Thanks for the memories

[Ezra Cade]

Ezra Cade was in a good mood. Hogwarts was proving to be everything he had expected and more. The proximity of his brother was a benefit, being able to drop by the Gryffindor table to torture the younger boy was a particular highlight of his new school experience. Added to that the girls of Hogwarts and Ezra was very happy he had made the switch. From his first few days Ezra had caught the attention of the female population, there has been a few highlights, attending the halloween feast with his very attractive Quidditch captain had been a particularly enjoyable experience.

Then there was Ezra's latest conquest, the girl his brother never seemed to shut up about, he had talked his sisters ear off about her during the last few holidays but it seemed a few months at the school and Ezra had scored with Madeline Walden. He didn't quite see what was so special about her, but she was a good kisser, and passionate. Ezra stood up from the Slytherin table and made his way out of the Great hall. As he passed the Gryffindor table he locked eyes with Maddie and motioned with his eyes for her to follow him outside. They would usually meet in one of the broom cupboards, but Ezra fancied being outside this time. He entered the courtyard and stood in plain view for Madeline to see.

 

[Madeline Walden]

Maddie's friendships and relationships were changing all the time and nothing felt constant. As a result, Maddie felt it very difficult to stay loyal to one person which didn't seem to bother the eldest Cade sibling. The two seemed to be on the same page and seemed to, bizarrely, work together. Maddie knew that if James found out that Maddie and Ezra had been seeing each other he wouldn't be very happy. However, Maddie and James were once again no longer speaking and they were not on very positive terms either so Maddie felt less and less guilty as the days went on. Especially as James and Charlotte had very recently decided to be a couple which confused Maddie and she didn't know how to feel about her best friend being with James. Of course she put on a happy face when around Charlotte but deep down she wasn't happy with the two of them being together but she was not ready to admit that to herself yet. In the meantime, Exra was a perfectly god distraction from her confusing feelings about James and she didn't want to think about James, especially since it was so obvious that he was completely over her, getting with Charlotte proved that.

Ezra caught Maddie's eye and she waited a couple of minutes before following him out of the Great Hall. Despite how she felt about James at that moment she didn't want him to find out that she was seeing his brother. She knew about the tension between the two brothers and Maddie didn't want to exacerbate it. As far as Maddie was concerned, Ezra was just a distraction for the time being. Something to take her mind off of everything and it had been working so far. She gathered her things and walked out of the hall and walked out of the double doors and into the courtyard. She smiled at Ezra as she got closer to him and stretched her arms out to hug the older boy. It was a little strange to show affection in public but Maddie kind of liked it.

 

[Ezra Cade]

The fact Ezra was seeing the girl James has described as his 'dream girl' made the Slytherin made very good about himself. It almost didn't matter that she was gorgeous, it didn't matter that she was a good kisser, it didn't even matter that she was touchy feely when they made out. If she was none of those things he would still want her, to have the one thing James wanted more than anytbing in the world gave him a feeling of euphoria that couldn't be matched by anything Maddie could do, though she did her best.

Being out in public was not their thing, but it didn't bother Ezra if they were seen, in fact the chance that they could be seen by James made the whole thing that much more exciting. He doubted Maddie cared much if James saw, for everything his brother felt for the girl, he had no indication that she felt the same, what would she see in him anyway? Soon his mind wandered away from James as Maddie found him and went to hug him. He grinned at her and lut his arms around her, his hands resting on her bum. "Hey gorgeous," he said leaning forward to plant a firm kiss on her lips."Miss me?"

 

[Madeline Walden]

Maddie grinned as Ezra enveloped her in a hug and giggled when she felt his hands rest on her bum. Being with Ezra felt completely different compared to the other boys that she had been with. Ezra was cheeky and confident in a way that Felix never was and it was a nice change. He didn't expect anything from her and she never expected anything from him either, it was the perfect arrangement. "Always" she grinned returning the kiss. "Shall we sit?" she asked, sitting down without waiting for an answer from Ezra.

 

[Ezra Cade]

Ezra had to admit, Maddie was a good kisser, James was certainly missing out. He didn't understand why he continued to pine for when getting her had been so easy for him. The girl was so desperate for attention and Ezra was more than happy to give her what she wanted. "Glad to hear it," He grinned at her once she had pulled away from him and sat down on the bench asking if he wanted to join her. "Of course," Ezra took a seat next to her. "What's wrong Madeline, you look annoyed, which is saying something in my company," He winked at her.

