Front of the Train
 

The driver and snack lady sit up front in the driver's cab, but there are plenty of other compartments up here. Prefects have their very own!

Conan dragged his trunk on board the train. Finally he was going home. He couldn't wait. He found a nice empty compartment at the front of the train, where he could put his trunk away and sit happily. He did need to see if his parents were picking him up. He'd get out his phone later.

Walnut trailing close behind her, Kurumi boarded the train and scooped the munckin cat in her arms while she walked around looking for somewhere to sit. She spotted a compartment that, so far, only contained Conan and slowly pushed open the door.

"Do you mind if I join you?" she asked. "Oh, this is Walnut." She waved his paw for emphasis.

Conan's mouth dropped open. Twice in 24 hours. He was confused. No girl ever wanted to talk to him that often. Except Ellie. But she wasn't a girl. Kurumi was though.

"N..n..nice to meet you Walnut," he smiled, waving to the cat. He nodded to Kurumi. She could definitely join him.

What was Conan gawking at her? Was her hair some vibrant color? Did she have something on her face? Was her clothing on backwards or inside out? After checking herself over, Kurumi found that everything was as it should be, so perhaps she just startled him?

Kurumi plopped herself down on the seat across from Conan and let Walnut find his own resting place. "Don't mind him, he thinks he is the king of everything," she sighed as the cat curled up in a ball on the seat in such a manner that would make it difficult for anyone else to sit down.

Still sleepy from last night’s End of Term Feast, Mordred made his way up the front cars to find an empty compartment and dragged inside it his trunk, and his owl cage with Xchylar inside fast asleep. No matter how sleepy he was, he made sure he got himself his own compartment – just to be sure he doesn’t miss the train back home. In a few hours, he will be meeting up with his parents and his cousin Julian ready to start their adventure over the summer. Julian promised he will be staying over their manor for the rest of the summer until they reach Greece and Egypt, and hopefully before school starts.

What he was really looking forward to was Julian’s promise of giving him his Durmstrang DADA book. He stretch, and plopped down on the seat and crossed his arms as he looked outside the window. He took out his wand out of his sleeve and twirled it in between his fingers. If he was just allowed to apparate, he would have done so that very minute. But then, he too made a promise to Aurora that they will catch up on each other. He wanted to hear how her year went. Mordred knew there was something more to her silent outburst last night. The least he could do is to make her feel better before they spend the rest of the summer with their families.

William goes to the front of train. He looks for his friends.

Aurora had got bored even before the train left and decided to wander down the train... AHA! There was Mordred...
She waved through the compartment window and let herself in.

"Hi Mordred, are you happy to be going home?" she asked, stowing her trunk, violin and flute and flopping into a seat.

Conan chuckled, "Just as long as he doesn't sit on me, I am happy." It was true. He didn't want cat hair on his clothes. He looked forward to getting into his shorts and t shirt and getting on his plane.

"So when are you flying home?" he asked. "Is Walnut allowed to fly with you?"

The boy abruptly stopped twirling his wand and looked up to see who it was. “More than happy to go home.” he said as he stood up and helped Aurora with her trunk. “What’s in here? It’s so heavy!” he said grunting. Looking at their trunks his was a lot smaller than hers. “Do you girls really have to pack your entire room?” he said as he sat back again with a smirk.

Looking at his friend, he had a feeling she had a rough night last night. "So, how about you? Ready to reek havoc with your cauldron?" he asked keeping their conversation casual.

Jacob walked on to the train, keeping his head hung down. He had already changed back into muggle clothes, pinned the Ballycastle badge onto his shirt where his Captain Badge would normally be, and was finally realizing what he was doing.

Jacob was officially a School Drop-out.

Sure, he was 17 and it didn't make much difference, but it still felt weird. He'd always had ideas of dropping out... but they were silly, and he was sure no one had ever took him seriously. even Jacob never took Jacob seriously.

With his wand out, Jacob levitated his trunk into What he thought was a empty compartment, and onto the rack. While he kept his locked back pack at his side, along with his broom. A Broom Which had done it's job, won him the championship, and was now ready to retire, in place of a new Broom and Uniform.

