Ascanius needed to get AWAY from first years. He spent all summer around the likes of small children and now was his time AWAY. Yeah, the home was great. Kids in their bratty phase? Not so much.

Smirking to himself at the thought of his kid brother stuck with that lot, Ascanius wandered over to the platform and looked around.

Oh hey, look. Marcus. Walking over to him, he came out with, "Sup, Marcus?" What was he doing, yeah?

Ascanius got a brief look before Mo took a step forward into the queue for chips. He wasn't ignoring the other boy, it was just vital that he not lose his spot. He'd need to hurry to get to the wall and platform beyond soon.

"Getting a snack before I have to catch the train. Do you want anything?" He pointed to the counter at the head of the queue where a Muggle was waiting on customers. "My treat."

Yeah, that was actually pretty smart on Marcus before the train- the snack part. At first, the fifth year boy had questioned his random movement into the line, but made more sense now, yeah?

And he didn't want anything from Marcus. Personal reasons as to why. But instead of being rude, he just shoved his hands in his pockets and shrugged, "S'fine, thanks though." He supposed he could always hound Derry down on the train for shortbread anyway.

Clearing his throat, he asked, "'Cited for the new term?" Back to the dirty, ruddy school of fit female Professors?

Being a second year, Forrest now knew what awaited him. What awaited him was, despite the Headmistress' promises, the weakest dinner ever under the name 'feast'. He had been telling everyone else otherwise, but he was going to stash some sweets just in case. He reappeared in the muggle side of the wall--he'd had to beg to the control man to let him pass--and went straight to the concourse thing. His mother had prohibited him to eat these sweets, but she wasn't here now so he approached the machine with greedy eyes. Only... he didn't know the brands. Standing a step away from it, he cocked his head to one side and eyed the machine as if it would talk to him.

Mo shrugged too. It was just polite to offer, so his feelings weren't all injured over the rejection or whatever. He would have said yes, but mostly because food was always always welcome. "You can have some of mine if you get peckish. I don't mind."

He took another step forward, now nearing the front of the line, and Mo adopted a cautious tone. Muggles, y'know? "Yeah, looking forward to it, I suppose. Hope they have better upkeep than last year. I don't mind the cleaning... no, I mind it. I'd rather not if I can help it."

The fifth year nodded at Marcus in appreciation. He didn't have to say that, yeah, but he did and that garnered some respect from Ascanius. Well done, Marcus. So he would keep it in mind.

Walking next to Marcus, Ascanius chuckled in agreement, "Yeah, s'the worst." Cleaning, obviously. He might have been accustomed to it at the home and everything, what with it being part of his chores and all, but it didn't mean he LIKED it. Pfft. Not at all. "After classes, that's not what I wanna be doing." Mhmm.

Finally, FINALLY, Mo was at the front of the line. He ordered his chips, paid, and then turned his back to the counter as he waited for his order. Lookatchu, Marcus Branxton, being all great at Muggle stuff.

"Hopefully the... erm... cleaning staff is back this year. And I could stand having meals provided for us again too, although we managed well enough last term." He wasn't a snob, but even still, Mo could hear how stuffy his words sounded. Like he was too good for chores or something. "I guess... learning to clean is dead useful, right?"

There was a brief moment when Ascanius considered telling Marcus to move over a bit so the next customer could order better, but he decided against it. This wasn't Essex. Folks round these parts were the patient type. So he'd just keep his mouth shut.

Ah, right, code. That made sense as to why Marcus seemed a tad anxious before when Ascanius first asked. Right then. Well, that made a load more sense then just the twitch. "I always knew how to clean. Part of the homes chore list." 'Cause it was there job to keep it clean, "So I'm hoping the cleaning guys are back." The elves, for wizard folk.

Woooooo! Food. Food was a thing. And Derry was in need of a lot of it - she'd missed breakfast, again. Well it was that or go riding and since she'd be spending months away from her horses she'd rather tgo riding and eat later.

But now was later. So now was for food. Fingering the bits of change left in her pocket, Derry dragged herself in the direction of a full stomach, humming lightly to herself as she went.

Fruit. She wanted some fruit. Like a banana... bananas were good... full of energy and whatnot... mmm...

