a whole new world.

[ I will reply to everything else when I get home later! ]

“So that’s what you want to do after Hogwarts? Become an Auror?” Madalyn asked him realizing that Rian clearly had told her all he was going to, which was fine because she had kind of sprung it on him. “Very respectable,” she said with a smile. She didn’t really much of an idea on what after Hogwarts looked like for herself, but that all went back to her home life. The only woman she could think of who had actually worked outside of the home was one aunt she had and never met. She was the black sheep of the family, no one really talked about her because it was a sore subject and Madalyn only knew the little that she did because she’d pried a little too much and her mum had finally told her enough to get her to stop bringing it up.

“Have you always wanted to be an auror?” She asked him, wanting to tell him that whoever this girl he fancied was she’d totally probably like him back if he told her how he felt about her, but she decided against it. The last thing she wanted was to stop worrying about her own by trying to control other people. Because then she wasn’t any better than her own family, sure she didn’t arrange crappy marriages for them but she would still be trying to control their lives when they probably didn’t want her to.

“And if you do ever decided to make a move on her will you tell me? I’m not trying to be pushy, because I think it shows a lot about you that you’re so willing to put your own feelings aside and just be her friend regardless of how you feel. I just would like to know how things go if you decide to go down that path is all,” she told him only letting herself feel slightly jealous of whoever this girl was for a second. There was no reason to feel that way, she and Rian were friends and she could be happy for him. She also didn’t even know the girl so there was no reason to feel that way. It was also weird to her because she hadn’t thought much about what that would look like to date Rian herself, and maybe she fancied him but she’d never let herself think about it because she’d already convinced herself it would never work between them. Which was crap because Madalyn was realizing on this train ride was that if they both wanted it to they could make it work. And not just a romantic relationship because they’d made their friendship work for this long and that was just as odd as if they were dating.

{okay, sound good!}

Rian smiled softly as he nodded, tilting his head to the side as he eyed Madalyn. "I just want to make a difference in the world. Even.. even when we defeat Voldemort, it's not going to be the end. There's always going to be someone to take his place. I mean, Grindelwald was captured and imprisoned and the Wizarding World thought that was the end of it. Thought maybe there would be more that stepped up but no one with a following like him, y'know? There was never supposed to be another wizard like him but Voldemort is here and he's back," Rian said, his face scrunching as a wave of anger washed over him. It wasn't that he had ever lost anything to the Dark Lord but that didn't stop him from being angry because he'd heard enough stories of peoples' loss due to Voldemort.

"If Voldemort can come after Grindelwald, if he can come back from the dead... then who's to say someone else won't try to take his place in a few years?" Rian spoke, his distaste for dark magic coming out clear as day. Rian didn't quite know why he was so angry about it because his family hadn't exactly raised him to fight that hard. They had raised him to stand up for himself and his friends but he didn't think they had realized just how he had taken that lesson to heart.

Rian groaned as he ran a hand through his hair. He looked up to Madalyn and gave her a haphazard smile. He realized that he was taking this in a darker direction than he had meant to. Madalyn didn't need to listen to him rant about something that neither of them could really change. They were both students, there wasn't a whole lot of fighting that any student could hope to do. Even what Harry Potter and his friends did... well, Rian didn't know too much. Rian wasn't close to any of them really.

Rian let out a small laugh as he gave a nod of his head. "Course, I will, Madalyn. I have a sneaking suspicion that you would know regardless. We're friends remember?" Rian countered, looking up when he heard the telltale whistle of the train. They were getting close to school. He cleared his throat, looking back to Madalyn. "Ready for another school year?"

Madalyn smiled as she glanced out the window of their compartment and saw the castle come into view. Hogwarts truly was a safe space for here where she felt like she could be her full self without hiding. "I admire that about you," she said finally looking back to Rian. "That you're so passionate about making the world a better place. And it helps that I know your passion is coming from the right place and that it's on the right side,"

She could name so many people who were passionate in the same way Rian was but for the opposite side. And she knew that they thought they were right for some twisted reason, but Madalyn was thankful that she'd been able to have her eyes opened to the world outside of her bubble. It helped her realize that the things she's grown up around weren't right and that someone had to stand up to them. She didn't want that someone to be her, but the more she thought about it the more she realized that if she didn't stand up to her parents about things then who would? If she didn't take charge of her own life then it wouldn't change. And she knew this was going to be a long journey but at least she had Rian.

