Front of the Train
 

The driver and snack lady sit up front in the driver's cab, but there are plenty of other compartments up here. Prefects have their very own!

Lettie dragged herself onto the train. Now that it was time to leave, she didn't want to.
Ornlu followed his master, his furry dark brown tabby tail standing straight up. Leticia found a seat and sat down, sighing to herself. Ornlu hopped up and curled up into his girl's lap, purring loudly.
"Well, this is it...a new school." Lettie said quietly as she picked up her backpack and setting it down next to her. She scratched Ornlu behind his left ear and stared out the window, wishing her father and mother were with her.

As Hayley boarded the Hogwart's Express for the very first time, a whirlwind of emotions raged through her. She was so excited and nervous and happy and MEEEEP...She was going to HOGWARTS! Hayley glanced out of the door one last time to see her parents and older sister waving at her. She waved back, then turned around, off in search of a place to sit. As she was glancing around, she noticed some tell-tale pink hair sitting in a compartment, seemingly alone. Hayley walked over timidly and glanced in. Sure enough, there was Jake Upstead, the boy she'd tripped over in Diagon Alley. "Uh, Hi Jake," she said nervously, "do you mind if I sit here?"

With his back carrying her backpack, Emiliano rushed into the first compartment left around, empty. He hoped to find Piper soon, or any of his friends coming around the halls of the train. He was really excited to go back to school, back to Hogwarts.

Ricco had began to get a little nervous so getting on the train he watched as people waved to their parents while he had nobody to wave to. After he was on the train he bagan to walk down the carts until he found one that appeared to be empty. As soon as he walked in he found a familiar face but deciding not to start an argument he quietly sat down.

Lettie looked up and Ornlu started to growl a little bit, pinning his ears back and wagging his fluffy tail.
The girl ignored him for a minute before speaking up, "You broke two bones in my hand." She said and scratched Ornlu some more. She pulled her backpack closer to her so that it would be nearby.

Sarah walked into the carrige and looked around, she couldn't see anyone she knew so she just sat down in an empty compartment and waited for someone she did know of for someone to talk to her.

Ricco looked towards thhe girl known by the name of Lettie before speaking up a reply "Would you like me to break a few more", he offered as he looked in his bag for a packet of biscuits. As soon as he found them he started to nibble at them.

"No." Leticia said and held her hands closer, then brought her back over some more as well, she shook her head just to be sure he understood. Ornlu growled some more and sniffed the air, wanting some of the biscuits.
He hopped down and quick as a flash stole a bit of the package still sealed up and jumped over to Lettie again, nawing away at the wrapper.
"Ornlu!" Lettie hissed and tried to take the food away from her cat, "No stealing, no...". Try as she could, she wasn't able to get the food away.

Ricco was annoyed that the cat had taken the last of his cookies but since he liked cats he decided to let it kee them. Looking through his bag he found his owl hiding at the bottom cuddled beside a set of books. Not knowing what else to do he looked out the window at the passing countryside.

Natasha had walked down to the front of the train with a grin. She was so excited to finally be going back to Hogwarts. She looked around for a compartment, hoping to find someone to talk to because she didn't feel like sitting by herself.

Lettie lost sight of Ornlu as he hid under a seat to eat the rest of his prize in peace. The girl looked across the compartment and then out the window, wondering if it was a good idea to say anything at all.
"Erm, is it your first year at this school?" Leticia asked finally, not entirely sure if it was wise to do, but went ahead anyway.
She could hear a soft crunching sound coming from under the seat as Ornlu chewed.
"I hear that Hogwarts is a nice place." She continued, trying to be nice.

Heidi and Lindsey
 

One minute, silence... or relative silence. And isolation. And loneliness... and then... someone familiar... kind of.

"What?" Jake mumbled, turning to look towards the door. It took him only a few moments for his eyes to focus and for him to recognise the girl. "Oh... hi Hayley... I don't mind, come on in," Jake nodded towards the seat ahead of him and saw Melanie out in the train's corridor. He gave her a quick wave.

Malfalda walked into the compartment.She sat down,stroking Crusoe."Hi,I'm Malfalda.Malfalda Marlowe!"she said proudly as she held out her hand.She noticed her friend Natasha,whom she had met in Diagon Alley."Hi,Natasha.So what have you been up too?"

Piper rushed into the front of the train, she had searched thoroughly the rest of the compartments, only to not find the one person she had been looking for. "Oh please, please let him be here.." she whispered to herself as she rushed into the first compartment only to stop dead at who she saw. Him... "Emiliano.." She breathed and she just sort of stood there for a few second, her heart was pounding in her chest, and she found it hard to breathe as she looked at him. Move, talk.. do anything Piper, come on!!Her brain was screaming at her, but all she could do was stand and look at him, Gahhh look at him, he's so handsome...She could feel herself melting..

Emiliano was there, sitting alone inside the compartment when he heard a sweet and quite tempting voice, those that make your face totally turn to them and never take your eyes off. "Piperl.." He called out and smiled wide at her, "...come, sit down." He invited her, motioning a seat either next to him or facing his seat.

Just look at her...tell her. No wait...that can ruin things, can't it? He thought, quite still confused at the minute.

"So...how have you been?" He asked, giving her a warm smile as he kept back inside his notebook, the one where he kept his drawings, songs and some other memories.

Piper was quite lost, she was just sorta dreamily looking into Emiliano's perfect warm, caring eyes when his smooth and accented voice pulled her out of her reverie. "Sit.. Right." She smiled widely and finally forced her unwilling body to move. She hesitated for a second, before she sat down across from him, she was farther from him, but at least she could look at him all she wanted.

"I..I've been good. I've.. missed you." Those last three words were said very softly as she adjusted her violet button up shirt, and pulled her long hair, which she had left loose and curly over one shoulder, to play with it. Her nervous habit. "How have you been?" She asked as she leaned forward to see his notebook. "What are you writing? Or are you drawing this time?" She asked with a sweet smile.

Emiliano watched as Piper sat across him. He just smiled and took a deep and inconscious breath. God...she is beautiful...but what if she just says no. He was in a deep, very internal battle right there. He was still confused about his feelings from that weird summer of his...when he almost left Hogwarts, Piper, Reese...his friends.

Then that phrase...he just opened his eyes, wide enough and smiled at her. "...I've missed you as well." He said, quite unknown of his own words at that minute. He was trembling...he was squishing his knee with his own hand. Ouch, that hurt. "...I've been great. Enjoying some time at home, then now coming back to Hogwarts. It is just amazing." He told her and smiled.


"Really, you..." He said, taking his notebook inside the bag as quick as possible. "...you wouldn't like to see those horrible drawings I've been making and those songs. I've revised them and they are so...awful." He said, sort of criticizing himself. He was not going to show Piper his notes. No way...or was he?

Piper's smile got wider, he had caught her whispered phrase and repeated it back to her. Her heart started to flutter more, and more as she felt her breath hitch as he smiled at her. Merlinnnn does he know what he does to me when he smiled at me like that? She wondered to herself, she could feel herself melting in her seat at his look. "Really? You missed me too?" She asked him her voice trembling slightly, as she swallowed a bit nervously. " It seems like it's been a long time since we had ice cream in diagon alley." She smiled at him. "Really? It went well at home again? No hard feelings about you coming back?" She asked him as she leaned forward again, her hand still holding onto a stand of her hair.

