Mischief afoot~[Steenie]

Today was the day.

Steenie had some sort of public event going on at the Quidditch shop in Hogsmeade, and he was going to be there. Lachie was absolutely sure about that fact. He’d been scheming and planning his escape since the night before. He’d even tried drawing a map a few times, but had given up when he realized he didn’t actually know how to get to Hogsmeade. He just knew it was a place where everyone older got to go, and he was forbidden. To Lachie that meant it was a must go to kind of place. Especially with Steenie being there and everything.

The first year wanted to show his brother his newly christened Gryffindor red robes terribly, but he’d quickly realized that that would probably mean he’d be caught that much quicker. Lachie wasn’t the type to think things through usually, but he’d had that particular breakthrough. Stuffing his feet into a pair of worn and dirty shoes, the young boy pulled on a jacket over his shirt and stuffed his wand and his hands into his pockets.

He could do this. It would be just like all those times he’d stolen cookies off of his mum’s baking tray just under her nose. It was simple, he could do it without thinking. Not that he thought much anyway. Trudging through the halls the second to youngest Allen boy did his best to look inconspicuous. Relying on his boyish look to make himself look harmless and completely innocent. He slipped by a few older students who were straggling and was all set to make his break for the front doors when he froze at the top of the staircase.

He gulped, a lot like he’d seen muggle cartoons do on a few occasions, thanks to Steenie. He would have found it funny, but nothing about Filtch was ever funny. He was greasy, yelled a lot, and smelled weird. And to an eleven year old like himself, that was all kinds of scary when mixed with authority.

Lachlan wasn’t going to be thrwarted that easily, though. No! He would find a way to distract the door guarding gargoyle. Narrowing his eyes in thought as he eyed his newest opponent, Lachie was coming up with nothing. If he could get past Filtch he could be like a muggle spy in the movies, too! He could even make up his own theme song! Yeah! It was going to be great. Except he still hadn’t figured out a way to distract the caretaker.

Hmm. What was he going to do?

Mrs. Norris! Of course. He hadn’t seen the stupid beast since he’d been stopped at the top of the stairs. Maybe he could use that to his advantage? Oh he definitely could, he thought triumphantly. Putting on his best sad and scared expression, Lachie rushed down the stairs, huffing and puffing to make sure he’d have the older man’s attention. “Mr. Filtch! Mrs. Norris’ gotten trapped in the third floor corridor broom closet!” When the man seemed to buy it, and asked who had done it Lachlan played it up some more “Some Slytherin 7th years..” He added dramatically. As he watched the squib abandon his post in favor of his beloved mangy cat, Lachie had to stop himself from giggling triumphantly, at least till he was outside.

Once he was sure that the coast was clear the first year turned and slipped out the door behind some other first years going outside to enjoy the snowy day. Lachlan wasted no time breaking into the fastest run his legs could stand while his eyes scanned the grounds for he big sign he had imagined saying “HOGSMEADE THIS WAY” and yet for some reason he wasn’t seeing anything like that. That’s what his siblings had made it sound like, after all. He kept running, curls bouncing against his forehead and spotted the worn path just as he was about to start giving up hope.

Laughing to himself the little wizard trotted eagerly toward and down the path, not thinking to look out for professors or anyone who might notice his presence. He was completely focused on seeing Steenie. Little did he know it, but the crowds he found himself darting through were doing him some big favors. He was so short, hardly anyone ever noticed him anyway, but the crowds made him nearly invisible.  He was so excited that he’d almost run right by the shop!

Skittering to a stop the boy had to right himself before he ran into an older gentleman with a cane and a top hat. Offering the man a quick apology over his shoulder, Lachlan took off for the door of the shop, and quickly pushed his way through a large chunk of the crowd till he was standing in front. There he was! His brother, all clad in his fancy and bright uniform. That was his Brother! Steenie! The first year stood taking in his surroundings, but totally fixed on his brothers presence. With rosy cheeks and bright eyed, the younger Allen waited as patiently as he could for his brother to notice him. He’d made it! He knew Steenie would be proud of him.

* If someone wants to bust Lachie here, please lemme know. I know it’s not plausible for a first year to get away with all this, so if you’re game, so am I.

There were many times Steenie Allen wished to punch Stanley Dotter in the face, and this, this was one of them.

"I realize, Stanley, I should have worn a suit because I look way more professional, I completely get it," He spoke monotonously. "But at the same time, we're in a Quidditch shop in the middle of Hogsmeade, not a friggin debutante event or something," The nineteen year old turned his attention to the woman in front of him, an older woman with salt and pepper hair and a big smile on her face. "Now, if you'll excuse me Stan," He reached out to the open photo book in her hand, "I'd like to continue taking photographs and signing things, so, get out of my face, thanks."

Steenie gave a smile of apology to the woman in front of him - he may be rude and rather brash, but he did love those who loved him. Those people, they were fantastic.

"Who should I make this out to?" He asked, his eyes scanning the pictures on the two pages presented to him. One of them was him, in all his Quidditch playing glory, bat in hand and goggles pushed up into his hair, and the other, was one of his teammates. "Ah, collecting all the signatures, then?" Steaphan asked, giving her another smile as he brought his quill down to sign the paper. "Who should I make this out to?"

It hadn't even been long since he'd started signing - an hour, maybe a little more, but Steenie was basically done with it. His hand was cramping and his wrist was starting to get a little sore, but Steaphan had more than 3 hours left, he thought. If he didn't focus on the time, it would be done, and he could move his way down to somewhere way more interesting. Wizarding London always had something interesting and fun to do, but Muggle London, they had those cool "go kart" races that Steenie liked to watch, even if people stared at him weird when he asked what made the cars go and how the wheels worked.

