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It wasn't that Dion disliked patrolling in and of itself; in fact, he rather liked it. It was a good way to blow off steam and relax a bit - either nothing happened and he got some time to himself, or people caused trouble and he got to release some stress.

So it wasn't the patrolling in itself that was throwing his mood off. No, it was having t do it with Ruby.

Ruby confused him, and Dion hated that feeling. He enjoyed his time with her, a lot of the time. But sometimes...sometimes he kind of wanted to wring her neck. Especially when she went all bleeding-heart peacemaker over silly stuff.  It also drove him crazy that she won most of their arguments. That was probably the reason he started up so many. Yes. Surely.

This night, they'd drawn the 6th floor halls as their route. After dinner, the halls were mostly empty and the two of them didn't encounter much more than the occasional straggling student, the odd Ravenclaw, and a few Gryffindors. Hardly the most exciting route.

He hadn't talked much to Ruby since Valentine's Day, mostly due to arguments that had taken place in that day's aftermath. His actions at the birthday party hadn't done him any good either, he supposed; another reason he'd never get drunk again, ever. He cleared his throat nervously to break the silence, when they were somewhat alone -  an Auror at the far end of the hall was their only company, and the woman seemed mostly out of earshot.

"How's, uh," he started, then got his tone to his usual serious one. "How is Sophie doing?" He'd tried to keep the girl out of his mind, and had mostly succeeded, losing himself in his massive homework load.

Ruby followed in step with Dion, a bit off in her own world. Things had been strange between them...well since forever. They had never been proper mates or even proper enemies had they? They bickered but she mostly won. The only time he seemed to get really upset with her was when she felt that someone was worth saving that he didn't. She couldn't help it that sometimes her care for people clouded her better judgment. She didn't claim to be perfect, in fact she claimed exactly the opposite - but she didn't think Toko's problems would be helped or solved by humiliating him in front of then entire student assembly by accusing him of not just drinking but being a drunk. Which, if she were honest with herself, he was - but it seemed like a care and worry to address privately.

It was like anything else, Ruby preferred to deal with life behind closed doors. She wasn't a gossip. She wasn't a loud mouth - yes she could be as loud as her sister but most of the time Ruby thought out consequences rather than just going with her gut. Sophie wasn't acting herself - and Ruby knew it large part it was because of the rumors going around about Fauna... but she wasn't blind or stupid. She knew Soph was in a jealous fit over Chance. Merlin, Sophie was spoiled. That statement should be taken to mean that Ruby didn't love her baby sister - quite the contrary. The problem was that she loved her too much. She knew her too well - and thus she knew that Sophie was basically a ball of insecurity wrapped in a very thin layer of vivacious energy. She needed adoration to live.

When Dion spoke Ruby looked up and sighed, giving a small shrug, "She's Sophie I guess. She's always been a bit of a magnet for the drama hasn't she? She's completely lost her mind over everyone talking about Fauna being a werewolf; I think she intends to physically harm Sasha the first chance she gets," there was just a trace of bemusement to her voice before she looked at Dion trying to decide how much more to say, "I don't know how well she and Fig are getting on lately. She forgets they're both only 15 an his basic mentality is 'boobs, fart jokes, boobs, making an ass of himself for a laugh'. I'm a bit surprised he still has his face after that song he came up with". She wouldn't tell him about Chance. That would be cruel...and whatever Ruby was; she was not cruel.

He nodded glumly as she spoke. "I can't believe she's dating him," he admitted, not bothering to hide the bitterness in his voice. With Ruby, it would have just been silly. "Friends, yes, bit..." he trailed off and finally shrugged hopelessly. "Just doesn't seem her...type, I guess. He's kind of thick. In a well meaning Dax kind of way, but...well." He left it at that. Fig was too much like Sophie without, it seemed, much of the brain.

Aware he sounded more messed up than he'd intended, he sighed. "Sorry," he said vaguely, looking at her. "Thanks for...you know. Valentine's Day. Aside from the Toko thing." His hands were shoved in his pockets, shoulders stooped. He still didn't really regret trying to pull Toko with him back to Dax - bloody over reacting ninnies, the lot of them. They'd acted like taking a kid by the arm was like punching him.