Her brow furrowed slightly, as Em quickly stuffed his notebook back into his bag. "Of course I want to see them Emiliano, I've seen some of the things you have written, you are a great song writer, and artist. And I am your...friend.." Friend... uggghhhhhhhPiper hated saying that word, she tripped over it, as she spoke, she wanted to be so much more to him, so much more. "I am your friend, I want to see what you have been up too! And don't say that! They could not be awful.." Piper said shaking her head.

Amanda walked along the front of the train, wearing her brand new Slytherin robes, she passed the compartments and found an empty one and opened the door. Setting down her guitar case, her bag, her owl cage and her kitten's cage; she closed the compartment door and sat down. She opened her guitar case and took out her new guitar then started to play as Zeus was meowing in his cage.

And God, would she know how she makes me feel when she smiled back? Emiliano was trying to not freak out, really. His whole head was spinnning...his whole system was breaking down. "Of course I did...I mean, I missed my friends a lot and thoughts came into my mind this summer about not seeing you again..." He said, referring to Piper but he just hoped he would catch the deal about the constant thought of her.

He nodded his head, in agreement of his parents. "Yeah, everything is great with them. I mean, they are not here anymore with us, and Diana now is in charge of my education, but they just seemed fine about me staying with her, here at Hogwarts..." Em said, smiling to Piper.

He closed his eyes, took a deep breath and then his notebook appeared back out of the bag. There were a few drawings of Hogwarts...Karma, Reese, then her...a couple more than the usual. Eep...if she saw them, he would be screwed, right??? Emiliano gulped, he was crushing her knee again.

Selena made her way to an empty compartment and sat down. Her kitten Arielle immediately jumped off its owners' arms and made itself comfortable. She smiled and stroked the creature's gray fur gently. Somehow, it made her felt home... like when she was Lyra Tolbert. Letting out a soft sigh, she continued to pet Arielle and gazed out of the window. Platform 9 3/4 was full of parents waving goodbye to their children. And yet Rena wasn't here. Great - she must be putting Selena's luggage on to the train. Not expecting any Guardian to show up, she was totally surprised when she saw a familiar pale hand waving and making way towards her.

"Rose! Alex! Kat!" She cried happily. "What are you guys doing here? I thought you were supposed to be in LA?" Rose gave her a meaningful look. "Did you seriously think that we were that kind of friends? Besides, we could easily Apparate here." She winked, and Selena immediately knew she meant another type of transportation. Better keep cover. She held her hand out to grab Alex's. It was so warm...he always gave her a sense of security. "Manami and Theron had to hunt, they said they were sorry and wanted to wish you luck." He smiled, his golden hair glittering in the light. Sure they couldn't come, no Guardian would have wanted a bloodbath in London. Kat shuffled in her satchel and pulled out a book. "Here's our Hogwarts gift to you. Remember to send Mirare home for us, OK? We would be dying to hear news." "Make friends," Rose added. "They are very important in our lives." She smiled meaningfully at Alex and took his other hand. Ah, young love, Selena giggled mentally. "But keep an eye out for danger. We haven't had any news of Lilith yet, but Lumiere said there were signs." He continued. "OK guys, I remembered. Thank you very much."

As the time slowly passed, Amanda slowly began to become quite bored, so she stopped playing the song that she was playing and put her guitar back, grabbing her sketchbook and her self inking quill in the process. She flipped the book open to a guitar design that she hadn't finished yet and continued where she had left off.

Stepping deftly onto the train, Ott finds a compartment that only one other person is in. Seeing she is busy working on something, he takes a seat across from her and stretches out his long legs. Making sure to put them more to the side as not to disturb her.

Looking around, he wonders how long the train ride is, having not been to this school before, but not willing to ask anyone. There is pride you know... he thinks sternly to himself.

Glancing down at the pocket of his robes, he takes out his wand. Still in awe of having a wand and not a staff any longer, he twirls it in his fingers gently studying it, carefully.

All eyes were to be on her, at least, in some aspect. Karma had grown considerably more beautful, no doubt to thank that Veela blood that lay somewhere inside of her. She smiled at passersby, wondering which one would be the one she spoke to first.

Her eyes, though slightly distant, wandered about the train. She looked the same as she had last year, though something was much different about her. No one could place their finger on it just yet. Her eyes held secrets that had yet to be spilled, and glanced at people in wonder of all the new faces she had stumbled upon.

A voice rang in Karma's ears. For some reason, that voice was very familiar. Of someone she knew very well - one who would never be forgotten.

That smirk crossed her face, the ever so sly Karma smirk, as if she was planning something in the back of her mind.

She pulled her hair down from the ponytail to let it fall to its full length. No use for having it up yet, she wasn't studying. After all, it WAS her last year. Wow. Her last year, and it hadn't really sunk in until now.

Pulling back to reality, she seized herself to walk towards that voice, and grinned when she fell upon the compartment that held the owner and a friend.

"Long time no see stranger," she said, her eyes softening at Emiliano. She turned toward the other girl, and smiled as well. "Hello."

Amanda arrived back in the front of the train, pondering her apology to Gabben, well it was appropriate but it still felt weird to admit that she was wrong of all things. She began to consider why being around Gabben made her feel the way it did until it hit her like a non verbal stupefy, she liked him, but wasn't about to admit that.

Mystic was thinking of boarding the back of the train, but it was all ready packed so she wheel her two small made in Japan labeled brown and black enchanted trunks with quidditch stickers of Falmouth Falcons and Toyohashi Tengu on them into an empty compartment and set them in a corner. Then set the small enchanted travel owl cage on the luggage rack.

Mystic took off her brown coat then sat down next to the window. Now that she is all settled on the train she took off her sunglass to revile her sour green apple green lollipop eyes and her brown knitted cap. Her long bubblegum pink hair fell down to the middle of her back. She then took out two long green ribbons and wrapped her hair into two small pigtails.

Stonefaced, like an army sergeant, Ari had made her way onto the train, white cane in hand. Pushing her dark glasses close to her eyes, she felt her way along the train corridor. One of her friends had been sure to keep a compartment for her. "...five...six...seven...", Ari counted in a whisper, running her hand over the doors of the compartments. Her white cane in her right hand, it lightly skimmed back and forth over the floor of the train.

"...nine." Ari lightly rapped her knuckles against the door, before opening the compartment. It was empty. After a moment, she entered, shut the door, and sat closest to the window, ironically. She folded up her cane and concealed it in her left hand. Still stonefaced, Ari sighed, listening to the noises outside.

Hayley let out a barely audible sigh of relief. She had somewhere to sit, with someone she knew...sort of. "Thanks Jake," she said, carefully scanning the compartment to make sure there was nothing (particularly Jake's feet) that she could trip over as she stepped in. As she went to put her messanger bag up on the shelf, she looked up and frowned...at 4 ft., 5in., she wasn't nearly tall enough to get it up there on her own..unless...with an air of determination, she set down her owl Booker's cage, stepped up on the seat, and pushed her messenger bag up onto the shelf with all her might. "There," she said triumphantly, before finally sitting down. "So, how's it going?" she asked the pink haired boy.

Sarah smiled as she got a book out to read, she wondered where her sisters where. She hoped that they were okay, she thought all about them for awhile then she started to read her book. She was so lonely sat on her own, but she was sure that more people would turn up soon, well she hoped that they would.

"Hey," Jake nodded to Melanie who had just entered. He watched the cat she placed up on the luggage rack and kept his eye on it. Lolcat was round here somewhere, maybe down the other end of the train. He didn't worry Jake, for Lolcat and Charlie were the only things Jake could control. "Yeah sure... your cat... it don't mind other animals, does it?"

