1

947 17 3
                                    

Just one night, she thought to herself as she tiptoed around the Gryffindor common room, can't I get a good nights sleep for just one night?

Her cat had snuck out again and under normal circumstances Iris wouldn't have cared as sneaking around is generally what cats do, however Schemer - her jet-black, green eyed small tabby cat - had developed a strange fascination with the Hogwarts caretaker's old ancient cat, Mrs Norris, over the five years that Iris had been at the school, an animal who Iris intensity despised. This feeling was mutual between the two and Iris was certain that nobody had ever had a more profound hatred towards the red eyed devil cat.

Obviously there was a reason for the mutual hatred between the two, however Iris never liked mentioning it and didn't let on to anyone (including her best friends) how deeply she hated the cat as it would only make them question her which she never wanted to happen for fear that they would find out her secret. But, it shouldn't be a surprise that because of her intense hatred she wanted to keep her own cat away from the devil spawn itself.

So that was how she found herself roaming the castle grounds wearing her pastel pink sheep slippers and grey and white cow pyjamas, hissing her cats name while waving her wand across the floor with a small light shining at the tip of it.

"I swear to Merlin that if you are with that devil spawn, tell-tale, killjoy beast you will not be getting any more mice until your black fur is grey with age." Iris threatened under her breath, hoping it would lure out her beloved cat.

Barely five seconds later the sound of a faint meow echoed through the quiet and empty corridors of Hogwarts. Upon hearing it, Iris immediately tried to follow the sound but made sure to peer around corners before she turned through corridors, scared she would be spotted by Filch or another teacher if she didn't.

The entire situation was almost laughable. Who would've thought a sixteen year old girl wearing cow pyjamas and pink sheep slippers would be running through the corridors of Hogwarts on the search for her love sick cat, all the while feeling like the muggle actor from James Bond on an entirely too difficult mission.

As she followed the continuous meow of a cat, Iris started to doubt if it was really worth leaving the safety of her dormitory to find Schemer. After all, the most adventurous thing she had ever done  in her five years of being at Hogwarts (that people knew about) had been blowing up one of the potions in her cauldron in Professor Slughorn's face in her first year.

After creeping around more corners and corridors for at least ten more minutes without any luck with her CATastrophe, Iris was finally ready to admit defeat and silent wished Schemer and Mrs Norris a happy life together as she began retracing her footsteps to get back to the Gryffindor common room. Just as she was about to turn down another corridor, the distinct voice of a man who had never heard of the word 'fun' and hated his own life echoed and bounced off of the walls.

Filch.

With wide eyes and her heart beating out of her chest, Iris quickly turned and took off in the opposite direction of the voice and hissed a spell under her breath to turn off the light on the tip of her wand. In near to complete darkness the only thing she was thinking of was not getting caught so, as a result,  gone were the quick checks behind every corner, she only ran and ran and didn't stop.

Mother will kill me if I get a detention, she was thinking as she ran, and father would surely lock me in the cellar again if a letter gets sent home.

The pure fear of facing her parents' wrath was what was fuelling her to keep on running, without it Iris doubted she would have lasted the first few minutes of her run for she was never the athletic type. The only sport she did voluntarily was flying on her broom and that was only for fun, it also didn't really count as exercise in her eyes considering she was only sitting on a broom and flying in circles.

It was her wild and unfiltered thoughts that had gotten her caught, she later realized. It hadn't been the sudden wall that had obstructed her path or the small cry of pain that had given away her location. It was just her own mind.

Iris landed with a thud on the ground underneath what she thought had been the wall she had ran into. It barely registered in her brain that walls don't make cries of pain and typically don't topple over when someone runs into them. It was too dark to see anything and Iris stayed flat against the wall on the ground as footsteps could be heard from the end of the corridor. She hoped the ground would part and let her disappear and had it not been for the fact that she had dropped her wand on impact with the wall she probably would have done it herself.

It was only when the 'wall' started moving beneath her that Iris realized her mistake, the wall that she had ran into was not a wall at all. It was a person, a person whom she was flattening. She barely was able to whisper an "Oh My Merlin!" before the sound of a throat being cleared caught her attention. It was then that she realized that there was a faint light coming from behind them but Iris had already shut her eyes so she wouldn't have to face whatever was to come.

"Ms Smith and Mr Black, to my office immediately." The strict voice of the head of Gryffindor house demanded as she observed the two teens before her. Filch stood behind McGonagall with his cat besides him, both of them wanting to watch the punishments being handed out to the delinquents.

Iris slowly opened her eyes and looked down at the person she was lying on top of and effectively squashing, only to come face to face with the prankster and notorious bad boy of the school, Sirius Black. His grey eyes stared into her own emerald green pair and she saw only a hint of surprise behind the primary layer of amusement in them.

She quickly inched off of him and stumbled to her feet, facing the two adults instead of looking over to a smirking Sirius and held her head down with shame as all three people present watched her. It wasn't a surprise for McGonagall to have to dish out punishments for Sirius Black, she had been doing it since his very first day at Hogwarts, but she had never had to address Iris Smith in the same way. Iris had never gotten into any trouble at the school and was always exceeding in all of her subjects so it was no wonder McGonagall was staring at her instead of Sirius.

Filch had somewhat of the same reasons. He too was constantly catching Sirius Black doing things he shouldn't and always marveled in watching him get punished, but the girl with him was a new target, a new victim that he and Mrs Norris would be able to watch out for. Iris had no doubt that Mrs Norris would take great care in making her life even more of a living hell.

And then there was Mr Black himself, he was staring at the blonde haired, green eyed girl with just as much anticipation as the adults. He wanted to know what the innocent, shy girl that sat at the back of his Herbology class was finally getting into trouble for.

And then tease her about it to no ends afterwards.

DetentionWhere stories live. Discover now