Asher stood about a bit back from the wall just admiring it for a moment. One year he had only missed that much. But yet it had seem like a lifetime ago. In that year a whole lot had changed. It was going to be nice to go back for his seventh year. Hopefully play Quidditch, go to lessons, see old friends, and spend time with Adeline.

Adeline.

She was coming back too. He smiled as he found her right in front of the wall. He moved up behind her then stood next to her. He smiled down at her, and gasped her hand in hers. They met on the train their first year. So it only seem fitting that they do this together. "Togther?"

"For the hundreth time, I don't have a girlfriend." He said through gritted teeth as he slouched along beside his mother, hands in his pockets and a scowl on his face. The last couple of days had been a living nightmare at home.

Thanks to his aunt Cela, the whole family knew that he had kissed a girl. And now they all thought he had a girlfriend no matter how many times he had told them that he didn't. And of course Zahra knew and she was not talking to him now.

This totally sucked.

"Watch the attitude Michael. I have no problems in dragging you onto the train by the ear in front of your friends." Kayla gave her son a stern look as she walked them to the wall on platform nine and three quarters. She was only half serious because her son was almost as big as she was now and she was also seven and a half months pregnant. It would probably be a bit difficult but she would do it if necessary.

They stopped at the wall and turned towards him a small smile on her face. "I can't go through with you." She rubbed her belly. "So you have a good term and start taking your studies seriously."

He would probably have scoffed at that but he knew that his mum probably would do that to him so he managed a sheepish look. "Sorry." He mumbled as they stopped at the wall and he scanned the crowd as his mother went on about his studies.

Yeah, yeah whatever.

He spotted Rhodes with a group of people and he felt his face flush slightly. He quickly looked away just in case his mother noticed. His gaze fell on another girl (Bubbles) who looked to be his age and gave her a tentative smile.

Did she want someone to walk through the wall with her?

"Yeah I'll try harder." He said looking at his mother again and wishing someone would come and save him.

Still the memories flooded back to the present, she still was no longer that weak little eleven year old girl from seven years go, she was stronger now, most of it had to do with Asher but some of it was her while he was away from her for the last year. Adeline felt a familiar hand grasp hers, she squeezed Asher's hand a little. She was nervous and sad still. Adeline didn't say anything in that moment but she did wrap her arms around her boyfriend. She needed a hug right now, she's not the emotion type of girl but this magical school was getting to her.

Adeline looked up at Asher. "Together." she whispered.

They had to pause due to a slow moving family in front of them. Beverly tugged at Kennedy's arm, searching for an open space to go through without having to wait. She was tired of waiting. She's done her time. Three years of it!

Just as she was about to round said family, her eyes caught a boy's gaze. And she froze. As usual, Beverly thought of the reasons someone you don't know does things. Having always been sheltered at home the thirteen year old was inexperienced in interacting with kids around her age. And it didn't help that her father didn't fail to remind her strangers were not to be trusted.

Then again, Kennedy said differently. And her big brother would never lie to her.

After hesitating, she sent him of her shyest grins and quickly cast her eyes away. She wasn't good with eye contact either.


Sensing Beverly tense, Kennedy glanced down at her, followed her gaze and frowned a little. Did she know the boy? If not they should move along. He didn't want his sister being late. As if. Kennedy tugged Beverly's arm gently so that she was ahead of him.

Giving the boy a once over, he turned, ready to go through the wall. He was being over-protective, so what? He knew boys. He had been one at one point. Now he was a man--but that was beside the point. Merlin. He was turning into his brother-from-another-mother. Sigh.

North End of the platform it was for them. Lets go!

All the meanwhile all Beverly thought was: How embarrassing!

Okay, good, good.

They both were going to Hogwarts, even though the boy thing sounded really funny when he spoke, and they both knew that they weren't getting there by just standing around. So.. why were they just standing around? Not that Rhodes was one to care about what other people did, but she had been trying to people watch, and it was really difficult when people were in her way. She just thought they would've gotten the hint and moved already. But apparently not.

