Middle Cars
 

It's not quite the front, but not quite the back either. Find a seat in the middle cars and be close to all the action.

First to post is weirrrddd
 

MINE!!!

Ariana hoped into a compartment in the middle of the middle of the train, that right she was in the dead center, you know cause she was awesome and all, spreading he awesome chi evenly throughout the train.

:pfd:

AwesomeArianaWasAwesome.


She closed her compartment door and even thought of drawing up an "Occupied" sigh and sticking it on the door so she could just close the shades and sleep, but she didnt. She'd figure she'd leave it open in case any of her friends found her and they could Join her, but she didn't seem to have much of those lately.
She fiddled with the Burger on her neck and sat down with a sigh. why was she the first one here.. where was everyone..

Maybe this was a trap to get rid of her and the only person getting on the train was her and they were going to send her to the desert and kick her off and leave her there to DIE! :whaa:

DramaticArianaIsDramatic.

Ariana - 2nd post is weird too :/
 

Helllooo! .. im off to bed & will reply again in the morning!
 

So They Were Going To Kill Her!!!!

She was sure of it. So sure that she thought about writing out her last Will & Testament while on her way to her death, but figured she would rather plan for her escape when the train started moving, 'cause if she jumped now they'd see her and kill her even worse then just leaving her in a desert all Alone with no one!!

And she'd never see Salazar again.. Or Daniel.. even though she hated him or Minnie or Max or Damon Or Oakey! GASP! this was tragic! ariana kicked her feet up onto the bench and laid out putting her hands behind her head, closed her eyes and began to sing softly moving her feet to the beat. "I'm Coming Home. I'm Coming Home. Tell The world im Coming Home, wash awa----"


WHO DARE INTERRUPT HER SINGING!!!!!!!

Ariana opened her eyes slowly and looked at the door.. it was a little child...

Maybe she should of put the sign up after all..Then no one would of interrupted her singing and certainly it wouldn't of been someone she didn't know. Ariana eyed the girl before sitting up.. once again very slowly.. she set her elbows on her knees and her chin in her hands and spoke up.."and how would i benefit by you joining me?" simple yet daunting question..

Speak up little one..

Chloe slowly made her way down the train, she hummed as she looked down at the muggle magazine that she was reading. She had picked it up from Kings Cross in the summer term but had never actually read it, she found them entirely fascinating, reading about the lives of muggle celebrities. It all seemed rather silly though. However, wizarding gossip magazines were much the same. Just far more normal in Chloe's eyes! The somewhat ditzy blonde twirled one of her curls around her finger as she walked along to find a spare carriage.

She smiled at a few people that she recognized before she finally found an empty car. Thank goodness.

She slipped inside and pulled closed the door behind her, she then settled down into her seat, dumping her bag on the floor in front of her as opposed to on the rack above her head. The girl was still far too engrossed in her rather amusing magazine to spend any time or effort getting her bag up there. She settled back and pulled out a jelly worm from the bag that she kept in her jacket pocket.

Freebee just let me know if you grab him
 

Mack saw the girl sitting alone, she stood at the door for quite sometime debating on opening it and attempting to make a friend, finally she took a deep breath and opened the door, hoping for a better outcome than the last compartment she entered. "Hi, I'm Mack, care if I join?'

Hiya! I'll check back later tonight!
 

When she'd first leaned against the doorway, she hadn't even realized that the girl had been singing. Aw well that's cute, she thought. I don't know if I'd ever be comfortable just singing out in the open like that. Oh but wait. She thought she was alone. Err...oops! She felt her cool facade falter slightly, but she regained her composure. Well someone was bound to walk in on her at some point anyway right? She's fine.

But then maybe she wasn't fine, because the Snake pulled into an upright position and nearly hissed at her like a cobra. What's in it for HER if I sit here? Seriously? She thinks she's that important? The question threw her off guard, and definitely struck her as rude initially, but as she let it sink in, she began to think it was sort of funny. She scoffed playfully, cocked an eyebrow and said, "What's in it for you ey?" She pushed the door open even further and held it with her foot. She chortled again as she crossed her arms in reply. "Well, you look to be putting on a concert for a party of one. Maybe you'd like some backup?" she asked with her voice full of teasing undertones. "Also, I've come to be pretty capable in a pinch and am pretty good at rolling with the punches this school tends to throw at us," she stated casually and tilted her head towards her right shoulder in a brief shrug. "Might come in handy? This train isn't the most reliable, is it?" she added with a small smirk. Yeah, she knew Slytherins were surviors - so maybe if she played to her strengths, she could get this girl to let her stay for the ride. And besides, Eliza was a decent enough person as any to talk to. The snake might just be surprised and end up even enjoying her company. Maybe.

backup!? was this girl Serious! She did not NEED back up she was perfect all on her own to be quite frank. then she was pushing the door open like she owned the place and honestly that impressed the upcoming sixth year. ariana shot the little one a smirk "I sing solo honey, sorry." she wasn't sorry.. not in the slightest to be honest, but hey she sold it like a salesman. "rolling with the punches?" really? who WAS this girl and can ariana keep her to do her evil bidding? :eyebrows:

she'd invest in it.. possibly.. why have the blood on her hands when she can pour it on another's, and another house at that. she would do some serious hard thinking on this.. later. For now she simply stood, standing almost at least half a foot over the young girl and looked down on her "You got nerve kid." she said raising an eyebrow and leaving on the other side of the doorway and motioned to the inside of the compartment with her head "in." unless she didn't want to come in and she was just pulling ariana's leg, then Ariana would force her in

Train ride. Mo somehow crammed his broom up above the seats before deciding that was a terrible thing to do to the broom. It came back down and got a special seat of its very own, and Mo stretched out on the seat across from said broom. Now this... this was traveling in style.