His attention was quickly brought to the rustling of people in one portion of the growing crowd in the shop - one that produced a tiny, tiny child. His brows furrowed as he tried to see the small child, but before long, he was smiling wider than he'd ever smiled (that day, at least). "Lachie!" He called out, crouching down and waving his brother over to him. "I thought you had school? Aren't you supposed to be in class?" Steenie asked, his brows furrowing once more. "Are you going to potentially get in trouble for being here?" This time, the beater raised his eyebrows, staring at his little brother while he waited for a response.

At his brothers exclamation, the small boy took that as his cue to close the gap between them. A grin worked its way across his face, and his eyes sparkled with mischief at his brothers next question “Maybe.” he shrugged and wiggled with excitement, clearly giving himself away in the process “Everyone else got to come, so I figured why shouldn’t I? You’re my brother.” He looked up at Steenie, studying his face waiting to see what his reaction was.

When he saw his brothers eyebrows raise, the Gryffindor boy couldn’t help but giggle a little. Trouble? When wasn’t he getting into some sort of trouble? Accidental or otherwise? It was rare that Lachlan could go a day without breaking something or something similar, and then there was his unending urge to fiddle with things he wasn’t supposed to touch. That meant that trouble of any kind was not an unfamiliar thing. Although he hadn’t stopped to consider that his sneaking out could earn him a detention and maybe a stern letter from his parents, he never really did, not till everything had happened.

Not that he let that bother him, really. Steenie would be worth it with or without forethought on his part. Mimicking his brothers expression he laughed as he spoke “I don’t think they’ll catch me. I told Filtch Mrs. Norris was stuck in a cupboard in the third floor corridor, you know the one? Nobody will be seeing him for hours....I paid a fifth year to charm a sock to meow just like her..” He couldn’t imagine how that could get him into trouble, really he just found it funny. Nevermind that Filtch had the ability to tell Headmistress McGonagall or anything.

He wondered what Steenie would have to say about his escape. Lachie also couldn’t hep but wonder what all the random people watching their exchange were thinking. And when someone was going to tell him where the free food was. There was free food, right?

"You make a very valid point." Steenie raised his eyebrow at his little brother. "Don't take my word for it, but I think school is boring anyways. Personally, I don't think you really need it - I mean, look at me? I think I did pretty alright without good marks, right?" The nineteen year old clapped his brother an the arm with a wide smile before he stood up again. "So, what are you missing then?" He asked. "Is it Charms? I always hated Charms. Or were classes over?" Although he'd only been out of school for two years, Steenie had to admit he couldn't even remember what life at school was like.

The beater grabbed the next book from the next woman that stood in front of him, running his pen across it at a rapid pace before handing it back with a smile. He'd started to wonder if maybe he should have bought one of those neat little learning quills - the one that his father used to sign all official documents. He'd thought it was super cool when he was little - you only had to use it once for the quill to learn what you wanted it to sign. He supposed, however, that it would be ingenuine. Stan wouldn't really like that, he knew that for sure.

Steenie was in the process of grabbing another picture of himself, flying on his broom with his bat in his hand, when he'd stopped completely.

"What?" Steenie's voice was filled with disbelief. "What?" He repeated, his eyebrows raising at his younger brother. He paused, trying to process what his brother had said. "You... all of that?" The smile on Steenie's face was wider than any other smile he'd ever had before - if he smiled any wider he was sure his face would split in two. "I don't believe you." He said. "I don't... holy shi - holy... wow."

"I never had the guts to do anything like that when I was your age." Steenie recalled his years at Hogwarts, still in awe at the sheer courage of his little brother. "You know what? That makes you ten times cooler than me." He told his little brother. Honestly, the former Hufflepuff wished he was lying, although he did suppose there was a reason he was in the Hufflepuff house instead of Gryffindor. "I wish I had the guts to do stuff like that when I was eleven."

What class was he missing? Lachie honestly couldn’t remember. Oops. The boy had a bad feeling it might’ve been McGonagall’s class. And while there wasn’t anyone who Lachie was really afraid of, his Head of House was a formidable figure. He hoped the witch wouldn’t realize that he was missing, but something told the first year that that wouldn’t be so.

But on the other hand he couldn’t worry about that now, could he? Nah. Nodding along with his brother, the young boy couldn’t say that Steenie was wrong, after all, he was making it big, without having done incredibly in school. With a shrug Lachie piped up “I think it might be Transfiguration, but classes might have been over already. I kind of forgot to pay attention.” He finished honestly before sneaking a quick look around for food.

His attention was drawn back to his brother when Lachie realized his brother was staring at him. Laughing a little, and obviously proud of himself the Gryffindor teased his brother “You heard me..” As Steenie seemed to finally come to grips with his little prank, Lachlan felt himself grin again in response. He had done all of it! Frowning a little he  lifted the leg of his school robes to show his brother the bare ankle sticking out of his shoe “Did so” Before splitting into yet another grin. A giggle escaped him when he realized that Steenie had almost cursed! Ha! He really was cool. Mostly though, the first year was just proud that he’d made his brother proud of him.

Lachie couldn’t help but puff his little chest out at his brothers next remark. Steenie had always been the cool, capable, older brother to Lachie, and to hear him say that he was the cool one? That was a big deal. But he didn’t let his pride last long before he shook his head a little and tugged at his brothers sleeve “No. You’re cool too! You’re going to be famous!” And after another beat, the rosy cheeked boy looked back up at his sibling “Anyways, I did it ‘cause I wanted to see you. I’m not all that brave...” He finished truthfully.  Rules or no rules, Lachlan would do anything for his family.