a whole new world.

Rian wasn't sure what he was going to do with his life, not really. He just lived with this feeling in the pit of his stomach, this knowledge that whatever he was destined for, it was greatness. In some shape or form, Rian wanted to leave the world a better place than what he had been born into. Shortly after his birth, Voldemort had supposedly been killed and life had gotten better as the years went by for his family. Death eaters were convicted, sentenced to Azkaban and slowly but surely, the evil that Voldemort had been so heavily involved in was righted.

Just like every other wizard out there, the ones that were on the right side of history, fear had been their immediate reaction once the rumors of Voldemort's return were proven true. The lines weren't just drawn in sand, but in stone. You either sided with the Dark Lord or you were against him. There was no other choice, not really, as far as the wizarding world was concerned.

Rian would never admit it to anyone, in part because he knew it could land him in trouble, but he was relieved when Harry had formed Dumbledore's Army. It gave the Gryffindor a sense of purpose, the feeling that maybe he was doing something worthwhile. Maybe that when the fight came to Hogwarts, if it did, that he would be able to do something other than to cower behind the teachers.

School was boring at times and at times, it was exciting. He enjoyed potions and defense against the dark arts, when it was taught by a capable teacher at least. Rian did his best in class, even when he was paired with less than ideal partners. Like a Slytherin pureblood. Rian was just as pureblooded as she was but they held entirely separate beliefs, or so Rian thought. What he hadn't been expecting as the year wore on and he was repeatedly teamed up with her, that he started to see her as more of a human and not just a closeminded blood elitist.

Climbing aboard the train at platform 9 3/4, Rian slipped into the first empty booth he came across. He was excited to say the least, hopeful that Madalyn would happen across him and actually want to sit with him. Though he wasn't going to hold his breathe, not quite yet. He knew how awful it would look for her reputation.

(omg I feel like this is horrible, I am sorry )

Madalyn knew what was expected of her. She'd known what was expected of her since she was a little girl. She was to go to Hogwarts and be sorted into Slytherin like most members of the prestigious Kost family, she was to make connections with other prestigious pureblood Slytherins, she was to then use those connections to help her one day when day when the Dark Lord returned so she'd be on his better side. She was also supposed to get married to well whoever her parents saw fit. All of these things were just how things were done, and how things had always been done. And Madalyn didn't voice her opinion often if ever, at least not out loud or to other people, but she hated it. She hated feeling so controlled by them all the time, but she also had no idea how to get away. Which was probably why she'd fell in love with Hogwarts the way she had. Hogwarts was her escape.

When Madalyn was at the school she didn't have to be someone she wasn't anymore. She didn't have to hang around other Slytherin students if she didn't want to, and she didn't have to pretend to be this girl that she wasn't. Honestly, if her parents knew she didn't hang around Draco Malfoy and his posse as much as she'd told them she did they'd be disappointed in her. But luckily they didn't know because it wasn't like they spoke to Draco ever, and it wasn't like he ever talked to his parents. So it was kind of perfect. Plus Madalyn had learned to play it cool over the years. She knew it was best to keep a low profile about certain things, so instead of making friends with all the Slytherin purebloods, she'd found a way to make friends with the Ravenclaws, Hufflepuffs, and shockingly enough to her and well she was sure him as well, she'd even made friends with a Gryffindor.

It hadn't been intentional. Madalyn didn't hate Gryffindor exactly but she would admit that it annoyed her to no end how many professors played favorites with them. Just like it annoyed her how many of them had such big egos or believed they were so much better than anyone from Slytherin house because everyone had been brainwashed into believing that anyone from Slytherin was automatically evil. It's like no one from Gryffindor could admit that they'd produced bad wizards too. So of course with her feelings towards Gryffindor itself, not any one person, she'd found it hard to believe when she'd spent the better part of the last year partnered with one, and even harder to believe was that she'd kind of enjoyed working with him. Rian gave her a slightly different outlook on things.