"Oh I've never been more ready," she said standing up from her seat to go ahead and grab her things from above her seat. "Well, Rian have a nice dinner and find me after breakfast in the morning so we can compare schedules," she said smiling at him a little saddened that they weren't in the same house because that made it difficult to eat together unless they ran off on trips to Hogsmeade together. But they still made their friendship work.

[ I hope this was good... I kind of have a headache so I feel slightly out of it ]

Rian could almost sympathize with the Dark Lord's supporters. They all believed in a better world, one that they hoped could come about. Everyone just wanted a better world but the thing about the Dark Lord was that he wanted to kill an entire group of people all because they were muggles, nomags, whatever you wanted to call them. Rian along with everyone else who opposed Voldemort wanted to live at peace with muggles. If they lived entirely separate lives, what did it matter? Rian didn't understand and he likely never would because as soon as someone hinted at supporting Voldemort, Rian stopped being friends with them. It was maybe a bit harsh but Rian didn't think they deserved a chance. It was a very cut and dry matter at this point.

Rian pushed to his feet, reaching out to grab his trunk from above his seat. He flashed Madalyn a bright smile, pushing open the door as the train's whistle blew again before the train slowed to a stop. "I'll see you in the morning!" Rian called over his shoulder, hurrying toward the door. He always preferred to get to the castle before too many people did so that he had his pick of the dorm rooms. He preferred the higher ones so that he was further away from the common areas, so that he could hopefully get a bit more rest. There was always someone coming or going from the common room so if you were too close, you tended to have a harder time sleeping.

{sorry this is a bit shorter }

[ it's okay! And hope this is okay with you but I'm going to skip to after dinner when they're going to DA. Because otherwise, we don't really have anything happening and we might as well move the plot along ]

Madalyn stood outside the great hall after dinner Thursday night waiting for Rian like she'd told him that she would. She was a little nervous as she still very little information about what was going on, or where Rian was even taking her but she was hopeful that it wasn't obvious. And after the first week of classes, she was holding onto hope that whatever Rian had planned wasn't going to be quite as awful. Normally by the end of the first week of classes, Madalyn was still just so happy to be back at Hogwarts that there was no way she could have a bad week at all, this year was already totally different. Everything was different. There was just a tension that seemed to fill the air that she didn't like.

She'd already had more conversations with a particular group of people, she'd rather not associate with, then she'd had ever in all their years at Hogwarts which couldn't mean anything good. It gave her a bad feeling that someone from the ministry was taking up the mantel of Defense Against the Dark Arts professor too, especially considering it was Deloras Umbridge of all people. Madalyn hadn't had any personal experience with her before, but she'd heard stories of the woman and none of them were good. Even though Madalyn was in Slytherin and most of the people in her house, herself included, came from families of dark lord supporting families, she didn't support him. She couldn't say that she was a huge fan of people who did either. She certainly didn't think that the ministry really had any business trying to take over Hogwarts either, they came here to learn. They didn't come here to be oppressed.

It just seemed a little outrageous to Madalyn that the ministry didn't think it was appropriate for students to know how to actually defend themselves against dark arts, and it was even more insane that they were really trying to lie to the public and make Harry Potter out to be a liar saying that he couldn't be back. Madalyn wasn't friends with Harry, but she knew he was right. The Dark Lord had returned, and clearly, the ministry was trying to hide that. Of course, it didn't help that she was in Slytherin and everyone knew her family and that she'd been tied to the Nott family thanks to her parent's little arrangement. And so if she was ever caught talking to Harry or anyone from Gryffindor really, and it got back to someone else in Slytherin she knew things could get bad quickly.

The longer she stood there waiting for Rian the less hopeful and more nervous she felt. This was going to be a long school year.

{totally fine !}

Rian knew that with the heightened tensions growing with Voldemort's return, he had to be careful about approaching Madalyn. No one wanted to accept it as reality but it was the truth. The sooner that they came to terms with it, the sooner they could face it. The faster they could react and go on the offensive. The war was long from over and he knew that even if the Dark Lord was defeated sooner rather than later, there would still be more of a fight in front of them. They needed to stamp out every instance where someone thought wizards ere above muggles or someone would always take up the Dark Lord's position. It was a formidable position to take up but Rian was ready for it. He was either on the right or wrong side of history but he wasn't going to simply be - he would fight as hard as he could to give everyone a chance at life. It was their right as a human, whether they were magic or not.

