It was probably mean to hope that Soph would hex Mordred, right? And it wasn't in Ella's nature to wish a hex on anyone but in this case, she kind of thought he deserved it. Abandonment issues driving that on and such. But for the sake of his beautiful head of hair and their privacy, she quelled the urge to cheer for her best friend. We're going to keep being stealth for now. Mhm.

Oh look, there was an Alice. "Hey Hulk." Was she watching the show too or? And did she know she had an ocelot hitching a ride on top of her trunks? "He's adorable. ...Or she." But still, adorable.

Following the captain's gaze, Ella bit her lip and eyed her new badge. "It's...yeah." Head girl in the house. Woop Woop.

What was she looking at? Alice followed the Hufflepuff's gaze over to... hey, was that Sophie? "Who's that guy over there with Soph?" Why did he look so familiar? And why was Ella watching her best friend instead of going over there and joining in on their conversation? Questions. She had 'em.

"Oh. Thanks. It's a he. Atole." Rubbing the ocelot's head idly, her gaze moved over from the mystery guy and landed on Ella again. "Where's your owl? Jasper, right?" And if she still had Barnabus, he wasn't around either, was he?

It took a few seconds of head tilting and eyebrow scrunching for her to process the words 'Head Girl', but a grin finally made its way to Alice's face. "Congrats. You'll be great. How come you aren't wearing it, though?" Gotta work that badge, girl.

She was a graduate, for Merlin's sake.

But she was here anyway, because why not?

Katrina Hudson in the house, everyone. That's right. Did they miss her or something? C'mon, they've gotta miss this pretty face over here. Especially since she wouldn't be at Hogwarts as a student anymore. She was now a wizarding university student, by the way. It sounded so... mature and adult-ish. SO OLD. Merlin.

Anywaaaaaaaaaay... she was here to send off her ickle. "Hurry up, Ari," Kat said as she dragged her former dormmate. Oh, and yeah... jammies. Right. Sorry, not sorry.

To say she was highly annoyed was an understatement, it was bad enough that her hair was a hot mess and she had no make up on what's so ever but she was also im pajama's. Why was she in her jammies, you ask? Well, that's because miss Katrina hudson decided to knock on her front door then simply pull her away with no explanation until right before she apperated them both here.

" im going as fast as my barefooted feet will let me." yeah, she was barefooted too. was Hudson aware of all the germs in this place? If she cut her foot on something Hudson would be the one to nurse her back to health that was for sure. weather she wanted to or not. " i can't believe you didn't let me get dressed first."

at least her hair looked a bit decent now.

"Mordred." The other boy with the hair. "He was a Slytherin. Oakey's best friend. Soph and him are dating." Or were? Ella was a bit fuzzy on their relationship as of late. She kept her eyes on them for a bit longer before looking back at Alice and giving her a shrug and a smile. She knew him, yeah? Or knew of him at least?

"Welcome." Atole. That was different. Ella inched a tiny bit closer and tilted her head, wanting a better look. "Jasper is going to stay with my Gran. She's um...sick so he's good company for her." And he didn't mind all the attention she gave him, either. "Does he bite?" Atole, that is. Ella sort of wanted to pet him but she also didn't want to lose a finger.

Alice's grin was met with a nervous smile from Ella and a shrug. "Thank you. I just...don't really like all the attention." Like at all. She liked that people had confidence in her leadership skills but she didn't know how to take the compliments. Awkward Ella was awkward. "I should probably put it on though, yeah?" It was sort of her job.

And was that Ariana in pajamas with Keeper!buddy?

Welp.

"It's a little cold for no shoes."

Caleb heard someone call out, but he assumed they were talking to someone else. It didn't SOUND like one of his friends calling out for him, after all. He turned and noticed someone looking at him - the girl who had called out. Apparently she was talking to him. Huh, how about that. He smiled.

