Her common room. The very one that she would spend the next seven years in. So she decided to discover it and to see if it had any secrets. Since there was no one right now, she... casually started hitting the wall to see if anywhere was empty behind. For... a secret passage reasons.

Last year, Daxton had memorised the general unofficial 'schedule' of the Ravenclaw Common Room, as he had with many other parts of the castle, to know when they were likely to be empty and when they were to be absolutely avoided. For example, the Great Hall was absolutely to be avoided during meal times, the library was emptiest during meals and when everyone was supposed to be in lessons (although then there was the Librarian, who doubled up as Ravenclaw Head of House, which was problematic when you were avoiding... everyone). Right now was one of the times that the Ravenclaw Common Room was quietest, and so Daxton had decided to migrate there for a change of scenery.

Emerging from the staircase that led up to the dormitories with his hair sticking in all directions, Daxton sleepily rubbed at his eyes and surveyed the room. He had been sleeping, making of the most of the empty dormitory in the middle of the day to rest, because he still found it impossible to sleep in a room he was sharing with someone else. Some of the looks he had been getting from David Truebridge recently had made Daxton all the more suspicious, so while he slept, Daxton stayed up and read. It... worked well enough.

The common room was not as empty as Daxton would have liked, but the one person who did occupy the space was one person he did at least know, even if they had not interacted (in terms of conversation) for well over a year. Katherine Moss, that was her name, and Daxton regarded her curiously, wondering what on Earth she was doing. After a moment, he silently approached, and watched.

Katherine didn't hear the footsteps, for she was too engrossed in searching for a secret passage or room or whatever. However, with each futile tap, she was getting hopeless that there was nothing 'secret' - well, at least nothing behind the walls in her common room. Her reasons for being awake at this time of the day was roughly the same as Daxton. She had never been fan of crowds, and she didn't want anyone to know that she was looking for hidden places in her own room... except, someone was here now. As soon as she heard (or more like felt) someone approaching, she quickly turned to the sound to see Daxton. She didn't know why, but she was relieved. For some reason, she knew he wouldn't judge her or consider her weird. While she knew they weren't friends at all, at least she had met him before the school started. So she smiled at him.

"You can't sleep too?" she asked amiably. Maybe he had already discovered something 'secret' about the room? But then again, he couldn't even talk.

It was no wonder that he had been detected. With the common room so quiet and only the two of them present, even the softest of sounds were painfully obvious - at least, Daxton thought so, but then his hearing also happened to be painfully sensitive, so there was a good chance the two were related. The point was, Katherine Moss had detected him, and was now looking right at him.

Automatically, Daxton directed his gaze just past the first year, so that he was looking at the wall behind her - the one she had been tapping - rather than at her or her face. It felt more comfortable that way, and in any case, he had no real reason to look directly at her. At the question she posed, Daxton merely shrugged, and crossed the two steps to the nearest armchair. He took his eyes off the wall for a moment to focus on comfortably seating himself on the arm of the chair with his feet on the seat cushion, then looked in the vague direction of Katherine Moss once again.

For a moment, Daxton considered signing to the girl, asking her what she was doing, but found it unlikely that she would understand; they had, after all, interacted before, and if she knew how to sign then she would have mentioned it when he had not spoken, and the likelihood that she had learnt since then was low. The fact of the matter was that he did not care enough to ask, only held a vague curiosity, one that would be assuaged if she told him what she was doing of her own accord. In his experience, people tended to defend their actions if they thought he was judging them.

So Daxton did nothing, only sat there, looking back at the wall, then glanced at Katherine Moss, and back at the wall again. First year, new to the castle, which happened to be full of secrets. Could it be that she was trying to discover one for herself, or looking for something in particular that she already knew about, being of magical descent? Or perhaps she was hiding something? They were all possibilities, once that Daxton ruminated on as he continued silently staring.

Katherine... could tell Daxton was different. Not like he was putting on a show, no; he really was either unable to talk or chose not to talk. She didn't know his past, after all, so she wasn't the person to judge him. So she probably had to stay silent as well.

Hmmmmmmmm..............

