Hearing a slightly familiar voice, Rylee turned her attention towards the compartment door. “Shera! Hi!” she exclaimed brightly now all trace of her having been crying just a few minutes earlier gone, unless one was to really look at her face that is. “Uh-huh! Come sit with us.” The more the merrier her mummy and big sister always told her. Not to mention a familiar face right now would be helpful in keeping her slowly rising happy mood where it should be. Happy.

There was a boy (Gunnar) standing there behind Shera that Rylee nearly didn’t notice until he poked his head into the compartment asking to sit with them. “I don’t mind. Anyone in welcome in here… that is if you don’t mind all of us girls?” She giggled waving the boy in. “I’m Rylee, do you want a sugar quill?” Holding the bag of sugar quills out to Shera as she came to sit down and than to him. “Are you a first year too?”

Hopefully Miss Vi didn’t mind all of these first years.

"Nice to meet you Daisy!" A smile of radiance and a head nod was given in her direction. This one seemed friendly. She would make a good friend for Aaron he thought to himself.

Then the oldest boy started talking. Tenacius was his name. Interesting. Very interesting. And he was prefect for Gryffyndor and the head boy? Not to mention that he too, seemed nice and welcoming to others. It was rather obvious by how the boy greeted the two firsties upon their arrival to the compartment. That's when he had asked the question about which house he'd like to be in. "If I'm being completely honest with you, I'm not entirely sure which house I would wanna be in, nor do I really have a preference. Only my mother and my father went to Hogwarts. On my father's side, my grandparents came from Italy after they graduated from the Wizarding School out there, and on my mother's side both of her parent's are muggles." He took a breath before continuing, "But my father was a Slytherin and my mother was a Gryffyndor." And not to mention that Aaron fit a lot of the traits possessed by each house.

After saying that the other girl, Hanna, mentioned something about exploring, and boy did that basically spark a fire within Aaron's soul. He couldn't help but say with glee "EXPLORING!?!?!?!? I love to explore!!! We should definitely explore the castle together!!! It would be so cool going on all those fun adventures around Hogwarts, don't you think?" If there was one thing that would get Aaron going and talk more than he already does, it was to just mention going on adventures. Boy, did that kid love to do all sorts of that stuff. Now he met the perfect person to do it with.

"There are brilliant students in every house so I'm sure you will like the house the Sorting Hat puts you in," Daisy told both Hanna and Aaaron. When they both expressed an interest in exploring the castle, Daisy smiled to herself. "Remember that some aspects of Hogwarts are out of bounds and it should be treated with respect. Anyway, I'm sure you will learn the rules at the Sorting Feast."

Jessi’s face lit up when Vi offered chocolate. “I would like a piece, thanks”, she replied to the older girl. Sadly, sugar was her weakness. She accepted a sugar qull from Ryle and then went into her own stash. “I have some gummy bears too. Would anyone like some?” Now properly sugared up, Jessi was ready to participate in the conversation. “I’m pretty excited about going to Hogwarts. I can’t wait to learn all kinds of magic stuff.” Then turning her attention to Rylee, she said, “I haven’t reall made any friends yet.” She was kinda hoping that Rylee might be her first one.

Right on cue, the door opened. Another potential friend? Jessi was game. “Hi Shera. I’m Jessi. It’s nice to meet you.”. No sooner than those introductions had been made, another kid joined the group. Jessi smiled. It was better than she’d hoped. Lots of kids and they all seemed to be about her age. “Come on in and join the fun”, she said. “I’m Jessi. It’s nice to meet meet you........? Gummy bear anyone?” What could be better? New friends and candy all around!

It had been a lifetime, actually. Or, at least, it had been four and a half months, which was almost five months, which was practically six months, which may as well have been a full year, because it was absolutely a lifetime where not seeing friends was concerned. So the hug was welcome, and Abra gladly returned it. Until...

"Uhhhh..." It probably would have been easier to repeat himself if they were still hugging, and they weren't looking at each other, but obviously that was not the case. Um. Uhhhh... "Never mind." He'd address that part later. Yes.