"Um, hello. I'm Caleb," he introduced himself with a smile. He eyed the cat in her arms and decided to take a little step in the other direction - just in case the cat was currently picturing Beans as his or her next meal. Precautions and stuff you know.

Adi just sort of stood there, lurking would be a better word. It was less bright on this platform which was a good thing because he didn't want his eyes to hurt more. He still kept the hat pulled low over his eyes, though, just in case.

Gus's croaks joined in the chaos of sounds all around the platform. Adi did love the sound of the hustle and bustle. So what was the plan until the train arrived...maybe find some of his friends? Adi raised his cap a bit and looked around. He saw Caleb but he was talking to someone. He saw Ella but she too was chatting. Ah well. He would talk to them later. He pulled his cap back over his eyes and just got lost in the bustle.

Bart had let Brynny with Luc because Toad, his frog, had some how jumped from his pocket and took off. The silly frog was always getting himself into more trouble than Bart did and that was saying something. Honestly he was suppose to be trying to act cool not chance a frog around like a little kid. This stupid thing would end up frog soup if he didn't stop this. Following it through through the station he moved around the people. Bumping and elbowing a few as he went he finally spotted the green jumper just as it jumped to the end of the platform.


"Not the tracks!!!" He hurried towards the frog and dove towards it before it jumped down. Catching it by it's leg he grabbed his slimy friend right before it jumped to the tracks. "Crazy thing would you stop doing that or I'm leaving you here." He got up and shoved it back in his pocket. Brushing off his pants and looking around. No one saw him doing that, right? Not that he cared what people thought, but if he was going to rule around that school he couldn't pass as a lame frog loving child. Nope Bart had wasn't lame.

His face was his usual calm-face, but his EYES. What was UP with his eyes?? They were beautiful and amazing as always, of course, but... what did that mean??? Sophie didn't know what it was, but there WAS something! She could tell he was thinking about loads of things, like she was. But... she reckoned he had more replies and explanations than she did.

The fact she only saw him now, when she was about to hop on the Hogwarts express and go back to school made her more upset. Now that he was back from.... wherever, they wouldn't have enough time for him to go into details or tell her anything! That thought made her frown slightly and she felt her nose start burning. Oh no... she was seventeen now, she was no cry baby! Hnnnnngh!

AHH! His eyes! They were doing it again! Nooo! What was wrongg?? Sophie felt like pulling her hair a bit because UGH!CONFUSION! but before she could even think or do anything else, Mordred pulled her closer and hugged her.

Sophie knew she was in the middle of the platform, but it felt like there was no one else there at the moment. She melted completely and hugged him back, burying her face in his chest. She wanted to tell him that he didn't need to be sorry, but well... he did need to say it. And she wanted to know more, but there was not enough time! Sigh. "It's okay..." Was it, though? She wanted to believe so, but who knew?? Maybe some people would say she shouldn't be hugging him like this and should demand an explanation first, but... she couldn't let him go now. Well... maybe she could, but she wouldn't.

....Could she not go back to Hogwarts now? Or maybe... could he come on board onto the Hogwarts Express with her and then go back to London later or something like that? Merlin, WHY did it have to happen like this?? Sophie sighed again. "Wha-- why..." She started, but she didn't really know what to ask first. Or what to ask at all, for that matter. Maybe she should let go now........ so she hugged him tighter. "What happened...?"

Lex was beginning to think that maybe she shouldn't have come so early. No Lottie or Cassia or Aidan left her aimlessly walking about the platform. Nothing she could particularly do either, huh? Not with that bloody badge in her pocket. Don't get her wrong, she loved it, having it was epic...but not when she was bored out of her wits. The Gryffindor thought to simply go in search of her father again and have him buy her something from the Western Concourse but then there was a kid zipping by her...after a toad(?).....right.

Lex watched on curiously as the boy took a dive and grabbed the hopping thing, having no need to secure her kneazle. Amphibians weren't his thing, too slimy and much too hard to go down. From what she could tell, he wasn't hurt. Good good. She wouldn't have to pretend to care. "Smooth." She commented when it seemed that no one else would. "Real smooth. You practice that dive all summer?" Never knew what people did with their summers these days and she wasn't one to judge...she could laugh...but not judge.