Following Melanie's gaze, Jake looked up at Hayley and smiled, introducing them to each other with a tad of detail. "Erm, Melanie, this is Hayley, she's a first year. Hayley, this is Melanie. She's in Hufflepuff like me and a second year... like me..." he trailed off, looking between them for a few moments.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TMHFPolska (Post 8184039) Hayley let out a barely audible sigh of relief. She had somewhere to sit, with someone she knew...sort of. "Thanks Jake," she said, carefully scanning the compartment to make sure there was nothing (particularly Jake's feet) that she could trip over as she stepped in. As she went to put her messanger bag up on the shelf, she looked up and frowned...at 4 ft., 5in., she wasn't nearly tall enough to get it up there on her own..unless...with an air of determination, she set down her owl Booker's cage, stepped up on the seat, and pushed her messenger bag up onto the shelf with all her might. "There," she said triumphantly, before finally sitting down. "So, how's it going?" she asked the pink haired boy.

Letting a little smile play on his lips as Hayley appeared to show the same height problems as he always did, Jake watched the girl as she sat down. "Oh, I'm good... It was my birthday yesterday," he added, suddenly remembering. "I'm twelve now... How about with you?"

Lizzie sighed happily as she walked through the corridor, Zara in a cage under her arm, er trunk behind her and a smile on her face. She was going back, for the third time. This year would probably be great, and she couldn't wait to see her friends again! Peeking into compartments along the way she failed to find anyone she knew very well, though she recognized a few students. Finally she entered a compartment in the front and put her things down while whistling slowly to herself. She'd find her friends soon enough.

Deciding it was best to cooperate a little he stared at the ggirl for a little before finally saying "Yes it is my first year", then spotting the cat with a cookie in its mouth he chuckled a little before continuing with waht he was going to say, "Is this your first year too?".
"As long as its better than back home" he said bluntly as he turned to face the window again as a bird flew past.

Sarah jumped when a voice spoke out at her and she quickly put the book down to see who it was and realised it was Mia. "Hi Mia." She smiled. "How are you." She asked as she put the book back in her bag and waited for Mia to sit down. "So what have you been upto lately?"

Dem walked up from the back of the train. "Hey, you." she said sweetly to Lizzie. "I thought that was you I saw." she smiled at her friend and gave her a huge hug.

"Nothing much!", Mia replied." I went to visit a friend Jason at his castle. And then I spent the last few days trying to locate all my possessions.What about you?"

Sarah looked at Mia and smiled. "That sounds interesting." She laughed. "I just spend most of my time with Brant." She giggled then smiled. "Oh and with my sisters."

"Who is Brant?", Mia thought, adding to herself that the name sounded like a brat's. "Oh yes, I met Alice Winchester in Diagon Alley. Is she your sister?"
OOC: got to go. I got volunteer commitments now. Will be back here later.

Jesse walked towards the front of the train, his trunk bumping along behind him. Much, his red pygmy puff formaly known as Ollie, was asleep on his shoulder and Robin, a green pygmy puff whom he'd received as fourteenth birthday present, was snoozing in his pocket. He passed many full compartments, some empty but he hadn't yet spotted any of his friends...That was until he came across two familiar faces. He grinned at the sight of them. He hadn't seen them all summer. Lizzie and Dem. He pushed open the door, "Hey guys," Much squeaked excitedly, now very much awake, "Mind if I sit?"

"Hi Melanie," Hayley said,taking the hand the other girl offered and blushing as she always did when introduced to someone new.

"Oh!," Hayley exclaimed upon Jake mentioning his birthday, "Happy birthday...uhm yesterday! Nothing's really new for me...'cept I'm going to Hogwarts," she finished with a smile. Nervously, she poked her finger through Booker's cage, and petted his soft feathers...he let out a soft hoot that was almost reassuring to the small girl.

"JESSSIIIIEE!!!!!" Dem ran and pounced on him giving him a huge hug. "I haven't seen you in forevers!!" she smiled

Sarah looked at Mia and smiled. "He's just a good friend." She laughed. "Yeah Alice is my sister and there is also Bee who is my sister." She smiled as she looked at Mia. "Do you have any sisters?"

Lettie was just about to snap about why the outrageously tall new student was staring at her, when the guy decided to speak. She could feel her Maine Coon's fluffy tail hitting her in the leg and she bit her lower lip to keep from smiling. Smiling was a sign of weakness now, yep...that's right.
"Yes it is my first year." Leticia said proudly and pushed her hair out of her eyes, just in case the giant decided to attack her, she wanted to be prepared. "I'm starting as a fourth year. I've been homeschooled by my aunt and grandmother mostly up until now." Lettie cringed as the train seemed to hit a wild bump on the rail and items shook inside, but that quickly passed.

"Why? What's back home?" Leticia asked before she could stop herself. Ornlu walked out from under his hideaway and right over to Ricco, stood up in his hind legs and started to knead the boy's legs with his front paws, purring loudly as though to say, 'Where are cookies?' His furry face was covered in crumbs.

Chris walked to the front of the train. He had his hands in his pockets and his guitar case on his back. He walked by a couple of compartments and saw Emiliano. He waved slightly, seeing he was talking with two girls. He looked and saw a girl he thought he had seen in the common room but wasn't quite sure and Karam. But whatever he kept walking, until he saw Amanda. "Hey Amanda." He said walking closer to her. "Hey how was your summer?" He asked know she was on tour over the summer.

Ruby walked slowly to the front of the train, she was having to do this year alone Sakura was in L.A now and well.......she thought about the summer and pulled her hood up on her cloak, she wandered untill she found a compartment and sat down in it

For Hollie
 

ARRGH.

Why, oh why did it have to be the last term EVER he would endure at Hogwarts? Miles hated ageing. Why couldn't he just be a little boy forever? What was up with grwoing up? And why did he have to get taller? Miles felt like these questions would never be answered, not for now anyway.

Miles slowly walked down the corridor of the express, looking for Vannie. That was a bit blunt, but he hadn't seen her for a while and he was beginning to have Vannie deprevation. "Aha! Found you." He mused as he slid the empty compartment door open to find a lonely looking prefect. "I'm surpised you're not in the Prefect's compartment. Is the power overwhelming?" Miles smiled and put his arm around her.

Vanessa smiled as she heard his voice, and she looked up at him, glad that he had found her. "Am I that hard to find" She giggled, although she could have been anywhere on the train. "No...but you're not in that compartment." She commented, as she rested her head on his shoulder. She had to be careful now. She didn't want to get done for PDA now. Not when she was a prefect. "There is a meeting there later though." She nodded, so she'd have to leave him.

Ooh. That reminded her off her badge, and she looked back down at it. Now would be a good moment to pin it to her robes. "Can you put it on for me?" She asked, placing the badge into his hand. At least then it would be straight. "If I do it....it'll be wonky." She giggled, looking up at him. She didn't want to mention anything about it being there last year. Not yet anyway.

Clark Landers was seriously annoyed.

He hadn't seen the pretty girl, Melanie L-something(Lizt? Laraby?) since Diagon Alley, he hadn't seen any of the people he had met, actually. All he saw were a couple obviously flirting, a Slytherein second year, and a sixth year. This would be an interesting year if he couldn't locate anyone and had to make new friends every time he turned around. Yeesh.

He looked to his side. The Slytherein girl wandered into an empty compartment and sat down, so he followed. She seem kind of sad, and Clark hated when people were sad. So he made it his mission to make that girl happy.

He entered her compartment. "Can I sit in here?" he asked, beaming.

Lizzie! Dem!! She ran to her friends, or as fast as she could with her stuff, and hugged both of them.