Ruby placed a hand on his arm and gave him a sympathetic smile; which was less sympathetic and more just a genuine soft smile, "I know it hurts now Dee. But Sophie is...fickle at best with her affections". It was true, in this last year alone there had been Devlin, then Fig, now Chance. "That's the mind of a fifteen year old girl. She wants so badly to be a grown up, to take the world by storm but she lands herself in the middle of a relationship just because he asked and now all the they do is fight," she rolled her eyes and shook her head as they began to walk again.

She was quiet after he brought up Toko. Ruby knew she had reacted badly but... she really cared about Toko. She let how much she cared cloud her better judgment sometimes, "You were right you know; not that I like admitting it. We should have made Toko leave... it's just," she sighed and looked out one of the large windows into the night sky, "He's so small and you're so big - and I think you forget how much stronger than everyone you are. And I know it's no excuse but I'm scared for him. He needs help but he.... he isn't going to get it from home. I can't even fathom, I mean my mum's bad enough wanting me to go right to work for the registry or start lobbying for changes in werewolf legislation but...Toko's problems are so much bigger and they make me so sad for him," she looked up at Dion and sighed. It wasn't like she liked admitting she made mistakes but she could when she had to.

He just shrugged again, making a dismissive grunt. "Yeah," he said, then smiled vaguely. "I'd rather not have been an...one of those 'oh okay sure' boyfriends. Better to not be one at all, I guess." A complete lie, of course, but...

They paused by the window and since the hall was empty, he leaned on the wall next to it as she looked out, his eyebrow rising as she spoke. "I was right? There's a first," he said, and couldn't help but be a bit smug at this small victory (if you could call it that). He deflated as she continued, though, and finally he sighed. "I don't forget. He just pisses me off." He made no comment on her mother - with his own pushing him to take every single NEWT, Ruby's mother sounded downright sane.

"It's because of Dax," he said lamely. "He bends over backwards for that kid. It annoys me. Dax is...easy to take advantage of - it's just..." he shuffled uncertainly. "I don't want him to be, you know. Unhappy."

Ruby gave him a sad face; "I know you don't mean it but it is true, I would think that it would always be better to know someone genuinely cares about you as a friend...than to try and be with them when you're all in and they aren't". It really did make Ruby sad that he was still wishing after Sophie. There was so much...more to life. Sure she had Thatch; but he wasn't her boyfriend - and she wasn't in love with him. He just showed her that romantic love wasn't everything. Being loved in the best way sometimes meant being loved in a way you didn't think you wanted. Then again Ruby didn't even know if she liked kissing boys or girls more so she was not the person to ask, probably.

"Maybe he does take advantage of Dax... but you know what they say. People can only use you as much as you're willing to let them," Ruby's mother was fond of telling her that when she felt like the universe was closing in on her. Of course Ramona handled it all with stride and still looked fecking gorgeous to boot. She left some pretty big shoes to fill for a woman with such tiny feet - and Ruby was expected to fill them and make them grow. Finally she stepped away from the window and linked arms with Dax, an unusual move between the two to say the least. Ruby felt Dion needed comfort though, and she (like Sophie) was best at giving the physical kind, "I think we've both got the same problem Fayette. We've got a couple of siblings who rush head long into life with no safety net and we're at the bottom trying to absorb impact when they fall. It's a shite way to live - but someone has to do it yeh"?

He blinked in surprise as she took his arm and then patted hers vaguely as he thought. "To be honest, I don't think she even goes that far with me," he said with a hollow laugh. "I think I get lumped in with 'Ruby's crowd' in her head...she gets along better with Dax, anyhow."

"Dax is too willing to let people take advantage of him, that's the problem. He's like a big stupid puppy," Dion said. "And yes, it is a shit way to live. Why couldn't we have had smart, emotionally stable siblings? That'd have made this year 100% easier." He glanced at her and the tiredness showed on his face for just a moment.

"Dunno. Maybe lettin' 'em fall would be a good life lesson, but..." he smiled wryly. "Don't think I could that to Dax."

