Detention Window Cleaning

Dear Mr. Gray,

I have been contacted to take care of your detention. Hufflepuff Prefect, Serena Towers, will be watching over as you complete the task that I've set. Please come to the Corridors on the second floor after supper tonight.

- D.H.
Groundskeeper

'What kind of sorcery?!' was the thought that resonated at the fore of Dorian's mind, loud and exclaimed and audible to all who even showed an inkling of knowing the art of Legilimency. Why, one might ask, was he screaming such random rhetoric to himself? Well, the answer was quite simple, really. He had been caught. He was sure of it. There was no other explanation as to why he would have received such a letter. Some nosy idiot must have seen him doing any of the number of things he had done and decided to rat him out. 'When I find out who it is they better have said their prayers' It was less a threat and more of a promise. Whoever it was had an angry Gray coming their way.

But one thing still didn't make a lick of sense to him, and that was the person that had written the letter. Who even was that? The 'Groundskeeper' the letter had said, but where had this person been all this time? Dorian hadn't once seen him or her anywhere in the school; had heard no mention of them during his time here, and the year was rapidly nearing its end. Whoever they were, the boy was clearly angry at them as well for even bothering to send the owl in the first place. Though he had been expecting as much, what with breaking rules and the sort, but still... It was just detention, not life in Azkaban or a death sentence, so naturally, whatever they required of him, he could handle. He'd even run through the school naked and have no regrets if that was what they asked of him.

In any event, the letter had stated that one Serena Towers was to oversee his detention, and Dorian didn't need much rummaging through his thoughts to recall the name. She was rather famous around the school for being really nice, a hard worker, and an overall stellar person. Not to mention she was very pretty too! For the former three, however, all Dorian could think was 'sucker!' as he considered them. Maybe he could convince her with a sob story to let him go early, or even let him not do anything at all and not get penalized further. Another thought came to him, one that caused him to slow to a gradual stop in his tracks as he considered. Maybe he didn't have to show up for the detention at all and she wouldn't bother to make a fuss out of it. The poor girl was probably tired anyway, or had other more important things to do than overseeing a troublemaker do something as mundane as...whatever it was that they would require for him to do. Dorian considered this for a solid minute as he stood there.

The statues in the corridor were staring at him with the slight glows behind their visors, judging his thoughts harshly no doubt. The boy only stared back at them and blinked, unbothered. They could stare at him with as much reproach as they wanted, but the thought had already crossed his mind and he had already considered, and decided against, it. Might as well rip the bandage off and get it over with. Dorian kicked at some random dirt on the floor, hard enough that he felt the friction as the sole of his puffy pink slippers dragged against the hard concrete. Yes. You read correctly. Dorian was currently rocking a pair of comfortable pink bedroom slippers that he had brought with him from home. Not only that but tonight he had decided to wear some clothes rather than traipse around in his usual nightwear of a plain, white merino and his underwear. He didn't think the Hufflepuff Prefect would be ready for all that. She might just faint.

So it was that he wore the matching set of pyjamas to go with the slippers. It was all pink, quite obviously, with different shades polka dotted across the entirety. The ensemble was complete with the soft pink night cap he wore. The thing had two protrusions on the ends that looked like long, bunny ears, one of them pointing directly upward while the other bent at an angle and hung itself as if in shame. This was Dorian, and for a first meeting with the Hufflepuff girl he had to say, she would be in for quite the first impression. Without any further need for thought, he continued down the corridor until he could see a bunch of kids sparsely populating the area ahead. They all seemed to be doing one thing; cleaning windows. Dorian stood back for a moment, watching, internally praising his good luck. Was that really all they required of him for detention? Cleaning a few dirty windows? He couldn't have asked for anything easier.

He was nothing like the legion of other purebloods that infested the school. That is to say, he was a pureblood himself, but nowhere near as pompous or holier-than-thou as they boasted to be. He was approachable, found Muggles to be interesting and in some cases, far more efficient than wizards, and didn't discriminate by blood type. He was open to meetings and conversations with just about anyone, provided of course that they were even remotely interesting. A boring person was still boring, and no amount of blood would change that. Speaking of, now that he thought about it, the only thing that made three-quarters of these pureblood interesting was the very fact that they are purebloods. For the way they expounded on their status and spoke of it as if it was their only defining factor, it might as well be. They were bland otherwise save for the few that he believed to be the exceptions.

Dorian stepped into the group, not bothering to meet any of the formalities that his upbringing had taught him. Instead, he fell right into the general task at hand, choosing from the line of buckets with water and a rag and moving to the nearest dirty window he could find without having to cross anyone's path. He simply began to clean away without any regard, unbothered by getting his hands dirty in the slightest. Chores had been assigned to him in his life as he grew. His family never kept house-elves, though a helper or two had been hired to come into their home and do the heavy cleaning. Still, he had had to do actual work growing up, and so it was like those times all over again. He did his part without complaining, even a hint of a smile on his lips as he hummed an unfamiliar tune. The only thing that might pose a problem was how extremely large these corridors are. Would they expect him and the two...no, three others to clean all the windows? That would be madness.

Not only that, but he had noticed that no one had their wands out and were attempting to clean the place with a spell, which could only mean that the watchful gaze of one Serena Towers was all that was keeping them from doing so. No doubt this was a lesson in hard labour and the punishment one would receive should they break the rules. Though Dorian doubted that any of them even knew the scouring charm, he knew it, and would be more than happy to show off his prowess by making quick work of the windows, and maybe even the floor. But if his hunch was correct then that would no doubt serve its purpose to get him into even more trouble with the powers that be. Another thing he noticed was that no one was speaking. Like, at all. Was that another rule? Did they maybe not speak because they didn't know each other? Whichever proved true he again decided to remain a mere blend of pink in the crowd, doing as everyone else did. So far he had managed to clean all of five windows, and the result saw them all spotless, even shimmering under the dim torchlight.

