Should be, those two important, distinct words hung in Rou's mind as he, once again, stopped cutting the woodblock into shape and turned to look at Cadance once more. His pale green eyes kept a close eye on her figure as he contemplated her words. Everything about it just came off as...too perfect. Her sense of "happiness", her laugh, her mannerisms, everything gave Rou the distinct impression that she was putting on a performance for him, probably so as to keep her deception intact. Rou turned back to the woodblock in his hand, though now is was more of a sphere than anything else after he'd prepared it; The boy still didn't know just what he wanted to make from this block just yet.

"But you aren't, are you?" he said so quietly that only she could really hear as he turned the woodblock over in his lands, searching for a spark of inspiration. He looked at her from the corner of his eyes, now, in order to catch her reaction. "You're a great actress, Cadance, but I know a good...performance when I see it. It's the same sort of one I try and put on everyday before classes in order to keep people from asking me too many questions. You don't have anything to...hide from me." He'd picked up on her act earlier, in the castle, but he didn't really pay too much attention to it until they were outside by the lake. She was good, that was for certain, but her slip at the end, coupled with the facade he saw her put on earlier, had tipped Roland off. He didn't know for certain, but he definitely felt that she was not unlike him in a lot of things.

Cadance's brow furrowed as she contemplated the young boy in front of her. While he was spot on about her she wasn't willing to let him know that. She had worked too hard and for too long for some first year Hufflepuff to ruin it all for her now. She was so close to graduating, she only had one more year left at Hogwarts, during which she could plan her masterful escape of her horrid life and finally be free of all the societal pressures and archaic traditions. But before any of that could happen she had to keep her act in place and her facade unfaultered. If this little boy could see through it than maybe she was losing her touch. Maybe her longing to be free really was bleeding through. Or maybe he was just a brat that didn't know what he was talking about.

When Cadance spoke the indignation in her voice was genuine though her words didn't match, "How dare you suggest I'm not happy?! This isn't some act or performance. Who do you think you are? I'm not hiding anything." She stood up from the cushion she had conjured but made no immediate step to move away. She was angry and wanted to throw something, wanted to blow something up. She wasn't entirely angry at him, there was a ball of anger that had been sitting in her chest that had been growing bigger for years and was reaching it's breaking point, "I am happy. I'm proud to hold up my family's traditions and I'm damn near blissful that I have a gorgeous wealthy and well respected future husband, who's going to take care of me for the rest of my life. How dare you suggest that I feel any differently!"

She removed her wand but instead of pointing it at Rou she spun and lashed out towards the lake summoning an incredible fireball that seared the grass it past over before diving into the water and extinguishing itself. Cadance was excellent at wand work, though she often kept it to herself and never cast spells that would have seemed unlady like. The fireball was something borne of her rage and frustration, something a proper lady like herself should not have been able to conjure.

Rou watched calmly as Cadance was overcome by her emotions. She yelled at him, glared at him, but it never felt to him that she was truly angry at him as opposed to her situation in general. She could rail on at length about how she was happy to have her life and her mind sold away in the name of "tradition", but Rou knew the truth, for it was etched upon her face and hidden beneath every angry word. When she went for her wand, Rou was startled for a second and briefly reached for his own, though he had no idea how he was supposed to defend himself from a sixth year. When she didn't point it at him, though, Roland was calmed and simply watched as her fireball screamed through the air and into the lake.

"I'm not the one suggesting anything, Cadance," the boy said softly as he said aside his dagger and the woodblock, "Every word you've said in support of your life being planned out and taken away from you...I can tell that you're scared of it all. It's not your fault, Cadance, I've just gotten really good at reading people." Rou picked his dagger back up and twirled it in his hands a few times before fully showing it to the Slytherin girl, unsheathed and in the open. If she looked upon the steel-and-silver blade, she'd be able to see a perfect reflection of herself upon the surface.

