North End of the Platform
 

Isobel stood on the platform, still breathing heavily after practically throwing herself into - and through - a wall. She glanced around and was surprised to see that the platform was fairly deserted. Sure, it wasn't eleven o'clock yet, but she'd expected many more overexcited Hogwarts students arriving early like her, not just the few students and parents scattered around. And as far as she could tell, there were no other first years on the platform. Was she the only one who was buzzing with anticipation of getting on the train?

Nudge meowed petulantly through the bars of the cat cage she was in. Isobel stuck her fingers through them, the half-Siamese-cat, half-kneazle bumping her head up against her hand and licking it. Laughing, she removed her fingers and wiped them on her jeans. "Don't worry," she told the cat. "I'll let you out on the train."

anyone? =D
 

Alice :D
 

eerm. no. SS didn't cut the post off. *disclaimer*
 

So anyways here was West Odessa, chillin', waiting for a train like a boss.

Derry had been sitting with her book, minding her own business and petting Lando's head with one hand as she read about the Mad Hatter's tea party... The Doormouse was definitely her favourite in this part... she didn't blame the poor thing for hiding in the tea pot the whole time.

But then Lando decided to go exploring and jumped off her lap. "Lando! Come back!" But the little silver tabby had already disappeared into the crowd. Derry got up, tripped over her shoelaces, and righted herself before running after her cat. "Lando? You're only a wee little kitten... you need me..." she called, ignoring other people - her cat was far more important - before she caught sight of him perched on the back of a bench, staring a cat in a girls lap... "Lando..!" She grabbed him before he pounced and held him close to her chest... "I..I... um... s-sorry... he ran off........." she mumbled to the girl on the bench. Sigh. One day she'd learn to talk to people...

What Tegz said. xD I don't even know. *hides*
 

POUT. Yes that meant Miss Pout was watching everyone as they walked on by and with a pout that was.

Watching a West? West was okay with being watched. He watched BACK. He'd heaaaaaaard things.

Was that one of Dylan's snake kiddos watching her? Heh. He could watch, in fact he could talk too.

*smirks*
 

Clement Belrose arrived, glancing down at his watch impatiently, the train couldn't arrive sooner.

this is so hard.
 

Oh look it was that Clement person but whatever, West was busy making Ness related deductions because he KNEW she wasn't captain anymore.

*too lazy to quote*
 

"GET BACK HERE NAMELESS TOAD." Blue's yell echoed across the platform as she chased her pet.

The seventeen year old eyed the new appearing snake wondering if Dylan had asked people to ambush her or something but then she heard someone shouting, Blue, a Ravenclaw, much better.

Hi y'all
 

Kat moved over to the North End of the Platform and waited for the the train with the others cos... duh, what else would she do?

No Quotes but you guys XD
 

Clement leant against the wall, kind of aware of the puff and snake around him, until he heard a shout about a toad, but with the appearance of Kat Hudson his attention was suddenly taken.

Romalotti, yes that's what he was going by from now on, strutted up to the north side of the platform. Yo this train need to get here soon before he broke out in song and dance or something.

omg its real long, sorry guys
 

It was hard to prioritize since there was a Blue yelling somewhere nearby and Teammates and all, but West had something to say to Ness. "Either you got fired for lameness or got a different badge for awesomeness."

Kat gave everyone she knew a wave and then went over to Blue. "Hey Blue, do you think your toad would come back if I showed it MY toad?" Kat asked cos she knew things.

BLLLIIIIIINK. "Why on earth would it?" She squinted at the blonde.

How he knew, Ness didn't know, she answered him by taking out the new badge and showing it to him with a POUT and one more thing WHAT was going on with these platform kiddos?

After catching himself staring he frowned, not a good look, but then he just decided to approach Kat, and the young Ravenclaw that she was with. "Ladies"

"You're nuts. Why you'd give up captain for that is beyond me." Mad. She was entirely mad. "Did they pay you off?"

Nameless? Nice name for a toad. Oh look a toad. He blinked puff captain was now head girl and Kat was a perfect. And Odessa was there. What next Dylan was the new head master? Ekkkkk he could really feel a song coming on. Tap tap tap and sings " I gotta get back to Hogwarts. I gotta get back to school."

Blue simply EYED the ginger who joined. EYED him. Weirdo.

"Cos well they're toads and they might get attracted to each other not that I'm endorsing this," Kat stopped talking as she started to think that was awkward, then she went to face Cle. "... And gentleman."

Mellow. "Maybe, but I'd rather be that than other things. I had my reasons." She did. "Pay me off, in what way?" She raised her brow as she eyed people.

"Sure." Dumb reasons, whatever they were. Pay her off in what way? "With money... what other way is there?" Really.

Gentlemen, yes good observation he was a man. But toads. "I hope you find your toad...." Before it got squished by the train.

"Candy Odessa, candy is a PERFECT pay off" he grinned.

"What?" There was something more he wanted to say, she could tell. "No then, and nevermind." She shrugged. "Toads." Yeah, she could hear what the others were talking about.

... he was neither 5 years old nor Alexa Cambridge so West didn't completely agree but good to know that Asher had a price and stuff. He beamed at Ness. "Well congratulations, even if I think its way lame compared to Captain."