He gazed out the window at Hogsmeade station, wondering if he should have made specific plans to meet people in a specific car. Vague terms could mean he'd spend the ride home making small talk with his broom. Which wasn't bad, necessarily, only brooms weren't known for their conversational skills.

Surely someone would find him, and hopefully that someone was his favorite.

Alice had certain people to find, people who were sitting in certain areas that she was certainly having difficulty finding. She thought it a good idea, though, to parade down the train corridor and nonchalantly barge into every compartment she saw until said certain people were found. And, though it was probably quite upsetting to all those others she had interrupted, it worked.

"Found you." Except Cactus was occupying a whole seat for himself, and his broom was taking up a whole other. And Alice sure wasn't going to stand, so she promptly dropped down on the floor and crossed her legs like a pretzel, adjusting Frank atop her head. It was more fun down there, anyway. "Where's Titus?" Lethal vampire bunny, wasn't he?

Oh, Alice!Ace. Mo straightened up in his seat and moved over in case she wanted to sit by him. Oh but if she wanted to sit across from him, and ol' Broomface was there... then he would have to move the broom.

Dilemma. AND WHAT IF OTHER PEOPLE SHOWED UP?

Mo hopped up and stowed the broom away carefully before dropping down to crouch on the floor in front of Alice. "You have a frog on your head, of the chocolate variety. Is that food, friend, or fashion piece?" And to answer her question, Mo pulled out his pocket to reveal Titus nestled inside looking somewhat disgruntled. Disgruntled!bunny.

He could have moved the broom before she got there, but never mind that. The floor was better anyway, Alice decided, and she was already settled there. And Mo could sit down there, too, if he wanted. "Friend. Except he may turn into squashed beloved pet this summer, depending on how Selina feels." Because she was still dead set on bringing him over for her month long visit. It wasn't right to leave a piece of chocolate in the care of a Lex and expect her not to eat it.

"He looks happy," she commented, staring at the upset bunny. "Did you leave his cage somewhere?" Having an actual pet seemed difficult. Effort involved, yeah? And clean up. Alice much preferred having one that slept in a wrapper and hardly did anything ever.

"You can sit in the seat if you want to. I should have put the broom in the luggage car, but then I felt bad about leaving it alone like that. Vivi got it for me, y'know?" He offered a hand to her, an offer to pull Alice to her feet so she could have the very first choice in prime real estate... seating.

"What's his name? The chocolate frog, I mean." Because all friends had names, even chocolate ones. Mo pulled Titus completely out of his pocket and set the bunny on the floor. He was happier out of pocket, although he seemed to be wearing a tiny headband and something that looked a lot like itty bitty tap shoes.

"He is happy. Sometimes. He's a very moody rabbit. I think he needs more carrots in his diet, so I was thinking of growing some in the dorm room next year. Maybe one of those upside-down garden patch thingies. And his cage is shrunk." He patted a different pocket.

Bubbles!
 

Seth found himself in a compartment by himself once again. Just like how he liked it. Filling up all the empty spaces with his stuff so no one would join him, he pulled out a book and stroked the fur on his tiny black and white cat's fur. Smiling at the words that jumped out at him, he felt anxious to go home and have to deal with his father.

Father, yeah he wasn't going to be so pleased when Seth comes back with information or lack there of. Of course there was something the young Gryffindor would hide from his father, the truth. The truth being he actually befriended the enemy...

"It's a nice broom. I think it deserves a seat all to itself, don't you think?" She reached for Mo's hand, but used it to pull him down next to her, instead. Alice didn't let go of it, either. "His name is Frank." Beautiful name, wasn't it? A beautiful name for a beautiful frog who would one day marry a beautiful pet rock and get her some beautiful extra housepoints. Such a useful pet.

"What's he wearing?" Had Cactus dressed the poor thing up? No wonder he was so disgruntled. She continued staring at the rabbit, trying her best to stifle her laughter. "I bet he'd like that. Does he ever bite you?" Did bunnies do that? Was Titus some sort of vampire bunny, then? Alice approved.

She lost him. Again.

Even though she didn't feel like confronting a certain Seth person, Peyton wanted to find him and see how he was doing. He was obviously upset about something during the feast and she obviously had ruined the mood. Whatever that had been. The point was, she wanted to see if he was okay now and if he was angry at her.

Walking along the train corridor, her fingers trailing lightly against the wall as she went, Peyton peeked inside the the compartments when she thought she saw Seth's familiar sandy blonde hair. She stopped once thinking it was his, but it turned out to be a Puffer. Seth was no Puffer-doll.

Finally, she paused at another sandy blonde head, and THIS time she knew it was him. All his belongings were splayed about the seats like in her first ride to Hogwarts. Back when nothing was so confusing as it was now. She slid the door open, allowing Thor - the kneazle who had been bouncing along with her - to go in first.

She shut the door behind her. "Hi." She eyed his things, but unlike the first time, she didn't remove them. Instead she leaned against the door, tucking her hands in her pockets, her right fingers brushing against the necklace he had left her with at the feast. "Are you still mad at me?" Was he? Because she wasn't. She hadn't angry at all to begin with.