"You sound funny." Was the first thing she NEEDED to say, because it was true and if she didn't acknowledge it, if the boy spoke again, she would just laugh in his face and he would have no idea why she was laughing. "And you have to walk through the wall, WALK THROUGH the wall to get to the train." Did she make herself clear enough? She wouldn't mind repeating it. Especially if it got them to move through the wall faster. She even made little pointing motions towards the thing. Go. Go on.

At least the girl knew what she needed to do. Even if she hadn't done it yet. Rhodes simply nodded her head along with the girl's words, and took a step away from her because she was just crazy. Her? Scared? Chicken out!? What!? Did she even take a breath through that whole thing? "I go to Hogwarts. Meaning I've done all this before." The wall walking. The train ride. The everything. "I'm a third year." And she didn't think she needed to explain what that meant.

She wasn't even going to look at Michael Toussaint, nope. "I'm Rhodes.

Mitchell nodded. Cool, cool. So now she was just here. Alone. That wasn't really responsible of her brother, was it? Unless that often happened with magic kids.

... not that he could really judge. He was here on his own right now.

He blinked at the new girl. Didddd she just say he sounded weird? He sounded normal. "I'm... American." he said with a slightly tilted head. Maybe that's what she meant?

Ohhh. Hold up. What?! They had to run. AT A WALL! Willingly?! What kind of torture school was this?! They would never get away with something like this in America. Nope. Here they just... ran through a wall to get to school. A school full of kids with toads and funny accents.

He was so distraught by his incoming wall adventure that he nearly missed the girl's introduction. Doing some quick conversion, he said "That's my same year." If he counted right. So. Yeah. He was pretty sure he did. It made him feel silly though to be a third year and not a 8th grader. "Rhodes." he repeated carefully. And Lawn Gnome already introduced him. Sorta. "It's actually Mitchell. But, I'll answer to whatever." He wasn't high maintenance.

Oh awesome. Not only was his mother going on about his studies and girlfriends, but Rhodes was totally ignoring him which made him feel even worse. They had kissed a couple of times and while he didn't think it meant anything and he was sure that Rhodes didn't either but it would have been nice if she at least acknowledged him.

And if that wasn't bad enough he was now getting the once over by the girl's friend or brother or whatever he was to her. Michael heaved a heavy sigh and allowed his mother to give him a kiss on the cheek before grabbing the handle of his trunk and disappearing through the wall.

So much for the awesome start of term he was hoping for.

"I guess yeah. Yeah." Gabe wouldn't be so bad but Ruby would be trouble, and that was supposed to be WEST's thing, being Trouble. But he wasn't really, comparatively.

And their dad would understand him and Aspen taking a moment so... coffee? Or just hugs? He went for hugs. She was so little compared to him now, but West still hugged her like he was small because he was still the little brother even if he had hit 6'3 this summer.

"I don't wanna go back." Which wasn't COMPLETELY true, he did, he just wasn't ready to go in THIS moment. "Will you come on the first Hogsmeade weekend?"

??

Oh. Hogwarts scarf. Oh. Who was this guy then? West gave the boy who looked about his own age a curious once over. Obviously new. If he wasn't new then West would've known him. West knew EVERYONE after all, and everyone knew HIM. It was just true.

"Its between platform 9 and 10. Watch. See?" He pointed at some smaller kids rushing through. West wasn't going through yet though, he was taking a moment with his sister. "You just run through. No big deal."

Calisto Kosmos smiled at the famous wall she knew what to do she had to run through it Callie smiled and ran into through the wall.

Lana's head turned back and forth as her gaze went from Mitchie, to the girl, back to Mitchie, then back to the girl.

Ohh. So she was a third year, then. She'd done it before. Lana bounced once. "Cool! I bet you don't eve get scared then. I'm a little scared, running at the wall with my trolley, but not enough for me to not, because I have to be brave if I want to be a Gryffindor." It was true. She knew these things.

