How's life? Dallin almost laughed, but then he realized that Vashti was probably just trying to make conversation. And he kind of felt bad. He probably wasn't the best person to have a conversation with lately, considering his weird moods since the break up.

Meh.

"Life is... well, it has it's ups and downs." That was a good way to put it. "I turned eighteen a few days ago," That had been fun, with his birthday party with Ellie Stone and Treyen. "But then there's classes and stuff, so that's not as fun." He didn't mention Ellie Johanson.

He looked around and saw that the staircase was moving back to it's previous position. Vashti would probably want off there, if she was going to the library. So Dallin moved away from the banister and took a step down onto the step that Vashti was standing on, so she wouldn't have to walk around him to continue up the stairs. "...Your life? How is it?"

Life has its ups and downs. That wasn't really the answer she'd been expecting, but she could definitely agree with that statement. And...oh, he'd turned eighteen? "Happy belated birthday then," she said with a smile. She felt a tiny bit bad about being late, but she hadn't known it was his birthday until right then since they didn't talk very often. She wasn't sure when the last time she'd actually spoken to him was.

But...the classes were the down part? Really? Just classes... "And Ellie?" That part came out before she really thought about it. Oi. But maybe if she just kept talking and answered his next question he'd forget she'd said anything. His and Ellie's relationship really wasn't her business even though Ellie had already told her about what had happened and sort of made it her business.

Her life? Eh. "It's okay, I suppose. Same as what you said before. Life has its ups and downs and all that..."

"S'cuse me... Pardon me... Sorry, excuse me." Ellie mumbled her pardons as she made her way up the staircase. She accidentally stepped on some firsties toes, too, when the stairs started moving.

Oh, well wasn't that peachy? Now she had to wait for the stairs to go all the way back. There was some downsides about moving staircases. One:, they moved. Two: the moved when you didn't want them to. And three: they moved so slooooow. Ugh. Ellie had a hot date with a Common Room study table and she didn't want to be late before it gave up and let someone else take a seat.

... That was weird. Anyway.

As Ellie managed to push her way to the top, she halted immediately when she saw Dallin's shoes. Yes, she was positive those were his because he wore them all the time. Ellie didn't even look up. She just held onto the banister and looked around at all the other many staircases and portraits and scurrying children... But she wanted to look. GUH. She wanted to see him. Really bad. And she couldn't help it; she missed him! Ellie bit her lip and sneaked a peek. There he was. :3

Oh, Vashti was there too. Ellie looked away again and nonchalantly readjusted the bag on her shoulder. There. That would hold her over until she saw him again in the common room or something.

"Well thank you," Dallin said with a grin when Vashti wished him a happy birthday. It was always fun when people found out that he had just had his birthday. Because then it seemed like it lasted longer, because people kept saying it.

Her next question surprised him out of his birthday musings. Ellie? How did she - Hmph. Ellie must have talked to her. That was the only explanation. And Dallin supposed that was fair... since he told someone about their problem it was okay for Ellie to, too. And it seemed like Vashti cared, since she was asking him about -

- Speak of the Devil. Dallin's eyes almost automatically found Ellie as she came onto the stairs. He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye and saw her... looking at him. And something kind of snapped in his brain. That is the only way he could describe it. He saw Ellie and he wanted to make her mad. Or jealous. Upset. He wanted her to regret leaving him.

With no warning he reached forward to put two fingers under Vashti's chin. In the same split second he tipped it up a bit, leaned forward, and... kissed her. On the lips.

He didn't seem unhappy that she was belatedly wishing him a happy birthday, which was good. Not that he should've been unhappy since she didn't know when his birthday was, but... Where was she going with this? She didn't really know.

It seemed something had suddenly caught Dallin's attention, and Vashti followed it to find... Ellie? Huh. Funny how she just popped up when Vashti had just said her-

HOLYMERLINONATRICYCLE.

WHAT was Dallin doing?! His lips were on hers and...just...WHAAAAAT?!

For a few seconds, Vashti was too shocked to do anything. She just kind of froze up, eyes wide. Then instinct kicked in. She couldn't move away from him since the staircase banister was right behind her, so she instead put her hands on his shoulders and tried to push him away.

Okay, sure. Ellie sort of promised herself she wouldn't look at Dallin again while they were there. But he looked at her. She saw it out of the corner of her eye. And she wanted to look at him again. Pathetic? Maybe. But she missed him. Even though she left him.

Trying to be as sneaky as possible, Ellie first looked up at Vashti. That way, it just looked like Ellie was looking at everyone around her and not exclusively at -

What.