 

[Madeline Walden]

Maddie sighed and shrugged her shoulders. There shouldn't have been anything wrong with her but recently she couldn't shake the feeling of annoyance that followed her everywhere. "It's nothing really" she said, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. "It's just.." she sighed "I don't know. I never see Charlotte anymore. She's always with James. They're always together. They're never on their own, its so frustrating sometimes!" she ranted. Feeling a little weird talking about James in front of Ezra. She didn't know the exact situation between the two brothers but she knew that they were not particularly good friends with each other and she was sure that James wouldn't be too pleased to learn that Maddie and Ezra had been seeing each other in secret. But, then again, it would be surprising if James even noticed anything that wasn't to do with Charlotte these days. She wouldn't have normally have unloaded on Ezra but it had all been building up inside her for so long and for some reason Ezra made her feel like she could tell him these things.

 

[Ezra Cade]

Ezra raised his eyebrow as it quickly became clear that the source of her unhappiness was his brother James, or at least him and his girlfriend. Was it a simple case of James was monopolising her best friend and she no longer saw her? Or was she jealous for a different reason? Surely not, his brother couldn't get a girl like Maddie in his wildest dreams, that said his girlfriend Charlotte wasn't bad to look at, perhaps she had low self esteem or something, it was the only explanation he could think of as to why she was settling for James. "Madeline," He began picking up on something she said, "Who are you sad about not seeing, Charlotte? Or James?" He asked. Maddie hadn't said that it was Charlotte that was never alone, she said both, suggesting not getting James alone was on par or worse than not seeing Charlotte. How very strange.

 

[Madeline Walden]

Maddie's forhead creased, what was Ezra suggesting? That she missed seeing James? She snorted at the idea. "Charlotte, obviously" she replied raising an eyebrow and moving a little bit further away from Ezra. "Why would you ask that?" she fired back defensively. As far as Maddie was concerned she had never given Ezra any inkling about her feelings towards James. Nobody knew her true feelings, especially not James himself and now he was with her best friend the last thing she wanted was for them to find out. They seemed genuinely happy together and even though it hurt Maddie, all she wanted was for her best friend to be happy and if that meant being with James, then so be it. Which is why she decided to distance herself from the two of them, even if it did mean becoming a little distant with Charlotte. Rather seflishly it saved Maddie the heartache. She looked for many ways to take her mind off of the situation and she happened to chance upon Ezra, who, in a cruel twist of fate, was actually James' brother and Maddie found herself sneaking around with him (despite her better judgement).

 

[Ezra Cade]

Ezra laughed, she seemed very defensive at the mere suggestion she might actually miss James. He had been somewhat joking, but now he was suspicious. "You seem a little defensive Madeline, I wasn't suggesting you have feelings for my brother, how could you? Look at you, and look at him, he's a total loser," Ezra laughed, he loved nothing more than laying into his brother, he didn't know why he was popular. "I don't even know what Charlotte sees in him, I'm sorry I even suggested you could miss him," He smiled at her and cupped her cheek with her hand. What had he been thinking, she was far too good for Maddie.

 

[Madeline Walden]

Maddie frowned a little when Ezra mentioned her defensiveness. She shifted a little in her seat when he continued to criticise his brother. "How can you talk about your own brother that way?" she demanded "he's not a loser. He's kind and sweet and has a good heart" she continued, not realising what she was confessing to Ezra in the process. Someone had to stick up for James and Maddie decided that it would be her, despite the differences between them at the moment. Which, admittedly, had been part of her own making anyway. Maybe in some kind of warped way, this was Maddie trying to make up for how she had acted in the past, even though James would never even know. Maddie grew a little angrier when Ezra mentioned Charlotte, the one person that she felt protective over more than her siblings was her best friend. Even though the two girls were not speaking as much at that moment or as close as they once were, Maddie would defend her best friend until the very end. She recoiled at Ezra's touch and took his hand in her own to move it away from her face. "Don't talk about Charlotte like that" she said looking into Ezra's eyes.