So they couldn't talk and they couldn't cast spells to assist them. Those two were standards, but Dorian doubted that what he had in mind would go against the rules at all. He doubted there was any explicit mention made against what he had in mind, and it was so that he stretched with a pop in one of his bones, dropped the dirty rag haphazardly into the bucket of water with a splash, and snuck just behind one of the statues that had been eyeing him before. He sidled up just behind the thing, enough so that he would be out of sight, and he had waited until he was certain he wasn't being watched. All Serena, or anyone else for that matter, would believe was that he had possibly gone on to other windows around one of the corridor's bends. Where he was behind the statue, his eleven-year-old form would be hidden quite nicely unless someone was paying very keen attention. It was such that without further ado, he closed his eyes and took his nap, quickly falling into a dream.



The dream was a testament to the truth of life. It spoke of all that Dorian wanted to accomplish; all that he knew he would be when he grew older. It took the form of him soaring with majestic wings through the sky, clearly having achieved Animagus status at some point in his life. He was free, flying high above everyone and everything, looking down at the little ant-like dots below. The wind through his feathers was euphoric, and it was all he could do to maintain himself. He curled his wings to his sides and allowed himself to plummet to the earth below in a suicide drop, looking as if he would truly crash into the ground from such a height. So skilful was he that before the earth could claim him he spread his wings and commanded obedience from the wind, demanding it to carry him skyward and to the safety of open air. This was what true bliss felt like.

The dream sequence shifted in a blur. No longer was he a bird in the sky, flying free high above, but instead he was in a courtroom setting, sitting in the judge's seat peering down at the accused. The air of authority that surrounded him was unmistakable, and it was enough to tell him what he had become. He had accomplished his dream of becoming a high ranking official in the Ministry of Magic's Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Not only that, but he seemed to be the one running the entire show. He listened to the accused's representative try to convince him of his client's innocence, and the power this made him feel was ecstatic. It was as if he was on top of the world. His words had power, and whatever he said would become decree; a sentence on the life of another. After all was said and done, he deliberated briefly with one of his aides, not so much for a second opinion, but more out of a show of actually considering what was said. He already knew of his accused's guilt, and nothing that they or their representative said or did would change that. When he finally passed his judgement, it was almost music to his ears when he heard the loud scream from the audience. No doubt the person's significant other.

The scene shifted yet again, and this time it looked as if he was inside Hogwarts. The Small Hall, from what he could tell. What was so significant about this place? He peered around the room, taking in the view of all the enchanted portraits of the past headmasters and famous witches and wizards that had ever graced the school with their presence. His picture was not among them, which caused him to frown as he kept peering around for whatever could have been so significant for his dream to bring him here. Then he saw it. His name in bold, red and gold colours, etched into a wall on the far corner of the room. Closer inspection brought him to the portion that read 'Wall of Infamy', and seeing his name at the top of the list, the only name on the list for that matter, caused his heart to swell with pride. Others may look at this and say it was a tragic outcome, a negative future that marred all the other achievements. But he looked at this as possibly the greatest accomplishment of his life. His name had been left behind. He would be remembered forever by all who entered the school. He might be known as a troublemaker, but that was alright with him. The fact was that his name would be known. Not many could boast the same.

These were three of the main accomplishments that he wished for in life. Nothing would keep him from his goals, leas of all himself. If anyone dared stand in his way he would crush them beneath his feet like so much dirt. He needed to make his mother proud of him somehow, and he wanted to emulate his grandmother so desperately. Maybe if he could do what she did and held a position similar to her own within the Ministry then he would get his first ever signs of approval from his mother. Maybe for once, she would look at him with something other than disdain or indifference. As for the final achievement, it was more of a personal goal that would enable him to keep some semblance of individuality as he aspired to be great. It would remind him of where he came from and also of who he was. He never wanted to become something he was not, and so a name for himself on the wall of infamy was probably the biggest aspiration he held.




In all, one could say he was having a good dream, a dream that showed him all the accomplishments that he wanted to achieve in his future. Everything he wanted had come his way, and he was living the life. That was until he felt something scurrying across his leg. Not a dream. He jolted from his nap with a start, knocking over the statue that he had been sleeping behind. The thing fell to the ground with a heavy clamour, enough noise to wake the dead. The poor statue had done him no wrong, but the rat that had run across his leg on its way further down the corridor had woken him unceremoniously. The sound was more than enough to fully wake him, and he quickly took an assessing glance around his immediate vicinity. He knew that any minute someone, most likely Serena, would bend the corner in an attempt to ascertain what had caused the sound. Dorian wasted no time trying his best to lift the suit of armour back into place. Lucky for him the thing was hollow, and he worked out, so it wasn't as painful a task to get the thing at least some distance off the ground.

He kept exerting that effort until the suit of armour was back on its two feet supporting its own weight. If anyone should have turned the corner and seen him doing this and begun asking questions, he would simply say that he had been trying to get past the thing to one of the harder to reach windows when he had misjudged his distance and pushed too far, causing the thing to fall. It was a plausible enough story, one that could pass for the truth without any reason to suspect otherwise. He was cleaning after all, and the hazardous placement of the suits was a factor that could impede his work. Whatever the outcome he would not wait for something to happen, deciding that he might as well get back to work before his little nap was found out. Reaching for the rag inside the bucket of water, he grabbed, squeezed out the excess water, and walked towards the nearby window, wiping away at the thing as if his life depended on it. His earlier state of content at having such a task to do had taken a complete one-eighty turn for the worst. This was absolutely boring...

