#7 - Down in the Basement

William froze on the spot as he witnessed two of his target creature chilling together. What were the chances of that happening? He smirked for a moment and considered his options.

Surely he could remove his school bag and leave it here, along with his robes? More freedom of movement would make catching the Blyne Roach a breeze -- or so he thought.

He'd look back later and realise what a fool he had been to leave his belongings behind, even if they were in a neat pile.

But that was future William and present William still thought catching these bugs was going to be no big deal. After all, look at them -- how hard could it really be?

That answer came crashing into William quickly -- just like the first bench. He hissed as he banged his shin off it and then tumbled into a tapestry. He was quick to untangle himself as he didn't want to lose sight of the Roaches.

They raced along corridors and zipped up the stairs with William chasing behind, twin speedsters determined to outdo each other.

He was so glad today was a Quidditch day. The corridors were mostly empty with only a few other students left behind to witness William Doren running down the hallway like an idiot after Blyne Roaches.

Panting hard, it seemed like the roaches were running out of steam and he actually managed a smile.

There was a line of sweat along his hairline and William didn't like being made a fool of. He dove for one of the Roaches and it easily evaded capture.

"Blasted thing!" Which was as close to swearing as William Doren would allow himself to get. It was unsightly for someone of good breeding to lower themselves to using such crude language, after all.

He grunted and pushed himself up from the floor, not even taking the moment to fix his hair or uniform as he normally would. He was incensed now that these creatures were putting him through this. It felt like he had chased them through half of the school at this point.

And they circled each other as if taunting him.

Oh, now it was personal.

William took off and chased the Roaches some more. It was almost comical to an outsider to see Doren running around Hogwarts, banging into things, grabbing at the air or walls, or stumbling over his feet to try and catch the Roaches.

He made another heroic grab as he jumped down the bottom half of a flight of stairs as the Blyne Roach had launched itself from the bannister like some kind of stunt daredevil and William caught it mid-air.

The shock of succeeding made him almost drop the creature but no! William had one after almost forty minutes of chasing it around the school. He was tired but he wasn't beat.

He noticed the second roach had stopped, as if it was processing what had happened as well. They were close to the Basement again so William tried to herd it back towards their starting point and it worked.

As he chased it down the Basement level, William paused for a second to store the first Blyne Roach safely into his Potions Kit and then grabbed his bag. His robes he could come back for but he wouldn't get caught without his Potions Kit again.

The second Roach was still within sight and William took off again.

Without its partner to confuse or distract him, William had an easier time following where this Blyne Roach would scuttle off to. There was a sharp pain in his side now and his strides weren't as confident or long.

He was desperately tired and wanted this painful experience to end. He had hurt his shins, hands, sides and now his head was throbbing as well.

"Curse you." He muttered under his breath as he did a half-jog, half-limp along the next corridor as the Blyne Roach zoomed along the wall. He watched it with a resentful glare.

It seemed like a waste not to grab the second one if he was able.

William gasped it came to a stop in the middle of the carpet. He approached it slowly, trying to ensure that his shadow didn't give him away or spook it. As he reached down in slow-motion, the stupid thing took off again.

He followed it into a classroom, climbing over desks and chairs to try and snatch the thing up and earning more bruises for his troubles.

His uniform was very dishevelled now and William wondered why anyone enjoyed catching stupid ingredients like this.

The Blyne Roach did a spin and headed back out, aiming for the stairs and William dove for it before it could get down them again. He closed his hands around the Blyne Roach and panted hard.

No way.

William could feel it squirming away in his hands and he hurried to transfer it into the same container as the one from before. After he managed that, the poor boy just sat on the floor. He was very tired and sore and the feeling of victory didn't take the edge off everything else.

"Stupid Roaches." He muttered as he picked himself up after he caught his breath.

He made sure his uniform was tidied (though it was rumpled badly) and pushed his hair back into place. Part of the sides flopped over his eyes and William muttered under his breath, trying to fix it.

The aches over his body didn't ease with rest and William groaned when he realised he had to go all the way back to the Basement for his robes.

"Stupid." This time he berated himself and started the long walk (limp) back.

[OOC: Exit]