 

[Ezra Cade]

Ezra raised his eyebrow as Maddie began passionately defending his brother, it was almost as if she had walked into his trap. She clearly wasn't as indifferent to him as she liked people to believe. He couldn't believe it, someone like that liked someone like his brother. "Well well, I'd say I'm not surprised by I really am, what anyone sees in that idiot I'll never know, you can do better Madeline, hell you're doing better," He grinned and winked at her. "I wonder what James would think of this revelation, who knows he might even dump his girlfriend to have a chance, I mean its no comparison," He laughed, not to say he would pursue Charlotte, but mostly only because she was his brothers current girlfriend. When he came to talk about Charlotte he seemed to really hit a nerve and she snapped at him. "Have I hit a nerve? Your best friend dating the guy you love, it must be awful for you, I'm surprised the jealousy doesn't eat you alive, you should just be selfish and break them up, I bet it would be quite easy," He nudged her, knowing she wouldn't dream of following his horrible advice.

 

[Madeline Walden]

Maddie couldn't believe the things that Ezra was saying. How had she not seen this side of him before? The arrogance, the vindictiveness and the hatred for anything to do with his brother. "I can't believe what you are saying. Why do you hate him so much?" she asked Ezra as she jumped up from the bench the two of them were sitting on. She clasped her hands to her mouth as to try and take back everything that she had said "no, Ezra. Please! You can't say anything to him" she pleaded "no one can know. No one was supposed to know" she continued as she paced the spot in front of the Slytherin. "It's my secret, it would hurt them. It's why I haven't said anything. It's why I haven't spoken to them much" she rambled, hoping her explanation would be enough to stop him telling James her secret.

What Ezra said next affected Maddie in a way that she had never anticipated. Break them up? It would be easy? she kept thinking about his words. "N..no. I couldn't" she replied looking at the floor "I don't want to do that. She's my best friend and she's happy. It doesn't matter what I think or feel. No!" she replied a little more forcefully. She could keep her jealousy under wraps, it had worked so far hadn't it? All she had to do was avoid the two of them.

 

[Ezra Cade]

Madeline posed a good question, why did Ezra hate his brother? He didn't really know why, he just did, there was just something about him that he had never liked. "I just don't like, did you like him when you first met him? He asked, surely not, James had a quality that annoyed him, surely he wasn't the only person who thought that about his brother. "Why can't I tell him? He might like what he hears? Then again he's an idiot so he'd probably not care and stay with Charlotte," Ezra sighed pondering her question. She had begged him, and he liked that, she was desperate to keep this secret and he could use that to his advantage. "Ok I'll keep quiet," He began standing up and approaching her, he brushed some of Maddie's hair out of her face and cupped her cheek, "This doesn't stop, and I won't tell James a thing," He smirked. "Deal?"

 

[Madeline Walden]

Maddie laughed a little in spite of herself, her first meeting with James was indeed not a positive one. She hadn't liked James when they had first met but that was mainly to do with the fact that he was talking to Amy, who she loved most dearly and therefore, regarded James with suspicion. It all seemed foolish and childish now, all the arguments and fall out that stemmed from that first meeting. But that was all different now, it seemed like the only person that didn't know her true feelings was the most important person, James. But Maddie would never let him know, at least not in the near future and definitely not while he was with her best friend, Charlotte. They seemed so happy together and there was no way that Maddie was going to come between them, especially after she had so vehemently denied her feelings for James beforehand. She didn't want to give Ezra the satisfaction of being right so she ignored his first question, keeping her thoughts to herself.

She shook her head and retook her seat so she was level with Ezra again. "But I don't want that Ezra, you really can't say anything!" she pleaded to the Slytherin. "Charlotte and James are happy together and nothing can ruin that!" she exclaimed, hoping the boy would see sense. However, to Maddie's surprise, Ezra agreed to stay quiet and she felt so relieved until his silence came with conditions. She held her head in her hands and thought over what the older Slytherin boy was asking from her. To keep the peace and to make sure her best friend stayed in a happy relationship with her fellow Gryffindor, Maddie decided that she would agree to keep seeing Ezra. She would do anything to keep her friend happy and this was the price. She looked up at the Slytherin boy and nodded at him "Fine, this doesn't stop but you can't say anything Ezra, I mean it!" she replied.