Lizzie looked up from the thoughts, meeting Dem's happy eyes as she got up and hugged her friend back. Hey sweetie! It's been all summer, except for the party of course.. She grinned and offered the girl a seat in the compartment. She was just about to sit down again when a familiar voice was heard yet again...

...and Jesse entered with two pygmy puffs and a wide smile. Hey Jesse! she said happily and got up again, hugging him tight, she had missed him too. Everything ok with you? And you too De...

...She didn't even finish the question before Dem got up with a scream and attacked Jesse. With a giggle Lizzie smiled brightly at her friends, happy to be with them again, just as Shaylee joined too. Hey Shay!! Lizzie called and ran over to her too, hugging her. Lovey I haven't seen you for long, how've things been during summer?

Vivianne boarded the train and was looking for a compartment. She wasn't in the mood to choose whoever was seated inside though, she just wanted some place to stay. The feeling of going back to Hogwarts again made her excited for the past few days of the summer. She glanced around and saw familiar faces busily chatting with old friends and new ones.

She'll be missing her parents again however she was used with it now unlike before when she was on her first year. She's hoping this year's going to be better than the past years.

Jesse, not expecting the big hug that enveloped him, instinctivly dropped his stuff, his trunk landing with a large thud onto the compartment floor. Robin, who'd been snoring in his pocket, poked his head out, cooing lazily. Jess laughed, returning her hug, "Nice to see you too!"

Another girl entered the compartment. Why was it he was always surrounded by girls? It wasn't as if he was complaining though...:lol: He'd seen this girl hang around with Lizzie and Dem often enough and the way she said their names confirmed. But he'd never spoken to her before. Offering her a friendly smile, he sat down oppisite Dem and Lizzie.

Then came the hug from Lizzie. He hadn't had this many hugs since before the holidays! He grinned at her as they broke apart, "Thing's have been good," he said in answer to her question, "What about you? Haven't seen you or Dem in ages,"

"Oh hey Chris, my summer was amazing. The tour was absolutely insane, played sold-out shows around the world, I also got a bit of a contract with Gibson, designing guitars for them. I actually have most of the guitars I've designed in stores now." Amanda said, then grabbed her new guitar to show Chris.

Melanie blinked over at him as she set her trunk down onto the floor of the compartment, deciding not to try and lift it up onto the rack like she had her cat, pondering his inquiry. Well...in her opinion her cat was the sweetest most loving creature on earth apart from a certain select humans.

Most people tended to disagree.

So she decided to answer the question honestly. "Well...he hasn't exactly been around many other animals lately..." she answered, uncertainly, glancing up at her, now peaceful cat, satisfied by the sight. "He's sleeping anyway." she added, with a small smile.

She listened as Jake introduced her to the firstie, glancing over at her, as well to her own introduction. "Yep..that's me...And that's Momo." she said, pointing over at the dozing cat.

Noticing the blush on the other girls cheeks, Melanie gave her an encouraging smile, wondering whether she was shy or something. Of course Melanie wasn't too shy at all and even she had been when meeting new people last year, so it was perfectly understandable.

"Hey." she repeated uncertain of what to say next. "I like your owl." Melanie commented, for lack of something better to say to her, observing as she poked her finger into his cage. She silently debated whether to ask if she could pet him as well, but decided not to...Not until she was sure the owl wasn't going to chew her fingers off. She liked them the way they were, perfectly intact.

Melanie eavesdropped listened to what Jake was saying to Haley...About his birthday being yesterday. "Happy Late Birthday!" she said, perhaps a bit too loudly, tempted to start singing the birthday song, but thankfully she settled for humming it under her breath. "Mine was this summer too...July 15th." she informed anyone would listen. Chyeah. No one could call her a child anymore... 12 at least classified as tween or something didn't it?

She was a bit disappointed she hadn't been informed earlier...she could have gotten him a present or something. It wouldn't have been great, but it would have been something. However, on that note, Melanie did remember something she could give to him. Reaching into her trunk and , digging around a bit (she wasn't the most organized person.), she finally pulled out a small pouch, much like the ones they had at Gringotts. "I have your money from Madam P's." she explained with a sheepish smile. Ugh. And there was that jealously building up in her stomach again...Seriously, couldn't that stupid emotion leave her alone for a little while?!

*tackles then hides* Eep!! YOu're back!!
 

Stranger...??? Emiliano took a look at the door step. Eep, Karma Atkins, his last year's crush and someone he just cared for a little too much still. But then he looked back at Piper. Ooh, oh...

What would happen? He gulped and gestured Karma to enter the compartment. "Hey, stranger...I should say the same thing, I mean I didn't get to see you before I almost left." He told her, a bit of reminder of the time when they spoke at the Common Room. There sure had been other feelings, maybe anger in the deep.

"ERr...I would like to introduce you to Piper Snow, she's a sixth year Gryffindor and a friend of mine." He said, nodding every once in a while, trying to calm down.

He was in trouble...

Ruby heard someone enter her compartment and they sounded happy ugh she thought she nodded and pointed at the seat opposite her she kept her head down not wanting to scare anyone she knew with her looks

"Thanks," Hayley said with a proud grin, "His name is Booker. I just got him a couple weeks ago, but he's super nice." Booker gave a hoot at the mention of his name, causing Hayley to giggle lightly. "If you guys wanna pet him, you can. He really likes people," she said, lifting his cage onto her lap. Booker ruffled his feathers up a little bit, and turned to face Melanie, looking expectantly at her, probably hoping for a treat of some sort. "Silly owl," Hayley whispered to him. "Your cat is really pretty, too," she added as an afterthought, looking up to the sleeping feline on the luggage rack, "Momo's a cute name."

Strolling down the hall, carrying two cages in each hand, Reese Nor- I mean, Upstead has finally arrived. Yes, everyone be afraid. BE VERY AFRAID. This was was her fifth year, which meant this was her year for OWLs. She has been dreading this year since she started school, this year and her 7th year, she didn't like doing BIG tests that might judge on her getting into a good department in the Ministry. It was just plain scary. But, she wasn't going to let any tests get in the way of her having a wonderful year. She still had that promise that she made to her- and somewhat to other people- that she wouldn't get into trouble this year. Yes, Reese was going to be a goodie two shoes this term. Will she keep the promise? Well, that was undetermined at the moment, but she was going to try her best.

Darn. Reese couldn't find any empty compartment, so she was going to have to share a compartment with someone. Turning back around, she headed to the front of the train, glancing in each compartment as she walked past them. Then, she came across a compartment that was taken by a boy, that was wrapped up in a blanket. Should she disturb him? Yes. Yes she was.

Reese knocked on the compartment door, then slid it open. "Can I come in? There isn't anymore compartments that aren't crowded," she asked him, looking down at him. She noticed the Hufflepuff crest on the blanket and grinned. He was a Hufflepuff, how awesome. She hasn't met many Hufflepuffs before.

Just as Jack had been slipping into the first stage of sleep, he heard someone knock and enter his compartment. He blinked in surprise--well, this never ever happened to him. Maybe once in first year, but he was pretty sure those had been some nasty Ravvies who proceeded to rub their chocolate frogs all over his clean white trainers...

He sat up and nodded. "Yeah, sure, sit down," he said with a nodd, pointing at the seat across from him. He blinked again as he tried to place a name to this girls face--he knew he had seen her before, and he was 99.9% positive she was in his year. Hadn't she been good friends with Cale? He did recall seeing them together a lot last year.

"I'm Jack, by the way," he added, figuring the least he could do would be to introduce himself to her. "Jack Fritzera," he explained.

