one rainy morning • madison

[Thomas Davies]

It was freezing cold outside and yet here he was taking a walk around the castle. Though it was probably odd that he was out here so early, he couldn't sleep any longer and yet it was too rainy and windy to be out flying. Therefore he figured he'd just walk around for now. At this hour he hadn't even put on his robes, after all he doubted he'd be teaching today due to the rain. That was one of the many perks about having a job like this. Though he would have to look presentable for breakfast and such so he'd have to go back and change before breakfast. So he would wait to put on his robes then otherwise they would have definitely gotten muddy in this weather. This morning he was just in a black peacoat, with the old green and silver Slytherin scarf he had worn when he had attended Hogwarts. Everything else was rather casual for him, in just fitted jeans that weren't too tight but not horribly baggy either, and a grey long sleeve shirt underneath the jacket, he didn't have anything to cover himself from the rain but he didn't care.

With a sigh as he looked around the courtyard, it seemed to be quite quiet out right now. Well he didn't see why anybody in their right mind would be out here right now. All the students seemed to be lazy and they would probably laugh at the idea of getting up this early to go out and freeze to death outside. He could see their point and he didn't even try to reason with them, but he knew eventually they might see how great these cold rainy days were. And if they didn't well they were certainly missing out on a lot.

Though the rain prevented him from flying he did like it anyways. The smell outside, the way the castle was lit up whenever it was dark and dreary outside. Everything about the rain was enjoyable to him. Besides after a freezing cold walk through the courtyard it always felt good to go back to the Great Hall and have a nice cup of tea. As he walked he could feel the ice cold rain running down the collar of his shirt and down his back. Well this certainly was a good way to wake up in the morning. Not to mention having to walk and keeping himself warm helped as well.

[Madison Porter]

Damn bed,

[/I] she thought to herself as sat up and crossed her legs Indian-style. She stretched out some, yawned quietly to herself, falling back against her pillow, hitting her head against the headboard in the process. It made a loud knocking sort of noise, which happened to wake the other three girls in her dormitory. She looked around at them apologetically, her childish grin upon her face, mouthing an apology to them. They all glared. If they made the beds a little bit larger, maybe she wouldn't be awake at that very moment, hitting her head against the headboard and waking everyone else up. Luckily for everyone else, they could all pull the covers over their heads, turn on their sides, and go back to sleep. She, on the other hand, remained sitting up, wide awake. Any attempts to go back to sleep would have been uncomfortable, not to mention pointless.

Once she felt like the girls were back asleep and dreaming about their dream guys, Madison threw her long legs over the side of the bed and stood to her feet, the cold stone floor sending a chill into her feet, up her legs, and to her spine. She shivered a bit as she walked to the foot of her bed, opened her trunk, and pulled clothes out. Looking around the room at all of her dormitory mates, she quickly changed into her outfit: a form-fitting shirt, a long fabric skirt, and a pair of sneakers. She didn't really plan on going anywhere, at least not at the moment. She doubted anyone else was up in the school, unless there were early-risers like herself, which she doubted. Nonetheless, she grabbed her jacket and left the dormitory, not bothering to brush her hair. It didn't matter whether or not she brushed it. The curls always looked the same, heavy and knotted.

She hurried down the steps and across the common room. A fire was going in the fireplace; it was a wondering why no one hung out in there anymore. The common room was so hot that it was unbearable to anyone and everyone that had to pass through there. And because of the immense amount of heat, Madison hurried across the common room, exiting through the hole in the wall. Once she was out, she felt instant relief in the cool corridor. But it was barely lit, which meant that it was still early. Why hadn't she bothered to check the time before leaving? She sighed to herself and walked quietly and swiftly down the corridor, hoping that no one would catch her and accuse her of being out before she was supposed to be. But even still, she could use the excuse that she had to use the bathroom.

As she passed a window in the corridor, Madison paused and looked outside. Rain was falling from the sky and pattering against the window. She grinned some, her face brightening up from the previously dull morning she had started off with. She loved the rain, especially when it came down like it was outside. It wasn't extremely raining hard, but it wasn't drizzling, either. It was enough to get a person wet within a few minutes of being outside. That was just perfect, exactly how she liked it.

