Oh dear Merlin's pants. It was that annoying Bart boy. Did he have to come over to her? She really didn't wanna talk to her. "My mom and step dad were...." She mused, shrugging as she turned to look at him. Grace had thought she was going ot be a hufflepuff too. But apparently not. She had gotten used to it now though, and couldn't imagine being in a different house. She loved her house. It was lovely. And she liked being different to her parents. Now she wasn't just a carbon copy of her mother. "My dad was a slytherin." So she was kind of like her dad. She liked that. She didn't see Miles that much, so having some connection with him made her happy. She was sure that it made her happy too.

"Oh?" She didn't really care about his parents that much. Only about her own, and Ava's and Hayley's. Turning back to the trophies she smiled so she looked at the other trophies, finding Hayley's parents too. "Anyway... they ain't funny"

"Step dad? You mean you like the man?" People did that they liked their step parents. He thought this over not that he didn't like Becky she annoyed the hell out of him, but she let him get away with everything. Now Charely he was a different story. Bart liked him, but didn't like him. He was super cool even though he would never admit that, but he wasn't his dad so he felt guilty feeling that way and the fact that the man was the cause of his two siblings bothered him too.

"Yeah mum was a puffer great at Gobbstones. She's over here." He pointed towards those trophies. "Dad was actually a slytherin. He played chaser on his team. He's on a few of the trophies as well." He liked that they were on trophies, "I guess my step dad would be on the trophies for puffs as well. He played I think chaser at school. He was a pro for awhile too." Not that it mattered really.

"Yeah?" Why wouldn't she like Seth? He was pretty cool. And she couldn't remember her life without him in anyway. "He married my mom when I was 3... I don't know life without him." She really didn't. And she loved the man. He was a good dad. Though he'd made a son who was really annoying. So if she could keep Seth and get rid of Frankie it would have been good. "He's cool..." He was. She liked her step father. And she was totally awesome having three parents. She got lots of presents, and got spoilt. It was totally the best thing ever. Although she wondered if her mom and Seth with disappointed that she wasn't a hufflepuff, but she really didn't care.

Ooh. Other trophies. She brushed past him as she headed over to the other trophies. "Sorry" She murmured, not meaning to bump into him. "There's so many trophies." There really was. There was so much cool history in this school. "I hope to be in here one day." Because she was the best. Right?

She liked her step father. How was that possible, but when she explained he understood. "Oh well of course he's cool if you don't know any different. See I know different. My parents split when I was eight. That's when Mum moved to back to London with me." but he assumed everyone heard his accent and knew he wasn't from London. "See the big difference I was almost ten when Dad married Becky and Mum is going to marry Charely this summer." He couldn't help but a roll of the eyes. It was just annoying on both accounts.

He stepped back as an elbow hit his side, "No biggie" He waved off it didn't hurt or anything so whatever. Following over to the other trophies he looked at them. "Yeah maybe I will be to or no not maybe I will be. Made the team this term." Not that he was surprised or anything. He made the team at his old school as well. "Did you make the team?" If she wanted on a trophy she probably should make the team.

Well... Derry was here. She'd wandered up to the third floor to escape the common room - not that there was anything in there to escape... but... she still had this massive feeling of mistrust when she was around a lot of people, that any one of them could know who it was that had helped betray her... that any one of them could be that person. Sigh. It still hurt... a lot. But it wasn't so raw now... it wasn't just pain. It was... mainly sadness. Or something. Eh.

She wandered along the hundreds of trophies and stuff, gazing at names and wondering what the people behind them were like, what kinds of secrets they kept, what they thought when they were alone. Maybe she could write a story about them... or at least use some of these names... it was even better than googling baby name websites for ideas - some of these were brilliant.

Theo was bopping all over the place and busting some serious moves as he made his way through the countless corridors. He had his headphones in and was listening to some awesome muggle tunes. That was definitely something that the muggle world did right - music. He didn't intend to go through the trophy room, but then it crossed his mind that he would CERTAINLY be in here by the end of the term.

Wait, he would, right? He was HEAD BOY.

Best to check out where his name would sit, and stuff.

Continuing to bop through the room, he spotted a familiar shade of red hair so he bounced over and tapped her multiple times on both of her shoulders. "Heeeeeeey!" He sang, then pulled his headphones out and grinned.

Grumble grumble at the fact Slytherin hadn't won Quidditch for a couple of years. And now they COULDN'T because of some IDIOT who thought he was more important than the SANITY of the students. He was going down. She was so going to take him down. ... Somehow.