Dorian was quickly losing what little interest he hadn't had from the start. If he was feeling this way he could only imagine how the Prefect was feeling, having to watch them do something so boring. Were they sure this wasn't her punishment and not theirs? Or maybe they were all being punished by the professors as some kind of sick joke. That had to be the case. Nothing else would explain why they were cleaning windows like the typical Muggle when they had magic at their command. Punishment or no, for a wizard it should be something magical. Throw them in a pit with some magical creatures trying to eat them, or send them into the forbidden forest to fend for themselves for an hour or two. Anything would be better than this torture. This was inhumane. It was akin to the Salem witch hunts from years past. Even his thoughts were steering far away from him. Dorian wanted this to be over with, and quickly.

He wasn't focusing on what he was doing, thinking instead of how best he could sneak away from the chore and go back to his dorm to have some well-needed rest. If he stayed here much longer he would probably lose his mind and do something that everyone present would regret. As it was, he was already trying his best to reign in the many crazy ideas that wanted to see the light of day. Having finished six more windows while he had been lost in thought, he got to the rest along this corridor, wondering if he wasn't straying a bit too far from the group. Were they actually cleaning all the windows? Or just a few to cover their punishment? Dorian had no idea. He had not bothered to say a single word to anyone after all, and so he was essentially doing this based on what he thought needed to be done. He would have a heart attack if he learned now that he didn't have to clean so far. Who knows. Maybe if he did a good enough job they would give him a prize for all his efforts. The thought got him cleaning with much more vigour, sure to get in between any spots that might be easy to miss. He applied pressure to the rag as he wiped away at those areas where the dust had caked and turned into some type of moist muck and dug the filth away.

Why? He was lucky he had completed all his assignments, save for two in Potions, or he might be beside himself when it came time to return to the dorm. He didn't like leaving his homework for long without completing them, even if it wasn't due for a long while yet. He liked knowing that he was done and when it came time to turn it into the professor he would not be one of those who had to hang their head in shame or ask for an extension of any kind. Not only that, but he tried to ensure his work was exemplary so that there could be no faults found on the professors' part as they graded. This all brought him back to Transfiguration and his favourite teacher, Sergei Yornikovych. He still wanted the gain that special recognition from the man, selfish as that may sound. He was possibly the only teacher whose class Dorian took seriously to the point of reverence, almost seeming to become so engrossed in the work that he tended to go overboard as he got down to answering the posed questions. It wasn't a hidden story as to why he was so fascinated by the teacher and the subject. The man was an animagus, and he taught Dorian's favourite subject.

If there was one class Dorian wanted to excel in it was Transfiguration. All the other classes came in at a distant second, least of Herbology that he knew he wanted to drop, along with Potions, the first chance he got. Those two classes did nothing for him, and quite frankly were a complete waste of his time and energy. The teachers in both were horrible anyway. Sorrel had failed him for something stupid. Well, she hadn't failed him per se, but she had given him the lowest grade he had ever gotten in his short life, and for that, she was on his most hated list and would never be off it for as long as they both lived. He wanted so desperately to not have to fo Herbology anymore, but that was impossible at the moment, as the subject was mandatory if he wished to move on to the next year. Why didn't schools simply allow kids to decide what they wanted to do from the start and select the subjects that would help them achieve that goal? It would be far more efficient to have one to five subjects that were necessary for a particular field being done rather than doing every single subject only to find out later on that they hadn't been needed at all.

In total, at this point, he had cleaned roughly thirty windows on his own, and each of them was spotless. He had lost count somewhere along the way, but along these numbers seemed accurate enough. In tandem with losing track of the count, he also lost track of the time. He didn't know how long he'd been out here doing manual labour, and he prayed that Serena would find him soon and tell him that he could stop and go back to his dorm. He needed to sleep. Dorian started to wonder how the others were doing. The others being Aubren, Max and Eris of course. He was sure Eris was fast asleep. what with how late it was and that she needed her beauty sleep. Max was doing one of two things. Three things maybe. Reading a book, tearing some random Hufflepuff a new one, or sleeping. The middle option was far more appealing to him, and so he dwelled on that one. As for Aubren. He was sure she was fast asleep, always being a stickler for the rules. She would no doubt have some pressing matter to attend to tomorrow, and as such, she would need to sleep to keep her wits about her so she could go through the day.

Dorian sighed. He wondered when the ball would take place. He had asked her to the ball and she had said yes. It came as a surprise to him that she did, and yet it didn't. This was hubris talking, but something far less certain. He had almost known that she would not refuse him, but a nagging thought at the back of his mind kept him wondering if maybe she had only said yes because she was such a nice person. There was any number of persons that she could have wanted to go with. Dorian was sure he wasn't the only one that had asked her out. She was beautiful, smart, and down to earth. A full package if he ever saw one. She must have had guys, and maybe girls too, lining up and asking for her company at the ball. Dorian was just happy that she had said yes, whatever the reason may be. It simply meant he would have more time to change her mind about him when they finally did get to the dance. Speaking of, Dorian wondered who Max and Eris would both be going with. The thought never occurred to him that they might have decided to go together, but if he did spend some brain power on it he would admit that they did make a good couple.

