SPOILER!!: Lisa :3

Quote:

Originally Posted by Watson

She was so focused on the chapter that she was devouring. The author was rewarding her patience with a beautiful scene between the heroine and the dangerous, mysterious man who had walked into her life. Her heart began racing and then she glanced over at the next words when she heard knocking followed by a casual ‘Hey’. She imagined the man with dark suave hair and a smug smirk on his lips (in her mind, this character looked like Naveen from the Frog Princess movie) as he said the casual greeting.

Hey!!? Why was this the first word he said to the dear heroine!??!!? WAH! No way. Not after chapters of passing notes and exhaustingly painful descriptions of gazes. That had to be... Oh wait. The dialogue in the book was different from what she had read.

Suddenly she became aware that she was not alone.

Glancing up from her book, she saw Atlas knocking on the frame and smiled. A pretty friend. “Of course! I’d love to have you join,” she spoke as she closed her book abruptly because she had been reading a ... ahem ... romance novel. Her cheeks were flushed but she still smiled. “How was your summer?” she asked but the last word of her question was drowned out by Daniel and the commotion.

A snort escaped her when she saw the silly wiggle of his eyebrows and as he retreated, she covered her mouth and nose in shock as her face turned bright red. NO WAY! How embarrassing. She had just snorted in front of... Fortunately she didn’t have time to be embarrassed because as soon as Daniel slipped by, she heard a loud voice. She cringed. “That’s got to be hurting her vocal chords. All that shouting and she’ll ruin her voice more,” she frowned and lifted her nose up a little higher in the air. Normally she would have been worried what others thought of her comments but she felt comfortable with Atlas about expressing her likes and dislikes. Yes, attending theatre camp for six summers in a row clearly made her an expert on acting and vocal control... not that she had much room to talk because she would belt songs in the shower without properly warming up. Hmph. Then she spotted V and Daniel together. And the singing. And Serena and Jasper. She felt like she was beginning to short circuit.

Gfhdgfgdfdggfgdsfdsf.

What in Merlin’s Magical and Mystical World was transpiring on this very train?

She turned to the older Gryffindor and loudly whispered (a la stage whisper), “Atlas, can you pinch me? I think between Daniel, the singing, Daniel and V sitting in a compartment together that I may be hallucinating...”

Er...sorry to disappoint BUT...there were no princes here, dark or otherwise...and Atlas would hardly call himself dangerous. Rather he might advise her not to get all gooey over dangerous sorts because those were the sorts of people who would take advantage of red shirt status. Thankfully he was oblivious to all of this, mostly so he wouldn't have to explain red shirts OR how he too was drawn to a very specific 'dangerous' sort who had taken the fourth year completely by surprise with their presence on the Express. Though he would argue, fervently, that his person was only seen as dangerous because of projected insecurities, intimidations, and the general consensus of human nature's need to find someone to be the villain in their stories...so why not the one who felt strange to themselves?

...which actually reminded him of why he had wanted to find Lisa in the first place, peas and frogs aside.

"You okay? You look flushed. I think I've got some ice mice in my pocket somewhere if you need something to cool down," he offered as he stepped into the compartment fully and flopped down beside her. He didn't for a second even consider that she might be blushing because of his presence - his mind was coasting along a different track at the moment. Though the domino effect of peculiar happenings that ensued in the subsequent ten seconds derailed him from that track as well.

At least he had missed the cover of her book in the whole mess of sounds and facial expressions.

"Must be eager to audition for the Frog Choir or something," he winced, sticking his pinky fingers into his ears to mute it somewhat until the singing had died down. "Best case...may sing herself hoarse," he added with a shrug. Atlas wasn't one to sing all that much, or really listen to music with much regularity, but when he DID...well...it was hardly tunes of the quiet variety. And, yes, Lisa...he had not heard your query about summer.

"...pinch you?" he repeated, brow arches and jaw set curiously on his back teeth. "...I...guess...yeah...I can do that..." Was there a certain area he should be pinching? Or somewhere not to pinch? Since his attention had been on her face moments earlier, that too was where his fingers moved and he lightly pinched the skin of one of her flushed cheeks between his thumb and index finger - even giving it a bit of a wiggle since that was how Andromeda used to do it. "Better?"

Daniel was surprised that V hadn't teased him about the flush on his face. But he appreciated the fact that she didn't because he was certain she had noticed. He took a slow, deep breath before turning to face her as she sat down.


"We are...." He wasn't sure how close he was to Lisa, but he thought that they were pretty close. He'd never had a friend before coming to Hogwarts and Lisa was his very first friend ever so he did not have a comparison though. "But just because we're close doesn't mean we have to be in each other's company all the time" he added.

He was intrigued by the singer at first, but, like V, he was too lazy to get up from his seat and tell her to stop singing. He followed her gaze out the window and remained silent for a moment as the landscape changed to a mountainous view. He had always enjoyed the view from the train.

Daniel frowned when he heard the name of Jasper. He returned his attention to the Slytherin, wondering where she was going with this. "We are not friends" he stated. "But after we made things up, i have nothing against him" Did V even know about the fight Jasper and him had in their first year? Because of her? Although the fight hadn't gotten physical, Daniel was certain that they had both itched to punch each other. And in Daniel's case, he'd have loved to have sent a curse his way back then. But no anymore. That was years ago. "Jasper really defended you back in our first year, you know" he said. "I thought that he had a crush on you" this was not said in a teasing sort of way but as a matter of fact.

"......We're alone again" he suddenly said as he looked around the close-spaced room. " and we aren't at each other's throat again. Kind of weird...but i ...li-" He was about to say that he liked it but then cleared his throat. "What did you do this summer? Lisa mentioned dancing?"

It wasn't a huge surprise to Charlotte Melina Weyker that saying goodbye to her family had taken quite a long time. Not only had her parents and two younger siblings, James and Mia, accompanied her, her aunt and three cousins had come along, too. Six young, excitable children and three emotional adults was no joke. By the time she had untangled herself from the many arms that had encircled her, almost every other student, it seemed, was already on the train. She was the first of the Weyker and Charlton children to go Hogwarts, though, so she knew it was a big deal.

