Addy was overrrr Hogwarts for a while. Legit. She was so beyond ready to get home to her family she was BURSTING with joy right now. HEHEHE. With her offensively fat cat tucked under her arm she smiled as she peered at the spread of the trolley. "What do YOU want, Yoda?" she asked the kitty with a giggle. The answer was always ANYTHING EDIBLE.

It probably hadn't been the best of ideas to leave Walnut behind in the prefects' compartment, but Kurumi had dared to do so as she made her way towards the food trolley with the intention of buying some licorice wands. Hopefully the feline...behaved. If not, well, she had some ham in her bag that she was ready to use on him.

Surveying the spread, Kurumi nearly bumped into a girl that she recognized from her station at the kite event this term...and she had a massive kitty. Why was it that fat kitties always looked so adorable? Just like Lewis' Vanilla. "Your cat is adorable," Kurumi smiled as she grabbed a few licorice wands with one hand.

Errrrm. The fat cat under her arm who was currently hissing and slapping at a licorice wand was CUTE? Turning with disbelief coloring her features Addy nodded slowly. "She's a terrible cat. Tears everything up. And she smells bad all the time... no matter how often I wash her. SMELL HER!" Addy said as she thrust the cat toward the other girl's face. SMELL THE STINKY CAT PLEASE!

"Anyway, who are you?" NO she had not acquainted herself with the Prefects or made much notice of any of them in the past year... Shame on her?

Next thing Kurumi knew there was a cat being thrust into her face. Maybe it was the overwhelming sweet smell radiating from the trolley, but all Kurumi could smell right now were licorice wands and pumpkin pasties...and maybe some chocolate here and there. Kurumi's eyes did cross, however, as she looked at the cat that did not seem to be too pleased at the moment, before they uncrossed and looked back at the girl.

"I'm Kurumi," she replied, semi ignoring the smell question. Only she had just been asked WHO and not only her name...so that meant she was supposed to give out more random bits of information, right? Merlin why were first meetings always so awkward?! "Um...I'm a six--- almost seventh year Gryffindor."

Now it was her turn, right?

She didn't even SNIFF Yoda. That was mildly rude, but Addy ignored it as she tucked the growling cat back under her arm. Kurumi Hollingberry... where had she heard that name before? Eh oh well she couldn't remember.

"I suppose it was kind of rude to shove a cat in your face," Addy said as she blushed slightly. DANG IT! "I'm Addy Kennedy. Nice to meet you." Did she want random bits of info as well? Her star sign? HER WAIST SIZE? "I am not much of a people person... I am totally sorry for being so awkward and stuff, dude," she said with a slight shrug as she pushed a lock of ginger hair from her face and smiled shyly.

Rude? Kurumi wouldn't go so far as to say rude. "It surprised me more than anything else," Kurumi laughed. It wasn't the most common of things to have a cat shoved in one's face after all.

....Kennedy? Wait a second...

Kurumi wasn't too familiar with foreign names. Well, names foreign to her at least. Kennedy could be a rare name for all she knew, or it could be as common as Tanaka or Suzuki was. Then again...the way Addy had just said dude reminded her of someone...

"It's nice to properly meet you, Addy," she smiled, bowing her head slightly in greeting. "N-Nothing to be sorry about, not really. I am rubbish when it comes to meeting people for the first time." She usually made a fool out of herself in some way. Knocking the person over...attacking them with cookie dough...the usual...

WHY was she bowing her head like that? All of the people she had met in this country had been pretty weird so far... Yep. Most of them.

But she did smile at the girl and nod her head at the mention of being surprised by Yoda to the face and all. "Nice to meet you too, man. So you been at Hogwarts all your magical learning time or whatever?" she asked with a wave of her free hand. "I had a cousin graduate from Hogwarts a couple years ago." A KENNEDY LEGACY FOR THE WIN, YO. Not really... Addy pretty much failed at life most of the time.

"Yeaaaah. I am not great at meeting people either. I shouted at a boy and told him he had a funny name at the feast." SHRUG. It was all par for the course, really. Heh. "And I will be a sixth year next term. I'm in Ravenclaw." Info and all that good stuff.

Some habits die hard? Kurumi was pretty sure that she had just done something weird, judging from the look Addy had given her - temporary as it was - but was content to accept the smile that came after as a good sign.

Man...dude...

Yep, this all reminded her of a certain Mama Lion...

"I have," Kurumi nodded. "Came as a real shock to me too, receiving my letter and all. I had no idea I was a witch." A very crucial fact that would have made growing up SO much easier had she known this. "You did? Who was your cousin?" the Gryffindor asked mostly to appease her own curiosity.