"Rhodes." She repeated as she turned to put her hands on her trolley in order to push it through the wall. "That's easy to remember, isn't it? Like roads for cars. That's a pretty name." She looked at the girl and smiled. Then turned to Mitchie. "Do you want to run through with me? You can come too, Rhodes."

The seventh year smirked, hearing her bestie come out of the crowd of muggles. "Ha... these people are practically blind to anything and anyone who looks different to them. Why do you think we've gotten away with coming through here every year with our brooms and owls." Lily scoffed slightly, obviously changed to someone who didn't really concern herself with average muggles. "Plus you can always just wipe their memory or lie... kinda like what my father did."

Shrugging, Lily didn't struggle as Tay practicly dragged her over to the wall. When Tay pulled out 3 gifts, the redhead smirked, coming back to her normal happy self. She was going back to Hogwarts, the only place, she felt, she actually felt at home. Lily pointed to her trolley to tell Taylor to put the gifts there so that she could open them on the platform. After a quick glance at her watch, the seventh year pulled Tay next to her. "You ready? Let's go see if Mo and the team are on the platform yet?"

Taylor crossed her arms and sighed, "True true..." Tay grumbled and looked around, "You changed..." She frowned and looked at her, "I will do no such thing!" Taylor frowned and looked at her friend, "What the hell happened to you, Lily? You are not acting like you usually do." Concern showed on her face as she looked at her best friend then sighed and shook her head. "Did you have a rough summer or something?" She eyed her.

Taylor gave a small nod and placed all three presents on her friend's trolley. "Yeah, Im ready..." She frowned, "I hope not because I only came to see you. Im gonna send you off then Im going straight back to Nash and my flat to get ready for classes to start on Monday." Taylor sighed and shook her head, "I dont feel like talking to anyone but you." At that, she went through the wall barrier and onto the other side, onto the platform.

Finally the boy understood what he was trying to ask without being so obvious...which of course didn't help make things better.

He watched as the boy showed him what to do. So that's how he was supposed to do it.

"Thanks man, I really appreciate your help. The name's Sander by the way. I'm a 7th year transfer from Durmstrang. I guess I'll see you on the other side." Sander thanked the boy before he did how the others were doing it.

Run....don't close your eyes....keep your eyes on the target....wait was that Calisto who just ran past him? Sander quickly picked up his speed and ran into the wall and through it.

*Walking into the station Rom pushed his trolley to the platform. With him was his cousin Cece. The only cousin he actually liked. Rom was just thanking his lucky stars that his bother Jacen hadn't taken him.*
"Thanks for seeing me off Cece... mum and dad are still on their holiday in Africa, and Jacen... well I'm just glad he's busy with whatever it is he dose..."

Hawthorne and her father had commadeered a trolley and her trunk was now atop it, better for getting a run sat the wall, she supposed. Timothy's carrier sat safely on top. They stopped an inconspicuous distance away from the wall between platforms 9 and 10. Her father looked down at her.

"You have you wand?" he asked in hushed tones, his voice merely a whisper on the wind.

Hawthorne nodded, her eyes downcast, her nervousness apparent.

"And your money?"

Hawthorne grasped the satchel that was tied around her waist and shook it so he could hear the jingling of the gold, silver, and copper. She was wearing a set of overalls that had been cut into shorts, argyle knee socks in blue and green, a white tshirt, a brown oversized cardigan, and a derby hat. The satchel was hidden well under the cardigan.

Her father reached into his suit coat pocket, which had been charmed to be larger on the inside, and pulled out a blue crocheted scarf that happened to match the blue in her socks. He wrapped it around her. "This is from your nan, she said she would make you some nice stuff in your house colours after sorting."

Hawthorne nodded and pushed her thick back rimmed glasses back up onto her nose.

"Ready?" he laid his hand on her shoulder.

Hawthorne looked up into her fathers eyes. "As I'll ever be." She turned towards the wall and then looked around to make sure no muggles were looking on. Her father put his hands on her shoulders.

Then, in the blink of an eye, the two were running, speeding towards the wall. Hawthorne shut her eyes last minute as their bodies disappeared from the muggle world...

