Running Away ((Open))

[drake]

Early:

Two o'clock in the morning, still sitting here wandering through the reminiscence of a dream. Where did that dream come from, the dark chocolate eyes? The light, like a radiating heat that poured through the darkness to touch me, touch the room, touch the thing on the other side of the door. The thing had returned, and it had returned with a horrible sensation of hate. It had been banned many years previous, only to reemerge today. Like the slop from the exploding toilets in Westshire, it came with a smell that made Noah almost gurgle in his sleep. Upon awaking he immediately grabbed his wand, threw his sheets to the ground, and pulled open the door expecting the clown horror to be there waiting for him. Nothing but shadows, and shadows behind them. Nothing but the icy fear in the back of his mind, clouding all the logic, making the dream seem real. He did not like waking up, even though he knew he had to perform the action after every sleep. Logic hid during the waking moments, and without his logic Noah was just another person. He detested the thought as the day dawned anew, and he looked at the empty hall.

He moved back a step, eyes still staring into the darkness until he felt his bed with the back of his legs. His hand moved down to the small nightstand, and Noah picked up the clothes he had laid out for himself. His wand still shook in front of him as he switched hands and heatedly dressed himself. He did not want to be surprised, even as he was starting to realize he had only just had another dream. There was nothing, and would be, nothing in the hallway. Only the shadows that would soon run away as the day dawned in Ravenclaw tower. He hoped only that the logic would move back into the empty room of his mind a little faster. Now, he sat on his bed, his wand sitting on his lap as he remembered the dream. And the eyes.

He had seen those eyes recently, only this time he was awake. It chilled him a little to think of the next logical conclusion. If the eyes were real, was the clown-thing real? Logic would dictate that with one coming to life, the only reasonable thing would be for both of them to have come to life. So the octopus with the clown head was real? Surely he was more than full of shit with this thought, but in the wee hours of the morning, he could not help but think of nothing but this. He would go mad if he sat any longer. Noah slipped on his trainers, and moved out into the dark hall. His wand lit the way as he moved down the stairs into the Ravenclaw common room. It was empty, and would be for several more hours. Noah ignored the doorway as he moved through, and into the corridor beyond. Today he would run, he would run from the dream, and not look back.

Before the thought was even finished, he had taken the stairs down two at a time, and dashed out the front door into the misty morning air. It was cold, and it invaded his senses. This was exactly what he needed. Noah Marlow Drake needed to run. He needed to leave the dream far behind. He needed to feel the cold, and become one of the living again. The small white ring around his ankle burned, and he ran.

And Noah ran.

Later:

He sat and used his shirt to wipe the sweat away from his brow. He had ran through breakfast, and as the grounds began to fill with people who wished to enjoy the odd weather, Noah decided to quit running. His legs ached, his lungs burned, but his mind was clear. As he tried to catch a breath and fight off a stitch in his side, he looked to the sky and nodded. He had run, and it had been the first time since he had trained for Quidditch. Now he had no reason to run, he had been removed and banned from ever playing the sport again. That was a bonus due to the fact that he held the record for being given the most detentions in the school's history. He smirked to himself, and put his shirt over his head. Pulling it down over his face and inserting his arms into the holes, Noah found it was a bit chilly for his level of dress. Going inside soon would probably be a remarkable idea. He stood, stretched, and found the stitch gone for the moment.

Noah walked slowly toward the path that would led to the school. It was going to be a good day after all... or was it?

{{Open, feel free to join in anyway you wish.}}

[lexa]

Caroline drummed her ebony wand against the desk in the Gryffindor common room, her eyes staring at the spell book before her. She finally set her want down and ran her hand through her long hair, redirecting her part to face the other direction. She already knew all this stuff. Why would she need to read it all over again? That's what photographic memory was made for: not studying.

She leaned back and closed her book, and picked up her wand. Standing up, she stuck her book on top of all her other things and headed out of the room. It was early, and decided to find something else better to do. And she felt like she needed some fresh air. She usually practiced her charms and potions, just to impress the teachers a little, but she honestly felt too lazy today to do much of anything that involved work.

