Damien was no stranger to this particular stretch of wall, in fact it was quite the familiar sight to the American boy, but this was his first time re-visiting since the beginning of term and it was mostly because he was planning a special surprise for Roria and he thought the room would be a nice place for it.

He just had to figure out what the surprise should be.

A movie theater? A Roller derby Rink for her to practice her moves on? Maybe he could get the room to put on a holographic Metallica concert… They had missed it after all, or at least he had.

Hm. Hm. Hm.

Or maybe….

Damien leaned against the wall and crossed his arms, his expression thoughtful as he re-considered his options.

Eden hadn't frequented the Room of Requirement much this term, since Phe had left. She had no use for it, really. But nevertheless, the Ravenclaw kind of wanted to check it out for some..privacy. She wanted to read in privacy. Write a letter to her Mam. Tell her ALL the things...since she hadn't visited home once...

But it seemed someone was already there.

"Looky here....Damien Belfort...Anderson...Anderson Belfort...something." She snorted and just smirked as she approached. "Fancy seeing you here..." she told her friend as she greeted him with a hug. A tight, friendly hug. She was just...feeling the love lately, it seemed. "How are you? I feel like we haven't talked in forever..."

Dragging his cello down from Ravenclaw tower was getting tiresome, but Thornton didn't like to chance the availability of the Room or the quality of the instruments therein, so this was his only option.

Well, not really. It was an option to practice in the common room. But that would mean actually staying in the common room to practice and that... knowing what he knew... was not going to happen.

Approaching the wall where he would lean and imagine an acoustically balance practice space, the increasingly gangly Eagle hesitated and then came to a full stop. There were people there. Eden, in particular, with someone he didn't know. Thornton weighed his options as he set his case on the floor. He could go find a classroom, though the acoustics were often terrible. He could decide that practice wasn't happening today, though he really wanted to play. He could risk the common room, though the chances that he would run into Maddie or Kyroh or Dima nearly ruled that out immediately. He could hope... that they were just lingering. Picking up his case, Thornton decided and approached them.

"Coming or going?" Please be going... please be going... Thornton just really needed the room.

And, for the second time lately, Damien’s little reverie was interrupted by the Irish tones of- “Eden McGee.” Was he still annoyed with her (unreasonably so)? Damien check his feelings as the blue-eyed young woman approached. No, no he didn’t suppose he was, because there he was, smiling away at her.

He chuckled, the sound deep and friendly as he hugged the back. “I’m good, really good... For the first time in a while, actually.” And Yeah, it was totally because Roria had finally agreed to take him back, Damien was man enough to admit that.

He’d been about to inquire after her when someone else approached them, a ‘Claw, one as gangly and lanky as himself and he was carrying a… Cello? Interesting, super interesting, curiouser and curiouser, you know?

Damien laughed good naturedly. “Which one means we’re using he room?” If this dude really needed it though, Damien wouldn’t be opposed to letting him have it.

He kind of looked like he needed a break.

Eden was glad Damien was in a good mood. He had been sooo glum recently, like herself. She was honestly in such a touchy mood that she leaned on him slightly and was....well, invading his personal space, probably.

"Yeah? I'm glad....is there any particular reason why?" she wanted to know WHO ELSE DESERVED A HUG. Damien deserved another hug. He did. So she gave him one and just squiiiiiiiished his face. "I LOOOOOVEEEE you D!"

Eden was in a really good mood.

So much so that she beamed when she saw Thornton-poor guy seemed a bit mellow and down, though. So she wiped her smile off and stepped towards him. "Hey....Thorn...how are you? You okay? You need a hug?" and without his permission--eeeee--she SQUISHED him into a hug. "You're just soooo adorable, Thorny--DON'T LOOK SO GLUM--"

Ahem.

Eden composed herself and pulled back. "Thorn--this is Damien--Damien, Thornton--" she introduced them. "Um..I was going to go write a letter, but...if you wanna' practice--I can write a letter anywhere."

"Coming, would be about to use the room, I suppose," Thornton said a little glumly, since it was now clear that they had arrived to use it. He was about to say more, when Eden squished him in a giant hug. Merlin's beard, that was unexpected and Thornton's arms were pretty much pinned to his sides, as he'd once again set down his cello case.