"Eep!" she hadn't realised she wasn't alone! Derry turned round and... oh, good, it was just Theo. "Hey." she said, giving him a quick grin. Wait... headphones? She pointed at them with an eyebrow raised. "Yours work here?" Derry's iPod was stored in the bottom of her trunk... didn't work here at all. Which SUCKED. Because the little magical radio thing didn't always played the music she wanted it to. Sigh.

Theo quickly flicked his music off and tucked it all back into his pocket, and then he tilted his head to the side at Derry. "Yeah?" He paused.... "Yours don't?" Maybe her music player wasn't as top notch as Theo's. Huh. Anyway...

"You look nice." He commented straight away. "...not that you don't always but..." Like, her top was nice and stuff... Theo scratched his head and found a nice trophy to look at. "What're you doing in here?" He asked casually.

Huh... she was jealous... "Nope, too much magic.. And I guess it's kinda old." Second hand, yep. But she didn't mind, it worked just fine in the muggle world. Maybe there was a charm or something... she'd look into that.

Wait, what? Oh. Derry smiled and fiddled with the edge of her shirt a bit. A little amused grin crept in to replace the smile when he added to his sentence. "Thanks, Theo." she said, just to put him at ease. "I'm just... killing time really... avoiding people." she said, shrugging a little and glancing at the trophy Theo was looking at.

Huh.... weird....

Ohhh, she was smiling, so he must've said something good. Theo smiled back but was still a little awkward. "You're welcome." ............. Why was it that whenever Theo found Derry, she was feeling negative in some way??? Maybe it could be her personality, like his, but she always seemed to him like a much more bright and colourful person than that.

"Why are you avoiding people?" Wait, that was the wrong question. Theo looked away from the trophy and at her with wide eyes. "WHO are you avoiding?" Come on, tell Head Boy Theo. He'll throw a fake poo in someone's shooooe.

She was still smiling a bit - she'd needed that compliment it seemed... and it was making her feel better already. Weird how nice little things could sometimes overcome the big overarching amount of 'ugh' in your brain. It was nice though, she appreciated it.

...Why? Um...

Okay, who was easier. "Józsua..." she said simply, glancing sideways at him. "I guess it's kinda easier not wondering if I'm gonna see him walk through the common room, y'know?" Because if she did see him... she'd probably talk to him. And that would just make all this worse. "...what are you doing up here anyway?"

Józsua?

"Oh..." He paused. Looked like there was trouble in paridise and Theo momentarily wondered whether not to pry... but he was nosy so hey-ho. "What'd he do?" Since those two were romantically attached, right? Ehhh, Theo was quite behind on the gossip even though he shared a dormitory with Józsua. No one told him anything.

What WAS he doing up here?

"I was, umm..." Dancing down the corridor to his jams? "Patrolling." He grinned so proudly that his jaw ached after too long.

Wait... he didn't know? Well this was awkward. ............... Derry paused for a minute, wondering whether or not to tell him what happened. Then realised that this was basically his fault, so she didn't really care who knew what he'd done. "He's a cheat." she said, shrugging eeeever so slightly. "So it's over." Basically. That's all there was to it at this point. Derry was at a point where she was just feeling kinda done with it all... it had exhausted her for long enough. "It's fine though, you don't have to say anything." She was okay. Kind of.

....

Well, no she wasn't, but she'd get there.

... Ah. Patrolling. Derry grinned a bit and she tapped his badge with an index finger.... hmm. "Just checking it's real." she said, nodding slightly. "Yep. Somebody must've gone mad." Teasing, obviously. "Do you have to do extra stuff now you're head boy?" Like, on top of lessons...

GASP.

Theo actually gasped. Not so dramatically, though. Maybe THAT'S why there was tension in the dorms recently. And maybe THAT'S why Ascanius was giving Jozsua looks. "Dang... are you okay?" He couldn't imagine being cheated on... or cheating on anyone. "Are you sure? I can tell him off proper if you want." Threaten him with a detention. He could do that... okay he couldn't actually, but threaten most certainly!!

"Who with?" He said quietly. Because he knew he REALLY shouldn't have asked. DOH.

More than anything, Theo loved badge attention. He didn't know what he would feel when he had to give it up at the end of the year. He knew how hard it was for West, though those were different circumstance, he supposed. "Psssht, 'course it is." He grinned and poked her shoulder gently. "What you talking about? I'm obviously the highest point of leadership in school." PSssssssht... yeah really, they must've gone mad to choose him!!

"Not really extra stuff. I guess I have to be more of a role model." He rolled his eyes a little. It was most difficult in classes because he sucked at magic.

That gasp had actually amused Derry a little. Was she okay..? "Eh... I dunno." she said truthfully, tapping her nose as she thought. "Probably not, but I'm just done feeling rubbish about it y'know?" It's been weeks now, so she was trying not to think about it much. "Nah, don't bother... it's not worth it." Besides, she didn't really want it to cause any more trouble, y'know? She kinda wanted to forget it had even happened.

