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Ever wonder where your dirty underpants wind up? Just down the corridor, not terribly far from the staircase to the kitchen, the door to the laundry room can be found. What you will find in this room will, likely, not be a surprise. Within are no Muggle washing machines or dryers. Instead, front and centre, are large tubs with accompanying wash boards and sticks. A bizarre system of clothes lines fill the back of the room, beside which tables and large hampers await.
If you happen to wind up here on your House's laundry day, you will see your clothes -- hopefully labelled -- and the clothes of your fellow housemates being washed and dried by a team of house-elves. It is not uncommon to hear them bickering with each other or joining together in a motivational song to help make the job get completed quicker. First the clothes are scrubbed squeaky clean with soap and steaming hot water. They are next hung to dry and then neatly stacked on one of the large tables to be folded and placed back in the hamper to be returned to their owners.
Students are always welcome to be proactive and do their own laundry or at least lend the house-elves a hand. There sure is a lot of laundry to do!
In a place like Hogwarts, it was hard to be alone. Which was okay, most of the time. Ash didn't like to feel alone. But today, she felt like having some space. Not like, in a 'I'm going to cry' sort of way. She kinda felt... peaceful? That was pretty weird. But you know what was REALLY weird? What Ash was DOING. She was in the laundry room, washing her own clothes the old-fashioned way... and while it was sorta calming, it was very inconvenient. She had class tomorrow. She needed her uniforms to be CLEAN. And the only thing she could find to wear right now was a beautiful black dress that was definitely not meant for kneeling on the ground scrubbing uniforms. Oh well. She'd never been good at taking care of fancy clothes anyway. RIP.
In a place like Hogwarts, it was hard to be alone. Which was okay, most of the time. Ash didn't like to feel alone. But today, she felt like having some space. Not like, in a 'I'm going to cry' sort of way. She kinda felt... peaceful? That was pretty weird. But you know what was REALLY weird? What Ash was DOING. She was in the laundry room, washing her own clothes the old-fashioned way... and while it was sorta calming, it was very inconvenient. She had class tomorrow. She needed her uniforms to be CLEAN. And the only thing she could find to wear right now was a beautiful black dress that was definitely not meant for kneeling on the ground scrubbing uniforms. Oh well. She'd never been good at taking care of fancy clothes anyway. RIP.
Ruari had never done laundry, that was dad’s job.
but he wasn’t a kid anymore, he was a whole eleven years old and it was time he started taking responsibility for himself. He arms full of clothes, Ruari wobbled into the laundry room and promptly dropped his things on the floor by the nearest machine. He heaved a heavy sigh, his lips betraying his amusement despite the attitude he tried to maintain. The ravenclaw felt especially grand today. He'd answered two questions right in his potions class and that one pretty professor had smiled at him.
Yes, he was quite grown up. Daddy- er, Dad would be so proud.
"Hi, nice day for laundry, innit?" he said, his prim accent tinged with a weird mock-cockney that he had picked up from Saturday morning cartoons. "I always like to do mine before it builds up, you know?" Back to his normal voice, but only because Ruari had finally noticed that the girl he was talking to was- well- a girl. A girl in a nice dress. Should he be dressed? Did really cool people wear their nicest clothes to do laundry? Now that he thought about it, he had often heard dad say something about laundry-day when he was wearing something he didn't usually wear...
His t-shirt and trousers suddenly felt... very uncool.
Ruari would do his best not to let it show.
__________________
the moon: feminine, intuitive, inner strength, innocence
but he wasn’t a kid anymore, he was a whole eleven years old and it was time he started taking responsibility for himself. He arms full of clothes, Ruari wobbled into the laundry room and promptly dropped his things on the floor by the nearest machine. He heaved a heavy sigh, his lips betraying his amusement despite the attitude he tried to maintain. The ravenclaw felt especially grand today. He'd answered two questions right in his potions class and that one pretty professor had smiled at him.
Yes, he was quite grown up. Daddy- er, Dad would be so proud.