Sander finally figured out how to get through the wall and his eyes opened wide in surprise. He hadn't expected to see what he was seeing now.

It looked like the train had arrived but no one seemed to be boarding it yes, so Sander decided to stay on the platform for a while to look for someone to chat with. Being a new transfer, he expected that he would have problems making friends....but hopefully not for the entire term. Now that would be bad. He looked around for Calisto, his bestie, but was sure she would show up eventually.

Sitting down, on his trunk, he looked around and watched as the other kids met up with their own friends.

Okay.....someone please say hi...Puhleese...

Wait...finally someone he recognized....that boy that was hanging out with Jackson and his friend....the girl called Alyssa.

....then he saw a younger girl looking at a boy who was chasing after his toad and he recognized her as the one who had helped him out earlier.



"Um....hi again. Remember me? You helped me out earlier. Sorry to bother you again, but could you tell me which is the best place to wait for the train? This is my first time on the Hogwarts Express. Can we sit anywhere on it?" he asked embarrassed that he was bothering the same girl again.

Now if he knew the other students on the platform he would ask them too.

Alexa had been temporarily occupied by the diving boy before her kneazle began wiggling around. Looking over her shoulder to see what might have caught the feline's attention she saw the boy from the wall, the one without a clue where his was going. Yet another person that was probably none of her concern considering he wasn't bleeding, limping or otherwise in bad shape since she'd last seen him. Now that she thought about, she never caught his name either.

"Yeah I remember you." It was only a couple minutes ago, her memory was very good thank you very much. At the mention of bothering her she casually waved him off. Not bothering, apparently it was her job to help others now.

"Not bothering at all, dude. It depends on where you wanna sit on the train. The back's usually emptier so if you're looking for quiet or smaller company during the ride I'd say you wait down here by the south end of the platform, but if you're more looking for group convos and stuffed compartments then you'll wanna head back up to the north end there." She said, pointing back to the top. Er...as for sitting anywhere..."You can sit most anywhere but the Prefect's Compartment. As the name suggests it's for badged people."

Papa Atreyu must have wondered what had come up when Ben and his mother were not right behind him. But Conrad had freaked out in his cage when they had tried to head through the barrier. Apparently magical walls weren't exactly the creature's cup of tea. It had taken a few minutes to both calm the owl down and get him gathered enough that the Gryffindor continued right on through the bricks instead of jumping back in reaction to his familiar's sounds. His mother caught her husband up while Benjamin rested Conrad's cage down upon the trunk and cart to try and make things better.

"Easy boy...we're good now," he assured his familiar, reaching into a pocket for a treat he had stashed there, holding it out for Conrad to take.

Sander breathed a sigh of relief when the girl confirmed she remembered him. Who wouldn't after his bumbling attempts to get through the wall.

Okay back of the train is good if he wanted peace and quiet or to be with a smaller group of friends. Well since he really didn't have any, it sounded like that would be the best place for him to be....

but then....this was going to be his one and only term at Hogwarts, and from what he could see they all seemed very nice. So unless he wanted to be alone and friendless for his entire school term, Sander figured that he should most probably be sitting up nearer the front.

But wait, there was an exclusive compartment for people with badges?

"So you have a special cabin all to yourself? Why's that? Aren't you allowed to hang out with the rest of us?" Sander was curious to know.

"I know that you're a Prefect but you still can clown around and have fun right? So what are the fun things to do at Hogwarts? Which brings me to my next question?" Sander quickly looked around to make sure no one was within hearing distance.

"Do you know whether there are any secret passages at Hogwarts and if yes, do you know where they are? Or aren't you supposed to show me because you're a prefect?" Sander grinned at the Prefect.

He had a feeling this one liked to have to fun.