As she made her way outside, she glanced over all the students who filled the grounds. Looks like the wasn't the only one with the idea of getting fresh air. But she found her eyes glued to a boy, maybe a year older than her, who was not dressed appropriately for the cold weather this morning. Shorts. Her eyes followed him up the path. He looked kind of sweaty. Had he been running? Why would he have been running?

As he made his way up the path, she ignored her shyness for once and said something. "Were you... running?" she asked hesitantly, "or something?"

[drake]

The cool air moved around him, making his head and wet arms cold and clammy. He wished he had thought to wear something a bit warmer; but, he had not been thinking at all that morning. He would stop and get a change of clothes before taking a shower. He did not want to plan his day any further than that. He felt that not making any plans would probably be the wisest thing to do today. After his dream, and spending all his waking thoughts on it, Noah wanted nothing more than to just forget. He wished for a distraction, something to stimulate his mind. He was pulled from his thoughts by nothing less than a distraction. A soft voice, and Noah looked up.

She was shorter than him, a bit younger looking, and attractive. He was almost positive he had seen her around, but could not put a finger on where or when. That should not surprise him though. He had a lot on his mind the last few days. Ever since meeting Tuesday in his detention. Then the coming of the dream, and this bloody lock-down. It was no wonder he could not think about where he might have seen her before. As he grasped for a name, he smiled lightly. The wind moved through him, and he nodded. His denim eyes dropped from the sky to her own eyes, and he tried to remember if he had ever spoken to her in the past. He did not want to seem rude, and not recall her name. That was not Noah's style. He might hold the school record for holding the most detention in history, not to mention being the only Ravenclaw to have ever been banned from Quidditch, but that did not mean he was rude. Just... crafty.

He glanced down to himself, "Yes, in fact I have. I must look a mess." He gave a soft laugh as he looked back to the shorter girl. He guessed she was younger than him, but only by a year no more than two. That would place her in year six -five, if his guess was wrong- but he could not recall a house, or name, to go with the face. Not wanting to seem out of sorts, or hesitant, Noah stepped forward and extended his hand. "Sorry, I can not recall your name, or if we have met for that matter. I am Noah Drake. Pleased." He smiled to her, and hoped that he had not offended her with his poor memory.

{{Sorry it was a bit short. I do not have a long time to be online tonight. Pleased that you joined, and welcome to the site!}}

[lexa]

{{It's fine mine's kinda short, too. And thanks!}}

Well, she wouldn't exactly call him a mess, but he was definitely sweaty enough. He seemed nice, though. He was tall, and actually kind of handsome. But she definitely knew of him. The only Ravenclaw to be banned from Quidditch. Yeah, that news spread pretty fast, especially when it came to her always eavesdropping on the conversations of the passersby. But just because he was banned didn't mean he was so terrible. So, maybe he might be a little devious or sneaky, but that didn't mean he wasn't a good person. And Caroline would definitely never judge him on his being banned. It was just a sport, after all.

"I really don't mean to be nosy," she admitted kind of sheepishly, "but why, exactly, were you running?" She could help by give that shy kind of smile. Curiosity was her strongest personality trait, other than her shyness.

Personally, Caroline despised running. Actually, she hated most physical activity. But that was the only thing about her that was really feminine. She hated pink. She considered it to be the ugliest color ever invented. Not only that, but she hated romance novels, romantic movies, or anything involving romance at all. She liked action, and especially science fiction, not that she would admit that to anybody. Her shyness stopped her from being all that social, but once someone got through that shyness barrier, she was actually full of personality inside her. You just have to find a way in.

She couldn't help but gnaw her lip, like she did when she met most people. She tried to just give him a regular smile then, not knowing exactly what he'd make of that. Hopefully she seemed more normal than she felt. But she took his hand, and nodded a hello, "Caroline Lockhart."