Once Madalyn had said her goodbyes at the station and made her way onto the train, the first thing she did actually was look for him. After all, they were friends, or at least they were friendly enough to sit together. And if anyone did see them together the worst they could do was say something to someone who might rat her out to her parents. Which hadn't happened yet and they'd hung out a couple of times at Hogsmeade. So she felt pretty comfortable about the whole thing.

{ it was fine! }

[ did you still want to continue this? ]

@ castle.
[ would you like to bring this back? or even mind if I maybe tried to revive it with someone else if you're not interested anymore?? ]

{this was awful of me to disappear after agreeing, I'm sorry. totally fell off the wagon and my depression was shit for the past few weeks}

Rian sat with his robes already on, in the corner of an otherwise empty cabin. He knew there were other friends that he could be off looking for but he thought he would wait a bit in case Madalyn stumbled upon him and wanted to sit with him - they had never really discussed the differences in their houses because they'd been focused on their projects and then by the time Rian would have considered Madalyn a friend; they were close enough that it hadn't mattered. Gryffindor and Slytherin were both houses and there were obvious differences, between the students and alumni in either house, but there was nothing written into the rules of the school prohibiting them from befriending each other.

Looking up when the door to his cabin began to open, Rian was half prepared to tell someone off. He wasn't actually going to - but it was a thought in the back of his mind and he wasn't quite sure why either. If there were others in the cabin, Madalyn was less likely to sit with him and he'd been looking forward to seeing her over the summer break. His thoughts were silenced almost immediately because instead of someone else's face, he was met with Madalyn's smiling one. Rian's expression matched her own and he stood immediately, enveloping her in a hug. "Hey, you," he greeted her in an excited voice, moving back to allow her to step into the cabin.

Rian sat, crossing one leg over the other as he tossed an arm over the back of the bench that he was sitting on. He offered her a lopsided grin as he raised an eyebrow. "So tell me. How was your summer? Did you do anything thrilling? Unless you did... then maybe don't tell me so I don't know what I missed out on," Rian said with a straight face, only to let out a loud laugh after a moment. His shoulders shook before he settled back down, his attention turned fully to Madalyn; focused on her answer to his question. While he'd made a joke, Rian was genuinely interested in how her summer had been.

[ I'm so sorry to hear that! Sorry I didn't reply sooner since I'm the one who asked you to get it going again!! I was out of the country on a mission trip for 10 days then had to jump right back into work the day after I got home which was Sunday night. And it hasn't felt like a long week but it's for sure been a long week! But I'm finally getting around to replying to some people I've been to reply to for a bit now ]

"Hey yourself," Madalyn replied as she hugged Rian back before she followed him into the compartment where she was able to put her stuff about her seat and sit down. She ran her fingers through her long blonde hair and finally settled with tucking some behind her ear. "My summer was interesting. So my parents actually sat me down shortly after break started and informed me that they were going to sit down with the Nott family and work out an arrangement for me to marry their son after we leave Hogwarts. Because that's still how things work apparently, and when I asked them about the Malfoy's since they'd always went on and on about them I was told that they'd already worked out something with someone else. From there on our Rian, I was pretty much forced to spend my summer with Theodore Nott because his family had to approve of me. And I hate the lot of them," she told him sighing. Madalyn truly wished sometimes that she could've been sorting anywhere but Slytherin because then her family would've likely disowned her and she could've gone about her life in a much different way.

"They're not nice people, I did kind of feel bad for him though because his mum died when he was really little and then his dad apparently remarried another pureblood, of course, and they're not very nice to Theo at all. But then he opened his mouth and had nothing but awful things to say about well a lot of different people really, and I suddenly didn't know how to feel about him at all. And I certainly don't want to marry that bonehead after we graduate from Hogwarts. Not that I've ever really been given a choice in the matter of my own life," she added leaning back into the chair. "You're really lucky ya know," she told him truly hoping her friends who weren't in similar situations as her own understood how amazing it had to be just to have two parents who loved their children unconditionally, who didn't force their children to do things they didn't want ect.