Excited, she hurried down more flights of steps and towards the two large doors across from the Great Hall. Before approaching them, she looked around to make sure there was no one around to say she couldn't go out. Once the coast was confirmed to be clear, she walked across. The doors opened, and out she went. Into the courtyard she ran, her long legs carrying her face with each step she took. Her hair became wet within a matter of moments and had started to flatten itself, making her look like a wet poodle. Her shirt and skirt had started to stick to her body, shaping what very few curves she did have in a boring sort of way. She grinned as the rain fell down upon her.

She stopped in the center of the courtyard beneath a tree. The leaves remaining on the tree held droplets of water for as long as their strength would allow. But when it was no longer strong enough to hold the water, it would drip and slide from the leaf, falling upon her head in a careless motion. She smiled faintly and leaned against the tree trunk, unaware that there was another person out there, at least until he walked by. When she saw him, her grin faded quickly. Was he a professor.

Shit, she thought to herself, her eyes widening in slight worry. I am going to be in so much trouble. Her mind continued to fill with worry. Maybe if he just stood perfectly still he wouldn't see her. Oh, who was she kidding? She was five-foot-eleven-inches for goodness sake! What was she supposed to do, act invisible? Sighing some, she figured she would give herself away, turn herself in. That seemed like the easiest thing to do at the moment.

"Good morning," she said in a quiet but friendly and cheerful tone, or at least the best she could. She bit her lower lip in slight nervousness and blinked her bright blue eyes a few times, waiting for him to see her and respond.[/size][/font][/blockquote]

[Thomas Davies]

Most of the time he didn't care whether students were out in the early hours of the morning. After all he had been one of those students to sneak out in the middle of the night and not come back till some early hour in the morning. So if he caught any student he just told them not to be caught by anybody else and if they did than they never ran into him. After all if any of the other teachers knew that he wasn't abiding by the school rules and not doing anything to keep the students in check. What was so bad about being out early anyways? He was more impressed by those students who could get up this early.

The only bad thing about the rain was the fact that it made his messy hair ever worse to managed. If he pushed it out of his face it would look terrible and yet at the same time it was terrible to have a few of the longer strands hang in his face. With a bit of a frustrated sigh, he did his best to push some of it back in order to get it away from his face, though since it was raining hard he was sure it would just go back to the way it was in a matter of minutes.

But as the rain kept on pouring down, he was more worried about where he was walking than anything else. Those terribly muddy spots were the worst and he was sure that nobody would like to have him track mud all around the castle that would be spread all around the castle then. And the other less muddy places seemed to be slicker and much slippery in others which made it quite easy for anybody to slip and fall in. Walking around covered in mud was normal for him when it came to playing Quidditch, but he didn't want to have to go back and change and wash up.

Hearing the voice, he turned to see who it was. The girl looked familiar, tall with that long blonde gorgeous hair, he knew he knew her from somewhere. But from where? Was she a professor here? Perhaps maybe that's where he'd seen her, some time in the Great Hall or something. She looked rather tall so he just assumed she was a professor, there were some professors around his age anyways. Smiling at her, he said,"Morning!" Walking over to her, he was quite surprised that anybody else was awake at this early hour of the morning. "So what brings you out here so early?" he asked curiously, he figured he might as well figure out who this girl was otherwise he was sure that he'd end up thinking about it all day or until he found out some other way.

[Madison Porter]

The man did not seem upset by the fact that she was out before she was supposed to be. Maybe he thought she was a professor there at the school? She wouldn't doubt it. As tall as she was, she could have passed for a professor any day. A lot of the first years would ask her where classes were or throw the title 'Professor' in there in hopes that she could be of some assistance. She helped them nonetheless, but she always made sure that they knew she wasn't a professor.

Since he didn't seem mad, she felt a relief wash over her chest. At least she wouldn't have to lie and make up some lame excuse as to why she was out there so early. Most of the professors would have had her in detention for a week if they saw her, at least the older ones would. The younger professors were cooler and much more laidback about students' behavior, possibly because they were barely older than the students themselves. This was a relief, especially for students who caused a lot of trouble and broke a lot of rules. Madison wasn't one of the rule-breaking students, but she didn't abide by all the rules either.