"But that'd be weird, Nameless!Toad is only a baby. NO GIRLFRIENDS YET THANK YA VERY MUCH." Aaaaaaaand, she just eyed Ginger some more. Obviously she wanted to find her toad too.

Candy, yeah. See some snakes had better brains after all. "Or Chocolate." Chocolate frogs preferably. "Thanks, it's well...different." Definitely would feel different soon too.

Kat looked from Blue to Cle and then back to Blue. Blink. Nope, she wasn't going to comment. Nada.

Okay this conversation was turning out to be a little weird, subject change maybe? "I heard you're a prefect now Kat?"

OH LOOK THERE WAS HER TOAD. Blue nose-dived by a pair of legs and shoved the damn pet into her pocket.

Right. Change of subject and about prefects. Kat pointed to the badge she was wearing and GRINNED.

Clement laughed a little, but nodded in approval. "Very well done."

This was it. Presley's seventeenth birthday, and the last time she would board the Hogwarts Express on September First. She hugged her father tightly. They had made lots of progress in her years at Hogwarts, and she wanted him to know how much she appreciated his efforts.

Zebhidiyah hugged Presley back. "Happy Birthday, kiddo." Her seventeenth. She was no longer under his legal care. If she wanted, she could go anywhere or do anything, and he couldn't do anything about it. Not that she had ever listened to him before. His daughter, much like her mother, was a free spirit.

It was kind of a bittersweet moment for Zeb. He was a more than a little proud of raising two children to adulthood singlehandedly, without screwing them up too much. But he would miss his little girl. "Don't get into too much trouble, alright? And Pres? I love you, kiddo."

Presley chuckled. When had she ever really gotten into trouble? For all intents and purposes, she was a goood kid. His next sentence made her heart stop for a second. Okay, so it wasn't the first time he had told her he loved her, but it was the second. The first time he'd said that, she was six, and sobbing because her mother had just passed away. "I...uh...love you too, dad." She struggled to keep up a casual facade. As if this happened every day. "I'm going to go find a compartment now, okay? I'll see you at Christmas?"

One last hug, and she was off onto the Hogwarts Express. He sure was going to miss her. Because he was certain that after Hogwarts graduation, she wouldn't be moving back into his home. She was going to want to find a place of her own and start on that healer training. And Zeb was going to miss her.

Money bought those things though, didn't she know? Oh well. "You could try boss Dylan 'round." And probably fail. Hah.

Genius, utter genius. But sadly that wouldn't happen too soon. "You know Dylan better than I do." Meaning he should know why not.

"But it'd still be fun to troll him." Just saying. Beam. "See you later, Nessie."

Isobel was just minding her own business, wiggling her fingers at Nudge, when someone walked into her. She blinked rapidly, one hand flying to steady the cat cage and the other to her hipbone, which was now stinging. "Watch it!" she snapped at the person who had run into her. Nudge made a yowling noise, and Isobel reached one hand into the cage to calm her down, taking a deep breath to do the same with herself.

For the first time, she got a good look at the person who walked into her. It was a girl about her age, with an owl and an overall look of being slightly out of it. "No, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have snapped at you," Isobel said, though she did feel slightly entitled to snapping, having just been run into. Not that she'd ever say that aloud. She watched the girl fumble for a minute, then look up at her, and laughed quietly. "It's fine. Hogwarts, I assume?" Okay, that was kind of obvious, given the owlet and the trunk and the fact that they were on the platform for the Hogwarts train, but she was having some trouble thinking of what to say.

Elise jumped suddenly, eyeing the person who had practically shoved her over. "Oh. Hi, Blue."

Maybe."Fun isn't always right." If that even made sense. Heh. Smile. "Yeah, look after Blissy." He had better.

Blue nodded at the other girl. "Cap'ain."

=___=
 

Lugging his cart down the platform, Valentine perched on his head like always, the only difference now was the Badge he had pinned to his Vest. Oakey looked around until he spotted a few familiar faces. Renesmee being the one he was hoping to see. "Hey All." Oakey said with a smile.

"I'm still Elise, Blue," the blonde said, pointing at the name on her robes. "Badges don't change that."

Oakey. She gave him a smile then eyed the badge still in her hands. "Help me, put this on?" ...Or maybe it was a better idea she attempted to first herself. As for the other kiddos arriving, they got smiles.

"Right. Okay. I know." Blank stare.

Woaaaa- no need to snap! Tora did say she was sorry after all. She was about to insert a good sharp response when the other girl had apologized for snapping. Good. That's better. Tora really didn't feel like getting in a fight right when Gram was watching on the other side of the platform...

Apparently this other girl was out of it too if she was asking whether or not Tora was going to Hogwarts. But then again she was just run over by the person in question so maybe there was an excuse.

Gram was beckoning to Tora now. She was still standing by the entrance to one of the train cars. Tora turned back to the girl in front of her and looked at her for a second or two. She did really feel bad for nearly running her over. And she didn't even answer the girl's (rhetorical?) question.
"Hogwarts." She agreed before adding,"So my Gram is calling me and we should get on The Express soon ya know. Are you waiting for someone?" Tora didn't know if the other girl would get the hint that she was offering to sit with her if she was lonely on the train. After all, it was the least she could do.

