Shaylee grumpily made her way into the common room. She wasn't really in a good mood, she fell twice coming on her way here from the great hall and bruised her leg pretty badly. She sighed and sat down in a red chair and made sure her shoes were tied extra tight just in case.

Matt waited impatiently for Tori to return to the common room, guitar in hand and strumming absentmindedly. He felt he had the perfect song to dedicate to her when she comes through the portrait hole.

He had been working on a cover of the South Korean Muggle pianist Yiruma's "River Flows in You" for some time now, mashing it up with the song "Crush" by his celebrity surnamesake, David Archuleta. The two songs weren't material that one could easily make a medley of, but somehow he managed to pass it off.

"Shaylee, my fellow clumsy student, what happened to you?" Rex asked Shaylee/ He saw her bruised leg. "Do you need any help? Rex asked Shaylee. " I have missed you" Rex told Shaylee.

Shaylee looked up at Rex and smiled. Heey buddy. Ive just been trippin all over. Fell up the stairs coming back from the great hall and banged up my knee. But I'll be fine. Happens all the time. She smiled weakly and said, Ive missed you tooo! So how have you been?

"Well, you know my offer to take you to the healer to cure you of yoru clumsinss still stands" Rex told Shaylee. Well, I have some antispectic in my pcket to help your skinned knees " Rex said to Shaylee. " of course you could use you wand, less painful" rex laughed. "
Well, since you seen me, lots of things happened in my life" Rex smiled. " I met my girlftrind Kay, fout a little, got back together quickly, the had a big blowout, lost her and trying now to get Kay back" Rex explained ro Shaylee.
" I found my step sister here at Hogwarts, Victoria Trigwell. " Rex smiled at Shaylee.
now tell me how have you been and what is going on with you here at HogWarts or in life" Rex told Shaylee.

Shaylee shook her head and said, I'll just put some bandaids on it later..I dont like those other proceeses, andd last time I tried to use my wand.. lets just say it didn't end up well.

Shaylee listened to what Rex had been going thorugh and could feel her eyes widening. Jeez Rex! You got a lot on your plate! I really hope Kay and you get back together, and im sorry for all your going through. If you ever need to talk i'll be here. She smiled at her friend.

Shaylee sighed and thought for a minute. What had been going on in her life? Well, it seems like my really close friends have all vanished from the castle. I don't know where they are and i can never find them. But other than a lot of studdying and tripping over my feet 24/7 not much is up. She looked down at her knee and decided that it was a pretty bad cut. Pulling out her gray bag, she rummaged around until she found her box of bandaids. Always had them on the go, just in case she didnt something idiotic like this.

Tori finally made it to the common room. As came in, she saw Matt sitting, with his guitar. Gently, playing the string to himself. She had a quick flash back to when she first met him last year. He was playing his guitar in the common room and he played for her.

Smiling as she quietly and carefully making her way over to him. She didn't want to trip and embarrass herself. Not now, not in front of Matt or anyone else for that matter."Hey Matt."she softly said, a gentle smile.

"Well, bandaids work for me since they work for you" Rex agreed with Shaylee '"Well, wands with me are not a great use to me either" Rex told Shaylee." Yes, a very crazy time for me and thanks for your help" Rex said to Shaylee.
" Do you need me to help me to find your friends so they can come back to yoru castle?" Rex asked Shaylee. " Be careful, I do not want to see you hurt" Rex sighed. "Well, i know about another casrle you might like, it is a friend of mines named Jason and he wrlcomes all to it" Rex explained to Shaylee. "Would you like to go to his caastle?" Rex asked Shaylee

Shaylee shook her head and said, Nah they'll turn up soon. She finished putting on the bandaid and said, [B]Jason?! He used to be my good friend before he graduated! Id love to go there.[B] Shaylee had missed her friend Jason, itd be nice to see him again.

He looked up at her, grinning from ear to ear. "Hey. Um, I take that as an acceptance for my surprise, was it? If yes, then you should really take a seat 'cause this is gonna take a little bit of time. Matt waved his wand and an armchair inched itself closer towards Tori.

" Well godd, I knew your freinds will show up at your castle" Rex told Shaylee." You know Jason?" Rex asked Shaylee. Boy, Jason got around Rex thought to himself. " Jason will be estatic to see you again" Rex explained to Shaylee.
ooc: Castle is in Knocturn Alley- Pensive part.

Shaylee nodded. We talked a lot last year. Hes a good friend. How do you know him? She asked Rex.

ooc: il go post there(:

" Yes, Jason told me all about you, the good things" Rex told Shaylee. "Well I know Jason in two ways" Rex said to Shaylee. " He is a cousin of my girlfriend Kay and my step sister Victoria is Jason's girlfriend" Rex explained to Shaylee.
ooc- thanks

Shaylee nodded, Okay got it. Thats kinda complicated..but i got it. She said. Ha! the good things? Well thats good.

She smiled in response to his and nodded. Tori, saw him pretty much summon an armchair for her to sit when he told her it would take a while. As gracefully as she could manage she sat and said a quiet, "Thank you." Tori locked her hands together on her lap and waited for Matt to take her breath away.

"Well, you are a smart girl" Rex told Shaylee." There is nothing anyone can say bad about you because you are a really, really good person" Rex explained to Shaylee.

