Spike peered round the suit of armour, as if he was playing hide and seek with an imaginery friend. Except, this year, he didn't really peer round it anymore - more like over it.

How...disappointing.

Spike had grown over the summer. Lots. He actually looked like he'd caught up with his age at last.

He sighed, and gave the polished metal a pout. No more using this suit of armour for hiding behind. Or in, for that matter. He really did want to try on a Hogwarts suit of armour before he left, and maybe scare some firsties along the way.

Maybe if he breathed in and crouched down a bit it'd work?

Max very, very rarely stopped off on the second floor. He hated Arithmancy and never had a relationship with Tate, so he never had much of a reason to visit this floor. Today, though, he had heard that the seventh year book of memories was in Truebridge's office, and Max hoped she wouldn't mind if he took a peek. It was the beginning of his last term and he needed to make sure he went about it properly. So, of course, he wanted to see if there was any advice from previous students on how to handle one's last term at Hogwarts. And he needed inspiration so he could start thinking about what he would write at the end of the term.

As Max made his way through the halls of the unfamiliar floor, he passed several paintings whose inhabitants got a smile and a nod from the seventh year. He wondered what Ellie was doing right now, and then... he stopped.

Quite a way down the corridor, he saw movement by a suit of armor on the opposite side of the hallway. He couldn't see behind it, but... did the suit ITSELF move? Or was it just be a first year playing around? Hmm. He moved a little closer and... saw someone behind it. If it was a first year preparing to throw dungbombs or something of the sort, Max wasn't going to walk right into that. So, just in case, Max removed a single Bertie Bott's bean from his pocket(don't ask) and threw it at the armor in an attempt to scare the person out of hiding. If there WAS someone with menacing intentions, he was ready to run.

Mason was heading back down to the Hufflepuff common room when he came across a suit of armor! No, SEVERAL SUITS OF ARMOR! OHMAHGOSH! This reminded him of the time when he dressed up in armor for Halloween one year! He halted in front of one of the giant silver statues as he stared up at it in amazement.

"... hi." Maybe it would talk back to him.

How much trouble would he get in if he put the armor on? Just for fitting purposes...

Woooow, this school sure had a lot of suits of armours. It seemed they were everywhere and once more Lex had managed to run into more! This was a sign! Or maybe just proof that these things could in fact move and were following her.

She walked up to a particular suit of Armour and began knocking on the metal, you know, just in case he was sleeping.

"Hellloooooo....? Mr. Suit of Armour...?" Hmm, so he was trying to play it off as nothing huh? Figured he could just ignore the 11 year old and get away with it?! Hmph. "Well I know you can hear me and I was just wondering, are you the same suit of armour that's just beyond that corridor over there? Or are you in any way related to the one on the bottom floor?" Hmm, still nothing.

She got on her toes and lifted the cover from the armour. Le Gasp! There was no face! "Oh you poor thing! No wonder you can't respond!" Nod. He must have been related to the ones by the staircase.

Suits of Armor? EW. She stalked down the corridor, eyeing the armor like they were going to jump out at her any second. She started to walk even faster, wanting to get away from this place as fast as possible.

.. And she suddenly noticed someone actually talking to a suit of armor. Someone who looked vaguely familiar.. Lex! Of course. Only she was crazy enough to actually try having a conversation with suits of armor.

"Are you trying to get them to talk?" Abby stood next to the little girl, staring at the armor. Gosh, they really looked creepy.

Oh.

Lex heard a familiar voice just as someone walked up to her and Mr. Suit of Armour. She looked over at saw Abby also staring over at them. "Hmm...yeah, but this one doesn't seem to want to cooperate." She turned to her and put her hands to her mouth like she was about to tell her a secret that she didn't want the armour to hear then she whispered, "I think he might be shy..." That could have been the case and the poor thing was probably just too scared to talk.

"But it's alright Mister." She said, patting the metal comfortingly before turning to Abby once more. "What do you think?" Perhaps she thought the armour was shy too and could suggest some ways to bring him out of his shell...or armour, so to speak.

"If he won't talk maybe we could get another one to talk." That's right, she said we. Now that Abby was here she planned to include her in her little armoury interrogation because she was almost positive that these things moved just like the paintings!

Tap, tap, tap.

The sound of the girl's hand coming into contact with the metal resonated around the room. It was quite loud. Some would say loud enough to wake the dead.

Or maybe just a suit of armour.

A loud clanging sound began to echo around the room and the armour man shook himself and stepped down of the small platform. He spun on the spot, Michael Jackson style and then moon walked out of the room.

STARE.

Was this girl asking her to talk to the suits of armor as well!? Yeah, no. That was NOT going to happen. She had absolutely no intention of wasting her time talking to inanimate things.. especially with Lex. The girl just annoyed her. A lot.

WE!? "Lex, I'm not going to join you. You can continue to talk to these creepy..."

But before she could finish that sentence, she saw one of the armors actually MOVE. Abby froze as she watched it give a small spin and walk away.. in a weird fashion. What the heck!? Even though the armors looked creepy, she never thought they were.. ALIVE. EEEK.