Oakey looked down at the Badge in his hand. "Head Girl?" Oakey grinned a toothy grin. "That Explains Ella's Captaining!"

Nod. "Yeah, and you're Head Boy?" He got a huge smile, because she was glad it was him over anyone else. "Ella?" ASAFDGASFTG! BEAM! This badger was proud.

Okay. Cue the awkward silence, just about now. Where was Chris?

Wade's claiming you both
 

"Hey you two." He was pushing his trolley along when he heard and saw two of his familar Quidditch teammates. Leave it to Wade to pick up on key words in a conversation. "So Ella's Captain now.." That was cool, he would have to congratulate her later on.. But for now he was right by the two Heads. "and now you are Heads.. Congrats! That is awesome." He grinned at them as Oakey was apparently adjusting her badge. "So.. good summer?"

Anyone.......!
 

Taking a few moments after emerging from the wall to decide which direction to go, Sky went north. There seemed to be fewer people on that end and most of them were fourth years and older. Which meant there was no chance of running into another weird ickle firstie. Had she been that weird way back then? She hoped not, because that would just...... well it wouldn't be good, that's for sure. Anyway, now it was time to find some other sixth years to bother grace with her presence. Joke intended, of course. She wasn't arrogant enough to actually use that phrase seriously.

Ah, here we go. She stepped up to someone else who seemed be doing the same as her. "Hello, there!" Bueller? Bueller?

for our ickle <33
 

Kurumi had a bit of time to kill before her afternoon shift at the bakery, which was perfect considering that today was the day that the Hogwarts Express was scheduled to depart for Hogwarts. Meant that she could see some of her friends off and reminisce. It still felt like yesterday that she was boarding it for the first time as an eleven year old and then again for her final time. Which made no sense at all and was something that could really only be accomplished by means of a timeturner and...

OH look! There was Elise! Sort of looking uncomfortable too. Surely she wasn't still nervous about riding the Hogwarts Express after the events of her last term, right? It hadn't broken down since then and Kurumi was sure that Hogwarts staff would not allow something like that to happen again.

Tucking a strand of her dark hair behind her ear, Kurumi made her way towards her ickle Ravenclaw. "Hey Elise!"

Bestieee?
 

West had his trunk all loaded on and all but now the important part... you know... finding Theo. He'd been watching and keeping an eye out even while he was chatting with other people and all but so far no sign of his best mate who was obviously the one West wanted to sit with on the train since the express home they hadn't sat together. Girlfriends could wait for feasts pretty much.

Speaking of feasts, West had brought food because that was kind of a good idea lately, given how his appetite had grown exponentially. He rummaged in his bag and came up with sandwiches. Yesssss! One of those went right into his mouth.

Theo was just strolling along the platform, frequently swapping the hands that held his trunk. The weight of the thing was bothering him so much, that the boy was pretty much whimpering and whining the whole way, ignoring everyone in his path like a boss. That was until he spotted a very familiar face straight ahead. Aaaaaand, he looked alone so that meant that they could catch up on things since they had a lot to discuss.

And he missed his bestie so much, *wibble!grabbyhands*

Cool, so. "WEST!" Theo momentarily dropped his trunk and did a mad dash over to him. Hug? Bro hug? Yea, bro hug. He did a sort of hug/slap on the back/patting motion then backed away immediately. "Hi."

Any spare sandwiches going? ..... Trunk... TRUNK... Where did he put his trunk?!

*FLAIL*

It wasn't as if half a sandwich took long to eat, West was ready to start on the other half when he saw something WONDERFUL!

"Theooooo!" West ran at him TOO and the hug thing happened with a slap thing and even a gleeful little leg lift on West's part and then ahem. Yeah. Cool. He was cool. They were cool dudes and staunch and stuff.

"Sup." Also, here. He thrust his half sandwich at his mate and rummaged in his bag for another for himself. Only certain people got food priorities, Theo was one of them.

Elise stared nervously at the empty tracks, waiting for the train to arrive but somehow dreading it at the same time. What if she got lost on her way to the Prefect Compartment or what if the whole badge thing was a joke? That would be really humiliating. Or even worse, what if the badge wasn't a joke and she turned out to be a bad student leader? She couldn't match up to Bee or Kurumummy or Selina or any of the other female student leaders, much less try to coordinate a team.

Even the thought of it scared her.

Hearing her name and the familiar Japanese accent, Elise turned around quickly, recognizing the voice before she even caught sight of its owner. "Kurumummy!" she squeaked, wrapping the elder in an impulsive hug. She'd missed the ex-Gryffindor a lot since she'd graduated and left Elise behind which was totally unfair. "Or am I supposed to call you Kurumi now?" Cause Elise didn't want to call her Kurumi. She'd always be Kurumummy to her, no matter if Elise was 70.

Pulling away, she put her left hand in her pocket nervously as she felt for the cold piece of metal. She bounced nervously on the balls of her feet before mustering up enough courage to say something. "Uh... Kurumummy? I have something to tell you." Please don't freak out, please?

SQUEEEEE!Giggle.

