Lost? Again? (open)

[sierra]

<sub>Sierra was practically growling with frustration as she climbed another staircase. 'You'd think after five years here,' she thought to herself 'That'd I finally be able to find my way around without getting lost. When she had been younger it had still been exciting to turn the corner and find a completely different corridor every day of the week, but now she was older and jaded and cursed the magical layout of the school for making her late to class.

It wasn't like it mattered really, she'd already read the chapter they'd be lecturing about in Defense Against the Dark Arts class, but she knew there would be hell to pay if the teacher noticed her missing.

Cursing to herself she turned down another unfamiliar looking corridor, glancing around and spotting a heavy wooden door at the end of the hallway. She settled her bookbag on her shoulders and tried to make her hair look less like a sweaty tangle by combing her fingers through it, then walked over and pushed open the door.
Inside was definitely not the Dark Arts classroom. It didn't even resemble a classroom, instead it was a jumble of strange looking artifacts and magical objects. Curious, she looked around the room and suddenly realized, she wasn't alone.</sub>

[Alexander Muritorè]

Unlike Sierra it wasn’t Alex who was lost; it was his wand... still. After four days of fruitless searching it still hadn’t been found and all the boy’s teachers were starting to lose patience with him. He’d already fallen behind in Charms, Transfiguration and now Professor Connery was threatening him with a Troll in Defence Against the Dark Arts if the wand was not found soon. It probably hadn’t been the smartest of ideas to bad mouth a dead student in front of the stressed and drawn looking Gryffindor Head of House, Alex mused but all he’d done was say: ‘Damn Scotty Kovac hid my wand.’

Grumbling and trying to wrack his brain for possible hiding spots, the seventh year Gryffindor stalked out of the classroom as soon as the bell rang out to signal the end of the lesson. It was like he could feel Connery’s glare burning the back of his head and Alex knew if he didn’t find his wand soon he would be a dead man, well more dead than he already was with Kale Greengrass and company on his back. Speak of the devil; the boy froze as the Slytherin came into view. He had to run, hide, now!

Before the other could spot him, Alex wheeled around and took off at a run. Blindly he weaved through corridors and up stairs until he found a suitable classroom to duck into. Inside it was dark and as his eyes adjusted he could just make out boxes and piles of assorted magical junk. Maybe there would be a broken sneakoscope in there; they were always interesting to pull apart. Forgetting for a moment he was supposed to be searching for something else the Gryffindor busied himself with rummaging through the odds and ends.

As he moved and looked things over his hand clenched around something that felt very familiar. In his chest Alex felt his heart beat wildly and he prayed to whoever was listening that what he had in his hand was what he thought it was. With one look at it his hopes were confirmed, he’d finally found his wand! Just before he could cheer in relief and joy the seventh year caught movement in the corner of his eye so what came out was more like a strangled cry. ”Oh, sorry I didn’t see you come in, you kinda made me jump a little,” he lied sheepishly to the younger Ravenclaw girl; better for her to think he was frightened then about to yell in happiness to himself. That was just sad.

[sierra]

Sierra's eyes widened and a blush crept up her pale cheeks as the frantic looking older student spoke to her. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you," she spoke nervously "I-I actually got lost looking for the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. Again." Her eyes traveled over his slim form, taking in the Gryffindor colors on his uniform and the odd, ecstatic expression on his face. Her pale green eyes fell on the wand clutched tightly in his fingers against his chest.

'This is a strange one. That's for sure.' she thought to herself, hardly concealing the disdain creeping on her face. For a moment she considered turning around and walking straight out of the door she came it. It was bad enough she was lost, but being lost in an odd room with a lunatic holding a wand seemed a considerably worse situation to be in.

The girl took a deep breath, pulling herself together. All that adrenaline from running around must be affecting her logic. This boy was probably far from a maniac and could probably help her find her classroom sooner than she would alone. Summoning a fleeting smile she looked back at him. "My name's Sierra. I don't think I've seen you around before." she said, trying to sound more friendly than she felt. Normally she avoided awkward social situations like this, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

[Alexander Muritorè]

As good as it felt to have his wand safely in his hands once again, Alex was resenting he’d found it now, at the time when there was a stranger present and a pretty stranger at that. ”No harm done, I wasn’t that scared. I’m a Gryffindor so that means I’m pretty brave,” the boy joked lightly, puffing his chest out in pride at the fact that he belonged to the red and gold house even though the way he’d told the girl had sounded like it had come from the mouth of a six year old. ”The D.A.D.A. classroom isn’t far from here,” he informed before adding an unsure, ”I think.”