Madalyn sighed for the final time and smiled at Rian wanting to liven things up a little. "Tell me about your summer, did you do anything fun or exciting? Because I'm sure it was much better than my own,"

Rian felt an odd emotion wash over him the moment that Madalyn began to launch into her spiel about sitting down with her parents and basically being told who she would marry. He wasn't so sure what it was so he pushed it away and instead, decided to focus his attention on reassuring her. That mattered more than what discomfort that he was feeling at the moment, as far as he was concerned. he let out a rugged sigh, shaking his head as he ran a hand through his hair. "Honestly. Maybe it won't be so bad?" Rian's voice was strained as he spoke, trying his best to make her feel better. "Your parents think that Thomas is good for you... I'm sure he will treat you well," he paused, tilting his head to the side. "Either that or he'll be extremely distant. And you will get to continue to live your life basically free and independent from your relationship. So if it goes either of those ways, it won't be so bad..." he trailed off, shrugging as he flashed a tiny grin. He hoped his words would help ease Madalyn's stress.

Taking the hint when Madalyn changed the subject, Rian shifted in his seat and leaned forward, setting his arms on his knees. He wanted to continue talking about it because he thought it was important for her to work through her emotions but he wasn't going to press the matter, not yet anyway. They had just gotten together after an entire summer apart, there was plenty of time to catch up. They had an entire school year, after all.

"I went to the United States. We toured New York, it was so grande... and we went to California. The beaches there, in Southern California is nothing like home," he said, biting back a laugh. Rian sat up a bit straighter. "We went to... an amusement park. Muggles are so strange, they build these giant metal tracks.. where they put uncovered trains!" Rian exclaimed, holding out his arms and making vague motions to display what a roller coaster would look like. "For fun! And.. and it was fun! But boy, I don't know if I would do it again. I'd just go ride a broom if I wanted a thrill!"

Madalyn rolled her eyes and unintentionally scoffed at Rian's comment. "Because my parents have always made their choices based on what's good for me," she said shaking her head. "I mean they just care so much about me," she added rolling her eyes. "There's no way in hell that I'd have a good marriage to him. Everything you just said sounds awful. Why would anyone who actually uses their brain want a marriage like that? Why would anyone want to marry someone who will probably treat you like crap like they do everyone else, or be so distant you never even get to know them? Because that sounds pretty damn awful. Especially given that I want to be married, but to someone who actually loves me and wants to be with me. I want to build a nice life with someone one day where I'm happy. I don't want the relationship my parents have, or anyone else's parents I know for that matter," she sighed and leaned back into the chair.

Madalyn let herself calm down a little and just listened to Rian tell her about his own summer which honestly did sound so much more wonderful than her own. "I'm so jealous, I've never been to America, I'd love to go. I'd never go with my family, however, because they suck," she told him running her fingers through her hair. Honestly, she would love to talk about anything else right now. Something happy and uplifting would be good. "Really? And the muggles just ride them for what fun? That sounds well dangerous. And exciting? I not really sure how I feel about that actually. I think I'd like to see one though and maybe at least ride one to see if I'd ever go again," she told him laughing a little. And well it felt nice to laugh after an entire summer of none.

Honesty, she had no idea why her life was the way that it was. She had no idea how to change the course or her life, or the outcome, or how to make sure she didn't end up like her parents. But Madalyn was really truly hoping she could figure something out before it was so late in the game she couldn't find a way out. Truthfully that was part of the reason she enjoyed hanging out with Rian, he was such a good escape for her. Since she'd gotten to know him she'd found that she didn't have to hide who she was around him, sure she knew he'd probably give her some kind of judgment on things he didn't agree with but she did the same to him. They just had such an open friendship with one another that she didn't feel like she had to be someone else around him and she really liked that.

Rian swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat as Madalyn spoke about how she wanted to be married to someone for love. His heart broke for her because of things that he was never going to admit to. He was a Gryffindor, with that fact alone he knew that something like loving Madalyn wasn't a possibility. He couldn't live with himself if he let her relationship with her family break down more than it already had, over her loving him. And the thought was just a fantasy, anyway. There was no way that Madalyn would care for him so deeply, they were only friends. And that was okay, Rian knew it. He still cared for Madalyn, regardless of what the status of their relationship was.

