The wrong way to open doors. (Open)

[Danny McKay G5]

Danny sat in the common room staring out the window looking down at the lake. It was funny to watch the people running around it from where he was, they all just looked like black dots on green paper. He had been doing this since lunch and he never got bored of it. Other students passed by and greeted him and always asked what he was doing. He normally just replied with something like he was keeping watch but he really just thought it was fun to watch the people outside. After awhile his leg started to fall asleep so he got up and looked around the common room.

It was pretty empty at the moment just, a few first years in the corner talking amongst themselves. Danny decided not to bug them, they seemed fine just talking to each other at the moment. He did a quick and for no reason spin now facing the door out of the common room which caught the eye of the one of the first years. He just smiled and waved then headed out the common room. “O my, it seems someone has blocked my path with the portrait of a beautiful lady. Whatever am I to do?” He said laughing then the fat lady swung open and Danny walked out.

“There’s no need for flattery, Danny. You can just ask me to open.” The Fat Lady said as he walked out then headed down the hall. He just smiled and turned to her. “And where is the fun in that I ask you?” He said laughing as he made his way down the hall. “Same old portraits going about their days.” He remarked looking at all the moving people on the walls hopping from portrait to portrait.

He made it to the stairs but stood there a few seconds almost staring at them. He just kept chanting in his thoughts for them not to move while he was on them. It always made the trip longer when they moved. Feeling that he had chanted enough he headed down, the first three didn’t move but the fourth one had to break his streak of luck. “I curse you stairs.” He muttered under his breath, if the stairs could hear things he didn’t want them to hear him say that. Who knows what they're revenge would be, he thought to himself. After waiting for the third floor stairs to make up it’s mind on where it wanted to go he got off before it moved again. “Thanks a lot.” Danny said turning back to the stairs then kept going.

He finally made it to the ground floor and still nothing had been interesting enough to hold his attention. There was no one to talk to along the way, nothing out of the ordinary for Hogwarts and no one to help. He made his way to the front gate; it was the only thing his mind could come up with at the moment. He reached for the handle of the door but at the same time the door seemed to reach for him. Someone was opening it from the other side and that caused Danny to get pushed down. The person on the other side just glanced at Danny on the floor then walked off with a smirk on they're face and a small laugh.

“No don’t worry about me! I was just testing my anti-door hurting charm!” He yelled as he got up from the ground brushing himself off. “Which if I was actually testing something that would have been a total failure; ouch.” He said as he reached for the now closed again door but this time with more caution; he wasn’t going to let it happen a second time today.

[zoeyshay]

Zoey waltzed through the halls, two textbooks, a piece of half written parchment, two quills and a bottle of ink in her hand from the first half of her day. It around midday, and she was totally free for about an hour or so until her next class. So what was the hurry? She asked herself that question twice on her way to the common room to drop off her stuff. Zoey could come up with no reasonable explanation to explain why she was rushing through the crowds in the halls instead of taking her time, not straining herself and chatting with her friends along the way like most of people here, but she dropped the subject from her mind when she arrived at the portrait of the Fat Lady. Zoey smiled and half curtsied to her to show some good manners before she said the password and stepped into the common room. There were only about three first years in the corner chatting among themselves at the moment, and otherwise, it was completely deserted, unusual for the common room. She figured there must have been a hold up in one of the classes that the OWLS or NEWTS students were in.

She hurried up the spiral steps into the girls’ dormitory and dropped her stuff onto her bed. Zoey picked up her little mirror that was on her nightstand where it was every morning. She kept it there incase the bathroom was hogged and she couldn’t get a mirror, that she’d always be able to at least make her hair presentable and not waste time getting ready for class. She took a hand and ran it through her hair, it was straightened today, t makes sure that it wasn’t messed up in any way. It was a miracle that it wasn’t: every time she’d straighten her hair it would end up frizzing or getting knotted by this time of day. Zoey put the mirror down and walked out into the common room again, this time it was totally empty. She shrugged and walked out of the common room, her pace slowed from a half jog to a semi fast walk.

She skipped down the stairs, her pace quickening because she didn’t want to be stuck on a staircase when they started to move. She hated when that happened. Nine out of ten times, she’d loose her balance and all her belongings would tumble down the steps. To her luck, none of the staircases moved while she was on them. Whether it was right after she picked up her foot and put it on non-moving ground or right before she took a step onto the stairs that it moved was a different story, but it didn’t matter, she had the patience to wait.

