And then James and Jake appeared. Soon, their teensy compartment was filled with people. UHM. Alice beamed at everyone and bounced a little bit more. She was already having fun and she hadn't even reached Hogwarts yet. Jake was going around giving hugs to everyone; Alice gave him an extra big one when he came around to her. James and Anya were making small talk and.. Penelope was sitting all by herself, stroking a cat. She looked sad. Penelope always looked sad but whatever. She squashed herself in between Jake and Penelope. half-sitting on Jake's lap, and turned to her fellow Gryffindor. "Your cat is pretty."

Mellow.

She set her own pet, Frank, on her shoulder and gently stroked him between the eyes. He burbled at everyone in the compartment and then settled down for a nice nap. Alice gently slipped him into the overhead compartment, where he could rest peacefully on her trunk.

And then took a good look at the people she was surrounded by.

Penelope looked sad. And withdrawn. Was James.. sad as well? The third year couldn't tell. Anya looked excited and flustered. And Jake looked nervous. And fidgety. What was with everyone today? They were all being odd. Hmph. Did this have something to do with the almost-boyfriend thing Anya had told her about? "Are you all okay?" Alice didn't think so. Huh. Whatever. She turned back to Penelope and stared at the cat again. "His name is.. is Spot, right?" She had mentioned that at the Quidditch match. Quidditch.. she missed that almost as much as the food..

And now she was hungry. Drat.