Mo happily settled on the floor next to Alice, squishing in beside her and giving up all ownership of his hand. Sure, it was hers now. By all means. The chocolate frog on her head got a very polite nod and a nudge from Mo's free hand before he said, "Very pleased to meet you, Frank. You... smell great. Nice luster, too... Ace obviously takes care of you."

She would take care of a pet that wasn't even a pet. Only Alice would. He peered around her to where Titus was hop-click-hop-clicking across the floor. "As you can probably tell, Titus is a vampire bunny, and he's been improving in his ninja skills. I had to make him those shoes so I could hear him coming." His voice dropped and he leaned in. Maybe to talk, maybe just because he liked leaning in. "I fear for my life."

Seth's forehead wrinkled, he was so prepared to kick anyone who dared to enter his compartment out! But after recollecting his thought and composure he found the owner of the light voice, it belonged to. Thinking for a few seconds he shook his head "no.

He bit his lips a couple of times "before you care to join me in here if you are, that is. There's something serious I have to tell you." This was no time for fun and games, the guilt was eating him alive! Seth couldn't take it anymore, his mom has strictly written in her diary that Seth must tell Peyton the truth and nothing but it.

"I uhm...I uh-" He couldn't quite get the words out, "Jesuit...my father sent me on a mission, that is why I transferred to Hogwarts." Seth's heart was beating really fast, his eyes were burning. Moisturizing his lips with his tongue he took paused then continued "I'm pretty sure you're aware of the bad blood between the Aguirres and the Walkers...well I was sent here to hurt the Walkers. But I also came here to avenge my mother's death...using you..." wiping his eyes he looked down in shame, his heart was breaking worse than when his mother Alana died. "I didn't expect to like our friendship as much as I truly do. I'm not going to tell my father anything that's going to hurt John and his family, I promise." wrinkling his forehead he looked up at Peyton.

"I'm sorry...really sorry..." Seth was so ashamed of himself, though he was doing the right thing by telling her the truth. But it didn't feel so right, it felt like the end of a wonderful friendship...the only one he's ever honestly had.

Alice played with fingers absently as she watched the little vampire bunny awkwardly hop across the floor in his itty bitty tap shoe things. "Yes, Ace does." Which was very easy, considering all she had to do was put him back in his wrapper at the end of the day and make sure no one accidentally ate him. Very difficult work, mhm.

"Ninja vampire bunny. Sounds legit." She nodded seriously and leaned in, too, taking her eyes off the rabbit for the time being. "You should. He seems very lethal." Alice grinned and resisted the urge to look back at the flopping little animal. There was a much better view right in front of her, wasn't there?

If she was going to join him? Why wouldn't she? "I am--," but she was cut off as Seth went on.

So his father had a name. Jesuit, was it? Of course she knew he had a name. She was just used to her brother calling him names. Foul names. Peyton listened, studying Seth more than his words. It was evident that whatever he was saying was more than bothering. Almost as if it hurt.

She gulped. Peyton wasn't good at these things. Seriousness was bad and she usually fled from those types of situations. She wanted to flee right now.

Her eyes narrowed when Seth mentioned her precious Walkers. Granted, they weren't related by blood. Heck, even John wasn't her blood brother, but might as well be. He was more sibling than any of her real sisters. Pestering blondes they were. "You wanted to hurt MY Walkers?" she said in a slow, yet contained voice.

What did that have to do with her and their friendship? "But I'm a Baltazar," she said. She was calm, serious. It was giving her a headache. "If you wanted to hurt them why didn't you go directly after John?" He was the sun of the family. The funniest, most caring and best brother in the world. If they wanted to hurt the Walkers then it'd be him to target. Not her. She was loud and terrible at homework.

"I kind of feel bad about the shoes. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but... now he can't feel the grass on his footpads." Mo leaned back against the seat and propped up his legs opposite them, making a bridge over Titus. His legs were a little sore from the crouching or something, and stretching felt necessary.

"I was thinking something this week. Should I tell you about it?" It was a real question, although it provided Alice with absolutely NO new information. Mo lowered his green eyes and studied her fingers twined in his with a solemn expression.

"You can take them off whenever, though, can't you?" Alice leaned an elbow on her knee and continued to stare intently at Titus, willing him to do something other than flop. Even though she found his poor little shoes sliding across the floor terribly amusing, she really did hope he would do anything else, because she felt rather bad for making a spectacle of his hilarious outfit.

But it seemed as if the bunny didn't have to entertain her anymore, because Mo was going to do that now. "Yes. Do. I'm curious now." Alice rested her gaze on him, paying close attention to him and tuning out the rabbit flopping. Because this was more interesting, probably.

"Yeah," Mo sighed ruefully and reached for Titus with his free hand, pulling the bunny into his lap so he could fight to remove each of the shoes. The headband absolutely had to stay, though, because that was the ninja outfit and Titus wouldn't be able to be a ninja bunny without it. Vital ninja wear.

"I was thinking," Mo was glad to have the one-handed shoe removal happening because it gave him something to focus on other than pretty Alice with her bright, intense look. "That maybe you like me better than you like anyone, the same way that I like you. And... and if you did, then maybe you were interested in having a boyfriend-type-person that you liked better than anyone and that liked you better than anyone."

He was saying this all wrong. Stupid-like, actually. He somehow pressed on. "I mean, if there was someone else you liked better, that would be okay. I would understand. But just if you liked me best..." He glanced at her and sort-of-smiled. "D'you know that sometimes I'm actually eloquent, but none of those times are with you?"

