Library Escapade

This is a mini, very mini, fic and a bit of a challenge in one. I first wrote this intending it as a challenge, but never got around to doing anything with it as one, so it stayed a little fic to kick my brain into gear. So, I thought I\'d put it into the HP Challenge section and see if anyone could come up with something. I did intend this to be a male/female pairing, but I believe I only mention that it\'s a female at the very end sooo... one could change that tiny bit and put whoever the heck you want!

Title: Library Escapade
Author: Arion
Summary: You\'re a wandless intruder at Hogwarts, and attempting to elude an armed wizard.
Genre: Uh... a bit of suspense I guess... though I think us gals are seriously hoping to get caught here. LOL!
Warning: None.
Disclaimer: All Harry Potter names and such do not belong to me but to the wonderfully talented J. K. Rowling, who I thank so much for inventing Professor Snape. There's never been a funner wizard to torment in my stories. If there's ever a spot open to teach at Hogwart's, providing Snape hasn't been cursed or anything... can I have it? Okay, so I might not be qualified... but give me a chance! LOL! The idea for this came from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer\'s Stone PC game. If any of you have played it you\'ll know exactly where I got it. I just thought it would be much funner to have Snape chasing me around the library than Filch and his cat. He he he---no, I\'m not crazy...maybe crazy for a certain wizard but---I\'ll shut up.
Special Thanks: To Tamara and Jade for being my beta readers on this.


Note: I couldn\'t really come up with a very feasible excuse for the situation so it\'s one of those you can make up your own mind on how they got there in the first place type of things. And, as you\'ll no doubt notice (LOL), there is no ending (really) to this. No definite outcome... you can make up your own little story on what happens... afterward. *cough* If anyone comes up with an ending, do write it. We can make up one of those Choose Your Own Adventure stories. LOL! Wouldn\'t that be fun! Please review or email and let me know if you\'ve written an outcome... would love to read it.



LIBRARY ESCAPADE


You don\'t know how you got into this but you\'re really wishing you knew how to get out of it. You hear a door across the room open and you duck behind the closest bookcase out of sight. Good thing you\'re in this library. The Hogwarts library has more books than you\'ve ever seen anywhere... but they are also an awful lot of bookcases to keep yourself out of sight of your pursuer.


So far you\'ve been chased through the halls of the castle, some more than once you\'re sure, and through places you didn\'t know what to make of. You\'ve managed to always keep a good distance ahead but the chase has kept up longer than you expected, and you\'re getting tired.


You hear quick, steady footsteps come closer and you decide it\'s time to move. Stepping quickly and quietly up onto a nearby table you pull yourself up on top of the bookcase, hoping that the person left below finds no reason to look up, as you flatten yourself out, and hear the footsteps stop.


When you feel that you\'re safe enough, you decide to take a peek and see who\'s been relentless in their pursuit all night. You haven\'t heard the person move and, as you gaze down, you at first see nothing in the dark library. You\'re staring at a black area when part of it suddenly moves. You can now see the white area of the pursuer\'s face, as they\'ve turned around, but the figure isn\'t close enough to make much out in the darkness. Dark hair is all you know for sure.


You hear noises and as you listen more closely you realize the person is muttering under their breath. The mutterings begin to get louder as the dark figure slowly comes closer until they\'re just about underneath you. You can hear the deep, low voice angrily talking to himself and you\'re now thinking it wasn\'t such a great idea to jump up here. All he has to do is look up and you\'re caught.


You\'re eyes have adjusted to the darkness, and with him so close, you can make out the very dark, possibly black, shoulder-length hair, a bit disheveled. The dark line of a grim scowl paints his face and you find yourself seriously hoping that he isn\'t a wizard (Though in a wizard school it would be most likely that he is one, wouldn\'t it?). You get your answer soon enough when he turns slightly and you see his hand twitching, ready to move, as it grips a wand.


When he begins to move away, you begin to look for someplace else to move to, if not an exit out of here. This must be a huge library because, other than the way you came in (past him), you don\'t see any walls. You drop down on the other side of the bookcase, crouching as you land. You hear a soft shuffle when the noise of your landing echoes slightly. After a brief silence footsteps begin to move toward you. They\'re soon a little too close for comfort and you silently dash around the corners of a few more bookcases, the tail of your cloak flying behind you. As quiet as you were, your adversary must\'ve heard, or seen, something for footsteps are soon following you as best as they can.


You rapidly find yourself at a deadend. The little alcove you\'ve stumbled into holds no escape from the enclosing footsteps you hear, only a single table and chair. You refuse to give up yet and hunch down behind the small table piled with a few books to wait. It doesn\'t take long before you see a dark shape appear through the legs of the table and block the exit. The shape starts to inch closer and closer. When you feel the time is right you heave the table at him with all your strength. You hear him let out a startled gasp as the furniture comes down on him. It doesn\'t knock him out but it does the trick of securing you a way past him back into the maze of books. He\'s quick to recover and is soon trailing you, again, however.


With your strength rapidly leaving, you decide it\'s best to play it very cool. You madly dash around, purposely creating a chaotic trail for him to follow. When you hear the footsteps move about, confused, you go silent once more until you\'re well away from where you were. Finding another table, you pull yourself back up on the bookcases. Perhaps if he doesn\'t hear from you for a while he\'ll think you\'ve slipped out, and soon follow. You\'re determined to wait him out and listen to his footsteps as you lay there.


You hear him move all around you, but he never comes too close. Within a few minutes you no longer hear anything from him at all. You ease yourself up to your knees, and listen, again. Still nothing. You\'re just about to count yourself extremely lucky when your cloak is harshly pulled from behind. With a shout of surprise you topple backwards off the bookcase to land hard on your back. Your breath knocked out of you, you can only lie there for a moment with your eyes closed and wonder what happened.


\"Lumos!\"


You open your eyes to find a soft light filling the surrounding area. You quickly get to your feet and turn to face the source of the light.


\"Well, well, well. What have we here?\"


Past the light, which is coming from the tip of a wand, you see the face of your antagonist. Beady, black eyes are focused on you and the grim scowl from earlier has been replaced with a grim smirk. With his hair even more disheveled than before, he looks more like a dragon who\'s been woken up than a mere man who\'s been chasing an intruder, namely you, all night.


\"Something tells me you didn\'t find your way in here for a bit of reading.\" His English accent carries a cold but slightly amused tone. \"One generally needs some light for such a task.\" He casts a cold, wry look at his wand.


The second his eyes have left you, you make a break for it but he\'s far quicker than you thought, and was obviously expecting you to try such a thing. Before you\'ve gone two steps a hand holds a fistful of your cloak and pulls you back.


\"I don\'t think you\'ll be going anywhere else on your own tonight. You need... supervison.\" You can hear the smirk in his voice again. \"Be a good little girl and I might not tie you up. This way.\"

He gives a sharp tug on your cloak and steers you throughout the pathway of bookcases and you\'re once again at the door. You wonder if the night can get any worse.