[drake]

Noah shook her hand and smiled. All the while, he was trying to figure out a way to answer her. He was not in the habit of lying, in fact he detested ever having to do so. The truth, in his opinion, was often so much more fun. However, he did not think he should blurt out that he was running away from a nightmare he had been having since he was a young child. That would not only sound a bit hysterical, but it would make her think about making contact with the school nurse and possibly having Noah "looked into." Noah did not want to be looked into, so he had to come up with something else. He would not lie, not exactly; but, he would not be able to come out and tell her exactly why he felt a need to almost run himself into the ground. He let her hand go, and opened his mouth.

"I got used to running, it was something my father forced upon his boys. Physically fit body, strong mind, all that jazz. It is more of a habit for me now." He shrugged lightly knowing that it was not a lie, but not the whole truth. He did not think she would know him well enough to catch on to the difference and made an attempt to change the topic. The cold morning air crossed between them lighting his body on fire as it touched his exposed skin. He felt like an idiot for blindly running this morning. He had to look like a complete fool, but this would not show on his face. In fact, Noah was able to put his mask on tight. "How about you? What brings you out on this fine morning?" He blinked and looked away momentarily as the grounds seemed to be filling up in the small distance. Soon it would be crawling with students doing whatever students decided to do so early in the morning.

Again he tried to figure out where he knew her from, as now he was almost positive he had seen her around. He tried to think of all his classes, but doubted she would be in many due to the short age difference they shared. Then he tried to recall if he had ever seen her on the pitch, but then he did not get to remain on the pitch for very long. Great Hall? It was always so full when he would walk in. It is possible he had seen her there, but it was also just as possible that he had seen tons of people there. He could be in the same room as his own doppleganger and not know it. This was how crowded the Great Hall had become since this terrible lock-down. He continued to smile as the air moved around them. He did not want to appear like he was studying her too closely, even thought this was exactly what he was doing. Like any good puzzle, it would eat away at him until he figured it out. His logical mind craved knowledge. This would be no different. Between looking to the crowd and fighting the wind, he stole glances at her.

She was smaller than him, and much prettier. Her eyes had a tint of shyness about them, but she was doing well enough in their conversation. She seemed a little guarded to him, but who wasn't in these times? She was quiet, and that reminded him a little bit of Tuesday who would barely whisper to him when she spoke. However, Caroline spoke well. He knew she was the shy type, though. It was not too hard to pick up on that fact. Yest, there was a deep intelligence he could see about her. He doubted it was wishful thinking, she seemed smart. He liked her, this was almost immediate. She was easy to talk to, and friendly. He felt no need to throw his security walls up when she looked at him. That was always a bonus. He ran an arm across his brow, and waited to see if she would respond. The day was turning out to be not so bad, after all.

{{Just realized, your claim is from Nikita! I love that show. Sorry, I had to mention it. Great choice!}}

[lexa]

Caroline hadn't really ever started a conversation with anyone before. Not purposely. It was kind of neat, actually, and she knew her father would be proud. It wasn't every day that she got the guts to say anything to anyone... ever. But it wasn't entirely her fault. Ever since her mother's passing she'd kind of closed everyone off, except her father. But that was a long time ago now, so maybe she'd finally found a way over it. Just because she was so shy didn't mean she want to be. It was just a part of her, and definitely not a part that she really liked.

She just nodded when he said running was a habit. Although she was exactly sure that was the whole reason, she wouldn't argue. One part of her that she did like was her ability to read people. She was extremely good at that. And she knew there must've been some other reason to run this early in the morning. Maybe he needed to get something off his mind? Or just let go of something stressful. Even though Caroline would never do anything physical to get her mind off of things, she wouldn't be surprised if that's how an athletic person would.

Then he asked about her. "I got tired of reading," she admitted, her shy smile growing a little more. "And even though most of the people you ask say it's freezing out here today..." she glanced at his small amount of clothing again, covering up her smile a little, "...I actually love cold weather."