"There's a reason this dagger is the only thing of my father's I have," Rou said, "My grandfather originally was going to have me get rid of it along with the rest of dad's possessions. But because I stuck so closely to it, he allowed me to keep it. Not just for the...memories, but also because it would serve some use to me once I've graduated. Every Auror serving the American Magical Government carries one of these, and the day that I, like my father before me and his father before him, become an Auror in their service, this blade shall be the one that I carry." The boy set the dagger aside once more before unfolding his legs and leaning forward to look down at his bare feet, clenching and unclenching his toes.

"Your grandfather's not the only one who plotted out your life before you could even crawl," he said, not looking up, "The day that my grandpa Roland adopted me, my future was set and I had no say in it: I would become an Auror in service to America, like he and my father had done. So everyday, my grandfather makes sure that my abilities will be enough to get me there. He makes sure that I can live up to my family's old name of Roland...and there's absolutely nothing that I can do about it."

Cadance took deep breathes to calm herself, her chest heaving and inwardly cursing how fond she had become of corsets. They did not give her enough range to fill her lungs properly to get in those deep and full calming breathes. She stood staring at him as he infuriatingly prattled on about his own life. As he spoke she barely took in his words and instead focused on fixing her own facade and putting herself back together. She really shouldn't have gotten mad at him. He had gotten under her skin so easily it was a wonder no one else had managed to do it before. Perhaps he really was good at this or perhaps she had just let her guard down.

She refocused and his words started to settle in. A few things that stood out were that he wasn't European born, or at least his family was American. He was forced to follow his own family's traditions and much like her had his whole future mapped out in front of him. It didn't make them kindred spirits, at least not as far as she was concerned but it did give her something to hold onto, a way to turn to conversation.

She patted of her clothes, composing herself before taking a seat on the cushion next to him as if her little temper tantrum had never happened, "So you're going to be an Auror and serve another country because that's what your Grandfather wants for you." She looked him over, he definitely didn't seem like Auror material but then he hadn't even gone through puberty yet, "What do you want to do?"

Changing the subject, I see, Rou thought to himself lightly as he went back to his whittling. It was clear, from her changing the subject to his grandfather, that she was trying to avoid the fact that she'd just completely thrown aside her ladylike composure and evaporated part of the lake. She was really shaken by the words he had to say, to the point where her performance was completely tossed aside in favor of hysterics. But then she went and asked him a really pertinent question, one that also shook him a bit to the core. What did he want to do with his life?

"I guess, if I could," he said quietly, turning to look Cadance in the face so she'd know he was being honest, "I'd just sit here and make these little carvings all the time. I like working with my hands like this; whenever I just sit here, enjoy the day, and carve out whatever I want from a block of wood, I feel truly...happy." Rou closed his eyes and breathed in the sweet, mossy air from the lake before opening them to look Cadance in the eyes once more.

"What would you rather do with your life, Cadance?" Rou asked, his voice kind and soft to show that he wasn't mocking her or anything, "Your secret is safe with me, Cadance. You've been nice to talk to thus far...you've been nice to me."

Her kindness, even if it seemed obligatory and a bit forced, still felt at least somewhat earnest even when she demonstrated a bit of a blatant disregard for what he had to say. He knew what it was like, having to put on a mask like that everyday in order to show everyone that he was alright. In this, Rou felt it would be best to show her that he could be trusted, that she could be at least a bit more like herself as she really was instead of trying to please him.

The kid was annoyingly and disturbingly insightful. She supposed it was his age. He was still young enough to have that willful optimism of childhood and had yet to be spoiled by hormones and the influence of responsibility. It didn't make him any less of a pill to swallow though. She didn't like the way he just stared at her, all doe eyed and honest. No one was ever honest any more, every one was working an angle. Or perhaps she was just jaded. Either way he was acting in a way she had rarely had experienced before and she wasn't entirely comfortable with the way it had made her react.

"A wizard that prefers to do things by hand?" She eyed his block of wood as he whittled, it hadn't taken a real shape yet, she supposed she could refrain from judgement for now, "Not sure there's much room for that as a career." She said it lightly enough, making it a general statement rather than an insult. She wasn't out to push the kid away she just needed to be more careful around him.

