Lillian sat in her dormitory with a cheery smile on her face that seemed to have made itself permanent ever since she'd been adopted. She'd always smiled before then, but it had often been filled or tinted with sadness and depression. Her nightmares of that day when the little girl blew up, her body spraying everywhere... Lillian shuddered, but her nightmares had lessened considerably and she was beginning to loose the horrors of her past as they were rapidly replaced with brilliant memories. She hummed to herself as she skipped across to the other side of the room and opened up the cupboard. She pulled out her favourite pair of pyjama's - ones that Nora had bought her - and slipped on the sky blue bottoms with cloud on them, and the white top with blue clouds on them. She buttoned up the shirt, slid her feet into cloud-shoes and wandered back over to her bed. Lillian felt incredibly fancy in pyjama's as she'd never had the luxury of owning a pair before.

She picked up a book her adoptive mother had recommended she read - though it had taken some time to teach her how to read - and with it tucked under her arm she shuffled across the room, down the stairs and into the common room. She saw the fire roaring and she hurried over to the duo of armchairs by the fire. She sat down in one and read through the very basic German book. Nora herself spoke fluent German, so naturally she'd taken on learning German. She could speak it quite fluently now, though it had taken a few aiding spells as well. She nibbled on her fingernails as she read and frowned at a word that she didn't quite understand.

Alexandre paced back and forth in the dormitory wondering what to do. He was feeling uber restless, and it wasn't a good thing. His insomnia was acting up again, and he knew he wouldn't get a second with sleep. He looked around the empty dormitory, being the only guy in the dorm. It was a bit weird that he still hadn't met any guys at Durmstrang his own age, and he wasn't sure he liked that or not. But he decided not to care much. He usually got along with girls as much as guys, so he didn't really stress it. He decided to read a book or something, so he sat down on his bed and picked up a random book and started reading.

It turned out to be a book he'd read quite a few times. He looked around the room again, looking for a chair, but couldn't see one. He sighed and rose from the bed, walking down the steps to the common room. He immediately turned his attention to the fire roaring and his direction turned to the armchairs in front of it. He sat down in one, and then noticed a movement in the other. He looked and saw the girl from the river. He blinked. "Lillian?" he said surprised, and he smiled a bit.

Lillian frowned at the word and with a huff she dropped her book beside her and stood up. She walked through the common room and back up to her dorm, where she spent the next few minutes digging through her drawers and her trunk. Clothes now scattered across the floor, accompanied with a worn pair of sneakers and a necklace that she'd been given, she finally located her English > German/German > English book and with it tucked under her arm she left the mess around her trunk and hurried back into the common room. She walked back over to her book and nestled into the couch once more. The warm glow of the fire made her smile as she located the German word and translated it to English. "Ahh." She mumbled to herself and continued to read her book slowly.

Lillian was busy enjoying her new book that was the most basic German she could find, when she saw movement and looked up. It was a boy emerging from the dorms, and not seeing his face as it was cast in darkness she lowered her head once more and continued to read. Her fringe fell in her face, and she brushed it out of the way once more. Said boy sat down in the armchair beside her, but so busy reading she was that she failed to notice him until he said her name in a tone of surprise. Lillian's head snapped up and she paused for a moment, before a huge grin filled her face. "Alexandre!" She squeaked, her book abandoned as she pounced on him in a hug. Even if they weren't friends - she still hugged him as Lillian loved hugging people. She moved back to her seat and beamed at him. "I told you I was attending Durmstrang, don't you remember?" She tilted her head at him.

Alex nodded with a smile. He did know that, but he had totally forgotten. After all, they were nearing Christmas. It was kind of sick that he hadn't seen her before. But then again, he really had spent much of his time alone, either in the Observatory or in the dorm. He liked being alone. Solitude was what he wanted. But he didn't find it annoying to talk with Lillian. She was so ... different. And the hug she gave him, which shocked him, was a proof of that. He patted her on her back, and then shrugged as she sat back down.

"I guess you could've been in the other dorm or something. I can't believe I haven't seen you before now! Seriously, this castle may be big, but it's not that big," he said with a smile.

"What are you reading there?" he asked her softly.

Lillian grinned at him, happy for the company. She examined him carefully and was pleased to see that he hadn't changed much. After all, if he'd gotten any taller he'd simply tower over her and that would've been incredibly embarrassing for her. She was a rather small girl and often got annoyed at how people towered over her by so much. She shook her head and was pleased as he patted her on the back. She watched as he sat back down and nestled into the couch comfortably.

"Me? Pick the sword? As if, I wouldn't know how to use a sword if my life depended on it," she grinned at him. "That is weird, but I guess you're a boy and i'm a girl... sooo..." She giggled softly.

Her eyes trailed back to her book and she held it out for him to see. "Beyond The Rainbow." She supplied.

Alexandre lifted an eyebrow. "Are you suggesting that I'm not man enough to go for the sword?" he asked in mock-horror.

He had honestly been torn between the two. But after a long time of contemplating, he had found out that he would be a good fighter either way, and that it would come naturally to him. Fights had always come natural to him. So it was knowledge that was what he needed. He wanted to become strong. So strong that he could stop his mother from doing the repulsive things she did for the two of them. And he could hunt down his father, demand to know why he left them. He could also maybe troll himself to sleep.

Alex looked at her book and smiled. "Is it any good?" he asked, a bit curious. He hoped she wasn't one of the people who read saggy love stories and ran around the castle after every guy that had a decent appearance.

Lillian laughed and winked at him with a slight shoulder shrug as she stifled more laughter. "Maybe I am, Alex, maybe I am." She grinned at him.

Lilly thought back to the sorting ceremony and knew it had been a simple decision for her. They'd said, 'Choose the book or the sword' and immediately she'd rushed to the book. The sword had looked heavy, difficult to wield, and she didn't want to try all that much. Besides, Lilly loved books and they'd sad to go to the one that called to you the most. It was an easy decision for her, but she'd noticed that some would try to go for the sword, but then would be pulled to the book. She supposed some sort of magic meant you could only choose the one that you truly longed for.

Lilly nodded her head eagerly as he asked if her book was any good. It was rather basic, but she was very pleased that she was able to read the German without getting a splitting headache. "It's awesome! It's about these two girls and they live in an alternate reality where colour has been stolen and they have to battle dragons and stuff to get to the bad guy who stole colour!" She exclaimed.

Alexandre smiled at Lilly. She really was a sweet little thing. Not that he was much bigger than she. But there was something about her that just made him want to protect her. He couldn't quite describe it either. It was weird. Maybe that was what it felt like to have a little sister or something. Even though she was as old as he was.

"Maybe you should take it back before I show you how much of a fighting person I actually am," he threatened with big eyes and humor laced in his voice.

He found that the book did sound a bit interesting, whether it was because it was a completely unknown concept for him and he had never heard of such a book before, or because he absolutely loved dragons, he did not know. "Hm, maybe I have to borrow it from you," he said with a smile.

Alex then yawned and stretched; he hadn't gotten much sleep the night before. But he had a feeling that even though he went to sleep now, he wouldn't fall asleep.