She turned into one of the hallways and then she saw a by get his with a door, sending him backwards onto the ground. She gasped as other people just snickered amongst themselves and walk past. She rushed to him, squeezing herself through the small spaces people left to get to him. She smirked as he made a sarcastic comment about practicing anti door hurting charms.

“You need to practice those, y’know, it looks like you’re not very good at them.” Zoey smiled, brushing a bit of dirt off of his left shoulder. “Are you okay?” she asked, her face turning serious.

[Danny McKay G5]

Danny stopped reaching for the door when out of the corner of his eye he saw someone coming his way. Somewhere deep down inside he really hoped it was the person who knocked him down. He had no idea what he would do or say if it was that person; it was just a passing thought as he turned to look. It was a girl coming his way but he couldn’t figure out her name. He knew he had seen her around in the common room a few times but he just couldn’t remember her name. He went through a mental list of people’s names he knew, but none of them seemed to be fit. “I probably don’t even know her to begin with.” He thought to himself right before she spoke to him.

“You need to practice those, y’know, it looks like you’re not very good at them.” She said which made Danny laugh while she brushed off some dirt he had missed on his shoulder, then she asked if he was okay. “It’s hard to practice though, they have the element of surprise. Just when you think your safe, boom a doors right in front of you.” He finished with a laugh. “But besides that I’m fine. I don’t know about the poor floor though, I hit it pretty hard. It might never recover.” He looked back at the spot where he hit the ground and looked all serious for a second. “I’ll have to live with the guilt forever.” He said then looked back at her and smiled.

“Well I guess I should introduce myself. Danny McKay at your service.” He said then bowed. “And may I suggest if you plan to go near this door to have your wand ready.” He said with a small laugh then looked back at the door. “It’s a tricky one.” Danny added looking back at her and smiled.

[zoeyshay]

Zoey smirked at the beginning comments as she tried to figure out who he was. She knew that she had seen him before, definitely in the common room three or four times, here and there as the year went on; but he wasn’t in her year or else he would have been in the same classes, so she guessed he was a fourth year, possibly a fifth year, judging by his height. She blinked, swiping her hand gently across the left side of her fore head, brushing her hair out of her eyes so that she could see without her coal colored hair in her face. She laughed when he began talking about the “poor floor.” She looked down at the floor too, mimicking the serious face of his. Her dark aquamarine eyes danced in laughter, and her face twisted slightly at her attempt of not laughing. He was defiantly a humorous person, someone that’d brighten anyone’s day.

“Yep, defiantly some trauma there.” She commented, her voice getting quieter on the last word before she busted out laughing. “Zoey Shay.” She introduced herself; curtsying as well as she could before she almost toppled over into a group of second years. “Sorry!” she called to them over her shoulder, seeing that they looked back at her with a look on their face. She could read it almost perfectly: it was one of those looks you gave that said ‘What in the world?’ Zoey turned back to Danny, looking at the door.

“And may I suggest if you plan to go near this door to have your wand ready.” He had said, and she joined in his laugh at the end. “Tricky indeed.” She agreed, turning her head a slight degree and grinning at him before looking back at the door. This was probably going to be one of the highlights of her day, seeing that she had laughed and smiled more in those five minutes than she normally did during the whole day, possibly school week. But then again: She didn’t have many friends, let alone friends with a decent judgment of humor. "Woah!" Zoey jumped back when the door opened suddenly again. She was just in time because the door almost wiped her off her feet as it did to Danny. It had his her hand a little, but she shook it for about ten seconds until the pain went away. Then she turned her neck and looked at Danny to see if the door had took him out again.

[Danny McKay G5]

Danny smiled as she joined in with him at being all serious about the floor even talking about all the trauma, till she burst out laughing. “I wonder if you can take a floor to the hospital wing?” He asked himself out loud; imagining in his head for a second. “Just think about the look on Madam Pomfrey’s face if I brought a huge chuck of the floor in there and asked her to heal it?” He asked her then laughed about it. She soon introduced herself and now he was sure he had never met her before. Then watched as she curtsied, almost hitting some first years who were passing by. He tried to help her but she got her balance back just fine on her own, then said sorry to the first years.