"Do you know any secrets about this common room?" she asked. Staying silent wouldn't work.

Haddie sat at the base of Rowena Ravenclaw's statue, feeding Asher, her ash colored ferret, little bits of raw meat. The ferret was harnessed in a little leash, so he couldn't escape. Not that it was particularly needed, as the ferret didn't seem particularly keen to venture far from the raw meaty treats. The girl was uncharacteristically quiet, watching the other members of her house hanging out or reading or studying in the common room. There was a distracted look in her eyes. Then she looked up at the Ravenclaw statue and gave it a nod as if to say she knew. "I understand your pain," she told the statue. She had once been a statue too, which had given her a new appreciation for sculptures around the castle. Asher the ferret nipped her fingers gently and Haddie gave him another piece of meat without looking. "Hang in there," she told Rowena. "You're doing great."

Tia was mostly just minding her own business for the last several months. She knew there was some drama amongst some of the girls in the house, but drama always found a way to fiddle out if you didn't give it attention. She'd gotten a chance to talk with a couple of the new first years - mostly Sam and Rachel - but it seemed every time she tried to get to know Haddie, things happened. So even though she was headed out of the common room to the library (hence the heavy messenger bag filled with books and notes) to work on some NEWT studying, the seventh year stopped short upon seeing Haddie sitting alone. At the base of their house founder's statue. She just stood still and listened a moment to the first year before doubling back in her footsteps to take a seat beside her. She wasn't sure what an eleven or twelve year old knew about pain, but there was something in her tone that seemed so genuine and sincere. It just broke Tia's heart to leave a first year when she sounded like that.

"Hey," Tia said, biting her lower lip. "So I'm not sure where I stand with you..." Cause like, she wasn't just her Prefect, but her Head Girl. And they hadn't exactly talked a whole lot. "... but like, I want you to know, you can talk to me. About anything. It doesn't have to be Ravenclaw related. And it'll stay between you and me. Promise." She was supposed to represent the school as a whole.

Haddie looked from the statue of Rowena to Tia and back again. "We're statue buddies," she announced, trying, and failing, to deflect the concern. It was pointless. Despite being an excellent liar when she needed to, and when it suited her, like getting out of trouble, Haddie was overall horrible at hiding her emotions.

She sighed and scooted over a little; an unspoken offer for Tia to take a seat if she wished. "I was just," she shrugged, "watching, I guess. Taking as much in as I can, maybe." She shrugged again. She does that a lot. "So that I won't forget it." The way she said that last part had a sense of finality to it that was unmistakable.

Statue buddies? Tia tilted her head to the side, befuddled by what that even meant. Haddie was not a statue, Tia was sure of that and she was even sure that the girl had definitely been equipped with a high source of energy. More than most others her age.

Swallowing when Haddie scooted over a little, Tia took the cue and sat down beside her. "You're lucky, you know that? You have six more years to take it all in. To remember it. And I guarantee, by your seventh year, things will be completely different from as they are now." She knew. Things were different from even just four years ago when she started at Hogwarts. "But, watching can only get you so far. You should be experiencing as much as you can. Doing. Don't just sit on the sidelines. Get a little mud on your shoes." She'd regret it if she didn't do, that much Tia was certain of.

Catching the seventh year's confusion, Haddie raised her eyebrows at Tia and smirked. "I spent all of Divination class a statue." Both the Head Girl and Draper had opted to leave Kitty and her frozen, but Haddie decided not to bring that up.

She fidgeted with her hands and studied the room quietly for a moment. It was almost unnatural (for her) how calm she seemed right now. "Maybe. Maybe not." Haddie turned her focus on her ferret a moment, giving him little bits of food. "Dad found out about the Hag. And Professor Newton poisoning us. No idea how, but he did. And now he doesn't want me coming back next year." She was going to fight to come back, that much was sure, but even Haddie knew what the odds would be. Still she wasn't giving up hope until she was firmly in muggle school with Natalie, but... "All I ever do is... do. Though it might be a good idea to slow down for once. Might be my only chance to make sure I remember this place forever."