Ruby grinned at him, trying to lighten the mood, "Well I don't know if she thought that before Valetnine's Day, but by Merlin she does now," there was a little bit of a laugh and a flush to her cheeks. She still did not fully understand what had made her think kissing him had been a good idea. He was just there, looking so sad... and BAM lips met lips. It wasn't a proper kiss of course so she couldn't say for sure if fireworks had gone off in her brain. "If she isn't bemoaning her wretched boyfriend or complaining about the werewolf rumors she is trying to piece together the torrid love affair you and I must have been having for years". She could joke about this right? Dion knew that something with Sophie would never really work.

Her tone shifted; as did the expression on her face when he mentioned just letting Dax fall but not thinking he could do that. She understood that all too well too. She gave his arm another squeeze though she didn't look up at him as she chewed on her bottom lip, "And there is the rub, Fayette, there is the rub. We love them too much for our own good. Their pain becomes our pain; when their heart breaks ours cracks open right along with it," she sounded almost wistful as she spoke. It was insane logic but she thought Dion might understand. When Sophie was hurt - like she had been about Devlin and Fauna; and there was no way to console her Ruby felt completely helpless. It was hard in the moments that it felt like nothing reached her sister - which was far more often than anyone would have realized. Sophie burned like a star - white hot while sucking people into her orbit until she burned herself out and collapsed. It was exhausting.

Dion laughed. "Yes, clearly all the arguments have just been pillow talk or some such," he said, expression shifting to a very slight blush as he realized what that sounded like. "Turns out her big sister Ruby fancies total tossers - who knew?" He chuckled. "Though with her dating Sellaphix, maybe that isn't that far of a leap..."

Thoughts on Figaro aside, he snorted. "Maybe for you. For me I just punch him in the face and tell him 'I told ya so'..." He looked at her and shrugged, a slightly lopsided grin looking odd on his usually dour face. "It's a guy thing. We don't talk about feelings much. And when we do someone gets a black eye," he added, remembering the argument he'd had with Dax on the morning of the 14th.

"Then he runs off and beats the tar outta Harper over Toko, too. The guy thinks with his muscles. If he didn't have so many he'd have failed out years ago."

"Fig's not a bad kid... he's just young. Not everyone came out of the womb with the maturity of a crotchety old man," she stuck her tongue out at him, but there was a twinkle of humor in her eyes. "Not, to mistake that I am at all a fan of him dating my sister. I'd much rather ship her off to a convent or something," she sighed and rolled her eyes; "But, like every other choice she has ever made in her life, I have absolutely no say". In a way (that she would never admit) Ruby rather admired Sophie's desire to just do what she wanted. She wasn't swayed much by the demands of family. Meanwhile Ramona was planning Ruby's life down to the minute after Hogwarts, and all Ruby could say was Sounds great Mum.

Ruby made a face at the mention of Dax beating up fifth years over Toko. He was her little darling; but he did cause a lot of problems. As they wandered down the corridor Ruby's face grew pensive. She was quiet as though she were weighing her words very carefully. "Have you noticed all we ever do is talk about them? Well, them, or school work - I always thought it was just because those were the two things that we had in common and we weren't really friends," she paused to look at him then brown eyes big and round, "But I don't think that anymore; I mean about us not really being friends. I also think we only ever talk about them because we have no lives of our own...and I find that very, very, very depressing".

"I don't think Sophie would make a very good nun," Dion said doubtfully. "She's still got a sense of humor. And as far as I know she's not into...well anyway." Topic over.

He smirked, his usual annoyingly over confident smirk. "Not not really friends? Kind of hard to say that after you kissed me," he said, mostly jokingly. "And I so do have a life outside of my brother. It's just not very, you know. Conversational." He shrugged, again.  "And most people mistake my hobbies for school work anyway. S'not my fault I like Divination on its own merits..."

Dion paused, thought for a moment, and then smirked down at her. "Fine, then! Do tell me, Miss Flitwick, what your hobbies are - other than being nosy, 'cause if that's a hobby you need a start a club...and you'd have half the school as members."

"She wouldn't have to be a nun. She would just live with them - behind a very high wall. Of course she could never take the vow of silence so, you know. There is that," she at least had a sense of humor about it. Ruby actually had a sense of humor... it just didn't always show because she was usually exasperated by her housemates and their antics and her trying to keep them from killing or snogging one another to death. It was all very complicated - and in fact did not leave a lot of room for like...herself. In some respects that was good - it kept her from mooning over Lou too much; or having to delve into her psyche to figure out if she really liked girls or if she just  really liked Lou.