What? Seriously Peyton?

Seth looked down and rolled his eyes, he took a deep breath out of frustration. "That's the point, Peyton! he stood up. "In order to hurt John, I had to target the person he loves the most! Considering that his wife nor son were at my reach during the time this terms started, you were MY target!" Seth was trying to make her understand.

"do you understand what I'm saying?" If it wasn't for the fact that his deceased mother's diary made the young lion realize that he did have a heart, Seth would have Peyton major damage both mental and physical.

"I was going to turn you in, to Jesuit. So HE could threaten Johnathan...in order to cause him unimaginable pain! Pain that would knock the lights out of your brother forever! A hit like that would not only hurt uncle Walker but his so called 'blood-traitor' sister, aunt Marisca...And his revenge would be final...and mine..." He would have turned her in, to his father and let Jesuit take care of the rest. But Alana Dos Santos, had foreseen this before she passed away and knew her youngest son was the most noble one from her other seven sons. She knew Seth was the only Gryffindor of the bunch...like her and like her nephew, John.

"My mom was a seer and before she died she left a diary, the diary I told you I burned during Christmas break. I burned it before reading ahead of what the future held for me, but I also read about this moment. However the outcome of this situation between you and I right this moment wasn't in the diary, but she wrote that I had to tell the young Baltazar the truth...and that's exactly what I'm doing." Seth's eyes were turning red once again, at first he couldn't comprehend what his mother meant by "the young Baltazar" let alone did he expect it to be the one person, he really enjoyed being with. "The young Baltazar, being you..."

Alice was trying really, really hard to listen to what Mo was saying, but her eyes had strayed to the bunny again. It was really difficult not to pay attention to one-handed shoe removal, but she somehow manage to process most of what he said. Kind of. Not really. It didn't make any sense, though. Had he just asked her to be his girlfriend? Was that what this was?

Nope. Definitely didn't make sense. But it was still nice.

She opened her mouth to say something, anything, really, but words wouldn't come out. And Dora hadn't instructed her about how to respond to these kinds of questions properly. And if it wasn't bad enough that Alice was kind of speechless, it seemed like Mo was having the opposite problem and kept SAYING things, and she couldn't keep up with it all. Alice wasn't really sure how to answer right, so she did the only thing that seemed appropriate at the time, leaning forward just a bit more and kissing him. And after a second or two, she pulled back to clarify. "That was a yes. Just so you know. Having a boyfriend-type-person sounds nice." In case that wasn't obvious. "And eloquence isn't necessary, lucky for you."

Today, it seemed, was Mo's lucky day.

She mulled what Seth was saying, her heart beating hard against her chest. Out of disappointment or anger, she wasn't sure. Yet. What she DID know was that Seth had used her all this time. She felt her face grow hot and tears sting her eyes, but she blinked fast to keep them from falling.

She had a few things to say to him. First: "You are SO stupid!" More than Kennedy, and Peyton never thought that'd be possible. "Burning the diary. What if she had other things written on it? Like, 'Don't be so stupid, Seth.' Hmm?!" She'd never destroy a seer's diary. It could give her the advantage over situations.

Peyton's fingers wrapped themselves around the necklace in her pocket unknowingly. She had soooo much to tell him. She didn't know where to begin. "And I can't believe you'd hurt John. He's...lovely. The best brother and..." The thought of him hurting both saddened and angered her. She could feel the tears threatening to spill over. She cover her eyes with her palms, shaking her head. "I can't believe you," she whispered, her arms falling at her sides, and added, "I liked you...a lot."

Her chest hurt. It wasn't like chest pains, but as if she'd been hit with a bludger on her chest. Her throat felt blocked and she couldn't find the right words to express herself. What she really wanted to do was open the window and throw Seth out of it along with his neat stuff.

Gosh. Why didn't she bring her bat with her?

Getting a hold of herself, Peyton glared up at Seth. "You're foul, you know that?" And her hand flew in the air, connecting with his cheek. She wanted to do much more than that, but something held her back. Peyton reached into her pocket and took out the necklace and let it fall to the ground.

Giving him a terribly disappointed look, instead of an angry one, Peyton turned, opened the door and left. Thor followed, hissing before exiting.

This was a good partnership they had going here, where Mo just kept talking until he completely ran out of words and Alice just watched him talk with an air of bemusement and... something else. A good something he hoped, and he was proven correct when she answered him with a kiss.

A kiss was good. A kiss meant she wasn't going to punch him, contrary to any advice to the contrary, and it meant she still liked him. Liked him best, though?

Yes. She was saying yes to a boyfriend-type-person, which was supposed to indicate that she preferred him to all other non-boyfriend-type-people. Mo sagged with relief and gifted Alice with a barefoot Titus right in her lap, as if that somehow signified SOMETHING. It didn't, though, aside from him being too excited to know how to communicate other than with 'here, have a bunny now, please.'

"Oh, good. Good, 'cause..." He paused. "I'm asking you to be my girlfriend, you know?" She knew. 'Course she knew. He dropped his head back against the seat. He did feel lucky today.

She liked him?! Really liked him?!

"I really like you too. That's why I couldn't go through with Jesuit's dark scheme, or even mine for that matter." Seth felt like what was left of his heart, was completely shattered.

It was the right thing to do. Telling the truth.

Seth rubbed his cheek that was now red and had Peyton's tiny hand printed on it. His tears spilled down like a waterfall. "I'm sorry" He whispered.

