He was...reading! Or seemed to be doing so.

Yes, as usual, Treyen Lockhart was caught with a book in his hands, only this time he wasn't truly reading, he was actually waiting to see if Melanie dared to enter through the door.

Not that he needed to explain himself or anything, after all, it was NOT his fault that he'd overslept and missed the game, right? He still wanted to explain, or perhaps...apologize? Not really, since it wasn't much of an apology. But...

...anyway...

...so, the boy was glancing from time to time at the portrait, just waiting for the Captain, who happened not to notice that she was missing a Potions book, by the way.

She had taken a break from studying because too much of it at one time was either bad for the brain or lead to sleep. Years of doing so had taught her that.

It was with practiced skill that she stepped through the portal, a bowl of cereal in one hand and a bottle of pumpkin juice in the other. Now all she had to do was make it back to her sofa without spilling either. Easy peasy. Bright eyes automatically scanning the room as she entered, they settled on her trio friend instead of the chair she'd been sitting in.

"Treyen!" She exclaimed with a smile as she made her way over. Taking a seat beside him. "I'd hug you if I didn't have this food with me." But she did and so he didn't get a hello hug. "How've you been?"

And he was not doing a very good job at keeping up with the portrait either, because Arya had stepped inside and he didn't notice, not until she exclaimed his name, clearly happy to see him. It had been a long time, which was odd, since they had a couple classes together and all.

He smiled in return, and eyed the food. How come Arya ate more than he did?? He did chuckle at her comment about the hug. "Well, dearest Arya, I...I've been...good, I think," yes, as a matter of fact he'd been good, "Certainly much better than at the beginning of the year." Which was oh-so-true.

"I haven't see you since...," and now his mind wandered off, really off, he was staring at the portrait, "I haven't see you in a while, what have you been up?" and now he remembered, he hadn't see her since that awful lesson. Tsk. Saylen.

Squeezing her bottle of pumpkin juice between the cushions, she eased and pulled her legs under her, eyes on Treyen as she picked her spoon out of her bowl and slowly started to eat her cereal. "Good is good if your really good." But he was still thinking on it, so she couldn't be sure. Ah. "Then you are good." Which was wonderful to hear.

When had she seen him last? Her mind wondered to, trying to remember the last time that had seen each other...Saylen's class! "Since the last creatures class....which was very interesting." Very very interesting.

She shrugged her shoulders, responding only after she'd swallowed her mouthful of cereal. "Nothin much. Been doin the usual and ice skating." She was a bit distracted, trying to remember what she'd planned on telling him. "Doing homework and hanging with friends, what about you?" What was she going to tell him?

Well, yes?

Yes. He was good. Was he? Yup. It was all okay. Surely he still missed his Professors, but he'd grown accustomed to the new ones. All fine. And he had Quidditch. All perfect. Except, yeah, he'd overslept on game day.

He nodded and gave Arya a small smile, the pumkpin juice bottle didn't go unnoticed. "You can put that bottle on the table, here, Arya," he said, gesturing to the table next to his seat. A pumpkin juice mess would be...easily cleaned, so, yeah, no big deal, "Or not, whatever," after all the cleaning spells in Potions, they were both capable of cleaning a cushion, weren't they?

Treyen instantly frowned, "Interesting? That was not an interesting lesson. An interesting lesson was the Arithmancy one...with the sticks," and the redhead, "I don't think I'll be seeing Saylen anytime soon." And that was all he said.

His eyes were scanning the room, only to stop on Arya as she said..."Ice skating? Where have you been ice skating?" did she freeze the lake? Or asked the come-and-go room to do so? Curiosity was in his eyes, and he failed to notice that Arya was...maybe...planning on telling him something else? And the fact that she'd ask him a question too, he failed to notice that.

She hadn't really thought about her pumpkin juice spilling. Had she been back home, where she wasn't allowed to use magic, the thought might have crossed her mind, but she wasn't and so it never did until he mention moving it to the table. "Can you put it there for me?" She asked after a moment, inclining her head to the bowl in her hands. The milk in her bowl would suffice until the bowl was empty.

NOW she remembered what she'd been meaning to tell him. Shaking her head, she lowered her spoon. "No, it was really interesting. Saylen had us partner up for three legged races, and about halfway through, she....made us apart of out costumes. So I had supper crup hearing, and my partner had dragon hearing." Both of which turned out to be terribly annoying.

