Heather liked the quiet of the Sixth Floor. So few people ever used it. Really the most excitement it got was when someone had to go to the bathroom going to or from the Gryffindor Common Room. It was the perfect place for her to go and meditate without being disturbed. As a precaution, she used a room near the end of the floor, just in case some wanderer got curious and decided to travel further down the hallway. And it wasn't like Heather made a lot of noise. One usually didn't when performing meditation.

Once the meditation was over, Heather engaged in another activity she enjoyed... practicing her marital arts. The one thing that sucked about being at Hogwarts was that no one taught any kind of self-defense class outside of Defense Against The Dark Arts. And Heather was away from her mother's dojo in Muggle London, which she enjoyed practicing in during the times of the year she was at home. The Sixth Floor wasn't exactly the dojo, but the large, empty rooms there provided her a great place to polish up her moves. There wasn't a lot there for her to accidentally destroy in there, and no one around to actually punch or kick.

Heather sat in meditation for a few moments, focusing her mind and body, becoming one with her inner fighter. Once she reached such focus, she rose and formed a fighting stance. In her mind, she pictured an opponent across from her. She imagined she was at one of the tournaments her mother and her mother's colleagues held every year. With speed and putting her full strength into it, she performed a series of various punches and kicks. And though she got into it, she did not make a sound as some who practiced martial arts did. Again, she wanted privacy and knew the noises would draw people.

Aiden was headed up to seventh to go to the Room of Requirement which was one of the few places he could do his fencing practice. His equipment in the bag over his shoulder, Aiden had his pants on and a t shirt, but his fencing jacket was over his arm. He knew several of his fellow students thought this look was ridiculous, bu he wasn't so interested in their opinions on the matter. He loved fencing and found it wonderful and if he liked something why should he care what others thought? They would never be able to do the same things! And fencing required years of training for sure, it was not something people picked up on a whim.

As he walked, he of course thought of Ally, one of the few random erratic developments of his life. They had bonded on the way to Hogwarts the first year and ever since had been best buds, though their yearmates often found it amusing because they were each so different! Where Aiden thought peace and tranquility were wonderful daily things and sought them out, Ally liked adventures and trouble and risks! She was, however, far more advanced at dragging him into trouble then he was in dragging her into solitude. As for fencing, she would have found the rules extremely ridiculous, despite the reasons for them.

She just wanted to flail around with his equipment.

A sigh at the thought of her and ahead he heard movement and stopped, getting very still. A moment later he heard it again and by the third sound he smiled. While someone talking and walking would have missed it as it was barely a sound, he heard the soft steps of someone practicing kicks and moves of a martial nature. Hard to explain, but it was the foot turning against the floor which caught his own ear, especially as he practiced one himself. Watching to his left as he passed a doorway, he saw in the back of one room where his friend Heather was working out in her own way. A good twenty feet away, Aiden looked both ways to make sure the hall was clear before stepping in softly to watch from across the room.

Clearly in her moves she had more then just good training. Her form was well done, the moves smooth and firm, and although it was very different from Tai Chi (his other art) he could see the skill she had was excellent. Tai chi however was more about stretches and muscle use then fighting and self defense, stressing avoidance and dodging rather then kicks and punches as all the others did thus his perspective on the other arts was more or less unique. Mixed in with his fencing, Aiden was a very controlled, very precise young man and he watched her moves, evaluating which form she followed more then examining her. When she came to a stop, he waited giving her the respectful silence after, then made a small cough to show she had a audience of one.

@heathersong

Heather seemed as if she didn't notice the other student in the room. She seemed completely focused on what she was doing. But one thing she had learned early on was that through focus, one becomes aware of one's surroundings. Even though those surroundings, should they include another living being, didn't necessarily distract Heather, she was still aware when someone or something was there. Someone was watching her. Heather simply ignored the person until she had finished her exercises. However, once she was done, she turned and looked over at Aiden, her eyes showing slight annoyance. She had picked this room and the Sixth Floor because she was sire she would have full privacy there. That didn't happen, and now she wondered if she would have to find a new place.

She stepped over to the boy and crossed her arms.

