[on hold] 𝐒𝐀𝐋𝐓&𝐋𝐄𝐌𝐎𝐍 → 𝑓. 𝑤𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑙𝑒𝑦

ix . thousand tiny lights

chapter nine
THOUSAND TINY LIGHTS

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

   UMBRIDGE TRIED it a night later with a new quill, but of course she did fail; the spell she had put onto it bounced off Ruby's immunity, and Umbridge had obviously no clue what happend. After the third night of failing, Ruby had to clean trophies under the sharp glare of Argus Filch and his pest of a cat.

   As finally Friday evening had passed in slow motion, Ruby silently cursed to herself, hurdling through the empty corridors of Hogwarts. She didn't see it coming, and in she even didn't hear it, what was the most uncommon thing at all, and when she finally noticed there was something going on, it was too late.

   Peeves, who'd followed the Hufflepuff for at least five minutes now in utter silence, let out a cackling ray of laughter as he snatched for Ruby's bag and easily tore it from her loosened grip, rising two feet over her head.

   "Perky porky Perks", he sang, the bag dangling from his hand, while he grinned down at her in the fullest admiration of the mischief he was probably up to. "Where's little Porky going late that night? Aren't Porky afraid of mean ghosts?"

   "Please Peeves, I had a terrible week", Ruby groaned, stretching out her hand high, but of course Peeves had raised out of reach. "Just give me my bag, I need some sleep."

   "Ahhh, poor Porky", the poltergeist cooed, still grinning. "But I'm not tired at all. How about a game?"

   "It's close to midnight, I beg you", Ruby pleaded, but she should have known that this was exactly what Peeves wanted to hear. He cackled once more and floated away into the shadows of the corridor. "Peeves! Peeves, you annoying little — Come back!", Ruby yelled, starting to run after him. He quickly was out of sight, but she heared him laugh every now and then, so she was able to vaguely locate him. Peeves was hounding her higher up the castle, she climbed staircase after staircase, wishing for the ability to kick ghost arses; she even considered trading her immunity for this right now.

   "Peeves!", Ruby hissed, as she couldn't hear him anymore. "Peeves, where the bloody hell are you?"

   She took a right around the corner, her lungs burning. Heavy panting she stopped, bowing her back to press her hands onto her thighs. She had reached the corridor that lead up to the Astronomy Tower.

   "Oh perfect", she muttered to herself, as she started climbing the stairs after hearing another snicker from above. "I swear, Peeves", Ruby half-yelled, as she reached the last step, "if you weren't already dead, I would kill y—"