Jail Break

Jude was sick of sitting around and doing nothing. He wanted to explore, see if there was a way out of this prison of a school. He knew that the third years and up were allowed to go to Hogsmeade on select weekends, so it stood to reason that after generations and generations of first and second years that someone had found a way to get there without being caught by a teacher.

He also knew that there was a secret passage on the fifth floor, but he had not explored it yet. He found the statue that hid the passage and whispered the password to it, which had taken him several interrogations to learn from one of the more rebellious second year Ravenclaws.

He paused when he heard someone coming and looked to see who it was.

Jude saw a girl approaching and immediately relaxed; it wasn't a teacher or one of those bloody annoying Hufflepuffs going to turn him in. "Jude Parker, also Slytherin," he said gruffly in return. He would have been a bit more polite to her, but he wasn't really interested in sticking around the castle for the rest of the day.

He whispered the password to the statue again, and it slid ever so slightly to the side, allowing him to push it the rest of the way. "Well, Aurora Greengrass," he said, standing in front of the now open passageway, "In or out, take your pick."

Jude nodded to Aurora as she walked past him into the passageway, quickly stepping in behind her. Never having used this passage before, he was wondering if he should slide the statue back into place, when the statue made the decision for him. It closed itself, leaving them just enough light to be able to see where they were going.

He started to walk, since there was only one way to go now. "So Aurora Greengrass, I hope you're up for a long walk, because I honestly don't know where this is going to take us, or even if it will take us to the same place twice," he said.

Jude snorted when she commented on her ability to keep up. At least she didn't seem to be part of the Stupid Brigade, so their little trip might not be an entire loss. "Just don't expect me to hold your hand if you get scared," he remarked.

He continued walking. They soon came upon a fork in the tunnel. It split into three different paths. One to the left, one to the right, and one straight ahead. "Choose," he said to her, giving her the opportunity to decide their fate.

Although he rolled his eyes at her comment, Jude was actually glad to see that she wasn't like the girls in other houses; she was much closer to Alli and Jasmine's mentality, and that meant they would get along just fine. "I'll keep that in mind, Princess," he tossed her little nickname right back at her.

"Right it is then," he turned just as she did and continued to walk. A light squeaking sound could be heard as a few rats scurried past them.

"How disgusting," he said. He knew that some students at the school kept rats, but the reason why was beyond him. They were dirty creatures that carried all sorts of diseases. "Is this school run by a bunch of stupid apes who don't know that rats don't belong in the castle? I can't wait to tell my father about this."

Jude wasn't used to girls being quite so sure of themselves, save for Alli and Jasmine, and he found he quite liked it. He hated feeling like he was surrounded by damsels in distress waiting for him to save them. He especially hated it if they actually expected him to save them, which, of course, he wouldn't. Stupid girls.

"Good, set it loose down here. The school might even pay you for it if the Headmaster can stop procreating enough to pay attention to the problems. You know his whale of a wife just had twins. They've already got two kids. Soon enough they'll have a damn Quidditch team living in their house," he shook his head. He hadn't been impressed with Professor Cooper's Herbology class and he got the feeling that she was only in that post because her husband was the Headmaster.

"Some advice for you Rory, don't take Herbology," he said.

"I couldn't agree more," Jude said.

His hatred of plant life stemmed from his hatred for his mother and her "special friend," who was also their gardener, but Aurora didn't need to know that.

He continued walking until they came upon a blockage in the tunnel. There appeared to have been a cave in.

Not willing to resort to actual physical labor (that was for servants and employees, thank you very much), Jude turned on his heel and went back the other way. "I think we'll try the middle one, this time," he said to Aurora.

Jude snorted. "Don't be ridiculous. We're not going to run into a Basilisk," he said, smirking with the unlikeliness of finding such a rare creature in their crappy little school.

They passed the rats and made it to the fork, turning down the middle one this time. "So Rory, what classes are you taking if you're not taking Plant-Loving 101?" he asked.

"History of Magic, Ancient Runes, and Herbology," Jude spat out the last word as if he was truly offended by saying it. "My mother insisted," he figured giving a simple explanation would be best.

"It doesn't really matter. I want to go into business with my father when I'm done with school, so I'm just biding my time right now," he said. His father dealt in rare magical artifacts, a few of which tended to have sordid histories, and he was fascinated by the career. He could see himself doing nothing else.

Jude couldn't help but be a small bit offended that Aurora didn't think he could assert himself to his mother. "She insisted, and my father asked me to humor her. I don't think I'll be taking it again next year. She will just have to get over it," he said.

In Jude's eyes, his father was a respectable man, and he did what his father asked of him, even if it meant listening to his tramp of a mother.

He wasn't impressed with her possible career choice either. "Look, just because you're pretty enough to be a model doesn't mean that you should be. You've got brains, don't waste them," he advised. "If you do, you'll turn into one of those mindless fashion drones who only cares about what dresses come out next year," he rolled his eyes.

"That you do, but that doesn't mean you should waste your mind," Jude was starting to fear that it was hopeless to argue with her. If she was the type of girl to want to rest on her good looks forever then so be it. He just hoped she knew that looks faded.

They continued to walk down the second path. There weren't any rats, which was a good sign, which meant that there was probably an opening somewhere. Soon, they came upon a door. Jude opened it and stuck his head through. He could see students walking past but they didn't seem to notice him. Across the hallway, he could see a portrait of two wizards dueling, who quickly dropped their wands and resorted to muggle fighting.

He recognized it, and where they were in the castle. He tried to think of what would be across from the painting, where he was standing. "We must be behind the mirror on the second floor," he said to Aurora. "Well that's rubbish. I wanted to get out of the castle, not just closer to the ground."

He stepped back so that she could look at the scene. "Although, it would be a good spot to spy..."

"They are a pain, aren't they? Still it's always good to have some kind of blackmail material," Jude replied.

He heard a loud noise and turned to look at Aurora, since she was the only other living this in this tunnel and therefore the source of the noise. It seemed that she had heard it but did not know where it came from, judging from the way she was looking around.

The wall behind her was slightly indented, as if her leaning against it had opened yet another secret passage. He cleared his throat and nodded behind her so that she would turn and see what had happened.

"You will if you are patient enough," Jude said in response. He would know. He had gathered a lot of information thanks to his ability to wait; he couldn't wait to use it either. He just had to wait for the right moment to appear.

He followed her into the new passageway, wondering where it went. If it just continued to go further down into the school, he would be sorely disappointed. "What's your favorite thing about Hogwarts so far?" he asked, just to keep the conversation going as they walked along the passage.