Once on the train, Charlotte headed towards the back in the hopes of finding a quieter compartment. She wanted to decompress before talking to any of her future classmates and fellow students, but it seemed that every compartment had at least one other person in. So, she went inside the next compartment she came to, slipping past an extremely loud older girl (Lydia) on the way. “Hello,” she said, just catching the end of the older boy’s (Joseph) question to the younger girl (Maxine), who was the only other person in this compartment. “Do you mind if I sit in here?” She gave them both a small but friendly smile.

"Yeah!" He agreed, puffing up his chest and sitting a little taller in his seat. This did make him feel super grown up. When was the last time he had been away from his parents and sister for a long time? The only time he could think of was last year's residential trip with school, and that was only a week! He had loved it, though, because it had been full of adventures and Hooper had been with him. But this was going to be months and months! "We're going to be SO tall and grown up next time we see our families. I bet they won't even recognise us!" He laughed, imagining their faces when they saw how much they had grown.

"Exactly!" He was glad that Hooper knew what he meant. "I want to learn more about wizards and stuff in general! I bet there's loads of boring parts, though." Those parts he would skip over, probably.

Parker noticed, then, that Hooper's gaze had drifted towards the window. He was used to this happening - to his best friend's attention drifting. He would usually just carry on talking anyway. "Yeah! That one!" He confirmed once Hooper had tuned back in. "Neither would mine." Parker hadn't even tried to cast any spells, although he obviously really wanted to. His mother had been very clear with him that it was illegal, and he hadn't wanted to get into trouble before magic school even started. Once he was there, though, well… that was a different matter.

"I read that one, too!" He didn't completely get the rules of Quidditch yet, but he would! "You should definitely try out for the team, bro! It would be INSANE if you were on the team." Parker, however, was slightly apprehensive about the whole flying thing… Don't get him wrong, it sounded like just about the coolest thing ever, but… he wasn't the best with heights, and he wasn't sure that his size would lend itself well to flying on a broomstick.

And just like that Maxine had company, she was rather happy, though it appeared she was still the youngest ... that always made her uncomfortable. She didn't like be treated like a baby. "Of course you can both sit! I'd love the company" She added motioning to the empty seats for their butts to fill. "Nice to meet you Joe, I'm Maxine .. but you can call me Max everyone does."

Maxine turned toward the other girl, did she give her name? She couldn't remember. "I didn't catch your name." Maxine felt kind of bad, did she say her name?? She wasn't sure. "I'm so nervous, but excited at the same time." Was she babbling again .. most likely, she did that a lot when she got nervous and excited, which is what she said in the first place.

His concern was so endearing that it only made her blush more. You okay? How kind!!! Uh.. wait.. Was she okay? Did he think that she looked ill? She had to pause so that she could aptly think through her answer. She was just touched at how well raised both Atlas and Jasper were. She smiled. Another gentleman on the train. Other boys take notes, she thought. The offer of an ice mice would help cool her cheeks certainly but would it stop the blushing? Only time could tell. “I think..”

For once she was grateful for the screeching coming down the corridor. She slipped the book behind her, still wincing at the noise, before a chuckle escaped her. Yes someone was very eager to join. She smirked, leaning against the back of the seat momentarily. “And then some peace and quiet will follow suit?” she asked, closing her eyes momentarily before opening one eye up as she looked over at Daniel and V in the compartment next door. Yeah, right. As IF they were going to get any shut eye with those two practically about to start bickering any minute.

BUT NONE OF THIS MADE SENSE!! SO INTERNAL EMOTIONS AND THOUGHTS were flinging themselves around like the winds whipping into a tornado before transfiguring themselves into self-weaving spider silk that wove themselves into this messy tapestry in her mind. A tapestry that lacked all logic and reason. She paused, trying to unravel it strand by strand to find any hint of logic. She was certifiably going mad right now. She was not okay.

Though in her crazy roller coaster of thoughts it was Atlas’ comment and reaction that brought her back. The question itself brought calmness to her mind for the briefest of seconds. Pinch you? Yes, pinch me, she thought but simply nodded to his question. The noise began to crescendo around her but stopped when her chubby cheek felt a slight wiggle. Her cheeks flushed more as she just stared back. The noise around them became quieter- the screeching and animal sounds became muffled. Lisa found quiet in the distraction. So much quiet that she almost missed his next question.

Better?”

She raised a hand to her cheek where he had pinched her gently and nodded, touching the area gently, before shooting him a smile. “Much... I’m not hallucinating. I’m glad that you are here, Atlas.” She really was because if he wasn’t here then he would have been part of the hallucination and no one would have been able to pinch her and she would have been very much so trapped in this strange dimension.

Lisa straightened her posture a little, glancing towards Daniel and V. “I can’t believe they’re getting along... Never ever did I think I’d see that,” she mentioned, nodding her head towards the duo in the neighboring compartment. “That’s what caught me off guard... Very bizarre.” What was this feeling - so new and sudden that was causing her stomach to flip? Was she jealous of the two of them getting along or was she relieved? Or perhaps she was worried about them becoming better friends with each other than with her!! Such teenage angst filled her mind. Lisa shrugged deciding to ignore the weird feelings.“Anyway...” she began, trying to think if she had asked Atlas her original question. “How was your summer?”

After Salem-Rain's father helped put her trunk in the luggage car and saying good bye with hugs from her parents she made her way the the back of the train. Picking a compartment to seat in she opened the door for compartment C. Their where some students and an open seat. "Is that seat taken?"
OOC: This post is not directed to anyone particular.

"That's okay," he shrugged casually. "You don't have to agree for it to be true." He wasn't point-blank saying she was wrong, but the implication was there all the same. And he approached her next question with the same casual, Jasper-grade confidence. "If you get it, you get it and if you don't..." He shrugged again, though he couldn't seem to shake that mischievous look in his eyes. That was his tell. "You don't."

And just so she knew, that casual way she dismissed potential strangling would've been way more concerning if Jasper actually believed someone was being strangled. But Jas was more amused than he was concerned. As per usual. "Mmm... Maybe a bit more than unfortunate," he pinched his thumb and index finger close together, scrunching his nose so that all his freckles bunched up.