"Why were you watching me?" she asked directly. No hello, how are you today? Did you like my sweet moves? That wasn't Heather Whitby. She was a girl with few friends, few social skills, and one who spoke very few words. She wasn't cruel by any means, but she was very disciplined and not one who wanted to engage in other people's chicanery.

Heather didn't just stand there and wait for his answer either. She turned, stepped over and wiped her brow off with a towel before grabbing an empty canteen and a wand.

"Aquamenti," she chanted, and the canteen filled up with water. She dusted off a chair in the room that looked like it hadn't been used since the days of Dumbledore and seated herself. She eyed Aiden once more before sipping her water.

"You need to use this room for something?" she asked. "I'm done here for now." Again, possibly for good if people were going to keep trying pry on what she was doing.

AIDEN URQUART

Having talked with her before Aiden was expecting a more neutral conversation as she didn't tend to the social much. An exchange about particular moves or the warms ups had been on his mind more. He certainly had not expected crossed arms and a disappointed feeling expression, but it took all kinds, right? Puzzled at the response, his soft smile might have dimmed a notch before he said "Watching and comparing moves that are somewhat familiar to me in my own moves. You use much more in the way of kicks and punches then I do so I was curious what the difference would look like. I certainly didn't mean offense." His head tilted as he looked at her, shifting so the bag on his back with his sword hilts sticking out of it didn't shift farther over on his balance.

"You're always welcome to watch me," he shrugged not concerned about it, "but I have to do my fencing in the Room of Requirement. Tai Chi I do every morning in the common room really early. I think the only person who has ever come down to see that was Ally a few times." He shrugged. That had been a surprise each time as well since she didn't strike him as an early riser at all. He didn't think she had come to watch him fence ever, though she had ended his sessions early on more then one occasion with adventures or just cause she wanted to talk. That was Ally; the here and now was far more important then planning really.

If she felt like it, she did it. Period. Fortunately he was good (very good actually) at both his martial arts so he could stop before hurting someone during an interruption.

A shake of his head at her query. "I've tried tai chi in these sorts of rooms before, but it's too much stuff to move out of the way sometimes so I tend to stick to the common room. Although if you are looking for a quiet place, I find the top of the Astronomy tower a good place for being left alone, particularly early in the morning. Late at night or late afternoon it draws too many couples." A moment before he added reluctantly "As much as I hesitate to say it, the dungeons have a few good rooms for it too. There's two with doors past the entrance stairs into them which held keep sound down so as to not draw attention much."

@heathersong

Heather's thoughts on Aiden from encountering him before were these: She had nothing against the guy. In her opinion, he seemed nice and friendly enough. However, Heather just wasn't one to sit down and have a long conversation with anyone, hence why it wasn't easy to be friends with her. Even with her friends, she wasn't one to begin a conversation or give any long insight on the topic.

She listened as he spoke of why he was watching her. He wasn't gawking her as some Gryffindor boys had done since the year began. That was a good thing. And he did state that he wasn't trying to offend her. So she could give the guy a break.

"It's alright," she said. "Did you learn what you needed to... about our... moves?" While what Aiden said didn't sound odd, Heather felt what she said was. She blushed just a bit in embarrassment.

She listened as he spoke of what he did... fencing and Tai Chi, and the Room of Requirement wasn't a bad idea. She shrugged a little when he welcomed her to watch him.

"Okay... maybe... some time," she said. Though she didn't really want to watch with Ally around. Nothing against Ally. It was just her social awkwardness kicking in again.

Aiden then began suggesting other places for practicing and Heather took them into account. The only downside about the Astronomy Tower was that she knew on occasion people did sneak up there for whatever reason, and she really didn't want to find herself walking right into their business. As for the dungeons, she had the chance of dealing with trolls that found their way in... and if not trolls, something worse... Slytherin students.

"Thanks, I might," she finally said. She then looked Aiden over and thought about something. Maybe he could be of some use to her and her practice. "Do you spar?"

AIDEN URQUART

She seemed to think her own words awkward and he flushed a tad in response, though he was not thinking of her in the way he did with Ally. Ally got into his blood till he had a hard time even thinking really! "Some. What you do is far closer to my fencing then my Tai Chi. Both are more about being proactive, going after the target more then defense though it is there as well. Tai Chi is both simpler and more complex at the same time. Let me think how to describe it." A moment's thought before he hit upon the right version. "The creator saw a snake being attacked by a hawk once. The hawk would dart in with speed and the snake would move just enough to be out of the way of the strikes."