“You got to be more careful.” He said smiling. “ I don’t need to take you and the floor to the hospital wing.” Danny added with a laugh. Soon after Danny had just finished talking about how dangerous and tricky the door was he heard Zoey yell, then noticed the door was swinging open. This time Danny had gotten lucky and as it was coming he just barely gotten out of the way. “I swear it’s trying to kill me.” He thought to himself looking back at Zoey; who was Shaking her hand. He could tell the door had hit her hand and he was worried for a second but she soon stopped shaking her hand. “Well that’s it then.” He said looking back at the door. “We’re just going to have to blow this door off for attacking a beautiful girl.” He said then pulled out his wand just playing around.

He soon realized pointing his wand at a often used door was a very bad idea but it was to late to put it back, the door had already swung open to reveal a very surprised and some what scared first year. The first year let out a little yelp which Danny felt would just be the beginning of some yelling and probably lots of trouble for Danny. Thinking as fast as he could he just did the first thing that came to mind. “Ummm… Congratulation!” He yelled putting his wand away. “You just won the point my wand at someone contest! Aren’t you lucky!” He yelled which seemed to shock the first year boy but he wasn’t screaming so it was working. “You win…” He couldn’t think of anything for a second then remember, he had put a chocolate frog in his pocket. He got it so he would have something to eat during class if he got hungry but he didn’t eat it yet.

“You win a Chocolate frog! Your so lucky.” Danny said laughing a little; he was starting to have a little more fun then he should have been having right now. “Now I will hand it to my beautiful assistant here to hand to you and you can run off and tell everyone how lucky you are!” He said smiling then handed off the chocolate frog to Zoey then winked, hoping she got the message to play along.

[zoeyshay]

Zoey imagined the look on Madam Pomfrey’s face if Danny would have walked in carrying a chunk of the stone floor to the hospital wing and then her reaction to the healing request. She giggled quietly, thinking of her face being twisted in confusion and thinking: her thinking that Headmaster McGonagall was letting crazy students run around Hogwarts. Zoey blinked, coming back from her imagination and looking at Danny, who had pulled out his wand to the door. Red flooded her cheeks along with the little tingly feeling she got in her cheeks when she blushed when he called her beautiful, and she leaned against the wall, laughing at how he pulled out his wand and pointed it to the door.

Her eyes got wide and she started laughing more as a scared first year had walked out the door and saw Danny’s wand pointed toward him. “Ummm… Congratulations……You just won the point my wand at someone contest! Aren’t you lucky!” This line sent Zoey choking back a laugh, trying to act serious to help his recovery of frightening the poor boy to death. When he mentioned her as his "beautiful assistant", the tingly feeling that had just left her cheeks came back again as the pink came back to her porcelain face. Her smirk instantly turned serious as her role began, and the first year boy came and grabbed her hand and dragged her away.

The boy was bragging to his friends now, and then he started showcasing her as another prize while eating his chocolate frog. “Er, I think you have this wrong, I’m just an assistant, I’m not a prize.” Zoey said to him and his friends. This was getting a little out of hand. She turned her head to look over at Danny; her eyes giving him that look of ‘help me!’ She felt a tug on her hair and she turned back to the group of boys. This wasn’t just a little out of hand; it was WAY out of hand now. She tugged her arm, trying to release her grip from the boy, but she was fragile, and the first year was actually a tad taller than her, and much stronger. This was one of those many and frequent moments when she wished she was taller and stronger instead of being so weak and small. She felt a small bruise forming where he was holding from Zoey’s failed attempts of getting away. She sighed and stood there looking around, blocking out the boys as they talked about how lucky they were.

[Danny McKay G5]

Danny couldn’t help but burst out laughing as the first year toke the chocolate frog and Zoey away with him to his group of friends. “Wow I didn’t know you were part of the prize too. I would have pointed to myself if that was the case.” He yelled laughing as he watched the boy talk to all of his friends. He could hear her try to explain that she wasn’t a prize, which he thought would have made the boy let go but it seemed it wasn’t getting through to him. He laughed a little bit more then watched as Zoey looked back at him. Danny could tell she wanted some help so with one final laugh at how everything just seemed to play out he walked over to the young boy.

Danny could tell she was trying to get the boy to let go but he just won’t. “I’m sorry kind sir.” He said standing behind the first year who was holding Zoey ; He then put his hand on the first years shoulder. “It seems you broke the rules when you didn’t run to your friends to tell them how lucky you were.” He said smiling down at the boy. “Yes, it was kind of a rule, you see. I’m going to have to take back part of the prize but you can keep the chocolate frog.” Danny said smiling then looked over at Zoey and grabbed her hand. The boy then let go of Zoey and his friends started to laugh a little. Danny lead her a little bit away from them so they couldn’t hear them anymore.