When he asked her the reason as to why she was out there, she looked around the courtyard, almost trying to avoid having to answer it. For a moment, silence fell between the two of them. The only thing that could be heard was the falling of raindrops around them. When she looked back up at him and saw that he was waiting for an answer, she decided to respond. It was only polite.

"The beds in the dormitory are getting a bit too uncomfortable for my liking," she admitted, laughing a bit uneasily through clenched teeth. She closed her mouth and bit her lower lip a bit, crossing her arms across her chest as she stood there beneath the tree. She looked down at her feet, which were muddy from walking across the grounds. "My feet are starting to hang off the foot of the bed. And if I bend my knees, my legs start to ache. I can't win for losing." She shook her head. Wet strands of hair beat against her softly tinted cheeks. She looked up at him and allowed one of her goofy grins to play across her lips. "And it's raining. I love the rain."

[Thomas Davies]

He wondered if he should ask her, he wasn't entirely sure if he should or not. Perhaps he could just look over it and say nothing, it was too early to be really caring about that sort of stuff anyways. He was surprised he was even in a cheery mood, he was in a really good mood even if it was insanely early in the morning. It was just as refreshing as the mornings he would go out and go flying for a bit before everyone woke up.

The old professors were nice to some and yet he really didn't care for their rules. They were so silly and out of date, well..most of them anyways. Really if he had to deal with kids in detention he'd hate it, too much paperwork and it wasn't like he could give them much to do. So he'd have to hand them over to another teacher and other teachers seemed to be a little more horrible with their detentions. If he must than he'd take away points but so far he had yet to really do it. There were much better ways to get back at students than just taking away points that were easy to replace.

He laughed and nodded,"Yeah I know the feeling. They really should make the beds bigger." Really only the first years and the years and possibly up to the third years could really fit into them. And anybody who was taller had no luck than. It was terrible, he had never liked the beds here, but most of the time he ended up on the floor or something like that just because the bed had been too small for him. But he was surprised that the professor's quarters were much nicer, he could definitely get used to that nice way of living for sure. "The rain is quite lovely, it's certainly a nice way to get wake up in the morning." Plus no work so that made things even better for her.

Though as he stood there he could feel the cold soaking in, it was definitely worse to be standing still. He sighed and tried to shift his feet a little in order to keep some heat moving. He figured he might as well introduce himself, it was a bit awkward to just stand here in silence. "I'm Thom by the way." He didn't care if the students called him by his first name or not. Though he always told them to call him by his formal name whenever they were around other staff memebers.

[Madison Porter]

The rain continued to fall. As it did, Madison could not help but feel like her nostrils were clearing themselves. Her breathing was easier. She could actually smell the fresh crispness in the air. She sighed, obviously in thought, and looked around her. This was the usual weather for Hogwarts during the school year. Anyone who disagreed would ahave been wrong. It rained all the time, especially where the castle was located.

At the mention of the beds, Madison could not stifle the amusement on her face. She grinned a bit when he said that the beds were a bit uncomfortable. She could see why. He was barely taller than she was, and he didn't appear to be that old. She could only imagine how tall he was during his years in school and how much trouble he, too, had had when trying to sleep. Had it not been for the fact that the floor in the Hufflepuff Common Room was stone, she probably would have slept there. But then her dorm mates would probably whine about it, about how she was in their way. She sighed at the thought.

"Yeah, well, you at least get to sleep in the professors' quarters. I'm stuck in a Hufflepuff dorm with three other girls," she said to him, making a point. The professor quarters were much larger, and each professor had his or her own room. Their beds were larger and much more comfortable. Being a student wasn't bad, but it wasn't exactly great either. Madison had been living with the same three girls for the past six, now seven, years of her school life. She liked her dormitory mates, but she couldn't help but get agitated when they got mad at her for accidentally waking them up or being clumsy all the time. She couldn't held that she was so tall and caused a seemingly large amount of trouble within the small dormitory. "I am tempted to start sleeping in the main common room on the couch or something. It would be more comfortable than that bed, at least." She hadn't tested her theory, but she doubted that she would be correct in her guesses. Her legs were probably too long for the couch, too.

At the mention of the rain, it seemed like it was only raining harder. She blinked her eyes and squinted as she looked upwards into the sky. The clouds were dropping more and more raindrops with each passing second, and she grinned as they hit gently against her face. She blinked, wiped the water from her eyes, and then looked at him, nodding in agreement to his comment about how nice it was to wake up to the falling raindrops.