Remembering the story struck him again how much sense was in that early wisdom. "The bird wore itself out striking over and over with no hits and she snake conserved it's energy and strength. So my way in Tai Chi is built upon dodges and misses, not so much striking or defenses. Yours is more a mixture of strikes and defenses I think, although I did not see any throws. Are you trained in those as well?" Unlike his fencing which was all about sudden attacks to solid hits, he knew Tai Chi was unique amongst the martial arts for it's teaching only one or two punches and one kick. The rest was built on an entirely different system.

He shrugged. "It doesn't bother me much really. I have to use the Room because of the fencing dummy being there. I can not practice against another with it without armor and training. And this summer my Master started me on sword work as well so I have two styles to work on. That's usually too dangerous for another to so the dummy's the room provides are sort of necessary." As to the Tower, he had stressed mornings for a reason. "Business" rarely happened in the early morning hours except in the dorms. However since she did not express her thoughts any, he could not expand on that point.

That was the other advantage of the Room of course; if something was happening inside, it wouldn't let you in and you knew to come back another time. "Oh, spar?" He nodded, but hesitantly. "I have not done it often against other disciplines, but I can try. Most people find it very frustrating to spar against Tai Chi though I warn you. Not letting you get any hits in is my main thing and I won't strike till you are about to fall over. It's not the sort of spar most expect."

@heathersong

Heather listened with interest as Aiden spoke of how her style was closer to fencing than his Tai Chi. She had never really had the style of martial arts taught to her by her mother compared to something else before. It just was what it was, and that's how her mum portrayed it. She then listened to the story of the hawk and the snake. It made sense, and was a clever way to discuss it with her. Maybe she would enjoy this boy's company after all.

"Interesting," she said. "Maybe we could compare styles more." She then nodded about the throws. "We're taught a few. My mother's style is very unique, but she's never compared it to other forms of Martial Arts."

She found she was talking more to this boy too. That was strange, but she didn't seem to be all that disturbed by it.

She listened as he spoke of why he used the Room of Requirement. It sounded more and more like a good idea. And as it did with everyone, it would provide her with everything she needed.

"I'll check it out then," she said, showing a hint of a smile. "Thanks." The thanks was for the suggestion, but she didn't want to draw out a long flow of gratitude. To her, anything beyond a simply thanks was redundant.

She then listened as he responded to her invitation to spar. She almost wanted to laugh at his warning. Heather wasn't easily frustrated. True she tended to get easily annoyed by a few people, but hardly ever frustrated. The bottom line was that Aiden seemed cool with the idea of them sparring, and Heather welcomed that.

"We'll see what happens," she said. "Will be nice to have a sparring partner." She then looked around the room and sighed before looking at him. "Room of Requirement?"


AIDEN URQUART

She paid close attention to his words as he described what he had seen and then explained his own art. Seemingly interested, he brightened resolving inside his head to remember that this explanation did well in playing out what he did objectively. "We certainly can sometime. I wouldn't have any problem with learning more differences. I know that of the twenty or so main styles of martial arts in the world, Tai Chi is the only one that is as passive as it is. In China it's used as the main form of exercise, but most never use it as a fighting or defensive skill." Nearly a billion, actually, making it one of the most used arts in the world if you counted those merely for exercise.

There were very scattered teachers in the art a major advantage for him in the fact his family traveled so much. He had managed several different teachers during the year as they followed his mothers dance troupe. That was hard to explain however. A nod as she thanked him for the suggestions. "You're welcome. I'm glad I only do mine in the mornings before most wake up or I'd have a hard time finding privacy as well I suspect." He knew most who did see him practicing Tai Chi had no idea it was a fighting style; it was done at such a slow speed most probably just thought him weird when they did see it. He still found himself marveling over it some times, how differently the thinking was behind it from other forms.