“Sorry about all that.” He said smiling over at Zoey. He was sorry he had gotten her all caught up in his joke and he hoped she wasn’t mad or anything. “ But you can’t blame him, he had good tastes.” Danny said with a small laugh. “ I would think of it as a complement. It decided to eat the chocolate frog and show you off and not the other way around.” Danny finished laughing then realized he still had her hand and let go. “Well I guess we should get out of here before he asks for a second chance; I wouldn’t blame him.” He just stood there smiling, thinking about where to go then wondered if she had something better to do or something like that.

(OOC: Sorry I toke so long. I had it all ready but I got called away for a bit.)

[zoeyshay]

Zoey started to doubt that he would come, so she was coming up with a plan to gain freedom from the death grip he had on her. The way she thought of it, it made her feel like a slave, or a dog. They were always either chained up, or forced to be by their owners. She thought it was sad most the time, but seldom, it was a blessing. It seemed to keep the dog from being hit from a car while it was on the run to freedom, or kept the slave from cruel murder or worse. But to her luck, this was not one of those blessings. She whimpered to herself right before a sigh of relief came from her lips silently as Danny came to her rescue. She felt helpless that she needed someone to rescue her, but she didn’t think about it for long. She thought Danny was going to explain to the boy that she wasn’t a prize, but when other words came from his mouth, her doubt seemed to bounce back twice as powerful. She then gave a small smile as she heard of Danny’s other excuse. He’s a genius.

Danny took her hand and then walked away, and a small laugh came from her. “Thanks,” she started, looking back to check for two things: One, which the boy wasn’t too near, or coming after them, and two, to see his reaction. He was looking down; pouting it looked like, as his friends silently chucked before choking to hold it back. A part of her said that he deserved it, but the other felt pity for him. She kept it to herself while turned back to face where they were going. They stopped, and he still had Zoey’s hand. “I thought I would be his imprisoned girlfriend for a while there.” She continued, trying to calm the burning sensation in her cheeks from her blushing. It was barely noticeable unless you were paying attention to her face the whole time. Otherwise, it looked like some makeup rather than the sign of a small amount of shyness and embarrassment mixed together in her.

He apologized to her, and she completely understood, it was just a cover up/joke gone bad. It happened sometimes. Well, not to her because her mother was the serious type, never allowing Zoey to pull jokes and such. That’s when she wondered what her father was like. She wished she had knew him, or at least remembered him, that way she would never feel that deep wish that made her feel like half of her was missing. “Oh, it’s okay, no one was hurt. It was just a joke gone wrong. That’s happens.” She said to him right as he had let go of her hand. She let it fall to her side and just hang there as she pulled her other hand to hold the upper arm part of it, covering to faint pink-ish mark left by the death grip. It wasn’t bad, it was just her skin was so pale that almost any touch left it discolored. But she didn’t want Danny to worry or feel bad, so she just covered it until it went away, or the pink formed to the pattern of her hand. “Well I guess we should get out of here before he asks for a second chance; I wouldn’t blame him.” He had said right as she looked down and started fidgeting her feet. “Er, sure. Where too?” she asked, looking up to her smile. It seemed to give her a warm, fuzzy feeling in her, in addition to the tingling of her cheeks as her blushing became a deeper shade of pink. She loved that feeling of fuzziness in her. It seemed to come from anyone who was smiling, like the happiness radiated off of the person and latched onto Zoey.

(OOC: No problem, it happens to everyone :];; Whew, I'm actually getting kinda good at writing for a new girl here :'D)

[Danny McKay G5]

Danny laughed a little when she said she thought she was going to have to be his imprisoned girlfriend for a second there. “Well it’s to bad for him that I came and stopped him when I did.” Danny said then smiled, he was glad to see she wasn’t mad about what had just happened; a lot of other people probably would have been. He just smiled again then noticed she was holding the spot where the first year held her by. He guessed it probably hurt a bit after the first year held on to her so tight, Danny was going to ask her if she was okay but it didn’t seem to bother her too much so he just left it alone. He still felt bad about getting her into that whole mess, even after she said it was fine. "Well if I can do anything to make up for that just name it. If you can't think of anything now, then I'll just owe you one." He said smiling then laughed to himself a little bit as out of the corner of his eye he saw the first year pouting.