With his hands and arms free again, Abra played for a moment with his newly (and almost ridiculously) grown out hair, ruffling the back and then the front and then sort of mussing it a bit and sweeping it again, all with one hand. It was so long now and, even though he had been there too for the whole time it had been growing, he still wasn't entirely sure of how to control it... or manage it... or... do anything with it. "I bet prefects can get away with all sorts," he remarked as finally left it alone, actually now looking much more faux-windswept than he ever intended to, though not realising it just yet. "Oh! Social experiment! How much more do people get away with when they have badges! ... I wonder if prefects get into more trouble or less when they actually get caught doing something? Although, I bet first years probably get away with things more than anyone else..."

Thinking out loud was a habit of Abra's, and he wasn't entirely sure of whether it was a good habit or a bad one, because saying things out loud helped him figure things out, but also actually it did make him sound stupid too, especially when he realised mid-sentence that maybe his initial thought wasn't so straightforward after all.

Pushing that concern aside for now, he focused instead on just smiling at Jessa. "I almost didn't. It was hard, deciding to come back, but I didn't want to not see anyone ever again." There was more to it than that, of course, but those remarks were saved for private conversations, not the sort of exchange shared in a train corridor.

Are you a Prefect? She paused for a moment. The question had caught her off guard as she was about to say that she wasn't the Prefect and that Noelle was... but then... Yes, she was the Prefect. Noelle had graduated and she had been offered the position. "Yes, I am a Prefect," nodded Vi at Rylee's question. There was another question presented to the group. This time it was about pet's. Yes, Vi did have a pet. "I have a Crup called Chewy named after Chewbacca from Star Wars but he lives at home with my brother. He keeps a wary eye on him. Making sure that he stays out of trouble." More so, it was the other way around. Simon made sure that Chewy didn't get into too, too much trouble

Then Jessi spoke up. Chocolate? Of course. "Yes. Enjoy," she said with a grin and then Rylee brought out her sugar quills. Teehee. Aw yes. Now they were having a feast. She smiled. "Magic is amazing. Just wait until we get to Hogwarts and walk into the Great Hall...." Her smile grew larger as she remembered her first time walking into the Great Hall. The candles hung above her, floating effortlessly... The crowded tables that had seemed intimidating. The old sorting hat that spoke in riddles at times. The cheer that had accompanied the sorting hat's decree of her house. Gryffindor. The relief she felt seeing a familiar face... Seeing familiar faces... Tenacius. Matt. Noelle. Olly. It almost brought tears to her eyes but she wouldn't cry in front of the younger ones. Her mind focused on one person in particular and she grinned as she glanced at the girl's. "The people you'll meet there will hopefully make the whole experience even more magical."

Ooh look who we have here! Another first year! Quite a gathering they were having. And this young one seemed to know Rylee. Oh good! "Nice to meet you, Shera. I'm Vi. Vi Holden." Vi offered a grin to the younger year. "Chocolate?" Then she heard another voice. Turning her gaze, she found a boy joining them. Now this one (Gunnar) seemed a little shy but he was asking to join them. Vi nodded her head in agreement. Oh yes, it was more than okay for him to join. "Of course! Come take a seat," she grinned. "I'm Vi. Vi Holden. Gryffindor Prefect." Oh yes, she had chocolate in the box she held. "Yes, if you'd like some chocolate too! You're more than welcome to it."

Shera beamed at everyone in the carriage as Rylee invited her in, dropping herself down in a free space. She also proceeded to wave at the boy that had followed her in.

Her eyes flitted back to Rylee, and then the sugar quills. If she was beaming before, that was nothing now. "Yes please," she responded, grabbing a single sugar quill out of the packet. They were one of her favourite lollies, though she was never certain if she preferred them or chocolate frogs.

And then Jessi offered her gummy bears... could she keep these people forever? Two people and two offers for sweets? They were officially her friends. It didn't matter if they didn't think so yet. They were. But for now she was going to maintain her composure, especially because she was more absorbed in the sugar quill that she was sucking on.

"Nice to meet you too, Jessi!" Shera greeted, a broad smile on her face. Then her attention was taken from the first years over to the older student.

A prefect? That was super cool! And Chewbacca? Star Wars? "Ummmm... what's star wars?" her head was tilted to the side in confusion. It was probably a muggle thing, right? "Oooh and nice to meet you too Vi, and thanks but I'm alright."

She waved her hand with the sugar quill as a reason why she was alright without chocolate, before continuing to suck on it and happily sinking into her seat.