Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?

[kitchen_maid]

In contrast to the candlelit ballroom, the corridor is dim, lit weakly by a few (generously spaced) torches. There are door down both sides, all closed, and placed almost randomly along the way. The hallway runs away from the ballroom at an angle, and either the lighting or just its sheer length make it impossible to see where it ends.

It's clean, completely free of dust and cobwebs, either because the spell has kept them from accumulating or because someone (or something) has tidied recently.

It is almost perfectly silent, save for the quiet hiss of the closest torch.

Comments

[alsoagreengrass]

" - And I thought Hogwarts can be confusing," Scorpius says, nearly frowning at the dimly lit corridor and the many, many doors it hosts.

It makes absolutely no sense, but what has so far?

"Right, uhm - I guess, let's grab that torch."




Or not.

As it slaps Scorpius with an arm-like tendril of flame across his face.

It did not like to be called 'that torch'.

[parkerlee]

"Oh, my God! Are you okay?"

Parker is entertaining visions of second degree burns.

"Hey!" she adds, turning on the torch, indignantly. "Unless you want to get up close and personal with a bucket of water, knock it off."

[alsoagreengrass]

If torches can blow raspberries...

Well. That is what the torch seems to be doing at Parker. Little sparks in her direction.

"'M fine," Scorpius says, nose wrinkled as he rubs at his face. "I'm not hurt, Parker."

(Except for the sting of the slap, really.)

"I don't think - I don't think it can burn anything. It was cool."

[parkerlee]

Parker answers the sparky raspberry with a one-fingered hand gesture beloved of aggressive drivers everywhere.

With the other hand, she sympathetically pats Scorpius' back.

"Cool, huh?" she says, smiling wryly.

She shakes her head and looks off down the dark corridor.

"Do I know how to show a guy a good time or what?"

This was supposed to be a simple outing to a football game.

[alsoagreengrass]

"Cool to the touch," Scorpius clarifies. "Not, uhm - 'Cool, I love to be slapped.'"

He grins and takes the moment to conjure some bluebell flames. (They don't need no stinkin' torches.)

He cradles the medium-sized ball of fire in his hand.

"It's been ...Memorable."

[parkerlee]

"Well, good. That's much less disturbing. On both counts."

Parker grins.

"Okay, Indiana Jones," she adds, looking off down the corridor again. "Are we ready to do this?"

[alsoagreengrass]

But who is Indiana Jones?

Scorpius will make a point of it to ask Parker about him later. Now -

"Right. Well, uhm - The book didn't have any specific directions and I think - I think what we're looking for is this way. Probably at the heart of the palace, but where's the heart?

"So. Do we start with the doors or the walking?"

Because the walking could go on forever and end in only more doors and anything could be waiting for them behind the doors...

"Lady's choice," he adds, decidedly. "Seeing as you, uhm - Know how to show a bloke a good time and all."

[parkerlee]

Parker will make him watch the movies! (At least the first three; Parker doesn't really acknowledge the existence of Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.)

"The question then becomes, are we looking for a heart in the physical sense? As in the center? Or the heart in a metaphorical sense."

The metaphorical is always harder to find.

"Checking all the doors could take a while," she muses. "On the other hand, I'm curious."

Parker reaches over and rests her hand on the latch of the nearest door. She looks over her shoulder at Scorpius.

"On three?"

[alsoagreengrass]

Scorpius readies his wand - a few defense spells might come in handy, depending on what's behind the door - then nods.

"On three."

[parkerlee]

"One...two...three."

Parker pushes the latch down and pulls open the door.

Then promptly squeals a bit and jumps to the side as a cloud of...something comes billowing out.

[alsoagreengrass]

Scorpius does a fair bit of his own yelping. (All Parker's fault, really. She's startled him.)

And then goes the lights.

As he dodges the moving ...something, the bluebell flame in hand gets sucked into the thick cloud along with the rest of the lit fires.

He swears softly and reaches for Parker.

(Or who he hopes is Parker.)

" - That is your hand, right?"

[parkerlee]

It takes Parker a second to process that question, because...yeah.

"Scorpius."

Parker's voice sounds very very calm.

(It's that or freak out.)

"No one's holding my hand."

[alsoagreengrass]

"Ohright," Scorpius says, sucking in a breath at the same time.

He won't panic. He won't.

(There's just something in the dark, holding his hand. What's there to panic about?)

With a grimace, he lifts his wand - "Lumos Maxima" - and the corridor fills with a sudden, bright light.

[parkerlee]

Parker squints at the sudden bright light. She tries not to close her eyes entirely, though. And she's assumed the 'something might be about to try to knock me on my ass' stance that she'd learned in her self-defense course.

Just given that they're in a mysterious corridor with God alone only knows what.

Parker blinks. She doesn't relax her stance, but there is definitely a surprised blink.

It's the tutu.

".....is that a ballerina?"