"Eden.. Eden, I'm ok, please let go.." he managed to eek out as the older girl positively smushed him.

When she finally let him go, he straightened his shirt before looking up at Damien. "Nice to meet you," he said as Eden introduced them. Perhaps a bit uncharacteristically, Thornton did not offer his hand. He picked up his cello case again, though, and forced an unconvincing smile. "No no, if you were here first, the room is yours. I can... find somewhere else."

Or maybe just go back to bed.

Merlin, he hadn’t seen Eden this affectionate and this, well, happy in the longest time. It was pretty nice actually, because even through all their little petty squabbles and his recent jealousy, Damien still cared very much for Eden Patricia McGee and wanted nothing more than for her to be content. He grinned. “Well, there is onereason… “ He wanted to elaborate, really he did, but Eden was squishing his face and proclaiming her love and that kind of made answering tricky. “I love you too, E- Damn,” Damien chuckled, making a point of rubbing his cheeks as she released him.

And people thought he was silly.

Oh look, Gangly Ravenclaw was getting the same love treatment, he didn’t look at all that pleased about it, Damien, being the polite, considerate creature that he could be, turned away and pulled out his bubble pipe to give himself something else to focus on. Laughing at the boy would be rude, after all, especially because he really did look glum like Eden said.

“Nice to meet you too, Thornton,” Damien replied, tapping the pipe with his wand and blowing out navy blue bubbles over the heads of the two Eagles. He shook his head, pulling the pipe from his lips. “We can find other places, I’m sure. I just really wanted to try out the room’s capabilities, I have a surprise in mind for someone, but I can do that any time.” It was the truth, yeah, maybe it would be a little inconvenient to have to come back, but he could live.

‘sides, it wasn’t like he had a hell of a lot going on at the moment, that was the beauty of the sixth year lull.

“Or, you know, we could all use it together.” He shrugged again, it was an idea.

Eden let go of poor Thornton and sighed. She wanted to hug him again, though. What if he really needed loving right now? "Really? Thorn--it's okay. We can go somewhere else--or we can share it--it doesn't matter. Don't let us ruin your plant."

;___; Baby Thorn...

She nudged Damien a bit and slapped an arm around his shoulders. PALS 5EVA. Kind of. When they weren't ticked off at each other. "Damien is a really cool kid AND he happens to be VEEEERY knowing when it comes to the ladies." She said. Because she figured Thorn's sads were GIRL sads. What other kind of sads could they be?

His crush had probably...not gone as expected. Sigh. Eden wouldn't ask, but she just assumed as much..."I'd love to hear you play sometime, you know. I hear you're really good...."

Thornton was exceptionally grateful to have been let go and he took a step back once he'd been released. He glanced over at Damien as Eden spoke, but turned his attention back to his cello when she mentioned him knowing about ladies. Thornton knew exactly what she was getting at and though he tried not to sigh, his face showed exactly how little he wanted to talk about that.

"I.. I can share the room, yeah, that works," he said, having considered how little he wanted to carry his cello elsewhere and how rude it would be to just claim the room for himself. He looked over to Damien, who he assumed would do the honors of opening the room.

"All I need is a chair."

Damien laughed, the sound as light as air. “I am a really cool kid, cooler than cool.” He grinned, blowing out another parade of bubbles from his pipe and making a quiet, but quick study of the young dude. From what Edy said and the look on this guy’s face, Damien guessed Thornton’s issue was not having to drag along a cello, but was actually lady related.

He knew that pain, knew it deeper than most, yeah, he was so not sending the kid away.

The Gryffindor playfully tugged on Eden’s hair as he pulled out of her half-hug. “Just a chair? We can do better than that.” Damien replied, cracking his jaw before taking up a small space before the expanse of wall that hid the miraculous room.

We need a large, comfortable room… With Chintz Chairs… a record player… a small fridge with drinks in it would be nice too… oh, and maybe a pool table.. Damien thought, letting the image of the room loop in his mind along with the words.

And the door appeared.

Damien grinned at the two eagles. "Shaaaaaaalll we?" It was rhetorical, because Damien was already waltzing through the door.

