To be honest, Noelle didn't know if Declan really slept or not. But seeing as he was out now, and she'd seen him before out, sneaking back into his CR while she was on patrols... she didn't think he'd slept much.

She glanced at his hands again before standing straight, her hand still on the telescope. "Look with your hands but touch with your eyes?" She asked, tilting her head. She had never heard of that before. She grinned figuring out what it meant. "So that means you want to touch something? But you cant?" She looked at the telescope as he pocketed his hands. "I think the telescope is in limits to touch though." She said, giving him a funny grin.

Declan was right about that of course. She wasn't one to stay still for too long. Even studying. That paint on the wall thing did sound fun though. She might have to try that this summer.

Now he was asking about defensive training. That wasn't surprising. Noelle chewed her lip and bent to look back through the telescope. "So... once upon a time.. about three years ago.. a young girl and a young boy were taken from Knockturn Alley. " She started.. her voice even... unnaturally even as if she was trying to keep any emotion out of it. "They were sold and kept in a dungeon for six months, given only one meal a day, and couldn't leave the cell they were in. Not even to use the bathroom. The ministry came to save them. They were cleaned off and taken care of before taken back to school." She wasn't even looking through the telescope but she was still bent in front of it. "The girl had issues. Most things scared her now.... which was very different from how she was usually. Until one day... a nice professor pulled her into his training room and showed her a few moves. That practice turned into other practices and soon that girl didn't feel as scared because she was beginning to believe she could defend herself. To protect herself." Her cheeks were flushed because she hated talking about it...but ... "So those practices became a hobby." Noelle stated, standing up from the telescope and toying with it.

"It helps."

Taking a deep breath, she let it out and shook off her nerves. "So um... yeah. Where would I go??" Noelle said, changing the subject. "Id go to this little cove that my family used to go to when I was little. It was a private cove and no one but us were on it. Plus, I'm very much a sun person/" That also had to do with the dungeon days, because she didn't know if it were morning or night during that time. "What about you?" She asked before looking at him a little apprehensively.

Her eyes on his hands; was she touching with her eyes or really just looking? Declan curled his fingers inside his trouser's pockets as he thought of this. "Shouldn't," he corrected her. "I can but I probably shouldn't." More accurately would be: he wouldn't. It was better off this way. He smiled and nodded at her telescope remark. It was a joke, he knew but he didn't think it was super funny. The last thing that held his interest at the moment was the telescope.

If he had known the story to follow his question, in all honesty, Declan wouldn't have asked. He didn't know what to do with the new information. It was like he was bestowed a responsibility; an unwilling guardian of secrets or maybe not so unwilling. With that came a mild twinge of anger. He wanted to ask her if the culprits had been caught--and had they received their just punishment because if they hadn't Declan was capable of many things; mind reading was not one of them.

He took a step forward and hovered behind her as she still remained behind the telescope. His hands left their fabric cages and hovered around her biceps. What was the right move? Was he allowed to touch or not? What words could you even say?

"I think the Sun would suit you very nicely," he said bringing his hands back down--and not touching her. Declan hid them again in his pockets as he stepped to stand beside her. He looked down at her just as she looked up at him to ask her question. "Right now?" Declan hated that he had to actually think about it. Home was always nice but he had been there plenty of times. They had nice vacations but nothing that was cemented in his memory. "The Department of Mysteries," he said quietly after a few moments' thought. "Closing hours. No one to disturb me."

Shouldn't?

Noelle would have studied him more because Declan ... said odd things. And did odd things. But he wasn't odd... he was intriguing. She didn't know what he couldn't or shouldn't touch for that matter... but did it really matter. Her eyes swept the room, trying to get a glimpse of this off limits thing.

As for her story, it hadn't been a secret. It was in the Daily Prophet. Something she would always have over her. She'd been called stupid. Other nasty things had been said. She concentrated on the good though. People being there for her and her training. That helped.

Noelle felt his presence behind her as she peered into the telescope. She felt him step beside her, glad that he didn't comment further on the dungeon days of her life. It was something she had overcome and was still over coming.