"It was a interesting experience. And she didn't cut the cruppies tail off, just used the disillusionment charm which felt the same to the crup." Which was probably the the reason why he didn't think the lesson enjoyable, and she completely understood. "That lesson with the sticks was interesting too."

Taking notice to his scanning the almost empty room, she let her eyes linger on her abandoned belongings. "The new groundskeeper froze some of the lake for us to skate on. I helped Ellie learn to ice skate. It was fun." She finished her scan before letting her eyes settle back on him. "You looking for someone? And you didn't answer my question." She'd noticed.

That was...unexpected. "Yeah, sure," he said, before moving forward to take the pumpkin juice bottle to a safer ground. In this case, a table. But it would've been okay where it was, between cushions. Yup.

Probably.

Probably not.

He raised an eyebrow at what Arya was telling him about the lesson. It didn't matter what Saylen had done after he'd left, it was what she did when he was in there that mattered. And surely Arya remembered that part, no? So, he didn't smile or did absolutely anything during the three-legged explanation. He only sighed at the end.

But then..."She didn't?" Treyen turned to Arya again, he hadn't expected that either, "I...," need to apologize to Saylen? Yes, that's an understatement. "Wow, I had no idea," because he'd left. "Then you're probably right, it was indeed an interesting lesson." And now he smiled, because the Crup hadn't suffer at all. Perhaps the little thing panicked a bit after not seeing its tail, but other than that, he was still the same, right? Right.

"Who did you partnered with?" it was only fair to ask, since he'd been entirely off the lesson.

Oh! The new groundskeeper! He has yet to meet the man! What has Treyen been doing this whole time?! He missed the ice skating too! Amazing. Simply amazing. And he had no one to blame for that. "Hey, that's very awesome of him to--" had he heard right? His smile fell only a bit, but it was still there, "Ellie?" yes, Arya, forget it, he heard nothing after that. AGAIN. "Which Ellie?" because that was the most important question ever.

She could tell while she was telling him about the lesson that he didn't believe her until she got to the part about the crup. Arya shook her head. "She didn't," she repeated, unsure at what he planned on finishing his next sentence with. "It's not your fault, we all thought she'd actually cut his tail off." Herself included. Arya was just surprised she'd sat quietly at the action. Well....not quietly, but certainly calmer than she thought she would be.

"Some older Slytherin girl named Evelyn." Arya frowned. "She...yells a lot." That could have been her temporary sensitive hearing, but she didn't care. That girl was extra loud, louder than the other students.

Her eyes went from her cereal to his face when he didn't finish his sentence again, and her expression became puzzled when asked which Ellie. How many were there in the school that either of them knew. "Um....the Ravenclaw one...second year I think..." What else did she know about the girl.... "Your friend Ellie, you told her about our skating." He HAD to know who she was talking about now. She hadn't missed his not answering her questions again, merely got distracted.

"Why does it mater?"

'She didn't'. And Treyen was most relieved about that. Not that he'd thought of sending letters to any organization or anything, but he had made a point of not attending her lessons, and...it had disappeared as soon as Arya explained.

"Yeah, I'm glad about it...but now I have to, or should, apologize." Or at least say 'thanks' for not taking any points. However, the fighter of the trio had stayed behind in that lesson. Odd. Maybe somehow Arya knew it wasn't happening for real? Like she had a gift or something?

Oh, a Slytherin? Eek! "Never heard of her. Evelyn." He knew very few Slytherins, one of the She-Snakes included, and he didn't truly know her, so, yes, in reality he only knew three or four Slytherins, from all Hogwarts. Ha.

The Ravenclaw one she said? Well, Treyen smiled, "Third year," mmmhmmm, he corrected Arya, and Ellie had taught him to dance on her first year, which was his second, that's how he knew. Not that he was keeping track of things or anything. "Yeah, I guess I did," clearly, he had no recollection of doing so, but his mind wasn't working properly at the moment.

The smile wasn't going anywhere, though, "So, what did you say you two were doing?" he said, looking slightly confused.

