Adam had heard about the incredible armor gallery that Hogwarts had, and he figured that it was about time that he went and inspected the place. After all he kind of was a dork for old armor...perhaps it was because he enjoyed learning about the time period of knights and jousting when he was still in a muggle school. Whatever the reason, Adam was glad to be getting a chance to look at them.

It was strange, to Amy at least that she still hadn't been to every floor in the whole time she'd been at Hogwarts, not properly at least, but she'd decided to remedy that. Bobbing around the corner, her brown hair flowing in light waves, she came to the armour gallery. Which was another place she'd never seen. Wow, she hadn't really gone anywhere asides from the kitchen and

HEEEY. That was Adam....

Adam! She grinned at the quiet boy, walking over to him, how you?

Adam had been examining one of the suits of armor, leaning forward slightly as he did so when he heard someone call out his name. Turning to look Adam spotted Amy coming towards him, her hair flowing behind her as she did so. Well she seemed like she was in a good mood!

"Hey Amy," Adam said, giving her a little smirk. "I'm doing alright...taking a break from studying. How are you?"

Okay, noooo hugging Amy, she had to tell herself mentally, because as anyone with eyes could see, Adam had a reeeaallly cute little look and it was all scooochy cheeks. But that would be weird. Too weird. She reached the boy and grinned at him, studying? Already? Amy raised an eyebrow, are you a Ravenclaw by any chance? She asked, searching for his badge. No, definatley not a Ravenclaw, or just really enthusiastic?

How was she? GOOOOOOD. She loved being back, pretty snaz she nodded happily, how are you finding Hogwarts?

Today was just one of those days for Sierra Greingoth. Despite the issues she'd faced over her summer break, she'd been adjusting to the new school year fairly well. Today, though, was doing a number on her. For some reason, she'd woken up remembering everything. The memories had been so clear in her mind that she'd ended up leaving the common room to go have a quiet walk alone.

...and that's how she found herself walking along the third floor. She didn't take walks often. Not around the castle, at least. If she wasn't in class or out on the pitch, she was in the dungeons doing something quietly on her own. She sighed as she came across a gallery of armor. She eyed the armor for a few seconds then took a seat on a little bench nearby.

Treyen had been too focused on finding Kurumi that he forgot about the most important person he ought to have found in the first place. Sierra. She was the one he should've found first, because she'll be completely honest with him, right? Totally and completely honest, as any Slytherin is.

Mmhmm.

He was on his way down to the Dungeons to...maybe wait and see if Salander could point him in the right direction when...an armor did a much better job than the Head Boy.

"Miss Sierra Greingoth," he said, appearing out of nowhere, "You don't mind if I join you, right?" no, of course she didn't, because they were friends and he didn't even wait for her to answer, he just took a seat next to her on that bench.

His eyes were on her when he spoke next, "How are you?" best wait to begin, he hadn't seen her in quite some time.

Adam looked at Amy, thinking she had a rather peculiar expression like she was restraining herself from doing something that she had thought about doing. Perhaps most would be slightly concerned by the look, but Adam had gotten used to it during their conversation at the Candy Shop in Diagon Alley.

"Yeah...figure it never hurts to get started early," Adam said with a little smile. Really he was cheating though: he had mostly been reading his Charms and DADA books and those just happened to be his favorite subjects as well as his best subjects. "No...some of my friends thought I'd be in Ravenclaw but I actually ended up in Gryffindor," Adam said with a little smile. He had robes with a bit of red on them, but seeing as it was the weekend Adam was just sporting a plain gray t-shirt and a pair of jeans.

"Well...I feel like I have been exploring a ton, but there's still so much that I haven't seen. I haven't gotten lost yet though which was nice." The fact also surprised Adam a bit because he didn't really see himself as someone that was the best at navigating through new places. "How are you enjoying classes? Anything new and exciting happening in your life?"

Hearing her name slightly startled her, as she'd been completely lost in thought, but Sierra looked up anyway. Her eyes fell on Treyen, and though she'd normally be more than happy to see him, she only offered a small smile today. Looking at him made her feel something similar to...guilt maybe? Maybe. She guessed being at her lowest of lows made her feel that way.

"Hey, Treyen," she greeted, and then she nodded a few times before scooting over. She looked down, not being able to look up and directly at him at first. "No, I don't mind," she added, shaking her head. "I'm...okay." There a slight bit of hesitation there, but she thought she covered it up well with her smile. "How's Quidditch?" It was a conversation almost too polite for her, but she found Treyen to be familiar, and right now, she needed familiarity.