As easy as it would have been for him to just walk up to her after dinner, Rian realized that he couldn't. With everything that was going on, Rian didn't want to endanger her any more than she already was. If the Dark Lord found out about her being friends with a Gryffindor, one who opposed him so openly... it wouldn't do any good for Madalyn, that was sure.

Rian left the Great Hall, turning right almost immediately. He paused for a moment, his eyes searching for Madalyn. It wasn't until he made eye contact with her. Rian gave the slightest nod of his head before he started moving again, his hands shoved into his robes' pockets. Rian was rushing forward, eager to get to the first meeting of Dumbledore's Army, for the year. Rian cleared his throat as he turned down the hallway where the Room of Requirements was.

It was only then that Rian turned toward Madalyn, a small smile tugging at the corners of his lips. "You have to be sure about this. Before we go in. I don't think you can go back after," he said, his face scrunching a bit at the thought. He wanted to give Madalyn a final opportunity to back out if she decided that she wasn't ready for what Rian wanted to show her.

Madalyn followed Rian through the castle, at a distance of course, until they turned down a hallway and stopped in front of nothing, which was confusing, Madalyn trusted her friend however so she didn't want to question where he was taking her. Surely Rian wasn't going to double cross her so there was nothing to be nervous about but he was making her just a little nervous.

"Rian I'm here am I not?" She laughed to try and lighten the mood that had suddenly gotten a little more intense than she'd been expecting. "I'm sure that I want in on whatever is going on here, and I promise that regardless of how I feel when we're done here I won't rat anyone out. That's not who I am. I might be in Slytherin but I'm far from an ass who throws her friends to the wolves. Plus if I've figured anything out this week at all it's that I don't want to be on the wrong side of this war. I can't end up like my parents. And you're the only person who has ever believed that I could be more than what people see me as. So if you're here and you truly believe that whatever you've brought me too is worth being a part of then so do I," She told him before she reached out to grab his hand.

"I trust you," she said softly squeezing his hand in her own to try and reassure him that she'd made the choice to wait for him outside the great hall and then follow him here. She had no idea what was waiting for them, or even where it was, but she knew that she'd come this far and she wasn't going to back down now. Plus after the week that she'd lived through she felt like she needed this, especially if there was a way at all that it could help her escape from the life she was living. Was she slightly afraid of what might happen if her housemates found out? Of course, she was terrified of what would happen and she could only begin to imagine the disappointment that her family would show towards her, but there was something inside of Madalyn screaming that following them blindly was the wrong choice.

She didn't want to end up like her parents. She didn't want to end up married to a man she didn't love with kids she hadn't wanted. Madalyn didn't want to be stuck in some world where she was just a shell of her former self. She wanted to find love that was pure and selfless. She wanted to be happy, have a marriage where she didn't have to worry about what he thought of her because she would just know that she was loved. If she ended up with kids she wanted it to be a choice she'd made with her husband. Madalyn wanted to live life unafraid of the future, and this week Hogwarts at taught her that if she didn't stand up and do something then she would never live that life. She would continue to live a life afraid and probably alone truthfully.

Rian couldn't help but let out a small laugh as he shook his head, fixing her with a goofy grin. He shrugged, glancing around the hallway. "I know. But I wanted to give you another chance to leave if you were feeling too nervous, y'know? Don't want you to feel pressured in this." Because he knew what she was walking into but she didn't - because no matter how small the part of him that was, it was afraid that Madalyn would rat them out if she was too afraid of what she saw in front of her. Three Hogwarts houses coming together to learn how to defend themselves in the coming war. There was no hiding when Voldemort came to the school, if he decided to. He wouldn't be alone, there would be far too many of his supporters joining him.

"Because you can be. Anyone can make something of themselves, if they have the strength and the support to do what it takes," Rian answered lightly. He glanced toward her, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips as he gave Madalyn's hand a reassuring squeeze. "C'mon. We have to get to the room of requirements," he said, a little smirk flashing on his features. "It is real. You just have to know where to look," Rian said, glancing back to her for a moment.

Rian turned, a sudden fire lit under him as he moved with a renewed sense of purpose. He led the way up one more floor, until they turned onto the hall where the room was located. As they approached it, a door seemed to appear out of nowhere. Rian set his hand on the handle, glancing back to her where he winked. "Y'ready?"

Turning the door, Rian reached out and urged Madalyn into the room before he followed her inside. He stood tall when a few eyes found them almost immediately. "She can be trusted," Rian spoke almost immediately as he turned to Neville, the first person to step forward. Neville seemed to study the pair, his face scrunched as he contemplated what was happening.

