Back to school.

Noah and Noelle had planned to meet near the back of the train in one of the compartments.

But first, Noelle had to say goodbye to her family. She gave them long hugs and kisses to the forehead to her brothers and sister. Unfortunately, her oldest brother (who was 12) got the dad genes instead of mum genes and won't be coming to Hogwarts. He got extra love. With a final wave, she got on the train.

Noelle looked around. She was one of the first people on. Heading to the back, she slid into an empty compartment. She toyed with her necklace and bracelet, waiting on her boyfriend and her friends..... Or just anyone to talk to really.

BECAUSE IT WAS TIME TO GO BACK TO SCHOOL. Her home.

Kimi was nervous because he was away from home and saw a girl sitting on her own and said "Hey there may i join you?" Kimi didnt have many friends yet but he wanted somebody to sit with

Waiting was such a chore. It had been like 3 minutes already!! Where was everyone? Noelle was soooo impatient.

Maybe looking out the window would help. Noelle had just turned her head to watch the platform when a voice came to her right. She looked at the boy and took in his icklness. He was adorable. Had she been that cute when she was a first year? Merlin!

Noelle was a fourth year now and experienced. These train rides that had once been so scary, were nothing now.

"Of course, come on in." Noelle have him a welcoming smile. She remembered her first train ride and it being terrifying. She wanted to make it easy for him.

Kimi made his way into the compartment and smiled and said "Thanks, I am Kimi Kovalainen this is my first year at Hogwarts so this train ride is very scary for me"

Awwww. Look how he rambled and for everything out in one sentence. Noelle could tell the young boy was scared.

"Well there's no need to be scared with me unless you're in the dueling ring with me." Noelle teased. She wasn't even scary in the dueling pin. "Im Noelle Grace Summers. Nice to meet you Kimi."

When she had first started Hogwarts, she had introduced herself and then shook hands, but now she was a fourth year, and that was just too formal.

Kimi smiled and said "Nice to meet you Noelle, so what year are you in?" Kimi couldnt wait to get to Hogwarts even though he was pretty scared about being so far away from home

"im a fourth year no" Noelle lifted her chin proudly. She was halfway... A little more than halfway finished with Hogwarts. It was astounding.

"First year is great though. You'll make a lot of friends. Most of my friends, I met in first year. We have just.... Been growing up together." Noelle told him with a smile.

She took a moment to reminisce how she met everyone. Her favorite was Noah. She'd pulled him into an adventure the first moment they had met. In fact, most of her friends she had met in Diagon Alley.

"Are you excited though?"

Kimi smiled at Noelle and said "Yes i am excited and yeah i hope so i need the friends to keep me company as i am far away from home and my parents"

Why is it that the back car is always so stuffy with students? It wasn't as if they were in class yet and everyone was trying to keep out of professors' line of vision. Unless there were professors at the front of the train and he hadn't seen them.

Cornelius turned to the side, green eyes darting from right to left and left to right.

There was no adult present. So. Maybe it was one of those trends. Like, HEY! Everyone the back cars are cool! And everyone follows.

Whatever the case was, there were firsties shoving their way through and Cornelius had to resist his Quidditch skills from making an appearance and BOUNCING those little piece of dragon dung to the other side of the train.

So. The curly-head remained calm and shoved his way through. He was leaving the back and making his own trend.

Belle made it harder and harder to leave each year. This year she turned on the water works full force and wouldn't let go of his leg, until his mother pried her off him. Speaking of, his mother was getting so much better at seeing him off. There were no tears this year, even though he was boarding the train with his face completely covered in lipstick stains.

First order of the day was ensuring that Heath got all his stuff packed away and that he was seated and okay, then he left his brother to hold a compartment for Phillip and Blaise.

And Bentley found the perfect one at the back. Hoozah!

Hadley peered into one of the compartments. It was filled with kids she didn't know. Firsties maybes. It wasn't her friends that was for sure. She was wearing a black skirt and a freshly made shirt of her own design. Asher the ferret was, as usual, on her shoulder, stirred to agitation by the commotion all around them. The ash grey ferret chattered loudly in her ear. "Relax, kid. We'll find them soon and get out of the crowded hallways."