'Why does it matter?'. "Why does what matter, Arya?" he asked, beyond confusion, because he lost track of the conversation, "The pumpkin juice is going to be fine at the table, though, I guess we could always do a cleaning spell if it gets spilled somewhere," he shrugged, all serious-like.

"An apology sounds good." She agreed. "For not trusting her I guess. We are badgers after all." And they trusted people, at least people that proved they deserved their trust, and in her eyes, Saylen had. Maybe that was why she'd stayed in the lesson?

"She's nobody important," she said with a dismissive wave. Really. She wasn't. Not to Arya who had suddenly remembered that she was friends with that Hobo Destiny. Pffft.

Oh yea. Third year. She knew that, the girl had come in a year behind them. Lucky her. Didn't surprise her that he knew that since he was friends with the girl, better friends than she at least. What were they doing? "We were skating," what else where they to do on a frozen lake? "And talking."

"What does it mater which Ellie I was skating with...not that I know any others..." She only knew the one. "It just seemed like...I don't know, like there was a reason or something to knowing which Ellie." Alright. He'd successfully confused her. "I guess.." she responded a bit distractedly.

Haha. Treyen resisted the urge to chuckle at her comment and merely nodded. He'd never trusted Saylen. Not even from day one, therefore, his apology shouldn't have the word 'trust' in it. However, she was sort of right. They were badgers...er, no, wait a minute. "We shouldn't go around trusting everyone just because we're badgers, though," like that Evelyn girl, will Arya trust her no matter what? Doubtfully.

He doesn't even trust Jake, and Jake IS also a badger. Probably in disguise. But still a badger.

And since Evelyn was not important, then he made no attempt at keeping up with said subject. What was the point, anyway? He already knew what had happened at the lesson. And the homework, well, yes, he wasn't doing that.

But then, his expression softened just as soon as Arya was commenting the skating part. He eyed the book he was holding and smiled, not at the book, but at the topic. His eyes were back on his friend for a moment, "You did? Well, that's good, very good. Skating where?" And he oh-so-wondered what they talked about.

Except all he heard after that was 'Ellie', 'Ellie', and he could've very easily thought it was his mind playing tricks on him if he hadn't been looking at Arya. He blinked. Once, twice, thrice. "Because I only care about one," he said, closing the book, "And, well, I didn't know if you knew any other," yes, true, "Did she...er, seemed happy to you?" he asked, turning towards his fellow fourth year.

"True, and I don't. I'm just saying we can't not trust Saylen for something we thought she did when in fact she didn't." She wasn't sure if that made sense to him, but it made plenty of sense to her. There were plenty of people she didn't trust, but Saylen wasn't one of them.

Her cereal went completely ignored and she simply stared at Treyen. "On the lake." Where else would they skate? How had he forgotten that? She was positive she'd told him where they'd been skating. "Are you alright?" Something about this was familiar, but she couldn't figure out what it was.

Well if she had been confused about what was familiar about his before, she wasn't now. Not as much as she had been before at least. "Care a lot?" She tried to sound casual as she swirled the milk and bits of cereal in her bowl. "I don't know any others," she confirmed. "She was very happy. Only fell once."

Er....what?! Treyen blinked only once, before frowning slightly. Whatever Arya had said was probably right. Or right to her. The thing is...he was still unsure of Saylen, that's why he couldn't agree with her one hundred percent. "I...suppose." Yes, that was a good answer. But...had Arya ever considered that if Saylen never wanted Treyen out of the lesson then she would've explained almost instantly that she'd done nothing to the Crup? No. Because she trusted Saylen.

But then..."On the lake?" he wasn't asking, he was...like...repeating what Arya had said. "But that is brilliant! Did Fletcher freeze a part of the lake or something?" because only Fletcher could have such power, no? Besides, he'd spoken of doing something similar.

The next question got him a bit worried, though, "I'm...good, I already told you that," oh, this part he remembered fully. "So, I suppose I'm alright, why do you ask?" was she noticing something he wasn't?

It could happen, you know, because Treyen tended not to notice things.

'Care a lot?'. What? About Ellie? "I think so, I--" now he was deep in thought, what did that question have to do with anything? "Why?" he asked, as if it was an usual question, "I care for my friends and she is one." it sounded like he was telling himself that, not that he was talking to Arya, though, in reality, he was, as if making an excuse for something.