What even was this conversation?

"Almost was one. Slytherin too. Turns out they all wanted me, who could blame them?" Excluding Ravenclaw, but that checked out. In any case, Jasper was just teasing again. (He did believe it though, that they all wanted him.) He would've been good in any house, but he was happy to be in Hufflepuff. It ran in the family. And he had plans to be a Hufflepuff legend like his baba, so he had zero complaints.

With that, he shifted his attention as Serena popped one of the sweets into her mouth and watched, eager to see which one she'd end up with - only to IMMEDIATELY lose any sense of composure the moment the elephant noises began. So much so that he was now kicking his feet around and sliding off his seat, doubling over in such a way that his backwards-cap fell off his head. The laughing-choking-elephant combo was INCREDIBLE. The direct contrast between Serena's usual demeanor. LOL.

"I CAN'T-"

This was too good.

A BLONDE GIRL.
Ruari's grin grew about ten times as she entered the compartment. "Of course! I mean-" He added in a much calmer, cooler tone. "I'm expecting some friends but there's always room for more." He waved his hand over at the seat across from him, the window seat, and leaned back comfortably in his own. "I've seen you around, you're a lioness, right?' Lioness sounded... kinda.. compliment-y.. Kinda, flirty. He hadn't meant for it to sound that way- he hadn't meant for it to sound anyway- well, expect friendly. "Er, I'm Ruari Fuller-thompson. Second Year, Ravenclaw. Lucky's little brother." Little but not that little. Remember the two inches? TWOWHOLEINCHES. He hadn't.

SPOILER!!: he is glad to be of service...but also so confused xD

Quote:

Originally Posted by Watson

His concern was so endearing that it only made her blush more. You okay? How kind!!! Uh.. wait.. Was she okay? Did he think that she looked ill? She had to pause so that she could aptly think through her answer. She was just touched at how well raised both Atlas and Jasper were. She smiled. Another gentleman on the train. Other boys take notes, she thought. The offer of an ice mice would help cool her cheeks certainly but would it stop the blushing? Only time could tell. “I think..”

For once she was grateful for the screeching coming down the corridor. She slipped the book behind her, still wincing at the noise, before a chuckle escaped her. Yes someone was very eager to join. She smirked, leaning against the back of the seat momentarily. “And then some peace and quiet will follow suit?” she asked, closing her eyes momentarily before opening one eye up as she looked over at Daniel and V in the compartment next door. Yeah, right. As IF they were going to get any shut eye with those two practically about to start bickering any minute.

BUT NONE OF THIS MADE SENSE!! SO INTERNAL EMOTIONS AND THOUGHTS were flinging themselves around like the winds whipping into a tornado before transfiguring themselves into self-weaving spider silk that wove themselves into this messy tapestry in her mind. A tapestry that lacked all logic and reason. She paused, trying to unravel it strand by strand to find any hint of logic. She was certifiably going mad right now. She was not okay.

Though in her crazy roller coaster of thoughts it was Atlas’ comment and reaction that brought her back. The question itself brought calmness to her mind for the briefest of seconds. Pinch you? Yes, pinch me, she thought but simply nodded to his question. The noise began to crescendo around her but stopped when her chubby cheek felt a slight wiggle. Her cheeks flushed more as she just stared back. The noise around them became quieter- the screeching and animal sounds became muffled. Lisa found quiet in the distraction. So much quiet that she almost missed his next question.

Better?”

She raised a hand to her cheek where he had pinched her gently and nodded, touching the area gently, before shooting him a smile. “Much... I’m not hallucinating. I’m glad that you are here, Atlas.” She really was because if he wasn’t here then he would have been part of the hallucination and no one would have been able to pinch her and she would have been very much so trapped in this strange dimension.

Lisa straightened her posture a little, glancing towards Daniel and V. “I can’t believe they’re getting along... Never ever did I think I’d see that,” she mentioned, nodding her head towards the duo in the neighboring compartment. “That’s what caught me off guard... Very bizarre.” What was this feeling - so new and sudden that was causing her stomach to flip? Was she jealous of the two of them getting along or was she relieved? Or perhaps she was worried about them becoming better friends with each other than with her!! Such teenage angst filled her mind. Lisa shrugged deciding to ignore the weird feelings.“Anyway...” she began, trying to think if she had asked Atlas her original question. “How was your summer?”

Know who needed to hear that he was being thought the gentleman? Andromeda. She called him and Aries all sorts of things but he had never heard her call them gentlemen, not even to be contrary. But he was taking that as a no on the sweets, which was fine with him because it just meant melting more of them down to play around with later. He still had to update Lucia on his progress in making a chocolate acromantula.

Choolate frogs were going to have NOTHING on this beast.

At least...once he stopped exploding the 1/15 to scale prototypes whenever he tried to enchant them.

"In theory," he chuckled while leaning forward to peer out as best he could into the corridor. "We could also just shut the door, that would help too." He hadn't quite figured out Muffliato yet for privacy, though that was not entirely applicable here either. Though, now that he thought about it, shutting the door DID seem like the most practical solution and thus that was precisely what he did. There. No more wailing and other noise. Just him and Lisa in the compartment and that subtle ringing to the ears that had not yet faded away from all the noise. There was also, of course, the gentle sounds from the Hogwarts Express as it zipped down the tracks...but that was a pleasant sort of white noise he did not mind. "See?" he grinned back at her. And it was unlocked in case someone else wanted to come in.

"And not just a figment of your imagination?" he teased with some casual wiggling of the fingers before flopping back into the seat. But...just to be safe and all since she WAS pretty red in the face...he leaned over and pressed the back of his hand to her forehead. She felt warm but...not any warmer than he did. "Well...if you were hallucinating...you aren't because of a fever," he offered as a diagnosis. "You know, there are other ways than trying to stimulate your pain receptors to know if you're really awake or not or if you're experiencing a false awakening." Neither of which had much to do with hallucinations, really, but it was one of dad's random lectures that felt at least half applicable.