"Oh by the way, my name is Aleksander Edvard Strand, but since that's a total mouthful, my friends call me Sander," Sander introduced himself.

Yes Miss Prefect you are now a friend because you helped me get past the wall.

It looked like he'd understood everything she'd just explained, grand really considering she might not have felt inclined to repeat. Before this term started she still had her freedom. Before they hit school she was NOT a prefect hence the badge in her pocket instead of on her shirt. Okay, not school maybe, but they weren't on the train either, ergo she was responsible for no one.

Her eyebrow arched at his question, mainly for the use of the word 'yourselves'. She scowled at herself being grouped with the other badges but tried playing it off. "Prefects can ride wherever but also have a special compartment. It's just how it works, I guess." It was never something she'd bothered to question.

Then he went and said that, that he knew she was a prefect. Lex gave an adamant shake of her head. "You can't prove I am." Was it so much to ask for one final bit of freedom before the big lunge into responsibility? "But to answer your question Prefects and Captains have just as much fun...so long as they want to." Surely no one thought this badge would change all that much? Yes, she'd keep in line and keep others there too but she wouldn't give up fun. No.

"There's all sorts of things in the castle but I'm afraid I'd spoil you by telling you." More like anything she had to say was technically not meant to be recommended by a prefect but...eh.

"Sander? Mmkay, then I guess you can call me Lex."

His brown eyes snapped when he heard a voice. No way were they talking to him, because he wasn't seen diving for his frog, but if he could say so himself it was a smooth dive. HE smirked a bit, "All in the footwork. As long as you get off the ground right the rest comes naturally." Pure catching frog talent is what he had of course. He couldn't help but feel his cheeks turn red though. He really couldn't believe he was caught diving and by an older girl. Just great! If she even thought she could just tease him about it she had another thing coming. "Got a problem with my dive? Bet you couldn't have done it without falling onto the tracks."

Did he practice all summer he looked at her for a long time. "Yep came to the station every day and practice diving near the tracks just to make sure I had it mastered to impress you." He flashed a smile again. "So did it impress you?" He wasn't going to show that it was embarrassing now way, Bart wasn't going to show that at all. "So you like frogs?" He wasn't sure what else to ask an older girl. He knew better than to ask about farts, or burps, or gross things from his mother's lectures for years. Pulling out a sugar quill from his non frog pocket and started to suck on it. "Want one?"

There were loads of people milling around and Adi could recognise meows, croaks and hoots even in all the chatter. His attention was drawn to a boy who came up on the platform not too far from him. Adi watched with interest the boy fed the owl a treat. He had never given any owl a treat and no. He wasn't scared that the owl might peck him. Was this boy a new student? He certainly did not remember seeing the kid around before. Or maybe he was not as observant as he thought.

"Hello, there,'' Adi said. "What's up? Are you new here?'' It was best to get that out of the way. He looked at the owl. He himself would have had one otherwise if he had not convinced his mother otherwise. "What's his name?'' And speaking of names. "I'm Aditya Rehman but you can call me Adi.''

"Oh. Him." 'Course Alice remembered HIM, that bloody older boy who'd tried to hex her that one time. Hmph. Not that she was still sour or anything, obviously. "I didn't know they were dating now. Is he seeing her off?" She didn't really want to watch anymore, then.

Especially not if they started eating each other's faces.

Did Ella want to hold him? She nudged the little guy forward with her hand and towards the Hufflepuff. "Sometimes. Also hisses and scratches, but only if you're bothering him." Prime example being Alexa Cambridge. "Sick? She okay?" It didn't seem like there was much an owl could do for an ill elderly person, but maybe it made her feel better or something. Whatever worked.

Hmm. That made sense. "The congratulations and stuff is gonna blow over soon enough." It looked like it was in the badge description. "I think so. Don't try to hide it. S'your badge now, own that thing." The only way to get rid of the attention was to embrace it, yeah? And Alice had no doubt her friend would start doing that soon enough. If there was anyone cut out for Head Girl, it was Ella Bishop.