Theodore was trying to speed walk, but he managed to get stuck being a group of old people who were taking their time walking along the concourse. In fact, he was struggling to see any familiar witches or wizards at all around here. That was concerning. What if the train left 30 minutes earlier this year and everyone had gone without him?

PANICCCCCCCC.

Ohh, nope, there was Derry. Theo remembered where she was standing before dashing off to the toilets for a quick wee. When he was all done, the fifth year stomped out in a strop because he had to pay 20p for that pee. And was it a good pee?

NO... it was horrific because it was a public toilet, ewwww.

His mood lightened when he still saw Derry picking some food to eat. It reminded him that he would be hungry later. Train ride was loooong, man. "Boo!" He peeked up behind her.

Food food food food food. Banana. And an apple. And that packet of crisps. And... wait did she have enough muggle money for this? She fished a handful of 20 and 50ps out of her pocket and was trying to count them up in her head when suddenly...

"Och!" she squealed and turned round ready to grab her wand and defend herself. "Who do you th-! Oh... hi Theo." Her expression softened when she saw her friend's face and she stopped herself from reaching for her wand. Her mental maths, however, were completely out of the window and she shoved the handful of change back in her pocket. "How was your summ-OH!" She pointed at the badge on the boy's chest. "Awesome!"

Theo was eyeing a chocolate brownie just over the top of Derry's head. Because actually, it wasn't until now that he had noticed how tall he had gotten. He was distracted when she turned around to ALMOST have a go at him. Hehehe. "Hi, Derrrrrry. Sorry, did I scare ya?" He was still grinning. A grinning idiot.

Hmm? OH yes... this. Theo had almost forgotten he was wearing it.

No he didn't.

He knew.

"Yeah, pretty cool, huh?" He puffed out his chest a little, until he saw HER badge, and that was when he deflated a little. Oh. "Oh, wow. You're captain?" Wooooooah, nice. She had gotten THAT quickly! Props to Derry, he supposed!

Did he scare her. "Nooooo." Totally not. No siree. We are not a scaredy cat. Yes. ... "Maybe a bit. But you know I'm a nervous person. Meanie." MHMMMMM. Too bad Derry was in too good a mood to actually have a face to match it. Shame. Hehehe.

"That's really awesome, well done!" She was dead happy for him - cause he was awesome and stuff, being all prefecty and cool and whatnot too. Oh. Why did everyone do that..? Look like... surprised and not exactly in a good way. Pfft. "Yeah..." She glanced down at the badge. "Mental right..? Lafay must have lost her mind or something..." She knew she'd got it quick and all, but she had worked really really hard at Quidditch... And she'd appreciate it if her friends would be excited for her... Even if she did think most of them probably deserved it more. Sigh.

Theodore grinned. He liked scaring people, even if they would get a thump if they did it to him. That's just how it goes. "No need to be nervous around me, Derry."

Cos he knew he was irresistible and stuff.

Ha ha ha.

Okay, he wanted that chocolate brownie. Theo reached over and grabbed it as Derry was talking. NOW she could have his full attention. He grinned at her, "Tell me about it. She made ME a Prefect. ME... Lafay hates me." I mean, he knew that he DESERVED to be a Prefect cos come on, this was Theodore Kinsley, but since it was up to LAFAY, he was a bit surprised. Since he was on her scary 'list' and all.... Theo popped some money on the side, then split open the brownie wrapper straight away. "But nice one." MUNCH. "I'm signing up again this term." Obviouslyyyyy.

"Are you excited?!"

Now it was Schuyler's turn to go get herself a snack. Ansel had taken forever to go and get his, and by the time he got back to the platform, he didn't have a single bite of anything left for her! Not that she had instructed him to bring something back, but it would have been a nice old brother thing to do.

So, now she was back in muggle territory. Getting muggle snacks. She eyed the selection, contemplating. Which one was which? All she wanted was something gummy.... gummy worms? Maybe she ought to get that then. To be sure, she turned to the younger boy beside her to see whether he knew any better than she did. "Do you know, are gummy worms like jelly slugs?" They sounded awfully similar.

"I'm nervous around everyone, Theo, don't be silly." It came with the whole anxiety thing. She was just learning to ignore it and stuff, cause yeah... it was inconvenient.