A shrug of his shoulders. "Certainly. I was headed there anyway and t does have the protective gear we'll want. Until we have experience with each other's styles, that is." He walked that way, heading up the next set of stairs they came to. "So you learn your style from your mother? Family tradition?" He wondered what the intention was; self defense or teaching or just exercise. His was for mental and physical health and the hope of working it and his fencing together eventually. It had certainly had added to his speed and reflexes, but that was the intention behind the martial art in the first place in overall health. "Every member of my family had their own sort of physical exercise, it's a thing for us I guess. Only my little sister hasn't settled on one thing yet."

@heathersong

Heather gave Aiden another interested look as he spoke about how his style was the most passive of Martial Arts. The whole concept of a fighting style being passive always struck her as odd. She knew they existed of course, but she was so used to there being a great deal of combat in Martial Arts, albeit defensive combat. She wouldn't discourage Aiden for doing Tai Chi though. That would be extremely disrespectful and her mother would not be very proud of her.

"Fascinating," she said, her voice showing a tad of emotion. "I think I'll stick to defensive though. Plus it's a lot of fun fighting back home in the dojo."

Aiden seemed a kindred spirit of sorts. It seemed he wanted privacy from others at times. Perhaps many of the students did, despite how more social they acted than Heather herself. Perhaps Aiden was someone Heather could hang out with without being pegged as another socializer. Heather was not keen on the idea of suddenly being the center of attention.

"Well... maybe we can find a place to practice together," she said. "Maybe we'd be less worried about people barging in on us then." Heather shrugged, hoping the suggestion sounded logic. She wasn't used to talking this much.

Heather followed Aiden as they headed that way. She was really interested in seeing the Room of Requirement. She had never been there before, though she supposed it would probably be what she expected it to be given what the room did and all.

Heather nodded proudly when Aiden asked about her mother's style.

"Yes, for several generations in my mother's family," she said. "My grandfather taught it to her and my uncle, his father taught it to him, and so on back. But we're not quite sure where the style originally came from. Muggle genealogy can be fickle at times."

Heather looked interested when Aiden said his sister didn't have an exercise of her own yet. Heather had always wanted to train a student of her own.

"Does she attend Hogwarts as well?" she asked.

AIDEN URQUART

Most people who were familiar with martial arts or at least Tai Chi were often confused how it was a martial art, yet it was one of the more clear and concise disciplines, as well as one of the older ones. Most of the Chinese population knew some part of it's basic moves actually as the national exercise. In his time in training for it, he had often heard teachers from other disciplines politely get out of sparing with Tai Chi masters as they could most often wear you out and still win, moving at speeds few could watch and see all the moves of. The old men were quicker then the eye could follow and twice as slippery leaving a person attacking them bewildered and confused before they suddenly woke up in the hospital.

The idea of fighting being fun worried him a tad, but that was the nature of the art itself, being confident in yourself so you could avoid all the negative of anti-social fighting. In most of the forms it was one of the first steps actually, learning how to be in harmony with the world around you. "Interesting. So you really enjoy it? What about it is fun for you, I'm curious?" It was always good to hear another's perspective on something and nearly always an education. To Aiden (as to most of his teachers of course), knowing how your body worked and flowed connection to the life around you was the true intent of studying a difficult art such as his, not monk like, but with a similar feeling in the pursuit of the path. The art taught you control, but also the ability to see past that, to let the world go in the pattern of life.

"We can try, though mine is best first thing in the mornings and my fencing is the one which happens at almost any time. Have you begun on weapons or does your art not have those as part of the additional?" He knew only a small number of students in the main arts ever graduated to learning to work with a weapon depending on the teacher's mastery of one or two. An advantage for him as his fencing filled in that part long before he had reached the levels he had to to learn one with Tai Chi as he had now. "If not, you can always come and practice while I fence. I'm not loud I promise and there is always room." He led the way up towards the seventh floor as they spoke, his bag of equipment shifting as he did the steps lightly.

He had learned to only use the pad of his foot so his steps were soundless on the stairs.

"Oh now that is interesting. There are so many variants off the original forms once they came out of China! I heard there is a martial art in Mexico that is only passed from student to student and never shown nor exhibited. I've often wondered what it must be like and how it formed in it's history." He nodded at her question adding "Yep, she's a second year. I'm the only one with a martial art, dad is a gymnast, and my mother is a dancer. My brother Max is a dancer as well, but he went more into ballerinas and mom is more an overall teacher now."