Push come to shove they could all go together as friends and nothing more. It was meant to be a fun event after all, but it was the prospect of the uppity purebloods that gave their own kind a bad name that worried Dorian. They would all be trying to upstage each other where Dorian would only be going to please himself and Aubren. He didn't care to overdress or make a spectacle of himself. A simple suit would suffice, and he knew that his mother would be the one to pick it. Where she had never been overly keen on anything else in his life, she always maintained that he needed to present an image that was conducive to their family name. He had to be smart, even if quietly so. He had to dress to please, if only in presenting himself to formal affairs. He needed to say and do the right thing always, again even if only for formal events. Otherwise, he was free to do as he wished without her breathing down his neck. That was where he and Max differed, from what he had gathered. The other boy had had such a strict upbringing that Dorian felt sorry for him, though he would never voice this aloud. It could easily be misinterpreted and Dorian did not wish to lose his best friend.

Now it was somewhere close to fifty windows, and Dorian found himself asking if the school even had that many, to begin with. Whatever the case may be he felt he had done his deed and was not trying to do anymore. In fact, he was sure he had done more than the others in this regard and was still under the belief that he deserved some kind of present for a job well done. He knew better though. No such thing would be forthcoming, and he would be lucky to get out of this unscathed. He dropped the rag into the bucket for the final time and picked the entire thing up, making the long walk along the corridor and turning the corner that would lead him back to Serena and the others. He didn't spare anyone but the Hufflepuff Prefect a glance, cutting a direct path toward her. He dropped the bucket of dirty water unceremoniously to the ground, causing the thing to splash. It wasn't such a heavy splash that would cause any of the liquid to spill onto her or even the ground but was it came close enough to doing so. Still, he said nothing, only staring at her blankly before he burst into a grin. He looked down at the bucket quickly then back at her, saying all that needed to be said without much explanation needed in between.

The girl was surely able to read between the lines, otherwise, he would start to question how she had even managed to become a Prefect in the first place. They might just be handing out those badges to any random person that wanted it simply because they needed to fill the spots. Dorian had no idea how it worked, but he at least hoped that she deserved it if she got it. If she had seen where he had just come from, then she was free to turn the corner and check for herself that he had done the job that had been handed to him, to great effect at that. If she had not seen where he had come from, he was more than willing to show her. In any case, he would be unable to leave without her blessing, and so he decided to move away and get comfortable in a corner as he watched the others slowly go about their task. He couldn't help but notice Eri Windstone. He only remembered her from the time he had strayed into the Forbidden Forest with her before getting caught by one of the Prefects, Kyden Goodlow. He had wasted no time issuing them that warning, but other disciplinary action had not been sought. Dorian was thankful for that. Detention, as it was, was unimaginative and bland. Maybe in the future when they spiced it up a bit more he would enjoy getting these, but until then he felt the need to lay low, if only for a bit.

There were two others. A boy he did not recognize at all and a girl in the same boat. Who were these people? He couldn't even recall seeing them in passing, no matter how hard he tried to jog his memory. He was still astounded at how many kids attended this school and at the sheer number of people that could occupy this castle and still leave enough space in between for them not to know each other. If that wasn't a prime example of magic at its finest then Dorian didn't know what was. Maybe he could say something to them? Break the ice and all that. Which was what he intended to do. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but it hung there for a moment before he closed it again, wordless. What was the point? After detention ended he probably would not be seeing much of them anyway. He could maybe chalk this down as a once in a lifetime experience where he encountered those exotic students that stuck to their own cliques and didn't bother with the rest of the world. That's what Dorian would do.

The boy only sat there in his corner watching, waiting for Serena to tell him he was free to go. However soon she told him so would not be soon enough. He wanted to get back to his dorm room and never again have to endure detention at the hands of Serena or this D.H. character that he had never met before. Speaking of, he needed to get to the bottom of who this D.H. was and maybe give him a piece of his mind. He needed one of the cooler, more exciting Professors or Prefects to conduct his next detention, for there would definitely be a next time. Dorian was on the brink of falling asleep where he lay.

Arceus had been so focused on cleaning the windows as well as he could in a short time that he didn't even notice when two other people walked in, one being the familiar Eri who he had met once before on the Astronomy tower which is probably what caused the detention. The other was a boy he had never met before, which didn't even surprise him considering all the people who had started attending this school, it is now probably impossible to know everyone in this grand castle where everything looms over your head.

Finally, after finishing a window he looked down the cloth he was using which was now covered in grime and he realised he was going to have to clean it or he would start dirtying the windows more than they already are, which is really saying something. He turned around and noticed the two new faces, of course, he wasn't going to talk to them because that was definitely not allowed and he didn't want to get into more trouble so he just stayed there thinking about when they could have come and how he didn't hear them.

It wasn't only that but he could see that they had already cleaned a handful of windows so they must have been here for a while and been really quiet too, he then snapped out of it and went to the bucket he had previously placed near his feet when he started cleaning windows but he had to walk quite a while to get to it now since he had cleaned more windows then he thought. When he finally got there he dunked the cloth in, rubbed it well, took it out, squeezed it, then satisfied with it he got off his knees picked up the bucket and walked back to the window he was cleaning.

As he was cleaning he looked back to Serena, she still had her head in her book and he thought about how awkward and boring it must be for her to supervise him and all the other kids here who were the same age as her as if they were young rascals. He then quickly looked away, scared that they were going to make eye contact and now feeling as awkward as before he continued rubbing even harder to get an especially dirty corner at the top of one of the big windows he was currently cleaning.