Whatever smile he'd been holding up so far was instantly vanished as soon as he heard her speak. And it wasn't because she'd mentioned Quidditch. Though, he'll be answering that question after he's done asking new ones.

"What's wrong?" there was a small frown on his face now, everything he'd thought of asking her or tell her was on hold. He was far more interested in finding out what was wrong with...someone he still considered a friend regardless of how much hurt she accidentally caused. Hopefully she still considered him one.

But about Quidditch...he shrugged. "I...decided to give it up," Lola Jones could be Queen of the Pitch for all he cared, he wasn't going to aim for the position of King, seriously. Plus, there was this thing about Ellie, but he wasn't going to explain the real reason to Sierra. Not even Ellie was aware of that, nor will she ever be. Ellie will probably think it's a ridiculous one, anyway, yet she wasn't there, so, how could she know? Right?

Sierra just sighed again. "What isn't wrong these days?" she asked him, though she didn't offer much information at that point. Why was he here? Why was he sitting next to her? She'd been terrible to him in so many ways, but yet--here he was. Just like the Hufflepuff the sorting hat had claimed him to be. Funny how that classification didn't bother her much right now. As a matter of fact, she found herself wanting him to stay. "Treyen? Do you have anywhere you need to be?"

It was a very vulnerable thing to ask, since she didn't wear her feelings on the edge of her sleeve often; and so she focused on fidgeting with the hem of her skirt rather than looking directly at him. "You decided to give it up?" she asked. "Treyen, that's ridiculous." What she meant was--he was amazing. Why would he give that up? "I mean, ...you were...good." Impossible to beat, really.

Okay. His frown deepened and he was starting to get concerned. How could things go wrong when you were a third year? Well, his third year consisted of...of what? The Tri-Wizard tournament? Or was that his fourth? No, no, that was his third. So, really, a third year should...wait...Kurumi was now a fourth year, that only meant that she'd gone through a great deal of things last term...which was her third.

Was life that complicated for girls?

"Hey, don't say that. Things can't be that bad...but if they are...," he started to say, all in a very soft tone, "...it can only get better." It couldn't possibly go worse. He didn't know what she was talking about, though, so he was only assuming things based on personal experience.

Blink.

That surprised him. And he hoped she wasn't going to tell him to get going, not when she seemed so down anyway. "Beside you, it seems." Yes, there was only ONE place he needed to be at the moment. And that was were he was, sitting here, next to Sierra.

Ah, no, no, thanks for the compliment but don't make this about Quidditch and the Lockhart boy. Treyen shook his head, "Yeah...I've got my reasons...but...," he talked quickly, "...that's not important. You, on the other hand, are." That's what friends were for, and probably Ellie could agree with him on this one...that there was at least one more thing that was more important than Quidditch. Friends. "You don't have to tell me, really, but if there's something I can help you with whatever is troubling you then let me know." Kind eyes were looking right at her, even if she wasn't one to be looking back at the moment.

Oh, yet another place that she hadn't had the chance to explore. She made her way down the corridor until she came to a place that held a very large collection of shiny armor. Oo, she wondered if these had actually been worn by a person long ago...or if they were simply here for show?

Peering closely, but not touching, Kourtney studied the shape and curve of the armor, her mind beginning to wander to times of medieval princesses and knights in shining armor.

The armor gallery. Indiana had wandered past this on her way to the charms class, and had been meaning to come back to have a look. But had kind of forgotten. Until now. And with her unicorn placed underneath her arm she wandered into the armour gallery. ooh. They looked so pretty, and old. They reminded her of princesses. Oh. She loved princesses. Ooh. Look who it was.

"Kourt..." Indy smiled, as she skipped over to her friend, stopping just before her. She really didn't want to bump into her, and make her fall into a suit of armor. That would not be good, because all the armor might fall over then. That would not be good...at all.

Kourtney was in the middle of a rather cute daydream of a princess meeting her knight when she felt and then heard a presence approach. Her head turned and she grinned. "Hi Indy! Come to admire the armor?" She asked, glancing back towards the shiny pieces. "I was just day-dreaming about princesses and knights and castles. I wonder if this armor was really worn by real people?" Her voice trailed off in wonder as she tilted her head towards her friend.