Dallin. Vashti. Dallin and Vashti. They were... kissing.

Ellie's face fell. Her stomach dropped. Her heart stopped. And she just stared at them. Eventually, Ellie saw Vashti push him away. Rightly so. But Ellie was still incredibly... she didn't even know. How could she describe what she was feeling right now?

Her eyes were on Dallin. She couldn't tear them away from him, and it was for a different reason than ever before. It was the first time she had actually felt some sort of... hate towards him.

No, she didn't hate him. Maybe she thought so, but in the back of her mind, she knew she could never hate Dallin. But... How could he do that to her?

Finally, Ellie looked down and away from Dallin. She swallowed the large lump in her throat and silently hoped to Merlin this staircase would move faster. She wanted to cry. And punch him. And kick him. But all she could do was stand there and let her eyes water up while she waited for the staircase to stop moving.

Honestly, Dallin didn't know what made him do it. And as soon as his lips touched Vashti's he knew he should stop. For some reason, though, his mind didn't make him stop until he realized Vashti was pushing him.

Suddenly, he pulled away. His eyes widened in shock at himself and he back up to the opposite banister.

He. Felt. Horrid.

And he hoped Ellie saw that.

Shaking his head to try to clear it, Dallin looked up at Vashti. He was almost surprised to see her still standing there, but then he realized there wasn't much else for her to do. They were on a moving staircase in the middle of nowhere. She would probably run away from him at the first chance she got, though.

So. "I'm sorry," he said really quietly. It was sincere though. He was sorry. He should not have kissed her.

Vashti wasn't really sure how long the kiss actually lasted - her brain wasn't really functioning at the moment - but finally she managed to push him away. Or he pulled away. But either way, at least they were no longer kissing. Her hand went instantly to her mouth, and her eyes turned to Ellie, hoping she hadn't seen that. But, obviously, she had. And Dallin knew she was there. Why had he...

Oh...

As Ellie looked away, Vashti wanted to go over and apologize. Her apology wouldn't help at all, and she didn't really have anything to apologize for since Dallin was the one who kissed her, not the other way around, but she remained rooted to the spot. Anything she said probably wouldn't help what Ellie was feeling right now. She was now the girl her ex-boyfriend had just kissed. Ellie probably didn't want to be near either of them now.

Vashti finally tore her eyes away from Ellie and looked back at Dallin just as he told her he was sorry. "It..." She started to say, "it's okay," as she usually said when someone apologized, but she stopped herself for once. This wasn't okay. At all. "Yeah..." was all she could get out as she avoided his eyes.

Fortunately, the staircase had reached its landing and finally stopped. It was definitely time for her to leave. "Well...bye," she said, not wanting to be completely rude by just walking away. She tried not to look at either Dallin or Ellie as she turned and ran walked quickly away.

Ellie refused to look at them now. Even though Vashti didn't do anything wrong, she didn't want to look at her either. She was just a piece in Dallin's game, apparently. Besides, she couldn't really see anything either, because her eyes were full of tears that she didn't want to let fall down her cheeks.

Stupid emotions. Stupid boys. Stupid slow-moving staircase.

Wait... He was sorry? Oh, yeah, like that would fix things. Ellie almost laughed, but Vashti started to say something. And she silently thanked Merlin that she hadn't said it was okay. Because it was most certainly not okay.

And then Vashti was gone. Ellie looked up to see that the staircase had finally stopped moving. Quickly, she walked up the rest of the stairs, right past Dallin and onto the floor. But, she paused... Finally blinking, Ellie let a few tears down as she bit the inside of her cheeck.

Then, she turned around, walked down a step, and smacked Dallin across the face. She hoped that would sting and leave a nice, red hand print on his cheek. It made a good sound, so she had faith.

Ellie looked at him for a second, trying to think of something to say to him. She wanted to whip out every curse she knew on him, but she didn't. She couldn't. So, she just hoped he could see how much that hurt her. And then she walked away.

Dallin couldn't move. His mind just wasn't working. The only thing he was thinking about was how sorry he was. To Vashti, mostly. He tried to say something that was better than just 'I'm sorry...' but he didn't know what. He was completely speechless. And this was the worst time to be like that. So he just watched as she walked away. He would try to talk to her some other time, maybe. If she'd want to. So he could explain. Try to apologize again. He would do it now, but he thought it might be better to just... wait.