Theo smiled widely at his best friend, and had a sudden whoosh of images of them being awesome at school for another term. Awesome as in, awesome at Quidditch, and awesome at classes and awesome at EVERYTHING. They really were an ultimate duo.

'Scuse me, what just happened? No. Theo made a face, handed the half eaten sandwich back at West and then took the new one for himself. Even at their stage in the relationship, sharing saliva and germs like that was a no-go area.

"Nothin', just thinking of getting on the train early." Ehh but now that he had found someone to talk to, maybe he'd wait. "Anyway, wassup? I haven't seen you since like, forever." Since like a few weeks like WOAH.

West cracked up. "I hadn't bit it yet, its cut, see?" Sandwich that was. But it went in his mouth all the same. He did feel better already now that he found his Theo. Sorry Dora and Bliss but you know how it is. "I got more food so we don't just have to eat trolley sweets." Because just a sugar hit wasn't enough anymore. He had sandwiches, fruit, some cold sausage rolls and a couple of muesli bars. Essentially West was set. He pat his bag.

What was up though. West's grin faded a bit. There were important things to tell but not here, not where just anyone could hear what wasn't any of their business. "I'm just real glad to see you and stuff. And to go back to school. And Quidditch. And everything." He put his tough face on. The cool one. The 'I am West Odessa and I am bamf' face, pretty much.

Kurumummy. That word alone brought a smile to the Gryffindor's face as she returned the girl's hug. She had missed these sorts of gestures. People just didn't go around university hugging each other. At least she had never felt the impulse to hug any of the older students that were helping her figure things out. Then again, dragonology was not exactly the most touchy feely of subjects.

"You can always call me Kurumummy," she laughed back as she gave the girl another tight squeeze before releasing Elise from her hug. "That name is reserved only for you, you know." Anyone else calling her that would seem unnatural.

And now Kurumi could tell from the body language going on that something was bothering Elise. "What is it?" she asked, eyeing the girl carefully.

Nate walked through the platform with all of his Hogwarts items, followed by his older brother, Thomas. By nate's eyes Thomas seemed happy. Though you never know. Thomas was the best one in the family to conceal his true emotion, with an emotion completely different. With that being said as soon as Nate and Thomas came through the wall Nate immeadiately found his sister Tanner. So he walked up to her and said "There you are ya little squirt. Try not to do this to me at Hogwarts. Trust me the last thing I need is to lose you at Hogwarts." That's when my brother started to talk.

"Now remember once you get to Hogwarts try not to get in trouble. Try to get in on the quidditch team. Please don't get any detentions. I'll write to you guys around Christmas. Make new friends. And most importantly, do you have everything you need?" He asked the both of them. Though it was more towards Tanner because he asked Nate before they walked in, and Nate said yes.

Finally, her "brother" was here. Yeah, she'd be blaming this all on him. How dangerous was it letting an eleven year old walk though the platform like that alone! She could've gotten kidnapped or something! Yeah, that sounded like a good way to do it.

Her eyes looked Nate up and down, and then traveled over to Thomas, where her face turned from an amazed jaw drop, to a frown. Thomas was her least favorite of the family. He was so boring it actually hurt Tanner.

She studied the older boys face as they walked towards her, looking for any indication that he was mad. There was none, but she had learned in her year at this house that Thomas was good at hiding what he was feeling. You could never be sure with him.

"Don't call me squirt." Other people in the family might take that name, but she wasn't going to. She wasn't that short (okay she was about 5'0 even) and even so, she wasn't fond of nicknames. Not until she knew someone better. The rest of Nate's speech was boring. Don't go running off (yeah, right) and then something about losing her at Hogwarts. Whatever.

And that thing about not getting into trouble was unfair. Trouble seemed to follow her around like a shadow. Either that or she was just good at finding it. The rest was just standard older brother talk that she didn't really care about. Turning to Nate, she played with the rope bracelets on her wrist as she talked.

"So where do I go now?" After the fiasco crossing over she was ready to take direction. That didn't mean she was going to be polite exactly, but she was going to take direction.

To say that James and Jack Charlton were disappointed to see this was just a regular, Muggle-style (as they were taught the word by Forrest) would be an underestimate. They'd expected MAGIC, of course, magic everywhere, people casting magic, wands flying in the air and I don't know what else! But here all the wizards, well mostly the students, looked pretty normal. They did nothing but chatter. The father and son had risen early out of the bed for nothing, after all.

Except, to say goodbye to Forrest, who had got quiet since this morning.

"Call us when you reach school," was all his father had to say to his little son, apparently. They were oblivious to many wizard customs, and they simply assumed they used the same technology. Forrest nodded, his face pale. "Is your wand, money and ID with you?" His younger son nodded again. If he talked, he knew he would cry and make a scene in front of all the esteemed wizards, and then they would laugh at the Charlton family. "Do not leave your bag at anywhere, you know how much money--"

"He's leaving and you talk of money--!"

"Well, I'm just warning him! Be nice to your teachers; do not break rules, I don't want anyone calling home to say--"

"James!"