Food, of course. Everyone she knew was driven by their need to eat. Although to be honest this was true of the human race in general, it seemed especially relevant for her friends... maybe that was because her friends were all teenage boys. Hmm. Interesting hypothesis. Shame she couldn't be bothered forming an experiment to find out the answer. Sorry mam. She just didn't have her mother's scientific brain. ANYWAY. "I don't think that matters right..? I mean... I completely suck at potions and I still... somehow... got this..." she trailed off a little. WHY DID SHE GET THIS SERIOUSLY? Everyone was making her doubt herself. "Good, cause if you weren't signing up I'd have to hunt you down. Or something..." Because really now, Derry wasn't the sort to hunt people down. She was more into bribery.

Excited? EXCITED? "Um, yeah but... kinda nervous too.." Like a LOT! "I'm probably gonna need a lot of help." she added, and shrugged a bit.

OH, OKAY. It wasn't because of his good looks, huh? "I believe you." Ha ha. He didn't.

Well, THAT didn't matter. Theo sucked at 80% of classes. "I think if you're a good enough flyer, you're in with a chance." He said with a wink. Lafay was probably stuck for choice because pssht, the whole Slytherin team were awesome. "As iffffffff I wouldn't sign up." What on Earth would he do with his spare time? Well, studying for his OWLs was a good idea, but still a boring one. "It'll be weird to not have Dylan around, huh?" But change was good. After speaking with Derry, Theo was super excited about seeing her as a captain.

Theo nodded. "I bet." If HE ever got captain, cos he had definitely thought about it a couple of times, the idea scared the life out of him. Especially when the boots to fill were Dylan's. "I'll help you. We're a team, right?" Assuming he made the team of course. No matter what though, the team were Theo's favourite people.

<3

Forrest had fished out the money from his pocket and was about to count it when he heard a voice beside him. He turned to the source--an older girl--and stared at her dumbly for a moment.

"Erm... I guess so?" What would she do if they turned out to be completely different though? "The name suggests that but... who knows?" Well, many people knew, probably. But this little boy didn't.

"D'you uh... know any... of these?" She could suggest one, perhaps? Was it too odd to ask for help for sweets?

Hmm. Yeah. By the way this boy was looking at her, Schuyler had a prettyyyy good idea that he had absolutely no clue either. And yes, she was right. He didn't know either. "I'll just buy them anyway," she shrugged, opening up her wallet. She could just dispose of them if they DID turn out to be gross.

She exchanged her money for the gummy worms and squished the worms around in the bag. The cute little boy was asking her a question now, to which Schuyler just smiled and shook her head. "I don't. Well.. I know Hershey's is an American muggle chocolate bar, but.." Her eyes scanned the assortment of sweets. "They don't have Hershey's here." They WERE in England, not back in her lovely Brooklyn.

She stepped aside so that he could find something to buy. "Maybe try eenie meenie miney mo?" That was always an excellent way to come to a solution.

"Why would I be specifically nervous around you?" she asked curiously. He'd always been nice to her after all, it wasn't like he was likely to jump at her and start bullying her or anything, in fact she was less nervous around Theo than she was around other people. Which was good, right?

Good enough flier..? She KNEW she was a good flier - and that wasn't being arrogant, that was being confident in the sole things she knew she was good at. Riding, flying and reading. And yeah, he was right, Quidditch didn't really have much bearing on how good she was in lessons - but the letter had said she had potential on and off the pitch... heh. Which meant lessons right..? And she KNEW he would anyway. "I know, but you could be so incredibly busy with your fancy prefect stuff that it might steal you away from us." Cue dramatic hand-to-head action. "Though Kat did it so.." Shruuuug. As for Dylan... "Mhmm..." GULP. "I am not prepared to try and fill that hole." And she was NOT going to sleep in the middle of the pitch. Nope.

... "Yeah, definitely. I'll take you up on that." She nodded enthusiastically. Then a thought hit her. "Theo..." She paused and stared at him for a second. "Do you realise... these badges... they mean..." Deep breath, dramatic stare. "We have to be role models."

Forrest eyed her nervously, and she did buy a packet in the end. Well. He could only hope she would like them now.

...yeah okay he should buy something already too, but she was distracting him. "You're an American?" he asked the obvious innocently and shyly. She was more interesting than sweets, but both of their reason to be here was sweets. He turned his eyes back at the machine quickly again, and eyed the glass firmly. He really didn't know the brands though so he just inserted the 10 pounds in his hand and pressed random buttons.