And Treyen couldn't help but smile next, he was feeling as relaxed as ever, like a Quidditch game just ended and they'd won, after listening to 'She was very happy'. That was all he needed to hear, if she was happy, then he should be. He must have said something right the last time they spoke, then. Yes, leave to Treyen to think he had something to do with it.

He almost sighed, almost, when he leaned into his seat. Yup, he could so easily sleep without the need to worry about Jake wandering about.

She'd confused him with what she'd said, she was sure of it. Though it didn't really matter since he wasn't questioning her on it, she was sure if he did they would both end up confused on the whole thing.

STAAAAARE. "I told you that the new groundskeeper had frozen the lake not two minutes ago." She wasn't scolding him or anything, just bemused and worried. Mainly confused. HOW had he forgotten that so quickly. "I haven't seen Fletcher around." Not that it was important to the conversation, she was just throwing that bit out there.

"Cause your not acting fine. Your acting like you've been hit with a stray confundus spell." She considered him for a moment before placing her bowl on the floor for her kneazle to finish off. Greedy little thing saw the bowl from his spot by the fire place.

Shrugging her shoulders, she sunk deeper into her seat, considering her friend for a moment. "I don't know..." He was just acting really strange and it seemed familiar. And now he was smiling and leaning back in his chair, and possibly ignoring her. Hm.

"Your acting like Sabel." She said still eyeing him with a bit of confusion. "Just a bit though." The intensity wasn't as strong, but it was still there.

Wait, wait. She did?

She did! Arya had indeed told him that the new groundskeeper had set up some ice for them to skate, that's when Treyen had remembered that he hasn't met the man yet. And so he opened his eyes and leaned forward just a bit. "You did." And he was frowning. The girl told him just minutes ago and he completely forgot when...ice skating...with Ellie.

Yeah, he didn't know what that could possibly mean, but that's all he remembered. "You know, I haven't seen him either," and he was becoming more worried about that fact than about the memory issues he seemed to be having, "I guess, a talk with Salander is needed." As if that could solve all his problems, yeah.

"I...don't know, really, I was paying attention," and he smiled because he remembered that Arya had said that Ellie was happy, but then shook his head, "I mean...," well, there was something wrong for sure, "I don't know." He shrugged as he saw the kneazle walk closer to them. "I'm truly fine, Arya, seriously," and he was being serious, "I...I'm even happy now that you told me she seemed happy," which was something Nolan should know, right?

If Treyen hadn't brought up the ice skating, then Arya would've never brought up Ellie, and he wouldn't have noticed how much he actually missed her. Like, missing her in class, of course. There was no other kind of 'missing'.

He chuckled, "Sabel? How come?" he decided on asking, he knew little of the guy, so, he couldn't possibly understand where she was going with it, but then his face fell, "Wait, he's not sick or anything, is he?" and NOW he was worried.

She did, and he was acting plain strange, worrisome almost. The frown on his face matched hers, brown eyes on him as she shifted on the couch. "Maybe you should. I don't see Feltcher often, but never for this long." She couldn't even remember seeing him in class, then again, she never looked for the champion.

She was ignoring the kneazle for now, at least until he decided he needed her attention. "If you say so, your just acting a bit strange." Which was weird for so many reasons she'd yet to mention or consider. "Was something wrong with Ellie before?" Maybe that was why he was so much happier, because something had been wrong with the girl before.

Shrugging her shoulders, she eased back in her seat. "He acted a lot like your acting last term, when he was around me at least." She wasn't sure about how he acted when she wasn't around, but if she was being mentioned, she was sure it was similar. "I could be wrong though." She certainly was no expert. "Nothings wrong with him." A smile slowly found its way to her lips.

The boy nodded, "Oh, no, I've seen him, it's just...I usually see him more," perhaps NEWTs had something to do with it? Hahahaha, no, that wasn't Fletcher at all. It was most likely the Slytherin girl. Yes. Still, he'll be finding Salander soon. Not that he would be difficult to find. The house-elves know more about him than the Slytherins.

And he nodded again. Treyen didn't think he was acting strange, of course, he was acting like himself, as usual, but it was hard to notice when you didn't see what others did. Still, he shrugged. And then shook his head, "Just...she was not the happiest girl, with Nolan leaving and all, like me with Kingsley and Nolan too," and he'd been devastated, that's why he was glad to find out she was doing okay.

