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“If I see him, I’m gonna kill him!” James said mutinously, a little too loudly. Some of the parents turned their heads as Ruthie hit James in the gut. “What was that for?” he protested.

“Will you shut up? I didn’t tell you so you could yell it for everyone else to hear,” Ruthie said angrily.

“Right, sorry,” James muttered. “So, how are you?” he asked quietly.

“Not so great,” she whispered. James sighed, pulling Ruthie into a hug.

“I’ll make his life hell this year if it’s the last thing I do,” he ranted.

“James, can we just forget about it and leave it alone?” James didn’t say anything, so Ruthie sighed. “Let’s just say goodbye to the parents and find a compartment,” Ruthie whispered.

“Yeah, let’s go,” James said as he let go of her. She saw Scorpius over James’s shoulder and looked away quickly before her tears could get the better of her.

“You promise you’ll write me every other day?” Emma whispered into Ruthie’s neck as she hugged her little sister.

“I promise,” Ruthie smiled. Emma nodded and went to grab her mother’s hand. Ruthie hugged all of her siblings and her parents before trudging onto the scarlet train, James and Leslie right behind her. Ruthie let James pass her absently as they searched for a compartment. Without realizing where she was walking, she ran into somebody, knocking them into the other compartment.

“Sorry, I wasn’t watching where I was—” Ruthie stopped immediately when she realized that it was Scorpius. “Oh, it’s you,” she said in a small voice.

“Yeah, it is me. And don’t bother apologizing. I get it,” Scorpius said evenly as he pushed past her down the hall. James started after him but Ruthie grabbed his arm and dragged him toward the compartment that Leslie found.

“I can’t believe he had the nerve to talk to you!” James said loudly as Ruthie closed the door to the compartment and shut the blinds.

“James, please, I really don’t want to talk about it.” Ruthie sat down opposite Leslie and James sat beside her.

“Fine,” he huffed.

“Whatever, I’m going to make sure Hoot is all right,” Ruthie said as she stood up to leave. She walked swiftly down the hall as the train made some smooth curves on the track. She opened the door to the animal compartment and sat down on some of the trunks, not bothering to even look for her snowy owl. She buried her head in her hands and let out a low sob. She had imagined her reunion with Scorpius much better than accidentally bumping into him in the hall and then him basically pretending she didn’t exist anymore.

She heard a scuffle from in front of her and her head snapped up. A figure came out of the shadows and her heart skipped a beat.

“S-sorry, I thought the compartment was empty,” Ruthie said quickly as she wiped her eyes.

“Wait, Ruthie, we need to talk,” Scorpius said quickly as he reached for her arm. She yanked it back from him, glaring.

“Just stay away from me,” she whispered before running from the room, leaving a hurt Scorpius in the shadows. She ran into the nearest empty compartment and slammed the door shut, locking it and closing the blinds. She threw herself onto the cushions and cried into the seats.


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