He finished the window he was currently cleaning and looked around, Good, he thought to himself Not that many left, after we finish these last few I can leave this awkward scenario he smiled and continued his punishment, he was now sure that the cause of the detention was because of Eri, which would explain why she was also here with him, he didn't mind though he would get trough it soon enough and then be able to go the Blossom Fest Ball and be able to have some fun.

He finally finished the next window and looked to his left to see it had been cleaned by someone else, looking down he realised how much his knuckles hurt, it made sense considering all the force he had been cleaning with and after squeezing it a few times he went on to the next window, filled with encouragement to finish it and get done with this long task.

Eri's mind raced. Why did she have to be here past curfew. She had detention and had to do her punishment. Which was really boring. She looked up and saw a new person Dorian Grey. And what was he wearing? She ignored that train of thought. 

The brunette finished cleaning the window she was working on and washed her rag out in the bucket of water. Then she walked over to the window next to her and began to scrub away the grime. It would be way easier to use the cleaning charm. But that would take away the punishment. Anyways she didn't mind getting her hands dirty, but she had cleaned a ton of windows already. There's weren't many more to go hopefully. 

She would rather be in bed by now. How much longer would they have to stay and clean? Not for much longer hopefully. It was getting pretty boring and her arms were starting to ache. She was used to hard work since her Aunt always gave her household chores to do. Sometimes she would clean the kitchen or mop the living room floor. But nothing as bad as cleaning all of these windows there seemed to be at least two dozen or more. And it was getting late and she was becoming tired. 

During her work on the windows she saw Dorian go behind a suit of Armor. Not thinking anything of it she directed her attention back to the half dirty window she was cleaning. By now she thought everyone was getting tired. Or they didn't want to continue cleaning all of these windows. If she had to do this for another hour she would probably go to sleep. 

She finished another window and cleaned her rag. Right now she was seriously not liking this punishment. This was not like any detention she had gotten when she was little. Normally she would have had to stay late in a classroom and think about what she had done or she would have to write somebphrase a bunch of times on a chalk board or piece of paper. Those were punishments she could deal with. Right now she would do any of those before washing a bunch of filthy windows. But for now she would just have to continue cleaning these windows. The faster they worked the sooner they would be finished and could go to bed.

Eri jumped when she heard the suit of armor fall. It had scared her to death and brought her out of her thought. She quickly picked up her rag that she had been cleaning in the bucket and began to scrub a new window. She had only done a few windows but she wanted to go to bed so she needed to get the windows done. She didn't know how much longer she would stay awake, but at least the suit of armor falling had given her a little adrenaline so now she wasn't as exhausted as she was before. 

Appreciating the utter silence, Serena managed to get through a couple of chapters of her textbook. This was not the most exciting way to spend your evening. It was the very thing she had failed to do for so many months. She tended to spend her evenings doing anything but study when she first started Hogwarts... However, this seemed to be the way she had spent most of her evenings in the recently past weeks. Most of her time, in fact, seemed to be sleeping, eating, in class or studying out of class. That was about it. Reading her textbook in the middle of a corridor, however, was a new one. She was just grateful for the torches that lined up the corridor, providing just about enough light for her to read without straining her eyes.

Speaking of eyes... Serena sighed as she reached into her bag and pulled out a pair of glasses. She rarely wore them but she ought to when she was reading. It helped a little but she always forgot to wear them. Since it was a little darker here than the library, Serena figured she probably should wear them before she managed to give herself a headache. Glancing up at the students that were currently cleaning, she noticed it would be a while. They were definitely slow. Though... Did Darren even say how many windows they had to clean? Serena sighed, hoping he did not expect the whole corridor or floor to be cleaned because well... they would be here for a while, if that was the case.

Looking back at her textbook, she continued to read. It was reading material for the Charms homework that she had yet to do. You know, the one that she had planned to do but never quite got around to it. Well, things were changing. Serena knew now that she had to study. She had to be better. She just had to. There was no alternative to this. But... Boy, oh boy. Studying was incredibly dull - and certainly boring. Unfortunately, this was her punishment. The three window cleaners were being punished for breaking a rule. She was not sure what rule, per se. It could have been they were out and about after curfew, they had spoken rudely to a teacher, snuck out to Hogsmeade or any number of things. Given that they were all silently cleaning right now, she suspected it was not because of a prank or rudeness. After all, silent obedience was all that she saw from them. Or perhaps they felt so much remorse for whatever they did that they had accepted this detention.

Whatever the case was, they were here because they had broken a rule. Serena was stuck here because it was her duty to be here. In previous months, she would have tried to get a more interactive or engaging detention. Something that provided her with some sort of entertainment, at the very least. Gardening or caring for the magical animals that Professor Lear kept, for example, was a little more engaging. This, however, was mindlessly dull.

At least... that was until her bright eyes caught the glimpse of another student. A brown haired boy that was not that much taller than her appeared. He immediately grabbed a bucket and some cleaning materials before moving to some of the dirty windows and getting to work. Serena just sat there, blinking at him. This entire scene was a bit of a shock to her, to be honest. For a few minutes, she was so shocked that she had no idea what to say or do. She just watched him. 

The random boy was... cleaning... in the middle of the night... for no apparent reason... Serena blinked, before looking down the corridor. The owl that had delivered Darren's earlier owl, about Arceus and Eri joining her, had flown away and returned to him a while back. However, it had not since reappeared. If this boy was meant to be here, in detention then surely Darren would have sent her another letter. But she had received nothing so far. Perhaps it was late? For now, Serena was led to believe there was no reason for his actions. She could have assumed he was here for detention but... She was far too shocked.