"Alright. She causes trouble... it's on you."

Rian scoffed, shrugging his shoulders. "She won't... but I'll accept it."

Madalyn hadn't expected that things would go any differently than they were currently going after she'd followed Rian into the room of requirements, which was a thing apparently. Even though she had no idea what she was walking into exactly she had known that she was walking into semi-hostile territory. After all, Rian had told her that there would be mostly Gryffindors and they had never been very trusting of Slytherin's. Not that she felt much differently about Gryffindor, but she was there because Rian was her friend despite their house differences and maybe if there were more Gryffindor's like him then she could come to see them in a different light.

"Look Neville, have I given you an actual reason to have so much hostility towards me? No, I didn't think so, because you don't even know me. You think I'm untrustworthy because I'm from Slytherin but I don't remember doing a damn thing to anyone in here to have earned that judgment. So maybe you can all get off your high horses and realize that someone's house doesn't define if they're a bad person or not. Also, Rian invited me to your little gathering because he trusts me and he gave me plenty of chances to back out if I wasn't ready for this," she said pushing her fingers through her hair and sighing.

"I want to be here as much as all of you I'm sure," she finally added truly hoping that she wasn't making a mistake being here. Honestly, there was so much at stake right now but she really did care for her friend and his opinion. Plus everything they had talked about on the train and what she had come to realize over the week all still rang true right now. Really being surrounded by a room full of people who looked at her like she'd already joined The Dark Lord and his growing army when she knew that wasn't true made her want to stay more though. Madalyn felt like she had to prove to them all that she wasn't the girl they thought she was. She needed someone other than Rian to know the real her, maybe if she had more friends that she trusted as much as she trusted him she wouldn't feel so scared and alone all the time.

Rian winced as Madalyn started to speak. He couldn't say that he blamed her at all. She was standing up for herself. He would have done the same damn thing, if the roles had been reversed. In a room full of people who viewed you as the enemy, Rian didn't think anyone would have been able to expect Madalyn to do anything different. Instead, Rian stood back and allowed the girl to defend herself. It was something that he thought that she needed desperately, to learn how to stand up for herself. This was just child's play compared to what she was going to need to do when she stood up against her parents. When she told them that she wasn't going to marry Thomas, told them that she didn't want anything to do with supporting the Dark Lord.

Clearing his throat as Hermione stepped into the room, Rian turned toward the young witch. She was the one Rian was closest to, they bonded in class when they solved problems together. He gave her a small nod, her eyes already trained on the single Slytherin in the room. "She's a friend. She can be trusted, Hermione. Swear it," Rian said, holding a hand over his chest. Hermione regarded Rian and Madalyn for a moment longer before he gave a small nod of her head. "Very well."

Harry was the last to enter the Room of Requirements, launching almost immediately into the first lesson of the year. He gave a short speech about being glad to see everyone again, to see a few new faces even while his fingers flitted to a few new members, before prompting them to start with a few basic, disarming spells. Rian smirked as he turned toward Madalyn, raising an eyebrow as he pulled his wand free. "Think you can disarm me?"

Madalyn had moved closer to Rian once everything had started, simply because he was the only person she actually knew and felt comfortable around, and she listened to Harry speak quite intrigued by him actually. He seemed a lot nicer than what everyone said about him, of course, what her housemates say about anyone shouldn't be taken at face value though because most of them were pretty prejudice. So far really everyone seemed nice and somewhat accepting. Though she supposed the longer she came to these things and the more she did to prove herself to be trustworthy to them the more they would, in fact, trust her. It would be good for her too to be here and build trust with other people besides Rian. Madalyn knew that she needed that in her life, and maybe this was just where she would get it.

She turned to face Rian when Harry had prompted everyone to pair up and work on their disarming. "I think I can," she nodded before she took up her stance, concentrated, and pointed her wand at Rian before finally casting her spell. "Expelliarmus" and the next thing she knew Rian's wand was flying out of his hand and landing on the ground between them.

"Piece of cake," she said smiling at him and playfully tossing her hair over her shoulder. "Your turn," she said as she picked up his wand and handed it back to him. Even though she knew they were all there to learn how to defend themselves better for the brewing war because none of them wanted to go down without a fight this was the most relaxed she had felt in the almost week they'd been at Hogwarts. Sure there were people in the room who didn't trust her, they were probably keeping a close eye on her to figure out what she was up to, but she was out in the open with Rian at Hogwarts. They hadn't sneaked away to Hogsmeade in hopes of getting to hang out or pretended they were working on a class project together just to see one another in the library without extra judgment added. They weren't even sharing a compartment on the train hoping no one else walked in right now. They were both in the same room surrounded by people being themselves. And that was all Madalyn needed to feel relaxed.

