Mischief to be Managed PV Ruby Cazares Closed

Ruby was never late. Never. She refused to be, and she always left early for things, whether it be a meeting, a class, a party… anything. She was always early or spot on time, and she was someone who could be depended on to be consistent with that. Tonight, her record of never being late changed. She had agreed to meet a girl she had met once before – a Hufflepuff, Ero Hallister – in the Small Hall at midnight, to plan mischief. If Ruby was honest, she didn't really know how she felt about Ero yet. She didn't like to call someone a friend after only one meeting, but of course there were exceptions to that. Ruby didn't trust very easily, and she was raised as a pureblood and then went to Hogwarts – a place where so much danger had existed – so she had to be careful. She was only late because there had still been a couple of people in the Slytherin common room when she had tried to make her escape. Ruby wasn't going to risk it, but she also had to go meet Ero. Why did some insomniacs feel the need to occupy the common room instead of their dormitories, anyway? Eventually, the people had cleared out, and Ruby had managed to sneak out, unseen.

Ruby had been getting up to mischief for years. With her three closest cousins being who they were – troublemakers from the houses of Gryffindor and Ravenclaw – how could she not? However, most of her more serious or daring mischief had been completed alone. Some of it bordered on crime or was crime, which she wasn't willing to admit and didn't even properly realize. Nevertheless, that provided her with some useful skills: ones that she was very, very good at and careful with. She knew how to sneak around a castle in the dark and avoid patrols of prefects. She knew how to use the shadows to her advantage, and how to move silently. That was how she made it to the Small Hall after curfew. If they were to be caught, it would have consequences. Those included detention, and even though she didn't want to risk it, she had enough confidence in her ability to stay hidden. After doing it for so many years, she had learned to do it masterfully enough to evade nearly anyone, and she wouldn't just be caught by some prefect or teacher if she had anything to say about it. The real question was if Ero had the same skills and could use them as well. Ruby wasn't too worried. After all, you would have to either be stupid or uncaring to plan to talk about mischief at midnight if you didn't have the right skills to avoid being caught.

Ruby moved through the corridors silently, following her mental map of the castle. She had drawn and wandered the hallways many, many times and only got lost twice, so she was confident she could find her way now as well. Ruby was also carrying a bag packed full of anything else she might need and all her equipment, which included what she would need if she had to escape. Although she was mostly wearing black to blend with the darkness, she felt the need to don her Slytherin robes. Even though they were black too, they did have the house colors on them. Thinking about it now as her robes swirled around her, she realized that robes could be impractical in many scenarios and silently cursed herself for not considering it before. She was annoyed that she would slip up with something like that just because she had felt a burst of affection for her house. As she neared the Small Hall, she made sure to make some sound with her footsteps. If Ero was in there, some sound would probably follow, and if she wasn't, then Ruby was still far enough away to escape easily. When she heard "Ruby!", she smiled slightly. Of course, it was Ero.

Ruby glided into the room silently in her normal way. She had her usual air about her of confidence, sharp intelligence, and something else. Passion? Power? Ambition? Whatever it was, it blazed like a fire, which could be shown in her blue eyes. Maybe it was her excellent posture that played a part in creating this air. Not many kids these days sat or stood up straight like she did, and carried themselves with grace, purpose, and confidence. When she wasn't wearing her robes, to someone who didn't know her, she could seem to be a Gryffindor, or a Ravenclaw, or a Slytherin. It was hard to tell from one look at her. Whatever she was, she also seemed to be rather sophisticated without necessarily being aloof. The fire in her eyes was masked with a cool, calculating stare, as she was an observant girl who analyzed and remembered nearly everything she saw. Naturally, Ruby had to make her analyzes as soon as she walked in. It only took a second, and when she was done, she could give Ero more attention. She noted that Ero’s bag was full of strange-smelling and noisy things. Alright, she was prepared with materials for pranking then… that could be beneficial, definitely. Ruby also looked at the Hufflepuff's clothes briefly. Besides the robes and the black, warm clothes underneath, Ruby was wearing her Slytherin scarf to keep her neck warm and cozy, especially in case they went outside. Her brown hair was worn in a single braid down her back to keep it off her face. The moonlight – which could seem a bit eerie to some, but was comforting to Ruby – filtered in through the windows and illuminated Ruby's face, making her skin look ghostly and paler than it already was.

“Hello, Ero. Just a tip, you might want to keep your voice down a lot more. Remember, we're here at midnight and it's long past curfew… we can't afford to get caught,” the Slytherin said, not unkindly. Her voice was currently devoid of much emotion, and she spoke quietly, in a careful whisper. The way she spoke made it so that the whisper wouldn't come out as raspy, and there wouldn't be uneven tones or volume that would alert someone to her presence. “Also, my apologies for being a little late, but there were people in the common room when I was going to leave. Anyway, what are our plans for the night?” she asked (still quietly) with a smirk, learning slightly against the back of a chair, but not sitting down yet.