"You know," Rian started, running his tongue over his bottom lip. He wanted to give the young witch a chance at the happiness she was all but begging for He knew that without the chance to live her life the way that she wanted to, she would be completely miserable for as long as she lived. He cleared his throat, looking around the cabin. It wasn't safe of to speak here so he put it to the back of his mind for later, perhaps when they were walking through the halls of Hogwarts.

"Meet up with me on Thursday of next week, after supper. There's something I'll want to show you," Rian commented, cocking his head to the side. He knew damn well that the people in Dumbledore's Army weren't going to be that receptive to a Slytherin even coming to the year's first gathering but Rian hoped it would be good for her. She would learn spells that were actually useful in the war to come. Maybe somewhere in there, she would learn to stand up for herself and do what made her happy so that she could live the life she yearned for.

"Nothing too terribly bad. I promise," Rian said, offering her a goofy smile. "You trust me, right?"

Madalyn leaned back into her seat and smiled across the compartment at Rian, she was so thankful for his friendship despite all the obvious differences there were that would’ve kept any other pair apart. They were both different though, they clearly didn’t care as much about what others thought, or about keeping up some stupid feud or even what would happen to their reputations if they were ever caught with the other. Even though the pair wasn’t dating they were still friends and Madalyn could see how outsiders might think they were more than friends, but they weren’t, and honestly Madalyn was sure that Rian probably had some nice Gryffindor in mind to settle down with after Hogwarts. She figured he would end up madly in love and married to someone just as courageous and smart as he was, they’d start a family and then the pair would totally raise their children properly loving them they way parents should. All Madalyn hoped was that she was brave enough to break free from her parents and her family in general, and soon because she didn’t even want to think about what might happen if she didn’t.

The blonde cocked an eyebrow at Rian when he asked her to meet him after dinner the following Thursday. It was a little random, and odd actually, it was also very specific so she was for sure interested. “Of course I trust you,” she told him running her fingers through her hair, “you haven’t given me a reason not to, so I’ll be there. Next Thursday after dinner,” she said nodding her head.

“Though I am curious should I be worried about anything? You’re not planning to take me to some ritual with all your Gryffindor friends or anything crazy right? I will leave whatever it is alive and well?” She joked with him though also curious as to what Rian could possibly want to show her on a Thursday after dinner. Though she supposed she’d find out when she went.

A warm feeling settled in the pit of his stomach when Madalyn stated that she trusted him. He wasn’t sure what it was and he was quick to push it to the back of his mind. He was sure that it was nothing more than joy that someone he considered a friend, trusted him. Who didn’t want their friends’ trust? Rian cleared his throat, an easy smile settling on his features as he gave a lopsided shrug of his shoulders. “I wouldn’t say you need to be afraid. But yes,” he paused, running his tongue over his bottom lip. “There will be other Gryffindors there. Ravenclaws and Hufflepuff, too,” he added.

Concern suddenly washed over him as Rian sat up a bit straighter. He realized that his words had likely caused her to worry about what he was planning to show her and that was the very last thing that he wanted to happen. If anything, he was afraid that it would end up causing too much strain on their friendship. No other Slytherin were involved in Dumbledore’s Army, if she decided that it was a bad idea... if she ended up telling the wrong person, it could cause far more harm than Rian even thought was possible. He was sure of it. But he was also almost positive that Madalyn wouldn’t tell anyone. Friends didn’t intentionally set out to get their friends in trouble.

Rian’s face lit up when he heard the trolly moving through the train. He leaned forward, quick to pull the door open. He stood, pulling a few coins out of his pocket as he glanced over to Madalyn. “Did you want anything? A chocolate frog? Ice cream? Or something else?” He offered, never having minded spending a bit of money to make those closest to him happy. Rian liked to give gifts more than he cared to receive them.

