Surrounding Area

Madison had seemed to become mute as Alexandra went on about her business with the Order, and only Ouriel's comment seemed to put her off enough to rejoin the conversation. She gave no eye contact to either of them as she surveyed the village with delicateness. Tracing the rooftops, chimneys, anything to keep her focused on something else.

Finally, the only thing she said was, "I spoke to Michelle," without any further explanation.

"Ah... I hope it went better than last time." In all honesty, Alexandra couldn't help but wonder what was going on if Michelle decided to pick fights rather than respond coherently to her reports for once. Maybe she needed to talk to the woman face-to-face as well. It didn't even matter where, Michelle hadn't been seen at the Head-quarters in a while.

Ouriel watched on quietly.

"Well, she didn't blow my door off its hinges this time." Madison replied coolly, as she readjusted her sitting position once more. Madison could have told Alexandra the whole story. About how Luke drugged the Order leader into a happy-go-lucky state, how Madison nearly shot Luke through a wall, or even how Michelle had asked the both of them to join her tea party. But, Madison had her reasons, and they were reason enough. Michelle had still been her friend, once. There was no need to disgrace the woman further. Luke had done enough damage.

"May I speak plainly?" Madison asked, but she looked to Ouriel, not Alexandra. Madison wished to get these few words across, but even under the protection of Alexandra's spells, she didn't seem willing to speak the words aloud.

'Feel free to.' Ouriel returned easily. Alexandra was a bit put out that Madison was uncomfortable to tell her personally, but she supposed she would hear it either way. And if that meant hearing more about what was dragging Michelle down, her pride could take that hit repeatedly. Without knowing what was going on with their leader, Alexandra had to give vague answers to queries or make the decisions herself. And it was just... wrong to use Michelle's authourity in such a way.

The griffin extended his mind to carefully nudge Madison's.

As she felt the griffin's mind brush against hers, she then looked to Alexandra, but rather than speak, she thought it, "Michelle is no longer fit to lead. Yes?" expecting Ouriel to pass it on. It was a bold statement, especially for one who was no longer in the Order, but she thought it, nonetheless.

Alexandra looked sharply at Madison, mildlly surprised to find the women asking her through Ouriel. But that did little to distract her from her next thought - which she kept to herself and out of their 'conversation': if Madison had noticed it, who else in the school knew?
'I don't know about being unfit to lead...' she was hesitant about calling Michelle an outright loony, but it really was affecting them. 'But when I deliver reports, whether patronus or owl, I never get a reply with any relevance. If I even get a reply that is.'
'She is. But who else can claim to be more fit to be leader and be accepted by the Order?' Ouriel corrected Alexandra.

Madison answered to neither of them, seeing no reason to put in her thoughts on this matter, not without being asked anyways. She just simply stared at Alexandra, a response already in mind, but not one to be shared.

As the mental silence continued, Alexandra looked at her expectantly. Even so, her comments continued to be directed through Ouriel. But really, the manner in which her friend was looking at her would have made her worried if she didn't trust her.
'Madison..?' she continued after a moment. 'What do you think of Michelle?' A bit different to 'why are you looking at me like that', but perhaps it would help move the conversation along. More like dragging, tripping over the occasional rock and skinning your knees a few times, but hey, it was still movement.

Ouriel reminded immobile. It was apparently rude to dig into someone's mind and find out what they were thinking at blocks such as this, so he let Madison's mind be.

She spoke aloud, this time, and said, "I believe her mind has been tormented. Her thoughts scattered." She looked away, observing the view of town once more. She said this, because she had gone through the same thing, even if it was so much more than that.

But then, Madison stiffened, and her gaze became fixated on something distant. She could see it all happening again; The dimly lit room, the man with the doctor's mask over his face, leaning over her. And the blood- ohhh, the blood.

One second, Madison had been fine, and the next, it was like she was stuck in that never-ending nightmare, once again. She was suffocating on the tainted air, and the pain- it was unbearable. But in the midst of this horrid dream, out in the real world, Madison seemed as still as a statue, save for the tiny twitch of her finger.

Madison may have been completely still on the outside, but her mind was still lightly connected to Alexandra and Ouriel. Even through this slight bond, the pain that shot through the link was anything but pleasant. The girl's head jerked back as she instinctively started her occlumency.
On the other hand, Ouriel's eyes merely tightened as he dove further into Madison's mind to pull her out of the flash-back. The memories were so vivid that it even took him a bit of effort to block them all out while dragging the witch out of the darkness of her mind.

'Madison. You are safe. Those humans are far away and cannot hurt you now.' the human mind, as always, was a delicate thing to handle, but he found that pep-talk helped the transition from a violent state of being to a calmer one.