She glanced up at Tia, and studied the girl's face. "Speaking of doing...do you know how to get into the Chamber of Secrets?"

Wait. What? All of Divination class as a statue. OH, oh! Tia bit her lip apologetically and shook her head. "I'm sorry for that. I didn't un-freeze you because I figured you and Kitty would be safer that way. You two are so young and ..." She didn't know. It wasn't an excuse, but just her being protective of her younger eaglets.

She listened quietly as Haddie said she might not be returning because of the hag and the potions master poisoning them. "But Professor Newton figured it out and saved everyone. The poisoning wasn't intentional," Tia countered. "And true. Slowing down once in while to enjoy life is probably a good thing," the seventh year laughed lightly.

But her laugh quieted at hearing the younger girl's question. About the Chamber of Secrets; an area of the school that hadn't been seen in DECADES. Almost a century, probably. Yet still Tia found herself in reflection about the question. "The Chamber's entrance was blocked off years ago, Haddie. The entrance is ... was located in the girl's bathroom on the second floor, but its not like you can enter anymore. At least, well I don't think anyone's been in there since before second wizarding war." She heard about a history of magic class taking a trip there recently, but it was all fictitious, wasn't it?

Haddie shrugged the whole Divination class incident off. It was still a bit of a sore subject for her, and there wasn't much point getting into it now. Besides, she blamed Draper more than Tia for that.

The 12 year old shot Tia a look, as if knowing she was being serious and yet still trying to determine if she was in fact serious. "I'm muggle-born," she explained. "In Muggle schools, teachers poisoning your kid, intentionally or not, is not a thing that happens. Muggle schools are really big on safety. Which means no poisoning, no child-eating teachers, or giant spiders dragging kids off into the forest." She paused, letting that sink in for a moment. "And thus nothing interesting ever happens, and they're super dull and super boring which means parents absolutely love them and hate schools like Hogwarts because they're 'child endangering death traps.'" But seriously, did Tia actually think that being poisoned in class was just something that happened at regular schools and thus not a big deal? Was she kinda like Davie and just didn't really understand muggles and muggle society?

"Huh." She had heard from others that students had gotten into the Chamber quite a bit in the recent years or something like that. There was a lot of conflicting opinions on the Chamber, so Haddie wasn't sure what to think honestly. Which meant that she'd just have to find out for herself whether or not she could find it and get into it. "Second floor girl's bathroom? Interesting..." Her eyes glazed dreamily for a moment, and she grinned. "Thanks Tia."

Elora walked into the common room and put her bag down on the sofa. With a sigh, she fell into the cushions. It had been a long day and finally she could relax. She looked around for anyone she knew and saw no one. Quietly, she removed a book from her bag and began to read. At least she could bury herself in a book until a friend came along.

As per usual the Grey Lady floated into the Ravenclaw Common Room in the late weekday afternoon to pay the eagles a visit. With the new unsettling energy about the castle she felt the need to be close to the eagles. To keep them safe.

Fixing her dress and pulling a transparent hand through her brown locks Helena glided towards the sofa, where a girl was perched with her head in a book. Clearing her throat to announce her presence Helena asked curiously "Hello, what are you reading?"

Elora jumped a little bit. She wasn't thinking anyone would notice her with her nose in the book. She looked up to see the kind eyes of the Grey Lady. "Oh hello! The Great Gatsby. It's my absolute favorite." Elora flashed a smile at the Grey Lady. She did love to get to know the ghosts around the castle. It was one of the quirks she loved about Hogwarts. "How was your day, Grey Lady?"

Sigh. Helena had made another student jump in her presence even if this girl didn't seem as taken aback as some first years. So she was at least in her second year. The negative side of her ghostly appearance. Couldn't be helped though. At least the girl didn't flee like others had over the years.

Examining the book closer upon hearing which one it was, Helena commented quietly. "A very old tale. Do you like reading classic tales, Ms Elora right?" Floating around the sofa to hover in front of the girl she said "My day has been all right so far. How has your day been up til now? Fun classes?"

Elora smiled. "I love the classics. Literature nowadays seems to have no depth." Closing the book, Elora shifted her body to relax a little more. Then she thought back to her day and her smiled faded.