"I have...!" Indiana beamed, feeling so tempted to just touch the armor. It looked so pretty, but heavy too. She wouldn't like to wear it, not at all. "Ooh....I'd love to be a princess." Indy giggled with a big smile. She'd love to just dress up, and prance around like she owned the castle. But alas she was not a princess, and she didn't own the castle. "Ooh...I wonder that too!" She nodded with a big smile. It would be funny to see someone wearing this armor

Kourt clapped her hands in delight. "Me too! Too bad I didn't bring my princess jewelry. I have a tiara and everything." She piped up with a giggle. "I'll take a picture over the summer and bring it back here to show you." She promised.

Glancing up at the armor again, she nodded slowly. "Yeah...too bad there isn't anyone that we can ask....unless we can find a house elf or a ghost to tell us. Though...I have no idea where we would find one."

Harlow was skipping through the corridors. It had been a good week if you asked her. She was falling into the routine of Hogwarts and was getting good marks in her classes.

And plus skipping was fun.

A flash of something glittery stopped her forward skip and she rewound herself and went back for a further investigation.

"Ohhh," she stood and looked at all the armor around her. "This is where they keep the good stuff," she said popping her hands on her hips. The stuff looked nicely and freshly polished. She pulled her wand out of her bag. This was a good place to work on her transfiguration homework.

She already had tight curly and poofy hair. What could she do to it? "Oh I know." she closed her eyes and scrunched up herself in fierce concentration. "Felintas." and she gently taped the top of her head.

Harlow felt her head tingle and opened her eyes. Her jaw dropped to the floor. Her poofy curly hair was straight as a board and hanging down below her shoulders. "It worked." she jumped up and down, clapping. Her hair swooshed back and forth across her back and fell into her face.

She gave him a weak smile. "You say that things will get better...like you really believe they will," she said. Would they get better? She didn't know, but she knew that right now, she didn't believe they would. "Treyen, ...maybe I do just need to talk about it. Maybe. I don't know. I'll stop if I get uncomfortable, and...you won't mind, will you?"

She adjusted her position and maybe scooted a little further away from Treyen as she did so. She'd gotten to a point in her life where she no longer trusted people, and it wasn't Treyen's fault, but he'd been lumped in with everyone else anyway. "Okay, so..." She paused and looked down the corridor. No one. At least not where she and Treyen were seated.

"This summer, my mother, who...doesn't have custody of me...kidnapped me," she admitted. She looked down toward her hands. "I've been living with my father, and he had this girlfriend who's really more like my mother than my biological mother." She swallowed. This was the hard part. "When I was taken, they were together, and everything was perfect. When I came back, I found out that the stress of me being gone and everything that came along with it had broken them up." She grew quiet for several seconds. "My whole world crashed around me, and it really hasn't gotten better yet. Everything that matters has been ripped apart."

That's because he knew that things could only get better. Once something terrible has caught up with you, that's the only way possibly for things to be, better. Eventually, of course, it may take a while...after all, it did take his father over five years to feel better after losing someone that had meant (and Treyen suspected that it still was this way) a great deal to him.

Treyen just looked at Sierra as she explained and nodded when a small part was made into a question for him, "I won't mind."

Once she started telling him what was wrong, or what had been wrong, he limited himself to listening. And, honestly, these sort of things shouldn't happen to people, much less a thirteen year-old girl. A friend of his. This year had been a terrible one for all of them, right? Simon included.

He had no idea what to say, words failed to come to mind, even more to his tongue. But he still managed one thing when she was done. "I'm sorry to hear that." He truly was. And after this, he was certainly not blaming Sierra for whatever had happened at the end of last term.

A sigh left his lips. "You're actually being very brave about it, Sierra," first for seeming to be slightly alright, and then for telling him, she even told him without a single tear. She was a pretty strong girl. Definitely. "Which is why I'm positive things will be alright, sooner or later." She'll be alright. Sooner than later. "Once you stop blaming yourself, that is." Sierra was doing that, and it was rather difficult to see otherwise. After all, her being away had caused it, but in reality the one to blame was none other than her real mother, in this particular case. Probably, Treyen didn't know the reasons behind any of it, but it wasn't Sierra's fault, at all. Or that's how he decided to look at it, anyway.

Sierra sighed and looked down at a random spot on the floor. "...and that's not all. My father and his girlfriend had to lie to me and tell me they didn't want me, because..." She sighed again. This part was hard. She felt her eyes watering and blinked a few times to make the tears stop. She wasn't go to cry. Not here. Not now. "...they were afraid my mother would take me and run if she thought they were looking for me. So they made it seem like they didn't want me so they could work on getting me back and keeping me close by at the same time."