Asher continued to protest loudly as she peered into the next compartment. It wasn't them either. "Maybe we were supposed to meet in the middle cars?" She directed her question at the ferret, but in reality was just talking out loud. Asher began to pace back and forth across her shoulders.

What was up with him today anyway? He was usually not so skiddish. It was like he had woken up in a bad mood and was done with people. It just wasn't like him at all.

They weren't in the next three compartments either. Asher, fed up, leaped down off Hadley's shoulder and took off down the hallway. If Hadley wasn't going to hurry up, he was gonna make him.

"Carp!" Just what she needed. Hadley rushed down the hall after him, weaving her way through the people. "You!" She called to the curly haired boy. "Stop that ferret!"

Her legs were shaking. This was becoming usual, considering she spent her last two rides towards the train station were without company. Mother had a meeting somewhere to seal a deal, and her father, nowhere to be seen lately except through letters.

Shaking it off, this thought, Stephie dragged her luggage around and placed it on the respective compartment, then headed to a place she hoped to find a good seat by a window, or maybe just good access to the food trolley.

Head hanging low and puffy red-rimmed eyes cast downward, Lancelot dragged his carry on luggage towards the back of the train after giving the proper farewell to his grandparents. Just his grandparents this time. The missing figure on the platform that he wanted to see was hitting him harder than he ever thought it could. Especially since he had a good few weeks to let all this sink in.

Opening the next compartment he came across, he dragged his luggage into the middle of the compartment before promptly flopping on the empty seat face down. No doubt wouldn't move from this spot until they got to school... or unless someone else came in.

Though it was becoming increasingly difficult to try and close the compartment door with his foot.

In case it wasn't brilliantly obvious, he didn't want to be here. He didn't want to board the Hogwarts Express (did he ever?) and he didn't want to admit that he'd be heading back to school for a whole other year. How Julie managed to be so chipper about it was beyond him but one thing was for certain; she was NOT sitting with him if she insisted on wearing that stupid grin and obnoxiously sharing her excitement with him. Typically, Blaise prided himself on being brother of the year but that was asking too much. He couldn't--wouldn't do it.

For his part, he made sure she wasn't sitting with jerks and idiots but then he was off to find Bentley. He would sulk in his compartment the whole way if he could. Nothing new.

Already understanding the pattern, the now Fourth Year didn't bother checking compartments. He already knew where his cousin would be; the back of the train. That's where Phillip would meet them, that's where he would imagine all the horrible things that would go wrong this year.

"Is it just me or do those First Years get smaller each year?" He quipped, slipping into the compartment and closing the door behind him. Which seat would be lay claim to? Hmm.

Nothing made him stomp his feet like the feeling of something rushing over them. Cornelius wasn't squeamish, he was the opposite, really. But when he wasn't expecting it his body reacted on his own.

That was until someone yelled into his direction. "Meee?!" Him, right? Why him?

Quickly, he cast his gaze down and managed to catch sight of a wisp of grey-fluff-something. Being extremely familiar with runaway pet, Cornelius set off and ran after the grey thing without question.

"Come back! I have treats!" What if the thing bit him? The boy withdrew his wand just in case and RAN after the thing.

Bentley promptly propped his feet up on the seat across from the one he was sitting on. He needed two to be comfortable for the whole ride over, so he claimed it before Blaise got settled.

"I'm pretty sure it's not just you. They look like Belle's age." So maybe that was a bit of a hyperbole but it was necessary. Speaking of siblings, where was his little cousin?

"Where's Julie? I don't suppose your parents would approve of you ditching her on her first train ride." He raised an eyebrow at his cousin.

Of course his cousin would make him work for it. Always that little hitch, wasn't there. With a roll of his eyes and a dramatic sigh, Blaise lifted and shoved Bentley's feet away and spread himself along the seat opposite him. No way he was letting him ride THAT comfortably the whole way....not that he planned to lie here the whole way either. Nope. Plans...which meant dutifully passing this one off to Phillip when the time came.

"They wouldn't approve of my dislike of magic either but here I sit, resentful and unremorseful." He retorted, giving a lazy wave of his hand to settle his quill. They were in this compartment alone, there was nothing that needed recording.