Rian just wanted to be able to help Madalyn. It was perhaps a bit selfish because he wanted to spend time with her, regardless of how it was done. What their original purpose was for. He could accept that they would never have an opportunity to be more than friends and Rian was truthfully okay with that. He simply wanted to make sure that Madalyn was uplifted, that she was able to live the life that she was owed. Not the one that was thrust upon her. She deserved the chance to pick her life instead of doing everything that was told to her, that she married who she wanted, that she was able to specialize in whatever job field she picked out. Rian smirked at Madalyn and gave her a small nod of his head. "Go on then," he challenged her quietly.

A bright smile spread itself across his features as Madalyn successfully disarmed him. He gave a hurried clap, surprised by just how easy this seemed for him. How it felt like nothing else really mattered in the room because they were still together, they were learning together - how their how friendship had began in the first place. He cleared his throat, giving her a nod of his head. "Good job, Mads," he praised her softly, happy to see that she'd taken so well to it. A lot of the time, when a student came for the first time, they were nervous and struggled to cast even a basic defense skill. It was promising to Rian that Madalyn had been able to.

Rian raised his arm, lifting his chin slightly as he looked to Madalyn. He flashed her a little grin before he took a slight step forward, "Expelliarmus!" He exclaimed, his grin growing when her wand landed off to the side of her. He took a step forward, picking it up once he was close enough to her before he held it out to her. Rian grinned, clapping her on the shoulder. "Want to step it up a bit? Try to defend yourself?" He offered, knowing that defense was just as important as offense in a duel.

Madalyn smiled at Rian and took her wand from his hand ignoring the feeling she got when her fingers barely brushed against his hand. It was already hard enough to hide her friendship with him from the rest of her house so she could only imagine how hard it would be to hide a romantic relationship from them too. On top of that, she already knew how people in her house and her family would react to just knowing they were friends if they ever found out she had more than friends feelings for him she didn't even want to think of what would happen. Madalyn felt like just thinking about this now would put him in danger, which she knew was silly, but she didn't want to risk his safety because of a crush. Plus it wasn't worth it anyway because he'd already told her on the train that he liked someone anyway and even if he wasn't making a move on her currently he could at any moment decide to be selfish and go for it, and Madalyn didn't want to ruin that for him or even make things awkward for them now.

"Thanks," she said hoping that she wasn't blushing at him calling her Mads, which was a normal thing for him it wasn't anything new that she hadn't heard before it was just different this time around because they weren't alone anymore. They were surrounded by his friends, his housemates, and a ton of people who didn't trust her yet and he'd called her by her nickname practically giving away how close they really were. Because even if no one was being overly obvious about it, Madalyn knew they were all keeping an eye on her. After all, not only was she the new girl to this little club, but she was also the girl from Slytherin the house of everyone untrustworthy. It was stupid.

"Okay let's try this defense thing," she said nodding at him. "Give it your best shot," she winked before she watched and waited until just the right moment before she cast her spell. "Fumos" she whispered twirling her wand around until she was hidden behind a cloud of dark smoke, hopefully, undetected by Rian who was trying to cast a spell on her. And in the short time that she had before she knew the smoke would be gone she slipped away from where she had been standing and stood right behind him pointing her own wand at him.

"Despite what some think, defense against the dark arts is actually my best class," she told him turning her head to smile at him. "I'm not too good at Transfiguration though. Or potions, I'm pretty sure Snape has taken pity on me more than once and only helped me out because I'm in his house. If I wasn't, he'd hate me, I know it," she rambled before shrugging her shoulders. "Should I have used a more basic defense charm?"

Rian grinned as Madalyn thanked him, tilting his head to the side as he spotted the little blush that crept over her features. It was barely there, her cheeks tinged a light pink when he called her by her nickname. It made his heart swell to see the reaction. Rian knew that he could never pursue his feelings for her because of her family situation but he could still wonder about it, at least. If Madalyn managed to get away from her family and she was able to be truly happy, Rian would be satisfied. Whether that meant a more complicated relationship between the two of them or not, Rian didn't think he cared. He simply wanted her to be happy - just like he had told her back on the train ride into the school.