SCORE! Thorn was going to SHARE the room, and Eden would finally get to hear him play his cello! She was so EXCITED. "DAMIEN THINK OF SNACKS. FOOD." She was starving, like always. She smiled over at Thornton...

"Hey..." she said softly, and tried to soften her gaze. "I'm here to talk...if you EVER need to...ever...it can be about anything...or...if you don't wanna' talk at all but don't wanna' be alone...I can do that, too..." she wanted to let him know. Her hand had found his shoulder, and was squeezing it lightly before she looked back over at Damien.

Silly, silly Damien. "I wanna' try your bubble pipe, mate!" she would wait until they actually got IN the room, though. "And..Thorn--how the heck do you carry that thing around everywhere?" He must be super strong. SUPER.

"Thorn--you go first--" she smiled and gave him a little nudge.

"No, really, all I need..." but Thornton cut himself off because he could tell that the older boy was already thinking of the room and the young eagle did not want to distract him. Otherwise maybe they'd only end up with a chair.

He glanced over at Eden and nodded slightly. "Thanks.. I.. I don't think I wanna talk much about it. I just wanna play." Because at this point, Thornton had at least been able to divorce playing his cello from who he had really enjoyed playing his cello /for/...

If only his lack of accountable study buddy wasn't still a problem.

Nodding, Thornton followed Damien toward the door and into the room...

SPOILER!!: Zeke

He remembered! Brownie points for him, right? Right?

Zeke couldn't say he really knew much about hip hop, or ballet, or jazz or whatever, and he couldn't really say that he had a liking for one style over another, he just kinda... didn't dance at all. So this was bound to be a growing experience for him. He hoped though, that for the most part, he would only be watching... there was no need to traumatise his friend with his lack of coordination.

"Cool," he nodded as he continued to walk, exiting the great hall.

The silence that grew between them both as they walked up the stairs all the way to the seventh floor was a comfortable silence. As excited and happy as Hady was she didn't feel the need to say much however she did give him a bright cheerful grin.

There was just one regret the small girl had right this moment. And that was... why the heck did this room have to be so far away from the Dungeons? Really, all the way up on the seventh floor? Luckily she was incredibly hyper so the stairs didn't tire her out at all. As they reached the wall where they door would appear...hopefully... Hady looked over at Zeke.

"Will you give it a try?" She asked quietly a neutral expression on her face. If he didn't want to she wouldn't make him but having an idea of how big a room they needed would help.

The walk was all too familiar for him, and the silence was comfortable between them, allowing him to count his steps and stare at portraits... no matter how frequently he passed by here, each time he noticed something different, learned something new.

..

And then they were here.. or... was it here? of course ti was here!!!

He peered over to Hady at her question. Uhh.

"I didn't think I had a choice..." did that answer her question?

It was here, she knew it was. She just wanted to get inside and see the place where things were hidden. It had been a very long time since she had been in there, and she was curious as to see if it had changed since the last time. After all, it was her final year. She would never get a chance to see it again. Zhenya stood in the hallway in front of the piece of wall she was sure hid the entrance to the room of requirement. She just hadn't walked past it three times yet.

Abby had just come back out of her common room when she saw Zheyna standing in front of a wall and said "Hey Zheyna, i guess you are looking for the room of requirement" Abby wasn't sure if she had been in there before but she was curious about the room now that she had read about it so many times

Zhenya vaguely registered footsteps approaching her, but it wasn't until she heard someone speak, then say her name, that she turned and saw Abby. With a smile, Zhenya greeted her friend "Hi Abby," then looked back to the wall. "Yeah, I needed a break from study and thought I'd come here, just to have a look inside the room again. Have you been in here?" Zhenya remembered practicing a spell there in one of her first years. She couldn't remember what spell it was.

Abby looked at Zheyna and said "I actually have never been in the room at all Zheyna and i can understand you wanting a break from your studying"

"Haven't you? Well, how about you come in with me then?" Zhenya asked, kind of wanting a bit of human company. The walls and the chatter of other Slytherins wasn't quite the interaction she needed every now and then.

Abby smiled at Zheyna and said "You know i would really like that for sure Zheyna" Abby was happy to have met Zheyna she would miss her when she left later in the year