Atlas did not think much about either V (...who was V? Who did HE know that had a name that started with 'V'? That crying Slytherin girl had a name that started with a V, right?) or especially Daniel, but he DID remember the Hufflepuff being really mean to her during a lesson once or twice...one of those times Atlas had even spoke up. So...process of elimination and observation lead him to the conclusion that Lisa's V was the Victoria he knew on the peripheries. "Maybe he is turning over a new leaf and changing his ways," the fourth year offered his friend with a shrug. "He needed a few attitude adjustments. I wouldn't want to see him make her cry again. People do change...sometimes."

Some people changed and he pretended not to see it or believe it too.

"Summer? It was good," he nodded. "Robotics camp like usual and a couple of camping trips and day trips to the beach with family and stuff. My unchiul, that's Romanian for uncle, taught me more metallurgy and metal charming theory...which is cool and all but lame that I can't actually practice proper because of the restrictions on underaged magic." That had been...one cool thing about the war time era, though he feared uttering such things aloud. That had been lifted...and he COULD have practiced at home. In theory. There...wasn't much of a home to go back to without dad being, well, dad. The BIG news was between himself and Remy, but it was a secret. "How about you?"

Why don’t we just close it? Ohhhhhhhhhhh. DUH. Okay she def dumb. Atlas’s solution was so simple. Part of her wondered why SHE hadn’t thought of such a brilliant solution cause she was smart. But she was so obviously distracted so fortunately Atlas wits were still about him unlike her own. He was so intelligent. This is why Lisa was in awe of him. Okay he was also kind of easy on the eyes but also SO smart. Intelligence was the personality trait she valued above all others. She returned his grin. “Brilliant, At,” she said, shortening his name a little. She hoped he didn’t mind it.

The tease caused her blush to grow as a chuckle escaped her. “I hope not. The pinch, in theory, should prove that I’m in this reality… maybe,” she laughed unless this was all virtual reality and ….. WAIT! Was she in a simulation? her overactive imagination started to kicked into gear at this fantastical possibility before she calmed herself. Nope. Nope. Pause. Stay grounded. And then he touched her far again which caused her to remain pink until she focused on his facial expression. “I presume, Dr. Flamsteed, it’s a case of my hyperactive imagination… I get carried away…” she said, glancing down as her emotions changed to embarrassment. “Maybe an ice mice would help….” Calm down all of this blushing. His next comment piqued her interest. Other ways to do that other than pinching? “Oh? Pray… do tell.”

She looked up at her older friend and took his wise words into consideration. She nodded slowly as she processed it all. Maybe he was turning over a new lead but V would need to as well. The first interaction in Diagon Alley was one that Lisa didn’t wish to witness all over again. “Maybe…. sometimes is key…. It’d be nice not to have their commotion in class again.” She didn’t need those distractions when she was trying to figure out how to get into the restricted section.

Summer was a less complicated topic that she enjoyed. Lisa listened to him explain all and her eyes widened when he mentioned going to robotics camp again. That was SO COOL! Also see??? ATLAS WAS *SWOON LEVEL WORTHY OF SMARTNESS*!!!! SWOON INDEED. “Robotics camp sounds fun but metallurgy and spells!?! That’s SO COOL!” She did have to agree with how lame the underage magic rule was… Interestingly enough, Daniel had also expressed discontent with such a rule… Perhaps that was one of the few things Atlas and Daniel had in common. “But yeah agreed on the lameness of that rule.. why is it a rule? Did something bad happen in the past?”

Her summer was fun. “It was great, yeah! Well theatre camp was fun but I had a disagreement with our director. She wanted us to focus on the dance of the music and everything but I tried to explain to her that dialogue was equally if not more important. If we couldn’t nail the dialogue then we’d just be a dancing crew which is mediocre at best… in my mind. Other than that, I went to a Quidditch match with Jasper and then hung out with Remy.”

Okay. Wingwoman moment here. Now let’s see a reaction at the mention of Remy, yeah?

Deep down inside that very thought pained her. She wouldn’t admit it but perhaps she was slightly jealous.

The more Serena tried to stop herself from laughing, the more she laughed and sounded like a squeaky elephant. Watching Jasper practically fall to the floor from laughter didn't help. She doubled over the seat and held her stomach. Ow, ow, ow! Laughing hurts!

As the sweets' effect dissipated, she covered her face to hide how red it was. That's the most she's laughed in ages. It felt nice. It made her feel as light as a feather for a moment there. "Merlin." She was still grinning as she lowered her hands. "That was ridiculous."

She thought back to what he said about being a man and how if she didn't get it, then she didn't get it. Her grin faltered until it gradually faded. There was confidence and then there was Jasper confidence. The latter triggered her. Was he always so flawlessly confident? It low-key annoyed Serena, and it lowkey made her jealous. Was that why Lisa liked him? Was that why her eyes went and hearts and stars when Jasper was mentioned in conversation? Serena's mood took a dive. "I was just curious," she said with a shrug and looked away towards the window. "About the man thing." She clarified.

Her eyes went back to the freckles on his face. He made her curious. "If someone was being strangled you'd run out there and be a knight in shining armor, wouldn't you?" And that was one of the biggest differences between them. He'd save the entire world if it was in trouble. Serena would only save her people. She wasn't ashamed of that. Her dad once told her it was okay to have different opinions and priorities. He didn't agree with all of the Baltazar standards and morals and vise versa when he married her mum. That didn't make them good people and he a bad person. BUUUUT then that meant she wouldn't come off as a knight in shining armor and all of the girls will be after Jasper. UGGGGGGH.

She had no idea what this conversation was, but she was learning a lot. Like if she still liked Jasper or if she wanted to push him into the Whomping Willow. Or both.

As she sat back up, Serena plucked his hat from the floor and put it on her head, her red bangs covering her eyes. Did she look cool, yet? "Anyway, you're not Slytherin material," she said, then added, "no offense." People tended to get their feelings hurt when they were excluded from something. Her therapist had suggested Serena practice empathy.