Come to think of it, his choice in clothing was another hint to her suspicions. If he was so used to running every morning, then why would he run in shorts? He must've just immediately gotten up and began running. Why else would he not have picked out something more suitable? Even Caroline had on her long, boot cut jeans and her burgundy sweater. She liked the cold, but she'd never freeze herself to death by wearing shorts, even if she was exercising. But she always wore her burgundy sweater. Her mother had made it, and she loved it more than anything else she had.

{{Thanks!}}

[drake]

Noah was reminded of the cold weather with her next remark. He laughed lightly and nodded to her catching her meaning rather easily. "Yeah, cold weather. Guess it is not yet Spring, huh?" He tugged on his shirt a little in a slightly nervous gesture. Noah was not the type to be nervous on a regular basis, but he felt a little out of sorts on this morning. Perhaps it was due to the dream he had in combination with his brisk run in weather he should not be out in with his current state of undress? He thought that this could be the exact reason, but he would not mention the dream. Although he felt like he should, he did not know Caroline and would not even speak about the dream to those closest to him. He moved to the side of the path as a group of younger students walked past. Several glanced at him and giggled. Noah just smiled and watched them pass; he was not about to let anyone know how uncomfortable he was starting to feel. Call in male pride, or ego, but he did not exactly enjoy being the center of attention when it came to being made a fool. He was making a fool of himself.

After the younger students were out of ear shot, he moved back to his original position and offered a sheepish smile. The air picked up a bit, and he sighed. "Listen, I am really cold here. I know, don't ask, sometimes I can be rather stupid. But," his air puffed out in a small cloud in front of his eyes. He smiled again, "do you want to get some breakfast? That is, if you have not yet? I could grab some clothes, and then we could continue this after? I mean, you know, if you want to hang out a bit?" Now he was feeling even more ill-at-ease. It was one thing to run in early morning snow with hardly anything on; but, to assume that someone you had just met really wanted to continue in your company just because they stopped and spoke to you. He knew he might have been over stepping his bounds at the moment, but he was starting to lose a little sensation in his legs due to the lack of running. His brow had been dripping moments before, and he imagined there could be small spears of ice dropping from his face at any moment.

Obviously this was an over-exaggeration, it was not that cold out. But once Noah got rolling with a thought, this was what always happened. It was probably the reason he found himself in so many different detentions so often. He would get a thought in his head, and have to follow it to a logical conclusion. It came in handy with homework, and problem solving. It was a bane of his existence when it came to staying out of trouble, and curiosity. He let the thought slide from his mind and gave her another smile. His eyes moved over her shoulder to the castle in the distance. Clothes, warmth, maybe some breakfast, and more conversation was offered up within those walls. He looked back to her.

[lexa]

Caroline just smiled at him as he almost shivered. Guess it is not yet Spring, huh? She shook her head a little as the younger students walked by and laughed at him. But the moment they were gone, he was back to his shivering. She didn't know how he could possibly stop shivering at all, even if it was only for a few seconds while those younger students passed. She just gnawed her lip and held back her laugh. She knew how could he must be, but before she offer to go back inside, he offered breakfast, after he got more suitable clothing, that is.

She just laughed a little then and nodded, "Sure." She headed up the path with him back to the castle. She wasn't all that cold, but just looking at him made her shiver. And she wouldn't mind some breakfast, either. She was getting kind of hungry.

And she knew what it was like to be made a fool of. Even though Caroline was the silent one who never said anything, a few had always found a way to mess with her. Of course, ignoring them always worked for her. But they still tried to make her feel small and pointless, but it never worked. Even though she might seem kind of boring, just by watching her such an introvert all the time, she was really a very hopeful person, and it took a lot more than a couple bullies to break her spirits.