And then he introduced himself. So his name was Thom. She tilted her head to the side and nodded. That was her way of saying it was nice to meet him, but she doubted he would know that. She grinned some. "I'm Maddy Porter. Well, Madison Porter, but everyone calls me Maddy." She grinned. Usually people would shake hands, but Madison wasn't into the formality, and he didn't seem like that kind of person either. So, that was good.

[Thomas Davies]

He enjoyed the weather, it was so nice, though he had learned to appreciate it. After all he had to get used to it, there was no way to hate rain when he needed to play in it occasionally during Quidditch. In order to play in the rain he had to train in the rain, therefore when he had played for Slytherin he had always gone out in the rain in order to get used to the ice cold rain and being able to fly and dive with all those new obstacles the rain brought.

What an interesting topic, it certainly was something new to talk about. He didn't mind it at all though, never in his life had he ever had this conversation with anybody. It was rare to find that many people that were taller than him. Most of his friends were either close to his height or a little bit shorter, but only a few of them were taller than him.

"Well I do now anyways. I had to go through all the same torture as you do, about four years ago." Wow had it only really been four years since he had left this place? He couldn't believe it, and now here he was again and now he was a teacher. Never had he expected himself to become a teacher, he loathed most of the teachers when he was a student here. When she said that she might have to sleep on the couch, yes well that was a good idea. "I did that for a while. Of course you do have to worry about people doing things to you while you sleep." Yes, drawing seemed to always be the big thing and it took loads and loads of time to scrub it all off. "Sleeping bags will become your best friend after a while." After his fourth year he had decided to get one just because it would get so cold during the winter on the freezing cold floor. Though it did always irritate the other boys in his dorm whenever they got up int he middle of the night and ended up tripping over him as he slept on the floor. And especially since he had been a Slytherin and in the dungeons...oh it was terrible during the winter.

"Nice to meet you Maddy." Though as he was just about to ask her a question when her last name reminded him of something, but where had he heard it before? Porter...that was familiar..and then after a moment he remembered where it had come from. That horrible woman in the Leaky Cauldron, the Mistress of Magic. But this girl seemed quite nice, he couldn't imagine her being related to that old bat. But the curiosity got the better of him, he asked without even thinking,"Are you related to the Mistress of Magic?" Part of him was somewhat scared to know what she would say, but there was no turning back now.

[Madison Porter]

Four years,

[/I] she thought to herself. That would make him about twenty-two or twenty-three. She smiled faintly to herself at the thought. Another young professsor. That's good. She was glad that more and more young professors were finding themselves teaching at Hogwarts. She liked the younger professors; they tended to understand more, tended to make more sense to her. Younger professors were becoming more common, especially since the older ones were starting to retire or move on with their lives.

"Unfortunately," Madison replied honestly when the professor asked whether or not she was related to the Mistress of Magic. Her face fell a little bit, but not because she was upset that he had asked such a question. A lot of people asked the same question. Hopefully this man would be different from everyone else; maybe he would be a bit more understanding and respectful of it. It wasn't her fault she was related to Carolyn Porter. But most people seemed to think it was and took their anger for her aunt out on her. And it wasn't even her fault! She knew that her aunt was not the nicest of people, and she could only wonder what her aunt had done or said to this young professor. "But I'm nothing like her, I swear. I don't even really like her. We barely even talk." Madison spoke quickly, trying to make sure he heard her out before making accusations. She really didn't need anyone purposely being rude because of her aunt. She breathed and allowed herself to calm down.

"So…you must have had a run-in with her, huh?" she said, her voice sympathetic towards the poor man. She sighed some and swallowed, knowing how her aunt could get. She knew that she was supposed to like her family, especially her aunts and uncles, but she couldn't help but admit how much she and her aunt butted heads. She didn't even know why she and her aunt were on such outs with each other. They had barely even talked. But maybe it was the fact that Carolyn had, basically, abandoned her younger cousins, Hope and Faith. "Don't take whatever she says or does to heart. She does it to everyone, even her family." Madison shrugged and scoffed some. It was true. Carolyn was the same way towards her family as well. It was amazing anyone ever had any contact with her.[/size][/font][/blockquote]

[Thomas Davies]

It didn't feel like that much time had gone by since he was at Hogwarts. Only four years, during those four years he hadn't done much, he had worked random jobs but nothing very important had really gone on during that time. At least now he was doing something that he enjoyed. Yeah, most people wouldn't say it was the best teaching position but he loved it. Not only was it something he loved but he didn't have to work that many days since it all depended on the weather.

