Minjae’s small smile gave him little hope but having him beside him made him feel a little less uneasy. They could... figure it out, yeah? Naive wishing it surely was on his part.... but his confidence grew when Aboli arrived.

Noah felt Aboli’s hand slip into his and he turned to look at her. As he looked at her, he couldn’t help but try to focus all his efforts on remembering this moment with her right here next to him. He wanted to be able to imagine every single character quirk.... He soon became lost in that very thought before Rosier’s voice brought him back to focus on the matter at hand.

Then he heard his name.

In the midst of others....

This felt......futile.

They’d lost and they hadn’t been able to give it their best shot yet.

Rosier’s announcement was different from what he had suspected. He had expected a public spectacle or an example to be made of one of his kind instead of their new fate. Separation from the other students?? Not allowed to roam around Hogwarts? He bit his lip and began balling his free hand into a fist before he let his hands uncurl when Aboli squeezed his hand harder. Noah turned his gaze to Minjae to try to get his thoughts on what they should do when Rosier called WWW to step forward. He appreciated Valencia’s suggestion but wasn’t sure how Rosier was going to react until he saw Rosier wave his hand, dismissing all the thoughts so carelessly. This was the end, wasn’t it? His eyes were drawn back to WWW and he wasn’t sure what happened next if it was Valencia or another student or the..... NOT WWW! No. He didn’t deserve this...... Rosier CRUCIO’d him.

Wasn’t ANYONE going to do something?!?

Not if we all value our lives.... called his inner voice, trying to reason with him.

His eyes narrowed, wishing to try to stop feeling entirely hopeless. He focused his attention on Rosier, vowing to make him pay. He didn’t know how he’d do that... but he’d find a way to survive and live another day. As Aboli’s hand continued to tighten around his, Noah gave her hand a squeeze back and her wobbly reassurance. Noah wished that she were right but..... he .... he didn’t know. Everything seemed futile at this point but they had to still have some hope right? There had to be a silver lining, right? Wasn’t that what all the Hollywood movies had taught him?

But then again, this was no movie or fairytale.

“We’ll find a way..... back.... I promise....” he whispered back to her, leaning down to quickly kiss her hand before gazing into her eyes. He might have not said it but he hoped to convey a look of pure adoration in his eyes. He’d be back.... somehow. They were just trying to break them.... Trying to tear them down more... and more... until they had nothing left to give.

He tried his best to avoid watching WWW but the last noise was heart-wrenching. Noah turned his gaze back to the COMC Professor and just felt .... numb.