The world right before her eyes seemed to be spinning, and then with a sudden flinch, the dimly lit room vanished, replaced by the pure- bright- white snow, covering the landscape. She had to shield her eyes. And as she took a raggedy breath, it was as though the atmosphere had gotten ten degrees cooler; the cold air mercilessly tore at her lungs the more oxygen she tried to take in. Then, there was a noticeable shudder, all throughout her body, as though she had a bloody Dementor looming over her shoulder, and she slowly looked back to Alexandra and Ouriel. For a moment, she was confused. Wasn't she back at the lab just a moment ago? How did she get here?

Oh, right. A memory. But it was so much more then that. And Ouriel's words were far from comforting, because Madison didn't believe the lie for one second. Now what had they been talking about? Right, Michelle. And the mind-link... Madison only hoped Alexandra had not been too trifled by Madison's ever-present nightmares. She also hoped not many questions would be asked on the matter.

Madison sighed, rubbing her eyes for a moment and shaking her head, "I'm sorry. We were talking about Michelle, correct?"

Interesting, Madison didn't seem to be very comforted by this 'pep talk' as Alexandra had been in the past. Then again, he had always been able to help Alexandra when she needed him and that in itself was probably the greatest comfort. Ouriel inclined his head at the woman and withdrew his touch from her mind once she began to speak. He made a mental note to not base human-interactions on those with Alexandra in the future.

The witch sitting opposite Madison composed herself quickly. Even though she really wanted to ask if Madison was alright, that was not only a stupid question but she could also take a hint. If she had to pretend things were normal, for lack of a better word, than normal she would be.
"How has she been at Hogwarts lately?"

Fortunately, it seemed that both of them were willing to move on, so Madison replied, "Well, it would seem that Michelle is no longer capable of taking care of herself." But this time, she was being sarcastic, because then she added on, "Or so Professor Brown seems to think."

She glanced back towards town thoughtfully. She obviously wasn't fond of Luke in the first place, but for him to be meddling in Michelle's business made it ten times worse.

Alexandra closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose as she heaved a sigh. Luke had always had an extremely annoying habit of butting into situations and turning things from bad to worse. He sometimes had good intentions, but his know-it-all attitude often led him to completely ignore the voices of people who knew something of the situation. As much a loyal friend as he could be, sometimes she wished that he would just go away.

"What did he do now? Probably thinks he's a bloody shrink because he can brew half a potion." the latter part was mumbled to herself. Sure, it was a bit of a failing of hers as well, but at least she confined it only the matters within the Order.

Madison shook her head, dusting off her shoulder, "He drugged Michelle. I found them with her unconscious in her office." But she only gave half the story. No need to tell her about why Luke really bothered her. She didn't think it was necessary for Alexandra to know.

Nor did she think it necessary to go into detail about what happened after Michelle woke up. Heck, she wasn't giving even half of the story.

Her typically steel grey eyes darkened to a blood red. Alexandra restrained herself from hissing as much as she could, as it was, her words were still sharp.
"That damned hypocrite. I bet the head nurse didn't even know what Luke did." During their times at Hogwarts, there were occasions when she had tried to heal a cut or help him fall asleep when he was injured or tired. He had been extremely offended each time and refused to even speak civilly to her without an apology on her part. Yet he had the nerve to drug someone - a professor no less! If Michelle had wanted to be drugged, she would have gone to the Hospital Wing or fetched the potion herself from Luke.

All she could hope was that he had not read the missives from the Order. At least the most vital information, she delivered only by patronus...

Madison no longer seemed focused on the matter; she didn't come here to complain or rant. She simply looked over the view, not seeming to notice Alexandra's change of attitude, or that she had spoken at all. Madison wanted a change of subject.

"I suppose I should get back to Hogwarts soon." She finally said, wondering if there was anything else they could talk about at all.

Her eyes faded back to grey as she forced her ability under as Madison changed the subject once more. Why couldn't she stay on one subject for more than a minute? It just seemed... odd that she would reveal what Luke did and comment on it no further. Some sort of indicator as to how Michelle was would have been appreciated.
"Is Michelle..." again with the redundant questions. Michelle was not well, so why ask? Yet it would be nice to not have to drag answers out of people for once.

There was a slight pause as she pondered as to what to say before Madison headed back to Hogwarts. She shook herself out of her thoughts. No matter. She had to prepare for the next Order meeting anyways...
Ouriel made an odd huffing noise and Alexandra could feel his amusement as she groaned at the thought of another meeting.
"I guess I need to go figure out the next meeting... It always has to be at midnight for some reason and I swear that if I fall asleep in the meeting room, that someone will start duelling on the table."
This was actually quite a good distraction from her anger at Luke's actions. That reminder produced a bitter taste in her mouth.

'Good day, Madison.' she managed not to wince at Ouriel's lack of subtlety.

Madison looked to Alexandra as Ouriel skipped to the farewell, and perhaps there was a bit of hurt in her eyes. Regret as well. With Michelle the way she was, it seemed, the way Alexandra was speaking, that she was all on her own. And when dealing with an already broken Order, it was an incredibly heavy burden to carry.