Booker... well that was a unique name, but wasn't unique always the best? Plus it reminded her of books and, well, books were about the best thing on the face of the earth. Not living thing that is.

Melanie's eyes grew wide as she said she could pet him. "Really?" she asked eagerly, but the girl didn't need any further confirmation. If he was friendly then he wasn't going to bite her fingers off. And that was all she needed to know. "Okay. Thanks..." she answered gratefully, still a bit shaken up about her decision as she slipped a few fingers through the thin bars of his cage to stroke his soft feathers. "He's soft..." she commented, quietly, looking solemnly at Haley. Noticing the look she was getting from Booker she wished she had some sort of treat to give him...Unfortunately Melanie was pretty sure Haley wouldn't appreciate it if she gave him cat treats. Booker probably wouldn't either...And that was the only type of animal treats she kept with her.

"Thanks." Melanie said, beaming as Haley commented on her cat, looking back up at the luggage rack to make sure he was still sleeping and sure enough there he was sprawled out among the trunks. "Maybe you can pet him when he wakes up..." she added.

Reese eyed the boy, trying to figure out where she had seen him before. He looked quite familiar, but she couldn't remember where. Maybe they just passed in the corridor at school or something. Or- maybe they saw each other in class. Geeez, it was going to drive her crazy if she didn't know where she saw him before.

"Thanks," Reese said as the boy said she could stay in here. She walked into the compartment and closed the door behind her, then turned to look back at the boy. "I'm so sorry about- you know- waking you up," she told him as she set her owl cage and cat cage up in the rack above her seat.

Reese took a seat in the seat across from the boy. Wait- Jack? Ohmygosh. JACK FRITZERA. That was the boy that Cale called nerdy last year...and also the boy that Cale said was protecting her and Anna. Oh, great. She chose a compartment with her bodyguard without even knowing it.

"I'm Reese," Reese told him. "Reese Upstead." Maybe he won't know she was the one he had to protect, since he maybe knows her as an Northway and NOT an Upstead. Or, just maybe, Cale told him about her name change. It would be like him to do that.

"Yeah, I named him Booker 'cuz he's a BooBook owl...not really original of me, but, oh well..." said Hayley as she watched the other girl stroke Booker's feathers. "He really is soft," said Hayley as she reached into her pocket and pulled out a pouch of owl treats, "You can give one of these if you want," she said, offering the treats, "He'll end up loving you forever....could I really pet your cat when he wakes up," she asked happily. She loved cats, but well, her mom was allergic, so she couldn't have one. Oh well...Booker was just as good, if not even better...

Jack shook his head. "Nah, it's ok, I was barely asleep," he said. At that moment, he sneezed again, sniffling afterwards as he let out another sigh. Leave it to Jack Fritzera to catch a cold three days before heading off to school. With his luck, this girl would be utterly disgusted with him now, and she'd bolt out of the compartment before he contaminated her with his germs.

Not wanting THAT horrific scene to play out, he pulled a small bottle of crisp apple hand sanitizer out of his pocket and quickly rubbed some on his hands before dropping it back into his school bag. Never to late to stop the spread of germs!

Reese...NOW he remembered her name. Cale had told him about her...he had also told him that in addition to keeping an eye on Anna, he should keep an eye on Reese has well. But hadn't that been Reese NORTHWAY he was supposed to be watching? Ehh, Cale probably meant Upstead. Either way, it was the same girl, he was certain. Although, Jack had gotten the impression that Cale was being just a teensy bit too overprotective about Reese--this girl hardly looked like she needed a bodyguard. In fact, she could probably take him down in a duel. No questions.

"Oh, right...Cale told me about you last year," he said, half wishing a second later that he hadn't said that. Now she was going to think he was a lot cooler than he really was--after all, Cale had only associated with the coolest of the cool, and Jack knew without a doubt that he was hardly among the people that Cale usually talked to.

Reese jumped a little bit when Jack let out a sneeze and frowned slightly. Awww. Poor Jack was sick. Was it just HIS luck to get a cold before school even started? She reached in her pocket and pulled out a tissue and looked back at Jack. "Here," she said and handed it him the tissue. There was nothing wrong with carrying a tissue around with you since you never knew what was going to happen. You might get sick and need one...or you might start crying and need something to wipe your eyes on.

She watched Jack pull out a bottle of sanitizer and couldn't help but give him a little smile. Jack seemed like the guy that was always prepared for stuff. I mean, who else carries sanitizer in their school bag? Not, Reese. He probably had a lot of other stuff in his bag that would help him in times of need.

"Oh, really? He did?" Reese asked. "What all has Cale told you about me?" She hoped she didn't tell Jack that she sometimes get into trouble or that she has a temper. Those were just some bad stuff to tell others about you. Jack would probably think she was a horrible person if he knew some stuff that has happened in the past.

Jack smiled and gratefully accepted the tissue from Reese. "Thanks," he said with a smile. He felt downright lousy right now. He just wanted to get to the feast, eat his meal in quiet, and go collapse in his bed, which was strangely more comfortable than the one at his house. Maybe all this stressing about Anna and Polonius and Prefect guy were making him sick? That was most likely it.

"Oh, nothing bad, just that you were like siblings and stuff and I should keep an eye on you to make sure you don't get into trouble," he told her. GASP! Great, now she probably thought that HE thought she was a troublemaker. "I mean, not that Cale said you were going to get into trouble. Erm, he's um...I think he's just nervous about leaving you alone. Not that you NEED anyone to watch you or anything, I mean, you're like what, fifth year already? He's just being overreactive. Not that that is a BAD thing," he said.

Gah. Shut up Jack. Just shut up right now.

"So, uh, you have a cat?" he asked, staring up at the cat cage and desperately trying to change the subject. "Me too."

"Sold out." Chris said with a low whistle. "That is pretty amazing." But then he saw Amanda's guitar. "Holy crap that's like the prettiest guitar I've ever seen. It must be good eh?" He asked still in awe at the guitar.

"No problem," Reese told him. She leaned back in her seat and looked out the window. When were they going to get to Hogwarts? She wanted to get some food, she would eat some candy, but she didn't feel like getting up and searching for the candy cart.

After thinking about food for what seemed like hours, she turned back to Jack, who was rambling on and on about Cale and him being overprotective. "Yeah, Cale is like my older brother," she told Jake, sighing a little bit. she missed Cale so much, but at least she could still write him and stuff. It wasn't like he was gone forever, right? "I think he's only nervous because I was starting to think about getting a boyfriend- and he doesn't want me to have one. Because, I've had some bad luck with boyfriends," she explained. "Nwah, being overprotective isn't such a bad thing. It's better than not being protective at all. At least you know there's people out there that love you- and care about you."

When Jack mentioned her cat, Reese looked up at her cat's cage and smiled. "I do and her name is Isabella," she told him. "You have a cat, too? That's cool." She looked back at him, still keeping that smile on her face. There was just something about Jack that made her want to smile, but, she didn't know what it was. There was NO way she could be falling for him. Yes, he was cute, but- there was just no way she could be falling in love.

Wondering if there is a food area, Ott stands up, since the girl had ignored him the whole time he was sitting there, he just walks out of the compartment. Well, I guess she isn't that interested in talking...

Heading out of the compartment he decides to start as far as he can to the front of the train and heads back looking for somewhere that has food.

late, cheyeah... i said sneakers cuz... well... *americanises self*
 

Jake nodded at the two girls again, before stretching his feet across to the seat opposite, before remembering that Melanie was indeed sitting there. He hesitated for a moment, before crossing his legs and resting his feet so he was laying across the seats. He wore his 4 year old pair of purple sneakers, the ones he cared for like they were his pets... He loved his shoes like his dad loved his car.