As he cast another spell, Rian kept her focus sharp as Madalyn tried to defend herself. Once the smoke had settled, Rian's smile dropped to one of confusion. His face scrunched slightly as he looked from side to side. Rian's smile returned in full force when he saw Madalyn behind him. He turned around, giving her an encouraging nod of his head.

"Snape has it out for anyone who isn't a Supporter," Rian grumbled with a dry laugh. He looked up to her, raising an eyebrow. "No! Absolutely not!" Rian nearly shouted out in surprise, shaking his head. "Never go with a more basic spell, if you know you can perform a more complicated one. If it means that you have a better defense, in a duel where it's life or death, then you need to pull out all of the stops. Because in a situation where you're against a Death Eater... they won't stop. If you're dueling against them, they don't care if you live or die. In fact, your death would be welcome because then that's one less person who doesn't support the Dark Lord. The less of us, the better for them."

Rian squared his shoulders, fixing Madalyn with an intense look. "Understand?" His voice was softer than his look, just wanting to know that Madalyn took his words to heart. He couldn't bare the thought of losing her in a duel that she had no real place in, at least to him.

Madalyn nodded her head before she bit her lip. She knew that stepping into this room with him she was crossing a line that she couldn't take back. And in the short time that she'd been there she had realized, without being told by anyone, that they were all learning how to defend themselves when the time came that they needed to. Madalyn wanted this, she wanted to have a place where she could learn things like this that would be useful for the day that she stood up for herself against her family because she knew it wouldn't be pretty. But listening to Rian made her realize that being here wasn't just her stepping away from her family, it was her taking a stance against everyone who believed the same way as her family. Just being friends with Rian would've upset her family she knew that but what she was doing now standing in a room willing learning from Harry freaking Potter of all the Gryffindors out there made her a blood traitor. At least in the eyes of everyone in her life aside from Rian.

She was coming to the realization that The Dark Lord was back, there was a war brewing, and she was picking a side different from her family which could put her at risk if the wrong people knew. She also knew that this meant if she was thrown into battle then all the people she knew already would be the people she was fighting. And while they knew her through her family they would probably have no issues hurting her because the second she went against The Dark Lord she was as good as dead to them anyway.

"I think I need a minute," she said before she found herself walking over to a wall so she could lean against it and try to catch her breath. Madalyn did not want to cry in front of the people in the room, but she was awfully close to breaking down. She wasn't sure why none of this had clicked in her brain any earlier than this, but it was all clicking into place now.

"Rian this makes me a blood traitor if my family or anyone from Slytherin finds out I'm here then I'm a dead girl walking. Being here if unforgivable to all of them. You don't take a stand against The Dark Lord and just get to walk away like it's fine. Oh God, they'll probably pull me out of Hogwarts and ship me off to France or something to try and get what they think are dirty thoughts out of my head," she said running her hands over her face. "Or they'll just hand me over to The Dark Lord and let him deal with me himself. And I mean I haven't ever met him but I know, he doesn't even have a heart. I mean look at all the people he's killed just because. I don't know what to do," she finally said throwing herself at him so she could bury her face in his neck and cry. Rian was literally the only person she trusted right now.

Madalyn didn't care at that moment if people saw her being vulnerable or not. Maybe it would help some people to realize that not all Slytherins were bad and that most of them were literally not choosing to live the lives they were out of a free will. It was the sad truth of the world, there were some families out there that put so much pressure on their children to just follow the paths their parents had paved for them that they weren't really making choices because they actually believed the things they said but because their entire lives they had been forced to follow and it was all they knew. And she wanted so desperately to change that about herself, but after this, she knew that there was no way she could ever do this alone.

Rian had known that at some point, Madalyn was going to have a moment where she realized the gravity of the situation that they were in. They weren't quite there yet, Voldemort hadn't launched an all out war but it was coming. The people in the Room of Requirements all understood that and they wanted to be as prepared as they could. Some of them would be battling against people that had brought harm to their families. The same Death Eaters that had tortured Neville's parents; made them nothing more than bodies in a hospital bed instead of the happy, young couple that wanted to raise their son together. Rian knew Neville's story; it wasn't unlike his own. Shaking his head at the thought, Rian looked toward Madalyn with a small frown. He studied her as she leaned against one of the walls in the room, taking a moment too long to decide what was best. Should he try to comfort her or leave her alone so that she could enjoy herself?