"--your son's been misbehaving; do well on that sorting test and get in Ravenclaw; don't make too many Gryffindor friends, I don't like this 'bravery' talk; study well and make us proud." Not that they had any wizard relatives, not that he'd talked to any wizard about houses. He had deduced that Gryffindors were useless heros, that Hufflepuffs were cowards; that his son had to be either in Slytherin or Ravenclaw solely based on what Forrest had learnt from Daichi and Amelia. Both had spoken only one good word about every house, but his father was that great to guess what everything really was based on only one word.

Forrest nodded again to all these as he shifted uncomfortably on his foot. He wanted to learn magic and take revenge from Jack, but he didn't want to leave his mom as well. He didn't want to be seperated from his friends in Saudi Arabia. What if they would think he betrayed them? What if no one here would like him? They must already know TONS of stuff, they were probably perfect at magic too; whereas he came from a Muggle family and knew absolutely NOTHING. His magical abilities were pathetic (he couldn't even control it!) and he was sure to make fun of himself at classes. Plus, there weren't even one wizard in the family, how was he one now? He had never been that lucky... surely it was a mistake, surely at the test, he would fail and be sent back... would his father talk to him again if he failed the wizardry test? How could he endure Jack's taunting afterwards anyway? He had to pass this wizarding test Daichi talked about, but if he was a Muggle, he just couldn't fool all the wizards there...

He hadn't realised his father and Jack going off in another direction to discover all the platform. It was only his mother and him now standing in a little back. She crouched in front of him to look him in the eye.

"Don't you mind your father, you know how he is." She tried to smile, but upon seeing his son's tears, she simply reached forward and pressed his head on her shoulder. "There's nothing to cry for! You are a wizard, Forrest, you won't fail the test! It's not the end of the world even if you fail, anyway."

"But what about dad? He will never--" His voice was thick with the pressure as he tried his best to hold back the tears.

"He will always talk to you! He's so proud of you even now, he won't be mad at you for failing to do what you can't. Besides, you are a wizard Forrest, in the letter it says so!

"But Daichi said there can be mistakes! There were students sent back!"

She pulled back to look into his eyes again. Her look was something between stern and caring. "What about the wand, then? It chose you, didn't it?"

"Yeah, but--"

"I don't know anything about this world, but if you weren't capable, logic says that it wouldn't work. It didn't work for Jack, remember?"

Forrest giggled at the memory as his face wet with tears shone in the sunlight.

"You'll do fine, Forrest. Just believe in yourself."

Before Thomas's little brother could say anything Thomas said "Well I'll see you later next year. Have fun at Hogwarts. Make plenty of friends. Remember even if you two are in different houses, you can still sit at each others house table." Then before even his sister could say anything (knowing her she would've tried to say something like "Don't leave me here") Thomas was out of the Northern Platform, and through the wall.

"We have to wait for it to be time to board the train. So let's walk around, and make new friends shall we? Just don't leave the northern platform. I'll meet you in the second cabin to the right on the north train car. Unless you want to follow me, but if not remember don't leave this platform!" Nate stated in his very authoritive British accent. Well it was an accent to his younger sister because she's from America. To him though she had a weird accent. With that Nate looked around to see Forrest the first year he had met at Slug and Jiggers.

So Nate walked over to Forrest and said "Hey Forrest. How's it going?" He asked the little first year. Who if he was on Hufflepuff Nate would most likely look after as well. This is great...two first years Nate would have to look after. And by the way Tanner's attitude is Nate thinks that she might just end up in Slytherin. Which was the only house that no one in his family has been in. Though she wasn't blood-related so that might explain a little bit if she gets in Slytherin.

Isobel smiled apologetically- she always felt bad when her voice came out sounding sharp and she was just startled. She watched as the girl waved at the old woman by the entrance, and felt a pang of longing. For the first time since she'd arrived, she wished her mum had come with her. Toddler gymnastics or no, this was a really important day for her, and couldn't Katie have skipped just the one? Honestly, sometimes she wished she were still an only child.

"Oh, no," Isobel replied, pulled out of her thoughts, "no, I'm alone." Unfortunately. "D'you want to sit with me?" she blurted out, then backtracked as quickly as possible. "I mean, as long as you don't have anyone else you wanted to sit with, that is, if you want to sit with anyone at all..." Wow, she was really bad at talking to people. Back home, everyone she knew she'd known since she was tiny, so they were already established friends (or enemies). Isobel laughed nervously and looked at the girl, questioning.

Ronnie crossed through the barrier with Jory and appeared on the platform a second later. She peeped at Oliver who was sitting in his cat carrier. He meowed loudly and pawed at the door. "Aww, do you want out buddy?" she asked. "I guess it wouldn't hurt to letcha out for a little bit..." she said as she opened the cage and scooped her kitten into her arms.

She then turned to Jory, holding the kitten out to him to pet. "He's missed you, you know. He really likes you." she said with a chuckle.

Jory looked around when he heard Ronnie speak. Who was she talking to? He hadn't heard the purr, or else he won't be wondering that. But he realised it was Oliver she was speaking to when he caught a glimpse of the little furball.

"Hiya, Oliver,'' he said, stretching out his hand. "I missed him too.'' He petted the cat. Oliver meowed. "I'll keep him for now, if you don't mind.'' He was amused as he watched Oliver stare intently at his pygmy Puff, Furball and owl, Tobias. "Now, Oliver, be a good cat.'' Jory grinned. Proud owner of three animals. "Don't tell Ronnie that,'' he said to himself.