The only thing that surprised a few of her friends and her father too, was that she never cried. Not during a movie, not when someone died, not when someone hurt her. No one had ever seen her cry before. She had seen herself cry, of course, but no one else had in many many years. It worried her father, he always thought that she had it all inside her and wouldn't let it out. But it wasn't hurt fault, she just never had the need to cry. She was never angry either. She'd tried to be angry before, but the longest she'd held a grudge was a few hours. After that, she forgot. She just let things roll off her and then moved on. She'd learned to do that after her mother died. That was the last time she was angry, and that was the last time she'd cried.

[drake]

Having a change of clothes, and being out of the cold was a comfort to him. He felt slightly odd having gone running without properly preparing himself. It was unlike him to just lose his head and go off; but, these were strange times. Noah was not normally like that, and in a moment of weakness he had found himself running his thoughts away. He moved out of the doorway, and into the corridor outside of the Ravenclaw common room. She had been kind enough to join him, and seemed to like the idea of having breakfast. Noah did not know why she stuck with him, he did not consider himself this interesting, but was happy she had. He almost felt like he owed her some sort of real explanation as to why he had been running in the snow, with very little on his body. Then again, he would still not tell her the real truth behind the madness; he would simply not bring it up again. Instead, a hot breakfast was waiting for them.

Noah, now dressed in warmer clothes complete with a hoodie. His fingers touched the hilt of his wand as he adjusted it in his pocket. Noah smiled, and went to where Caroline was waiting. "There you are, sorry for the wait. I wanted to make sure I was more properly dressed for breakfast." While he had been changing a thought occurred to him. If they ate in the Great Hall they would be relegated to their own house tables. They were being a bit tougher on rules these days, and Noah did not feel like sitting with a bunch of others at the moment anyway. "I say we grab some food, and take off, if you like? I do not think sitting in there with a bunch of nosy students. If you take my meaning?" Noah felt a little out of sorts considering they way they met.

He shrugged lightly in hopes that he did not sound too odd. The dream was fading from his mind, and he was starting to think that if anyone else would have ran into him out in the snow that he would never had lived it down. Caroline just seemed to think he was eccentric, which was fine with Noah. He did not want her to think that there was anything wrong with him, like a major problem or something. Noah had a tendency to keep his private life to himself. He had not even mentioned his dreams to Tuesday, and that was saying something. He smiled, and leaned against the wall where she waited.

{{Sorry. This reply is really horrible. I had an awful day today, and just did not want to leave you hanging for a reply.}}

[lexa]

{{It's not that bad}}

Caroline leaned against the wall as she waited for him to return. And as she waited, her mind went through lots of things. But that's just how her mind worked. It moved from one thing to the next, and sometimes she couldn't even remember half of what she'd been thinking about.

Now she thought about where they were planning to eat their breakfast. Not the Great Hall, unless they wanted to talk to each other somehow from sitting at separate tables. She knew he was a Ravenclaw, and he didn't know - or at least she was pretty sure he didn't know - which house she was in, but he would have known if she was a Ravenclaw or not. But stating which house she was in hadn't some up in their introduction. She was wearing Gryffindor's color though, so maybe he did know.

And then he returned and leaned against the wall beside her as he spoke. Apparently he'd had the same thought as her. She knew from personal experience that the students here definitely nosy. She was one them, actually, but she did respect people's privacy more than others did, no matter how curious she was.

"That's would probably be best," she nodded to his suggestion. She smiled at him again. He was definitely wearing more suitable clothing now. No shorts this time.

She fought the urge to gnaw on her lip again. If she kept doing that she knew her lip would turn red. Why she gnawed her lip she had no idea. But she only did it when she was nervous, and or when she was shy. Right now she was pretty sure it was both. And it wasn't that she was nervous because she was attracted to Noah. She didn't know him enough to really be attracted to him yet. Unlike most people, she wasn't very attracted by people's looks. Their personality was more important to her than their appearance. Although most girls thought that was crazy, but it was true. Not that she wouldn't mind meeting a boy she was physically attracted to. But she was so shy, she actually didn't know all that many boys. Noah was one of the first she'd met.

