The late afternoon light was streaming through the windows as Celene scanned the room nervously for what was probably the 10th time in half as many minutes. Books and papers were spread out in front of her, to make it looks as though she was in the library to study. In truth, she had planned to study a little while she waited, but the halfhearted attempt had fallen by the wayside, and an observant bystander might have noticed that she hadn't even glanced at the papers in front of her in the last 15 minutes. Normally, Celene would never even attempt to study in the library (she studied much better in her bed, with the curtains drawn), but then again, she wasn't really here to study.

She was casing the place.

Niobe's instructions had been clear; break into the restricted section of the library and look for information about runespores, especially anything suggesting that venom-less runespores existed and could be bred successfully.  Celene shuddered at the thought, her stomach in knots. There were few things that terrified Celene more than breaking the rules. For the third time in only the last hour, Celene had genuinely considered just telling Niobe that she hadn't found anything. But Celene also knew her cousin, and if Niobe needed this for a story, then there was a good reason for it. Celene sighed heavily and returned to scanning the library.

The thing was, Celene was a novice at all things disobedience, so she knew that if she had even the tiniest chance of pulling this off, she was going to need help. And not help from just anybody, either. Celene had a very specific individual in mind.

Finally Celene spotted her: Ravenclaw's Resident Rule breaker. If anybody knew how to successfully break into the restricted section of the library, it was going to be Juni.

Juni sat several tables way, facing Celene's general direction, but not looking at her. The light from the windows caught her hair and was lighting up her curls, making her easy to spot. Juni had a book and a roll of parchment in front of her, but the look Juni's face told Celene that Juni was definitely not doing any homework.

"Good" Celene thought, "at least I won't be interrupting her studying".

 Celene quickly gathered up the mess in front of her and nervously approached Juni's table. She set her pile of books down a little too loudly, startling Juni from whatever she had been daydreaming about. Celene swallowed hard and mustered up all the confidence she could find.

"I...I need your help."

She had told herself that today she was going to study and do homework. But the material was so absolutely boring. She doodled on the parchment, swirls and small flowers on the corners of the page. Juni would much rather be making out with Ambrose, or tormenting her cousin, Moira. However, being in the library made her feel like she was being somewhat productive, even if she absolutely wasn't.

Celeste had been so quiet when approaching the table that Juni hadn't noticed until the books slammed down.

"I...I need your help."

Juni closed her textbook, doing her best to mask her concern. She kept her expression stoic, though her brow furrowed slightly. "Uhh." She paused for longer than she needed to, momentarily lacking in charisma. "Sure. What do you need?"

When Juni hesitated, Celene deflated, all her confidence rushing out of her.

This was a terrible idea she thought. No one in their right mind would help me do this. Juni's going to report me to the headmistress for even asking!

Celene clenched her fists tighter, shaking the doubting thoughts from her mind. Niobe needed her help. She had to try.  She took a seat across from Juni and leaned in very close.

"What do you know about breaking into the restricted section?" Celene whispered. "I'm on a mission for my cousin who works at the prophet, and I need to get in there."

She peered at Juni, anxiously awaiting her reaction,

"Well, I've never broken into the restricted section before." Juni admitted, pitching her voice so only Celene could hear. "We can make an invisibility potion, which takes a little time. Or we can use a disillusionment charm... Which makes us a bit less invisible but it lasts longer."

Celene looked so anxious. What was the worst Juni would do? Say no? Rat on her? Of course not! She was always down for an adventure. Anything to take her mind off of the kidnapping or the completely messed up state of her family. "When do you need to get in there? Tonight? Tomorrow? In a week?" People who worked at the Prophet had deadlines to meet. Juni would not be surprised if the cousin needed it sooner rather than later.

Celene was so happy she could have cried. She let out a long exhale, letting the relief flow over her. Juni was going to help her.  She was not in this alone. Step 1, at least, was over.

Now for Step 2- Make a plan.

"When do you need to get in there? Tonight? Tomorrow? In a week?"

Celene leaned closer still, so as to be certain that no one could hear them. "I told my cousin I would try to get in tonight. What do you think we can whip up in such a short amount of time?" She asked.

"By the way" she added, "We're looking for any information we can find on runespoors." She said the last bit at barely even a whisper, mainly just mouthing the words.

This is actually happening she thought. I'm about to break into the restricted section! Niobe will be so happy!

Tonight?!

Juni's eyes widened in surprise. She quickly regained composure. Tonight. That was doable. Besides, it would be interesting to get more information about runespoors...  Were there restricted books about that? When Juni thought about it, having a restricted section of a library in a school was ridiculous. After all, they had to learn-- and withholding knowledge was something that Juni was vehemently opposed to.

It wasn't like they were little kids or anything. She felt very grown up.

"We can look where they keep potions stuff... Or creatures stuff?" She wasn't sure. "We need to establish a plan though. We need to be invisible... And we can't be here when Librarian Morgan is around. Do you think you can sneak out of your dorm?" Her voice was pitched so that only Celene can hear.