"Mm." Tapendra's nod of agreement was accompanied by a grunt rather than an articulated reply. The possibility did exist. He'd hope that, after the attack, the hospital had increased its security, but - he wasn't exactly in a mood to be optimistic, there. Unusual for him, admittedly - he'd prefer to think the best of things.

He looked up at Raine abruptly at her last statement, his expression only mildly responsive. He'd thought like that, once - and still did, to some extent. It wasn't that he didn't trust Aurors (how could he not think fondly of them, after being with Judy?) but there were things that the...less-lawful elements simply did better. And finding people who jad purposely disappeared was one of them.

"Don't jump into that world too easily," he said, tone not chiding, but instead somewhat weary. "You'll find it rarely lets you walk away from it, after it's over." Not that his decade of paranoia and lost sleep on his part had anything to do with the things he'd done in regards to it.

That wasn't the light, easygoing tone of a reproachful elder. There was some weight and perhaps even experience in Professor Trishna's voice- it caused her to avoid brushing off the warning as she might have, had it been announced with less gravity. Raine paused to consider the words and levelled her gaze thoughtfully.

"It won't ever be over for me," she said tersely and felt the shadow of sleepless nights pull underneath her eyes. "I will never walk away after what has been taken." Her sister could only be murdered once but every passing year would be a year without her; until the day she herself died, the time stolen could only grow longer.

There was no turning the other cheek.

"But I won't let him walk away either." Raine's eyes cleared of their gaunt expression and she ran a hand through her curls, sighing suddenly. "I... I don't know. I can do this the right way. I will graduate, I will be an Auror." The Gryffindor stopped, relaxing the grip around her wand in a cold, deliberate gesture. "And then it won't matter how far he runs, will it?"

Tapendra smiled slightly, though there wasn't much joy in it. He leaned on the wall of the corridor, his back protesting but being ignored for now. He wondered, for a moment, which was better - to have had someone die and be constantly reminded of their death, or to have a person you hated still be alive and possibly out to kill you?

He thought for a moment and then decided both of them were a rather raw deal.

"No," he said. "It won't be over. But what it can be is better, and that's about all you can hope for. It's a lot easier to rest when you've kicked the shit out of the people who started it, even if it won't bring her back."

Somehow the thought of Raine as an Auror...it was fitting. Incredibly so, really. It was hard to imagine her as anything else, except perhaps a dragon tamer. His smile was a little more genuine this time.

"Aurors are bound by a certain set of rules, of course," he said, popping his shoulder in a failed attempt to make it stop protesting. "But...if what Judy used to get up to is any indication...you can get away with bending the rules. Or creatively interpreting them." Admittedly, she had gotten in trouble for that, once or twice. And hadn't been in the office long enough for it to truly catch up with her.

Raine tilted her head back, laughing abruptly at Trishna's language. Kicked the shit out of people, that was precisely what she wanted to do to Arthur Lemon.

The laugh eased her spirits  in the way conversation always did, cathartically. It was a relief to get these weighty concerns off her mind and the prefect could appreciate that other people- good, intelligent people - believed in her goals as firmly as she did. It wasn't a fancy dream, locked up in a sad girl's head.

"Well whatever happens..." she shrugged. "When the time comes I suppose I'll know what I have to do. Some day." There was no need for her to make decision now. "Hogwarts has that effect, doesn't it? Everything feels so much safer here."

It figures, of course, that she would only learn to value that aspect in her final years. Bittersweet. Raine glanced across the field again and noted that the morning fog was fading. They could see clear across it towards the other Quidditch rings. She looked back at the Head of Ravenclaw thoughtfully.

"No promises about doing the right thing but thank you," she smiled wryly. "For knowing how to take a bludger in the chest. And for telling me about the Aurors. I rather hope that a little creative interpretation might come in useful some day."

Her abrupt laugh surprised him, and it showed; he jumped a little bit, looking at her in surprise for a few moments before he relaxed. The laugh was a good sign, he hoped. She certainly seemed more cheerful, at the very least - even if it was...well, it was Almasy. Cheerful was a relative term, to some extent.

"Mmm. It does, doesn't it? Despite more recent events," he said, nodding slightly in agreement. Even he - who had seen firsthand how unsafe Hogwarts could be, on multiple occasions - still felt that veil of safety. It was so hard to separate the castle from the one reigned over by Dumbledore. McGonagall's presence helped there, he'd admit.

He smirked, sitting up a bit straighter. "Anytime, Almasy," he said. "The talk and the bit about Aurors, I mean. Not so sure I'd like bludgers to be involved again anytime soon."

The bludger shook for a moment, and he glared at it, hoping it wasn't getting ideas.

"Just don't write to me and blame me if that gets you fired, alright?" He said with a smirk, scratching the side of his head. "Though if it gets Lemon, then..." He shrugged slightly. "That choice's up to you. Right or wrong."

That they felt safe in Hogwarts was perhaps more of a weakness in itself than a strength- but somewhere in the back of her mind, Raine supposed that their belief in its safety was a part of what kept them protected. If they weren't secure here, then they weren't anywhere else. And that notion she could not bear considering; not yet.

Professor Trishna's distrust of the Bludger caused the prefect to smile even as it reminded her that the ball would need to be forced back into its case soon. Not even the slimiest of Slytherins would enjoy a rogue Bludger roaming the grounds.

"Right or wrong," Raine met her elder in the eye with apparent good humour. "There is a choice, even where I might see none. I must remember that."

Of all the things they were made to remember from books and lessons and scrolls; some of the most important ones weren't in their curriculum at all.

"I ought to clear up now," she reached for her broomstick and held it up right before flicking her wand- the Bludger dropped lower to the ground, inching closer to them with obvious reluctance. "Can't tackle Charms without breakfast and preparation, after all." Merlin knew what to expect with Kesali. Raine turned to Trishna and nodded once in a well-mannered, relaxed gesture. "Good morning, professor. I will see you in class tonight."

The day was only beginning and she would have to put away her vexations for a little while.