@heathersong

Heather knew what Aiden was getting at when he asked what she liked about fighting. She sighed and rolled her eyes. She had others question her about enjoying the physical side of what she did. Some even made her out to be some kind of a sadist who got her jollies off hurting people, and that wasn't the case at all.

"It's just good exercise is all," she said. "I don't go around and bully people in class if that's what you mean." Maybe it wasn't what Aiden meant, but again Heather wasn't very good as social skills.

Heather then raised an eyebrow when Aiden brought up weapons. That was one thing Heather avoided, the use of weaponry. A wand was one thing, and she knew that it was essential to learn how to use one in order to be safe in the magical world. However, she was against Muggle weapons, as was her mother.

"No, we don't practice with weapons," she said. "My mother believes our bodies and minds are our best weapon in defending ourselves against most day to day threats such as muggers." She did think it was a good idea to practice her at while he fenced though. "Fair enough. I can do that."

This Aiden seemed to know a lot about martial arts. Heather was quite interested in the story about the Mexican Martial Arts.

"It must be a very valuable style indeed to be so secretive," she said. "I am sure there is a reason for the secrecy. Usually it's done that way when another party has presented a threat to those who practice it. My mother was told me that the style she teaches was almost lost in history when a man threatened my great grandfather to quit teaching it publicly. Let's just say an arrangement was made so that he could continue teaching it." She gave Aiden a look to not ask her to explain further on that.

Heather nodded when Aiden said his sister was a second year.

"Perhaps I can meet her some time," she said.

AIDEN URQUART

Aiden frowned; he hadn't meant to insinuate anything actually, but wondered what about it she liked. "No, that's not what I meant. You are talking to another martial artist, remember? I was wondering what about it you liked; the thrust of the moves, the spins, quick turns, or being able to feel you can block moves or fight back. I was thinking more along those lines, not how you use it. If it was the thrust of punches or kicks or the ducks and speedy reactions." If she liked the thrusts then he would wonder about her since that was far more aggressive. Although he supposed that could be possible anyway, the feeling of well placed aiming. Aiden mostly enjoyed knowing his body could do things most could not.

It gave him a feeling of confident peace inside.

Ah, a moral point. "Gotcha. I wasn't sure since you said yours was more unusual as most have it at some point whether used as a defensive or offensive move. In Tai Chi it's as much about defense against others as it is about energy flows and control." She didn't seem to think the double practice was a bad idea either which would work for him. "That should work fine then. The fencing will be in an exact and unchanging area, but it can be loud sometimes. Irregular sounds won't throw you off I would hope?" Besides, the idea was to be able to react to the unexpected so he doubted it would hurt so much as help her adjust.

Her words about the silent Mexican one made sense as well, though he only knew some stories about it, not much detail. "My family travels a lot so I have to take opportunities from a lot of different teachers scattered across the continent," meaning the rest of Eurasia, "and each teacher has different stories and lessons to teach so I heard about them that way. I don't know enough to know if they have had an enemy or not." She spoke about her own art and her great grandfather and he gave her a quizzical look, but didn't press her any. "Interesting. My art has for what I know always been a peaceful one. Do you speak Cantonese by any chance?"

Mostly the Chinese spoke Mandarin as expressly pushed by the government, but he had learned both. Too many of the older styles required the Cantonese despite it's peasant origins. It certainly wasn't required by any martial art, but his family crossed a lot of borders so he learned a lot of things most didn't have access to. "I don't see why not."

@heathersong

Heather sighed again, but not in annoyance of Aiden. She was now annoyed with herself. She wasn't very sociable, but she could have been more polite to him and not have jumped to conclusions when he was just curious about something. She actually gave him an embarrassed smile.

"...Sorry..." she said. She wasn't used to apologizing, but she was sincere when she gave him the apology. "I get a lot of people who do think I like hurting people for fun. It drives me a bit nutters. But really the whole experience in general is fun I suppose. Usually my opponent thinks so too, not matter which of us is the one getting the wrong side of the action." Heather chuckled a bit at that.