Danny watched as she looked at her feet then looked back up at him asking where to go. Danny thought about it for a second; noticing she was blushing a bit he just smiled and kept on thinking. “Well every time we go near that door one of us gets attacked or forced into a future relationship.” He finished with a laugh, looking back at the first year but he was gone already. He stood there thinking of somewhere besides by the front door. “How about the courtyard? It should be nice out there and away from this evil door” He asked Zoey then laughed a little. “That is unless you have something better to do or somewhere else to be?” He asked realizing he never even found out where she was going when they first met. "I don't want to keep you away from it. Seeing as how I distracted you this much already." Danny said smiling and hoping she didn't have anything better to do but didn't let it show.

(OOC: Yea your very good, much better then I was when I started.)

[zoeyshay]

Zoey gave a small smile at him as the fuzzy feeling in her chest continued and the tingling of her cheeks did the same. “You don’t owe me anything, we’re even. You’ve given me a bunch of laughter, a good day and a nice way to waste some of my free time.” She explained to him. She didn’t like it when people said that they owed her. There was no particular reason, it just made her feel somewhat weird inside. She didn’t do anything for him, so why was there the need for Danny to owe her when he actually given her a funny and cheerful encounter. She giggled as he mentioned the door again tempting her to look over at it even though she knew nothing new would just suddenly happen to it. It wasn’t like it was going to sprout eyes and stare people down as they slammed into it, or a mouth to yell at people when they struck it. She giggled louder when he mentioned the ‘future relationship’ part. She was slightly embarrassed, giggling, laughing and smiling too much. Zoey still had a small smirk when she was done with her embarrassing giggling fit. Her tiny smirk grew a slightly as she thought the door with eyes and/or a mouth.

She nodded in agreement for the suggestion about the Courtyard. It’d be nice to get away from the door and to get outside for the fresh air. Zoey was getting the small claustrophobic feel to her as she had been inside for a couple of days straight. She was one of those people who didn’t just like the fresh air of the outdoors; she needed it. It was like a necessity for her. She got on her tip toes, trying to get a look out of the windows over the heads of some people walking by, but it didn’t work because she was short for her age, only 4 foot 11, and sadly, she had stopped growing. “It’d be nice, last time I saw out the window, it looked like a perfect day.” She said to Danny, smiling one of those smiles that didn’t show teeth and waiting for him to reply. She dropped her hand from her arm, and to her luck, there was only minimal pink in the shape of her fingertips instead of the expected slight bruise of what she now called the “death hold.”

(OOC; :];; Sorry it's kinda short, I'm studying for Algebra finals tomorrow while writing.)

[Danny McKay G5]

He smiled and listened to her as she explained he didn’t owe her anything, she said they were even because he was giving her a good day; Danny just smiled more. “Well don’t be surprised if some random gift appears or something good happens.” He laughed as he finished speaking; trying to think of something nice to do. Maybe a box of candy or something, he would have to think about it more later but he was for sure going to do something. After she nodded yes to going to the courtyard he noticed her on her tip toes trying to look out one of the windows. He laughed a little but tried to hide it, he didn’t want to seem rude or anything.

Zoey said the last time she checked it was still a perfect day outside and Danny nodded and agreed. “Well last time I checked to it was nice outside too.” Danny remarked with a small laugh remembering what he was doing just before he left the common room. To think just a little while ago he was up stairs in the common room staring out the window. He was glad his leg fell asleep, if it didn’t he wouldn’t have come down here and met Zoey and be having a good time right now.

Danny started walking toward the courtyard then turned around smiling. “Well lets get going before the weather changes or more likely the door attacks us as we are fleeing.” Danny said laughing looking back at the door for a second. He just thought about the door running after them trying to swing open on them. Danny stood there for a second waiting, smiling. “ Lets get going unless you’ve gotten used to being pulled around by your hand by strange people. Then I guess I could pull you there; I’m as strange as they come.” Danny laughed looking over at Zoey.

(OOC: It's ok don't worry about it and good luck on your finals!)