Being friends with Parker for so long, he instantly saw the little puff up in his chest as he sat back and couldn’t help but grin and almost laugh at his friend. He was such a GoOOOoof ball! “Bro…are you okay or something? You’re sticking your chest out like one of those weird birds. The uhh…”hesitating for a moment as his mind went back to his muggle primary school and to once of the lessons that they’d had on bird. Snapping his fingers, he grinned wide, “Frigatebird!!! Bro, you’re just like a Frigatebird!! Remember when we learned about them in Year 6 with Mrs Johnson?” throwing himself back on his seat as he laughed a little too much. Wiping an imaginary tear away sarcastically as he remembered his old school and how they’d spent so many weeks studying these stupid red birds with the puffy chests. “I know what you mean though. Maybe I’ll be as tall as you by the time we finish this year!” He was never too bothered that his friend was taller him. He just simply never usually brought it up. Ever.

Hooper just knew…He just knew that there was going to be so much that he had to learn to become a great wizard and for the first time in his life, he was actually excited to learn. But part of him, a very big small part was just a little too lazy and couldn’t be bothered to learn the history and their way of life, figuring it was simply better to live it and pick it up as he went along. “There is for sure going to be boring things man. Hopefully though, we get to do so much magic that like, we don’t have time to read or something.”

He knew that their parents had obviously been talking and had decided most likely for the best that they shouldn’t be allowed to use magic until they get to school. “Don’t worry Big Dog, we’ll be at this school before we know it and we’ll be casting spells all around these fools,” his hands now shooting up, gesturing at the carriages around them. “I just hope that we’re in the same house. It would be weird being in different ones,” and a little scary if he were being honest with himself.

“Yeah? You think?”he replied, now subconsciously puffing up his own chest. “I mean, I don’t think I’d be the best flyer really but we should both give it a go man. You and me together on the same team! Hoops and Big Dog flying hoops around everyone!” jumping up now in excitement again to push and pull his friend around everywhere in excitement, laughing and giggling as he did so in between his dog barking impersonations. “P-DOOOOOOOG!! WoOOOOOF WOOOOOF!!”

Ivy knelt on the floor, keeping herself eye level with the open cat carrier and the little black cat within. The carrier was set on one seat, and her kitty was curled up towards the back of it, eyes wide and ears alert. He hadn't enjoyed the train rides to and from Hogwarts last term, and it seemed that it would be the same this term. But she still wanted to try to help him calm down.

She held up one of his little mouse toys, shaking it so he'd hear the rattle of the bell inside it, but so far he didn't seem to take much notice of it. And then compartment door opened and a new voice spoke, asking about an open seat.

Ivy smiled as she looked over to see who it was. "Oh, no, it's free. You can sit in here if you want."

"Thank you." Salem-Rain replied has she came in and sat on the empty seat across from the cat carrier. Not being able see in the carrier she asked What kind of kitty do you have?

Matilda thought about just leaving since he was expecting friends - she didn’t want to intrude in any way - but ended up taking a seat across from where he was. Giving him a hesitant glance, she turned to look out the window. ”Uh.. yes.” Seen her around? What did that mean? Cheeks slightly flushed, she fidgeted with the hem of her shirt nervously.

“I’m Matilda.” She turned to meet his gaze, offering a little smile.

SPOILER!!: he says he is kind of used to it. The female species has been confusing for a while

Quote:

Originally Posted by Watson

Why don’t we just close it? Ohhhhhhhhhhh. DUH. Okay she def dumb. Atlas’s solution was so simple. Part of her wondered why SHE hadn’t thought of such a brilliant solution cause she was smart. But she was so obviously distracted so fortunately Atlas wits were still about him unlike her own. He was so intelligent. This is why Lisa was in awe of him. Okay he was also kind of easy on the eyes but also SO smart. Intelligence was the personality trait she valued above all others. She returned his grin. “Brilliant, At,” she said, shortening his name a little. She hoped he didn’t mind it.

The tease caused her blush to grow as a chuckle escaped her. “I hope not. The pinch, in theory, should prove that I’m in this reality… maybe,” she laughed unless this was all virtual reality and ….. WAIT! Was she in a simulation? her overactive imagination started to kicked into gear at this fantastical possibility before she calmed herself. Nope. Nope. Pause. Stay grounded. And then he touched her far again which caused her to remain pink until she focused on his facial expression. “I presume, Dr. Flamsteed, it’s a case of my hyperactive imagination… I get carried away…” she said, glancing down as her emotions changed to embarrassment. “Maybe an ice mice would help….” Calm down all of this blushing. His next comment piqued her interest. Other ways to do that other than pinching? “Oh? Pray… do tell.”

She looked up at her older friend and took his wise words into consideration. She nodded slowly as she processed it all. Maybe he was turning over a new lead but V would need to as well. The first interaction in Diagon Alley was one that Lisa didn’t wish to witness all over again. “Maybe…. sometimes is key…. It’d be nice not to have their commotion in class again.” She didn’t need those distractions when she was trying to figure out how to get into the restricted section.

Summer was a less complicated topic that she enjoyed. Lisa listened to him explain all and her eyes widened when he mentioned going to robotics camp again. That was SO COOL! Also see??? ATLAS WAS *SWOON LEVEL WORTHY OF SMARTNESS*!!!! SWOON INDEED. “Robotics camp sounds fun but metallurgy and spells!?! That’s SO COOL!” She did have to agree with how lame the underage magic rule was… Interestingly enough, Daniel had also expressed discontent with such a rule… Perhaps that was one of the few things Atlas and Daniel had in common. “But yeah agreed on the lameness of that rule.. why is it a rule? Did something bad happen in the past?”

Her summer was fun. “It was great, yeah! Well theatre camp was fun but I had a disagreement with our director. She wanted us to focus on the dance of the music and everything but I tried to explain to her that dialogue was equally if not more important. If we couldn’t nail the dialogue then we’d just be a dancing crew which is mediocre at best… in my mind. Other than that, I went to a Quidditch match with Jasper and then hung out with Remy.”

Okay. Wingwoman moment here. Now let’s see a reaction at the mention of Remy, yeah?

Deep down inside that very thought pained her. She wouldn’t admit it but perhaps she was slightly jealous.