As he asked what she would rather do she sighed and leaned back on her hands looking up at the clear sky, "I don't know really. I never spend much time thinking about it. I try to focus on what is rather than what could be. I do have a great future ahead of me, even if it has already been planned out. I suppose once I'm older though and the kids are off to Hogwarts themselves I'll have to find something to do with myself. My mother became a healer, though that's not really for me."

Roland chuckled at her remark. He continued shaping and refining the block into form, still unsure of just what he wanted to make at the moment but the general form it was taking could give him an idea of what he could do. At this point, for instance, the block was now thoroughly oval-shaped, which would fit perfectly if he wanted to do a carving of a person or taller animal.

"No, I suppose not, Cadance," said Rou as he stopped carving and looked over at his classmate, "Not really a lot of room for sculptors in the wizarding world, eh? I just always feel at peace with I do this, you know? Like, in this instant, I'm doing something I enjoy instead of what someone else wants me to enjoy. I'm sure you understand what I mean, right?" Rou looked over at his dagger and twirled it a few more times. He could tell that his intuition with her was putting her off, but he truly meant no harm by it. He listened to her next statement carefully, legs crossed and his face contemplative and concentrating.

"Is having your life planned out before you really that great?" Rou said quietly, though the volume and contempt in his voice began to steadily rise, "I've been experiencing this since I wasn't even old enough to crawl. Everything's strict...regimented, and you have no control over it. You can't tell your guardian no because doing so would get you punished and deprived of everything. You wake up, you eat, you learn, you study, you practice, then it's all over again the next day. No stopping, no ceasing. If you fall over, you're pulled right back up and told to try again until you don't..."

Rou breathed deep, now, to allowed his wash of emotions to subside so he could regain his own composure, which had faltered.

"I'm sure you understand where I'm coming from, right?" he said softly, going back to his carving once more, "You're forced to conform to everyone else's expectations of you, and what you want is completely and utterly irrelevant and cast aside like an unwanted child..."

Cadance was quiet for a long while, contemplating his words. She watched the surface of the lake ripple ever so slightly with a warm breeze that tickled it's surface. His words could have easily come out of her own mouth. More than once she had felt exactly that, trapped by her predetermined future, forced to abide by everyone else except herself. She had no say in anything she did but she had made due up until now. She had found things, the smallest of things that she could call her own. Things she did for herself instead of her mother or her Grandfather or even for Charlie.

"All is not lost." She said softly without looking at him.

Cadance took in a deep breath before turning her ice blue eyes to him again. As annoying and disturbing as the child was, she supposed a lot of that had to do with just how similar their situations were. She motioned to the carving he was making, "Does your Grandfather know you do those?" She paused to watch him twirl the dagger, not waiting for the response as it was easy enough to know what it would be, "If he did, would he tell you to stop?" She tilted her head to the side before looking back out to the lake, "The more they try to chain us, to mold us, have us conform to what they want, the more we slip through the cracks." She let her guard down ever so slightly. There was no need to keep her charade up fully anymore. The child had already found her out though she had a feeling he wouldn't call her out on it out side of their little conversation.

"I have a garden. All NEWT students are allowed to have their own plots in the greenhouses to grow plants they need for their studies but I grow things there, special plants that are just for me, ones that have nothing to do with our studies. You carve wood. They can't control us 100% of the time." It was her way of agreeing with him, of letting him know that he was right and she knew exactly how he felt even if she'd never actually say it.

Cadance looked him over again and gave a quizzical raise of her brow, "Your shoes are off."

She finally seemed to open up, for once during this entire conversation. It was not a full-blown confession, but she acknowledged his misgivings about his life and brought in her own experiences in this field. She'd been around longer than he had, obviously, and she was on the cusp of graduation; Rou, on the other hand, was still only a first-year, albeit one who was already weary of the world and what it had done to him.

Does your Grandfather know you do those? If he did, would he tell you to stop?

