Oliver nommed on the chocolate frog and shook her hand. "Kye, That's a cool name. Is it short for something?" It sounded like a nickname but who knows? There were those names that sounded like nicknames but weren't. Names were weird.

"Oh, Yeah. You're right i'm a fifth year." So she was a bit younger.

"I've seen you around too." He was also trying to not study. Well... he was but he didn't want to and procrastination loves company. "What are you up to other than sharing chocolate frogs?"

Was it necessary to proclaim one's annoyance out loud the way the Baron did? While most of the time she enjoyed pleasantries with her house ghost, he was ruining her morning.

"Good morning, Sir Baron," Skylar greeted, trying to not let his negative attitude get her down. "You know, just because you have a love hate thing going on the Ravenclaw House Ghost, doesn't mean you have to take it out on the rest of us. But you're right on one accord, in that we shouldn't just celebrate this holiday one day out of the year.... We should celebrate it every day." If you were lucky enough to have love, why single it out like that?

The Baron was about to give the listening student ears another earful of his annoyance over this hateful, tasteless and super foolish holiday that just reminded him of what he didn't have, when one of the younger snake girls decided to greet him.

Floating around to hover in front of the brunette haired fourth year the Baron stared at her through wide black eyes and hoarsely whispered "Good morning Ms Diggory," The comment she made about his relationship with her ladyship made him retort strongly. "Lady Helena is the love of my life. I don't hate her. I dissaprove of her choices....."

Shaking his head in disgust the Baron groaned out. "Tasteless, utterly tasteless! One day of love is quite enough! You're clearly all too love-eyed to see that Valentines is a foolish holiday."

Kye sat up straight, put her hands on her hips, nose in the air and said mockingly, "Valkyrie."
Going back to her previously slightly hunched sitting position, she laughed. "My grandfather chose it," she told him. "I don't mind it either way, but it seems he expects a lot from me... For now, I'm Kye."

Ah, so he was a year above her... She knew they had been here together at least a couple of years, but she was terrible with guessing ages and whatnot.

At his next question, Kye sighed deeply. "Well... I got this Charms paper a couple days ago and I haven't started yet. I like doing charms, but writing papers...?" She trailed off.

She thought about her chocolate frog, which she could still taste in her mouth. "I'm still hungry. I can't write a good paper while I'm hungry...
you know? I lack focus..." She debated grabbing more of her personal supply of sweets, but she decided to wait. "What about you?"

Ah getting into an argument discussion with the Baron was probably not the wisest of decisions. Especially given his reputation, but at least she was being respectful and not all ooey-gooey. She reserved that for the corners where no one was watching.

"Of course you don't hate her. But resenting her because of her choices is kind of holding you back." There was also the part about him being dead that probably held him back too, but no need remind him of that. "Why regret things you can't change?"

She grinned though when he retorted that one day of love was enough. "I don't disagree with you. Valentines day is rather foolish, but I do disagree that about limiting love to one day. And preventing others from enjoying the love they have is only going to make you unappreciative and more resentful for what you could have but are held back by regrets..."

Was young Ms Diggory right? Could his resentment be holding him back? That was preposterous. He was the Bloody Baron and he was never wrong. He drew himself up to his fullest height. "You might be right about regretting things that cannot be changed but I refuse to give up on what I believe.''

Clank.

Clunk.

The Baron's impatient shifting made his chains clank even louder. "Have you always thought this way, Ms Diggory? Or has your opinion changed since you've began dating one Brent Westwood?''

Oliver grinned at the display happening in front of him. Wow!

"That's a really cool name though.. But i guess i get the pressure it might bring." He figured being named after what was basically a Norse Angel would seem daunting once you could understand it. "Kye it is then!" Because if she didn't want to be called Valkyrie he wouldn't do it.

"I totally get you there, i'm like pretty good at charms." This was of course an understatement, it was his best class. "But i'm sooooo bad at writing papers." He laughed a little. It had been getting better, OWLs and the knowledge of what he wanted to do with his life had give him more drive and direction to get better at things he wasn't before, but that wouldn't make them easy.

Nodding at the snack statement he wondered if his stomach would make a noise as if on queue. It did not. "I'm almost always hungry really." This made the fifth year chuckle. "But if i try to snack while i study i usually get distracted. Focusing in general can be really hard for me."

She smiled when he spoke his mind about her name. It's not that she wasn't happy with it, but as he had stated... She nodded as he agreed with her sentiments.

She almost laughed at his last words. She knew the feeling quite well.

"Well, if you'd like to join me, we can go get some food in the Great Hall, we can come back and work on homework together? Make sure the other is actually progressing, you know?" She laughed, but she knew she could be at least slightly guilted into working harder if she studied with someone else. It was her competitive nature. Maybe Oliver was similar?