...but that wasn't the worst part. "So I ran away from home. I spent a few nights in a room at The Leaky Cauldron by myself. It's a family room we have in our name, so I had access to it," she continued. "One day, I came across Kurumi's father, and I lied to him and told him I was on my way to visit his daughter. I...wanted him to take me to their house, so I'd have a place to stay." She looked up at him, though her head was still hung. This was humilating. "I didn't care that it was Kurumi, who probably doesn't like me anyway. I just see so much love coming from her, and so I thought her home must be the same. I spent the last half of the summer with her."

She was quiet for a few moments. She said nothing and just listened to the almost emptiness of the corridor. Without looking up, she continued. "So by the time I got here, I had gone a few days without eating, and ...I took candy from Tori Bunbury on the train," she said. She looked up at Treyen, trying to discover how he felt by the expression on his face. It was hard for her to tell, though. "Professor Lafay found out, and I lost house points. I guess I deserved it, but it was just a tough situation. I had to do what I had to do, you know."

...and while she was on a roll, she may as well come clean with everything. "Treyen, I have something else to tell you, too," she said. "Just a warning, though, you're probably going to hate me for it." Confession time. She'd let the first story, the one of her running away, sink in first.

Oh. Wait. The story wasn't over? There was MORE? How could it be possible? He couldn't believe that this happened to Sierra, though, mainly because it shouldn't have happened. But life happens for a reason, right? Everything in life does.

He kept on listening, not even thinking about interrupting her.

The Hufflepuff Prefect had no idea why she was telling him all of this, she may have needed someone to listen, and that's where he came in.

There was a lot of frowning going on, but most of his expression was kept neutral as she spoke. She ran away from home, she lied to Kurumi's father when he spoke nothing but the truth, she took someone's candy...Tori was the redhead, correct?...so? He wasn't shocked from all she was telling him, which is why the only few things he said were entirely unrelated to the story...well...he didn't ask anything related to the story. "Why didn't you write a friend for help? Or me? I would've helped you when you were in Diagon Alley," since he'd been in London at that time, "It's terrible...what you went through...but you don't need to make excuses for me...," he was referring to the candy stuff, he couldn't care less about some girl losing candy on the train, "...you were trying to survive." Killing others is not acceptable, though. But taking candy? Come on, Lafay.

It was admirable, really, what she did, for such a young age. If such a thing had happened to him before his third year started...he would've ran to Aaron, or Arya.

The soft tone had been there when he spoke, and the kind eyes that had been looking her way suddenly got tense. She wanted to say something else? "I don't think I could hate you," but he nodded so she could go on and tell him whatever it was she wanted to add.

"I couldn't have contacted you, Treyen," she said, shaking her head. It was a caring gesture, but she'd been terrible to him in ways he didn't even know of yet. He was about to, though. "You see, I've done some terrible things to you, and even a Slytherin sometimes has to hide from the things they've done." She'd tried to look him in the eye when saying this, but she just wasn't strong enough.

"You remember last school year when Lafay gave us that polyjuice assignment? Well, ...you should know that I traded places with Kurumi Hollingberry," she admitted. ...and here was the moment he'd begin to hate her. "It started out innocent. It really did, but then..." How could she say this to him? How? "Treyen, I like you. A lot. As more than a friend. As ambitious as I can be, I knew there wasn't a chance I'd ever be more than just a Potions partner to you. So I used the polyjuice assignment as my one chance to have my moment with you before I officially accepted it as something that would never happen."

"Kurumi is so sweet and so kind. She's the exact opposite of me," Sierra continued. "I figured if I could hide behind her face, I could be brave enough to kiss you, ...and I was. I felt terrible afterwards, though." Not because of him, but because of her. Such a Slytherin through and through. "Do you know how it feels to have your first kiss--ever, only to realize later that the boy wasn't really kissing you at all? I pretty much ruined my first kiss."

"Treyen, you should know that I didn't set out to lie to you and hurt you. I only set out to have a moment I knew I'd never have. That was my only intention," she said. "I'm...sorry."

Couldn't have? She could have contacted him. He didn't understand her wording...until she spoke soon after that.

'Terrible things'. Yeah, he knew about ONE single thing she did that ruined a whole bunch of stuff for him, yet compared to her, he'd lost nothing. He still had Ellie, his father, and...Kurumi, maybe. Quidditch, on the other hand, was lost. A price he had to pay that didn't seem too high to him, really.