Watching her leave was awful, seeing the disappointment in her face was the worst.

Punching the door, he let out a tiny bit of his frustrations. But right now he was so devastated he really wanted to do some damage on anyone! He was better off alone...after all he's always been alone. Now with more reason.

Eliza half held her breath as she waited for the girl's reaction to her sudden burst of attitude. No hexes yet, so she took that as a good sign. A semi joke back? Good...good. Or is she joking? She still wasn't sure, but she didn't sense impending doom or anything, so she let herself relax slightly. Enough to let out a little laugh at the mention of a solo-only career choice. She looked up at her and gave another short shrug when she repeated the words back to Eliza. Yeah, I can be useful, believe it or not, she thought as she watched a strange expression forming on the older girl's face. It wasn't an expression she was familiar with, but she seemed to be considering something. Whether or not to kick me out mayhaps? she wondered, watching the taller girl glance down at her from the doorway. Maybe I bit off more than I can chew with this girl, debating with herself she reviewed the encounter and decided, No. I've got this. I'm no push over. I can...I can hang with the big dogs. I'm not so delicate, just because I might not know as much about spells yet.

And then she nodded her into the compartment. Her authoritative tone still brushed against Eliza's nerves a bit, but she was willing to let the girl control the situation if she wanted. Eliza was interested in getting to know more people and definitely could use some more excitement in her life. Maybe joining this Slytherin on the ride home would be just the right thing for that. As you wish, she thought, satisfied, as she entered and took a seat opposite of where the girl had been sitting previously.

And now what? she thought, egging herself on to make some sort of interesting conversation so as not to lose her invitation. But what did she know about this girl? Nothing really. No basis to begin much of anything. She didn't want to be on the defensive for the entire upcoming exchange, but she didn't want to start off on the wrong path. Decisions, decisions. She measured her thoughts as she waited for the compartment door to slide closed. She wanted to say something as equally pompous as the girl had to her when she first poked her head in, but thought it would be just a tad more abrasive than she really wanted to be. She'd save the good stuff for people who'd actually upset her. She decided to start off easy.

She put a serious look on her face and hardened her hazel eyes. "So. Come here often?" She could barely get the ridiculous phrase out before she cracked a smile and let out a small chuckle. Okay really though, Eliza, get a grip. "I'm Eliza," she announced and held her pale hand out to offer the other girl a friendly shake. Snake, meet Claw. Claw, meet Snake.

Patrick slowly paced down the train, running his finger along the windows and staring out as he made his way past the cars, completely forgetting to check inside them. He was by no means an anti-social person, just a little shy. He just wanted to find at least one person he knew. He found it so awfully difficult sometimes to make conversation with strangers, and if he had to sit alone for the whole trip, he'd go mad. Of course, walking down the train the way he was, forgetting to even look at the cars, it wasn't likely he would get anywhere in his pursuit of company.

He suddenly remember what he was doing, snapping out of his little daze. He looked over his shoulder down the train, and all the cars he had passed without even so much as a glance. 'Oh Patrick, you have to stop this..' He thought to himself, annoyed that this sort of thing kept happening. Letting out a sigh, he prepared to backtrack to have a gander at the cars he'd missed, but out of the corner of his eye, he could see into the car he had stopped next to.

"Chloe?" He asked aloud, sounding almost ecstatic at the sight of his best friend in the whole wide world. Sliding open the door and poking his head in, his face lit up the moment he realized it really was her. "HI!" He yelped, the way she often did, closing the car door behind him.

With a relieved smile sat Sonea down in the middle of the train, she was relieved that she had ended her first year on Hogwarts without much problems. She had thought that it would be difficult for her to start on Hogwarts in the middle of the school year but she realized that it was not that hart after all. And now, a few months later she was already heading home! Sonea’s smile disappeared when she thought about her home and wondered if her mother would be waiting for her and if her father would be interested in how her school time had gone. Sonea hoped that her mother would be waiting for her in London but she was afraid to be disappointed, she assumed that her mother had send a maid to wait for her and to bring her home. She stared absent at Little princes and was curious if the maid who was waiting for her would be afraid of rats and if she could bully her…

Mack had enough of not talking and decided to see who else had taken a compartment in the middle car, she saw a small girl she had not seen before sitting alone, she slid open the door and smiled "Hi, I'm Mack, Care if I join you?" The girl looked about her age so surely she wouldn't have any problem with another first year sitting with her.

Sonea was still deep in thought when she heard how somebody opened the door and talked to her. Sonea frowned when she saw a girl from her own age she hasn't saw before, what was not so strange because she had been only a few months on Hogwarts and nodded to the girl. "Hi, I'm Sonea" said Sonea and called for Little princes to hide in her pocket, she was not sure if the girl was afraid for her rat and she did not wanted a lot of drama in the train, not now anyway.

Mack entered the compartment and closed the door behind her taking a seat across from Sonea. "What's in your pocket" the blonde asked curiously, she thought she saw a tail poking out. And if that was a rat then she knew she had made a new friend, her grandmother was always scolding her about playing with the ones in the basement of the estate but they were pretty cool and she had named them all. Not wanting to seem overly excited and annoying she held off on her question about what year she was.

Alice was trying really hard not to comment on some parts of what he had said, because she didn't want to mess stuff up or ruin their happy little moment, so she didn't. "I know what you're asking." She was trying really hard at other things, too, like attempting to wipe that goofy grin off her face, the one that appeared whenever Mo was around. And failing miserably.