"When she starts acting like a decent human being, I might go find her and sit with her but she's probably already made so many eager little friends that I don't think I'd last more than a minute in there with 'em." So he'd just have to find her at the feast--unless she got put into another house then he supposed he'd have to go find her after. Merlin's beard this was a lot of work.

All she wanted to do was to sit down, was that so hard to ask. It felt like the whole train was crazy and filled with little kids. "was this always so crazy?" she thought to herself, while looking in some compartment windows she finally came across one that only seemed to have like 1 person in it. Too bad person she was going in no matter what.

Only having her bag with her she opened the door and went to the open seat and it was right next to the window, seems like her luck was changing. She gave a nod to the boy that was sitting in the compartment, she didnt know him but might as well give some sort of greeting.

He was a third year already. Hmm. He was also a teenager now. He wasn't sure if being a teenager was a good thing or a bad thing yet. Well maybe a bad thing so far. He had, had his first kiss the day before his birthday this year and that was a horrible day and a horrible event in his life. He wished he could just do it over with someone else, someone that wasn't just messing with him.

Bradson Somerhalder found his way back into the back of the train. He wasn't planning on sitting back here but everywhere else was full. The Hufflepuff boy looked around to see if there was any place to sit.

"Yes, you!" Too late. Asher was already past the kid and still going. Dang it! At least the kid was helping chase after him. Asher was usually so calm and obedient. This really wasn't like him.

Except he had done this once before. Sigh. She was gonna have to retrain her ferret.

Hadley chased after both Cornelius and Asher, all the way to the end of the car. She smiled as she saw what awaited them. A closed car door. Asher had cornered himself. The ferret reached the end and paused, running back and forth from one end of the door to the other looking for an opening. "Corner him!"

But that wasn't really necessary. Hads caught up to both of them a second later and scooped the ferret up, holding him securely by the scruff of his neck. "You little troublemaker." She wasn't letting go of him until they were securely in a compartment.

"Thanks for the assist," she said, turning to the boy. It wasn't everyone that would help chase down a ferret. "I'm Hads and this is Asher." She'd give him a high five, but she had her hands full at the moment.

Somehow he managed to get the door closed, his leg slumping down motionless like the rest of him, but just like magic... the compartment was opened again. His bottom lip almost wibbled from the sound. Pushing himself to a sitting position, the fifth year quickly wiped his eyes and runny nose.

Even worse, he had no clue who the girl was.

Still, he attempted half a smile and nodded back, softly clearing his throat.

Okay. There was NO TIME to find Sam. Or Maia. Or anyone else. She needed to SIT. Pronto. Exhaustion was sapping the life from her limbs as she moved through the train corridor.

U G H.

Maybe there was something boys were better at. Dragging trunks. Ha. She would make note to find a boy to carry all of her things immediately. And what LUCK was it that the compartment she muscled her way into held a boy. And a girl. SWEET!!

"Hey guys! I'm sitting here. Lancelot? Gryffindor? I don't know you, though, " she said as she moved her eyes to the female. She was cute. Hehe.

Dora commenced to plopping beside the boy... and noticed the sniffling and snot and such. "What happened to you? Do I need to punch someone? " GryffinDORA at yo service.

Wait.. was this kid crying. Great she had to pick a compartment with a kid with a ton of emotions. Just as she was about to say something to him another student came in.

Eyeballing them they both must be gryffindors even tho the boy acted more like a hufflepuff, Echo saw the girl look her way. Well... she wants to punch someone, she would actually love to see that happen. Might as well weigh in on the conversation. "can't be too bad kid, you don't have to cry"

Ohh she's Ohh so sensitive. At least she was trying..... ish.....

You know what would've been nice?

Tissues.

Wiping snot on his arm was making it feel weird. Though before he could raid his luggage, even though he was pretty sure he didn't have any, his body slumped against the wall in defeat as another girl entered the compartment. Yet thankfully he knew her, sorta. "Hi Dora," he mumbled, sounding clogged up.

Lance shook his head, sniffling again. Didn't want to talk about it. Or punch anyone.

"Do either of you have tissues?"