It seemed that he'd taken a bit longer than he should have because Madalyn took it upon herself to jump into his arms. He was surprised at just how easy it was for him to slide his arms around her waist, brushing his fingers carefully down her back in an attempt to help calm her. He could only imagine what she was feeling. It angered him, that someone so pure could be put in a position that she was. In his eyes, Madalyn was nothing short of perfect. She was simply born into the wrong family.

"I know, Mads," Rian murmured, pressing a kiss to her temple. He let out a sigh, pulling back just enough that he could brush Madalyn's hair out of her fair. He offered her a sad smile, raising an eyebrow. "Remember what I promised you on our trip in?" He asked softly, not really caring who overheard them at this point. He thought it was pretty obvious that Madalyn and he were friends at this point. He'd brought her here and now he was comforting her, there was no real way to play this off really.

"I'll be with you every step of the way. This isn't fair to you and I think we both know that. It's an awful position you were put in and we can't really get around it.." he paused, dragging in a deep breathe. Rian was just as nervous for Madalyn as he was sure she was. THey'd gotten close enough that Rian could all but read her thoughts; they'd dove into their real lives faster than probably expected. Rian knew far more about Madalyn than most of his friends in Gryffindor. They'd simply always gotten along, from the get go.

"Doesn't matter what you need from me. You'll get through this," Rian said, giving her shoulders a tight squeeze. "We'll get through this together. That's what this is all about, right? We need to learn how to stand together, it's very possible that the fight comes to the school one day. That Voldemort decides to come here for one thing or another but we'll stand together. That's the only way that we'll be able to defeat him."

{i feel like this is awful. i'm sorry }

Madalyn nodded her head and moved her hand to take his hand and lace her fingers with his. "You're much too good for me," she whispered as she smiled at him. She knew that Rian wasn't her friend out of pity, he wasn't being nice to her because he felt bad for her, and she wasn't just some charity case to him. Madalyn knew that what she and Rian had went much deeper than just two people who were friendly. Hell, she would go as far as saying that they were best friends. She couldn't think of anything she hadn't told him, she had literally broken down on him only moments prior, and he was the one person she felt more comfortable with than anyone else at Hogwarts so that had to mean something. And Madalyn wanted more. Simply within the last week since they'd returned to Hogwarts Madalyn had come to realize a few different things;

She didn't want to marry anyone her parents wanted her to marry. She didn't want to follow Voldemort. She didn't want to even follow in her families footsteps, at all, regardless of Voldemort or not. She wanted to make her own choices about her future. She wanted to be happy. And probably most importantly, Madalyn wanted to find love and happiness with someone she cared about. Right now that person was Rian. Maybe because she was already close to him and felt like he was pretty phenomenal already, or maybe there was something other reason. Either way, Madalyn wanted deeply to be more than his friend, but she didn't want to press him. Nor did she want to overstep and ruin something that was already amazing. Plus as far as she knew he fancied some girl who was likely much more suited for him than she was, even if he hadn't made a move on her and didn't plan to. There were likely much less damaged girls in the other houses who wouldn't cause any controversy automatically making them better suited for dating in general really.

If she dated anyone publicly who wasn't Theodore Nott she would pretty much be asking for trouble. After all, as far as her parents knew she was more than happy to marry him after Hogwarts. Her parents believed that she planned to hold up her end of their arrangement and marry him because he was the man they felt she should be with. He came from such a prestigious pureblood line that made him perfect for her. His entire family also supported Voldemort and his cause which meant they weren't blood traitors and were on the 'right side' of history.

She knew that she should stand up to her parents, she had to eventually. They needed to know the truth, she needed to tell them the truth, but even she knew that telling them that by blatantly dating a Gryffindor who openly supported Harry Potter and went against Voldemort was not the way to go about that. And she had a feeling even if they decided to date in private somehow it would get out, maybe they could get lucky and no one they didn't want to know would find out, but they also might not. So the sooner she told them the better, regardless of if she and Rian became more than friends or not.

Rian didn't understand how they had gotten so close to each other. Madalyn was a Slytherin, he was a Gryffindor. They weren't supposed to speak to each other, let alone have an actual conversation. He was a pureblood that had no problems with muggles or mudbloods because as far as he was concerned, they were all people. He thought that was all that really mattered, they all deserved a chance at life, didn't they? It wasn't as if any of them were able to choose what they were born as, the sort of family you were born into. That simply was not how any of it worked. Giving a lopsided smile, Rian nudged her with his shoulder as he stepped backward, away from her. "So," he breathed, glancing around the room. The people that had been paired up were mostly standing around, discussing what they had just gone over at Harry's instruction, a few still deciding to practice.