Oh.

Okay.

Well. Rhodes definitely learned her lesson. She was never going to stop and talk to two random people again. Not that she had planned on talking to them. All she really wanted them to do was move out of her way, but now she was stuck with them. Learning all about their life history. Their history that she really didn't care about. She first glanced at the American boy, who could say he was anything and it wouldn't change the fact that she still thought he sounded weird, to the girl who must've had too much sugar for breakfast.

Was the girl even human? She didn't think it was possible for someone from Earth to talk as much as she was talking.

"Umm.. okay." She nodded at her, though, so she didn't let on that she really had no idea what she had said, but she didn't miss what the boy said. He was going to be a third year, too!? That was cool. If she was the type of person to get excited about those things. "I'm in Slytherin." Since there were muggles all around, she couldn't really be loud about things like that.

Which meant it was probably a good time to get going through the wall.

"I'm not named after a road." Merlin. "But you two should go through it together. Since it's your first time and all. I'll stand back here and keep an eye out." And pretend that she didn't know who they were.

Mitchell was confused. What was a Gryffindor? And a Slytherin? Were those food? They sounded like food. They should be food. Mitchie was hungry.

...

Okay. So they were walking through the wall now?

Okay then. At least he only had to do this like... what? Twice a year?

"Let's go then Lawn Gnome." he said. He re-wrapped his fingers around the trolley. So. Just... go at the wall... he could handle that. "It's this one straight ahead, right?"

Because... it would be embarrassing to hit a real wall.

So... this was that famous Wall. Of course, Astrid had been in front of it before but she never thought she'd actually go through it until now. Especially now. She was going to be a student of Hogwarts, so it kept her thinking about what could possibly be at the other side of this wall. Probably something more magical and un-Muggle and a train, that was for sure... but really, what? What did the Hogwarts Express look like? What colour? Everything was going through her mind. So many questions. Astrid couldn't help but just stare at the Wall.

And maybe observe the Muggles. For a bit, since Astrid was bored and didn't wanna go through the Wall until she found someone to go with. Her dad had left and now she was alone with her Pygmy Puff Peewee and her backpack, which was charmed with the extension charm so that she didn't have to carry lots of luggage around.

Besides, there were still minutes to spare. Why go off to the Train right away? There was really no need to rush.

...Oh. Okay.

Lana sort of deflated at Rhode's responses. She wasn't very talkative, was she? But... oh! They were going to go through the wall! The eleven year old was beaming again as she looked at Mitchie. She maneuvered her trolley so that it would be a straight line to the wall, then took a quick glance at Rhodes again. "It was fun to meet you! Maybe I'll see you in class. Have a good train ride!"

Then she started toward the wall. It took most of her strength to get the trolley up to speed... and when she did, she was running full-speed toward the wall. And then... she was through it. Just like that. Yay! Now. Was Mitchie coming?

The family reached the barrier between Platforms 9 and 10 in a hurry. "Go along, dear. You go first." Leah's dad said, giving his daughter a slight push.

The girl stood before the wall, breathing deeply. "OK, you don't need to be afraid, it's not a wall. There is nothing before you. Just walk straight, and you'll be there." She muttered to herself. It was her first time going to Platform 9 and 3 Quarters, so she was a bit afraid, but she also wanted to make her first experience more dramatic. "Leah, we don't have time for this, come on, let's go together then." Her mother said impatiently, pushing all three of them into the barrier.

Leah shut her eyes tight, but nothing hard and painful came...

It wasn’t Lily’s first time getting on the Express, but this time still felt like it was. She felt like she was starting over, like she was a new Lily. A single Lily, even though things were still a bit complicated on that front. Certain events over the summer had made sure of that, events that she knew Becca would have still been saying I told you so about if she hadn’t gone back to California, but she was still determined to just figure out who she was before she bothered with any of that. She knew people understood, or at least she hoped they did. She didn’t want to have lost a friend, after all, so she really hoped that wasn’t the case. Nothing had seemed to tell her she had, anyway, even if there was still guilt on her part. It was different guilt from what she had at the beginning of summer. It was weirdly easier to handle, if only because she knew that there wasn’t really anything she could do. All she could do was wait and hope that others would too.