Chancing a glance down at Ellie, he saw that she was coming up the stairs. And he quickly looked away again. He saw her feet as she walked past him... then stopped. Please don't say anything...

She walked back to him, though. Dallin tipped his head up just in time to watch Ellie's hand near him and connect with his face. A nice sharp pain came from his cheek and his eyes closed as his head snapped to the other side. Ouch! He stayed completely still for a few seconds before he looked back at Ellie again... and she was walking away too. Grimacing, Dallin lightly touched his cheek. It stung.

With a groan, he slid down the side of the banister to sit on the floor.

Brooke grinned. It would have been awkward. Though- Brooke was sure she could manage such a situation. "Right?" A short giggle escaped before she nodded. "It was- something. That's for sure." Yeah, that covered it. And she didn't exactly want to bother Taryn with her summer story. She'd already written a letter to Marie, she just.. needed someone to send it for her. Maybe she could ask Taryn? "Could I bother you with a favor, maybe?" Shy grin.

The blond waved a hand. "Don't worry about it. I'm sure you'll be fine at it." An encouraging smile appeared on the sixth year's face as she turned the ball in her hands. Surely, they'd have fun either way. "Yeah, that's true." Though Brooke would probably play in the snow, and not be overly bothered by it.

Wait for it....... wait for it...... JUMP!!!! Laci jumped right off the platform, onto the moving staircases as they were just moving. It gave her the greatest thrill. Then she'd run down the stairs to the next platform waiting for the same thing to happen with the lower staircase.. One..... Two.....THREE! JUMP! Laci jumped, and almost landed perfectly, except, her ankle twisted, "Woahhhh!..... Ow..." Laci slid down half the staircase..... Good one....

Ellie was casually climbing the stairs to the common room after yet another one of her practices. She was slightly down in the dumps, though, for she didn't feel like she was improving much. It was scary. What if she was at her Quidditch prime already? What if she NEVER got better? What if-

Person.

Her blue eyes shot to the source of the...moaning. To find Laci! Her...what did she call them? Flame-haired? Her flame-haired friend.

But her flame-haired friend didn't look at all as cheerful as she had that day on the platform. "You alright?" Clearly, she wasn't too alright, or she wouldn't be moaning but...perhaps it wasn't anything severe?

Laci looked up to find Ellie. HER FIRST FRIEND! "Oh yes, I should be fine. I just twisted my ankle a bit." Smile! "But it was well worth it.... Anyways. Did you know it takes about a week to make a jellybean?" She pondered that for a bit, "It makes me very appreciative to the makers of jelly beans." Now Laci stood up, a little wobbly at first then she caught hold of the rail and steadied herself. "What are you up to Ellie? You don't look so cheerful today."

...Well, Laci'd make a great Quidditch player. What with the casting off injuries. Ellie wanted to ask how she managed to twist her ankle, but the girl kept talking. So she listened instead.

And learned something new. It took a week to make a jellybean? "Really? Is it the same with Botts beans?" Ellie knew a Bott, you know. She wasn't very fond of said Bott, but...meh. Perhaps magic was able to speed things up, though. "Where'd you learn that, anyway?" A jellybean maker?

"Practicing," she shrugged. What else was new. "I don't think I'm getting any better, though." Which was incredibly discouraging. The Captain had firmly believed that practice made perfect but...what happened when practice put you right back where you already were?

"Hmm.. Bott's Beans... I guess the magic would be able to shave off at least a couple days.. perhaps three or four.... But I doubt they could produce the beans instantly, even with magic." Then Laci stayed quiet for a minute while she pondered the thought. Then Ellie spoke again.. "Oh, Friends of friends... I've learned a lot of things traveling with the circus."

Practicing, she guessed Quidditch from how Ellie looked and from what was told to her on the platform, her friend loved that sport. "Maybe there's no better point to be at then where you are." That could be used for quidditch, could be used for anything else too. "I would very much like to watch you play at your next game." Said Fire-Head. "You seem to be the best at what you do." Matter or factly... She was.. wasn't she?

There was much nodding on the Ravenclaw's part. Making a bean instantly didn't cross her mind. It'd be pretty cool, though. To just HAVE a bean whenever you wanted. But even potions took time, from what little about the subject Ellie knew, so candy might not be that much different. Just much tastier. And she wouldn't mind making candy at all. So Laci learned from friends...or friends...hmmm. "A lot of things about jellybeans?"