"Wonder how long more before the train arrives,'' he said. It was crowded all around, with students and their owls and other animals. He couldn't wait to get a compartment.

Unfortunately once again Liam had dashed off almost immediately after dropping her off at the station. Of course he'd gone through the possibly compulsory and scripted speech which went along the lines of 'Be careful, have a nice year, don't worry about which house you're sorted into, try your hardest in school and trial for the Quidditch team', only it seemed to go on for hour's in the eleven year old's mind.

The one thing that she didn't like about the fact that Liam left her was that she was alone, leaving her to scan the station to see if Sly was even here yet or whether she'd have to wait for who knows how long. After searching for about five minutes Kahlan almost gave up on finding him until she finally noticed where he was, messy hair and seeming to be deep in thought. A small grin spread across her face though, happy that he was in fact here as she half skipped over to him, her new kitten in her arms.

"Hey Parker" she greeted him, a small smirk on her face as she waited for him to turn and see her, once again wearing a pair of shorts, suspenders and a snapback she'd taken from her brother earlier.

Sylvester spun around at the familiar voice, a large grin forming on his face as he noticed what Kahlan was wearing - though he'd only met her once before at Diagon Alley it seemed quite typical of her from what he'd noticed, even going off the letters they'd been writing since they met. Shaking his head mockingly he forced the grin off his face, forcing a smirk to form on his face so that he could play her own game.

"Moriarty" he countered, before he spotted the small kitten in her arms. "Nice cat, what's it's name? How are you anyway?" at least this time he remembered to ask how she was feeling...

"Excited for Hogwarts yet or still unsure?" he continued to tease, the smirk still on his face though it was faltering a lot, quickly morphing back into a genuine smile displaying his own excitement and nerves of going, getting sorted and experiencing the school for himself after all the tales he'd been told about it.

Good, so Thomas was leaving. She gave him a small smirk as he retreated and then turned to Nate for further instruction.

Okay, so she could be his puppy dog (yeah, right) or she could stand their awkwardly while people moved around her. Great choices. As for making friends, that didn't seem to be an option. People just didn't seem to like her. Especially adults.

At least they could be (hopefully) getting on the stupid train soon. She just couldn't wait to get on the train and go start her new life as a Hogwarts student after having one summer worth of magic! (enter sarcasm here) Man, she wished she was in her pajama's and eating ice cream right now. Ice cream solved literally everything.

World War? Drop some chocolate ice cream on the soldiers. Hurricane? break out the banana split. Boyfriend break up with you? Time for a pint of chocolate chip.

Thinking of the flavors and the tastes of the treat, she missed her old home even more. She still wasn't used to everything yet, and she didn't want to get used to it. She wanted to go back to her actual parents. Not this stupid new life.

In frustration she kicked her cart, and while it didn't roll away (thank gosh) she jumped up and down in pain for a couple of seconds. She stubbed her little toe! Pain, pain, pain pain. That was pretty much all that went through her head at that second. Her school year was already off to a cool start. (enter sarcasm here)

Anyone?
 

Laura decided that she would see if she could find anyone to talk to, she hoped that she could find a first year or something so that she can speak to them and tell them all about life at Hogwarts and all about how they could have some fun, she really wanted to try her best to help a firstie out but first she would have to find one to help.

Elise had missed Kurumummy's hugs, especially since she had graduated. And her cookies, of course. It was really strange, going down for a feast and not seeing a batch of the Gryffindor's freshly baked cookies dancing around the Gryffindor table with her beaming proudly at them.

"Really?" she bubbled, her eyes sparking. Always? "Forever's a long time.... but thank you." Stepping properly away from her psuedo-mother, Elise bit her lip. She hadn't even told anyone about it yet, and to be honest, she didn't want to. But she would rather tell it herself than have Kurumi find out some other way.

"I... I'mquidditchcaptain." she whispered, unclenching her hand to show the badge that sat in it. That was all, but she wanted her to be the first person she told who wasn't actually related to her. Merlin knew how, because Elise was pretty certain that she didn't deserve to lead a team, much less to be able to train them and be an example. It was scary business.

"Yeah, but we gotta get on the train first," Tora said already walking towards the door. Hopefully the other girl would follow...

Gram would be happy that Tora had already found someone to sit with. She believed the best friends were made on the train to Hogwarts. Tora was unsure if she also believed in this philosophy, but it was worth a shot if it meant making her grandmother happy and possibly making a new friend. All of her age mate friends were Muggles, and even then they weren't really [i]friends[/]. She couldn't talk to them about magic. But here at Hogwarts... well everyone could be magical here. She smiled. She knew it was going to be a great year.

"Ah, of course," Isobel replied, relieved that she wasn't being scorned with some sort of 'Hah, why would I want to sit with you? Not that she expected someone would actually say that, but she got paranoid when she was talking to people. It really was exhilarating, talking to people. She'd never really done it before. She was grinning and following the girl to the train when she spotted someone standing alone.