The boy SIGHED as soon as she mentioned the assignment. The last time he'll be trying out a potion just because if was an assignment.

He allowed her to keep on going, it seemed she had plenty of things to say. But he knew most of those things. The ones involving him, at least. 'Treyen, I like you.'....as in....still?! He finally let his eyes wander away from her for a moment. He'd been through this with Kurumi, but never did he expect to hear it from Sierra, especially since he thought she didn't like him at all.

'Just a Potions partner'? She was mistaken about that bit. 'She's the exact opposite of me'. Wrong again, but he'll explain. Sierra will listen.

When she started to talk about her first kiss...he blushed, the deepest shade of red imaginable. He--He--He'd been her first kiss? Huh? What? She could find the courage to say all of this now but never found the courage to kiss him in her real self?! That was...never mind, he kept on listening. There were bits of information he didn't need to know, though, like the first kiss part, because he was actually embarrassed about it. HE was the one who felt that way. Being someone's first kiss was kind of a great deal as well. Ellie had been his first, he was most too certain that he hadn't been hers, though. Probably a good thing.

And Sierra was sorry. That was the only thing she should've said, truth be told.

"I know." He said, once she was done talking. The kindest of smiles on his face, one she'll be able to see if her eyes were to focus on him. "It's alright, Sierra." Apology accepted.

"Now, listen," he turned his body on the spot so he could be facing her without having to turn his head to the side, "Your luck is beginning to change...I probably wouldn't have accepted your apology if you'd told me so last term." Wink. The smile was still there. It was pretty unbelievable that after he'd come to dislike Kurumi for what she did...Sierra's case was completely different. "Seriously, though, thanks for taking the time to explain." He nodded twice. It was actually nice of her to do so.

"I do have something to complain about...," about what she'd said, "...this thing you just did, telling me and all, is very kind of you. And I've always thought you were sweet in your own way, so, really, you ARE just like Kurumi." In her own way, of course. "Also...you're not just a Potions' partner, Sierra, you're a friend. It kind of hurts that you wouldn't think you were." After all this time. His smile faded a little as he said the last part but the blush was still there.

He chuckled, in an attempt to make the atmosphere lighter, he surely hope it could work. "You should have just kissed me as yourself, it would've saved me lots of trouble." And the smile was back...but she'd better not try to kiss him now.

The blushing Lockhart added one more thing, "I'm honored that you chose me," for her first kiss, "I wish the memory of the kiss was a different one," he truly did, because it'd be awful to remember it like she did, "Was I any good? Because if I was...then you'll have to think of the positive things of it." Like, for instance, her first kiss had been with a Lockhart.

"Wait," she said, adjusting her position so that she was now facing him, "you're just going to let me off the hook? That easy?" Did he really have any choice, though? She'd likely have just rolled her eyes and made some quick 'Hufflepuffs' comment had he questioned her any further. She had a conscious, but only when it made sense for her to. "Don't answer that. Let's just leave it at that." It was done, they'd both suffered in some way for it, and now he was letting it go. She'd forget about. It'd only be a distant memory by the time she walked off down the corridor.

She laughed. It was a different sort of laugh; the one someone used when they were laughing something off rather than laughing because something was funny. "Really, Treyen. Don't compare me to Kurumi. It's...nothing to do with her, but I know me. You know me. I'll find some way to benefit from every situation, so...don't try and give me that sort of credit," she said. She followed that with a wink. She was who she was, and right now, she was all about honesty.

"...but you're right," she said and nudged him with her shoulder. "I guess you are a friend. My Puffer Friend." She smiled and added, "but I wouldn't have kissed you the right way. Had you pushed me away, I would've been forced to hex you, and I wasn't willing to risk the loss of Slytherin's points." She shrugged. "First place and all." In everything. Sierra would be Sierra. Always and forever.

"You know, Treyen? I really don't consider that my first kiss. I was polyjuiced. One day it'll happen, though...and once it's for real, that'll be my first kiss," she said. He'd understand, wouldn't he? She raised her hand and swatted him on the arm. "...and now you're going to ask me if you were any good!? Treyen Lockhart!" She laughed and shook her head. She couldn't believe he'd asked her that. ...but, because Sierra was Sierra...

"Yes. You were," she admitted and looked over at him with a playful eyeroll. "Especially when you decided to kiss back. Don't go telling anyone I said that, though. You do, and I'll spread around that your breath smelled like the pustule of a clabbert." She laughed and leaned her head back against the armor. Maybe she should go now. Soon anyway.