After all, wasn't that what she meant with 'eenie meenie miney mo'?

Schuyler tore an opening in the pack of gummy worms and pulled one out, the gummy candy dangling between her thumb and forefinger. She regarded the worm for a moment, then dropped it into her mouth. Chew. Chew. Chew. She swallowed, and after a moment, the girl nodded. "They're good!" And she moved the opened package towards the boy. "Would you like to try one? They're not exactly like jelly slugs, but I still like them."

He suddenly asked her a question about her being American. It was kind of a dead giveaway once she spoke. "Yep. I just moved here over the summer." Thus, now Hogwarts would be her new school. She observed his method of choosing an item, and she couldn't help but laugh. She didn't know much about muggle things, but she did know that ten pounds was much too much for a bit of candy. Instead of telling him this, however, she simply watched.

With all that cash, was he going to just get ONE candy, or a bunch?

Forrest eyed her nervously as she chewed them, and was relieved when she said they were alright. Phew. He smiled. "I'm glad." He wondered just how different they were, but didn't ask. Instead, he took one and chewed. After a few seconds, he was nodding.

"They really are tasty." Maybe he should get one. Hmm.

Good thing she answered while he was busy with pressing random buttons, or else she would have got two curious eyes examining her. His eyebrows were raised nevertheless, and he did look at her for a second before he bent down to collect the sweets he'd bought so far: Toblerone, Milka and Crunch Original. He still had 4 pounds.

"Why? You didn't like the school there?" He entered another button and an Oreo fell. He got that too, and started stuffing them in his pockets.

This year was different than her previous two years, and what was there different this time? Her mom was different. Normally her mother would have taken the effort to say her goodbye before she would leave her home to go to school, and that her mom never brought her to the train station, that was not new. No, her mother had always just let her go with one of the maids at home… But to be exact, her mother had changed and had brought her this year HERSELF to the train station! And she hasn’t been happy about it. And the worst part was, Sonea KNEW why her mother had brought her. Her parents had been divorced during her school holiday and now she lived with her mother, in a house that was too big for them alone and her mom had still not found a new staff to work in their new home and to do the household. So… because there was nobody to bring Sonea to the train station, her mom had no other choice than do it herself.

But, her mom didn’t had waited for her to step in the train, her mother didn’t waited for her so that she could give her a goodbye kiss, or to wave at her when the train would leave. No, her mother had only looked cold at her, she had given her some money and had… left her. So yeah, that was her family… A mother who wasn’t even caring enough about her daughter to wait for her and a dad who had not contacted her since she and her mom had left the house… She had a perfect live… Really perfect… BUT, she didn’t wanted to show the world that she had problems at home and took a deep breath and lifted her chin proudly. She was a Slytherin and Slytherins were strong!

With her two rats on her shoulder, the smaller one, blue one, Sir Blue and his mom, Little Princess she looked around her, wondering what she could do now that she needed to wait, alone and even without a maid to company her!

That probably was the first year she had come here early. Usually, she'd barely be able to say a couple of hi-s then hop into the train. Come to think of it, she barely even got to greet anyone since most people would have already been on the train. Except for the slackers such as herself. However, this time it was different! Look at her coming here early and wandering around having the entire time to greet probably everyone in the station. Well, that was an exaggeration. There were lots of people she wouldn't possibly be able to talk to all of them. And she didn't want to really. She would be happy if she managed to find some friends or any familiar faces.

Hoping for that, the fifteen-year old dragged her trunk and owl's cage while looking around at people. She also bumped into a couple of people so she decided to pay more attention to where she was stepping rather than who was passing. She didn't want to knock someone down...

Unintentionally, of course. It'd be the trunk and not her.

As she got to the Western side, the blond stopped walking as her arms started to feel sore. Wasn't this trunk heavy! She should've dumped it onto the train already.

Standing there and allowing the blood to flow her arms again, her eyes settled on a familiar face. She stepped closer to the younger girl and smiled at her, "Hi, Sonea," She said to the fellow snake. The two had talked several times the past two years. "How was your summer?" The girl grew up, huh! It took her a bit to remember that Sonea had become a third-year. Cool.