"Hi, nice day for laundry, innit?" he said, his prim accent tinged with a weird mock-cockney that he had picked up from Saturday morning cartoons. "I always like to do mine before it builds up, you know?" Back to his normal voice, but only because Ruari had finally noticed that the girl he was talking to was- well- a girl. A girl in a nice dress. Should he be dressed? Did really cool people wear their nicest clothes to do laundry? Now that he thought about it, he had often heard dad say something about laundry-day when he was wearing something he didn't usually wear...
His t-shirt and trousers suddenly felt... very uncool.
Ruari would do his best not to let it show.
Ash was very surprised that someone else was intruding on her peace and quiet. Upset? No. Surprised? Yes. Who did their laundry by hand? Especially at THIS school, where everyone liked to leave everything to the house elves. That surprise certainly showed as she stood up and turned around to see who it was, awkwardly holding a soaking wet robe in one hand and wearing a fancy dress. Surrounded by house elves. Ash felt very out of place. Oh well. She WAS out of place. As usual.
As she looked over at the kid, she realized that she didn’t know him. But she did notice that he was dressed in casual clothing, and that didn’t exactly help with the out-of-place-feeling. She sighed, dropping the robe into the soapy water and ducking out of the way of the splash(an impressive feat, considering the nearly-floor-length dress). “The best day for doing the laundry is the day you realize you need a clean uniform. So I guess today is the best laundry day ever. I can’t even find any normal clothes to wear.” She was stuck in the laundry room in a ridiculous outfit! And this kid was here to watch. Well that was just awesome.
Ash brushed a bunch of dust and dirt(collected from the floor) away from the dress. Ohhh, this was gonna get a lecture if Dustin and Alex ever found out about this. Father was unlikely to care. Yay? “Ashley Fox, pleased to meet you, etc.” She held her hand to shake, then changed her mind. She had laundry soap on her hands. He wouldn’t even want to shake hands. “I’d ask what brings you here, but this is a laundry room.” He was clearly here to do laundry... or practice fake accents??? It was unclear.
"Oh, yeah? did your dad not pack you any fresh, clean stuff?" What kind of father let his kid go to school without a bajillion clean/new clothes? A terrible dad if you asked Ruari. He was very conscious of himself, he couldn't have told you why but he suddenly had no idea what to do with his hands, they poked out, palm down and fingers slightly spread as if they were about to pick up something slimy.
The house-elves were staring, they seemed poised to jump in at any moment to help the two wizards but Ruari gave them his sternest look (which wasn't altogether very stern) to keep the lot at bay. No offense, but he was grown and he was going to do his laundry on his own! Oh, right. laundry. Ruari unceremoniously dropped the lot of his clothes into a tub near the dressed up witch, the resulting splash splattered his white shirt but the Ravenclaw was unbothered. "Hi, I'm Ruari Fuller-Thompson." He beamed, he had been about to shake Ashley's hand but she retracted it so quickly he wondered whether she'd meant a shake at all.
He would just dunk his hands into his soapy water, thanks.
COMMENCE STIRRING.
His arms and hands moved quickly, swishing the clothes about in a cyclone of soap and water. "Yeah, you know how it is. Laundry day! I never miss a laundry day, it's really important." Nodding enthusiastically, Ruari had never been so pleased with himself. SHE THOUGHT IT WAS OBVIOUS HE WAS DOING LAUNDRY, THAT MEANT HE LOOKED NATURAL AT IT- AND THAT MEANT HE LOOKED GROWN!! AND GROWN EQUALED COOL!!
SWISH, SWOOSH, CYCLONE ACTION.
__________________
the moon: feminine, intuitive, inner strength, innocence
"Oh, yeah? did your dad not pack you any fresh, clean stuff?" What kind of father let his kid go to school without a bajillion clean/new clothes? A terrible dad if you asked Ruari. He was very conscious of himself, he couldn't have told you why but he suddenly had no idea what to do with his hands, they poked out, palm down and fingers slightly spread as if they were about to pick up something slimy.
The house-elves were staring, they seemed poised to jump in at any moment to help the two wizards but Ruari gave them his sternest look (which wasn't altogether very stern) to keep the lot at bay. No offense, but he was grown and he was going to do his laundry on his own! Oh, right. laundry. Ruari unceremoniously dropped the lot of his clothes into a tub near the dressed up witch, the resulting splash splattered his white shirt but the Ravenclaw was unbothered. "Hi, I'm Ruari Fuller-Thompson." He beamed, he had been about to shake Ashley's hand but she retracted it so quickly he wondered whether she'd meant a shake at all.
