A/N: SORRY THIS IS LATE! And the other one! I've been managing with "the aftermath of Christmas" (those who know, know.) But, today, I decided it would be a wonderous idea to procrastinate on everything to go to the mall to get some good after-Christmas and "year-end" sales. I'm very happy with what I got form Jo-Anns! (If you head over to my TikTok: greekwitch07 you'll see what I'm talking about.) But I hope you like this chapter! It's 1.4k words long, and the aesthetic above was made by the lovely RobinHood37! Amazing per usual! 

I really like writing Thalia just because I feel like her thought-process is so much more different than any other character in this book. I hope I'm correct angelchild10, but she questions what she knows and always forms her thought process as one thing leading to another, while still coming back to the central point. You'll see what I mean! This book is filled with more, choppier, go-with-the-flow, if this fucks up then just go with it, people, but I feel like Thalia would plan everything out with a long and amazing thought process, and, well, let's just say I enjoy writing her thoughts very much! (I know you guys don't see her much, but I will try to include more of the non-Marauder characters as you see the story move more and more from "Dark Ones" to "Dark Lord".

𝕽𝖆𝖇𝖆𝖘𝖙𝖆𝖓'𝖘 𝕻𝖔𝖎𝖓𝖙 𝖔𝖋 𝖁𝖎𝖊𝖜:

Rabastan pressed a kiss to Thalia's head, making her cuddle closer to him. Rabastan blushed a tad before smiling and holding Thalia closer. The two had decided to just sit around the common room (Rabastan knew for a fact Thalia was working on schoolwork that wasn't due until the end of January) and reading the books in the library that day. The day before, Rabstan had practically spoiled Thalia rotten with all of the gifts he got her. He had a ton of money, why not spoil the love of his life? His soulmate?

Before that, he managed to convince his parents that he should stay at Hogwarts, and maybe they should have some holiday with Bellatrix and Rodolphus. Rabastan wouldn't be the first to say Bellatrix kind of freaked him out. He did not think she was right in the mind, at all. He also knew full and well Rodolphus didn't love Bellatrix, and nor did he think Bellatrix loved Rudolphus, they only married to keep their reputations and to keep their legacies.

After falling in love with Thalia, Rabastan couldn't imagine why anyone wouldn't marry for love. Really, he had grown up on the idea that marriage was used to have pure blood children and to keep up a reputation, but if you don't love someone, what was the point of spending the rest of your life with them and having kids with them? After Thalia, it seemed pointless to Rabastan.

Rabstan chuckled to himself, causing Thalia to look up, "Whyever are you chuckling?" Thalia asked.

Rabstan looked down, shrugging, "It's nothing, Thals," he said.

"Oh yes, you chuckled at nothing?" Thalia said sarcastically with a smile, though, it was said in the tone of a question. Rabastan knew that was just how she naturally was, it was her being nice and sweet, and being his Thalia.

Rabstan scoffed and shook his head, "Well, I was just thinking I've changed in just the three months I've met you," he explained.

Thalia brushed her hair from out of her face, "Care to elaborate?" She asked.

Rabastan tried to figure out how to word what he thought more simply, "Ever since I met you, well, I don't understand some of the things my family does. They don't marry for love, you know, they marry for the reputation and having pure blood kids. After meeting you, it just doesn't make sense anymore," Rabastan said as he gently ran his fingers through Thalia's hair.

Rabastan saw Thalia smile. "Perhaps it's the magic of soulmates," she suggested.

"Hmm," Rabastan said as he gently placed his chin on her head. "Maybe, or it's love magic," he suggestively teased.

Thalia just shrugged. "Technically love magic is one of the most powerful forms magic can take. I assume it's because of how unpredictable and powerful love can be by itself. It's a common fact that love is a stronger motivation than hate in crime and things such as that. I wouldn't be surprised if it was love magic," Thalia said in her typical Thalia fashion. Logically thinking everything out with data to prove her points.

Rabastan just smiled as he pressed a kiss to the top of Thalia's head. He loved Thalia, her logical thinking and sarcastic spark. He really hoped Thalia loved him back the way he loved her, and what she said probably was true. In the end, love was powerful, much more powerful than hate — like the hate his family had for those "not pure".