Jacob put the broom in the corner, and sat down the Backpack next to him. The backpack would be in someone else's possession soon enough, as would the Shiny Badge the Vindictus now had. Jacob would soon be in London, but he wouldn't be going home like usual. He was goingstraight to the training grounds like he was instructed, and since he was now licensed to Apparate, and Apparate freely, Jacob would be seeing his grandfather for quite sometime.

Suddenly something caught Jacob's eye.

O______O

"Oh. I'm Sorry, Mina" he said, a little shocked. "If I knew someone was in here I would have knocked."

cloning! and totally screwing with the timeline xD
 

Out of the corner of her eye, Kurumi noticed Simon enter the compartment across from where she was sitting with Conan. "Conan, can you excuse me for just a moment, I really need to see Simon." She was sure that Conan would understand. She would be back soon.

Exiting the compartment, Kurumi knocked on the door to the one where Simon was sitting, both her hands were held behind her back rather obviously. "Hey Simon," she chirped, perhaps a little too energetically. She was horrible at keeping surprises a secret from people she was close to.

Having now delivered her gift to Simon, Kurumi returned to the compartment and sat down again, she had some tears in her eyes. Saying good bye was always so hard, even if you knew that you would be keeping in touch. "S-S-Sorry," she said wiping away her tears a bit.

"I'll be flying home the day after we arrive," she explained, still dabbing under her eyes a bit. "Father was trying to convince mother that I should just floo home, or side-by-side apparate with him, but she insists on me flying back by airplane."

And it was a loooooooooong flight back to Japan from London.

Aurora grinned, "Oh, you know, books, music, clothes, ingredients..." she laughed. "No, if I packed my entire room we'd need hundreds of these..." she glanced at the trunks.

She nodded enthusiastically. "Of course! When am I not?" she was looking forward to the lack of restrictions at home... no rules against advanced potions... no restricted sections in the family library... and no Lafay stalking everyone... though she did like Lafay.

Conan smiled, "You ok?" What had Simon done to her? He hoped it was nothing bad. Or he would punch the guy. Noone would hurt his friend. Even if the guy was like 5 years older than him. He could jab him in the knee or something.

"That is when I leave as well. I think my flight is at like 12. So I will be home in time for dinner." He'd probably eat on the plane anyway. Maybe sleep as well. He would be pretty tired. He needed to reset his body clock.

Andy ♥ *glomps* How I have missed you!
 

Mina was deep in thought, she hadn't even noticed that someone had entered the compartment. Her mind was working overtime and she was just having a hard time coming to terms with what this trip back to London meant. It wasn't just simply going home this time, it was saying goodbye to some people for the very last time. If the closing feast wasn't hard enough, this journey back to King's Cross was going to nearly break her heart for sure.

She hadn't been able to say her farewells to certain people and others she was just scared to. Saying goodbye wasn't something she was good at and it wasn't something she wanted to be good at. Byes seemed so final and she didn't want that.

Looking up finally as she heard her name, she blinked. It was her Captain, well former captain now. "No harm Jacob," she replied. "Probably for the best that I have company and all. No good to mop all alone," she added with a tiny smile. Jacob was after all another person she needed to see before the train reached its destination.

"Congratulations," she added as she noticed his new badge. "It looks great on you." She was still a bit sad to see him go, but like all the other people in her life, she was happy for them. They were going out to live their dreams and that made her happy. "I'll have to catch you in action and when I do, you know I'll tell everyone that I knew you when you were just that crazy captain back in school," she laughed softly. Yes, best to remember the good times.

Simon turned away from the window at the knock on the sliding compartment door. He managed a weal smile as he spotted Kurumi at the door and motioned for her to come in as he turned fully back around to face her. "Hi Kurumi..." he spoke returning her greeting, his hand absently feeling his robe pocket as if making sure the box he was looking for was still there.

"Come to see an old man off?" he tried to jest with a small chuckle.

"I'll be alright," she nodded weakly. "Just...hard...saying good bye." Her lower lip trembled every so slightly.

"And where is that you are flying to?" In time for dinner, that would be nice. "I am going to lose an entire day while I am in the sky."
"You can hardly be called an old man," Kurumi laughed sticking her tongue out. Seriously, Simon wasn't even as old as her youngest brother.

