Victoria walked through the overhang near the courtyard. It was that quiet time after dinner, when most of the students were settling down for homework or spending time with friends indoors. She loved this time, it was very relaxing.

Rounding the corner, she pulled her sweater closer around her body, not really bothered too much by the chill. She sat on one of the nearby benches and looked up at the sky. It was almost completely dark now, the moon was full and she could see a blanket of stars.

She thought back on the night in the graveyard. It went much better than she could have hoped when she saw Alec there. But it was still scary. Not really knowing what was going to happen between them.

Albus was about going for a stroll after dinner. A short walk always gave him time to think and he was normally ready to fall asleep after it. There was no other time when his thoughts were this crystal clear, it always relaxed and calmed him.

To his surprise, he saw Victoria sitting in the courtyard. He wondered how she was fairing with her difficult situation. Taking a seat next to her, he pulled his own jacket around himself. It was still pretty cool. "Hey Vic, how are you?" he asked.

Victoria smiled softly at Albus. It was really good to see him. They hadn't spoken much this year, mostly just the passing hello in the corridors and at meals. She'd been too absorbed in her own world and worries.

Well, that's the problem, isn't it? She'd been so focused on herself that she hadn't been there for Tess when her mother passed. Or Alec, though she couldn't really be blamed for that one. Either way, she needed to change something.

"I'm...good, I guess. How have you been?" She really had missed having just a friend.

Albus smiled back warmly at her, it was nice to see her. He wasn't really close to any of the teachers yet. She was one of the friends he had made, and he wanted to get to know her a bit better. However, she was dealing with her own life right now.

Victoria had faced a rough year so far. All that stuff with the guy, Alec he thought was the name. Plus a death in the family on top of that. It was no surprise she was hurting, and might not be as sociable as she normally was.

"I've been great actually. Though I haven't been the most sociable, need to spend more time getting to know the teachers here." he admitted. Albus had caught the hesitation in her voice when she said she was good. "How are you really Vic? That whole situation witht he guy, plus a death on top of that, can't have been easy."