And if there was anyone who could pull off no shoes at a train station, it was Ariana Logan.

".... I like her pajamas."

Sander smirked when Lex....yes the girl's name was Lex quickly shook her and challenged him to prove that she was a prefect.

"Well let's see, usually a non-prefect person would not mention the special compartment set aside for prefects because they, in their right mind, would be planning on crashing it because they wouldn't think that the compartment was just exclusive to those wearing badges." Sander gave his version of I know you are a prefect because you protest too much explanation.

"So there are hidden passages but you just don't want to say where it is because as a Prefect you would want your own place to hide out and be able to misbehave. Am I right?" Sander grinned widely.

He made a mental note to himself that he was going to stalk this Lex this term because whether she wanted to admit it or not, she DID know where the secret passages were and would undoubtedly seek them out eventually.

"Well then Lex, it's nice to meet you. Okay, I guess you must know everyone in your school. Could you introduce me to some of them? You know so that I don't have to keep bothering you?" Sander asked the younger girl.

Okay he did sound desperate asking a younger girl to introduce her friends to him. But hey it was going to be a long year at Hogwarts and he knew that he needed to make some, especially since Sydney was going back home and most probably he wouldn't be seeing her again.

Thank goodness he still had his bestie, Calisto. Sander looked around hoping that he would spot her among the growing crowd of kids coming on to the platform.

Everything was right in the world for the first time in two years. Sophie hugged him back and he can’t believe that it was the most amazing feeling in the world. Is this what Ella’s trying to tell him about hugs years ago? Somehow he felt bad, because back home he’s got Ethan who keeps on jumping on him and gives him bear hugs all the time. He didn’t realize that his cousin was only trying to make him happy despite what happened to him.

Mordred hugged her tighter and kissed the top of Sophie’s head. “It’s…not okay, Sophie. What I did was not okay. But…I’m glad you didn’t push me away.” He loosened his hug and cupped her face. Her nose was a bit pink, but she still looked beautiful. “I missed you.” He only has a few minutes before the train leaves and what he wants right now is just to look at Sophie. She did however, hugged him again. Tighter this time and Mordred grinned and hugged her back to make her feel better.

Then of course, came her first question. “A lot.” Was his first answer. Maybe not that much, but his life events were too much for the young man. “My mom’s dead.” She knew that his mother was an Auror, right? “She wasn’t feeling okay that time, but she insisted on joining the raid up north. She sustained fatal injuries during the operation and mom didn’t make it. Now my dad’s blaming himself for her death, saying that he was too slow.” Mordred recounted what his uncle told him that night and planted another kiss on top of her head. It was still painful after two years, and he wondered if the pain will ever go away? “You remember Ethan, right?” the talkative, sugar-high cousin of his? “He’s a Mordaunt…” he paused and pondered on it. “He doesn’t know it yet…”

Oh? Kat totally didn't notice Ari barefooted right now. "I thought you were wearing those fluffy bedtime slippers you had," the blonde grinned. She knew Ari was super annoyed, but whatever. Besides, it was almost 11 o'clock and who in the name of Merlin would still be asleep? Guess she knew now that Ari was. But still, she was gonna drag her around Kings' Cross for now. GOTTA FIND THEIR FAVOURITE MORETTI. "You can borrow my shoes if you want." Because friends. Duh. Kat wouldn't mind going barefoot. Joking, she would really mind.

"'Scuse you. We would be late if you actually changed. Merlin knows how indecisive you could get," Kat said. She had been with her for so many years, locked up in the same dormitory with this girl, so she ought to know. "But if you wanna go home, that's okaaaay. You're just gonna miss Cat leaving and all that. No big deal, am I right?" HEHEHE.

Oh and... "You don't look bad, by the way. You look decent." Plus, Ari had food prints on her jammies. That wasn't bad.