But did she have any say in the matter? No, and it was her fault for retracting from the group. She was just a History professor now. Nothing more.

With a sigh, she stood up and straightened her coat. "I'm sorry." She said again. It really was too much for one person to manage, but Madison couldn't do anything about it now. She turned and started back down the snowy path back to Hogsmeade.

Ouriel simply nodded to Madison and went to walk around the perimeter, seeing if anyone of interest had snuck up on them.

Alexandra had a feeling that Madison wasn't apologizing for leaving here, but rather leaving in a broader context. Leaving her with the mess that was the Order. There. She'd admitted it. The Order, though under the illusion of organization and purpose once more, still lacked one. Glory days of it under the care of Dumbledore and Harry Potter had faded away: trust gave way to pride, selflessness to greed and oaths to lies. With the never-ending scourge of the ministry and the death eaters, it was no surprise either. There was no final battle in which the members could consider their work done and no reward other than that branded on a 'Wanted' poster of the ministry's.
Alexandra was no charismatic leader, no wise sorceror, no dashing idealist who had always done the right thing. She tried to be that, because it was what the Order needed, but it was impossible. Alexandra needed help. Ouriel's mind brushed up to hers gently, re-establishing their link, soothing an emptiness she hadn't noticed.

"If you ever change your mind, the doors to the Order will always be open to you." she spoke quietly. Alexandra had dropped her gaze from Madison and watched her fingers trace patterns in the dirt beside her. A few childish habits had yet to leave her, always reminding herself and everyone around her of her youth.
Should no one be there to support her in the Order but her own brother and his few friends, then she knew that she would break one day. It was harder to remember what she fought for with each passing day.

Madison stopped, looking back at Alexandra once again. She almost didn't believe what Alexandra had said, something only a sharp ears such as hers could have caught. But then, Madison turned away again, and smiled a small smile.

"Thank you."

And then she was off to return to Hogwarts. And all what little it had to offer to her.

A slight grin managed to paint itself on her face. What had comforted her in the past: that there were billions of people in the world to meet and understand, learn and befriend, no longer made peace in her. Because despite her insistent idealism and optimism, Alexandra knew of those billions, only a few million knew of magic, of those millions only thousands were in Britain, of those thousands only a hundred or so in the Order, of those hundred only a half a dozen would ever listen to her and of those six, only her own brother could help her.
It was fine in theory, but his role in her life seemed to be diminishing. Roberto worked more as an informant now and they only ever could even find time to talk an hour a week. When she worked the hours she did and he had to network, it was almost as if they didn't even live in the same home.
Perhaps it was one of the reasons she clung to Ouriel so tightly. And selfishly she had come to realize. The sooner she helped sort out the issue of leadership, the sooner they could lead slightly more normal lives. As typical as hiking in a national forest while a griffin did some hunting rounds, that is.

With that amusing thought in mind, her smile grew warmer as she watched Madison walk away, presumably back to Hogwarts through Hogsmede town. Alexandra decided not to call out a 'You're welcome' or something of a similar nature. It would make it sound like she was doing the Professor a favor, which she definitely did not feel was true.
'If you have that much time to philosophize, you have that much time to sleep and visit your brother.' Ouriel sounded in her mind. The creature strolled back to her from the perimeter of her anti-cold enchantments. She honestly hoped he never lost his bluntness, it was oddly reassuring.
'True. I'll make some time tonight... Perhaps after the meeting, we could go into the country-side for a few days.' That reply was met with obvious approval. Quite a nice last thought before the disapparated back to the Leoine estate with a blur of colour.

A minute of so later, the snow and ice invaded the area once more.

Sander squinted his eyes against the freezing cold wind, and he looked for Blaire's black robes among the white snow.

'This might not have been such a good idea' Sander thought, shivering when another gust of wind came up. Somewhere in front of him and to the left a bit, Sander saw a faint blue shimmer of light, which to him meant a spell. After thinking a moment, Sander raised his wand and pointed it in the general direction of the blue light and yelled, "Furnunculus!"

(Furnunculus- Causes the target to become covered in boils.)

Blaire heard the distinctive shout of a curse and thank god of her shield. The spell came her way and then rebounded off of it. She smiled and then trudged through the snow slowly. She cursed the snow again in her head and then looked over from where the spell had come from. She could either give her position away and attack or just stand still in the snow and wait for a good opening to take. She decided it would be better just to take a shot.

"Deprimo!" Blaire said aiming at where the spell had come from. She then quickly moved from the spot she had cast the spell at so that he couldn't get a pin-point on where she was. She figured that with Deprimo he wouldn't be moving very fast or far and she would just leave him out here to freeze and then they would just assume he got lost out here in the blizzard and froze on his own.

(Deprimo- places immense downward pressure upon its target)