"Yes," he said softly, remembering the first time he'd made a carving and discovered his natural gift for shaping wood into what he'd envisioned in his head. "The first carving I ever made was of a small bird I'd seen while taking a break from studying. Grandpa made me throw it into his fireplace because it had distracted me from my overall purpose. So I took to whittling while at home because it still occupied my hands with something to do. But since coming to Hogwarts..." He took a deep breath and let the phrase hang in the air, with the rest not really needing to be said.

I have a garden. All NEWT students are allowed to have their own plots in the greenhouses to grow plants they need for their studies but I grow things there, special plants that are just for me, ones that have nothing to do with our studies. You carve wood. They can't control us 100% of the time.

Rou listened to her words carefully, and here he saw that she was acknowledging their similarities, even if she'd never come out and say it directly. Even so, knowing what she did brought a smile to Rou's face, even if his general expression remained rather saddened by everything. He set aside his dagger and block once more and put his bare feet back on the ground, leaning his elbows on his knees to think about what she said.

Your shoes are off.

"Eh?" Rou said, briefly confused by her observation before looking at his feet and letting out another chuckle, "Yup, that'd be right." Rou wiggled his toes in the dirt, enjoying the sensation of the soil before speaking again, "It's just something I can't help but do all the time here at Hogwarts. It's relaxing and, in some ways, it makes me feel free of all of the...expectations that were put upon my shoulders when I was younger, if for a brief but lovely moment. I feel like it's a bit of my own...rebellion against my grandfather, I guess. Why do you ask?"

"You were right, by the way," he said in response to her statement about how he is never under his grandpa's control all of the time, "Being at Hogwarts has been really good to me, that much I know. I don't think someone like McGonagall would let a person like my grandfather hover over my shoulder like he does at home...I'm curious, Cadance: What kind of plants do you grow? Maybe once I reach NEWT level..." He looked over at her, meeting her eyes and seeing within them a reassuring tone, though perhaps he could see within them a similar sadness to what many people saw in his eyes. Or he could have been imagining it.

She had expected as much, when it came to his grandfather. It sounded like his was much more strict than her own. Arathorn was indeed a strict man. She had seen him be ruthless with Kyson and Xavier and even her own brother Tiberius - though not so much with Briar. He had done nothing but pamper her, shower her with gifts, nearly anything a young woman could want. Though all of his presents came with a hidden instruction, a non verbal agreement that if she did what was expected of her she could have the world, if she slipped up she'd lose everything. Her Grandfather with very wealthy and very powerful. He was not a man to be messed with (as Xavier himself could attest to, though her cousin would hardly admit that their own flesh and blood had obliviated him)

She watched the lake again as he spoke of his own personal rebellion. She felt that if she looked at him digging his toes into the dirt she wouldn't be able to hide the shudder. So much of her personality was well crafted and honed from many years of practice but a dislike for getting dirty was something she didn't have to pretend on. She truly wasn't fond of the prospect, even when gardening she wasn't right in the dirt with her bare hands, she had gloves for that.

She smirked a little, "Be thankful your Grandfather doesn't have minions within the castle walls." She couldn't really call her cousin and brother her Grandfather's minions but so long as she was constantly being chaperoned, flanked by her blood and soon to be Husband she could never truly be herself. Hogwarts had just become another prison for her. One she eagerly awaited being rid of.

When he asked about her garden she gave a shrug, "Most are plants you would normally find in a NEWT garden though not all of them are needed for projects. I have a beautiful Belladonna plant and my Fanged Geraniums are some of the biggest blooms we've had this year."

"You definitely seem to do alright with getting away from them when you need to, though," Rou said, smiling as he leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. He looked over at her and saw what he thought might have been Cadance attempting to look away from him, specifically his feet. Probably because the prospect of getting dirty really wouldn't sit well with a prim and proper lady like herself.

"I am thankful, though, I have to admit," Rou said quietly, looking back out onto the lake and enjoying the view of Hogwarts reflected upon the shimmering waters, "I guess that's one advantage I have, if inadvertently. Grandpa Roland doesn't have eyes and ears all over the length and breadth of Britain like he did in America. If he had someone watching me here, I..." Rou's voice caught in his throat as he contemplated being in Cadance's predicament.