"Do you think that you'll want to come with me next week?" Rian asked. He wouldn't pressure her one way or another because now that she knew what she would be coming to, Rian didn't think it would be fair to force her to. One way or another. Rian cleared his throat, putting his hands in his pockets. He hoped that coming here had helped show Madalyn that it was okay to stay up to her family. It was okay to be strong, even if it was hard to do so. Standing up against ones' family was perhaps one of the hardest things a person may have to do in their lifetime. But he hoped she would make that decision. He didn't want Madalyn living a life of regret and pain because if Voldemort was defeated, that would only mean that she would suffer more.

"You don't have to, if you don't want to. But," Rian paused, running his tongue over his bottom lip. "The option is there. If you want to, you're more than welcome to come with us," Rian said. He hoped that if she chose to come with him again, everyone in the room would start to come around to Madalyn a bit more. Everyone was still a bit on edge which he didn't think anyone could be blamed for, Madalyn was traditionally someone not to be trusted. "But. You have tim to think about it, okay? If you decide you're not feeling up to it for whatever reason..." eh trialed off, shrugging again. "That's up to you. No pressure. I promise, okay?"

Madalyn nodded her head in appreciation, she was glad that Rian cared enough about her and their friendship to make sure she was comfortable with the idea of returning. And he didn't put this immense amount of pressure on her to where she felt like if she didn't want to return everything would go downhill. She appreciated that he trusted her. Maybe everyone else in the room didn't, maybe they never would, but at least Rian did and really that was enough for Madalyn at this point. After all, she would rather have one friend who she trusted and who trusted her than have a ton of friends who would only end up stabbing her in the back.

"I think I would like to come back though." She told him pulling her bottom lip between her teeth slightly nervously. "I mean today was super helpful and eye-opening. I think it would be good for me to come back next week." She said as she looked around the room at all the different people standing in this one room still practicing their spells trying to get better. And she wanted this. Madalyn wanted to feel like she was a part of something as amazing as this, she wanted to stand up to the people who tried to control her every move like she was a puppet rather than a human. The people who surrounder her currently all had their own reasons for wanting this, some of them might have lost loved ones in the first war. Some might just be trying to prove to their own families that they were capable of being wizards. But for Madalyn, she just wanted to have a chance. She wanted to live a life of her own choosing, one where her path was her own, not someone else's. She also wanted to show people that she was just as much a human as they were and that being a part of Slytherin house didn't make her less of anything. It didn't make her evil or untrustworthy, it just meant she showed qualities that a typical Slytherin has.

"And I promise I'm not being pressured into this at all. I've been thinking about if I wanted to come again since the night started really and I do. These are the people I need to be surrounded by if I want to learn more about how to defend myself. This is where I need to be if I really want to take a stand against things. Because let's be honest here if I don't come back then I'm pretty much signing my life away, not to mention that I'm never going to get to do these things in class with Umbridge as our professor, plus that woman is the devil so I don't know that I'd want to learn them from her anyway,"

Rian couldn't help the smile that spread across his cheeks, so wide that it threatened to split his face right in two. He nodded as he looked down to her, tilting his head to the side. "If you want to, then of course you're welcome to come back. It's never too late to learn how to fight and to defend yourself. Even without the coming war, it's important to know how, right?" Rian said, tilting his head to the side. He thought it was because you never knew who you were going to run into. You never knew what situation you were going to find yourself in. It was better to never need that skill rather than to find yourself in a situation where it was life and death; where without it, you had no way out. You had no way to survive.

Swallowing, Rian gave Madalyn a nod. He had to resist the urge to reach out and to hug her. He wanted to and he wanted to kiss her, more now than ever before. She was learning to have a voice of her own. He knew that it was probably still just as terrifying to her, the fact that she was still doing it despite that showed that she had far more courage than Rian had originally given her credit for. Instead, Rian's shoulders sagged slightly as he let out a sigh. He ran a hand through his hair before holding his hand out to her to help her to her feet.

"Who knows. Maybe we'll get paired together in a project again or something," Rian said, flashing a small grin. "Sounds pretty horrible, I know. But I think that we could make it work if we really tried..." Rian trailed off, nudging her with his shoulder. He was trying to switch the conversation to a bit more light hearted one now that Madalyn seemed to have calmed down a bit at the Dumbledore's Army meeting was coming to an end.