Shouted? Oh merlin... "Really?!" Merlin did Kurumi hope it wasn't Vickers that Addy had shouted at and called weird. If there was anyone who was more socially awkward then her it would be him. "There are... a lot of unique names at Hogwarts to be sure." Like Joao...and all his last names.

"I knew I was a witch, homeschooled mostly. Lived in the US until this year." WEIRD. How could one have NO idea they were magical? Her Ravenclaw brain could not compute this information. Was she slow or something? Weird.

Oh her cousin? "Lexi Denver... Kennedy... Kennedy- Salander. Heck I am not sure what all she went by here. Heh. But yeah, she's my cousin," Addy said with a slight shrug and a smirk. She adored her cousin. YEP.

WHOA. "I just shouted at him to come talk to me... I didn't like SHout obscenities at him or anything. But his name was strange and... well I am not used to the culture here yet. Or the names, or the food. I have traveled a lot, but never stayed in one place too long." Unique NAMES. Hello!! She had met the other students hadn't she? There was more UNIQUE floating around other than names.

Jealousy was probably written all over her face. It tended to be whenever people mentioned always knowing. Kurumi would be angry with her mother...only that period in her life had passed and, well, it seemed like such a trivial thing now. "I've been to America, but only once. To New York. I'll be going to Nebraska this summer though."

Which usually caused lots of confused looks because...apparently there wasn't anything exciting there? Kurumi begged to differ. Lewis was from there and that was plenty exciting to her.

"LEXI?!" Kurumi exclaimed, slightly flailing her arms in excitement. "Your cousin is Lexi?!" And HOW was it that Kurumi had not met Addy sooner? Especially knowing who her cousin was. Was that selfish?

And now cue a panic face. Kurumi hadn't implied that Addy had called the boy a troll or a wort covered toad with bad breath or anything of that sort. Just...shouting in general had startled her? Kurumi was soft spoken - and severely so - so that sort of thing just surprised her. "You know....British food...I don't think you ever really get used to it..." Hogwarts food was alright...except for when there was an emphasis on British dishes. Some of them were just...weird. Like the time there had been relish in her tuna fish sandwich...and not the good sort of relish.

"Did you have too much sugar?" Addy asked as she back up a few steps to keep from being hit with flaily arms and such. "Yes. Lexi is my cousin. I take it you know her, then?" OBVIOUSLY. "But yeah. She and Sal and Ace and Dora are my cousins. The only ones I have really." AND why had she said so many ands? That was repetitive and grammatically INcorrect. Ugh.

"Dude. I just want a peanut butter and banana sandwich. Lexi and them... they eat strange stuff. They're all British and stuff. It's weird." SNORT! "And I've been to New York quite a bit. Manhattan proper mostly. Spent a weekend in the Hampton's once. Hehe. I'm from Chicago, though. I love big cities."

Cupping her pet cat Posy in between her arms, Erin headed on to the snack lady. The train's making her miss a lot of people. The ones who were gone and the ones she hadn't had the chance to get acquainted from Hogwarts this term. If only, she could turn back time. Oh yes, she could. A timeturner but she already gave it to someone, at least he's sort of special.

There was Posy again, wanting to go where ever she wanted to. What if she got lost? How could Erin find her? But before she could cupped the cat even tightly in her hands, it was already running towards something, or someone. Of all the people in the train, why HIM?

Since he was bored and nothing to do here because his girlfriend was away, Gary just wandered around the train. Suddenly his memory played flashback when he met Zhenya at the first time.. Well, no. Second time. It was here, in this train. It was.. funny. Very funny. Who knows that 2 people who met each other in such an unhappy way could be ended as.. couple? He admitted that he liked her since they met each other in here.. No, in Diagon Alley.. Well.. in train actually.

He dragged himself to the food trolley, looking for something that maybe he could eat beside sweets. Perhaps he could find potato chips or something savory there. He just realized that suddenly there was a cat came toward him. Well, whose cat was it? Gary just bowed and stroked the cat. Then a moment later he stared at a girl, maybe she was the master of it. "I bet this is your cat, right?" Wait, he just realized that... the girl was the one who almost hexed him at the pathways.

"Hello there." said him cool, pretended that there was nothing happened between them.

And then he spoke....

So what next? Erin was a bit guilty about the pathways and for some other awkward encounters. He was rude, yes, but it wasn't right to just blame him about everything. Zhenya, particularly. Many assumptions come right into her mind whenever this guy appears in a close vicinity. She couldn't blame him for Gary ( the first time she called him by name) was extremely rude on their first encounter.

Eyes still peeled towards the Slytherin boy, "Yes," Erin answered, her lips moved into their own accord. "Mine. It's mine. I mean, yes, it's my cat." There, she shook her head, she was becoming weird. Letting go of the stare, she heard the words, Hello there'. Erin gets a hello? "Hi too! So, any news about Raven?" Erin waited for his answer, "From Zhenya?"