Sometimes the easiest solutions were just right under your nose and you had to strip away all the other bells and whistles of the mind to see it. Atlas just so happened to be in the sort of mood where whatever was right in front of him was it. Face value. Which is why he entirely missed the fact that she had just given him a nickname. "Brilliant at what?" If she was going to give him more compliments then he wanted to know the full extent of them.

He would easily snub that theory in simulations required machinery and those things did not work around magic...which the entire Hogwarts Express was saturated in. The only other potential theory would be a Daydream Charm, but the same principle of pain receptors not registering would still be in effect then to sooooo...bottom line was that this was reality and all happening and apparently the world should be splitting in two because a Hufflepuff and a Slytherin were sitting with each other on the train. "Dr. Flamsteed is my dad," he corrected with a subtle wrinkle of the nose as he handed over the little bag of ice mice for her to take as she pleased. They weren't exactly one of his favorites, so she could have the whole bag if she wanted. "Trying to look at yourself in a reflective surface or telling yourself to move a finger or toe or something...like actively telling a part of your body to move. I sometimes try and remember Aries' birthday or that LEGO was founded on August 10, 1932 in Billund, Denmark or that there are approximately 650 species of spider in the United Kingdom. Facts that you know like the back of your hand can still he hard to remember if you're asleep "

Atlas simply nodded at her next statement, not really having much to add to things...other than he too wishing that peers would stop going out of their way to say things that were hurtful and meant to ostracize others. Something which, again, reminded him of the thing he wanted to talk with her about. He even had a more efficient means of executing his plan thanks to Remy. "It's been great being able to go back to it...couldn't while dad was...well..." he trailed off and gestured vaguely. "Really can't wait to get to Hogwarts and finally try and apply some of the theory to all the parts I've been collecting. Mum does it too, our home has loads of little metal figures. For the longest time those were the only pets dad could tolerate." Since dad didn't like animals much but mum did and, well, now there was a lot of cats and dad reluctantly adored them. "Andrei, my unchiul, can also conjure fire with his bare hand...and manipulate it. He's a master of elemental magic..." Lisa hadn't been there during the whole dragon reserve disaster...but unchiul had...and he had tried to save everyone...but the Neo Alliance had always had the upper hand. "He went to Durmstrang...but works at the Ministry now. In the magical creatures department." Which had a stupidly long name that he had never bothered to commit to memory. "Kind oh hoping he'll teach me one day. He won't even teach me the theory now...worried Aries or I will get hurt trying to do things unsupervised" Which...was a fair assessment. But Atlas hoped someday he could learn... so...maybe...he could impress someone with a unique skill the fourth year had acquired. "Says it's like conjuring a patronus in some ways...takes great skill and advanced magic and not everyone will be able to do it."

Anyway...they were getting sort of off the topic of summer. Oops.

He shrugged his shoulders and really didn't feel like talking about why rules were or weren't in place for a reason - because every rule was, whether because of something that had happened or because it was a preemptive measure. Didn't mean he liked them...but it just felt like an entirely too straightforward conversation to entertain at the moment.

Theater, right. Atlas had no real interest in that, save for behind the scenes work which had been an okay experience for Peter Pan, but he nodded along and paid attention to everything Lisa was sharing. "So...you were performing a musical?" he asked for clarification. "Because...by definition alone...wouldn't the most important element of that sort of show be the music and musical pieces? That then require dance and that sort of thing? I mean...I just know when dad is going all in on showtunes...he isn't quoting the spoken bit but rather belting things out and performing snippets of dance routines...kind of embarrassing, really." But...what did he know really? He wasn't a particular fan of musical theater and it absolutely had nothing to do with the fact that he was talentless.

If Atlas was meant to have any sort of reaction to names mentioned ... he missed the memo. It was normal for friends to hang out over the summer. "Me too," he simply added with a chirp and smile. "Spent time with Remy, I mean." None of the other stuff.

So Alfie was already going back to Hogwarts for a third year. For the past couple of years, laying back from the centre of attention seemed to be good for him, as he had become (sort of) more sensible. This was a delight to his parents, but their appreciation of it had somewhat lowered his opinion on being sensible. He had visited them in France over the summer, his skin still slightly tanned from the trip, and they actually seemed happy for the visit. It was a very unpleasant surprise; after neglecting him for years, they suddenly decided to actually be good parents for no reason and refused to acknowledge that they had neglected him during his childhood. He spent the whole trip shut away in his room, although his parents kept coming in (without knocking too) to 'show him their happiness at his newfound sensibility'. The only person he was actually happy to see was his cousin Timothée, the only member of his father's side of the family that he could tolerate. Much to the dismay of both his parents and Timothée's, they had kept sneaking out to go to the beach at midnight, which had become his new favourite thing. The water was a perfect temperature, and the moonlight didn't scorch his skin unlike the sunlight during the day. His parents were too proud of him to be mad, and they had even hinted at him moving back to France with them and attending Beauxbatons. The very thought of living there again made him sick. He liked staying with Uncle Luca in London; even if their house was only a very, very messy studio apartment, it was more home than his parents' house would ever be.

Preferring not to think about that trip, he passed several compartments with people, but in the end chose to sit by himself in another compartment, with his book for company. Muggle books were actually very interesting,
something he had found out from secret trips to the bookshop in the Muggle town nearby during his visit to France. His parents would have definitely not approved, but what they didn't know couldn't hurt them.

Victoria supposed she knew what he meant. She was really close to Lisa, but it wasn’t like she spent ALL her time with Lisa or anything. “I get that. But you haven’t seen each other all summer…unless you’ve been hanging out a lot,” she shrugged. And indeed, as the train started moving, she got lost in the view as well. She hoped the trip wouldn’t feel like it took too long because she was starting to get hungry; she hadn’t brought any snacks, and she did NOT feel like going out to the food trolley, either.