Honestly, either way, she needed something more filling than part of a chocolate frog in order to seriously work on this paper.

"Do you fare better in here than the library or outside d'you think?" she wondered aloud. Those were her favorite places when the common room suffused with noise.

Join her in the Great Hall? Yes.. That sounded perfect. He needed a break and Oliver was always up for food of most kinds.

So why not.

"Sure, I will never say no to food." Cause mama didn't raise no fool. The fifth year stretched a little and ruffled his own hair before getting up. His rear feeling a bit sore from sitting on it. He always thought that was the worst feeling. How could something so comfortable have such bad aftermath?

"In here for sure. The library is nice but there's a lot of people in there at once all scrambling to study for the same thing i am.. and i think if i was outside i wouldn't study at all. So maybe back in here and we can help each other out." Because having a study buddy was never a bad thing. Well.. He figured that depended on the study buddy.

Wait, was it just her or was she, Skylar Diggory, actually talking logical into the Slytherin House Ghost? How? What? Except the last part about refusing to give up on what he believed, the fact that he said she might right, was enough for the fourth year to feel the pride. At least for a moment.

Until he brought up who she was dating. Oh. Well, it made sense for even the spirits of Hogwarts to know who its living residents were taken with, but still, it did take her aback slightly to which she paused a moment before replying. "I'm still me. It doesn't matter if I'm single or taken by three guys," she wouldn't be, but exaggeration was necessary. "Point is, my brain is still the same regardless of my relationship status." Honestly, why did people think being in a relationship changed a person?

Yes! Kye never got tired of the Great Hall. There was always something there to satisfy her cravings... whatever it was at the moment. She felt she was getting along splendidly with Oliver thus far, and was happy to have a companion to dine with. Well, at least this time.

Kye nodded at his suggestion to return to the common room after they ate. She was pretty adaptable to others' preferences. Unless it was blaring music, or people who were overly obnoxious...

"Well of course! I do seriously need to get that paper done," she said, thinking about her homework itinerary for the week. She usually liked to get homework done (or at least a good jump start) the night it was assigned so that she stayed less stressed, and she loved relaxing when everyone else was scrambling the night before a paper was due.

Excitedly, Kye got out of her chair and stretched her back, hands in the air. "Ready?" she asked, smiling now. She turned and headed to the entrance. One good thing about not being a Ravenclaw... she thought to herself, Thank Merlin I don't have to go down seven flights of stairs to get some brain food!

She opened the door for Oliver, and felt the cold(er) draft from the corridor filter in.

"Yeah, I need to move on to History of Magic but the reading just kills me." He was much more of a practical learner.. Only how could you learn about history in a practical way? Spoiler, you can't.

Oliver got up and levitated his books back to his dorm room cause he was not gonna walk all the way over there just to walk back. Nope. "Ready!"

The fifth year headed for the door. "Thank you." He offered, walking through and out of the common room. He hoped Churchill wouldn't lay all over his books, getting his white fur in all the pages.. But cats loved paper and Churchill in particular loved laying on Oliver's things..

Exaggeration was something the Baron was all too familiar with having being around for such a long time. He made no comment towards Skylar's. The point was made: she still kept her original thoughts and she had not changed them after dating Brent Westwood.

"Very well. If this is what you say.'' Did she not realise one could change under certain circumstances? The Baron did not have time to waste explaining such matters anyway. His chains rattled once more. "I will certainly be avoiding this Valentine's day nonsense. If there's nothing else, Ms Diggory, I'll be on my way.''

This was it, she was sure of it. This was going to be the moment she finally figured out where on earth she had put that dreaded book of hers. It was one she had borrowed from her older sister, one she had in fact pestered her older sister for since the very second she had laid eyes on it. She was sure she had been reading it somewhere around here. Absolutely positive, actually.

"Where are you?" Holly whispered as she riffled through countless stacks of who knew what in her seemingly never ending search. "Surely you can't be that far away" she muttered as she riffled some more.

How far could one small little book go, anyway? Okay, so perhaps it wasn't exactly small, otherwise Holly wouldn't have misplaced it in the first place. But still, how?

Holly stepped around a table and bumped into something unfamiliar, or rather someone unfamiliar. Taking the smallest and most tentative of steps back, she glanced up at whomever she had stumbled into and smiled sheepishly as her cheeks began to turn in colour. She was sure this person wasn't here before, would have sworn it even.

"I do apologize, I suppose I mustn't have been looking where I was going" she said in the most confident voice she could possibly muster. How had she been placed in Slytherin again? She didn't exactly meet the house motto, did she?