Laundry Room
 

The party had been nice. Wonderful and exciting, until she remembered what it's done to her brand new robes. When Ashley entered the common room, it was the least she had expected. A set of buckets and a stained robe.

Carrying her now multicoloured robe, she walked towards the laundry room. She's figured out there was supposed to be one around here. Where would they do the laundry then? She'd asked one of the seniors.

Now how to do it? Did they have those washing machines mum used? she thought as she walked into the room.

She noticed she wasn't alone. She looked at the tall boy, who was standing facing the opposite side. Looked like a senior. Maybe he would know. She moved towards the boy. "Hello there.." she said, hoping she didn't startle him.

Ollie was just kind of standing there, waiting for the house elf with his sweater to get the stain out, when he heard a somewhat small voice say hello...and from somewhere not very close to his ear either. Turning around, he looked around and then down and saw a younger girl, probably a first year?, standing right by him.

"Oh, hi," he gave her an earnest smile, wondering if she was just looking to talk or if she needed help with something....so he figured he'd ask. "Did you need help washing your robes?" Ollie pointed at the robe in her hand. It did look like it had some sort of stain on it. What a shame. Hopefully her stain was easier to get out than his ice cream stain was.

How much further? Carlton felt as though he'd walked for miles. The school was just too big. He had loved it at first but after getting lost 7 times in one afternoon with no one to share the stories with he felt exhausted. He missed his friends and family. He even missed his annoying older sister.

On the way back to the Slytherin common room he'd overheard some older students talking about how it was possible to get down to the kitchen at any point during the day. This had brightened his mood a little and he'd decided it was worth one more shot to find it.

Carlton walked down the corridor and popped his head inside a room, anticipating the house-elves the older students had talked about and more importantly; snacks. What he saw disappointed him to no end. Clothes? He couldn't eat that. He groaned and took a few steps into the laundry room.

"This isn't the kitchen." He complained before he noticed someone to his left. The boy was older. Much older than him. "Do you know where..." His eyes spotted something shiny on the guy's chest. A badge of some kind. Carlton swallowed and hoisted his bag filled with books up higher on his shoulder. "Oh." He breathed. He didn't really know what the badge meant or entailed but it probably meant this guy was popular. Carlton never fit in with the popular squad. "You're a... You have a..." He pointed to the badge. "You're important." Duh.

OH.

He offered to help.

He seems sweet. All the seniors seem sweet in this school.

Ashely smiled. The guy was.. look at the robes.. Slytherin. He wouldn't know. "AH.. YEAH" She held her robes higher for him to see. "We had a paint party in the common room" she said, in a matter of factly way.

OOPS! Can I say that or not? Did all of them have it?

ASK. ASK.

"Did you have one too?"

Was he going to wash his himself. He was just standing there when she came in. Does he know? Is he waiting? "So we just wait, and it washes itself...?" she dragged the last part out. That's what the school seemed to do. Did everything itself.

Raising his eyebrows in amusement at the paint party, he said, "Oh wow! That sounds like loads of fun. Definitely a cool way to start off at a new school yeah?" Ollie could only imagine how helpful that was to the new students who weren't sure about the school. Participate in a paint party and really learn how great the school is!

"I can't say my house did that this year, no, but I'm sure we've done things like that in the past." He really couldn't say for sure, because he wasn't one for participating in the past, but if the house had done anything this year, he would have been first in line! A paint party sounded amazing. Maybe he'd do that for Cordy's next birthday...

Smiling now, he realized how silly he must look just standing there doing nothing. He didn't even have his sweater in his hand. Good job, Oliver.

"Not quite. Have you ever heard of house elves?" He knew nothing about this girl and her background, so he didn't want to assume she just knew that house elves did things for witches and wizards. Asking is always better than assuming, he'd learned that the hard way.