She was far too shocked at the sight of his clothing. The brown haired boy sported a full set of pyjamas, complete with puffy slippers and a night cap. A very pink attire, it seemed. Serena just blinked, wondering if he was sleepwalking. Why else would someone walk around in their pyjamas? And did people actually wear nightcaps? She had never seen someone wear one. She did not think it was a thing people wore in real life. A brief look of worry crossed her face as she went to stand up and approach him. If he was sleepwalking, she ought to help him.

However, after a few moments, she realised that he was very much awake. He seemed very conscious of his actions. He could have been sleepwalking but she had never seen someone do that so she could only assume he was actually awake - because he certainly looked it. He was definitely trolling her, wasn't he? This was all part of some prank. It had to be. It would make a lot more sense if it was a prank. A part of her kind of wished it was - it would make the evening a bit more exciting, in any case. No one turned up to detention in such an attire, surely. So that left a few options... 

1. It was a prank - or would become one, somehow.
2. He was an epic level troll.
3. He was purposefully breaking curfew and trying to draw attention to himself.
4. He was being dared to do it by his friends.

Serena was about to call out to him but he turned the corner and disappeared. She paused, thinking over her options again. It could have been any of them. Heck, it could have been an option she had not even considered. Perhaps she was so tired that she had fallen asleep and this was all just a dream now.

The Hufflepuff blinked. Her first instinct was to follow the random boy. However, she could not leave the other students unattended. Plus... if it was a prank, she kind of wanted to see what happened. This was by far the most interesting moment since she had arrived.

A silence continued for a while. Perhaps he had completed his dare and gone back to his friends. Perhaps he would get caught by another Prefect or by a Professor for breaking curfew, whilst dressed up in an outfit that screamed out 'expert troll levels'. She did not know but her curiosity was getting the better of her. She would have to find out who he was and be sure to see if his name appeared in any of the Prefect reports for tonight. The only issue with this plan was that she had no idea what his name was or what house he was in. In fact, she did not even recognise the boy.

Thinking about it, Serena decided he could not have been older than a second or third year, if that. He had a young face. A baby face. He was most likely a first or second year, with the possibility of being in third. She highly doubted he was older than that. He was probably not a Hufflepuff. She had seen a lot of them, even if she had not spoken to them all. She knew the majority in her year, at least but also recognised older years from the time they shared in the Common Room or in the Great Hall. That narrowed it down to three houses. There was no way for her to know which one. Perhaps if she knew a little bit more about him, she could have stereotyped him by his personality traits.

He could have been a brave Gryffindor that was willing to step up to the dare his friends set for him, without care or concern about the trouble he could get into. He could have been a curious Ravenclaw that thirst to find out what would happen to him. He could have been a cunning Slytherin out to set up a prank. 

Whatever the case was, Serena made a mental note to try and remember his face. She would definitely look out for him. The pink polka dot pyjamas and fuzzy slippers were certainly the most memorable feature about him but she highly doubted he walked around the daytime wearing that. But who knew? Perhaps he did. She wouldn't be able to put anything past him now.

Deep in thought, Serena continued to watch the other students clean. They were finally making some progress and her mind was a little bit more engaged in thought than it had been when she was reading. She was about to tell everyone they could go home when a loud crashing noise echoed through the corridor. "What th-" Serena started, pushing the book aside and quickly jumping up onto her feet. It sounded like metal clanking. Perhaps this was the prank that the boy had set up. But it could have been a ghost or another student. 

Frowning, Serena wondered if they were okay. It sounded like someone had crashed into a suit of armour and she was more worried about their safety than the inanimate object. "Stay here, I'll go check on it," She replied, instructing them to stay there. Perhaps this was a plan to escape detention. Serena really hoped it was not though. Because that would just mean they would be back here tomorrow - and so would she, to watch over them yet again. 

Turning the corner, she noticed the brown haired boy again. He was by the windows, cleaning it again. Observing the scenery for a moment, Serena quirked an eyebrow. There was a statue not too far away, which was most likely the cause of the sound. But the boy seemed uninterested in that armour right now and more focused on the window. She had no doubt there was something a bit suspicious about this situation but she said nothing. The fact that he was even here was still weird to her. She certainly did not expect him to still be here. It had been a while, after all.

Darren must have sent him...

Serena concluded, after watching him for a while. No one cleaned windows for fun, surely. Returning back to her former position, she watched Arceus and Eri continue with their tasks at hand. Ava, it appeared, had still not left either. Did the Slytherin want to stay here? Perhaps she was trying to build a reputation as a troublemaker and wanted to detention... Who knew?

The Hufflepuff Prefect sighed, wondering what was even going on anymore. People in Hogwarts were strange. That much was for sure. She had no doubt that people considered her weird but in her eyes, this was weird. But that was okay. Being weird was fun. It made life more entertaining. It meant you were unique, if nothing else. Who wants to be normal when you can be weird? As she pondered life, the brown haired boy had returned with his cleaning supplies in hand. He propped them down, sitting down in the corner. 

With a sigh escaping her lips, she stood back up. She had only just gotten comfortable again when he appeared, so getting up again was a bit annoying but she did it nonetheless. Wordlessly, she walked towards the area he had come from and gazed at the windows. They looked pretty good. She had not seen him clean most of them but there appeared to be a lot of shiny windows now. The girl paused for a moment, wondering if he used magic. He had gotten through a lot more than the other three had.