She rubbed the barefoot rabbit, now located in her lap, behind the ears distractedly. "Girlfriend." Funny word, wasn't it? "It doesn't sound very Alice. But I'll get used to it." She could do that, did he know? For him she could.

Chloe was still thumbing through the magazine eagerly when she heard a voice that she recognized very, very well. She looked up instantly when she spotted Patrick. "Hello you!" she squealed excitedly, moving and gesturing for him to come into the car. She watched as he closed the door and she stood up, dropping her magazine carefully to engulf the boy into somewhat of a big hug. She'd only seen him the day before, but still. Oh, she was glad to be getting home for a little while. It'd be nice to see her parents and her siblings. Her parents had had her very young, and her siblings were all much younger than her, her sister Savannah about to reach the age for Hogwarts though.

Chloe and Patrick had met as babies, quite literally.
Their Mothers had taken them to the same wizarding mum and toddler group, the women had clicked instantly and so obviously their children were set together to play. Chloe had been a bit of a loud, grabby and quite frankly bossy toddler and had scared Patrick at first. But they grew on each other, and had been best friends ever since.

But was it more than that now? It was hard for her to tell.

The blonde gestured for him to sit down opposite her, she picked up her magazine again and smiled at him over the top of it as she opened it back up. "Have you got any sweets on you? I'm dying for some sugar" she laughed.

"Yeah," Mo sat back up again and gave Alice that silly, puppy-dog face of his, shaking his head to wipe the grin away. Girlfriend was a particularly dumb word, and it didn't seem to apply at all to an Alice. She was her very own thing, and he wanted to be part of that thing... whatever it was. Boyfriend was worse, because it had some sort of specific meaning that was well beyond Mo's comprehension.

"It doesn't sound very Alice, but we could call you something else. Made-up word or some word you like better. Doesn't really matter, 'cause the meaning is the same." Mo lifted her hand up to eye level and studied the way her fingers fit around his. "You have good hands, you know? Maybe as good as your teeth. Strong and useful. Little bit scary what you can do with them. Pretty, though. Suits you."

Awar took a seat in an empty car. She sighed, tiredly. Another year done it seemed and she wasted this one wallowing in stupid pity. Well, next year she is to be a third year and 13 and that was something to be excited for. She missed Belle already...

"It's okay. I like it just fine." Girlfriend. Girlfriend. Girlfriend girlfriend girlfriend. Alice mouthed the word to herself again and again, overturning his hand and spelling the letters out onto his palm. G-I-R-L-F-R-I-E-N-D. That's what she was now, wasn't she? "Boyfriend, though. Cacti aren't boyfriends. Most people would want something more pleasant and non-prickly for a companion. Maybe we should we rename you."

Her hands? She studied her own, too, because she'd been looking at his for a very long time and had already mostly memorized the way they felt and how fit into hers. "They're okay, I guess. Very capable of doing scary things. But I like yours better." Because his ones could hold hers and touch her cheek and make jelly slug jewelry. Better, see?

Oh, hmm. Mo shifted his gaze from their hands to Alice's face and stuck out his tongue in the Most Mature Move Ever. He was a boyfriend now, and so obviously very mature. "I like being a Cactus, though. I'm good at it." And it was his Alice-nickname. Did anyone else even have one of those?

As for her assertion that his hands were better... agree to disagree on that one. Maybe better when they were holding her hand? But that was possibly the cheesiest thing ever said, and Mo was determined not to be cheesy if he could help it. Instead he just shrugged. Rather eloquently, he thought, but still just a shrug.

"Vivi's invited me to come visit for my birthday, and I can stay until she decides she hates me again. We ought to plan an adventure. Maybe several adventures. One every day for as long as Vivi likes me."

"You are good at it, aren't you? Best I've seen." Selina had SAID stuff about certain people visiting certain flats, hadn't she? Alice nodded along and started examining Titus again. "Your birthday's in July, right? Is it late July? 'Cause I'm coming in August, so you'll have to make sure she doesn't hate you for a bit, then."

There were supposed to be more people coming over, too, weren't there? "This guy named August is coming as well, and then West is supposed to stop by sometime, and Lex maybe." And she already had SOME stuff planned. "I'm supposed to go practice with the Harpies and Selina one day, and then she's taking me kickboxing, and I'm going to try to bake but actually burn stuff with Vivi and then maybe meet this August person and.."

She trailed off, taking a deeeeep breath before opening her mouth to say MORE. "And you can do some of that stuff with me, possibly. And then we can do some things, just us." Alice didn't know what yet, but they could figure that out when they needed to, because it was more fun deciding things last-minute anyway.

"It's near the end of July, but I probably won't come to stay until the very end of the month. My mum just really likes to celebrate birthdays," Mo offered in an off-handed tone, although since he sort of adored his mother, he was willing to hang around for birthday cake and such. Plus there might be a party, and West might have time to celebrate too.

"As for Vivi, I'll do my best to stay on her good side for as long as possible," Mo extricated himself from the floor and moved up to the regular seat, tugging lightly on Alice's hand as he did so. She should move up and sit on the seat with him.

All those many many things Alice had listed, and it sounded like her summer with Selina was already very full. That made things easier, but it meant seeing her was going to be harder. Maybe that was the point... it meant more if he had to work for it. "I'm doing Quidditch training with Vivi too, but I dunno if that means kickboxing. And I'll help with baking, only I don't burn things. She wouldn't either if she paid attention, considering she's awesome at potions. And they have a pool in the building, so we can go swimming sometimes, plus I have a map how to get to Diagon Alley. So I think we'll survive... mostly."