"Weren't we still at school in mid-July?" Jake questioned the girl, tilting his head a little and looking over at the younger girl. He watched her mess about with the owl and suddenly craved the company of one of his animals. "Do you girls mind spiders?" he asked the seemingly random question, before sticking two fingers from each hand in his mouth and letting out a shrill whistle.

Within about ten seconds, a small grey tabby cat had bounced into the compartment and onto Jake's precariously balanced body. "Hey, Lolcat," he murmured, petting his one year old kitten, hearing the strong purring. "This is my cat," Jake announced. "Lolcat."

Then Melanie held out the gold, and Jake stared at it for a moment, at first not registering it, but then glaring at it like it did him a great wrong. He wanted to tell her to keep it, but he knew from experience that people didn't like charity, as they called it. He shrugged. "Dunno what you're talking about," Jake stated in an outright lie.

Ahh, so that had been why Cale wanted Jack to watch Reese. He didn't want Reese getting a boyfriend. Pssh, that was WAY overprotective. Reese could probably take care of herself, no matter what issues she had with dumb guys in the past. Still, he had a duty to uphold to his former prefect, and he was going to do everything he could to fulfill his promise, gosh darnit. "I guess that's true," he said with a nodd. It was probably a good thing that Cale was overprotective. He just didn't want the people he loved to get hurt, that was all.

"Yeah, his name is Jinx...he's an orange tabby. And kind of crazy," he said with a chuckle. "My younger siblings have him in their compartment right now...so I probably won't get to see him till next week sometime." he added with a sigh.

Wesley was shaking, nervous. She hadn't slept at all last night, twisting and turning in anticipation and anxiety. What if they wouldn't like her? What if she was late for the train? What if she got to Hogwarts and they told her it was all a mistake? What if she said something stupid? What if she lost her luggage? What if she was killed by a muggle speeding by in a Semi (not that Wesley really knew what a Semi was, she just thought it sounded scary)?

Already in her school robes, her dark brown hair sticking in clumps to her head, still wet from taking a bath earlier, Wesley nervously climbed onto the Hogwarts Express and quickly entered the first compartment she saw, anxious to get out of the hallway.

Too scared to smile, she managed to say in a small, quavering voice,"May I sit here?", her hands knotted in her skirt and brown eyes wide like a frightened doe.

"Mmmmhmm," Reese told him. It wasn't like she was going to make the same mistake she did with Lucas. She learned her lesson with that situation. She was going to find a guy that loved her and wouldn't crush her heart. She wasn't going to give some idiotic guy her heart, so he could just play around with it.

"Jinx? Awww, that's such a cute name for a cat," Reese said. "Oh, so you have siblings that go here, too? That's cool. I have a little brother who is in Hufflepuff that attends Hogwarts, as well. He's name is Jake." She sighed a little bit when she said Jake's name. He was still mad at her about the whole Cam incident. She was regretting the whole thing now. She should have never kissed Cam. It just wasn't worth it.

"So..." Reese trailed off. "Why don't you tell me a little bit about yourself?" Might as well get to know your bodyguard since he's going to be following you around. It would be awkward not knowing someone who follows you around all the time.

Reese heard the compartment door open and looked up at the girl that was standing there. "Oh, sure," she told her. "Here- you can have my seat." She stood up and headed over to Jack, sitting right next to him.

"Yeah. Two. A pair of twins--Justin and Jasmine," Jack explained with a sigh. He tried to avoid talking about his siblings if possible--after all, they were so much more successful than he was ever going to be, it just showed how lame he was in comparison to the rest of his perfect, Hufflepuff family. "They're a year younger than me."

He shrugged. There really much to talk about when it came to him. "Well, I like astronomy," he said with a grin. Maybe Reese liked astronomy as much as him? That was impossible, he was pretty sure he was the only one in the school who liked astronomy THAT much. "What's your favorite subject?" he asked. Cool, he was talking to her about school--and school just reminded him of OWLS at the end of this year. Gaaaaah.

He looked up as a shy little girl knocked on their door and asked if she could sit there. Good lord, she looked even more nervous than Jack was around prefects. "Yeah, sure," he said, pointing to the seat Reese had just vacated.

"That's cool," Reese told Jack. "Are they Hufflepuff like you? Or our they in a different house?" They're a year younger than me. So, that would make them-? She just realized that she didn't know what year Jack was in. "What year are you in, Jack? I don't think you've told me, yet." She asked him. She felt like she was piling loads of questions on Jack, who might be getting tired of answering all her questions.

"Astronomy? That's interesting. So, you like studying about the stars and moon and all that magnificent stuff? I actually do find that interesting. I've never found someone who loved Astronomy," Reese told Jack. Oh, boy. Cale was right. Jack was a nerd! Only nerds liked to talk about school, when they weren't even at school, yet. Ehhh- it really didn't matter that he was a nerd. Jack was still a pretty cool dude. "Oh, I like Muggle Studies," she told him. "I find it to be a cool class."

Now, since they were talking about school, there was one question on her mind. "Hey, Jack. Are you going to try-out for Quidditch? Well, actually, do you like Quidditch?" She asked him, trying to not get too excited about the sport. She loved Quidditch, but she wasn't going to try-out. She was the kind of person who just loved to watch the game and cheer on for her house team.

"Oh n-no, th-that's oka-" Wesley began, stuttering nervously, when the older girl offered her the seat, but the pretty girl had already moved next to the boy with the blanket.

"Th-thanks,"Wesley said earnestly, for both letting her join them and the seat, before sitting down, not bothering to smooth her robes or skirt before-hand so they laid rumpled.

She stared wide-eyed at the two other students and managed a quick smile, then, not wanting to be a bother, Wesley stared down at her black mary-janes, trying to make pictures out of the leather's cracks.

Wesley listened silently as the older girl quized the boy, Jack, about classes and Quidditch, and what she thought might be his family. The girl had a lovely voice. Wesley wished she had a nice voice too, her own was high and wobbly.

She wondered what class she would like. Probably not Astronomy or Muggle Studies. Wesley was scared of the dark, and well...muggles frightened her. Sometimes she was ashamed of how much she was scared of things, but mostly Wesley was too busy being frightened to really think about it.

Jack blinked. Hufflepuff? He never recalled saying he was in Hufflepuff. Why would she think that? He blinked before looking down and realizing he was still covered in the Hufflepuff blanket he had taken from Jennifer. Ooooooooh, that explained it. "Oh, I'm not in Hufflepuff. I'm in Gryffindor," he told her, blushing as he spoke. "This is my sisters blanket...but my twin siblings, they're in Huffie. And I'm a fifth year, so that would make them fourth years," he told her.

"Yeah...pretty much anything space related. You know NASA? I'm fascinated with them! I think it would be soooooo cool to go into outer space!" he exclaimed, getting a bit overexcited about it as he spoke. "I'd LOVE to be able to travel all the way to Jupiter and see it up close...and to study the Red Spot, and find out more about the hurricane on there. It would be AWESOME!" he said, chuckling and then snorting in delight.

"Quidditch? Erm...I dunno," he explained. He was debating it, that was for sure--in a way, he wanted to give his dad a reason to look at HIM for once, and since his dad loved the sport, what better way than to be a star member of the Gryffie team? "I'd love to give it a go...do you play Quidditch?" he asked. Then, it occurred to him that he hadn't asked her house. "What house are you in?" he asked.