But back to Jasper. She turned BRIGHT red when he said that. “Jasper doesn’t have a crush on me,” she said curtly, pursing her lips. “He’s just a gentleman. And gentlemen defend their friends’ honor,” she nodded veeeeeery firmly and huffed. “Jasper IS….is is is cute,” she admitted, biting her lip. “But..no crushes. From him or me,” she said with a shrug. Her mind raced towards that older Slytherin boy, Benjee Marchbanks. HE was a god among boys, wasn’t he? But that was just it - she didn’t KNOW him enough to LIKE him. She just thought he was very cute. SHe may have doodled his name in her notebooks, but she still didn’t think that constituted as a crush. A crush meant…like…you wanted to date them, right?

Back to Daniel Yoon. Ahem. “I think I can speak for both of us that we have grown over the past two years to not hating each other. I am over it,” she shrugged. “Plus we have so many friends in common, it’s hard to hate you. But I still might be mean to you, so don’t think you’re special or anything,” she wagged a finger in warning at him. And then nodded. “Yes, I danced at SHIFT dance studio this summer. Lots of magical kids our age go there. It was AMAZING….” She sighed contented just thinking of it. “I wish I could dance year round….”

Shocked, and shaken from what he just witnessed in the other compartment involving his older brother, Mackenzie...or Enzo, (his preferred nickname) quietly stepped back from the scene and turned on the corridor to head for the Front Cars. He'd been warned that the train could get chaotic and crazy, but clearly, it was an understatement.

Up ahead was an older student, about Noah's year maybe, obviously crazy and high from all the sugar pumping in her veins, made obvious by the sweets she was carrying in her arms, singing at the top of her lungs quite dramatically in a very enclosed train corridor. It.was.torture.

Instead of using his small frame to dodge the older loca student, Enzo absent-mindedly hooked his fingers around the compartment's latch that was closest to him, slid the door open, and quietly stepped inside, unaware of its passenger. With his back still facing the occupant, Enzo stood in front of the compartment door, hung his head, and let out a deep sigh. "This is exhausting already." he thought.

"Yeah, you know.classes." he was aware of the awkward but he couldn't fix it now. He noticed people, you were supposed to, right? Dad always did. Forever had a a nice thing to say about everyone and anyone, he was very popular, and Ruari wanted to be very popular. So. erm. "Nice to meet you." He grinned, extending a hand to shake. "How was your summer? Mine was wicked good." Please ask for details- please ask for details- PLEASE? ahem.

He and Lisa had spent time together. Maybe not all summer, but they'd gone to the library to get a book and then travelled to the beach to read it together. It had been a simple activity, but the Hufflepuff had been content with it. He hoped the Ravenclaw had enjoyed it as much as he had.... "We hung out a few times, that's it" V didn't need to know about their trip to the beach because it wasn't important for anyone to know.

Daniel noticed the BRIGHT red colour on V's face and , as he had done the previous two years, his mouth curled into a small smirk. "Right" he said, not believing her words based on her 'chemical reaction' from earlier. But now that he thought about it, Jasper had also denied it, so perhaps she was telling the truth. He raised his eyebrows when V called Jasper cute, and a scoff escaped him because he couldn't help himself. What exactly qualifies someone as 'cute' or 'hot' or whatever girls labelled someone in. For a while, the third year had been perplexed by this. And what category would he fall under?

Wait....why was he even thinking about this? It was stupid in the first place!

He had to agree with her that they had grown up in the previous two years. And she was correct that it was difficult to constantly despise each other when they shared friends. But, for some reason, when V wagged her finger in his face and said she might still be mean to him, he.....smiled. It wasn't a big smile. It had been barely noticeable. "I don't hate you anymore either, but i still don't like you either. I won't try to make you cry in front of everyone again unless, of course, you deserve it. I am not someone who can be walked over and not expect retaliation" So she was warned.

Daniel had seen her dance for the first time during one of the Ancient Runes lessons in their first year. Or was it the second year? He remembered wanting to laugh at her but the moment she began to dance, he had been mesmerized by her movements. It had been obvious that she had taken lessons before, and now he learned she danced at a studio, proving his intuition was correct. "Never heard of it" he replied, picking up his black cat and placing her on the ground and watching her leave.

He took a glance at his watch and grabbed his robe. "The train will be arriving at Hogsmeade soon" he swung on his black and yellow robe and ran his hand through his hair, a habit he had been having for a while now. "You better get changed into your uniform" he added and without saying goodbye he closed the door to the compartment to give her privacy and walked towards the luggage compartment.

The way Daniel said “that’s it” made Victoria woooonder. Hmm. Was there something he was keeping from her about he and Lisa? Not that he normally told V everything, but her mind was already RUNNING off. DId Daniel LIKE Lisa? Did Lisa move on from Jasper and LIKE Daniel?! We’re they secretly DATING?

The possibilities were almost endless!

When Daniel scoffed, though, it brought her mind back, and she raised an eyebrow. “What? Jealous? You’re cute, too, Daniel. It’s just your rudeness that puts your foot in your mouth sometimes,” she said with a flip of her hair over her shoulder. And she paused for a second before continuing, “That’s one thing we have in common. I am very attractive as well,” she touched her neck with her fingertips as she explained. “But I know I can be rude. So I guess that’s why no one has a crush on me.” She sighed a little and glanced out the window once more.

But WAIT. He still didn’t LIKE her? V crossed her arms and snorted at him. “See? Rude. You didn’t hAVE to say that. I don’t dislike you anymore. But I guess we’ll just never be - “ and he announced they were almost there, and she hopped up. “Oh shoooot!” And Daniel, like smoke, was gone.

Um.

What a WEIRDO.

she couldn’t wait to tell Lisa about this

She was smiling again when he asked her to elaborate on the compliment. She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. Lisa had no issues with elaborating. She did pause as she tried to string the words together. “Finding the solution. It was so simple and effective. I was overcomplicating and getting distracted but you saw it and just closed the door. That’s why I said you’re brilliant… cause you are.”

At the mention of his father, she realized that she didn’t know what his parents did for a living. She thought his Dad worked at the Ministry but Dr. Flamsteed as a title made it seem like his father was either a Doctor or Professor of something. “What does your dad do? Is he a Professor?” she asked, inquisitively (such a question would cause Simon Holden to gasp because how dare she ask such a question). But anyway, this was Lisa’s narrative (bye Simon!). She thanked him as he passed the little bag of ice mice. Reaching into the bag, she fished one out. The ice mice was greatly appreciated. It was starting to cool her down and slightly helping the redness disappear. Recalling those facts would certainly be a feat while asleep… “I don’t know if I would be able to recall those impressive facts in my sleep or awake just yet. I fully plan on sharing some of those over the holidays at Christmas dinner.”