For now, she was looking forward to the train, and getting to Hogwarts and the distractions that school always provided. Pushing the trolley Aunt Rhiannon had managed to find for her before leaving her at the station, her trunk and Gavroche’s cage safely piled on top, she’d headed for the wall. She had to get there, after all. It wasn’t like she wanted to miss the Express, and checking her watch again she knew she didn’t have a lot of time. There was still enough, and she had faith she’d make it. Especially as she got there and found a few people loitering, including one figure who was awfully familiar. “Hey Astrid,” she called out, pushing her trunk toward her friend. She’d seen her over the summer, but it was still nice to find her here before they’d gotten caught up in the crowds on the train heading to school. “Who’s this?,” she added with a slight grin, as she’d come up next to the shorter girl and seen the blue puff accompanying her. It was almost like payback for when she’d first gotten her owl and had to introduce him to Astrid, but that was what made things fun.

Annabel looked through her black hair that covered her face, at the infamous wall. "You got everything, dear?" her father asked in his accent. "Yes," she replied hesitantly...she observed the other students around her running into the wall, only to disapear. Her brother had told her about this once, when he had visited Hogwarts with his friends on a holiday. "You think you can do this?" her mother asked, fear was clear in her shaky voice. Annabel straightened out and took a deep breath and nodded at her parents, before breaking out into a run towards the wall.

Maddison was alone.

Her parents had so kindly delegated the task of taking her to the station to Leo, who was less than pleased. So as soon as they arrived at the entrance, the eleven year old's brother had dumped her off after giving her a noogie and smile. Then he'd disappeared into the crowd, following after some bleach blonde wearing too much eye makeup. SIGH. Boys.

So here she was, alone and pushing this ridiculously bulky trolley full of stuff. Zeus was meowing pathetically from his place in his cat carrier and the small brunette gave him a sympathetic smile before focusing her attention on the wall meant to take her where she needed to go. And whoever had thought of running at a wall at top speeds to get onto the platform was a right idiot because this did not look like fun. Nope. And because she'd never done it before, Maddison thought it best to stand to the side and observe some others do it first.

Didn't want to look like a dummy on her first day or anything. Besides, people watching could be fun. Might as well see what the competition was like.

This was it.

Summer was over, and now it was time for Lux to board the train again and head off for another school year at Hogwarts. Pushing her full trolley along, the girl was having some difficulty. Why was she not stronger or this thing lighter? Her fault for packing up almost everything she owned.

Tired, she decided to take a break, and plopped herself down on the floor beside the trolley. There, much better.

One thing to put down on the table: Grayson Douglas wasn't one to get nervous. Okay? Yes? Kapeesh?

But standing there and staring at the wall was making him nervous. He tried to look cool but in all honesty, the boy didn't know what to do. Maybe he shouldn't have escaped from his mum and insisted that he could get onto the platform on his own. But it wasn't his fault. His mother had been all too insistent to check his supply list for what seemed like the billionth time to make sure that he had all the necessary equipment. Why she needed to bother, he didn't know. He wasn't DUMB. He wasn't going to purposely leave items behind; though, if he could, the boy would have gladly left his school books behind and packed something he'd be more willing to use. Like a slingshot.

Then came the kisses on his cheek and the loooooooong and unnecessary speech. One that included taking care of himself, writing every week -- really Ma, was there a need to write every week?! -- and that her poor heart would ache and pine for her faaaaaaaavourite son. Those weren't her exact words but whatever.

So really now. Who wouldn't escape?

Back to the present. Grayson was standing there. Nervous. Standing. Looking around at the--

Titchy person. One that was looking at something. Or someone. Whatever, the girl was just using those eyes for creepy reasons, mkay? But he looked at her. Looked her uuuuup and doooooown. "Staring at people is creepy." And don't stare at what you can't afford, titchy person.