Though, what he ought to do is look for her and see it for himself, no?

Before he could make any decisions, Arya spoke again, and one of his eyebrows was raised this time. Was Arya suggesting that she was the one that made them all act weird? "What does it mean if you're right?" because he had no idea what was the 'wrong' part she was referring to. It was like Arya was having her own conversation and failed to tell him the important bits. 'Nothing's wrong with him'? Then that must mean something's wrong with Arya, no? Like...some sort of power that she has? That will help Aaron rise above all, above everything? "You're not telling me something." He stated, simply.

That was the last thing he said, before eying the kneazle, and then at Arya.

"Truth be told I don't see him that often, except for classes." She mused. "And in here." Which wasn't often since she was rarely in the common room, awake. Maybe Fletcher had seen her more than she had seen him. It was possible. Guess she would just have to wait for the next time she saw him to know.

Oh. Well that did explain his reason for asking those questions didn't it? After all,she'd been a bit worried about him at the beginning of term. Arya nodded her head. "I get that. She's doing better now though." So no need for him to worry.

Perseus had emptied the bowl and climbed into Arya's lap, and she absently began to stroke him without sparing the creature a glance. Again, she shrugged her shoulders. "I could be wrong." Really, she could. "But your acting a bit like Sabel did last year, when he told me he liked me." This time it was towards Ellie though.

"Yeah, he's around somewhere... Just gotta be patient, I guess." Ava Jade screwed her face up and blurted, "I hate being patient!" Then she giggled and rolled her eyes. "But I guess I have to learn that virtue -- for more reasons than just boys..."

When Kita went on to notice the time, Ava Jade laughed and said, "I know, we've been at this for ages! It's so much fun to take a break from homework and spells and everything, and just live a little." She sighed, then shook her head. "I'm definitely losing my mind," she declared, then giggled. "Sleep might be a good idea now... But we definitely need to have another talk like this sometime. We can pick another shallow, brainless, and addicting topic! And youuu choose next time." She grinned at Kita.

Okay. So now Treyen was actually concerned about Sir Fletcher the Awesome. He was in the same year as Jake was, but since he didn't feel like talking to the Seeker about the Champion, then he had no other choice but go to the Snake.

"He's probably alright, though," probably busy with whatever Fletcher saw important.

He noticed Arya nodding, which meant she understood what he was saying, and she probably related somehow, since she liked Kingsley as well. It seemed so far away, the start of the year, when Treyen thought that his world had ended...and here he was, still alive, and doing alright. He'd most likely exaggerated at first. Probably, since he was smiling now. "Good." That meant he didn't need to worry about the girl or anything. He could still care, no?

Eyes on the kneazle, he suddenly remembered that Thaddeus was NOT on its cage in the dormitory and was glad the the girls' one was across the room, though, really, Arya's kneazle wouldn't be an evil one and eat Treyen's knarl. He hoped he wouldn't.

But now Arya was explaining and he tilted his head to the right when she, yet again, said that she could be wrong. She was saying it A LOT. Ooooh, but Sabel, yes, he's heard something about that, last year, it was even on papers, papers that were burned after Arya took hold of them, and some were even eaten by a Dugbog. Since they were talking about Arya then the boy actually smirked and chuckled, "Look, Arya, if you're suggesting that I like you, then, yeah, I don't. I mean, I like you as a friend, nothing more, so, you don't need to worry," after all, she had said that Sabel used to act that way around her (like Treyen was doing after the mentioning of 'Ellie') and the result -last year- was that Sabel liked Arya. It was very clear why Treyen thought Arya was telling him that he liked her. Well, in his head, that was the reasoning.

Unless.

Unless Arya was referring to Ellie?

His head was turned towards the portrait again and he oh-so-vividly remembered how heartbroken he'd felt after knowing he'd be seeing less of her thanks to Divination, but also the 'ability' she had for making him feel better...and...yeah, no. It couldn't possibly be what Arya was talking about.

He couldn't like her. Nope. Not one bit.

Treyen said nothing, though, and kept on staring at the portrait. Still thinking. But denying it all in his head.