"Did you just see that?" Oh, GOSH.

Of course Abby was going to protest to joining her...if only it were a request but actually she was telling her, therefore they were going to find one that actually moved and talked because the one at the end of the line had the same scribble mark that she had put on one of them in another corridor--all a part of testing her theory of course. "They're not creepy--"

Just then one of then did some kind of spinny thingy and did a funny dance out of the room.

o__O

"Did you see that--" She stopped immediately when she realized that Abby and her were on the same speaking pattern then giggled. "That was sooooo cool! Help me find another one that moves!" She said, running over to another one and tapping it as well. For a moment she turned to Abby with an excited smile. "Do you think they talk as well? Gimme a boost I wanna see what the inside looks like." Or she could have climbed the suit butt hen she figured it might have collapsed...

COOOOOL?

"Lex, that was just horribly creepy." Abby turned to look at the other armors suspiciously. What if another one danced it's way out of the room or.. what if it decided to jump on her? Eeeep.

Did they talk? "Well, I certainly hope not and even if they do, I'm sure they'll just complain about how annoying you really are." It was probably her continous chatter that made the armor move and dance it's way out. It would help if the girl stopped talking for a second but it looked like that wasn't going to happen.

"Are you crazy? I'm not giving you a boost and if you're wise, you wouldn't even want to know what's inside.." Abby stated, her eyes shifting towards the armor again.

Whaaaaat??

"How could you think that was creepy?! That was even cooler than the talking portrait that started yelling at me and tried to jab me with his sword!" She had had a good laugh with that one because he couldn't actually do anything to her.

Lex turned to her suddenly with a gasp. "Do you think that might be it?" Oh no! She began spinning in a slow movements so she could face all the armours at some point or another. "Nooooo, I'm not annoying guys really, you can talk, we can talk together. Just ask Abby, she thinks I'm nice." She said with a wide grin.

She tilted her head a little when Abby asked if she was crazy. "Nooo, I'm not, now come ooooooonnnnn!" She said, walking over to her and attempting to pull her towards the armour. "I bet it looks even cooler inside."

"See? Everyone has a problem with you." Abby continued to look at the armor, afraid to look away. Heh. "A dancing armor just left the place and you think it's NOT creepy?" STARE. Seriously, the girl was beyond weird and annoying.. Obviously.

Abby rolled her eyes when the girl continued to talk. "I think you should stop all that chattering. You don't all of these armor dancing around you now, do you?" She couldn't help but slightly shiver at that thought. BUT, she had the feeling the girl would probably enjoy that.

Oh, no. "No way. I'm not going to join you in your craziness." Abby said, pulling her hand away. "Besides, I'm sure there's nothing inside.." At least, she hoped so.

Spike had been imagining himself wearing the suit of armor, and marching around almost robot like, when a CLANG! caught his attention. He saw the jelly bean bounce past, and frowned. Where did that come from? Looking along the ground from his hiding place (for that was all his could see from the angle he was stood), Spike saw feet.

Hmm. Maybe he could have some fun?

"HALT!" he commanded, dropping his voice deeper than usual. "Who goes there, with the audacity to flick beans at me? Do you not know who I am?"

And, to finish the effect, he lifted one arm up to point at the intruder with a loud CREEEEEAK.

Lex flashed around to look at her when she said that. "That is sooo not true!" And how rude of her for saying that! Hmph! "People happen to like me you know!" 'Course most of those people were her age but she didn't care because she preferred those kinds of people! "And of course I think it was cool! How often do you see something like that happening?" She probably wouldn't see something like that again for a long time!

Ooo, now there was an idea! "Wait, so you think if I keep talking they'll come alive and play with us?! That's a great idea!" This would be sooo epic, she could already see them go around in circles, dancing or whatever suits of armours did.

She stopped pulling and look at at the girl, slightly annoyed that she was being this difficult. "Can you please try being more cooperative. We won't know until we check and we can't check if you don't hoist me up. There could be treasure in one of those suits!" Did Abby really wanna pass up the chance to find out?!

SKIP, SKIP, SKIP. HUZZZAH!

Yes, Jackyln Addeline Kennedy was SKIPPING unabashedly. Hmph. It was FUN. She enjoyed it and didn't care if anyone saw her. Well... maybe THAT was a lie, but whatever. Heh.

And WHAT was Mason doing? Talking to suits of armor? This was surely a sign of insanity. "Hey dude, it won't talk back unless Peeves is inside of it. You know that, right? The suits of armor are just... suits of armor," she said with a giggle as she came to a skidding halt beside him.

"So what do you think about Hogwarts so far? Has it given you a rash? I think I may have started to develop an allergy to some people." With a giggle!snort she slipped her arm through his and leaned her head on his shoulder. HEHE.

Abby smiled slightly when she noticed the indiginant look on Lex's face. "Those who like are probably just as insane as you are." That was true because she couldn't imagine normal people liking Lex. The girl simply got on everyone's nerves. Cool? "I'd rather not see something like that happen. Ever."