Quote:

Originally Posted by imaginarynumb3rs (Post 8185232) "Oh n-no, th-that's oka-" Wesley began, stuttering nervously, when the older girl offered her the seat, but the pretty girl had already moved next to the boy with the blanket. "Th-thanks,"Wesley said earnestly, for both letting her join them and the seat, before sitting down, not bothering to smooth her robes or skirt before-hand so they laid rumpled. She stared wide-eyed at the two other students and managed a quick smile, then, not wanting to be a bother, Wesley stared down at her black mary-janes, trying to make pictures out of the leather's cracks. Wesley listened silently as the older girl quized the boy, Jack, about classes and Quidditch, and what she thought might be his family. The girl had a lovely voice. Wesley wished she had a nice voice too, her own was high and wobbly. She wondered what class she would like. Probably not Astronomy or Muggle Studies. Wesley was scared of the dark, and well...muggles frightened her. Sometimes she was ashamed of how much she was scared of things, but mostly Wesley was too busy being frightened to really think about it.

Jack glanced over at the younger girl who had joined them and realized that she hadn't spoken since she sat down. Poor girl--she seemed truly terrified of them--it was an emotion Jack was not really used to getting from people. "What about you? What's your name?" he asked her with a polite smile. "I'm Jack, and this is Reese." he explained. It was much easier to not stutter when he was starting the conversation, he realized.

"Shay!!!!!!!" after hugging Jesse, she ran over and hugged Shaylee. She followed them into a compartment and sat down. "I've been great. My summer was great! Everything is just great!" Dem was sooo excited to finally be returning to Hogwarts and to be with her friends again. "So I'm guessing Chris is in the Prefects Compartment." she told them. She was so proud that Chris was a prefect, but she kinda wanted him here with them. "So we definatly have to room together again." she told Lizzie and Shaylee. Ever since first year they've roomed together, that's how they met :) . "Chocolate frog anyone?" she pulled out a few boxes from her bag and set them on the seat.

"Yeah, I spotted him when I was passing," Jesse said, leaning back in his seat. He supposed he should be proud of Chris. He was his mate after all and now he was a prefect. Go him. Whoopee. But that meant he had authority, and that can change people. Oh, shut up Jesse. You've been paranoid about stupid stuff like that ever since you ran away from home. He pushed the whole subject from his mind, perking up a bit when Dem brought out the chocolate frogs.

He grinned, "Thanks, Dem," he said, reaching for one, removing the card and taking a bite. He'd gotten Albus Dumbledore. He shoved it in his pocket, forgetting that was where Robin was lodging. A disapproving squeak rmet his ears and Jess quickly removed the unhappy green pygmy puff, rehoming him on the window sill. "His name's Robin," he said indicating to the green fluff-ball, "Got him as a birthday present,"

Wesley smiled, her nervously clenched expression melting, while Jack talked. He was so loud and...Wesley struggled to find the right words...full of life. He had a nice laugh, it made her want to laugh to- especially when he snorted. His enthusiasm seemed to lighten the room's atmosphere, and for the first time all day she felt relaxed. It was so nice to just listen. Wesley loved listening almost more than anything else.

Wesley thought it was awfully brave of Reese to have tried not just once, but twice. Actually, she thought Reese was brave for just trying at all. Wesley could never be brave enough to do that. But she sypathized with the watching part. Wesley didn't really enjoy watching Quidditch players, she was always scared they would fall, but she did understand the happiness of watching other people be happy

Wesley was startled, surprised at having the conversation directed at herself. Having the focus suddenly directed at her made her freeze, and then turn bright red. She hadn't introduced herself! Wesley mentally started beating herself up. Mother- what would Mother have said if she had saw how Wesley had acted!? So rude! And Father! Father would have taken her by the cuff and marched her off the train and given her a stern lecture...maybe even a beating! Why!? Why!? Why!? Why am I so rude!? Wesley questioned herself, upset. She wished she could start all over. Now they hated her...she knew no one would like her. And oh! She had wanted friends so bad. Wesley never wanted to be so rude. She always tried to be nice. But sometimes she just wasn't a very good girl. Wesley was so ashamed. She wanted to be nice. She really did! She could feel her face burning, tears starting. Wesley wanted to hide.

But she couldn't hide! She had to be strong. She was going to Hogwarts, wasn't she? Forcing herself to look up, she was caught off guard by Jack and Reese's smile. Maybe they didn't hate her. Maybe not yet. Maybe it wasn't to late... "My-y n-name is W-Wesley R-Reag-gan. P-Pleased-d to-to m-meet y-you," she answered formally, mentally wincing at her stuttering. Father would be so mad.

Lissy and Imaginary <3
 

Reese raised her eyebrow when Jack looked at her weird when she mentioned him being in Hufflepuff. What was- oh, he wasn't a Hufflepuff. He was a Gryffindor. She blushed at the mistake, how embarrassing. "Sorry about that. I just saw the Hufflepuff crest on the blanket and thought- yeah, I'm sorry about the mistake," she told him. she looked away for a moment, hoping that he cheeks weren't too red. Then, Jack said he was a fifth year. "Oh, really? You're in the same year as me. What a coincidence," she said, looking back at him.

Reese tried so hard not to laugh while Jack got so excited about NASA. She was scared to tell him that she didn't know what NASA was, he might freak out on her or something. so, she just leaned back in the seat, and listened as he rambled on about traveling to space. She liked watching Jack laugh, he had a cute smile, then he snorted. Haha. "I bet it would be awesome," she finally said, after he finished talking. "And, Jack, you have a lovely laugh. Just thought I'd let you know that," she added while winking at him.

"You should give it a try," Reese told Jack. She frowned slightly when Jack asked if she played Quidditch. "I don't play. I did try out during my first and second year at Hogwarts, but I didn't make it, so I didn't try out anymore," she explained. "Now, I just like watching people play. It's entertaining."

"Oh, I'm a Slytherin," Reese answered Jack, then turned to the girl, when Jack introduced them to her. She smiled sweetly at her. Poor little thing, she looked so scared right now. There was nothing to be scared about. Jack doesn't bite and she doesn't bite. Well, that was a lie. She DID bite Cam, but he deserved that.

"So...hello," Reese said, directing her hello to the little girl. Then, the girl introduced herself and she smiled. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Wesley." She would hold out her hand, but it was stuck right between her and Jack. Was it so bad she was sitting close to Jack?

"Awww he's so cute!!" she took a very sleepy pygmy puff out of her bag and set her next to Robin. "Robin I would like you to meet Rosie." she smiled at Jesse.

"Oh, don't worry about it. It was an understandable mistake," Jack told her with a smile, folding up the blanket and placing it on the seat next to him and Reese. Even though he still had the chills, he felt awkward being covered in a blanket while he was talking to other people. He couldn't really explain the feeling...it was just weird. "You're a fifth year too? Cool...excited about OWLs?" he asked. That was a dumb question, he mentally scolded himself a second later. Was ANYONE excited about OWLs? Noooo. Well, he was looking forward to the Astronomy, naturally, but other than that...not so much.

He could tell by Reese's lack of comment on his little NASA rant that he had lost her, probably back around the whole Jupiter bit. He blushed...he had gotten stuck in a ramble. As usual. "Yeah I mean...just going to space would be cool, or landing on the moon. I'm so jealous of all those muggle astronauts," he added with a small frown. "You think my laugh is lovely?" he asked, resisting himself from snorting again. She must have been joking with him. "Thanks," he chuckled, joking back with her. She HAD to have been kidding. Obivously.

"I wanna play Chaser...like Cale," he said with a grin. Cale was just soooooo cool on a broomstick! And Chaser was by far the BEST position on the team, and now that Tobi, Cale, AND Lexi were gone, Jack had his sights set on that position. "Aww you should try again--it would be fun to play against someone I knew," he added with a grin.