Kita smiled. Yeah... patience was the key. One sec... did Ava Jade just say she hated being patient? She started laughing at the thought of Ava Jade shouting at a boy holding a wizard's chess set for making her wait. "Ah... Maybe he can hurry up and look for you instead," she said, winking at the brunette sitting opposite her, "Yeah, that's true. We have to learn how to be patient not just for the boys. But the boys are definitely a contributing factor." Yeah.. she sounded stupid and she knew it.

Kita was still in a state of shock. She couldn't believe the time had gone by so quickly and all they had talked about was... boys? Meh! Maybe that was how the teenage girl's brain worked. She smiled. "It has been! It's nice to just do nothing for once," she said, casting a bitter look down at her bag which was lying by her feet. She looked back up at Ava Jade and nodded. "Yeah we should! This has been so much fun!" she said, before giggling, "Now i just need to find something to talk about." That is definitely not an easy task. Maybe it might be her most interesting piece of homework.

A slow blink left her as she stared at Treyen for a moment, letting the words sink in before bursting into a fit of laughter. It was all she could do to keep from rolling around and jarring her kneazle, and after a moment she regained enough composure to speak. "I know you don't like me, and I don't like you either, not like that anyway." Though her friend had a good sense of humor. "I like as a friend, a very good friend."

Laughter subsiding to giggles, she eased back, snuggling her kneazle as she did so. "I don't think Sabel would like it much if I did think of you that way." No, he wouldn't like that all. All this sudden talk of him had her wondering where he was, and she too found herself looking at the portrait, thoughts drifting. The point she was trying to make slowly becoming a distant memory.

He was startled, to say the least, when Arya started to laugh. Very hard. And LOUDLY. At first he frowned, because she had interrupted his own train of thought, but then he welcomed the laughter with laughs of his own.

"I know, I misunderstood," he said, chuckling slightly. "I now know what you mean." But he didn't comment on that. And chances are he wouldn't comment, because, really, Arya had to be wrong, and he had nothing further to say, other than 'Yeah, I think you're mistaken', so, why bother?

And he chuckled again, "I don't think Sabel will like me very much if such a thing happened, you're right about that." Aha! He'd sort of told her she was wrong about the previous thing, no? Yes. Actually, he started to wonder if she liked Sabel back. "Do you like him, Arya?" yes, a very straight forward question.

Then again, if Arya liked him, then she knew the feeling, no? In case Treyen actually needed to ask more questions...not that he needed to, anyway, because he didn't like Ellie.

He knew what she meant about that situation, but did he know what she had meant before? She wasn't sure. But at least they both knew that neither liked each other beyond friendship.

She found herself laughing lightly with him at the comment about Sabel. Truthfully she wasn't sure how he would react to that, though it shouldn't matter since she was his now, at least she didn't think it should matter. "I do like him." She nodded with a grin, blushing just a bit.

Tilting her head to the side, she considered him briefly. He was being straight forward so she could to, right? Right. "Do you like Ellie?" It would explain a lot, or maybe just serve to confuse them both even more.

Er, what?

Treyen was looking towards Arya, so he completely assumed that it was a good thing she did, right? It was a VERY good thing because he could go to her in case he actually liked a girl some time in the future, no? Still, he didn't know what to say, or do, or how to react.

"I...yeah...I don't know what to do with that answer," it was best to be honest, right? And this was Arya, so honesty was the best policy. He could lie to Salander, or to Jake, "But I suppose it's a good thing, no?" clearly, since Arya was smiling, "That's good news to Sabel." He smiled after saying that.

But then his eyes went wide when she oh-so-abruptly did the same thing he had. His eyes fell on the book he was still holding. "I...," he was turning red, and he was in full knowledge it because his cheeks were burning, "...no, no, I don't think so," he spared one look towards his friend and then shook his head, "Yeah, no." He wasn't precisely sure, since there were some signs that seemed to incline that answer to a more positive tone, but NO, he didn't think so.

"I...," didn't know what to say next, again, "...she's only a friend, you know, one of the closest ones that is not a Hufflepuff, that's all," and that list was NOT a very long one, because he started to think if there were others like her, and his mind was blank.

Certainly, Ellie was one of the prettiest, and he couldn't deny that. He won't be acknowledging it out loud, though.