"Alright now, please listen to the lyrics carefully as they are exactly what I want to say to you, but I'm too much of a chicken so I sang them out instead."Taking in a deep breath and praying to Merlin fervently inside his head, Matt started playing. And as he sang, he could feel the force of the words flowing through him. Yes, he had picked the perfect songs to describe his feelings.

"I hung up the phone tonight
Something happened for the first time
Deep inside, it's a rush, what a rush
There's a possibility that you would
Ever feel the same way about me
Just too much, just too much
Why do I keep running from the truth?
All I ever think about is you
You've got me hypnotized, so mesmerized
And I just want to know
Do you ever think, when you're all alone
All that we could be, where this thing can go?
Am I crazy or falling in love?
Is this real or just another crush?
Do you catch your breath when I look at you?
Are you holding back like the way you do?
'Cause I'm trying and trying to walk away
But I know this crush ain't going away...
Has it ever crossed your mind
When we're hanging, spending time, girl
Are we just friends, is there more, even more?
See, it's a chance we've gotta take
'Cause I believe that we can make this into
Something that will last forever, forever..."


Good thing he casted the Muffliato spell around bystanders.

He did exactly what she waited for. He took her breath away. As she listened to the words, her breath caught in her throat. Smiling was all she could manage as her head swam and even in her thought words failed her. Matt chose a beautiful song and she loved it. The way he played and sang, she loved it all.

Tori sat back winded, staring at him in wonder.

"So, what d'ya think?" Matt asked when he was done playing. In an afterthought, he added to further clarify his message: "About the song. Can you give me the answers to all my questions in it? I mean... if you don't feel the same way about me, just say no. I can handle that pretty well, and I don't want anyone to lie to make me feel better." True that.

Tori stared at him for a moment before words found her lost thoughts."Matt, that was beautiful."she stuttered, "I do feel the same way. I've felt this way for sometime but I was too afraid to say." As she spoke, Tori down at her shaking hands, to hide her bright rose pink cheeks.

He had better not be late!

Why was that the first thing that came to her mind, whenever she decided to pair up with Xylon for a homework assignment? Oh yes. Because he was ALWAYS late. In fact, Gold had a feeling it was meant to annoy her, his lateness. She wouldn't put it past Xylon Saar, to show up late, only so that he could see her narrow her eyes at him.

Git.

She sank into a sofa, the one by the fireplace, green eyes calming down as she stared into it, at the burnt-out logs. There were no flames there, right now. It was summer, after all. But she was reminded of all those winter nights when she had lounged here, in this very sofa, watching the flames flicker and die while everybody else slept peacefully.

The thought soothed her.

Late as usual.
---- and this time it wasn't even intentional.

"No apologies that I'm late," Xylon smirked as he slid into the sofa next to her. Why was she staring at the fireplace? Might as well ask. "Why are you staring at the fireplace?"

"Fire," he added.
That figured. Fire. Staring into the fireplace. Get it?

Smirkkkk.

"Well, since you probably don't want to waste your time talking to me ----" He reached into his pocket and tossed her the little square that was actually a paper that had been folded in half before the half had been re-folded into another half. "Have fun."

SPOILER!!: The note

121592 451 15214 4594 582. 1251991459 966 2663 7356 513 55.

Gold lifted her hand, to look at her wristwatch.

"Ten minutes," she said, coolly. Which was when Xylon spoke, and she had to roll her eyes. But of course. He wouldn't care, would he? She shook herself out of her thoughts, and looked away from the fireplace that had held her attention, even after Xylon had arrived. That wanted to hold her attention, even now.

But, of course, she had an assignment to complete.

"I was staring at it because I like it," she said. She didn't need to offer Xylon an explanation, she knew, but there was still something defiant in her tones. Like she was daring him to ask why. But she also knew, even as she spoke, that he wouldn't ask for an explanation.

Deftly, she caught the note. Unfolding it, Gold looked down at the string of numbers that, as of yet, made no sense to her. Of course, they would once she had figured them out. If she could, that is. Calmly, she removed her green gaze from what was written on the note, and looked up at Xylon.

"You haven't told me what makes this code click, Smarty-Pants."

How very like him to forget.

She liked staring at fireplaces? Fine. Her choice.
Xylon wasn't going to question it.

He watched her catch the note --- darn she always managed to catch notes -- and unfold it. What she said then, was exactly what he had expected. He had every notion of telling her he had forgotten and that she would have to work it out herself. But he had no desire to get punched again so he didn't.

"What you see isn't what you should," he said lightly. "You might want to turn each word over."

Emphasis on the 'might.'

Great.

Now he was going to be all enigmatic.

"Maybe you could speak Joe and Jane's Everyday English Language, for a change," she said, the sarcasm in her tones light but apparent. Or French. She understood that better than she understood English, at any rate. It was her mother-tongue, what she had grown up with. So yes, maybe he could switch to that, for a change.

Wait, did Xylon even know French?

With a shrug, Gold flipped open her notebook, balanced it on her knee, dipped her quill in PINK! ink, and got to work. Turn each word over, she told herself. She did so, wondering if the words were jumbled up, even wondering if he had missed out a few to make the task harder for her [as he would no doubt want to] but, after five minutes, the page on her notebook, the one she had jotted the code down on, only read:

She looked at Xylon. "I hope that, at least, is correct," she said, looking down at the 'we'.