She didn't seem like she was anything like her aunt, if she hadn't said her last name he would have never thought that she would be related to that evil woman. Just thinking about that day in the Leaky Cauldron made him never want to see that dreadful woman again. "Yeah you don't seem like her at all." He was actually enjoying his conversation with this girl, unlike his conversation with her aunt which had been more of an argument most of the time.

"Oh yes, I didn't know who she was at first. She seemed awfully surprised that I didn't know who she was, it was actually quite amusing." He couldn't help but smile as he remembered how surprised she had been. So not reading the Daily Prophet did have its perks. Though now that he had spoken to her, he felt compelled to read it just to read up about that terrible woman. "Wow, she's like that to everyone? How can you deal with that? I could hardly deal with her over lunch...and that lasted less than a half an hour..." That was...well..he didn't know if it was sad or just horrible. Her poor family, he would hate to be related to her. How on earth could they deal with her? If that wasn't patience than he didn't know what was.

[Madison Porter]

This man hadn't know who her aunt was? She had been the Mistress of Magic for six years. Her name was in the paper like she was some popular celebrity. She wasn't a celebrity, but she seemed to think she was. She couldn't help but laugh a bit as the man mentioned that he hadn't known who Carolyn Porter was before she told him. She knew that had to send her aunt's head for a spin.

The man asked how anyone could deal with that and how she could deal with it. She shook her head. That was the joy of having a somewhat distant family. Well, her family wasn't really distant, just Carolyn. They never really saw her, never really heard from her unless she was in need of something, and that was never. She had money. She had everything she wanted, and needed. Well, maybe not everything she needed. But that was another story entirely, one no one cared to think about.

"I don't have to deal with it. My aunt, she's something else. She's not like most people that high on a ladder. She doesn't talk to her family. She doesn't try to make them look good. In the papers, she doesn't really mention her family unless someone is interviewing her and asks. And even then she doesn't really talk. She's had three husbands, and they all left her because she's a self-centered bitch and works too much; and they've all said that about her. She has two daughters, non-magical, and she rarely sees them because she works all the time. The bad part about it all is that they live with her, even though they don't want to. But she's not giving them a choice to go live with their dad. And they're fifteen!" Madison shook her head. She could feel her temperature rising and her heart racing wildly in anger. She shook her head and sighed some, taking a moment to catch herself. "Sorry. She just…pisses me off. The things she does and says…" She sighed again and shook her head. Her dampened curls stuck to the sides of her face, and she pulled them off and brushed them behind her ears. Madison did not take a particular fondness to her aunt, and it was apparent now to the professor she was talking to.

Throwing her hands up in the air, Madison let out a frustrated sort of noise and blinked her eyes tightly closed. She ran her hand across her face breathed a bit. "Now I need a cigarette." She had said it more to herself than to the professor. Actually, she hadn't wanted him to hear her say it, but he had now. And there was no use in trying to take back what she had said. But it was true, she really did need a cigarette, something to let out some literal smoke.

[Thomas Davies]

Remembering the look on her face, he couldn't help but smile every time he thought about it. Now that he was trying his best to read the Daily Prophet more often, it was even better to see a picture of her and think about how much he had shocked her by not knowing who she was. Well if he ever saw her again he would have to be even more rude and pretend to forget her name again or something.

As much as he disliked his own family, he still managed to deal with them just fine. But if he had that horrible woman in his family he was sure that he wouldn't be able to deal with it at all. Being forced to have to be in the same room with her and attempt to be friendly for family's sake...honestly he doubted he could do it.