Madalyn tucked her long blonde hair behind her ear as she looked Rian over biting her lip slightly. "I'm not backing out, but I am curious," she said trying to word everything just right. "Are you sure it's a good idea for me to go to this event? I mean sure we're friends now and we could decide to date later and it wouldn't be weird to us because we know each other. And we've already made peace with the differences in our lives. And I have plenty of friends in Hufflepuff and even Ravenclaw and it might not be weird for them, hell they might even be comfortable seeing us together for that matter, but how are your housemates going to feel about that?" She asked him wondering if it would start some kind of unwanted and unneeded drama.

"Are they going to be accepting of me? A Slytherin there? Because we both know how people in your house view people in mine, hell I know what the people in Gryffindor say about me simply because they've heard things about my family. And even though I have more friends outside of Slytherin I do have friends in Slytherin too. Friends who also come from pureblood Dark Lord supporting families. Not that I support him or that my friends do, they might actually I don't know for sure. The point is I don't support The Dark Lord, but I know plenty of people who do and I know that people in Gryffindor specifically don't like me because of what they think of me. And I don't know if changing their minds about me is an option," she said not sure that people wanted to view her differently because then they'd be forced to maybe evaluate how they view a lot of other people as well.

Madalyn sat back in her seat chewing on her bottom lip a bit once the trolley rolled by, "pumpkin pasties please, they're kind of my favorite," she told him softly hoping that she wasn't upsetting her friend with her words. She didn't want to believe the worst in people but sometimes people made it hard not to. "Also please don't let anything I've said in here get out okay?" She asked him sighing. "I want to stand up to my family and tell them that I don't support The Dark Lord, that I don't want to marry Theodore, and that I'm my own person and they can't control me but I need to be the one to tell them. And if things get out it will get back to them and they'll disown me without a second thought, but if it all comes from me there's a small chance it will go over a little better,"

Rian felt like his heart had leapt into his throat at Madalyn’s words. He didn’t think she realized what her words had done to him. They could date later? He had never much cared what others thought but to him, it seemed that Madalyn cared a great deal. It was obvious her families’ opinion mattered, at the very least. He had found himself wishing that they could trade places at times because it was as clear as day to him that she was unhappy with her home life. He’d take on her pain if it meant that his friend didn’t suffer - that was just the sort of person that Rian was.

He gave her a lopsided smile, shrugging his shoulders. “They’re going to be wary of you there. It’s expected but,” he paused, leaning forward in his seat as he produced the pumpkin pastie that he had bought her. He held it out to her before pulling it out of her reach. “But you have to try. Their opinion of you isn’t going to change if you don’t show them who you are. Just like you opened up to me, showed me who you are... you have to do the same with them. No matter how hard or scary it is, I’ll be right there. The entire time. I promise,” he lamented, offering her the pastie again. This time he let her take it.

Rian nodded slowly at her next words, his face scrunching a bit as he tried to consider the right way or responding to her. He didn’t want to upset her but he also didn’t want Madalyn putting it off for so long that she never got out of the situation she was currently in. “I will be there with you, when you tell them,” Rian finally spoke, his tone a bit rougher than he wanted it to be. “But you ought to do it soon. Otherwise it’s going to keep going and going and before you know it, you’ll be married with no way out.”

Rian swallowed, knowing full well his words were likely to upset her. “I don’t say that to anger you... I say it as a friend, Madds. I swear. But...” he trailed off, shrugging. He had no idea what the right or wrong thing was to say which was rare for him. Instead, he opted for silence.

"Well since you promise not to abandon me I promise that I'll be my wonderful self and make nice," Madalyn said smiling at him as she finally took the pumpkin pasty from him. She knew that he wasn't wrong, Madalyn knew that if she ever wanted people to see her as more of who she was than who they thought she was then she needed to show them. But hearing someone say it out loud almost felt like a slap in the face, one that she needed to hear though so how could she even be upset about it? "Please don't make me regret it," she said only semi-jokingly. The last thing she wanted was for something stupid to ruin her friendship with Rian, and she classified his housemates making it difficult for her to attend some event with them simply because she was in Slytherin stupid. Because she would try, she would try her very hardest to get them to understand that she wasn't your typical Slytherin and she could be trusted with things. Sure she may have had more Slytherin qualities than other qualities hence why she was in Slytherin but didn't automatically make her a bad person. Being a bad person did.