The food trolley. Where ELSE would you find Theodore Kinsley on this train?

The soon-to-be second year skipped merrily down the train until he reached it, pretty much flailing with excitement to go home. He hadn't seen his family since CHRISTMAS, and even though his siblings were considered EVIL in his books, he did miss them loads. And also, he wanted his new broomstick. Oh, the wonders of getting old!

He stroked his imaginary beard as he got to the trolley. So much choice. Sure, he could go for the obvious: chocolate frogs. But eh, those sugar quills looked fantastic, too...

He stood up and crossed his arms. Gary remembered at the time when he met her at the pathways and it was not fun! They almost had a duel there, lucky that his girlfriend came suddenly and stopped it. And he just realized that was the last time he saw Zhenya, before she dissapeared like a ninja, without saying goodbye nor leaving any words. What was her name again? Gah, he wasn't good in memorizing people's name. But he knew that she was.. One of her friend..

"You're Erin, right?" Good! Now he remembered her name. The blonde guy just gave her a cool smile. Suddenly his eyes widened when she mentioned Zhenya... and Raven? Wait.. did she know about that? Was she also a friend of Raven? He didn't know. Gary stared at her for a while.. Should he tell this? Or not? If yes.. maybe she would be as devastated as Zhenya because she might be so close to Raven.

Well.." he cleared his throat, start to talk seriously to her. "If you don't mind, how close you, my girlfriend and... Raven?" he needed to know that! Because if they were close, Gary would tell her in detail.

Seriously?

He would sport that crossed arm style while talking to Erin? She wasn't a little girl and clearly, he wasn't a grown-up too. But instead of bothering herself about small things, Erin focused on to the fact that Gary, sadly, was the closest person she could ask about Raven. There were Zhenya and Desiree but they were nowhere to be seen. And she hadn't even met Des this term. She was becoming a little worried about the trio, more so Raven in particular.

"Erin. Yes, that's me," she offered a faint smile. "So, do you wanted to re-do the introduction since we clearly had the worse?" She had to admit it. They did.

Erin could handle an FBI-like interrogation if that was all he needed to finally spill things about her friend. "I do mind." She raised a friendly eyebrow just to keep the talk steady. "But I like Raven and she's a friend."

He extended his hand to the girl. She was right, their introduction was not nice.. Well, it was worse actually, arguing each other and almost had a duel. "Well.. " Gary just gave her a cool smile as usual "I'm Gerald.. or Gary. Whatever you want to call me." He started to introduce himself. "And.. Sorry about that." Gary knew that he was so rude and stubborn at the time. He admitted that he couldn't control his anger and emotion. Since that, he tried to be more calm especially around girls.

BINGO! His guess was right. She's also a friend of her. But now..

How to tell her the truth?

The blonde guy shoved his hand to the pocket and exhaled. Seriously, it was so hard to tell her about this. "Honestly, I don't know Raven and I'd never met her either." he started to talk seriously now. "But I hope you will be.. tough. Okay? Because.." He cleared his throat and managed himself to be cool. "It's not a good news."

Gerald Rush was confused how to tell her about that. Erin, your Raven will be died soon because she was seriously ill. No, he won't tell her like that. And it's very related to the reason why his girlfriend was away. He guessed she couldn't accept it. He was such in a big dilemma now, she must KNOW this but in the other side he didn't want to make her.. sad. Though he wasn't close with Erin, but at least she's also Zhenya's friends right?

OH. He extended a hand. Just to make the perfectly nice introduction official, Erin reached for his hand and shook it. In that way, they could probably leave all the bad things behind. Between them. Five feet under! Digging deep the ground.

Did she heard it right? Gary was apologizing before Erin could even do hers? This made Erin's eyes glistened and her lips curved into a wide smile. She knew it was weird and it may bring a negative meaning to Gary but seeing a Slytherin apologize was just too AMUSING. "Er, I'm sorry too?"

Erin was tough. The anticipation was making Erin anxious. Gary should just spill it otherwise, she won't contain herself and forced this He-Snake into speaking. "Why do you seem so...confusing?" Anxiety strikes hard. Her eyes quickly moved to where Posy, her cat, was becoming really comfortable. It was making herself comfortable in Gary's foot.

Sigh....

Okay...

He scratched his head, still confusing about how to tell her about Raven. He took a very deep breath and exhaled. "I.. Well, Honestly I don't know how to tell you this." said him truthfully. "Because.. it's related to the reason.. why Zhenya was dissapeared too." Yes, back to his girlfriend. He watched her crying miserably at the time when she got the letter. He hadn't seen her anymore since that incident. At first the blonde-guy thought that she locked herself at the dormitory and refused to meet any people, including himself. But he didn't see her until now. And he just got a news from Dima that actually she was sick and now stay at her hometown.