He would just dunk his hands into his soapy water, thanks.
COMMENCE STIRRING.
His arms and hands moved quickly, swishing the clothes about in a cyclone of soap and water. "Yeah, you know how it is. Laundry day! I never miss a laundry day, it's really important." Nodding enthusiastically, Ruari had never been so pleased with himself. SHE THOUGHT IT WAS OBVIOUS HE WAS DOING LAUNDRY, THAT MEANT HE LOOKED NATURAL AT IT- AND THAT MEANT HE LOOKED GROWN!! AND GROWN EQUALED COOL!!
SWISH, SWOOSH, CYCLONE ACTION.
Ash looked at Ruari with surprise. "I packed my own clothes. Why would Father do that for me?" He couldn't even be bothered to talk to her(except to tell her financial advice and depressing stories). Why would he pack her clothes for her? For Hogwarts? He didn't even like the Wizarding World. "Did your father pack your clothes?" That was just... so strange to her. And yes, SHE was the one hand-washing her laundry in an expensive dress. But she still found him strange. Whatever. She continued. "I packed fresh, clean clothes. And then I wore all of them. So now I have to do the laundry." This conversation was weird. Fortunately, Ash didn't mind that.
But she did hate awkwardness. "Do you want to shake my hand... I mean, we both have soapy water on out hands so I guess we don't need to worry about that???" She felt her face get a little pink. This was... really, really weird. About as weird as if someone finally decided to speak to her at a rich people party and she had to listen to them talk about how weird they were while she avoided talking about how weird she was. It was weird. She held out her hand to shake(again).
But then noticed what he was doing. What??? "You're... you're doing it... wrong..." She crouched down beside him, trying to not get any splashes of water on her dress. "You're supposed to let it soak, then you scrub it over the washboard." She had learned it is a book a while ago, and she hadn't forgotten. She was incapable of forgetting, most of the time. "Do you... normally do your laundry like that?" It was weird that he didn't use a washing machine, seeing as he clearly didn't know what he was doing with the washboard.
If Ruari wasn't doing his laundry in here, what WAS he doing? He certainly looked like he had laundry to do, but he wasn't washing his clothes! It was like he was pretending to do the laundry. Weird.
Ash looked at Ruari with surprise. "I packed my own clothes. Why would Father do that for me?" He couldn't even be bothered to talk to her(except to tell her financial advice and depressing stories). Why would he pack her clothes for her? For Hogwarts? He didn't even like the Wizarding World. "Did your father pack your clothes?" That was just... so strange to her. And yes, SHE was the one hand-washing her laundry in an expensive dress. But she still found him strange. Whatever. She continued. "I packed fresh, clean clothes. And then I wore all of them. So now I have to do the laundry." This conversation was weird. Fortunately, Ash didn't mind that.
But she did hate awkwardness. "Do you want to shake my hand... I mean, we both have soapy water on out hands so I guess we don't need to worry about that???" She felt her face get a little pink. This was... really, really weird. About as weird as if someone finally decided to speak to her at a rich people party and she had to listen to them talk about how weird they were while she avoided talking about how weird she was. It was weird. She held out her hand to shake(again).
But then noticed what he was doing. What??? "You're... you're doing it... wrong..." She crouched down beside him, trying to not get any splashes of water on her dress. "You're supposed to let it soak, then you scrub it over the washboard." She had learned it is a book a while ago, and she hadn't forgotten. She was incapable of forgetting, most of the time. "Do you... normally do your laundry like that?" It was weird that he didn't use a washing machine, seeing as he clearly didn't know what he was doing with the washboard.
If Ruari wasn't doing his laundry in here, what WAS he doing? He certainly looked like he had laundry to do, but he wasn't washing his clothes! It was like he was pretending to do the laundry. Weird.