She shook her head and set the pastry down beside her. "I can't let you do that," she told him biting her lip and shaking her head. "Maybe it would just be best if I let them disown me, it's not like I agree with them on anything. I mean I don't want to be a death eater and you're right if I don't do it soon then it'll be too late to do anything," she said sighing and pushing her fingers through her hair.

"I just don't know what it would mean," she said sighing. "And I'm not upset with you, because I know you're just trying to look out for me, so thank you," she told him softly before she opened the pastry to hopefully lift her spirits a bit. This was the issue with growing up in a family like hers, people didn't talk about things. There were never talks about feelings or how to properly handle emotions. No one explained to her that it was okay to make friends outside of Slytherin or have her own opinions. Because that's just how things were done when it came to things like this. And she was sure it likely had something to do with all these families deciding to follow The Dark Lord who clearly didn't have emotions.

Rian couldn't help but let out a laugh as he shook his head, eyeing the girl in front of him. "You don't have to act that way, Rian. That's just who you are. They will come to know that as well as I do, in their own time," he commented softly, tilting his head to the side. He had to admit to himself that Madalyn was gorgeous, her flowing, blonde hair and her eyes took his breathe away if he let himself think about it too much. He tried his best to always focus on their friendship because that was the reason they were so close. His objective wasn't to sleep with her, it was being her friend because it had been easy for him to realize just how few friends she had. A person without any real friends was tragic, no matter what house they were in.

He wanted to reach out and hug Madalyn because as she spoke about letting her family disown her.. it was a horrible thought. Rian couldn't imagine being in her position, where she was the complete black sheep of her family. She would never fit in with them by being herself. She would have a choose to make, whether she wanted to or not. She was going to be true to herself and have to leave her family behind or she was going to have to leave herself behind and marry into a world that she wanted no part of. Rian hoped that she would make the right decision for herself, no matter what that ended up being. Rian would be hurt if she chose her family because he knew just how unhappy she would be but if it was what she chose, Rian would support her. Just from afar because he couldn't compromise his own morals to be friends with her. Even if he wanted to, he didn't think it'd be possible. He was a Gryffindor, he was so blatantly against the Dark Lord..

"You know, the Muggles have a saying," Rian said, tilting his head to the side. "The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb. It basically means that the friends you choose is more important than the family you are born into... because it is the one you choose for yourself. I think that applies here, hm?" Rian teased as he tilted his head to the side, catching a chocolate frog in his mouth as he tossed it into the air.

Madalyn leaned back into her seat and tucked her feet under herself. "I suppose sometimes muggles can be pretty smart," she said thinking that he did have a point. Maybe the people she chose to have in her life were more important to her than the family she was born into. Because that wasn't something she could help, she had no control over the family she'd been born into the way they believed, but she did have control over her own life. She had control over who she hung around, what she let herself believe, and the choices she made. "You know, it's funny how easy it is for me to stand up to people at Hogwarts when they pick on my friends but ask me to stand up to my own family for myself and I shrink down because I'm so afraid of what might happen," she said biting her lip.

"This thing we're going to," she said pushing her fingers through her hair, "do you think it will help me stand up for myself?" she asked him wondering if that made her sound stupid or not. Bravery wasn't in her bones, it wasn't one of her stronger qualities. She hadn't been put in Slytherin because she was brave above all else. No, she was in Slytherin because Madalyn's entire family had been in Slytherin. And probably because she did display most of the traits. She would say that she's ambitious and often achievement oriented, she was pretty damn cunning when she needed to be, she always thought everything through making sure she came up with the best possible plan first before acting. She fit in Slytherin based on who she was.

But she did wish she was braver, especially when it came to things like this. So maybe this little group he was taking her to in the coming days would help her overcome that. Really she had no idea what to expect of the whole thing, and she didn't feel like she was going to get anything out of Rian about the thing until they were there and could talk without prying ears. Because everyone knew that there were always eyes and ears everywhere anymore, so it was always best to be on guard all the time.