BUT YOU MUST TELL HER, GERALD! YOU MUST! suddenly his alter-ego shouted into his head.

Gary stared at Erin, who looked so impatient. He could see from her eyes that she was worried.. and curious about her friend. Okay, I must tell her. Good or bad, she must know about this.Clearing his throat, he started to speak again. "Your friend is..." he sighed. "I'm sorry to tell you this, Raven is.. sick." said him directly. He put his hand to her shoulder, he knew that she wouldn't believe that. "I know you can't believe this."

Lilly skipped dow to the food trolley. Yes, skipped. She was in a good mood. No apparent reason, though. She didn't love going to Rupert's, there was no reason to. She wasn't happy about being almost fourth-year, 'cause it meant she was closer to O.W.Ls and leaving Hogwarts. What would she do then?

"Hi, little boy!" she said, waving to a kid who looked pretty excited. Probably at the thought of all these sweets, just waiting to be bought and eaten. Lilly knew his name began with a T, but nothing else about him. Oh, and he was in Slytherin.

"Do you think anyone would mind if I released all those poor chocolate frogs. Obviously I'd pay for them, but they wouldn't cause that much disturbance, would they?" Lilly wouldn't think so, anyway. Maybe the kid would have an opinion. He would be seriously hyper in just a few minutes. She bought a pack of Bertie Botts'. "Card," she said, swallowing it quickly. And clearly, it had lots of decorations. Glitter and bows and everything. "Want one?"

While waiting for an answer from Gary himself, Erin cupped Posy again in her arms before she could even get away and make herself comfortable in other's company.

Zhenya disappearing because of Raven? He was extremely confusing given the fact that he was very serious, Erin wouldn't dare speak of nonsense or any kind of humor. But this conversation was making Erin really irritated. What was taking him so long to answer a simple question, any news from Raven?

Raven is sick?

So, that was the reason she hadn't returned to Hogwarts? Because she's sick. "She's sick." Erin repeated. "What sort of sickness? Cough? Colds?" Raven was strong. She's a strong girl. Maybe, it wasn't because she's sick that she didn't come back. Maybe, it was because of some other things. Something more important than Hogwarts. Something about family.

She eyed Gary, waiting for a response without showing any kind of anticipation. She wanted to be steady about this.

AAAAARGHH!!

Why he must be the only person who tell her about this?

Gary kept staring to Erin who looked very confused now. And she made him more confused too! Well well well.. Don't make her become so much confused, Gerald! Just say it! Suddenly he remembered when Zhenya found this news and she was so... devastated. The blonde guy was sure that if Erin found this news, she will be very miserable. That's why he asked that girl first that how close Raven and her.

Taking a very deep breath, he started to speak again and still showing his serious face What sort of sickness? she started to ask him again. She really wanted to know more about her best friend, and yeah.. Gary couldn't hide it from her. He stared more to her and... Wait. Would she know about her sickness? Because if not, the blonde guy didn't want to explain more about that. He didn't want to see her more miserable, same as he decided not to explain that sickness to his girlfriend before.

"Cancer." said him short. He placed his hand into her shoulder in case to hold her if suddenly she would faint after she heard this. "Your friend.. Raven.. suffered brain cancer." He explained. Gary just hoped that she would understand how severe that sickness was. "That's what I know from my girlfriend. At the time when Zhenya got her letter, she was so... devastated, and I found her crying miserably." And he wouldn't mention what happened at the night after that, of course.

Could he please leaving her now? Seriously Gary hated this, to tell her what happened to Raven. He never met that girl before. And.. he didn't have any detail information about that. He was sure his girlfriend knew more, maybe she was still keeping in touch by owl.

Erin aimed a look at the snack lady. She was hungry. She wanted to devour every bit of chocolate frogs or jelly beans she could see but the anticipation Gary's sending her was more powerful. And every word makes Erin want even more. She wanted the truth. She wanted him to tell everything. If only he could compile it into a one sentence, not a paragraph, not a story. Because this thing was making her tired, sort of sick even.

Cancer.

Wait, cancer? It was a foreign disease, she knew it was Muggle. A disease she knew a lot about. A disease she definitely had encountered before. A disease she once cursed, forever cursed for it took her mother away from her. She knew more about it than anyone, perhaps more than Gary knew anything about it. The message made Erin hungry. How could she feel something like this when Raven, her Raven, her friend was suffering from a very dangerous disease. She felt Gary's hands moved into her shoulders. Erin felt her face become distorted. Falling into pieces. And before she knew it, she was touching her own face. It was cold.

How was she supposed to take all of these...

...when she was so hungry and all her mind could process was the licorice wand peeking from the trolley?

Wait? What was she thinking about? Then it dawned on her. It wasn't cancer that killed her mother. It was her.