Ayo, his hair was getting in his eyes checcccccccccckkkkk. Ruari decided the best decision to make here was not to move the hair, but instead to toss his head and hope the rampart curl whirled out of his way. "Of course he did." Ruari indignantly said, holding himself up to his full height of 4'11. Why wouldn't his father pack his clothes? It was what father's did... At least it was what his father did. He tossed his head again, this time only marginally more successful than the last. The curl remained, his vision slightly obscured. His hands were much too soapy for him to trust them. Maybe if he rubbed them off on his shirt.. "Right, right, right, right... " the first year replied, his tone erring on the side of distracted. He was listening, though- HE SWORE, it was just- this stupID curl.
"Wait, let me rub my hands off first-" he loudly said, pulling his soaking digits from the water and rubbing them vigorously on his jeans. And then- with a mighty sigh of relief, he moved the hair from his face. His shoulders immediately slumped in relief and he happily offered Ash his hand to shake. "We do it totally differently at home- family secret." He nodded and nodded, hurrying to undo the damage done. MHMMM, family secret.
"So, you scrub it over the washboard? Interesting, I think I'll try that way. You know, it's always cool to try new things." WOW THAT SOUNDED SO LAME, WHY DID HE SAY IT LIKETHAT? Ruari suddenly wanted to curl up on the ground like a- like a curled up thing. He cleared his throat, his ears only slightly pink.
"Anyway, nice dress!"
__________________
the moon: feminine, intuitive, inner strength, innocence
Ayo, his hair was getting in his eyes checcccccccccckkkkk. Ruari decided the best decision to make here was not to move the hair, but instead to toss his head and hope the rampart curl whirled out of his way. "Of course he did." Ruari indignantly said, holding himself up to his full height of 4'11. Why wouldn't his father pack his clothes? It was what father's did... At least it was what his father did. He tossed his head again, this time only marginally more successful than the last. The curl remained, his vision slightly obscured. His hands were much too soapy for him to trust them. Maybe if he rubbed them off on his shirt.. "Right, right, right, right... " the first year replied, his tone erring on the side of distracted. He was listening, though- HE SWORE, it was just- this stupID curl.
"Wait, let me rub my hands off first-" he loudly said, pulling his soaking digits from the water and rubbing them vigorously on his jeans. And then- with a mighty sigh of relief, he moved the hair from his face. His shoulders immediately slumped in relief and he happily offered Ash his hand to shake. "We do it totally differently at home- family secret." He nodded and nodded, hurrying to undo the damage done. MHMMM, family secret.
"So, you scrub it over the washboard? Interesting, I think I'll try that way. You know, it's always cool to try new things." WOW THAT SOUNDED SO LAME, WHY DID HE SAY IT LIKETHAT? Ruari suddenly wanted to curl up on the ground like a- like a curled up thing. He cleared his throat, his ears only slightly pink.
"Anyway, nice dress!"
Ash shook Ruari's hand politely. What was he doing with his head? Did he see a fly buzzing around? Was he just really into cracking his neck??? She opted not to ask. Whatever problem he had was apparently resolved.
Instead, she focused on the laundry. She raised an eyebrow. "Are you lying to me? It's... it's okay if you don't know what you're doing." But all he had to do was ask for help. "My bodyguard says that it's always okay to speak up if you need help." Granted, he was talking about needing therapy and not about handwashing laundry... but the lesson worked just fine for this too. "So let it soak first. Then you scrub it over the washboard. Like this." She demonstrated with one of her robes. "But if you have any more delicate clothes, like intricate dresses, washing it this way can be kinda harsh." So he better not be washing any complicated dresses right now, because those weren't really meant to be washed on a washboard. Really, nothing was meant to be washed on a washboard anymore. Washing machines were a thing, but apparently none of the people at Hogwarts got the memo.
But speaking of fancy dresses... "Thanks, it has pockets! I had to pay extra for them, but it has pockets!!!" She stuck her hand in her pockets to show. Ta-da! She twirled around. "It's really fun for spinning around and dancing!" It truly was a beautiful dress, and it reminded her of the night sky. It was so... wait. Was Ruari blushing? What for? Was it was because he was sad he didn't have a dress this nice?
"I know where to get dresses with pockets, and some of them are pretty cheap! Let me know if you ever want one. Some of them are like sweaters. My little brother has a really nice dress that's like... a sweater. It's great."
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Laundry Room 
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