"Because we're all supposed to love our family, right? It's expected because your family is your.. well, family. They're supposed to love and support you. They're not supposed to hurt you, they are supposed to have your best interest at heart. Right?" Rian spoke, a small frown forming on his lips. He didn't like the idea of someone being so unsupported by their family, he didn't understand how it was even a possibility in someone's mind. He exhaled slowly, shifting his weight in his seat. "So when that doesn't happen, it's hard to stand up to them. It goes against everything that we know, everything that we have ever been taught, y'know?"

Rian tilted his head to the side, considering her question. It hadn't done that for him persay but it had definitely made him more confident in his abilities. It had done the same for others in Dumbledore's Army and for the younger people involved, he knew that it had made them braver. Had made them more capable of speaking up, even if and when they were afraid of doing so. That was the only time you were really able to be brave, anyway. When you were afraid, you had the choice of being afraid and suffering or standing up and being courageous despite your fear.

"I think so... it might be scary at first, for you. But I think it'll do good. It'll show you that it's not necessarily a bad thing to speak up, you know? That it's okay to stand up for yourself and say what you won't do," Rian said, his face scrunching a bit. Just talking about this made his heart ache for Madalyn. The girl was his friend and Rian would do just about anything for his friends, that was just the sort of the person that Rian was.

Rian cleared his throat as he looked up to her. "I know you don't want me there when you talk to your family but," Rian paused, taking a deep breathe. "Whatever you need from me, let me know. I'll do it. I promise, okay?"

Madalyn ran her fingers through her hair and leaned back into her seat. "How are you still single Rian? Really? Because you're so sweet and smart, and brave and I could make that list longer. Pretty much everything a girl could want yet you never talk about girls with me. You've never mentioned fancying anyone and I've never seen you with other girls. Normally we hang out or you're with your other friends and I don't really know them. So I suppose some of them could be girls. That's not the point though, I'm just curious. Do you fancy anyone?" She asked him looking at him from across the compartment.

Yes, she'd changed the subject drastically, but she didn't know if she could handle talking about herself or her annoying family situation any longer. Plus they had all year to talk about it and maybe the next time it was brought up in a conversation she'd have more insight on how to go about things. For now, though Madalyn was tired of even thinking about it. She wanted to talk about something else, something light or at least something that didn't involve the darkness that seemed to surround her. And Rian's love life seemed like the best option.

"Because you know, if there is a girl you fancy I'd be happy to help you woo her if you wanted of course," she said not even sure if he fancied anyone or not, or if he would even tell her. Madalyn was sure it was a little weird for guys to talk about feelings and crushes and things with girls even if they were friends so he might not even tell her anything. Either way though at least they were talking about something else for hopefully the remainder of the train ride to Hogwarts.

Rian shifted uncomfortably at Madalyn's question. He knew that he couldn't dare to tell her truth. How would it sound if he admitted that she made his heart flutter in a way that no other girl had? She was already going through so much with her family, with their loyalties and the marriage that they had arranged for her. The very last thing that he wanted to do was to tell her that he had a crush on her. It would only serve to add more weight to the pressure on her shoulders and he didn't want to be a source of pain for her. He was meant to be a friend for her, regardless of whether he wanted more or not.

"I do but the girl I fancy is far too... busy to worry about a relationship at the moment. It's sad but..." Rian trailed off, shrugging his shoulders. He had already accepted that he wouldn't be more than a friend to Madalyn. She needed a friend more than someone from Gryffindor pestering her about being her boyfriend. "I would rather focus on what relationship I can have with her rather than what I want. Sometimes it's more important to be what she needs than be upset over what I want. Needs over wants, right?"

"It's quite alright, Madalyn. I swear it," Rian said. He gave a lopsided grin, turning so that he could prop his feet up on the seat beside him. "Besides. Gotta focus on school if I want to go on to be an Auror, right?"