Need of Some Adventure PV Alexa Mackenzie Closed

Sorry for the delay! :-(

Alexa saw Simon coming toward her, and naturally smiled. He was becoming a good friend. She certainly enjoyed his company! He called her one of his favorite Scarlets, and she couldn’t help but blush. But that was no surprise; everything seemed to make her blush. It was one thing she really didn’t like about herself, how obvious she was about every single emotion she felt.

Oh well, Simon wouldn’t mind, she thought, smiling again at him. “Hey Simon, how’s it going?” She asked, wondering what he was thinking about. There was a sudden squirming motion in the pocket of her robes as Rascal readjusted himself, curled up to sleep. She gently rested her hand against the pocket, and he made a slight high-pitched cheep, tired sounding, of happiness.

Simon explained to her his problem, and when he ended with “you are my one and only hope,” Alexa couldn’t help but think of the Muggle movie, Star Wars, when Leah was talking to Obi-Wan Kenobi. She wondered, with Simon having had a similar background, if he had seen the movie, but shook her head rapidly to dispel the thought.

She considered his conundrum for moment, frowning up at the ceiling of the hall, and then she began to slowly smile. She looked back at Simon, grinning with just a hair of wickedness, and said, “How do you feel about some minor rule breaking?”

"Minor rule breaking...major rule breaking...it all sounds like another name for an adventure," he smiled to her. He didn't really see Alexa Mackenzie as the rule-breaking type. She was the one who helped others find school supplies that were needed for their first year in Diagon Alley. She was the one who helped provide dancing lessons even with a lack of experience in front of the fire in the Hufflepuff Common Room. This was a side of Alexa Mackenzie he was very interested in seeing.

"So what exactly does this minor rule breaking entail?" he asked, reaching into his bag and pulling out a lemon drop and popped it into his mouth. The first idea that popped into his head was breaking into a professor's office space or something of the sort but Alexa didn't come across to him as someone that would do that. The same went for something like tampering with the grade book or getting the questions of an examination early.

So something more simple. Less academic.

He thought about it a moment longer. No, it wouldn't involve something like sneaking into the kitchens as a Hufflepuff would be one of the last students to do so - as the lovely elf staff at Hogwarts provided them with the most treats throughout the day in the Common Room and Dormitories; perhaps due to their close proximity to the kitchens.

So what would it be?

When Simon asked what exactly they would be doing, Alexa's mischievous grin widened somewhat. She was feeling particularly adventurous today, which was funny, because usually she was the follower of someone adventurous… Like Alina. But she was coming into her own, and remembering that she could be adventurous all on her own. Maybe Simon Kincaid would help her.

"I've honestly never been the one to be the instigator for this… But it's a great thing. I can't tell you, yet… That would ruin the surprise! Follow me!" And she darted quickly down the corridor. She led Simon to the third floor, to a particular statute. It wasn't a very attractive one: it was a one-eyed witch with a hunchback. She turned to Simon.

"So this old friend of mine who moved schools figured out how to open a secret passageway to Honeydukes," she whispered confidentially. That the louder she said, "This is a statue of the witch, Gunhilda. At least, that's what she told me." She quickly checked both ways and saw that the passage they were in was clear. She whipped out her wand, and lightly tapped the hunchback of the statue. "Dissendium," she murmured the spell from memory. The hunchback of the witch slowly opened to reveal a slide into the darkness. "Lumos," she whispered fervently before turning back to Simon with a grin. "Ready?"

The fact that Alexa Mackenzie didn't want to tell him what sort of shenanigans she had planned only made the invitation more appealing and so he followed her, now and then weaving in and out of other Hogwarts students so that he could keep up with her as they made their way from the First Floor Hufflepuff wing and all the way to the Third Floor close to the Hospital Wing.

It wasn't until they got to a statue near a classroom and a storeroom. The statue was a rather unique one, of a witch with one eye and a humpback. There was only a moment that passed where he was unsure why they were there because Alexa explained, stating that it would open a secret passageway to... where did she say again? Marmadukes?

His mind didn't focus on the name very long. He remembered his adventure with a Ravenclaw friend, attempting to find one of the castle's secret passageways earlier that year only to have failed in their attempt. How did they work?

This one at least, required the use of a wand and a spell and before long the statue had shifted so that they were allowed access. "Woah," he said, amazed by this as he watched. She asked if he was ready and he laughed a little. Was he just to jump down in that space of darkness? No more explanations?

Alright then.

Simon smiled to her, reaching out first to take her hand into his and smiled. "Ready," he whispered, his gaze connecting with hers for a moment as his fingers intertwined with hers and he squeezed her hand gently before letting go so that he could jump down into the space. It was a short fall before he landed on the stone floor of what seemed to be another corridor of the castle. A very empty corridor of the castle.

Sneaking around with @Simon Kincaid.

Alexa's mouth popped open in a small "O" of surprise when Simon took her hand and locked eyes with her, however briefly. Then he released her, both from his hand and from his gaze, and disappeared down the slide. It took Alexa a few extra seconds to gather herself, now feeling warm inside, until she joined him at the bottom of the slide, smiling a little shyly now.

"C'mon, it's this way!" she whispered excitedly, before boldly grasping his hand and leading him along the dark tunnel that went underground from Hogwarts all the way to Hogsmeade. His hand felt strangely cool in hers, but she barely noticed; the blood thrumming through her veins made her hand warm enough for both of them. Holding up her wand in her free hand, she lit the passageway ahead of them with faint white light.

After the tunnel sloped downward, flattened out, and then sloped up again, they came to a staircase, and Alexa reluctantly released Simon's hand, flashing a grin back at him as she quickly led the way up the stairs to a wooden trapdoor set in the ceiling.

"Nox," she murmured, extinguishing her wand and plunging them in momentary darkness. But she waited for her eyes to adjust, and finally saw the very dim light shining through the gaps in the trap door. She leaned as close as she could to the door to listen, carefully waiting for silence that indicated the room above was empty. When she heard nothing, she slowly eased the trapdoor upward, peering into the dimly lit room. Full of crates and boxes stamped with the names of various wizard candies, the room was empty of humans.

She pushed the trapdoor all of the way open, and clambered into the room, the cellar of Honeydukes, famous candy shop. She held the door open for Simon to climb through, and then quickly yet quietly closed it behind him. Hearing the floor creak above, her heart sped up, and she beckoned to Simon silently, ducking under the wooden stairs that led up to the shop floor. Was someone at the door to the cellar above them? If they came down, what they notice the two out-of-bounds Hogwarts students?

Happy late birthday! ;-)

The air smelled sweet from the scent of the candies even through the boxes down in the cellar. Simon stood there, close to Alexa, trying to breathe softly as they listened to the creaking of the floorboards above. He would have better vision in there than she did, with the way his pupils would dilate in the low light setting.

"Where are we?" he asked, defeating the purpose of breathing softly so not to be heard. It was in a whisper though and they were safe from earshot of whoever was above. "Are you kidnapping me? ...Did you bring me hear to do me in? Is this the end?" he smiled but then quickly stopped to try and pretend he was scared. "...They always did say watch out for the redheads. I never listened. I should have listened..."

And then Simon closed his eyes, as if he was accepting his fate. Hey, why not. They were stuck right now there under the staircase anyway waiting for whoever above to leave...or maybe come down and catch them. No reason to not make it interesting or fun while there.

He slowly opened his eyes, only to flinch a little and close them again, being as dramatic as ever.