[zoeyshay]

Zoey smiled. He was very sweet and humorous. She liked that in a person. She liked how he seemed to try and make people happy. “I’ll try my best,” she replied when he said how a random gift or happy day may come. Personally she didn’t like surprises, but she figured surprises like this were okay. She hated surprises like surprise birthday parties, or surprise visits, because they seemed to happen at the wrong time with her luck. The last time she had a surprise; it had been from her mother on her twelfth birthday in July as she entered the house from a neighborhood soccer game foiled from a rainstorm. Zoey struggled to find all the pictures that following week to get rid of them. You couldn’t blame the girl, no one would want any pictures of themselves around a bunch of people with drenched clothes hanging off their body and hair frizzing and soaked, making it look like something wet died on their head. She decided to deal with it and move on. It wouldn’t be that bad, she kept telling herself until Danny said something else.

He said that they should get out of there before the door attacked again. Zoey smiled, pulling out her wand and pointing it to the door. “I have my eyes on you…” she said, her German accent slipping a tad at the end while she was choking back laughter. She didn’t notice it, after all, it was how she naturally talked, being born and raised by a German mother. She sounded normal most of the time because living in England, she learned how to talk like everyone else, and so she hid her natural accent so she would fit in. She thanked herself many times for that, especially now at Hogwarts. She smirked, putting her wand away before someone else walked through the door and she would be taken prisoner all over again.

She turned back to Danny, happy that she had rushed. If she hadn’t, she probably would have gotten here at the wrong time and she wouldn’t have been laughing, smiling, and having a blast with Danny. “Let’s go.” She finally said, locking arms with him and starting toward the courtyard. She wasn’t blushing anymore, thankfully. She was starting to get embarrassed about it.

(OOC: Thanks, I definitely need it. I’ve been struggling with it >.<;

[Danny McKay G5]

He just smiled as she said she would try not be to surprised if something happened. He thought a little bit more but still nothing good about what to do. He soon just gave up again, he would have to think about it more when he got back to the common and stared out the window some more, or something like that. Thinking of things in an emergency was something Danny did very well. His Grandfather said everyone in they're family line were cursed and blessed; curse with getting into so much trouble but blessed in that they can get out of 90 percent of it. Danny just couldn’t think of anything when not in that situation. Danny laughed and sighed a little thinking about his grandfather for a second but then snapped out of it.

Danny burst out laughing as Zoey pulled out her wand and pointed at the door like he did before, then said she would be watching it. Her voice changed a little as she laughed but Danny didn’t think anything of it, it did sound like some kind of accent though. Danny had stopped laughing by the time she put her wand away and he just smiled. “Glad you put your wand away before some first year girl opened it. Then I’d be in a forced relationship.” Danny said smiling. “Then you would have to come save me.” He added laughing, imagining Zoey pulling him away from some girl.

She locked arms with him after he asked if she needed him to pull her to the courtyard and Danny just smiled and followed her lead. “ Darn so I don’t get to pull you there?” He asked laughing as they headed to the courtyard. He was sure if other people saw them they would think weird thoughts but he never did care much for what other people thought anyway. They reached the door and Danny held it open for Zoey. “Beautiful ladies first.” Danny said smiling as he did a little bow as he held it open.

(OOC: Well even more good luck then.)

[zoeyshay]

Zoey turned to Danny smirked. "Being pulled places isn't really my thing." she said through her smirk. Danny. She began wondering about his name. It had to have been short for Daniel, like Zoey was short for Zoraida, right? Or was it something else? Or maybe it was just Danny, as he said. "Danny..." she paused, thinking of a good way to put her question so it didn't seem rude. Danny, is that really you're name? No, that made it seem like she was contemplating whether he was really a student or some kind of psychopath that broke out of a mental institution. Danny, what's your real name? No, it was practically the same as the first. Danny, is that short for Daniel or is that your full name? That one was better. It didn't make Zoey sound so bad. "is Danny short for Daniel or something?" she asked after the dew moments pause she left for her time to think. She smiled at Danny when he opened the door for her, whom he had called a "beautiful lady."

They got to the Grand Staircase and she sighed. "I hate these things..." Zoey muttered under her breath as they walked onto one that led to the second floor. The staircase seemed to have heard her, and it started moving while they were on it. "Jeesh..." she whispered to herself as she let go of the arm lock and grabbed the railing to brace herself. She had almost fell, almost taking Danny with her. She silently thanked herself in her head that she was smart and quick enough to grab the railing. She would have looked like a helpless fool falling down the stairs. Zoey finally caught her balance and trusted herself enough to let go of the railing as the staircase continued to move, but she quickly latched on, feeling the stability in her feet falter. She figured she's just hold onto the railing until the movement was over with.