Listening to her, he wasn't exactly sure what to say. Never had he talked to a student on a really personal level like this. The students that he was more open with, were students that had been around when he was still here at Hogwarts. But now that he was a teacher he tried to not get into those awkward situations where he could totally say a lot about what they were talking about, but then couldn't since it wouldn't really be that proper to do so. Though as she apologized, he shook his head, there was no need to apologize. "Don't apologize, it's fine. It's good to talk about those things, especially if it's about your family." He never really ranted about his own family, they were much too confusing to go on about but he knew how she felt in some way. Though he highly doubted that any person in his family was as bad as her aunt. Though now that he thought about it, he did have one aunt that seemed to be very snooty, and constantly talking about herself or things involving her in some little way. But still that wasn't as bad as her aunt.

Had she said she needed a cigarette? Her quiet voice plus the sound of the pouring rain didn't make it easy to hear her. "As a teacher, I'm sure I should disapprove of that," he said with a smirk as he took out the pack of cigarettes from his jacket pocket. But then added quickly,"You think anybody else is around?" Of course he always had his own pack with him, rarely did he ever go anywhere without them. Glancing around he didn't see anybody, but he just wanted to ask her just in case she saw somebody he didn't. After all he was sure that he wasn't supposed to be smoking with students, but he was more than willing to offer her a cigarette just as long as nobody was around. But from a far he supposed he could look like a student, so if anybody did try and snitch on him..well that wouldn't be really bad he hoped.

[Madison Porter]

Madison had never been afraid to say what was on her mind or talk poorly of people. Being a Hufflepuff gave her a shield of innocent, but not many people realized that Hufflepuffs had their differences as well. Many people looked at Madison and thought she was calm, quiet, and like every other Hufflepuff. While she was all of those things at times, she also had this wild side to her. She had a side that anyone could see if they just talked to her. And the professor was seeing this side of her at that very moment. Usually she didn't get so worked up about things, but her aunt just made her show one of her bad sides, a side that not many people actually took time to witness. It was quiet amusing, really, watching her get worked up.

"The bad part about everything is that I don't really consider her family, even though she's my dad's sister." Madison knew that she should probably be shot for saying it, but it was true. Carolyn never treated them like family. She never really talked to them. Heck, she barely talked to her daughters, and they lived with her. Sometimes Madison felt like claiming her cousins as her sisters, letting them live with her, but that wasn't about to happen. Carolyn was too selfish for her own good, and she refused to let a lot of people get what they wanted, like her second husband when he wanted to take the girls with him. He knew what would happen if they stayed with their mother, and his predictions had been correct.

When he pulled out a pack of cigarettes, she looked at him and blinked a few times. If her parents knew she was smoking, she'd be done for. Blinking a bit, she looked around to make sure no one else was there, out of caution. When he asked her if anyone was there, though, she laughed a bit. "Are you kidding? Everyone else is in their beds, dead asleep. Even if they weren't, they wouldn't be out here. Not many people like the rain." She shook her head some and glanced around one final time to be sure. She looked at him in slight surprise. "You would give me one?"

Madison had her own cigarettes, but they were buried deep at the bottom of her trunk in the dormitory. She didn't really have time to quietly run back up there, dig through her trunk, find them, and then come back out to smoke. So if he was willing to offer her one, she'd definitely take it.

That was something else people oftentimes didn't realize. Dear little Madison, the quiet and seemingly innocent Madison, smoked cigarettes. But she didn't look like it. She still looked her age. Her teeth were not really yellowing or blackening from the nicotine decaying them. She brushed her teeth often enough, and she carried mint-smelling gum, just in case. She was careful about what she did, and careful to make sure her parents never found out. They'd kill her if they knew!

[Thomas Davies]

a lot of students bored him, their little drama amongst themselves seemed to be nothing more than one soap opera after another. however this girl seemed to be quite intriguing. she was a hufflepuff? she was quite outspoken as far as he could tell, but he supposed that's what made her even more entertaining. the fact that she could rant on and on about her aunt, well he hated her aunt and besides he was sure that most students wouldn't ever talk about this sort of stuff. "honestly i don't think i'd want to think of her as family." really with everything that she had said and from the experience he had with her he was sure if he had been related to her he would never tell anybody that he was.