While his dad was well what? Lisa arched her eyebrow when he said that. She was curious about that but… she wasn’t sure whether or not to press so she remained quiet. She’d let him talk about it if he wanted too. So he had metal pets? “Did you grow up with metal pets? And were they animated?” she asked. “Im afraid I don’t know much about metallurgy but … maybe you could teach me?” She was always curious to learn as much as she could about magic. She had read about it but never seen anything done with it in real life. And then he mentioned that his uncle to conjure fire with his bare hand which was so cool. His unchiul (uncle she assumed?) was practically a superhero. “Do they teach that type of magic at Durmstrang? That’s so cool, Atlas. It also sounds very hard like you said. It must require a lot of concentration, stamina, and precision….” How fascinating. It would be so cool for him to master that but it sounded dangerous…

“Yeah… Songs are the king of musical. I just thought we should have spent a little less time… we nailed the singing and the dancing but someone forgot their lines… so I had to help them.” She wasn’t going to mention that she messed up a dance routine. It wasn’t important. She would go back to plays for sure.

Lisa smiled when he mentioned he, too, had hung out with Remy. “Oh yeah? That must have been fun. I always like hanging out with Remy,” she mentioned as her mind began to explore a couple of rabbit holes of possibilities. Had Atlas and Remy had an outing together? Were they planning to take over the world? Or was it a date? “The first time we met we caused trouble in Diagon… it was fun. Well we had a rock skipping competition.” Her cheeks flushed. It all seemed rather childish now and not impressive.

Speaking of somewhat childish things, she remembered that she had a book for you. “Hey! Do you remember the princess and frog thing I was telling you about?” She fished into her backpack and reached for two books that she had procured for him. “As promised, I have TWO books for you to explain the whole kissing frogs to find you prince or princess. The first book is the Frog Princess and the second is the Frog Prince.” She flushed, handing the books to him. “They’re fairytales … not super impressive literature but you’ll understand why I said what I said then.”

Text Cut: Enzo

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stefan

Shocked, and shaken from what he just witnessed in the other compartment involving his older brother, Mackenzie...or Enzo, (his preferred nickname) quietly stepped back from the scene and turned on the corridor to head for the Front Cars. He'd been warned that the train could get chaotic and crazy, but clearly, it was an understatement.

Up ahead was an older student, about Noah's year maybe, obviously crazy and high from all the sugar pumping in her veins, made obvious by the sweets she was carrying in her arms, singing at the top of her lungs quite dramatically in a very enclosed train corridor. It.was.torture.

Instead of using his small frame to dodge the older loca student, Enzo absent-mindedly hooked his fingers around the compartment's latch that was closest to him, slid the door open, and quietly stepped inside, unaware of its passenger. With his back still facing the occupant, Enzo stood in front of the compartment door, hung his head, and let out a deep sigh. "This is exhausting already." he thought.

He might not have looked it, but Alfie was a sucker for soppy love stories, and the one he was reading at that moment was particularly engrossing. In fact, he was so consumed by the novel that he didn't even notice the singing (probably closer to wailing) coming from one of the compartments. The main character was just meeting a potential love interest in a cafe; cliche, but give a soppy romance book (bonus points if it's in French) to Alfie and he'd completely shut himself up until he had finished devouring it in just a couple of hours.

The compartment door suddenly slid open and Alfie was abruptly jolted back to reality and the chaos of the train. He snapped his book shut, horrified that anyone should discover his favourite genre of book. A small kid, probably a first year, stepped in and Alfie let go a breath he didn't realise he was holding. The completely unexpected choice of book would have been much easier to explain to someone he didn't know rather than someone he did. "Hey." Noticing the boy's deep sigh, he furrowed his brow. "You good?"

Jasper hadn't ever seen Serena laugh this much; he was pretty sure that she purposefully tried not to smile when he was around—just to prove a point. Which, of course, contributed to why he often went out of his way to try to get her smiling despite herself. It was nice. The way her eyes crinkled. She looked like she didn't have a care in the world. Plus, she was really pretty when she laughed like that. Of course, she was always pretty. Objectively. Anyone with eyes could see that. But there was just something about this moment now that made Jas pause and look at her a little differently. Huh.

Weird. This was weird.

He shook his head to clear his mind and hopped back up onto his seat to busy himself. This was fun. And honestly, he could do this all day. Sit here and laugh with Serena. Here he was expecting the train ride to Hogwarts to be boring and it was actually anything but. So when Serena said it was ridiculous, Jasper quickly jumped in to correct her, "It was awesome." Yeah, it was ridiculous too, but that's what made it awesome. And she took it like a boss. That was epic. And something he could never unsee (or unhear, for that matter)

But then her mood faded and Jasper felt his drop a bit too. Was it something he said? He was only teasing. "I was just messing with you," he admitted, hoping to make amends. He watched her as she turned away, stuffing a hand into the pocket of his jumper, where he kept a currently-dormant snitch. He always kept his trusty snitch on him; on bad days, it helped cure the boredom and on good ones, it gave his hands something to do while his mind wandered. It's current daunting task: trying to understand Serena Baltazar-Dos Santos. She was majorly confusing.

What wasn't confusing? Her question. "For sure," he looked at her questioningly, as if it were even a choice. "If someone's in trouble, and I think I could help, why would I sit back and do nothing?" It didn't make sense. Hassan taught him this. His baba instilled a great sense of responsibility within Jasper Amir. It came with the territory, being the eldest son. It started with Jaddi, was passed down to baba, and now it was Jaspers. "Wouldn't you?"

He smiled to himself as she took his hat hostage - it looked good on her, so he wouldn't steal it back just yet. "You don't think so?" He leaned back, still grinning. "My mamman was a Slytherin, maybe you just haven't seen that side of me yet."