But right now, she wanted to sleep. She did not even care if he had used magic anymore. Returning, she glanced at Arceus and Eri, "Alright, you two can stop. You're free to go." She instructed, ending their punishment. Glancing at her fellow Prefect, she paused for a moment. This was awkward but... it seemed most appropriate, given the situation, "Arceus, please escort Ava - who appears to be keen to stay here - down to the dungeons before going back." Serena did not know exactly how to get into the Slytherin Common Room but it was well known that it was in the dungeons, which meant that it was very close to the Hufflepuff dorms. Her fellow Prefect could ensure the girl did not wander around aimlessly, since she seemed intent on, well, not going back. "Eri, return to your tower immediately. Do not wander around, unless you intend to see me tomorrow." She warned her - giving her the same warning she gave to Ava not too long ago.

With those three dismissed, she turned back to the fourth and final student. "Now... Pyjama boy, wanna tell me who you are?" She asked him, wondering if he had a name or a house. Assuming he was meant to be here, she could not exactly give him credit for it if she had no idea who he was. Pausing for a moment, Serena decided she had another question for him, "And whilst you're at it, want to tell me what you were doing with the armour?" She asked him curiously.

The Hufflepuff quirked an eyebrow staring down at him. He looked like a good boy. He had silently attended this detention she assumed he had, gotten to work and achieved more in the shorter time than the other three combined. Whoever he was, he appeared to be a good boy. But then again, she thought most people were good. She three closest male friends were all 'good boys' in her opinion, despite the fact that each of them had given her a reason to disagree. The first had almost punched her in the face in their first meeting - and burnt it - and that was the first of many similar incidents. The second had tried to blow up the common room before hitting her in the forehead with a pebble and a slingshot. The third had almost set the forest on fire and managed to burn her with a teapot at the same time. But they were all good guys, in her opinion. 

"Alright, wanna get up before you fall asleep here?" She asked the boy, offering her hand to him to help him stand up if he wanted it. He looked tired. She did not blame him. She felt exhausted and probably looked it too. Right now, being in a pair of PJs would be great. She would love that. Sadly, she did not own a set of pyjamas that were nearly as cool as his. Hers were just shorts and t-shirts. There was no fancy nightcap or fuzz on her slippers. Man, she was missing out.

@ All --- You're all free to go! Please post an EXIT post (make sure to indicate it's an exit post with [TOPIC LEFT] or something similar). Without that, I'll assume you're still here. 

Y'all can now talk too, if you want to.

Reducing the word count to 200 for the exit posts.

Eri finished up her window as she heard Serena tell them to stay there. She put the rag back in the bucket and looked at the windows she had cleaned. True she could have gone faster, but she liked going slow so it would be more effective. Some people would disagree with her. Anyways she knew that the detention would be over soon, at least she hoped it would be. She looked down at her hands to see that they were covered in grime. She didn't care. Though she didn't want anyone to know that she was in detention so she would have to sneak in the dormitory.

The brunette looked at Serena now they could leave. "I plan on not being here tomorrow." Eri said and she took one last look at the windows and inspected her work. Then Eri turned away and began her long walk to the Ravenclaw common room. Hopefully she would never have to go back to detention. It wasn't very fun. It was more boring than strenuous. Also it was very quiet and there was a silent awkwardness between the two prefects. And she was glad to leave detention and get some well needed sleep.

Arceus had just finished cleaning another window and sighed, how much longer was he going to have to stay here, or did time just stretch in these long corridors making a few hours seem like days on end, whatever the case he just knew he was ready to leave. He heard a loud clang which made him jump out of surprise, then heard Serena call out, telling them to stay put before he saw her turning a corner to check where the racket came from, he looked around and saw the boy from earlier wasn't there so he put two and two together and realised where the sound had come from.

Unless it's a ghost he thought since he had rarely seen a few flying around the big castle. While wondering what the cause of the sound could have been, Serena returned only to sit back down and continue with what she was doing. Sighing again he continued rubbing away a small spider web on the glass. He then heard Serena's voice giving them the all clear to leave so he jumped up, cleaned him dirty cloth for the next unlucky student to use and while he was about to leave he heard Serena call him back, he looked at her and she explained to him the situation about Ava,

"Yeah, of course, no problem!" he quickly said it before smiling at his fellow Prefect and going to Ava who was standing around, he started walking away, making sure she was following, "Thanks for not leaving us with a teacher, It was written all over your face, I could see how boring you thought it was". He gave her another small smile before going to the dungeons with Ava and then running to his Dorm, as he got in he saw a cauldron cake he kept there for a while, grabbing it he ran back towards her, "Here I should give this to you quickly I wouldn't want to get in trouble for being
caught out after hours." He gave it to her and before she could respond quickly went back to his dorm, and fell asleep the second his head touched the pillow.

Ava smiled to herself, seeing other students enter the corridors. She was expecting that she will have to do the whole corridor before getting to bed, but with more people, there was a higher chance she will get out faster since she was the one that was here first.

"Ava, you can stop now. You can leave the cleaning materials there. Please return to your dorm immediately. Don't wander around, unless you plan to come back here." her overseer and the Hufflepuff prefect said when the first person walked it. "I plan on coming back here later. A good experience, ten out of ten, one hundred percent would do again." Ava replied. She wasn't that sarcastic, detention didn't feel that bad. She didn't really want to go to bed yet. She liked it here. She sat down on the ground, looking at the others work, smiling to herself. 

"Arceus, please escort Ava - who appears to be keen to stay here - down to the dungeons before going back." the girl rolled her eyes, getting up. "I think that out of all of us here, I know the best how to get to my dorm." She smiled, looking at Serena before coming up to her and hugging her. 