Kurumi took another few steps in and finally moved her arms out in front of her. "I made this for you," she said as she thrust a small wrapped package out for him. "It's not much, but something to remember me by."

Conan nodded. "I understand." That was why he had no friends. He didn't have to say goodbye then. But he had Treyen. He would be leaving 3 years before he would. Which was really really sad. Who would he make sandwiches with?

"Orlando International," he smiled. "It is only like 8-10 hours. With the 5 hour time difference, I would be home by 6pm." He was looking forward to his own bed. It would be fantastic. "You are going to Japan right?" She didn't exactly look English. And with a name like Kurumi, she had to be Oriental.

"I do too -- but not that much." he said looking at their trunks. "Exactly, how many clothes did you bring?" he said eyeing Aurora. Mordred just remembered his mother's closet. It wasn't a closet anymore, it was more of a room. Endless racks of clothes, shoes...and all that thing women wear, while his father's clothes were just less than a quarter of that room.

Mordred just stared at Aurora as she proclaimed that she was okay. When was she not? "You weren't okay last night." he murmured, almost a whisper. He hated that feeling of going to bed while upset about something. He wondered how Aurora got through last night. He knew she cared so much about Iris and Aaron -- first, calling them her mummy and daddy snakes, the AndersonGirl outfit, and all the other things she did for the two. Then the Jimbo punch.

He sat there and crossed his arms. "Thank Merlin, I don't have to go through that." he thought. But if he did, he was sure he'd do something reckless -- and regret his actions later.

Aurora shrugged, "Not many... I think it's mainly music and potions stuff in there." she gestured to her case. She'd never bothered with clothes, they were just an extra thing to worry about.

Aurora's face fell. "Yeah, well, you know me, always an optimist..." she said. "Guess I can't hide it from you though..." She had had one hell of a tough year and it seemed her Happy-Charade wasn't fooling Mordred. "It's a long story... I mean, a lot of stuff's been going on." she pulled her knees up below her chin and balanced her feet on her seat.

His laughter deepened as Kurumi responded with her own and stuck her tongue out at him. "Yes, but it got us both to laugh and that was what it was supposed to do...keep the good mood up as much as possible," Simon remarked telling of his reasoning. The older lion tilted his head curiously as she held out a package for him, accepting it and decided it was best to open it in her presence. As he spotted what was inside, he smiled feeling a small tear in his eye.

"Ah yes...that day," he said simply as he placed the box on the bench beside him and simply stared at the framed picture for a few moments. "Its great Kurumi, thank you," he said placing the fram back in its box and standing up to his feet. Closing the distance between them, he gingerly pulled her into a friendly hug. When they had finally broke, he took a step back to gather himself. "I actually have something for you as well," he informed her, reaching in his pocket and pulling out the small box offering it to her.

He nodded a little. Nope, mopping was not good.

Jacob then looked down at his new badge. "Thanks." he said with a weak smile. He was really not hoping for this, having to speak with one of the people he was abandoning right before he was actually off.

Then Jacob looked down at his feet. "You're the last one left." he said monotonously. "The only Ravenclaw from our year who was able to stay for the full ride." and forced a little smile. "Congratulations, you deserve an award."

Jacob quickly took a few chocolate frogs out the only unlocked pouch of his bag, and offered to Mina before opening one of his own.

He made sure the frog didn't jump away and stuffed it in his mouth. After almost swallowing the frog whole, Jacob took a look at the card. "Ooh. Don't have this one. Gregory the Smarmy." he read off the card. "If you ask me, he looks a bit like Borr." he said with a slight laugh... which after reading the full card, would make sense if the fat man was this guys reincarnation.

He looked again at their trunks. Girls. They really have to bring so much...stuff, and they had to buy so much things. Mordred sort of gave up that he will never understand their counterpart.

He looked at Aurora just in time to see the enthusiasm fade from her face. "I can sense things well. In case you forgot." Mordred replied. He looked on as he observed Aurora if she was in the mood to open up to him. "We have a long train ride to endure. Nonetheless, I have the whole day to listen to your story." he said with a grin. "How was your year?" he asked as he lifted his feet up and rested it on the seat across him.