She peeked at Danny through the corner of her now blue eyes and quickly looked forward again, anxious for his answer. For some odd reason, she was obsessed with knowing people's real names even though almost no one knew her real first name. It was a strange, small obsession to have, but it kept a conversation going and let her know more about a person. Her mother had always said she was a strange child when she noticed.

(OOC: Thank you, the exam was to my surprise, easy.)

[Danny McKay G5]

He just laughed as he listened to her say she wasn’t the type to be pulled around and smirked as she said it. “I figured as much, you didn’t seem to enjoy it much when that first year had you.” Danny said laughing a little as they kept walking then he heard Zoey say his name so he looked back over to her but it seemed she was thinking about something. It almost made him think he was hearing someone say his name. It was so annoying when it happened you think you hear your name out of nowhere and it seemed to happen to Danny quite frequently. Then she seemed to stop thinking and asked him if Danny was short for something or was his name just Danny.

Danny laughed a little as he held the door open for her and thought about his name and the story behind it at the same time. “Well its sort of a funny story; and yes its just Danny.” He remarked thinking about it a bit more. All his family stories always involve his grandfather and he always gets a weird mixture of happy and sad when he thinks about him. As Zoey walked through the door Danny followed her. “Well there are two stories to how I got my name, I guess. My parents say I was named after a friend they had in Hogwarts.” He remarked thinking for a second. “And that’s not the funny one just so you know; wanted to make that clear.” He said with a smile then went on talking.

“But my Grandfather says the truth is that my parents were lazy and they couldn’t pick a name they liked for a boy or a girl. So they got all these books with babies names in them and then just randomly picked one.” He said laughing as he thought about how his grandfather used to tell the story. “So they randomly got Danny out of one of the books, but they also liked the name Danny because if I was born a girl they could just name me Danni instead.” He couldn’t help but laugh more about it. He was pretty sure his grandfather was right or maybe he just wanted to believe he was right more.

As they were both on the staircase he could hear Zoey say how much she hated them and then it started to move. She almost seemed to lose her balance but she let go of Danny and onto the railing and got her balance back. Danny was trying to help her but was having a hard time himself. Normally he didn’t lose his balance when one moved but this was one of the few times he almost lost it like Zoey did. “That’s why I don’t talk about them till I get off. It’s much safer that way.” Danny said finally getting stable. “I’ll have to see if there is some spell or something to freeze them as you go over. It would be about as useful as an anti-door charm.” Danny added laughing a little.

(OOC: Well I'm glad it was easy, mine never were.)

[zoeyshay]

Zoey listened as he explained how he got his name, both stories. She began walking down the stairs at a quicker pace when the stairs had stopped moving. She ran her hand along the cool marble railing as she seemed to gallop down the stairs with Danny. He smirked at the second story. It reminded her of her mom for some reason. Her mother wasn’t one to joke around much, but the thinking behind the reason for the name sounded reasonable. That was the part the reminded Zoey of her mom. “That’s kind of smart actually, but it’s not something I’d do. I’d probably just name it when the time came.” She said looking at the moving pictures behind him. She then wondered how she got her name. All that she was told was that her father named her, and when Zoey would ask for more information, her mother would just change the topic or ignore her. She wondered why a lot but she learned to just keep her mouth shut to avoid any problems with her mother and what she would call “back talking.”
“My actual name isn’t Zoey, it’s actually Zoraida. But I go by Zoey because I don’t like my name. It stands out to much.” She said to him. Her name was a tricky name to pronounce right from reading off a list, and she hated when people pronounced it wrong. She remembered in grade school when it was the beginning of the year or when the class has a substitute and the teacher/sub would be calling attendance. They often pronounced “Zoor-a-da” instead of “Zoor-i-da.” It would drive her practically insane trying to explain it to thme on how to spell it. “And I have no clue how I was named, just that my father had named me.” She mentioned soon after that so Danny wouldn’t be expecting a story. She felt a little bad for not having a story like he did. Zoey didn’t really have many stories about her childhood because her mother was often at work or away and her father wasn’t there, so all she had to remember was many days at her aunt’s house or a boring daycare.
Zoey saw classes being dismissed on her way down and she froze. She was going to be late for class. “Oh god, Danny I’m sorry, I have to go back up to the common room to get my things for my next class or I’m going to be late.” She said turning around. “You can walk with me if you’d like.” She offered, feeling bad for suddenly having to leave. She hoped that he wouldn’t be mad or upset with her having to leave so suddenly when they had just met.