Closed Oh, to be in Gryffindor

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Ruby had told her professor that she was going to the bathroom and would be doing a quick sweep of the corridors to check for rule-breaking students afterwards. It had been allowed; she was an eager student who excelled in all of her classes and read ahead in the textbooks a little to be fully prepared for class. Therefore, here she was, making her way through the many corridors of the large castle. She couldn't hope to cover all of them and still get back to class—that would be ridiculous—so she was just doing a loop around a couple of floors. The fifth floor was one of them, and as she got close to where her friends had shown her the Gryffindor common room entrance was, she spotted a young-looking girl standing alone.

A soft sigh escaped Ruby's lips. She hoped it was a Gryffindor who had just forgotten something from their dorm and had permission to go grab it. Steps barely making a sound, she drew ever nearer to the girl and realised that Hufflepuff colours were on display. She rolled her eyes and then spoke up from behind the other student, “A Hufflepuff, eh? And what, pray tell, are you doing lurking near the entrance to the Gryffindor common room, hm? My my, during class time as well.” Her tone was even and cold, a single eyebrow raised questioningly. She expected a response from this troublemaker, and a part of her was genuinely curious as to why she was here. She must have really not wanted to be seen if she was carrying out her little escapade during a class—either that or she was very bold and hadn't thought through the consequences that would follow when her professor found out.

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Interacting with @Ruby Cazares

“A Hufflepuff, eh?”

Tina yelped at the sudden voice behind her, stumbling forwards over the hem of her robes into one of the various suits of armour that lined the walls. The resultant sound was a resounding crash, one which the young Hufflepuff frantically tried to subdue by putting her hands against the vibrating metal. In a minor panic, she glanced over her shoulder at her pursuer, wide-eyed. A girl who was clearly her upperclassman was staring at her and looking rather unimpressed.

"And what, pray tell, are you doing lurking near the entrance to the Gryffindor common room, hm? My my, during class time as well.”

A sheepish smile crept its way onto Tina's features. She glanced at her robes, which were slung over her back at the moment and very obviously adorned with the Hufflepuff crest. Crap. Hastily, she pulled these back over herself, and turned to face the other girl properly. As she did so, however, she realised that she'd seen this girl somewhere before. In fact, the last time she'd seen her, they'd been in a very similar situation indeed. Doing her best to ignore the sweat that was now breaking out on her forehead, Tina straightened herself out, before putting on her most believable, innocent smile.

Mission fool the prefect was underway.

First, she took one glance at the Hufflepuff logo on the robes and pulled her best surprised face. To make this even more convincing, she looked back at Ruby with a expression that said 'how ridiculous! Have you seen this?'. Reverse psychology at its finest. Now, Tina was ready to perform her light bulb moment. With comic exaggeration, she gasped, then let out a hearty, and unintentionally awkward, laugh, face-palming to top it off.

Now that was epic. She should join the drama club.

"Oh, I completely forgot for a second!" Tina began, baring her teeth in a big cheesy grin. "I have to wear these Hufflepuff robes cause mine got dirty! I'm actually a Gryffindor! Isn't that funny?" This time, the fake laugh was somehow even more forced and awkward. Despite this, to Tina, it sounded perfect. Very persuasive indeed. "Anyway, I actually can't remember where the common room is. So annoying, I know. Mind, uh, pointing me in the right direction though? I forgot my..." Tina trailed off again. This part was vital. It was her excuse as to why she was out of lesson. If she was going to say something, it needed to be good. "...My books."

With a triumphant sigh, she put her hands on her hips and looked at Ruby, hopeful. With that skill, she had to have fooled her. Maybe she should have been put in Slytherin instead.

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Ruby watched carefully after she spoke, looking for an indication of guilt as the girl reacted. She most definitely seemed guilty, letting out a yelp and falling into a suit of armour, making an incredible racket and staring at the prefect with wide eyes and a sheepish smile. The Slytherin sighed and gently massaged her temples for a second, looking thoroughly unimpressed. Suddenly, the Hufflepuff's entire demeanour changed as she straightened up and smiled a lot less sheepishly. A frown creased Ruby's brow as she regarded her suspiciously. What was the girl playing at? The change was so drastic and so sudden that she couldn't trust it. Was she… okay? She looked shocked at her own robes, then gasped, laughed, and facepalmed. Ruby's eyebrows had shot up, raising very high to accurately show her disbelief.

The girl was going so far as to claim that the Hufflepuff robes weren't hers and that she wasn't wearing her Gryffindor robes because they were dirty. Yeah, right. Ruby waited patiently for her to finish up her little speech, tired eyes of ice watching her with every move. She continued on about how she forgot where the common room entrance was and that she didn't even know what direction to go in from here. She claimed to have forgotten her books, but wouldn't a professor have some spare? Even if they didn't, who could be so careless as to walk to class without their books? The hopeful look she was giving Ruby just wrapped it up. No, she did not believe her one bit.