She looked at Dion for a moment, brow knitted together; "This is a stupid game and I lose," she at least had the good nature to laugh. Shaking her head she gave a shrug, "I don't know. I read a lot, I do a lot of background looking into Werewolf legislation; Fauna and I hang out sometimes... but we're mostly doing homework anymore..." she had to really think about what she did for fun; like really think about it... and even then she came up short. "I guess, when I'm home I like to cook - or my mom thinks I like to cook so she teaches me all this traditional dishes from Puerto Rico," her voice trailed off and then she gave a sharp laugh, "So um maybe my main hobby is trying to um keep my mom happy. She kind of mapped out my life more than... like Em's or Sophie's. Which, you know... is because I'm the most like her or whatever..." she realized she was rambling and stooped, a faint blush to her cheeks, "Sorry".

Dion laughed as he tried to imagine Sophie taking a vow of silence. "I think she'd explode in...oh, 15 minutes or so. Or get really, really good at charades."

"So you and I do have the same hobby," he said, though his humor was rather lacking now. "You mother sounds like mine. A whip cracker." He rubbed his forehead and looked at Ruby; the bags under his eyes more apparent. "She's the reason I'm getting my NEWTs in everything. If I mention dropping a class, she bursts into tears and goes all..."

He cleared his throat and proceeded into an actually quite good imitation of a middle aged, french accented housewife. "You can do anything you want, Dee-dee! Anything! I've even told Miss Flats round the block you're going to be Minister for Magic someday, do you want to let me down? Oh! If you turn into that lazy brother of yours I'll...I'll....do you want to make your mother cry? How do you expect me to live in my old age if my sons don't take care of me?" He clacked his jaw shut and sighed.

"Would it sound strange to say I envy you?"

Ruby grinned at him and shook her head; "Well that would be a vast improvement over now, I always get stuck with her on my team and Johnny and Emer always win by default because Sophie blurts out words when she can't think of an action. I hate family game night," she rolled her eyes and looked at him, her nose wrinkled slightly. She could understand Dion now in a way she couldn't before. It would be hard being the "good" son, the one who had to clean up after everyone and keep mumsie happy. It didn't excuse his outbursts but it certainly explained them.

She paused in their walking and held up a hand, "Ok for this to work you have to imagine me with really big hair and about six inches taler, and my accent kills it but pretend I sound American" she tried not to laugh when she said this though her lips itched with a twitch as she pulled her hair out of it's neat ponytail, flipped her head upside down to give it a good shake; then righted herself with a hand on her hip, "Ayii! Mija, no no no! Why would you want to live in a dank dark apartment in the city? No, there is no reason you and Fauna can't move back in here," she was gesturing (much the way Sophie did when she was angry with the hand on on her hip) "Did you start the chicken yet? What do you mean you only have two hands? What am I Vishnu? Do you see multiple arms?" and then Ruby broke character choking on her own laughter.

"Also, while all of this was going on you should have been picturing my dad hiding in the background even though he told me he thought moving  into my own flat would be really good for me. Sophie is standing in the corner trying not to laugh because Mum has dropped all sense of decorum and is using her full on Latin Barrio fast talking accent that puts Sophie's chimpmunk high pitched emotional jabber to shame," raking her fingers through her hair, the seventh year starts moving down the hall again, with a glance over her shoulder, "Envious? Of what exactly? I basically spend all my time kissing booboos and putting out fires".

Dion laughed again. "You should wear your hair down more often," he said, with somewhat surprisingly casual tone. "You look good like that."

He patted her on the shoulder and shrugged. "Envious your family's got a better mood than mine?" he said. "Dad travels all the time, so it's just us and mom. She's overbearing and demanding and ever since Dax racked up the medical bills in his accident, she's had it out for him."

He reached out and fluffed the top of her hair; an odd gesture for him, since that was usually what he did to Dax. "Our mom's kicking us out the instant we graduate. I'm not sure which situation is worse - we'll have to find the money somewhere."