"Mooom Quit being annnoying" Grace was perfectly capable of moving through the platform on her own. She frowned, tugging her trunk along. She wasn't too good at pulling that along though. The thing was as nearly as big as her. She frowned, shaking her head at her father. "No dad. You aren't going to pull it for me. I'm a big girl now! I can do it." She didn't need him to do it for her. She frowned at him, before disappearing off ahead. She probably ran over a couple of toes with her trunk as she went. She didn't care though. Because she was going to Hogwarts! And it was going to be so good. She couldn't wait to get there. Maybe she should try and find Ava. Because who better to share the excitement with than her best friend. Or maybe she could find Chloe or Hayley too. they all had to sit together. It was there first ride to hogwarts. Well their frist ride together, seeing as Chloe had been there last year. Nowwww. Where were they?

Sophie did know that what it was officially expected from her right now was anger and the wish to hex Mordred or something. She had wondered what exactly she'd do if she ever saw him again, but she could never see herself hexing him or even sending any sort of horrible spell towards him. There were actually only very, very few people in the whole wide world who Sophie would hex, but Mordred was most definitely not on that list.

He was glad she didn't push him away?? What made him think she would ever do that?? "I'd... I'd never push you away..." She told him as he cupped her face. Ugh, was he the most perfect human being or what? Just look at his face...! Merlin. And he missed her. sdfghjklkjhgf. That definitely made her eyes finally water and she felt like squeezing him like there was no tomorrow. "I missed you too." A lot. A lot lot. Like, a looooooooooooot. She didn't verbalize that, but the emphasis could easily be noticed in the hug she was giving him. She didn't need to let go any time soon, right? Because she wouldn't.

Then he started explaining. His first words already made Sophie's heart sink. His mother was dead?? That alone would've made her anger vanish completely if she was angry in the first place. But since she wasn't, it only made her sadder. That was probably what she had noticed in his eyes. Something was not right, and that was obviously it. "I'm so sorry to hear that..." And his dad was blaming himself?? For a fraction of a second Sophie was thankful his dad wasn't blaming Mordred for it. "He shouldn't do that, though. It wasn't... I'm sure it wasn't his fault." ...Well, obvious comment to make, but Sophie couldn't think of anything better to say at the moment. She just wanted to... actually, she had no idea what she wanted to do. She was having a hard time trying to find words and control her feelings still. "How are-- are you..." How could she-? "How are you now?" Silly question, of course he was probably devastated, Sophie! But she needed to make sure he was getting over it, at least. "How long ago was that...?"

Sophie nodded at the mention of Ethan. Of course she did remember him! The mention of his little cousin would have made her smile if she wasn't that sad about all that. Wait, what? The confused look was back as she looked up at Mordred. "He's a Mordaunt? What..." She blinked a few times as she tried to understand the news. "How's that?"

"Hey Caleb... " Delilah stopped talking when she noticed the boy look at Lola and move away. Oh, yeah. She held her kitty close, just in case she decided to go chasing after the boy's pet. Delilah looked down to find her staring at the rat.. Hah, no. Lola. Just, no.

"Lola isn't going to eat your rat, don't worry." Delilah said, with a small laugh. She pushed a strand of hair behind her ears with her free hand before giving him a small smile. "I'm Delilah. It's nice to meet you, Caleb."

Genie was annoyed.

She just didn't want to go.

Here her family had FINALLY moved into one of the Vannacutt estates, with servants and... stuff, and now she was leaving! To go where? To school? Why did she need school!? She could learn everything from her mother or her new father, and seriously... you didn't need education when you had money.

... but Nik-errr... Father, had insisted... on behalf of mother no doubt.

The servants had gotten everything she needed for this... school, except a pet. Mother didn't want her to have a pet. You cut open a kruppy once to see how he works inside, and you are labeled an animal hater. Whatev!

She smiled sweetly and waved at her mother, sister and brothers. Maybe this wouldn't be too bad... she would certainly enjoy not having them around all the time.