Truth of the matter was Alex wasn’t sure where on earth in the castle he was. His escape from Kale had been a mad flurry of different corridors and staircases and no attention had been paid to the direction his legs had taken him. There was a hint of disdain on the younger girl’s face that the Gryffindor picked up on immediately and at once his mind jumped to thinking about what possible rumours another Ravenclaw by the name of Quentin Flack had fed her.

Quentin, being a friend of Kale’s, usually joined in on the taunting of the Gryffindor seventh year and was the master mind behind some effective rumours. There was already talk that he was into other guys because his only friends were girls, that he was a charity case from some slum town outside London (which was only half true) and the latest one that he had a crush on Professor Grey.

”I’m Alex, nice to meet you Sierra,” the boy himself introduced back to the Ravenclaw quickly, trying not to think about whether or not she was going to recognise his name because of another member of her house. ”I haven’t really seen you around either, what year are you in?” Alex asked curiously as he tried to figure out for himself. She didn’t look like a seventh year so he was willing to guess either fifth or sixth year. Another, random, idea crossed the boy’s mind and even though it didn’t sound like a good one he blurted it out anyway, ”Hey if you’re lost I think, as a senior, it is my duty to show you the way and escort you to class, but only if that’s okay with you.”

[sierra]

As he spoke Sierra suddenly remembered him from once before, seeing him being teased by a nasty looking group of Slytherins. At the time she had felt a vague rush of sympathy and a mild interest at the fact that he had been holding a violin. She knew what it was like to be teased, she'd had to deal with it every year of the muggle schooling she had. Sierra had forgotten all about seeing Alex until now, she usually avoided things like that and wasn't really tuned in on the rumor mill at Hogwarts. Now she found herself interested in what he'd done to deserve the wrath of the Slytherin bullies. He certainly didn't look like a trouble maker.

Quickly she pulled herself from her thoughts when she realized he had asked her a question. "Oh, uhm... I'm a fifth year. Although sometimes I still feel like I just got off the train." she replied with a quick chuckle. The way she was always getting lost and had completely out of the loop on all the goings on made her sure that she wasn't the only one that thought that. The way the magic of Hogwarts still fascinated her only added to her innocent demeanor. The only saving factor was that she looked far too mature to be eleven.

"That is definitely okay with me." she said with a smile. Sierra couldn't help it, this guy was funny, and definitely not unattractive albeit a little lanky. Under the strange circumstances they had met, she was starting to discover she wasn't very upset about getting lost anymore. She took once last glance around the room, pulling her eyes away from Alex's kind face. "Before we go, do you know what this place is? I don't think I've ever seen it before..."

[Alexander Muritorè]

Sierra wasn’t the only one thinking about the Slytherin bullies that would no doubt, miraculously, be on the route back to the classroom. Always, without fail, whenever Alex wanted to avoid Kale and his Ravenclaw crony Quen, there they would be, standing in front of him as if they’d apparated out of nowhere. Today there would probably be more chance of it happening, now that the Gryffindor had been presented an opportunity to make a new friend. At least this time his violin was tucked safely in a case under the floor boards underneath his four-poster bed so Kale couldn’t break it again.

”A fifth year huh? I knew it. You’ll be coming up to your OWLs then, trust me when people say they aren’t that bad they’re lying but you’re a Ravenclaw so you should be okay,” the boy chattered pleasantly. He laughed and nodded his head in wholehearted agreement; even he as a seventh year felt as though he’d only gotten off the train yesterday. ”I know the feeling,” he said with a broad and friendly smile at Sierra. For a moment he appeared to be distracted; his attention on something in the vast array of junk and forgotten artefacts.”Brilliant but before we go there’s something I need to check out.” In a flash he had expertly climbed over an old ingredients cupboard and was out of sight.

The moments ticked by and it was almost one whole minute before Alex reappeared on top of the cupboard, a set of pewter scales in hand. ”Sorry, I’ve been looking for these for ages. In fact I haven’t seen them since my third year I reckon,” the Gryffindor beamed, jumping off his perch then dusting himself off as though nothing had happened. ”I think, but I’m not entirely sure, that this is the Room of Requirement when it’s not required to be anything if that makes sense,” he mused, brown eyes sweeping over the mess filled room. ”So you want to go to D.A.D.A? You better have a good excuse for being late, Connery’s in a god awful mood today. Looks like he hasn’t slept in weeks.”