Pacing the Hallways (Dolores/Dalton/Open)

[Casey Morgan]

Casey just left the library, and surprisingly, he had no books in his hands. He was returning, and after spending a little time in the isles of books, he couldn't find anything that piqued his interest. He was probably just in one of those non-Ravenclaw moods, as Dalton called it.

Still, he had some time before his next class, so he found a little nook in a hallway by the library that wasn't often used, and he sat down, his back against the wall, and started riffling through his bag. There had to be something entertaining to do, even just for the half an hour he had to kill.

He wasn't expecting anyone to happen by him, either, so he sort of shut out all the sounds around him, allowing himself to not be as aware of things as he usually was.

[Dolores Umbridge]

Dolores had just come from Professor Mcrae's office, where she had offered to help him grade the Charms quiz they'd had that day. Dolores was always very helpful with Professors, because it was important to stay on their good sides at all times. She often stayed after classes to help clean up or grade papers or other things. She especially liked when the professor had to step out and she was "left in charge" of the class. She took this responsibility very seriously, and anyone who made a sound during this time would be reported to the professor.

Of course, this didn't exactly make Dolores the most popular girl in school. That was fine with her. What is right is not always what it popular, and what is popular is not always right. That was her belief.

As she walked down the hall, she had a small amount of time before her next class. Dolores didn't like free time. It was the devil's playground. When one had free time, it was all too tempting to use it for mischief. And that was never a good thing.

So when she saw the small boy sitting in the corner of the hallway, looking through his bag, her first thought was that he had to be up to no good.

"You there!" she called, pointing. "What do you think you're doing? Hiding out so you can chuck Dungbombs at passersby?"

[Casey Morgan]

Casey looked up, realizing there was a high probability that he was the one being yelled at. He just didn't know why.

His eyes landed on a girl, older than him. Although, he was still just a first year. It wasn't hard to be older than him at this point. Gauging her from his spot on the floor, he guessed they were probably around the same height, too. He hated being so short for his age. He was shorter than most of the girls, and he was teased fairly often for it. Of course, the majority of this teasing was from his brother.

He glanced at his bag, and then back at the girl. He didn't even own a dungbomb, much less was he planning on throwing them at people.

"Uhm... I'm getting out my homework?"

[Dolores Umbridge]

"Homework, huh?"

Dolores eyed him skeptically. He was a little pipsqueak of a kid, and he looked barely old enough to tie his own shoes, let alone be a student at Hogwarts. Judging by the color of his robes, he was a Ravenclaw. What was it about Ravenclaws that they were always so little and awkward?

"Well, it's an awfully strange place to be doing your homework," she said, narrowing her eyes at him. "The library is just down the hall, you know. That would be a much better place for homework."

[Casey Morgan]

Casey nodded. "Yeah, I know. I was just in the library. It's kind of busy today."

He didn't know why, but he just felt like he should explain himself to this girl. He felt like he got caught doing something wrong. Honestly, he read all of Filche's rules... and it was quite an extensive list. But he was pretty sure that he was allowed to be here, doing homework. Or just sitting. He didn't actually have any homework out yet, because he was bored and just looking through his bag.

But she definitely made him feel like he was breaking some rule he didn't read.

[Dalton Morgan]

Dalton would always walk with Casey to their next class, but there was a lot of time to kill in Dalton's mind. It was time to find his little brother. Naturally, the library was the first place he checked, but Casey was no where to be seen.

Sighing, he left the library in search of him. Seeing a girl standing in the hallway, Dalton adjusted the bag strap on his shoulder and approached her, seeing Casey sitting there. He didn't pay any attention to the girl. "Case! There you are! You know, you are one hard kid to find."

[Casey Morgan]

Casey's attention was drawn away from the angry looking girl. He still wasn't 100% positive that he wasn't in trouble, as she had that air about her, but she was momentarily forgotten.

"I just can't ditch you," Casey teased. "No matter how hard I try."

It was just teasing. Casey would never try to get rid of his brother. "Did your last class let out early too?"

He glanced back at the girl, who was still standing there, and saw awkwardly, "Uhm... I'm Casey. And this is my brother, Dalton."