.....

"No idea." she replied, sighing. "I'm not sure I even care anymore." Lie.

Hey, poking. Psh. Not allowed...... ehehe. Derry flicked his nose a bit in response. "Well, you never know. Might've been hallucinating. Thought that was more likely." She didn't mean that, she actually thought Theo was a pretty good choice. He was a good person - always managed to cheer her up when she was feeling rubbish. "A role model? That sounds like a lot of effort." Well, it did... you had to be nice to people and stuff. "But I think you're probably a good choice." she admitted with a smile. See? She wasn't mean enough to relentlessly tease Theo. Ascanius was a whole other matter, however. But that was just one of the many privileges that came with having Derry as a best mate. Honestly, he was so lucky.

"Well..." Theo opened his mouth as if he was about to go into a long winded advice speech, but too bad that wasn't going to happen. He just wasn't good at that. "What a jerk. You could do so much better." He smiled genuinely. Of course he knew from personal experience how hard it was to get over someone like that, but he figured it would be easier to get over a jerk rather than someone who you thought of as practically perfect. Sigh, love... why bother?

Hmmm... "Good." That she didn't care and stuff. Theo wasn't convinced.

WOAH, nose flicking. Theo's smile disappeared for a quick moment because woah, nose invasion, but he soon let it go. "It's been very real for over a month now, thank you very much." And he was still rocking it. He grooooooaned, "Oh, it is. I dread the day a first year asks me for help in charms class or something." Awwww, she thought he was a good choice. He went all blushy about that, because deep down he didn't really see it.

"You think so? Thanks... Derry." GRINNINNNNNNNG.

Well..? Here goes, someone else with advice..? ... No. Oh. Good. That was... actually nice, y'know? Not having to hear how anyone else would've dealt with something like this. Kind've a relief. ... And everyone seemed to think she could do so much better... but they were all surprised by it too. Why couldn't someone have told her this before she went and gave the role of "first ever boyfriend" to a guy who was going to do that? "Thanks, Theo. I'll keep that in mind, yeah?" She would, really.

Good..? Hmm. Yeah. Maybe. If it was true... but that wasn't the point.

Ehehehe. That expression amused her. People always pulled weird faces when you touched their nose, Derry had noticed, and it always brought a smile to her face for some reason. Just... an observation she'd made. "I know, I know." she said with a grin, glancing back at the badge. "Y'know, they say like ninety percent of leadership is delegation." She wasn't sure who 'they' was, but she knew someone had said it... "So you could just point them in the direction of someone who's awesome at charms. They'd have to listen to you." Right? Maybe.

Awww, he was blushing. Ha! There was something satisfying about seeing other people blush, just because she did it so often... eh. "Yeah, I definitely think so. You're genuine n stuff, y'know?" Like, he was a good person or whatever.

She'll keep it in mind. Pshh, he doubted it. Theo didn't have much common sense when it came to relationships and stuff - not enough experience probably. He scratched the back of his head and for some strange reason he continued to keep saying words. "Good, yeah... not all guys are like that, you know." Just in case this put her off guys for life or anything. Saying that, he never would have expected Jozsua to be that type... but he guessed he really didn't know the guy that well. You never know anyone fully, goooooooosh.

"Yeaaaaaaah, but I like doing it all myself." He liked being the boss. She did have a point with delegating charms work to someone else, though. "Good point. I'll just make out that I'm far too busy with Head Boyish things to help anyone with school stuff." That wasn't a total lie actually. His NEWTs were far more important to focus on instead of helping kids with simple spells. "Yeah, or they get detention." Theo grinned. Basically yeah, not really.

She was enjoying this, wasn't she?! Whether she was doing it on purpose or not, Derry continued with the kind words. "You're giving me such a big head." Hehe... Big head. Head boy. Hehe.

He wondered if he would ever get over this POWER.

Not all guys were like that? Well... obviously. "Yeah, I know. I just thought I was a better judge of people." Eh... apparently not. Józsua was so lovely and unassuming and caring and sensitive, she hadn't even had an inkling that he might not have been totally faithful. Because that was the problem with trusting someone so much - you assumed they'd look after that trust. Eh. "Anyway, can we not talk about it?" Because, really, it sucked. But she was doing much better with sweeping it all under the carpet than she had been with actually dealing with it, so she was going to stay that way.