"good." thank god for that, he highly doubted anybody would be wandering out in the rain but then again he had been proven wrong when he had met her. so hopefully they were the only two insane people to come out here this morning. he couldn't help but be a bit amused by the surprised look on her face. honestly were all the teachers uptight about this stuff? "just as long as nobody finds out, sure."

taking out one for himself and then holding out the pack to her, hopefully people would just continue hating the rain and not be tempted to come out here. as much as he didn't mind being friendly with students the last thing he wanted was to be known as a completely relaxed teacher. mostly he was fine with anything the students did as long as it wasn't destructive, and he didn't want them to think they could get away with absolutely anything when they were in front of him.

it was surprising to see a student who smoked though, he hadn't been smoking back when he went to school. with how hard quidditch training was, he needed to be in top shape for the games. but since he had been out of school, he had to deal with his mother and she was probably the most stressful thing in his life. therefore he had turned to smoking and probably drinking more than he should. but he never let his mother see any of that, he was sure that she would have a huge fit if she found out he smoked.

"you enjoying the school year so far?" he asked curiously. he had to wonder if those in their last year of school ever liked it. he knew he hadn't, he only enjoyed a few classes and the rest of the time he was focused on quidditch and getting the hell out of school and out into the world.

[Madison Porter]

As much as Madison hated to claim her aunt as part of her family, she had to. Her parents would be highly disappointed with her if she didn't; they would tell her that she was only sinking down to her aunt's level if she didn't. Besides, it wasn't always bad claiming the woman as her aunt. She was the Mistress of Magic and oftentimes got commended for her work at the Ministry, even though it didn't really seem like work to Madison. But people treated her nicely for that reason, even though Madison didn't want their charity in the form of good grades and politeness.

It was a relief to see that he had actually offered her a cigarette. She looked at him in the face for a moment and nodded her head when she said that as long as no one else found out she could have a cigarette. She nodded her head a bit frantically and removed a cigarette from the pack. "The secret's safe with me. Don't worry." She nodded her head and put the end of the cigarette in her mouth. "Do you have a light? I don't even have my wand with me." She felt like an idiot for not even bringing her wand. Well, it was obvious that she was not the most intelligent person in the world. Anyone would have known better than to leave to go anywhere without their wand. She was just glad that this professor was kind and understanding.

He had gone so far as to ask whether or not she liked school this year. She blinked and looked across the grounds, shrugging her shoulders. She honestly couldn't figure out how she was liking the school year thus far. She really hadn't had a chance to adjust from being a sixth year to a seventh year. Her classes were only remotely harder and somewhat smaller than they were in years passed. She blinked and looked at her professor, a look of slight confusion on her face.

"It's okay, I guess," she told him honestly, "But I'm not sure It's not really different from last year or the year before. But I'm glad that this is my last year, then I can get out and do what I want. But that could also be a bad thing, especially if I want a job at the Ministry…" She shuddered at the thought. She would definitely have to try not to work there, at least while her aunt was the Mistress of Magic. That would be like asking someone to kill her. It would be like a suicide.

[Thomas Davies]

He guessed there would be pros and cons of having the Mistress of Magic in your family, but still he could imagine it being very annoying. As much as he didn't like his family that much, he would prefer to keep them in their insane annoying ways than have anybody else as family. There were really no good things where his family was concerned but at least they were better than others.

"Yeah I have one somewhere," he said as he put the end of the cigarette in his mouth and put the pack back in his pocket and searched both pockets for his lighter. He much preferred that over a wand, there had been many times where he had been quite stressed and been a little over enthusiastic when lighting his cigarette, therefore the lighter was much safer. But he just pretended to as if he hadn't heard that she didn't have her wand. Sure Hogwarts was safe, but that still didn't mean not having a wand on you was a good idea. Though he wasn't about to lecture her, after all it was early in the morning. Igniting the lighter and covering up the flame with his hand so the rain wouldn't extinguish it as he held it out for her so she could light hers.

"My last year was good and bad. But I guess I can't say much since I'm back here again," he said with a shrug, he found it somewhat ironic that he had wanted to get out of here so bad and now he was back here working. But whatever, it was a good job and it would keep his mother quiet until he managed to pursue his other goals in a few years hopefully.

A job at the Ministry? He couldn't see it, sure a lot of the people that worked there were quite nice but he couldn't imagine her working there. It just seemed to boring and a bit strict and even more horrible thanks to Carolyn Porter. "So what would you do if you worked at the Ministry?" he felt a bit odd asking her all these questions, but at the same time he was quite interested to know more about her.