[drake]

His eyes brushed hers for a moment, and he smiled. It seemed like these days he smiled much more than he had normally smiled. All those years of waiting for graduation, how bitter sweet was it that the year it would happen he would meet someone that would make him wish to stay. He thought that he might want to mention Tuesday to Caroline, as he did not want to seem rude if it came up in later conversation. He did not want Caroline to think he might be trying to lead her on, as this was not something Noah would do to anyone. He honestly like Caroline, from first impressions. He knew that first impressions were often misleading, but she seemed genuine. Sincere. Real. Yes, she was shy but she was doing wonderful in their conversation. He felt that spending the day with her would be a good thing, somewhere public so no rumors would start. He remained leaning against the wall, and looked her way.

His Ravenclaw mind went to work. "So, your boyfriend won't be jealous of you spending the day with some random Ravenclaw, will he?" He laughed lightly thinking it was a wonderful way to broach the topic and get things cleared-up and out in the open all at the same time. He was hoping she would not mind that he was far from single. He wanted to be honest with her from the start, so there was no mistaken where his friendship laid. Besides, he really did like her from the first meeting. She had not laughed too hard at his silliness, even though he did not think he would have minded. He had felt rather silly himself. Noah moved away from the wall.

He turned to face her, and motioned to the hall. If they did not hurry, breakfast would be over and he would have to find food the old fashioned way. It was a good thing he had made friends with a few of the house elves that ran the kitchens. Noah always thought on his feet, and it seemed like a good idea at the time. "I am hoping I am not making anyone jealous with our little walk. How about the Courtyard? Could protect us from the snow." He smiled as he began to walk thinking that it would also leave them out in the open with no appearance of sneaking around at all. He glanced to her as he walked and thought that if she was not single that the boys in Gryffindor were more stupid than he originally thought.

{{I am better than this, I swear!}}

[lexa]

Caroline had to admit, she kind of liked this guy. Of course, she'd only talked to him for five minutes, so clearly she didn't like him enough to date him or anything. But he seemed nice, and even if he was a little secretive about the reason he was running, he was still attractive. And a secret reason for running in freezing weather in shorts was definitely not deal breaker, anyhow.

She smiled when he mentioned a boy being jealous of them. She shook her head though, looking up at him. "No. I don't have a boyfriend." And she knew the only reason she didn't have one was because of her quietness and shyness. It wasn't her fault though, it was just something about her that she couldn't control. She was shy. Always was and she was pretty sure she always would be. But she'd had the guts to start a conversation with Noah, so maybe there was hope left for her, after all.

Caroline followed him down the hall. Again, another jealousy comment. What was up with that? He must've thought she was pretty or something. Why else would people get jealous? But she wasn't that pretty though. And then he mentioned the courtyard and she nodded. "Sure." But after a little bit her question started to nag so she finally got the guts to ask it.

"Why do you keep mentioning people getting jealous? If it is a boy you are concerned about being jealous, you can stop worrying. No boy around here likes me... not that way," she admitted.

Now, if it was a girl that he was worried about getting jealous, that was different. That meant that he had a girlfriend, which wouldn't surprise her in the least. But as she thought about what she said, she startled herself. She'd never said more than a sentence to a guy she'd just met a few minutes ago. That was a full three sentences. Weird.

[drake]

Noah smiled as the hallway slipped past them, students running each direction, and paused long enough to look at her. He wondered who in their right mind would find it difficult to not like her. She was quiet, yes, but that did not make her some sort of leaper. In fact, Noah found it to be charming. Her eyes were magnificent, and he had to think that something was wrong with all those Gryffindor boys that would not be interested in her in anyway. He thought about saying exactly that but decided against it. She was doing really well in their conversations, as he had noted before, and he did not want to make her shy away. Noah almost grinned at the pun he had made in his own mind. Yet, there was something more about her that he could not put his finger on; something more than him thinking her familiar, kept Noah guessing.