Heather nodded as Aiden spoke on Tai Chi and how it worked. He seemed very passionate about it, and she could certainly admire that.

"You seem to be a strong student," she said. "My mother would appreciate your dedication. I do as well."

She then shrugged when Aiden spoke of the irregular sounds that would come with his fencing practice and how it could potentially bother her.

"I will get used to it," she said.

Heather found the fact that Aiden got to travel a lot and learn a great deal from others very intriguing. She almost envied him for that. Heather didn't really travel too much. All of her grandparents lived in London, so she didn't have to go out of town to see them. She wanted to travel to China, the homeland of her mother's side of the family, at some point to learn more about her ancestry, but life had been busy for both her parents.

She then nodded about speaking Cantonese.

"I know a good bit, yes," she said. "But I mostly stick to English... or Mandarin whenever my mum's parents come over.

Heather smiled about meeting Aiden's sister.

"I trust she is as charming as you are," she said, giving another rare compliment. Heather suddenly found she didn't want to spar anymore. She just wanted to talk to Aiden. "I don't ask this of many people because I am not the most skilled at social graces, but... would you like to be my friend?"

AIDEN URQUART

He smiled. "No problem, just curious. I'm not surprised about the violence part. I think half the people who have never taken it consider it to be all offensive moves. With any of them really." She actually answered nothing specific and stuck to a complete generality which he nodded to. "Ah, I see. I enjoy mine, but mostly for the control it teaches me." As they walked she complimented him a few minutes later on his dedication and he tried not to seem proud. "Well i am a student. I hope someday to be a teacher, but I'll always be learning. I'm just glad to be seen as good enough to get advanced lessons."

Which was very true; not all students ever got that honor.

She said she would get used to it and he took that at face value. Fencing was not quiet, nor was it loud, but it was fast and furious in motion, whether defending or attacking. He knew he would be pointing out where he would be so she could have plenty of space herself. "Oh really? Several of my teachers require me to learn it to understand more about the meaning behind each name for the positions and there are more then a hundred and fifty of them, so I had to learn it." It was good she spoke both, really, and she had family to practice off of as well which must be a nice change. She told him that she hoped his sister was as charming and he nearly missed a step before he answered. "Oh! Uh, well yes I think she is, she's certainly willful enough for several people."

He smiled as he said it and then stopping outside the door his face softened a bit as he returned "Of course. And thanks for asking," he put his bag down and began the walking back and forth to get the room open concentrating on his fencing hall. When the door appeared he motioned towards it so she could proceed him inside as he picked up his bag and followed her in, shutting the door behind them. "this is it," he motioned around the room which was nicely large. "I usually use the far end so if you want this space up here feel free." He took his bag down about halfway and pulled out his fencing coat and began sliding into it. Behind him a large adult sized dummy in the same sort of outfit leaned against a wall, a pair of swords in it's back sheath.

@heathersong

Heather was really glad that Aiden got her and what she did. She had issues with many of the students over what she did with her Muggle mother, even in her own House. Perhaps that was part of the reason she didn't have many friends. They believed that what she did was a barbaric form of combat, partially because it didn't involve the use of wands and magic. So it was nice to know at least one person understood.

"Control is definitely important," she said. "And I want to teach as well. Who knows? Maybe we can co-own a studio and teach both?" Heather shrugged at the idea. It just popped in her head.

Heather listened as Aiden spoke of what all he had to learn. Again, she could relate a great deal. Heather definitely didn't get where she was by being the owner's daughter.

"My mother treated me no differently than any other student, and my training was very difficult as well," she said. "She never believes in showing favor or making the training harder for someone. We were all equal in her classroom, and I think in a way that was one of the lessons. What you did sounds very impressive."

Heather was glad to hear that she would have a chance to talk to Aiden's sister, perhaps instruct her. It would certainly help in her goal to become a teacher. However, she was truly happy when Aiden said that he wanted to be her friend. Heather wasn't sure what to do then. Was she supposed to shake his hand. Awkwardly, she stretched it out, hoping she didn't look silly.

Once they were inside, Heather slowly sat down and looked at him nervously.

"Um... would it be okay if... if we didn't spar... I mean right now?" she asked. "I... like talking to... you."

AIDEN URQUART