"Today has just been stressful. Trying to develop a routine for yourself with classes is hard. But I'm managing."
Talking about the stress was actually making Elora feel much better about everything. " I just feel like there is so much to take care of in such little time. But I'll figure it all out. I'm sure of it." With that, the smile returned to Elora's face.

Just then, she glanced at her watch then back at the Grey Lady. "Oh my goodness. I did not realize the time. I hate to cut this short but I have Potions to get to. It was great talking with you!" Elora quickly gethered her things and jumped up from the sofa. "Hope the rest of your day is pleasant! Talk soon!" Elora made a dash for the door, nearly tripping over an arm chair. She really needed to work on her time management.

Right after the Gobstones Championship Match, Jace made a beeline for the bathroom to take a nice, long shower. After dressing up, he aimlessly walked to the Common Room, and flopped on a nice cozy armchair. The game went really well, and although it was a good match against Slytherin, he could feel his adrenaline rush waning as he stared out of the window.

After 18 long years, Ravenclaw has finally gained the Gobstones Cup back. It's only a matter of days until the Headmistress announces who won the House Cup, althought that was quite obvious now, yes?

A small grin could be seen on his face. And as he continued to stare out of the window, he could not help but keep his eyes open. Slowly, he curled up in the huge armchair, yawned...and closed his eyes.

Today has been really grand...

Azura didn't think she had been prouder of her friend! She had been nearly screaming and jumping up and down for joy when Jace and Rachel won! And She had just won her duel!!

The young girl headed up to her dorm and after showering, and putting on some fresh clothes.. because.. Cornflake skin.. She went looking for her best friend..

And there he was, in the common room, curled up in a chair with his eyes closed and a smile on his face. For a moment. Azura just looked at the boy, her heart swelling with pride and affection for him. He had done it! And they were going to win the cup. Memories of the entire year flooded over her.. And she almost felt herself get a bit misty eyed at all they had gone through!

Look at what they had survived! And were still surviving.

Don't worry Jace.. I'm going to be the best friend ever to you.. you'll see. Azura thought as she moved next to his chair, sat down and lay her head on the cushion... She didn't want to disturb him.. but she wanted to talk to him when he woke up. So she was going to wait...

And think..

The armrest wasn't really comfy, and Jace could already feel the pain on his right temple. Still with eyes closed, he shifted his position, and sighed.

Merlin, he should;ve just went straight to his bed to take a nap, yeah?

Sitting up straight this time, Jace leaned back on the chair, and slowly opened his eyes. Maybe he really should just go to take a real nap, and then afterwards, go write to his dad about what happened. He was sure his old man would be so proud of what Ravenclaw has achieved. Ryden's an old Eagle, anyway.

Blinking, he slowly turned his head to the side, and beamed at the girl who quietly joined him in the Common Room. Jace grinned at Azura and waved, his legs dangling from his seat.

Merlin. He ought to do more stretching over the summer to get a few inches added to his height.

Azura moved her dark head back as Jace stirred and her purple eyes looked up at him as he turned his head and saw her.. Her smiled matched his as he waved at her.

"Hey you." She said softly as she moved her position so she was still sitting on the floor at his feet, but facing him now, instead of leaning on his chair.. "I knew you could do it." Even though her voice was soft, it was full of pride! She knew he could! And he did! "You and Rachel were amazing out there." She said with a happy smile.

She was so proud of him!! Had she seen him earlier, he probably would have gotten a strangle hold of a hug! But now.. seeing as he was sleepy and they were in their common room, perhaps a nice gentle hug. She was glad her emotions had settled down though! Who knew what might have happened when she was that excited..

"I won't keep you long.. I can see you are tired.. I just wanted to tell you how proud I am of you." Azura said with a warm smile.

So much blushing happened. Receiving compliments wasn't really Jace's forte, since, as a young child, he didn't get much of it. It was always hard work on his end, and expecting nothing. It was the result of tough Kendo training under the best senseis in Japan. "A-arigatou gozaimasu..." he said inclining his head toward the girl, his face still hot from all the blushing. With a shrug, Jace slid off from the armchair, and sat beside Azura, "Rachel's the best, isn't she? I could really learn some techniques from her to improve my play." he said, nodding.