Noah leaned against the wall, his hand behind his back as he looked at her. "I am dating Tuesday Kerrison, and obviously if we are seen in a more private place someone could get jealous. I mean, honestly, who would not get jealous over you. You give yourself little credit in that department." He was glad it was out in the open; Noah wanted to be honest with her. He just hoped it was not too rude sounding, or forward. He supposed it could be taken as an assumption, but he figured she was far more intelligent to take his statement the wrong way. At least, Noah hoped she did not take it the wrong way. His denim colored eyes looked into hers.

"I did not mean that to come out mean, I just wanted you to know up front. For the sake of honesty." Noah smiled, feeling a little more like a fool for trying to explain something he was sure she would already know. Why was he fumbling over his words when he was normally so sure tongued? He sighed, and looked at his feet. "You know this is sounding all wrong. Honestly, I mean... you are very attractive, and I do not want anyone else to get the wrong impression about you and I spending time together. I am a very loyal person; be it as a friend, or other. And, given the chance I promise I won't always sound this damn silly." Noah laughed, and shrugged a little. She was charming, and he was feeling a little like a first year kid trying to talk to the cute girl in the hall. Noah knew she was that cute girl, and that he was only trying to be a friend.

Somewhere, Tuesday would be laughing at him.

[lexa]

Caroline wasn't surprised in the least when he talked about Tuesday. She'd heard of the twins, Tuesday and Wednesday. She never really understood the point in naming someone after a day of the week, but at least there was no getting them confused with someone else. She couldn't help but wonder, though, if they had another relative named Thursday.

You give yourself little credit in that department. He wasn't the first person to tell her that. But he was the first boy tell her that. Usually a close girl friend of hers would tell her to look in the mirror and see how pretty she was. She could never see the stunning face that her friends saw, and clearly not many boys did either, or else they were just to wimpy to actually start a conversation with her. But she didn't want to date a boy if they were wimpy, anyway, so maybe it was for the best.

She just raised her eyebrows at him as he started rambling. She gnawed her lip but couldn't hold in her giggle as he finally finished. "I would've never thought you meant that as being mean..." she smiled again and looked down slightly a she went on. She was trying very hard not to blush, but she didn't know if it was working or not. "You're very sweet, but I'm not that attractive. And I can already tell how loyal you are."

[drake]

Noah laughed lightly, and looked her over in a mock appraisal. He stood back, lifted his hand to his chin, and gave the appearance of a Professor grading a student. Then, with one finger moving in the air, he spoke in a deeper voice intended to mock one of the professors they all knew. "I can see this patient suffers from some mild delusional behaviors. Perhaps she would due with having a mirror close at hand? Then the subject could glance into said mirror and know the truth of the matter is..." His voice trailed off, and he returned to his normal tone with a grin. "There is nothing wrong with you at all. You claim to not be attractive, when logically, not to mention obviously, you are. Case closed! I win." He crossed his arms on his chest and leaned against the wall.

The entire time he had spent with her, thus far into the day, he could not help but think he had seen her somewhere before. He had dismissed the idea that he had seen her in the Great Hall. You could stand on one side of the large hall and never even make eye contact with someone else. Yes, their tables were somewhat close together; but, they were not close enough for him to conclusively think that was where he had seen her. Noah ruled out classes, knowing he would remember her well if he had been in any shared class with her year. He had held so many detentions that it could be possible, but she did not seem the type to even have a detention. He also thought he would have remembered a detention with her. When you rule out the impossible, whatever is left, no matter how improbable, must be the solution. This solution still eluded him, and like any good puzzle it demanded him to solve.

Noah turned his thoughts to her previous statement about a boyfriend. She claimed not to have one, which he did not think was a lie, but was she ever in the company of anyone that Noah could know? Did they share a mutual friend that he could have seen her with at one time or another? This was highly possible, though he was sure they had not shared words until today. He did not want to give the impression that he was over-thinking the situation, or staring at her. Noah pushed himself off the wall, and began walking again. "Come on silly, breakfast is not going to serve itself, you know?" At the same time, Noah was continuing to think about where he had seen her before, and why it seemed to important to him.