"Oh, this is my rat, Little princess" smiled Sonea and now that she knew that the gril probably was not afraid of rats she called for her little friend to show herself. When Little princess sat on her lap she looked proud at her rat. "I have ordered a maid to color Little princess pink because pink is my favorite color and i only want to have the best!" Sonea stared absent at the rat on her lap and thought about home and wondered what she could do in the next few months during the vacation and had no idea, she would probably demand her maids to do things for her... "Do you have a pet from you own?" asked Sonea suddenly and shrugged her thoughts off.

Throwing his bag onto the seat next to him, Patrick excitedly squeezed Chloe as tightly as he could. He gently raised her off the ground when she hugged him, just like he did almost every time. After setting her down again, he plopped down on the seat opposite her and smiled with the most radiant, relaxed, and content expression anyone had ever worn, second only to Chloe's. She was always so beautiful, cheerful and happy, it was almost impossible not to be infected by her attitude. Or maybe Patrick was just happy to be around her. He couldn't tell.

"Sweets?" He repeated, digging through his pockets. He looked over at his bag, which was sitting next to him on the seat. "Well.. I actually do have these.." He said, digging out a small paper bag, stuffed to the brim with Sugarmuffins. "I was going to give them to you later when the train stopped, but since you're craving something sugary right now.." He grinned, taking out one muffin and handing the bag over to Chloe.

"These are about the sweetest things you can find." He smiled, biting into the sweet, sugary pastry.

Mack squealed with delight as she saw the rat exit Sonea's pocket, she was pink! She had never before seen a pink rat but once the girl gave her the explanation of color she understood why. The blondes ears perked up at the word maids, so she too was pureblood and wealthy, something they had in common, Mack made a mental note of this, she would have to ask grandfather of the family. She realized she was being asked something and had briefly heard the words "pet and own" so she rather assumed she asked about her Mack's pet. "I do, an owl named Rose, she isn't on the train though..." Mack looked out the window, looking to see if maybe Rose realized that she had moved up the train from where she had let her out, never mind Rose would find her way home long before they were due in London, funny owl she was.

She looked a little worried when she heard that the other girl had a owl, and owls liked it to eat rats and other small animals... Sonea checked immediately if the windows were all closed before she relaxed again. "Rose is a nice name" responded Sonea and gave Little princess something to eat, she had a few things in her pocket special for her rat and she smiled at the girl who liked her rat obviously. But before she wanted to make friends with the other girl she wanted to know if she was good enough for her, her mother would not tolerate it if she would talk with a half blood or worse, a witch who was born in a muggle family. "Sorry if I'm rude, but where are you from? Are you a witch? I mean, a real witch? And not a half blood or something like that? Because if you are one, i think that it would be better for us to not speak with each other... My mother would not like it, sorry" said Sonea slowly and hoped that the girl was from a good family so that she could make friends with her.

Mack couldn't help but giggle at the girls unsettledness over Rose, "don't worry she doesn't eat rats, she only eats worms and bugs" she hoped that her statement eased the girls mind about Rose. Mack smiled at the girls question so she was a pureblood "don't worry, we can be friends. I am pureblood. Dads from right outside London and mums from Germany originally but came to Hogwarts during her second year." the blonde beamed, while she didn't have a problem with halfbloods, but her grandparents had been raised in pureblood mania.

When the other girl laughed at her actions she looked at first annoyed at Mack, she didn't liked it to be laughed at but she didn't responded to it, her maid had told her once that she had a temper and that she needed to learn to be more polite to others... Not that she had listened to her maid, she didn’t liked all of them and she had scolded the maid for speaking freely to her, when her parents were not around she was the boss in the house and she would NOT tolerate it that a maid who was working for her parents was telling her what see could do and not! No, Sonea had yelled at the maid but because the maid was older then she was she had not won the conversation… But she had tried it and she had begged her mother to dismiss the maid and she had won after all.

“I had thought that owls always ate mouse and rats…” Sonea frowned and wondered if it was allowed to bring more than one pet to Hogwarts, a owl was handy if she wanted to send a letter and if she had a owl of her own she didn’t needed to use the school owls any longer, she didn’t liked it to take one because she didn’t trusted a animal from somebody else. Her mother had not liked it that Sonea had chosen a rat as her pet and she had wanted her to have a cat or a owl, but she had not listened to her mother, as usual and had found Little princess in the animal shop. Her mother had been furious at her and her father had only been disappointed at her. But now, a few years later they had accept it but they still didn’t liked it.

When Sonea heard that Mack was a pureblood like her she looked relieved, her parents had raised her strictly and she had learned that there was a difference between the normal witches and wizards and the purebloods. Her mother always talked about ‘the lower classes’ when she had talked about half bloods and people who were friends with muggleborns. “I’m happy to hear that! Maybe we can be friends next year on Hogwarts! I’m still not used to the school because I have started in the middle of the year. I needed to return home when there were some family problems and now I have missed a lot and I don’t know much other students…”

the rather annoyed look on the girls face didn't escape Mack's attention, but she dismissed it, she was learning very quickly that the girl had been raised in a similar way to that of her grandparents, which honestly the girl found sad. Hadn't she realized that in order to keep the wizarding world going we had to have halfbloods and muggleborns. Still she didn't want to offend her new found friend and maybe over the next few years she begin to see the good in all people. Mack sighed she knew it was this quality that had placed her in Gryffindor, she no doubt inherited it from her father. She liked the look that appeared on Sonea's face when she mentioned her blood status, the girl had a brilliant smile and she hoped that she could learn to find more to smile about. "I'd like that very much! Oh I understand, getting settled into a new place can be scary sometimes" she knew the way she felt when she first arrived at Hogwarts. "will you be in Diagon Alley any this summer, I'd love to be able to meet up." Mack was unsure if Sonea would fetch her school things herself or send one of the maids that she had mentioned earlier, but it couldn't hurt to ask could it?