The Slytherin walked away, smiling to herself, thinking about her stuffed animals, waiting for her in her bed.

[AVA LEAVES TOPIC UNLESS DIRECTLY ADRESSED]

Serena simply nodded as the Ravenclaw claimed she planned not to return here. If her words were truthful then it looked like the Groundskeeper succeeded in his detention plan. Bore the students so much they'll never want to get in trouble again. She did not know if she believed it but she did not need to. Eri's punishment for today was over. If she did something wrong, she would end up back in detention - assuming she got caught. The morale of the story here? Don't get caught, kids.

After she left, Arceus quickly followed suit. He thanked her and claimed that her boredom was over a face, causing Serena to mentally cringe a little. Oof. She better at least pretend to be interested next time. But hopefully the next time would not be so dull. Who wanted to watch people clean windows? Was this a punishment for her too? Geesh. Oddly enough, he gave her a cauldron cake - which Serena just took and blinked at. That was certainly... odd, for the lack of a better word. Ava's exit was the most unusual though. The girl claimed to enjoy it - which Serena did not believe for even a second - and then proceeded to hug her- oh okay, they were hugging now. Well that's a bit weird...

Serena just stood there, unsure of what was going on. It was a weird evening. The three had left and the only one now remaining was the boy that perked her interest the most. In a weird way, he made the other three look normal. He was the bizarre one amongst the group. Looking down at him - not in a mean way but rather, literally just looking at him sitting on the floor - she playfully rolled her eyes and smirked a little at his words. Her facial expression was actually a bit more playful than mean, "I mean, you can't really claim you don't deserve it," She replied to his reaction of his new nickname. It was hardly unique. Obvious, if anything. He most certainly deserved it. 

"Anatole Evans?" She repeated, quirking an eyebrow. The boy claimed to be an Anatole Evans of the House of the brave. That was not a name that she had been informed of, in her attendees list. Perhaps the Groundskeeper had accidentally forgotten to mention the boy would be joining them. Serena doubted he cleaned windows for fun. As far as pranks go, that would be a rather boring one to commit. The Gryffindor boy continued to talk, answering her questions. Well, most of them. He claimed to be sent here by a professor, rather than by Darren. Apparently due to his anger issues.

Anatole stood up, towering over her slightly His next words shocked her a little. She flinched ever so slightly, her head snapping a little towards him. He probably would not even have noticed. It was very slight. But there was a reason for it. The boy whispered it into her ear, towering over her as he was a few inches taller. She felt her breathe caught in her throat for a moment. Did he know? She honestly couldn't tell if he knew what happened in the Camp Out and was simply trying to scare her, if he actually did that or if the boy was taking a guess in the dark. She watched him blankly for a few moments. Staring into his eyes as though she was trying to suss him out, before rolling her eyes. "A Gryffindor with anger issues? Why am I not surprised?" Serena questioned, laughing softly and shaking her head. Their male Prefect was a boy that she knew very well, far too well. He was definitely a troublemaker and anger issues was a pretty great word for it. Over the months she had know Siege, he had done a lot of things that any normal - or calm person - would not have done. If he was the best their house had to offer, in terms of the Professor's choice for Prefect, then she was definitely worried what the other delinquent boys in that house must have been like.

As Serena spoke, her hands had started to do something that the Gryffindor probably did not expect her to do. She took her braided hair in her hands, removed the hand tie - which she put on her wrist - and started to slowly undo the braids. She spoke for a bit whilst she did it before just laughing but the action took a good few minutes.  The Hufflepuff undid her hair, before running a hand through it and flicking all of it over her left shoulder so it was closest to that ear he whispered into. Her formerly very longer and now slightly shorter than usual hair draped over her shoulder. Taking the tips of her hair into her hands, she looked straight into Anatole's face. The tips she was holding in her hand were most definitely burnt. There was no hiding it, though braiding it seemed to help make it harder to spot. The school did not exactly have a hairdresser and she did not care enough to try and convince a Professor to give her a potion or spell to fix it. It was just hair, it would grow and she was sure that her mother would get it cut for her once she returned home. "If you're after burnt hair... Been there, done that and got the hair to prove it." She replied to him, a small smirk on her face.

Did she want to have her hair burnt again? No, not really. But hair was the least of her concern that night of the camp out and it would still be the least of her concern today. "So tell me about this girl whose hair you set on fire." Serena continued. Did she believe him? No. It was far too much of a coincidence to be a real situation. Burnt hair, a girl, questioning... Far too much of a coincidence to be anything more than a joke - and a threat. But heck, she had nothing else to do this evening except studying. She may as well play along with his game. 

Whoever this boy was, he was either a troublemaker like some other Gryffindors she knew or he was a delinquent child that just threatened an innocent girl. Perhaps courage went hand in hand with being mischievous. It sort of made sense. You needed a little a courage to carry out a prank, for example. Perhaps the "House of the Brave" was actually just a mask for the "House of the troublemakers". Merlin knew what the famous trio got up to in their school years or those Weasleys that made that joke shop. They must have been pranksters too. All famous Gryffindors, no? 

"So and Mister Evans, would you like to explain what you were doing with the armour back there? Don't think I didn't notice you skip over that particular question," Serena enquired after a moment's pause, still wondering what he was actually here for and why she heard a loud clanking noise of metal in his direction. When she had gotten there, he was busy cleaning and looking innocent. Far too innocent. It was suspicious. She had thought he knocked it over whilst cleaning but he acted like nothing had happened... But she was certain she heard metal and that seemed to be the most logical explanation.