“If you're going to lie, at least learn how to do it convincingly. There are numerous flaws with your argument,” she began accusingly. “I find it hard to believe that you could have completely forgotten the entrance to your common room. Even if it is early in the school year, something as important as that is not easily forgotten, and the entrances to the common rooms are not exactly ordinary.” She kept her gaze focused on the girl, waiting for her to break and tell the truth. “Dirt is also very easy to remove with magic. If the house elves didn't clean them already, a professor or any student older than a first year could have got rid of the dirt for you. You wouldn't be handed a Hufflepuff's robes, anyway. According to the supply lists, you should also have three sets of black robes at least, so what happened to the other two sets?”

She shook her head slowly but firmly. “No, I won't be taking you to the Gryffindor common room. Why are you really here? If you tell the truth, I might not give you a detention, but otherwise I'm taking you back to class right now and you'll have to explain why you weren't there. In addition to that, I will be sending you an owl regarding your detention.” She sighed, eyes like piercing shards of ice, boring into the girl. “I'm giving you a chance to avoid this. You've got guts, kid. I'll help you come up with a reason for being out of class if you stop lying now.” She was about to ask for the girl's name when she finally realised that she recognised her. It was the girl from the train, the one who had been bullied. The flicker in her eyes as she put a name to the face was visible.

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Interacting with @Ruby Cazares

“If you're going to lie, at least learn how to do it convincingly. There are numerous flaws with your argument.”

Tina deflated. Partly, she was insulted. She'd thought her lie was rather compelling for something that had been thought up on the spot like that. Being seen though so quickly was doing a number on her ego, as well as making her panic: not only because she'd been caught out of lesson by a prefect, but also because this prefect in particular was one she'd met before. Oh God, the memories were suddenly flooding back. The jam sandwich flinging, the trunk throwing, the hair spitting... She hadn't exactly made the greatest first impression on Ruby, all things considered. It was no longer her top priority to persuade the other girl to let her into Gryffindor, no.

Now, she couldn't let herself be recognised, no matter what.

As Ruby continued her tirade, explaining in precise detail just how careless Tina had been to fabricate such an obviously untrue story, the Hufflepuff began to feel increasingly stupid, as well as worried. She wasn't certain that she'd been clocked by Ruby just yet, and kept her head down, a faux look of shame. She was sweating bullets, tucking her hands up inside her sleeves and making a point to keep her eyes focused on the ground. Maybe if she wasn't recognised, the punishment would be less harsh.

"Why are you really here? If you tell the truth, I might not give you a detention."

Tina's head snapped up, nearly facing Ruby directly. She was quick to correct this, looking sharply to the side so that her face was obscured by a thick mop of hair. She was doing an awful job of looking innocent at this point, but that didn't matter anymore. Ruby had already realised she was breaking rules, and Tina had to accept that, but now she was being offered an escape route. If she was identified as one of the troublemakers on the train, however, Tina was unsure whether or not this generous offer would still stand. Also, she really didn't want to mess with Ruby. That girl was terrifying.

“I'm giving you a chance to avoid this. You've got guts, kid. I'll help you come up with a reason for being out of class if you stop lying now.”

Oh? An alliance? That was very tempting, and also very Slytherin of her. If a teacher found out about this agreement, both of them might be in trouble. It perhaps showed that Ruby liked her. Or she was just trying to trick Tina into being honest. Either way, she couldn't really back out now. With a deep breath, Tina began her, rather pitiful, explanation.

"I just... wanted to see what it was like," she confessed. Her voice was hesitant, and a great deal shyer than before, but she desperately wanted to continue. She'd been keeping this bottled up inside her all week. Hell, she hadn't even told Starlee of all people, who already knew Tina had longed to be in Gryffindor, about her disappointment. There was no point in lying to Ruby about this either - she had eyes like a hawk, ideal for her prefect duty. "I think their common room must be really cool, and if I could check it out just once, I'd really like that."

It was easier to tell the truth when she wasn't looking at the other girl, she found. It was almost as though she were just talking to her diary, letting out all her emotions after a difficult day. She was venting, not explaining herself to someone.

"I even don't get why I'm not allowed in. That seems like a silly rule to me. We should be able to go between common rooms and enjoy them together, I think. It's all so old fashioned." She wrinkled her nose at that last sentence. Yes, wizards were old fashioned in many ways, she had come to realise. They liked to write essays with quills on large bits of paper, despite how inconvenient it was. The corridors were lit with candles rather than lightbulbs when electricity was so much cheaper and more accessible. Some of them even considered her to be worse that pure-blood wizards. She was as useless as a muggle, in their eyes. "I just... really think I'm in the wrong place."

Tina wasn't really sure whether she was talking about Hufflepuff or the entire wizarding world, anymore.