"Yeah the kitchen is right through that wash bowl." His comment came as soon as he had heard the complaint, his tone sarcastic and his eyes still on his notebook. When concentrating, Rooney was at the height of his sarcastic tendencies and also his artistic talents. He was working on the shorter locks of his girlfriend right now, perfectly trying to sit the drawn cut around her ear. He much preferred the shorter hair on Olivia, especially with everything that was going on. Rooney was able to push the fringe off her face and see exactly what she was thinking or feeling. Of course he missed being able to use her longer hair as a moustache of nuzzling into it, but this was so much better. It was growing on him.

Or maybe it was because he was in looooooove.

Hook. Line. And. Sinker.

Finally, Rooney looked up at the person in the room with him and clearly the boy had had the same idea to look as he had clapped eyes on the badge. "Oh. Yeah. Rooney Bronwyn, Ravenclaw Prefect." And who was this dumbie that thought that THIS was the kitchen??

A Ravenclaw Prefect. That should mean something to him.

But it didn't.

Carlton had no idea what that meant. It was only so much information he'd had the time to devour about Hogwarts before his first year started and the different titles like Prefect and Head Boy wasn't included. Maybe because Carlton had read about the Forbidden Forest, freaked out and then hid the book in his freezer. Where he was safe from it.

"Prefect. That's... Exciting." He repeated, nodding with an expression he hoped signalled that he was completely in the know. "Is that why you're hanging out down here? You're in charge of the laundry?" He asked hopefully. Ravenclaw Prefect equals Laundry Prefect. Seemed legit.

In..charge of laundry?? Rooney laughed, closing his notebook after fastening the pencil inside and setting it once more in the back of his trouser where it usually lived. "I'm in charge of recruiting first years for laundry duty." He wasn't going to let this idea slip away from him and would work at perfecting this role of using someone else to get things done. To manipulate. Because throwing himself into a role was exactly what he needed to forget everything that was actually happening in his life. Something that he could do with ease, but often forgot to use and an escape tactic.

"You coming here makes you a willing volunteer for that." The sixth year straightened up to stand at his full height and shrugged his hair back. "Step up to the bowl, kid."

Carlton looked up at the Laundry Prefect. Holy cow, he was tall. Carlton was not tall. He was short even for a first year.

"Of course! The first years do the laundry." He nodded as he trotted over to the bowl. Of course. Prefects didn't do the dirty work, they assigned the dirty work. After all, it's not like the laundry washed itself. How would that work?

He glanced at the pile of clothes and then up at the giant boy. "Am... Am I the only one doing this? For the whole school?!"

He would never be able to leave!

"YES. IT WAS AWESOME!" she nearly squealed in excitement. "It was the best party I ever went to" Not that she went to a lot. But a paint party? She'd never even heard of it. That's what made it more special. The uniqueness of it. "And the head of house was there as well" she had loved that part. The staff playing with the students. That didn't happen much at her old school. "He was cool"

But he didn't seem to know about the party. "Didn't they not have one.." she eyed him ".. in Slytherin?" He hadn't said no. He wasn't sure? "I thought all the houses would have done it" Isn't that how schools work? Uniformity? Seeing how things were happening in here that word probably meant nothing in this school. "What did you guys do then?" How did the young snakes get through day one.

HOUSE ELVES.

Where had she heard that?

"The name does ring a bell" she kept thinking, "I have a distinct feeling of mum mentioning it..." THINK ".. during.. cooking" That was it. "But dad had said no" She hadn't bothered to ask.

"I assumed it was something from the movies" She was sure she'd soon be told it wasn't. That's what happened a lot around here.

Oliver could tell that this girl was really enjoying herself at the school so far and that made him happy. He often forgot how cool the place really was because he was normally too busy brooding about anything possible. NOT THIS YEAR THOUGH. "That's really great! Sounds like you had loads of fun." And the fact that her HoH had shown up at the party wasn't surprising at all. The Hogwarts staff was a fun lot. After all, he had attended Professor Myer's Badger Pool Party over the summer! "It won't take you long to learn that pretty much the entire stuff is really nice and cool." Sure, maybe not all of them would participate in a paint party, but that didn't mean they weren't cool.