[Dalton Morgan]

"Of course you can't," Dalton smiled widely. He could take any kind of teasing from his brother. "And yeah, it did. We were just doing something, I don't really remember what, and then the professor said dismissed so we all left." He gave a shrug. "So I thought what better way of making the time go by quicker before the next class than finding my adorable little brother." He held in his laughter.

Looking to the girl, Dalton put on hand in his pocket and then held out the other one. "Nice to meet you..."

[Dolores Umbridge]

Dolores's pinched expression did not improve as the second boy came along and the two began talking to each other. She was itching to get someone in trouble, even though she wasn't old enough to be a prefect and really had no authority. And neither of these boys were doing anything that was specifically against the rules. But really, doing homework in the hallway? It had to be a lie. Surely the younger one was up to something. Maybe the older one was in on it. Maybe she could bring them to Mr. Filch and let him deal with them. Maybe they could pass a rule that would outlaw the doing of homework in the hallways. She almost smiled at the thought.

But then the younger of the two was introducing her to his brother, and the older one was holding his hand out to her. She pursed her lips in distaste, but it was impolite not to shake hands when offered. She barely grasped his hand in a very loose handshake. "Dolores Umbridge," she said in a prissy voice. "I suggest you take your little brother to a more appropriate location for doing homework. After all, we wouldn't want anything to happen to it, would we?"

[Dalton Morgan]

This girl's attitude made Dalton instantly dislike her. He looked at her funny when she answered in a prissy voice and he dropped his hand a second after she shook his hand. Now he thought she gave him germs.

"Don't give me suggestions on what to do with my little brother," Dalton said adjusting his bag on his shoulder. When it came to Casey, he would stand up for him even if that meant him getting into trouble. It was just the brotherly thing between them. "And there's nothing that's gonna happen to his homework. If he wants to do it out in the hall, he can. There's nothing that says he can't, besides he's not hurting anyone."

Dalton gave her a look that almost mocked her prissy attitude.

[Casey Morgan]

"Dalton, don't. It's fine." The last thing he wanted was for Dalton to start a fight, or get in a fight since it seemed Dolores was starting it.

"Look, if it's that big of a deal, I'll do it somewhere else later."

He was shoving his things in his bag and pulling himself to his feet, stepping in between his brother and the girl. "Let's go, Dalton." Casey was just trying to keep everyone happy, avoiding the confrontation. He didn;t see why it was an issue, but that seemed unimportant.

[Dolores Umbridge]

It really was rather frustrating to Dolores that she was only a third year. She was sure that, when she reached her fifth year, she would surely be selected as a prefect, but until then, she really had very little authority to do much of anything. Yes, she was a particular favorite of Filch's, but that only got her so far. And maybe there wasn't technically any rules about doing homework on the hallway (although, since magic was forbidden in the halls, it really would only stand to reason that homework would be forbidden as well). The real trouble was that she didn't believe that the Ravenclaw boy was actually doing his homework. He had to be doing something else... something dodgy. She just couldn't prove it.

"If you both move along now, I won't report it," Dolores said in a sugary tone, as if she were doing them a favor.

[Casey Morgan]

Casey was usually quiet and non confrontational. Usually. Sometimes, a bit of his brother showed up in him, and he couldn't help it. This was usually when he needed to stick up for himself though, and Merlin knew now was as good of a time for that as any.

"What are you going to report?" he asked. They weren't doing anything. He could show her his star chart to prove it, but he wasn't going to. She would probably just ridicule that, and he was pretty much just done with this now.

"Come on, Dalton. Let's just go. It's not a big deal."

[Dolores Umbridge]

Dolores really didn't need a reason to report them. All she had to do was tell Filch that they were acting suspicious and that they became rude and defensive when questioned about it, and Filch would probably give them a detention. On the other hand, however, it was more fun to actually catch people doing something wrong than to make something up.

"You're not allowed to do magic in the halls and homework is magic, is it not?" she challenged. "I suggest you both move along, or I won't be so generous next time."

She walked away in a huff, but cast a few looks over her shoulder, letting them know she was still watching to make sure they dispersed.