Oh, gosh. It looked like Abby had given the girl that idea. "Um.. I suppose.." The girl looked doubtfully at the armor before taking a couple steps back. "You can give it a try if you want." Abby said with a light shrug. The girl could do whatever she wanted to as long as she didn't drag Abby into it.

"No! I'm not going to be cooperative. Why should I help you with something that doesn't interest me at all?" GLARE.

"Hey!" Lex said defensively. "My friends are not insane! Don't talk about them like that!" She didn't care if the world thought she was insane seeing as she most likely was and in fact considered it a compliment to be referred to in that way but she knew Abby wasn't using it in a nice way and since that was the case she didn't want her speaking about her friends like that! Then she got all curious. "Well why not?" A lot of people would want to see something like that...right?

"Yeah I might as well give it a try..." She mused, making her way over to another one. She began knocking on the stomach of the armour. "Helloooooo? Hey mister, are you the same suit of amour that I saw in the other corridor? Are you related to any of these guys? How long've you been here?" She paused and waited but no response came so she turned back to Abby, clearly disappointed. "It's not working...got any other ideas...?"

Lex made a face at her. "Well that's just quite selfish of you." She told her. "Just because it doesn't interest you, you're not willing to help?" This girl was even worse than she thought!

"Aw, are you upset?" Abby mocked the girl, already get tired of this conversation. No amount of convincing was going to get the girl to join Lex in the whole trying to get the armor to talk challenge. Why not? "Um. Well, NORMAL people wouldn't want to see stuff like that but I don't know about insane people. You should ask your friends."

Abby looked amused, as the girl started to talk again. Jeeeez. Did she never stop? Obviously the girl failed in her endeavour to get the armor to communicate.. and then she asked Abby if she had other ideas.. Time to be evil. "You could dance around..or even sing. That could get their attention." Heh. She might as well watch the girl make a complete fool of herself. It would be highly amusing.

"Of course. Why should I help you with something that doesn't benefit me at all?" Selfish? Yeah, maybe.

Lex made a face at the girl. She wasn't liking her tone very much at the moment. Maybe she could ask her to adjust it. She was about to when the girl said something completely...stupid. "Eww, why would I want to be a normal person anyway? They don't have any fun you know." And that was exactly why she would continue wanting to see the suits move some more.

She blinked at Abby, wondering whether or not the girl was being serious but after thinking it over decided it might just have worked! "See, you can be so brilliant when you're being helpful!" GRIN. Then she turned to the closest suit of armour. "Hey Mister, you wanna dance?" Not waiting for him to respond she began dancing around the suit of armour and before long was making her way between each. "Hey you should try this!" She said with a giggle.

CLANG!

Oops...Lex stopped immediately and looked at the suit of armour that had clattered to the floor...

O___O

If anything she was prepared to blame Abby for the whole thing. "See...this is why you should have helped me..."

A male's voice was... talking to him like he was some kind of strange army general. Who said 'halt' anyway? If Max hadn't known better, he would have thought it was the suit of armor itself speaking to him.

When the arm lifted, Max's head tilted to one side.

...

And then he LAUGHED. The seventh year removed another bean from his pocket and tossed it toward the suit of armor again - with a nice 'CLINK!' sound right on its head shoulder, the bean bounced behind it.

Gotcha.

Damon sighed leaning against a space inbetween two of the suits of armor. He was so confused and he had no clue what to do... This wasnt like him. Taylor wanted to be together again... Why was he nervous?... Okay stupid question, he knew it was because of her...

Harvey was walking past the suits of armour when he stood there looking at them wondering if they ever did move, he shook his head "Stupid armours never did move, what am I even thinking." he chuckled to himself as he proceeded to walk away when he noticed a person was standing in between two suits or armour including the one he was just talking to. "Damon? What are you doing there? Not hiding from a certain girl I hope." he chuckled jokingly not known that Damon and Taylor had broken up.

Damon looked up hearing Harvey, he gave a kind smile until his question, "Two of them actually..." He grimaced, "And just trying to think because I don't know exactly what to do at the moment. Seeing how Taylor and I broke up and then... She just hasn't been acting like herself lately." He didn't want to bring up the other girl that was confusing him at the moment.

"How dare thee laugh at me!" Spike retorted in his deep voice. "I am not amused. Tell me who dares defy Sir - "

The second jelly bean struck the armor just as Spike had been fumbling for a suitable name for a highly ranked knight. Where it had landed, the Prefect didn't have a clue. He shuffled about, trying to stay concealed whilst he felt around for it. He hadn't heard it bounce again, which considering the stone floor, was highly suspicious.

Meh, it couldn't see it. Which probably meant it was stuck in his hair. However, if he reached for his hair, then the game would most definitely be up.

Ah well, might as well leave it be and proceed as before then.

"I say fellow, pray tell me who dares defy Sir Spike-a-lot." Spike moved the other arm up slightly, trying to judge a strong pose. From behind and crouched down, that wasn't easy. "And what is your rank?"