Well that was what she was afraid of, wasn't it? That she just couldn't get better. She hated it. She felt stuck. Like someone glued her feet to the floor, preventing her from continuing. "But there must be a better, right? I mean, there are players that are better than me. Professionals are no doubt MUCH better than I am." Ellie refused to believe that there was no better for her. Not yet, anyway.

Oh. That made her smile. "You should come, then. We're playing Hufflepuff so it should be pretty interesting. Their Seeker was incredible last match." Honestly, Ellie was terrified of the first year Seeker.

And THAT made her blush. But she didn't comment. They'd just have to wait and see, yeah? If she could keep winning, she might actually start to believe that.

Laci almost spoke about the many things she had learned about jelly beans and some other random topics.. Until Ellie talked about finding a better in herself... which made Laci more curious and thoughtful. "perhaps the forces and nature of the quidditch ways want you to be content with yourself for a while, before moving on of course. All magic, even quidditch I suppose, has a way of speaking for itself.. " Not that Laci was philosophical or anything. Though every once in a while she would bubble up something unlike herself.. Even if being herself was just completely random.

Ellie hesitated, drinking in what Laci said.

She disagreed, of course. Or, at least, she didn't want Laci to be right. She didn't want to be content with herself. How was that even possible? There must be some way somehow to improve.

But maybe Laci was right. Maybe it just took time. "As long as I do move on," she shrugged.

"What have you been up to?"

Ella was sick of studying and sick of the cold. She decided that a nice ride on the moving staircase would be a good way to relax. She stepped on to the stairs, taking a seat close to the railing so as not to block anyone walking by her. Then she felt the familiar moving sensation and smiled.

Laci shrugged and tilted her head to both sides, "This and that I suppose, Lately, I've been looking for a dress to wear so if I stand on my head, it wont fall down to my chin. I'd like a dress that stays straight and wont show anything when I stand on my head... Do you know of such a dress?" For Laci had been most puzzled by the problem for quite some time now.... "Though, someone once told me that starch makes your clothes straighter..... I was thinking of taking my dress to the kitchens to experiment with spaghetti noodles..... Pasta is very heavy in starch you know.. So it should make my dress straight... Care to join me?"

A dress?

Ellie wrinkled her nose in disgust. "I know NOTHING about dresses." Simply because they were GROSS inventions and she refrained from going near such monstrosities. "But I know that Muggle shorts and pants don't fall down like skirts do." So maybe Laci should just wear a pair of those instead?

Oh, to the kitchens?! "Sure!" She didn't much care about this whole dress predicament Laci was in, but she could surely munch on chocolates while she watched.

As she walked along the third floor corridor, coming closer and closer to the moving staircase, a smirk appeared on her face. Ah, yes, the place where she and her partner-in-crime, Ariadne came up with the idea of sliding over the moving staircase. Heheee… that was fun, the young Ravenclaw remembered. In her right hand, she held a piece of parchment with the sketch of the suits of armor. Sadly, she didn’t feel very inspired that day, so it was simply a failed attempt of drawing that right.

Still twirling the piece of paper in her hands as she ascended the staircase, Gwendolyn started folding the edges, then the margins… and, after a few seconds, she’d made a paper plane out of it. Raising her hand slowly, she threw the plane. WHOOOSH.

Ugh! So much studying. Honestly, Evelyn was literally going to go mad if she read anymore. She still had homework left but she was going to do it later. Honestly, she wanted to take a break..so here she was, roaming around Hogwarts as usual. She'd been doing that a lot the past few days but it was fun. A lot of fun.

Ooh! The moving staircase. The girl stepped on to the stairs and leaned against the railing with a sigh. The staircase could move a little faster..heh.

Although it was one of those lame activities she didn’t care about, the third year had to admit throwing that paper plane was rather relaxing. Pfft. Anyhow- she needed a break from studying. Yes. She was going to follow her friends’ advice and stop covering herself in books and stay away from the library. Yes. She was going to do that. As her plane zoomed down the moving staircase, Gwendolyn followed it, skipping some of the stairs as she tried to catch it again.

As soon as she was getting closer to the paper airplane, Gwendolyn stopped in front of another girl, managing to avoid bumping into her. Since when did her reflexes start working properly??? O_______o Blimey.

‘Oh… sorry’, she smirked at the girl as she retrieved her plane. It only now occurred to Gwendolyn how silly this may have seemed. Psh. There was nothing else she could have done instead of making a plane? Seriouslyyy??? ‘I- I don’t believe we met before’, she even tried to smile as she looked back at the other student. ‘I’m Gwen, by the way. Gwen Greene’, the young Ravenclaw said while extending her hand.