For whatever reason, the girl was asking again if Slytherins didn't have a paint party. Maybe he wasn't clear enough before? Either way, Ollie wasn't bothered. "No, we didn't have a paint party this year." Unless they had and no one had told him about that? But the parties in the past had been hard to ignore, so he was sure this one would've been the same. "I guess the parties after the feast are up to the heads of house, and ours didn't do the paint party. Which is okay, because now I don't have to get the stains out of my robes. " He winked at her and laughed. At least they were at a school where house elves were nice enough to clean their clothes for them.

The vocabulary on this girl made Oliver smile. He couldn't remember a single day when he'd spoken like that, but maybe his brain didn't know how to sound cool using those words. "Oh, well, house elves are elves, obviously, and I believe they get paid now, though they didn't always which was a shame," Ollie shook his head at that. With all the work the house elves did, how could they not get paid? "And they basically keep everything going at wherever they work. I believe all of them can cook and clean and do laundry and that sort of thing, and they also have their own magic." Was that it? He wanted to say all of them were nice, but he was sure that couldn't be true. Where there was nice, there was always mean. "Anyway, if you leave your dirty clothes in your dorm, they'll go through and clean them for you and return them once they're done." Best bedside service a person could find, really.

Rooney dismissed a smirk as he made the short walk over to the wash bowl behind the first year, hands stuffed into his pockets and shoulders thrown back. This was what he thought was confidence and so he would be sticking with the way he stood. "Ah, no no.. Just whatever is here for your shift. How else do you think you'll earn your keep?" With that, Rooney pointed over to the pile of clothes besides the wash basin to draw the first years gaze back away from him. Hah hah hah if this kid really thought that Hogwarts was a place of slave labour.

But he wasn't going to step away from this. Once upon a time, Rooney had convinced a Gryffindor to get into a suit of armour. Dedicated was he.

Carlton looked dumbfounded. How else would he earn his keep? Derno.

He picked up a pile of clothes and glanced up at the Prefect. "Did... You do all this?" He asked, the sound muffled from the dirty clothes. "How-How do I do this?"

Granted, he was grateful he wasn't supposed to use magic but he still didn't know how to load a regular Muggle washing machine. He was only eleven! That was parent-duty.

Had he done this? Rooney laughed and nodded, resuming his hands back into his robe pockets. "Of course I have. All students have something to do. It changes for each year you're here. Unless you're a Prefect." And in this world that he was selling right now, Prefects did absolutely nothing except have younger students bring them food from the Great Hall and have them wash their socks. Democracy was the work of a genius.

"Dunk and soap. Then dunk and scrub. Then dunk and wring out." Washing clothes wasn't hard.

Not that Roo knew exactly the right way to do it.

Carlton rolled up the sleeves of his robe and got ready with the soap. He could do this. He'd walked in the Forbidden Forest with a centaur. He would manage this. Dunk and scrub. Sounded easy enough.

No one had told him this was part of the deal but he didn't want the Prefect to know that. So he played along.

"I heard from other students that it would be nice to be Prefect to get out of chores." He lied. Perfect. Nice save. "I'm Carlton by the way!" He said happily as he scrubbed a little harder on a particular nasty spot that looked like remains of strawberry ice cream. He usually wasn't this forward with strangers, especially older ones with shiny badges. But the Prefect had helped him by explaining his chores so Carlton liked him. And he'd met the other Ravenclaw Prefect, Kitty. So it was all good.

"Oh yeah? We just have other things to do." Maybe that was actual Prefect Rooney speaking...because he felt that people assumed his position was nothing like it was. He had to set an example for others, but still be true to his own morals..something which he had struggled with often. Especially last term in DADA after Blaise had been a toerag about the Toussaint family. "Rooney Bronwyn, Ravenclaw Prefect." As he had said before, but he did stick out a hand for the kid to shake before he got in on the washing.

And when that happened, Rooney started to feel bad for him and sighed. "Let me help, anyway." With a stretch over, Rooney grabbed a paid of school trousers and tossed them into the bowl of water to soak. "Fold the fabric together, stain on the inside and rub it together. Fight it with itself." So knowledgeable.