Doing it all himself..? Hmm. "Yeah, I mean... I get that." she said, pondering it for a second. "But it makes you look way cooler if other people do it for you." She wasn't for a moment suggesting he should take advantage of any of the badge... but he should take advantage of the badge. "I'm not sure people would believe you can give them detention. You'd have to be really convincing." Yup. Though he probably could be - he was a Slytherin after all.

Psh. "Theo, my best friend is Ascanius Stark. Believe me, you do not have a big head." You know, in comparison... "But if you preferred I insult you I could probably have a go at that. Y'know, if you need me to keep you all humble or something."

Theo shrugged and opened his mouth to say more words, but she soon stated that she didn't want to talk about it. Sure she didn't. This wasn't a conversation for Theo. "'Course... sorry." He scratched the back of his head and returned his gaze to the trophies.

"I guess... I just don't think people would do stuff for me." Maybe people that didn't know him would. Theo knew he could get a first year to do his dirty work, but people he knew didn't really take him seriously. Well, that's what he felt like anyway. He raised his eyebrows with a smirk. "You don't think I can be convincing? Plllllllleeeeeeeease... I was born for that sort of trickery." Take one look at his puppy dog eyes and it would confirm that.

............

That was an incredibly good point.

"Okay, not that much of a big head." Though despite being big on the inside, on the outside Ascanius did have a lovely head... just sayin'. "Nooooo, please continue with your compliments." The big head comment was him trying to be humble actually. Hehe.

The trophy room was not a place he visited often. Seeing all those names of past students, his mother included, made him feel slightly guilty for not trying harder in his classes. Michael knew that he was never going to see his name on one.

Well not on the Prefect Shield anyway.

He wasn't entirely sure he wanted to be a Prefect anyway. All that responsibility of patrolling corridors and keeping students in line and making sure you completed every piece of class work and not to mention all the homework.

Bleh! Who needed all that?

"Holy freaking Merlin!"

Look at what he accidentally ran into! Hellooooooooo shiny!

With his hand dug deep into his pockets and his trademark smirk playing across his face, Grayson started walking further and further into the room. His gaze was mainly fixed on the trophies only because they were interesting. Pity you had to be a Prefect or whatever to get one of these. He'd only been here for a couple of months but he was dead sure that no one in their right mind would give him that badge. People with them had to actually care about the younger students and that was NOT something he could do. No thank you.

Regardless, the fourth year still stopped to peer at some of the shields. Did he recognise any of the names? No. He also didn't recognise that boy standing not too far away from him. Not even as he looked the kid up and down. Nope. Didn't know who he was. But that didn't mean that the fourth year was going to leave him alone. Oh no. He could prove to be useful, afterall. Maybe he could share a story or two. Tell Grayson whether these people listed were boring goody two-shoes or as cool as Lex.

Yes. Hello. Sidling up to you, strange new kid.

"Thinking about getting your name on one of these bad boys?"

Michael shoved his hands in his pockets and had just turned on his heel, having had enough of looking at trophy's that were never going to wear his name when he almost walked straight into someone.

"Bloody hell mate." The guy almost scared the crap out of him. Not that Michael would ever admit that. Gryffindors don't get scared.

His gaze cut back to the glass cabinet and he shrugged his shoulders. "Nah. Means I would have to be a good boy." And not to mention it would mean more time away from Zahra.

"What about you? Is it your life's ambition to see your name on the shiny?"

Had he scared the boy? GOOD. He wasn't sorry. The boy was going to get some of the best company around so he should be grateful. Uh huh. Smirking slightly, he raised his eyebrows at the boy before saying, "You okay there?"

He had to be a good boy. See, Grayson would have wholeheartedly agreed to that but his views had been changed thanks to a certain Gryffindor. "You know, you could always be a cool Prefect. Like Lex. Nobody wants a good two-shoes helping to run their house." Nope. At least, HE certainly didn't.

His life's AMBITION?! "Oh no no! Are you kidding me? You actually have to be responsible and look after the people in your house, some of which could be a right stuck up old bunch." Was he talking too much? He didn't care. "The power it provides sounds great."

The little smirk on the other guy's face caused Michael to frown a little. He was one of those Slytherins. "I'm fine." He said with a shrug of his shoulders.

Oh so he knew Lex? Not surprising really. Alexa Cambridge seem to know everyone. "Well that is true. My mum had been a Prefect when she was here and I heard that she was...rather cool as well." Was that the right word for someone who used their fists to keep the students in line? "She didn't mind breaking a rule or two." Or three.

Now it was Michael's turn to smirk a little at the Slytherin's reaction to being a Prefect. "I think it's more of a case of looking out for them, then looking after them." And he certainly was your typical Slytherin wasn't he? All about the power.

"You know, there is that saying that 'with great power comes great responsibility.'" Or something to that effect. "What's your name anyway?"