Emboldened by her newfound friendship-making skills, Isobel glanced at Potential New Friend and then back at the much-older-than-her Alone Girl. She stood on her tiptoes, smiled, and waved, then realised that Alone Girl was probably going to think she was trying to call her over for some reason. She wasn't, she was just trying to be friendly, but... hey, she guessed it couldn't hurt to have a friend in the older years? Too late now, anyway, so she kept waving and trying to think of something to say if-slash-when Alone Girl came over.

Epic.

Garrick had to do something epic this year. He smiled to himself when he thought about the Weasley sticky trainers in his trunk. THOSE could serve to do something epic. Blahh.

All he was SURE of was that this term was going to be different for sure.

And he found himself letting his thoughts drift to a certain girl... a girl whose hand had spent a lot of time in his on the alley... There he stood, GARRICK OGDEN, with a goofy grin on his face as he shoved his hands into his pockets.

Whatever she was doing to him he didn't mind.

Laura was just standing there thinking about things when suddenly she saw someone waving like crazy.

*blink* *blink*

Who was this girl waving to, she turned around to see if there was anyone behind her but there wasn't, surely the girl was a bit young to want to talk to her about anything, well anyway she decided to go an investigate and see why this girl wanted to speak to her.

"Hello." Laura smiled. "I'm Laura." Laura decided it was best to introduce herself. "Can I just ask do I have something on my top or anything you were waving like crazy back then." Laura giggled, it would be awful if she had something wrong with her appearance especially since she was starting her fifth year and this year she was going to try and behave and not land up in detention.

Blue allowed her cheek to be kissed by her father once more but she drew the LINE at the fifth goodbye hug from her mother. She ducked out of reach, grabbing her trolley. "I gotta gooooo. I need to find a place to sit." She waved and hurried off, not looking back. Clingy parents were clingy. And while it was sweet that they were going to miss her, Blue's neck was slightly heated and red with embarrassment.

She shuffled along, standing on her tip-toes to see over all the heads for Bliss or West or someone equally as awesome. OH. Someone decent. Blue strolled over, pushing her luggage, humming happily. "Hey you!" You know who you are.

"GARRICK. Wassup? Excited for getting homework again?"

It was exhilarating stuff.

Napkin ^_^
 

This was it then.

After saying her goodbyes to all of her family, the seventh year walked through the wall and made her way towards the front of the train. She was ready, she could do this, no she would do this.

She took a breathe in and out then reached inside her bag for her new badge and slowly placed it on her shirt.

Deeep breathe in, deep breathe out.

Not just Captain Lochnessie anymore, she had to grow in those shoes. Grow up to become better, be the best that she could be. She was now Miss Dixon a role model to each and ever single child that would be boarding the train soon and that frightened her to death. Part of her kind of felt that the only reason why she had received her badge was due to the likewise hair and house that she had along with her Headmistress, but the other part of her knew she had some leadership skills that even though they were there would need to grow tremendously through out the year. But she could do this, she had to.

Breaaaathe in, breaaathe out...and possibly look really silly standing in the middle of a train station whilst doing so. Mellow. This was it this was Hogwarts 2080-2081.

If Garrick was able to read minds he would have likely been rather upset with being classified as DECENT. HEHEHE. But he couldn't, so he smiled real big at Blue and waved.

"I was just thinking to myself that I didn't have enough homework this summer." Heh. For real, though... he didn't mind the homework. It was sleeping in the dorms with all those smelly kids that he was not keen on.

Just thinking about it caused him to wrinkle his nose a bit.

"How was the rest of your holiday? Eat anymore vomit beans?" CACKLE.

She smiled, watching as Jory pet Oliver. She then laughed as Oliver gave Jory's pets a long stare. "Behave, alright?" she said, kissing his head and handing him over to Jory to hold.

"I was just thinking the same thing." she said, glancing at where the train should be any moment. She was pretty eager to get on the train and to Hogwarts. Hopefully they'd have new things to explore outside. "Do you think there'll be any new things on the grounds? They seem to add new stuff every year." she said thoughtfully, turning back to Jory. It was always exciting seeing what new things were there.

Any takers?
 

Ever since Nerida had returned for the summer, her mother had been telling the whole wizarding hospital that Nerida had done amazing on her owls and well Nerida not wanting to disappoint had done just that, but that made things between her and her sister tensed...They were still kinda tensed.

Nerida walked onto the north end of the platform, she tucked a stray strand of her blonde hair behind her hair, wondering if she could find anybody she knew, or maybe someone would come and find her that she didn't know. And maybe her parents would leave her be,

'Ello!
 

And now the platform was getting crowded. Seriously, where was the train already? It seemed to be running behind schedule. Or maybe her sense of time was messed up. That was completely possible after all the nights of staying up late and other shenanigans that went on during the summer.

Oh look, there was someone else that was all by themselves. Which meant that Sky would have someone to talk to to pass the time. Someone that wasn't a weird firstie because this girl seemed familiar. Wasn't she in her year? Or around it? Nerida, she thought. "Hello there! Sixth year, Ravenclaw right?"