He turned to Wesley and smiled. "Nice to meet you Wesley," he said, trying to be as friendly as possible. He didn't bite...and he didn't want this girl to be terrified of him, that was for sure. "So, are you a first year?" he asked. He could only assume so by her timidness. "Excited for school?"

Thanks! Sneakeh Cat & Miss. Lissy Lou <3 too!
 

Wesley relaxed slightly, feeling her face cool; they didn't hate her after all. Smiling back, a full grin of slightly crooked teeth, she nodded, "Yes. I'm very excited!," and then admitted, more softly and uncertain, "And kinda nervous too." Taking the opportunity to ask a question, and hoping she wasn't being annoying, Wesley asked, "What is it like at Hogwarts?"

Wesley wondered who Cale was. Judging by how Jack had said his name, she guessed he was someone very important, or at least a friend. Wesley was sure that Cale must be nice, because Jack was.

Wesley settled back a little in her seat, happy to be included, even though she was younger than the others.

Natasha was walking down the hallway, looking for a compartment. Hopefully she'd be able to find somewhere to sit with not too many people in it, because she doubted there would be many empty compartments left.

She stopped when she heard voices coming from a compartment, where there were only a few people. She opened the door with a smile. "Hey, do you guys mind if I sit here?"

"I didn't know there was an owl species called that..." Melanie said, trailing off. So it wasn't so original, but it was still a cute name. "I like it." she informed her, continuing to absentmindedly stroke the owl's soft feathers. "Sweet! Thanks!" Melanie exclaimed happily, reaching out to take one of the treats Hayley offered her... though she was brave, she wasn't exactly brave enough to stick the treat into the bird's mouth or let him eat it from her hand...That was just asking to get her fingers bit off.

"Yeah...sure, I don't see why not. You just have to let him get used to you first." she answered, with a slight smile. He wasn't the most friendly of cats, but he liked certain people better than others...She was pretty sure he would like Hayley anyway. He tended to like girl's better than guys...most of the time anyway.

"So," she began, glancing up at the first year. "Have you thought much about what house you want to be in?" she asked her curiously. Yeah...the question was probably far worn out, but she truly wanted to know...

Melanie gave him a funny look as he extended his feet over to where she was sitting, raising an eyebrow. Apparently he'd only forgotten she was sitting there though, because, just as soon as they were there, he'd moved them back onto the other seat.

Melanie shrugged, at Jake's question, still a bit absorbed as she gave Hayley's owl attention. She'd been pretty sure they'd been during the summer then, but then again maybe she was wrong...She hadn't had much of a celebration so it didn't really matter.

Melanie bit her lip as he asked if they liked spiders and quickly made a decision. To lie. there was no way she was admitting to him she didn't like spiders...or anyone else for that matter."Umm no!" she answered, a bit to quickly, glancing around the compartment, seemingly casually, but someone who knew her well enough may have seen fear in her eyes. Melanie looked back at him carefully, attempting to act calm. Anyways he'd never said there were any real spiders in question. "Why?"

AWWW! Melanie eyed the kitten that had jumped happily onto Jake. "It's so cute." she observed, looking up to be sure her own cat was still serenely sleeping. "Hey, it's like a pet fest in here." she commented lamely, looking around at the few animals in the compartment. There were just as many pets as they're were humans.

At his next comment Melanie's jaw almost dropped to her knees...and it would have if that weren't physically impossible. Of course she wouldn't be surprised if it had happened, because quite a few other things physically impossible had just taken place. However, one was the most utterly outrageous, unbelievable phenomenon in the history of the entire universe. It just had to be.

"Jake Upstead, you just lied to my face." she said, in an shocked voice, to match the expression on her face. "Go on...take your money..." she urged him, still holding it out in the air. She noticed the glare he was giving the bag of coins clutched in her fist and wondered what a bag of money could possibly do to receive such a look. "What did it do to you?" she asked, without mockery or bitterness, and solely curiosity, though she was getting a bit impatient. After all, what kind of person doesn't take a bag of money that's right fully his anyway?!

Seeing a familiar face standing out in the aisle way, Melanie beckoned her in, with a friendly smile on her face. "Sure." she replied, happily. "I don't mind anyway." she added, scooting over so Natasha could sit next to her if she wanted to.

"Well, yes. Especially when you sit alone in a compartment." He grinned and leaned back, to get more comfortable. "Were you waiting for me to find you? It would have been easier if you also came looking for me too." Or maybe she wasn't looking for him, she had just happened to be in Miles' path. Although, he was actually looking for her.

Why wasn't she looking for him? Hmpf.

"Awww." Miles cooed, and ruffled her hair slightly. "Who are the other prefects? Are Evie and Clifford still the ones for Slytherin?" He hoped so, they always did a good job keeping the little rebel first years under control. Miles smiled as Vannie took out her prefect badge. Such a show off, hehe. "Sure." He said simply, as he took it for her and pinned it to her shirt ... and made sure it wasn't wonky. "I'm sure it'll look fine even if it was wonky." He said, laughing a little.

"Okay, cool," Jake nodded, not recognising the way Melanie had answered too quickly. He was never good at noticing those things. "Charlie," Jake stated, both as a way of answering Melanie's and calling his other pet. A tarantula, still small and very much a baby, scuttled down from the luggage rack where he had been sleeping on Jake's bag. The spider settled on Jake's shoulder and regarded the two girls, before seeming to relax.

On his chest, Lolcat sat bolt upright, his wide eyes watching Hayley, shifting to the owl every so often. Jake scratched him under the chin and the cat curled up and went to sleep straight away.

BLAH! She knew he was lying... well of course she would. Jake just couldn't lie. This was the second time he had ever lied, and both times they knew. "I know..." he murmured, looking away from the pouch. "I don't want it."

Some people would call it dirty money, but Jake wouldn't understand that. He doubted it was that anyway... he didn't like it. "Keep it. Give it away. It's not like-"

It's not like I don't have plenty more.

Jack smiled as he thought about how to reply to that one. To be honest, he had always found his life at Hogwarts to be pretty black and white--he went to class, did his homework, watched the Quidditch games, and tried to stay out of trouble so that Cale and Anna wouldn't be disappointed in him. No need to tell this young girl that he had all of about--three acquiantances, and he had met all three of them in the last two weeks. "It's awesome, the classes are amazing--especially astronomy--and the castle is just grand," he told her truthfully. "What house do you think you'll be in? They're all great, don't listen to any of those stereotypes about the house rivalry--Reese here is a Slytherin and I'm a Gryffie and we're not tearing each other apart," he joked.

Choo Choo!

Oh wow, another year at Hogwarts, Varius wasn't sure if he could handle this. Speaking of Varius, he had changed over the summer. He wasn't as insane, he had given up on impossible goals and he learned not to set Hufflepuff Prefects on fire. However, as well as changes there were things that stayed the same: he still rubbed heads in salutations, he still had a lot of random facts and he was the Sheesh Kebabs number one fan.

Choo Choo!

He needed to find a compartment. He couldnt stand for this entire trip! No siree. "ANY AVAILABLE VACANCIES!???" he screamed down the corridor of the front of the train, "ANY AVAILABLE COMPARTMENT SPACEEE!?"

... Choo Choo!

"Oh, hey Melanie." Natasha said with a smile, finding it odd that she had seemed to run into Melanie again. But Natasha didn't mind. She sat down beside Melanie and looked at the other people in the compartment, curiously.

"I'm Natasha," she said.