[alsoagreengrass]

"...I think so," Scorpius says, staring at the tutu as well after adjusting to the light again. "Was this the cloud?"

Because the cloud is suddenly gone and now they've got a ballerina. A ballerina who moves as gracefully as can be and responds to their questions with a demi-plié in the fifth position.

And then the ballerina is dragging Scorpius into the room Parker opened.

A room full of mirrors and ballet bars and costume changes.

"Uhm. Parker - !"

[parkerlee]

Parker makes a grab for Scorpius' hand, but misses.

But then, as she eyes the ballerina, who seems to be nothing so much an as animated mannequin (and isn't that just the creepiest thing ever) Parker's not sure that playing tug-of-war with the wizard is the best way to go.

She follows them into the room and does a quick look-around.

Props. Props she can work with.

Parker grabs a wooden sword and starts whacking at the ballerina's arm.

"Let." Thwack. "Him." Thwack. "Go." Thwack.

[alsoagreengrass]

She'd make for a very good beater.

Even if the ballerina seems unruffled by it.

Scorpius is forgotten, shoved toward a costume trunk, as the ballerina makes a grab for Parker instead, trying to -



Trying to position her at the bars?

"Parker, wait! I think, uhm - I think it wants us to dance?"

Which they do not have time for.

He glances around the room, hurriedly. He can work with props too.

"Keep it busy!"

Maybe Parker took ballet as a kid?

[parkerlee]

"Keep it busy? Are you freaking kidding me?"

In point of fact, Parker did take ballet as a child. Mrs. Lee had insisted. Starting at age three, up until age eight when she had finally talked her way into taking gymnastics instead.

So, ballet? Rusty like a rusty thing.

On the other hand.

"Hey! Hey," she says, taking her hands off the bar and waving them to get the ballerina's attention. "Watch me." She wags one finger between her own nose and the ballerina's making sure she has its attention. "Okay?"

Parker steps away from the bar and assumes the starting position of a flamenco dance. After a rather confused moment, the ballerina jerkily follows suit.

I'm about to have a dance off with a giant ballerina doll. How is this my life?

"Scorpius, whatever you're doing, do it fast."

[alsoagreengrass]

"Fast. Right!"

He's already elbow deep in the costume trunk, digging through it.

Tights, hat, cap... He pulls the pieces out in a hurry, leaving the rest scattered across the floor.

"Okay, okay."

He looks around the room for something more and freezes, gaze falling on Parker, distracted for half a moment.

" - What."

[parkerlee]

She's so wearing the wrong shoes for this.

But Parker is making do. Better than the ballerinaton, who is having a hard time copying the complex arm movements and footwork.

"Look, Bruno Tonioli," she says testily in Scorpius' direction. "Critique later. Neutralize Toe Shoes now, please."

[alsoagreengrass]

" - You're doing good, actually," Scorpius calls from the sidelines as he hurries across the room for the final piece.

(Because speaking of mannequins...)

He throws the cape over the shoulders of a suit of armor, struggles with putting the tights on it - (bloody difficult, that) - and tops it with the tricorne hat over its helm.

"Merlin, I hope this works." He puts his wand at the statue. "Piertotum Locomotor."

Metal creaks as the suit of armor cocks its head, coming to life with the magic. It looks at the tights stuck on its legs with a sticking charm.

"Sorry, best I could do.

" -Oi, ballerina! I've got a partner for you."

[parkerlee]

"Hey. Look."

Parker grabs hold of the ballerina and gives it a twirl, making it face in Scorpius' direction.

"It's your knight in shining armor. Literally."

She holds her breath, but the ballerina seems to take to her new partner with no problems.

(Parker hopes that she's imagining that there's a somewhat besotted look in the mannequin's face.)

She sidles toward the door with a mouthed Let's get the heck out of here at Scorpius.

[alsoagreengrass]

Scorpius needs no more prompting than that. He joins Parker at the door and then quietly closes the door behind them.

He blinks, taking in the re-lit corridor, the torches once again burning. And a bit more brightly, at that.

"Right, then.

"Door number two?"

[parkerlee]

Parker leans back against the wall and gestures to a door.

"Be my guest."

What will it be? Square dance? Rumba? Electric slide?

"Actually, I take that back. I think we need a better plan than dancing our way through ever single room."

Assuming that the contents of the rooms are much the same.

[alsoagreengrass]

"We could run along the corridor, opening all the doors, and face it all at once?"

(Just a thought.)

"Or, uhm - I could think of another idea. Maybe there's a spell or I missed something in the book or I could invent a spell? Which is actually quite dangerous and not as easy as it sounds and subjected to Committee ruling, but, er - I don't know."

All this thinking...

He looks at Parker, frowning. Then with determination.

An earthquake started this whole thing, so maybe a little one can give them a bit of help?

He points his wand at himself, casting a Supersensory Charm, and then points it at the floor.

"Uhm. Be ready to run."