley pulled herself up from the ground, content with the materials she had found and noticed how young the girl look, and how she was missing a slip from her hand. If you were in the restricted section, you had to your slip visible. "Oh, man. You sneaked in here didn't you?" At the sudden conclusion, she became more aware of the sound of footsteps coming around the corner. "Shit!" she cursed. Feeling bad for the girl (and not wanting to be caught with her), she pulled her wand from her ad and flicked her wrist at the girl, casting a disillusionment charm. A brief white light flashed, and she hoped the monitor didn't see it.

Haruhi thought she was alone in the restricted section, or so it seemed since she somehow managed to walk around in it for about a good twenty minutes without encountering anyone, student or advisor alike. She was equally as startled when she nearly trampled the older girl's poor hand. Lucky for her, she was small enough it wouldn't have done any damage. "Sorry!" She uttered again, nonetheless, and nodded, wide-eyed and with her mouth covered with her hands as the girl told her to be quiet. It was a library, so that was the rules, but more importantly, Haruhi's hide was at stake.

The girl had looked her over, which made Haruhi feel self-conscious. She knew what she was looking for; a permission slip. The older girl had one. Haruhi should've snagged a spare sheet of parchment and pretended it was one, but then again, she didn't plan on being there in the first place so she didn't think of that ahead of time. The girl was wise enough to know and Haruhi averted her gaze in shame at her accusation. "Not sneak. I just sort of wandered in here," Haruhi explained, though it sounded pretty dubious even coming from here. "Please help me out of here," She begged but quickly hushed as she heard footsteps approaching. She gasped and closed her eyes, an impractical move but fortunately the older girl had a better idea and casted a spell.

After a moment, Haruhi slowly peeled her eyes open. She gasped as standing not more than three feet from her was a Professor, who's hawk-like eyes peered down the book shelves where she was and the blonde girl were standing. Haruhi held her breath. He was looking right at her, she was sure, but it seemed he couldn't see her as he suddenly continued walking. Haruhi let out her breath. "That was incredible!" She praised as quietly as she could so the professor didn't hear her and turn around.

Harley rolled her eyes at the smaller girl. "How in Merlin's beard did you wander in here? There are two huge metal gates guarding the entrance. I've snuck in through the bard, but holy hell, how do you even do something like that?" Th e footsteps were approaching quickly, so she turned and said, "Never mind that. I'll get you out."

Once the Professor had passed, she whirled around to face what may (nor may not) have been the girl. "Hey," she hissed quietly. "Where are you?" The disillusionment charm made people basically into a human chameleon, so in all honesty, she had no idea where the girl was. Once she located the girl, though, they would hightail it out of there. "Yeah, yeah. Now c'mon. And not a sound, got it? I'm aiding and abetting right now." While that was a bit exaggerated, she would get in trouble for helping the younger kid instead of turning her in. In all actuality, though, there were plenty of times she could have turned someone in and chose not to. This time, she was just part of the crime. They made their way down the bookshelves as quietly and calmly as possible. After all, only one of them was visible.

Haruhi shrugged, avoiding meeting the older girl's eyes, feeling guilty. If she knew how she had managed to get herself in, she could probably manage to get herself back out, but Haruhi was as baffled by it as the blonde girl was.

She hadn't moved an inch from where she was when the girl casted the illusion charm on her and thus was confused when she was asked where she was. "Right here," Haruhi voiced, loud enough so that she could locate her without being too loud that any eavesdropper would do so as well. She held her mouth and nodded as she was told to remain quiet and obediently followed the older girl as they began moving.

Every footstep was laid carefully as she didn't want her Mary-Jane style shoes to collide with the ground loudly. They passed by a reflective sheet of glass, which Haruhi instinctively turned to look at only to see nothing in return looking back at her. Only a small ripple in the fabric of the background hinted that she was even there. Haruhi basked in awe at her reflection, or more like, lack of, falling behind on the other girl's pace. When she noticed her guide hadn't noticed she was behind her, she quickly sped to catch up.

Traveling with an invisible girl was disturbing to say in the least. Well, not invisible so much as a human chameleon, but it got the idea across. It was unnerving. She couldn't see the girl, but she could hear her shoes padding against the carpet and her deep breaths as she tried to remain calm. The walk back to the entrance would be long (they were almost as far back as possible), so she might as well has tried to talk to the girl. "So, what's your name?" She asked, trying to dissolve the earlier tension her rudeness might have brought on. "I'm Harley. Harley Fenwick. Current seventh-year. Montagnard. Owns a cat named Nyx." That was a basic summary of her at themoment. Harley didn't exactly want to tell the girl her life story.

When she noticed the lack of breath and soft footsteps, Harley stopped and waited for the girl to find her. "C'mon," Harley whispered. "It's dinner time in thirty minutes, and I don't know about you, but I'm starving."

Haruhi wasn't even sure where the exit was anymore or where she was in the library, she had been wandered for so long it felt like the restricted section went on for an eternity. So she depended entirely on the blonde girl's directions, following a reasonable distance behind her and trying her best to remain quiet. It was hard though and when the older girl began to talk, introducing herself as Harley, Haruhi was more than relieved to answer.

"Haruhi Kita. It's nice to meet you," She bowed her head like Obaasan taught her was polite to do, but it mattered for naught since she was practically invisible at the moment. "I'm a second year in Feu house and I'm not allowed to have any pets," Haruhi continued, answering all the same questions Harley did. She suddenly stopped walking then, to check her lack of reflection.

Fortunately Harley recognized that she wasn't following her anymore at one point and had been kind enough to wait for her to catch up. Once she did, she offered an apology. "Sorry. I promise I won't get distracted again." She giggled as Harley spurred her on with the promise of dinner. "Could you hear my stomach rumbling?" She answered. She was quite hungry, which was yet another reason why she wanted to get out of there pronto. She continued to follow the older girl with ease when something started to trouble her. "When will the spell wear off? Will I be invisible forever?"

Harley looked back at the girl and smiled. "A pleasure to meet you, Haruhi. If you ever need a soft thing to cuddle, you're more than welcome to come to my dorm and play with Nyx. She doesn't bite." Nyx did have claws, though, and sometimes she didn't mind using them, playfully or not. "If you could have an animal, what would you have? Withing reason of course. No hippogriffs or pegasi, just house pets."

In all honesty, Harley could hear the low growling off Haruhi's stomach, but it was rude to mention something like that. Harley knew on a personal level that when your stomach rumbled in a particularly quiet room (namely in class), it was mortifying. "Yeah, kind of. Don't worry, though. When we get to lunch, you can sit with me if you want. No one at Montagnard really cares." That and their table had recently become frighteningly empty. Philip had barely been seen all year, and most new kids were going to Feu or Nuage. Montagnard was practically empty, so most of the time she just stayed in her room and read. Perhaps the little girl could be the reason she actually came back to eating in the Hall. Until then, she could play a little joke on her. "I don't think so. I've only done it once before," which was a lie, "and I still haven't seen the person since. Sorry, kid. I think you're stuck."