𝕿𝖍𝖆𝖑𝖎𝖆'𝖘 𝕻𝖔𝖎𝖓𝖙 𝖔𝖋 𝖁𝖎𝖊𝖜:

Thalia smiled as she stared at the fire. She found they had been doing that a lot lately, just sitting calmly by the fire, reading a book usually. They did have a book right next to them (it was a fantasy book called "Tiger"), but they weren't reading it. Shocker, she knows. She also knew though, that they would probably end up reading it and finishing it quickly, so she wasn't too concerned with the time she spent not reading, but just relaxing with Rabastan.

Thalia smiled when she thought about Rabastan. It was like the moment her brain thought of her boyfriend, it immediately sent signals to her mouth for it to curve upward. She wasn't lying when she had said that love was one of the most powerful forms magic could take. Based on her research, love was indeed, quite powerful, and it could also be disastrously unpredictable. Based on some other research, sometimes the fact that a certain kind of magic was unpredictable, just made it all the more powerful.

That logic just made her think about the soulmate sorting, was it some sort of strategy for the Order of the Phoenix she's heard about? If love was such powerful magic, and that it was more powerful than the hate Death Eaters had, it would only be logical for the Order to use that to their advantage — to fight the Death Eaters' hate with a more unpredictable, more powerful form of magic.

Thalia nearly scoffed at her own thinking, her thought process was starting to sound like a fairy tale. "Love conquers all!" But, then again, could that be true? Could the Order be using the soulmates as a way to gain the upper hand? It was working in a way. Hell, Thalia knew Rabastan was already thinking about not siding with the hate his family has for people like Thalia, but siding with the love he has for ... her.

Thalia just smiled as she bit her lip slightly, she didn't think she could fall for someone like Rabstan (player amongst pureblood girls, pureblood supremacist, Dark, hangs around Death Eaters, aspire(d)ing to be a Death Eater himself), or for someone like Rabastan to fall for someone like her (open bookworm, logical thinker, rather introverted, not really the dating type) but, here they were. They were soulmates, and they were very much in love with each other, no matter how strange or how unlikely it was.

Thalia wondered a bit more on the love Rabastan has for his family, or should she use the past tense, had? It seemed like she should use past tense on things like that with Rabastan. Sure, as a couple, once they read a book together, or even schoolwork, gossiping even, opening up about the characters, the plot points, the simplicity of homework, which person didn't return their library book, that was easy. It was when talking about their families, opening up got about ten times harder.

"Hey, Bas, would you want to be cosying with your family? You know, your mother, your father, your brother," Thalia said, then remembered Rodolphus had married the infamous Bellatrix Black, now Lestrange, "your sister in law."

Thalia noted that Rabastan seemed to have a strange reaction to "sister in law".

"Let me be clear, I do not like Bellatrix, I only tolerate her for my reputation," Rabastan said, "but no, not really. I much prefer being here with you."

Thalia smiled at the statement about her, then went back to what she originally was talking about, "You still love them, though, right?" She asked as she placed her head on his chest.

Rabastan moved his hand up and down her arm in thought, "I," He said, then faltered, "I mean, yes I do, they're my family, they're always going to be my family. I mean, I do hate the hate that they spread, I don't really I don't see the point in it anymore. Why hate someone, when you could accept them? I was taught that people like you were bad, that they stole magic and were going to use it for bad. But, clearly, you just want to make the world better. You didn't steal anything and you work hard for what you want. They lied to me technically, I mean, who could love someone who lied to you your entire life? But, they are still my family," Rabastan said then sighed. "Well that was a tangent," he said as he returned from "a bit flustered" Rabastan to "cool" Rabastan.

Thalia just sighed through her nose. She saw his point, of course, she did, she understood it. She just sighed again but through her mouth. She had to do a bit more research on love magic. Maybe it could help her understand everything better, the soulmate thing, families, maybe it would even help her understand the pureblooded and their madness that is wanting to get rid of muggle-borns and half-bloods. Maybe... but for that meant, she was content with not researching, but staying with Rabastan and relaxing. She looked up and managed to sneak a kiss to Rabastan's lips before smiling with pride at the small blush on his cheeks as she placed her head back on his chest, looking into the fire.