"Fight it with itself." Carlton repeated, nodding and made some mental notes. Rooney was smart and Carlton wanted to be smart, he would follow him around for a while. Find out how he could be that tall and smart.

It was a master plan.

"How come magic can't fix this? Everyone fixes everything with magic." Except Carlton. He didn't fix anything with magic, most of the time it just unfixed things. "Magic is not my friend." He added sadly. When would that get better though? Because right now it wasn't fun at all!

Scrub, scrub, scrub.

Rooney was just about to come up with a story as to why magic wouldn't work on the clothes that needed washing, but the next comment from Carlton caught him off guard and his heart almost broke. "What do you mean it isn't your friend?" The Prefect placed the clothes that both of them were scrubbing at and set them aside, offering the first year his entire devote attention.

"You know it's okay to struggle with mastering magic, right?" Not everyone was Rooney Bronwyn.

Carlton hesitated, thinking for a while before answering. "No one else struggles." He said, thinking back to his first flying lesson when many first years actually made their broom fly up from the ground to their hand on their first try. On their first try! Carlton had danced in victory after getting a wiggle out of his broom. Just a wiggle. Plus, the other students just... Knew things. Carlton didn't. Carlton hadn't even known about the chores he was supposed to do! It was a disaster.

"My wand only works when it's convenient for it. Most of the time it's just there not doing anything. I don't understand why all the other wands just obey everyone. Mine doesn't at all!" Charms, Transfiguration and Defence Against the Dark Arts, basically all the classes that required wand work was a complete fiasco.

Hogwarts and magic was cool and all (despite the poltergeists that attacked him from time to time) but like... Would he ever learn?!

Rooney moved back to the wall and gestured for Carlton to sit down with him. With a frown, he gave the first years shoulder a secure pat and then ruffled his hair. "I can give you a list of people who struggle to bring out their magical talents." Blaise Bellaire, for one. The boy was clearly still at Hogwarts because he wasn't of squib status, so he was just holding out on himself. It was a pity, really. "But it isn't a bad thing. Carlton, you're...what..? 11? 12?" He was a first year and so either age worked. "You'll learn." What was it with first years and expecting to be able to do everything on their first try.

"Have you got your wand with you?" Rooney got out his own and sat in on his knee with a shrug. "Bet I can teach you something easy right now." Because Rooney was a teacher as much as he was a learner. But only if he was invested in it.

Carlton was used to people ruffling his hair from time to time. Apparently it was because it was so lush, as his sister put it. Which was convenient for Carlton because he always felt a lot better after someone ruffled it. He sat next to Rooney and watched him in disbelief. He would learn? Really? Carlton straightened out his short legs so they lay flat on the floor. "I'm eleven." He mumbled, wiggling and waving his feet. Eleven and from a muggle family with no magical history at all.

"My wand? Hmm..." Carlton reached for his schoolbag and dug around in it for a while. "It should be here somewhere..." So, everyone else tended to have their wands in their inner pocket but Carlton didn't like that. It was just in the way. Plus he never used it, so what was the point of easy access? "Here it is!" He dropped the wand on the floor next to him. Looked at it, looked at Rooney and then looked back down at the wand.

"Maybe there's a manufacturing defect?" He asked, hopefully. That would explain a lot!

Rooney frowned and picked up Carlton's wand, rolling it over in his hand. "It should be on your person all of the time, Carlton. Don't worry about whether you can't work the magic side of it or not. Always have your wand in a holster. Do you have one? I'm sure I have a spare one somewhere in my dorm." Probably in his trunk. Rooney had spares of absolutely everything in there. Socks, holsters, textbooks and even hot water bottles. All the essentials, obviously.

Giving the wand another twirl, Rooney used it to cast a few coloured sparks and then grinned. "There's nothing wrong with it. I'll help you practice your magic. It'll be easy. I'm good at it." Sort of. Sometimes. When he was really concentrating on it and knowing exactly what he was doing. Rooney struggled with things first time, for sure. But he was a sixth year and really did know enough now. He offered the wand back to Carlton and smiled.