"It feels good on your skin. Makes you happy. The vitamins from the sun." she commented as she looked at him, a small smile on her face. She leaned slightly against the telescope but it leaned forward and she stumbled. Luckily, it wasn't a drastic stumble, just a small one. "Opps." She muttered and went to lean against the wall as she listened to him. "Oh now that's interesting." And again intriguing. She liked the way his mind worked. "Do you think they have guards at night though? And what do you think is down there?" Noelle didn't know a whole lot about the ministry. Her mom hadn't really talked about it. The only time she had come in contact with it was when they had rescued her from the dungeons.

"I read something somewhere... one time. I cant remember exactly what it said, but it was talking about that department. No one knows what's inside except the people that work there right?" It was something she'd love to sneak in and see... not that she thought she'd be able to.

Also..
"I know you don't know me that well either... but ... please don't think of me any differently now that you know that... what I told you. Please." She chewed her lip. Friendship was a big thing with her.

"Vitamins," he muttered back, not intending to cut her short. He did chuckle however, thinking that while true he wasn't sure how many thought of vitamins while out in the sun. Declan certainly wasn't thinking about that when he was out in the sun. He thought about how hot it was and whether he should keep his shirt on or not (which he often did not). He beamed down at her already imagining the sunlight in her hair.

He curled his fingers once more; look with your hands, touch with your eyes.

But that went out the window when Noelle stumbled. He reached out for her instinctively, placing one hand on her elbow, his other hand grabbed her wrist to steady her. "You're fine," he mumbled to her but she was moving away from him before he could say or do anything further. He could only watch her even as she became a little excited about the talk of the Department of Mysteries. A crooked grin overpowered his mouth.

"Oh I'm sure there are guards and more than guards," Declan whispered loudly, feeling a small sense of adventure erupt throughout his body. "I'm not sure but they say the Department of Mysteries deals with all sorts of things. The kind of magic you don't learn much about here in school." At least not from books that were outside of the Forbidden Section. He nodded at Noelle's information. "Yeah, it's like they take a vow of silence. I wonder what kind of magic that is itself. Do you think it's a curse? If they speak, do they automatically get repercussions?"

There was just so much to find out about that department in the Ministry he could spend all night writing questions down to look them up--not that he'd find answers. He was busy thinking of more questions when Noelle spoke again. Declan looked down at her with a mild frown.

"I'd be the last person to judge you," he said softly, looking down at her. "I hear things that aren't there. I see things that nobody else does. You fear judgement from a weirdo like me?" he asked with a lopsided grin. He reached out gently to ruffle her hair. "Don't be silly."

Declan had cut her off a little short when she mentioned the vitamins in the sun. "Yeah, mom always told us it was better to be outside than in because of the vitamins in the sun." Noelle said absentmindedly like everyone knew this little tidbit.

Noelle leaned against the wall, the telescope now no where near her thoughts. The MoM was now at the front of her mind. "Hmmm.." She said lost in thought for a moment. "I'm kinda curious as to what other floors there are." She said looking up at Declan. "They don't give you too much information about that place do they?"

Declan's face seemed to hum with excitement as he ran a list of questions at Noelle. She wasn't exactly sure he was really asking her. "What if they are keeping a weapon or something down there? Or multiple ones? And what magic could they possibly be hiding? Why won't they tell anyone about it?" Noelle had a thing about people hiding things from her. Like she couldn't handle it. Declan's questions mixed with her own. "Maybe it's sort of like the vow spell. Once done, cannot be undone or you die?" That would surely make someone shut up.

Noelle's eyes seemed to have looked through Declan while inside her head. But once he said that he wouldn't judge her, she glanced at him, a small smile playing on her lips. Also.. she became intrigued... again. When wasn't he intriguing? "Wait.. you hear things?? And see things? I know you think differently... but I don't see that as a bad thing at all." Her curiosity spilling over.

Did he just ruffle her hair? Noelle rolled her eyes playfully at him. "Well... thank you for not judging me. You won't have to worry about that with me either. So... how about I walk you about to your common room then?" IT was getting way late. And to be honest, she had to finish her patrols. She pulled her wand from her holster and gave it a little twirl.