Jory took hold of Oliver. He generally wasn't a fan of cats but this one was somehow different. In what way, he didn't know but he liked Oliver. "So, what were you up to this summer, Oliver? Did Ronnie and her family drive you crazy with their music? Did she try to make you get too fat?'' He joking examined Oliver. "Nope, you're just the way we like you.'' Oliver just stared at him as if he were an alien. "Okay, I'll shut up now.'' The cat meowed in agreement and turned it's attention back to Furball.

"I hope so,'' the seventh year said. "But the duck pond is one of the best places, right?'' He grinned. He, Ronnie ans Oliver often hung out there. He and Ronnie feeding the hungry ducks and Oliver staring hungrily at them. Another place he would miss very much is the Lake, his favourite spot on the Ground. "If they do add anything new, I wonder what I would be. Any guesses, Ronnie?'' he asked. The Groundskeeper really had a lot of work to do around the Grounds but he managed it very well.

Hmmm. Someone seemed to be a little bit of a downer. She really did mean it. Elise would always be someone she would look out for - even when they were much older and no one really needed any looking out for. So Kurumi just smiled at the Ravenclaw.

Her eyes widened a bit when she took a step back. Hmm? What was this abou ---- "Wait...what?" Kurumi said, her eyes widening just a bit more when she heard what had come next. "You're the....YOU'RE THE NEW RAVENCLAW QUIDDITCH CAPTAIN?!" A giant smile spread across her face and she wrapped the girl back up in another hug. About time there was a captain that she liked - Ravenclaw had a terrible track record in the Gryffindor's mind. "Congratulations! That's great news! I know you will be brilliant."

SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEZE!

Tora realized the girl wasn't following her so she turned around to see her off waving to some other girl. Wait- wasn't the girl supposed to be alone? She crossed her arms. Well there goes one potential friend, and although that annoyed her, she was mad that the other girl had lied to her! There was no reason for that at all... They had just met and they shouldn't have anything against each other yet. Fine. If she wants to go sit with her friend (who didn't even look her age) she could. It wasn't any of Tora's business! She turned on her heel and started to stomp off.

Two seconds later she was wondering who the other girl's friend was. And why the other girl lied to her. If she lied at all... maybe she was just being friendly to some other stranger.

Agh. Tora marched all the way back down the platform to where the girl was standing. "Who's your friend? I thought you said you were alone?" She asked trying not to sound too accusatory. She was curious now, and although still a bit miffed, not angry in the slightest.

Troy was holding onto the stroller handle with one hand, as his older sister maneuvered it. He was incredibly nervous! It was going to be his first time being away from people/family for so long, it was new territory. He wasn't good with change, it tickled him in the wrong way.

"Nervous?" Demi smiled as she looked down at her little brother. Sure at first she may not have been on board with having a new sibling in her life, that she not only had to accept but to take care. But now Troy's really grown on her, he reminded her so much of their late father whom she still mourned in secrecy.

"Little." Troy gulped and nodded, he didn't want to be away.

"Don't be, Kid. You'll be just fine, you'll be home for the holidays." Demi smiled. Her smile always caused him to smile.

"Will you write to me?" Troy feared being left alone.

"Every day, even Allie will finger paint OWLs for you." Demi tapped Troy on his head and gave him the assurance, that he wasn't going to be left alone.

"Okay." Troy smiled showing of his cute front teeth, very determined to start this year. He had packed his backpack with so much of his muggle toys and gadgets.

She laughed as Jory spoke to Oliver. "Actually, Ollie likes our music. He seems to enjoy it....unless we get too loud." she added with a smirk. It was true...everytime they'd play, he'd run down to the garage and curl up on the couch and sleep as he listened to them play.

She laughed again as Jory joked around some more. He sure was funny. She smiled. She was glad to have him as a friend, he was pretty cool.

She grinned at what he said about the duck pond and nodded in agreement. "Of course!" she squealed. The little duckies were SOO cute! She then thought when he asked his next question. "Maybe a big garden or something?" she said. "What about you? What do you think they'd add?" she asked.

For Anyone

Another summer had passed and Oichi was on her way to the train station that would take her back to Hogwarts. But this time she did not feel so elated to be going back. Her OWL results were really starting to make her think she was not a very competent witch. Still she held her head high as she got out of her car with her trunk and walked into the station. She was determined to make the most of the two years she had left even feeling a bit forlorn now.

Laura decided to go for a walk and was walking when she suddenly spotted someone she hadn't seen for ages, not since the salon last term. "OICHI!!!!!!!!!" Laura screamed. "How have you been?" Laura ran over to her friend. "I think a better question would be where have you been?" Laura hugged her friend.

Oichi's eyes popped open as she saw a friend of hers she had not seen in forever even at Hogwarts the previous term with so much extra studying. A lot of good that did. But whatever. "Hey Laura, it's good to see you. I was studying a lot last term with my OWLs. I think I may have over done it a bit. So how was you're summer? I've missed you, we have so much catching up to do!".

Laura smiled at Oichi. "It's been way too long and I agree we have loads to catch up on, wait until you here all the news I have for you." Laura giggled. "I hope we can do something fun this term together it would be awesome if we could." Laura hugged her friend agian. "My summer well it was okay in the end bad start but better towards the end." Laura smiled. "I've missed you too." Laura pouted. "How was your summer?"