"Well, it just seems like you've adapted to your...situation quite well," Rou said, having to briefly pause in order to pull out the right word to describe her problem, "I mean, you escape from that oppression in your own way, don't you? You mentioned spending time alone in the gardens and all that. I do the same thing, I guess. It's lovely to sit by the lake, kick off my shoes, and just do something that I know I'm really good at. Or, at least, that's what everyone else says about my...carving ability." Rou smirked slightly as he cast his eye upon Cadance's heels and socks.

"Perhaps you might give it a try?" Rou said, indicating Cadance's shoes, "Cast aside the trappings of what's expected of you for just a little while? One thing I discovered about this place when I arrived at Hogwarts was how liberating it was to take off my shoes and just let the lake's soothing air wash over me. As I said before, it's incredibly liberating to be barefoot by this lake. Namely by myself, in any case, though I've enjoyed company here from time to time. If it's dirt you're afraid of, I'm sure you could widen that cushion or something and make sure to keep your feet on it for safety. I'm not exactly at that level of Transfiguration, myself." Rou remembered the aversion he felt from Cadance earlier regarding the soil around his feet. He pulled his feet out from the dirt and brought his knees to his chest, now, hugging his legs as he did so. He glanced at Cadance briefly, signifying his apology to her, before looking back out to the lake while lightly wiping the dirt and other such accumulations from his feet with a handkerchief he kept handy for when the weather started to make his nose run. He wanted to make sure his feet were clean, after all, so that he could stop making the prim and proper Cadance uncomfortable around him.

With her pale blue eyes still locked on the lake she listened to his words. She had to admit he was right about most of it. She did manage to slip her entourage when needed, to attend her garden mostly but that had also led to meeting up with the likes of Bellatrix Dark and Paolo Rossi. Those were conversation she likely couldn't have had if she had been surrounded by others. Even if he did have an easier time with it than she did she wasn't completely suffocated, not all the time at least. It helped brighten that little ray of hope that she'd be able to escape once her schooling was done.

When he suggested she give it a try she was surprised enough to actually turn to him and noted the apology in his expression. She furrowed her brow trying to figure out why the small boy was suddenly sorry. That was until his words hit her and he started to withdraw and tidy himself. She rose to her feet with an amused huff. She withdrew her wand and with a twirling flick the small cushion she had been sitting on expanded into an elegant yet simple looking picnic blanket.

Cadance settled back down and unlaced her boots placing them to the side then rolled off the knee high stockings and slipped them inside her boots. Her feet and legs were now bare as she laid them out. Her toenails were perfectly pedicured and polished much like her finger nails. She cocked her head to the side and touched her wand to her feet changing the polish from a deep Slytherin green to a sparkling silver. She had learned Beauty Charms at a young age and performed most of them effortlessly now.

She turned her piercing ice blue gaze to him, "There's no need for that. When given the freedom, one should never apologize for who they are. You enjoy every speck of dirt you're able to. No need to be tidy on my account."

"Sorry," Rou said, stopping and putting the kerchief away, "I was just trying to...look nice." Rou's tone was unsure, as he honestly had no idea what to say. But Cadance was encouraging him getting dirty, which was a nice thing, at least. The boy smirked a little bit as he watched Cadance change the color of her toenails with a simple charm. He found such a mundane spell quite amazing, though. He'd never seen such a thing in action; though that was probably because he never had nor ever would have any use for such a thing.

"Well, maybe you should dig in the dirt a bit too, then," he said in a joking manner, smiling now as he dug his feet back into the earth and picked up his little block of wood once more. "How does it feel, by that way? I mean, you're not like Aoife, so I've never known any girl who is normally...averse to being barefoot talk about the feeling of it all." Rou looked over at Cadance, with her legs neatly folded to her side after using her Beauty Charm, and suddenly had a spark for a carving. His attention shifted to the block of wood, now, as his hands went into a blur as his father's old dagger began to cut and slice the pine block into shape.