"Isn't this amazing though? After almost two decades, we broke the curse! We've got the Gobstones cup back...and soon, the House cup!" It was the best feeling, to be honest. This time around, he got friends to share the hard work and success. Jace blinked the haze from his tired eyes, and gave Azura a nice, warm hug. "Thank you for cheering us on, Azura. It meant a lot to the team." he said, releasing her and ruffled his hair.

"I...I'm sorry about not seeing your duels this term. Not that I forgot or anything, but I had to turn in some of our homeworks. I slacked at some point, so I had to make up for it. Gommenasai..." Jace held his hands together in front of him, and stared at it in shame. He really need to improve in the Friend Department, yeah? "But I've heard you won...I'm sure Professor Hirsch is glad to hear such accomplishment. Well done!"

Azura had to hold back a smile as she watched Jace blush.. Really it was adorable! She held her hands in her lap and had to bit down on her lower lip to keep from giggling. That probably wouldn't help out his blush... "You are welcome." She said as he thanked her in Japanese.. She made a mental note to study some of the language over the summer.. Just enough so she could say hi to him! Wouldn't that be a fun surprise? She smiled as he slid off the chair to join her and she pushed her hair behind her ears as he spoke. "She is good! You were too though." She said softly as she looked at him.

A wide smile covered her face as she heard his happy words.. "I know! I'm so excited as well!! I can't even believe we won! And after so long!" Azura was so happy, she herself had done well too and she was proud of all the points she had earned!

Her purple eyes went wide though as Jace leaned forward to give her a hug and she smiled and hugged him back. She still wasn't used to people actually initiating the hug.. Seeing as she was usually the one doing the hug! "OF course, I'll always be there to cheer for you..." Uh-oh.. "And the team." She added hurriedly as she mentally sighed.. She had been doing so well with her feelings..

She had thought!

A warm smile crossed Azura's face as Jace apologized for not seeing her duels this year.. "It's okay.. The first one was terrible, my magic wasn't working after... uhh.. potions." She said softly, "The second one and the third were pretty good though." Especially that second one.. where she broke her nose and then healed it! And still won!!

But if she was honest, she really wasn't expecting him to be there to watch them. After everything that went on.. Him actually showing up to watch her would have surprised her. Azura didn't exactly expect anything from her friends and yet she gave them all of her heart.. It was just how she was.

"Yes! I won, Haddie was a good opponent though! I was pretty worried there for awhile." She said with a warm smile.

Jace chewed on his inner cheek, and tilted his head to the side. "I didn't do much to be honest. It was all Rachel. I just...took the shooter whenever she got tired, but really...she won for the team." the Ravenclaw nodded, not feeling any bit of envy. Rachel has been playing Gobstones longer than he did. In fact, it was his first time participating in a competition. He did feel that he did well, but of course, he won't go telling that to others...even Azura.

"I wonder how Mr. Kitridge is feeling right now. I'm sure he's very happy for the House...and probably getting all the compliment from his colleagues." Who wouldn't be proud of their achievement, right? Everyone in Ravenclaw worked hard to get points to reach the very top! "Again, you should join the Gobstones Club next term. We'd love to have you on our team." She'd be perfect for it!

And...do they really have to go back to that time? Jace kept his mouth shut, and looked away from his friend. Potions ruined a part of their first year together, and...the memory still hurts for some reason. People had been unfair to him, but as long as he could remain patient about it, he won't say a word. "You know...practice is key. Professor Hirsch advised me to do just that. If you can sneak in some practice time in duelling, I'm sure you'll win every round." And he will be there when it happens. Mhm!

"Haddie? It really must be a feat." Jace looked around to check that Haddie wasn't around to hear him, "She's scary." Nod nod. "Well, enough of school stuff. Have you started packing your trunk? I really can't wait to go home..." They've discussed things before the match, but he thought it won't hurt to mention the topic again. He just couldn't wait to see Jakub and his mama.