“Oh, it’s not scary but i don’t like it to not know what to expect and I don’t like it that everybody else seems to know each other and that I know nobody. And I have missed a few important classes, the only good thing about it is that I have missed the homework. I also don’t like it to wake up so early in the morning and to follow all the classes until the end of the day, it is too long!” She rolled her eyes while she thought about school and had no problems with going home and to sleep the whole day until her mother would be annoyed with her. She had no idea what she would do during the vacation, she was not allowed to talk with the muggles who were living in her neighborhood and her mother had not told her that they would visit the other pureblood families soon. All the muggles in town were thinking that she had a good life because her parents were wealthy but she was not especially happy, she lived in a golden cage, she had everything she wanted, everything besides two loving parents and the freedom to choose her own friends.

Sonea needed to think about the last question from Mack, she had always ordered her maids to buy all her stuff and she had never been on Diagon alley alone before and if she wanted to go there she needed to beg her mother to let her go. Her mother had told her that only the poor people and those who were low in class were able to carry and to buy her school stuff for her, and that it would be a shame if she, the daughter of the Duvessa family would carry her own things.

“I need to think about this” said Sonea a little uneasy and was not sure if this would be a good idea, but her mother would maybe accept it if she would take a maid with her, but she needed still to talk with her mother about it. “Is it good that I will send you a owl when I know if I can go? I think that I will bring a maid with me if I have permission from my parents because I’m still too young to travel alone and I am probably not allowed to carry my own tings when others could see me…

Mack was taken aback by the comment of carrying things, did her maids really do everything for her? She had been raised having maids tending to her every need but she even she was able to go to Diagon Alley alone and carry her own things, she made a mental note not to mention this in front of gran otherwise she would no longer be able to carry things either. "Of course you can send an owl, I'll be staying in Paris for about three weeks after we return then I'll be back in Redbridge" the fair skinned girl smiled, maybe if the girl told her mother she was meeting another student and mentioned her family then she would be able to come, she also needed to see Lex and see if it was okay that she had invited the girl to Diagon Alley since she had made plans to see her friend there. "maybe if you mention you're meeting me there, your mother will let you come, also my last name is Jones, your parents may know of my family." surely they did, the girl beamed at the solution to all the problems and just hoped that everything went according to plan.

“I can do that” said Sonea slowly and wondered if her mother would give her permission, even if she knew who Mack was and how important her family was, but she was hopeful, her mother always liked it if Sonea would interfere with other pureblood people who were important or could be important in the future. “Do you have also maids at home who are doing everything you want them to do?” Sonea was curious how a other pureblood was raised because she only knew the friends from her parents and they were all the same, but she knew that not all the wealthy families were like hers. Sonea opened her luggage and searched for a pair of clean clothes she could carry when she was almost in London, her mother had told her to remove her school uniform for her own clothes when she sat in the train. She also needed to hide Little princess because the muggles were stupid and had never seen a pink rat before.

mack knew it was only a matter of time before Sonea asked about her maids "We have a staff of about 75, Gran refuses for me to do anything, but they are all nice. I do get to go to Diagon alone, mum has made sure I have some freedom when I stay with my grandparents which I do often."

Alice nodded along seriously, processing all of the things that he was saying and attempting to remember the important parts. Why was he moving fro the floor, though? She liked it down there. She was staying down there. Besides, Titus would most probably be disgruntled again if she stood up and tossed him off her lap, wouldn't he?

"Burning is easier than actually baking. Easier than potions, too, because most everything is easier than potions/" Except things didn't turn but nearly as tasty when you burned them, but that was okay, she guessed. That was what takeout was for, takeout and fast food. "I can't swim. But I'll sit and watch you and throw those funny pool toys at you."

Like a good girlfriend.

Oh, okay, nope. Alice was going to stay on the floor, which suddenly made hand holding very awkward. Mo released her hand and tried holding her forehead, but then he couldn't look at her properly. He nudged at her with her foot, but he was pretty sure she didn't want to hold his toes.

This was what a boyfriend did. He sat on the floor when a seat would be more comfortable because he didn't want to make his girlfriend hold his toes. He bumped back to the floor and reached for Alice's hand again.

"My sister-who-isn't-a-sister is an excellent baker. Maybe that's why Vivi never bothered to learn, but I kind of liked watching. First bite out of the oven and first to lick the spoon, you know?" Not that he was an amazing cook, but Mo could handle a batch of cookies or such. Perhaps if he made that known, though, he'd be expected to handle most of the cooking, and he sort of thought the draw to staying with Vivi and Selina would be all the unhealthy food they'd be ordering in. Loads of it, he hoped.

"I can teach you to swim, if you want. Or we can find other things to do. It won't be much fun without you." He had no desire to splash around in the pool by himself.