There it was. Those two words technically three that Kurumi had really begun to hate. However, seeing as this was Vickers standing in front of her, a friend, Kurumi couldn't be upset. At least not on the outside. On the inside she was boiling and upset. On the outside...she wore a completely expressionless face as she attempted to numb herself to it all. She winced a bit at his comment about a better place. WHAT better place was there for a mother than right there next to her children? She almost voiced this out loud when she realized that that wasn't what he was trying to convey to her. "Y-Yeah....at...at least she isn't suffering anymore..." And she was no longer a prisoner inside her own body.

Back to chewing on her lip nervously, Kurumi tugged on her hair and averted her eyes from his. "I'm...surviving...." That really was the only way to sum it all up really.

He nodded silently, shifting his eyes away when Kurumi said her mother was no longer suffering. With that statement Vickers perceived that it must've been a drawn out, painful process. Horrifying just hearing about it, he couldnt imagine having to live through that.

He looked at Kurumi sympathetically. Surviving. Hasnt he used the same word before, deflecting what he really felt just to keep himself from breaking down in front of friends or strangers. He reached out and squeezed her arm, having no words to convey how he sympathizes with her, how he understands what she's going through, how he would be there for her as her friend if she needed someone to confide in, how someone in their unfortunate positions survives.

Clearing his throat, he angled his head back at the snack bar "You want to grab something to eat?" he asked, trying to diffuse the heavy feeling in the air. He didnt mind having to line up again for the wall, he just felt Kurumi should have something comforting to console her with.

Quote:

Originally Posted by McFeisty

Mia blinked - heart hammering in her chest as she thought about what Gideon had told her. Think of it as a doorway - pfft it was a wall, a GIGANTIC brick wall and that was not so endearing to her.

Gulp.

“A d-door? Really...That s-sound simple” she smiled. It looked forced. It was, partly. When she heard his offer she immediately glanced up at the taller boy. “Th-that would be nice. I’m not good with doorways they always close on me” she admitted sheepishly. She was afraid she’d get stuck in the door - whenever she went through doorways with more than just herself she was fine. Alone - nope she was squished like a little bug.

“Thanks” she smiled as she turned to get ready to go through the door. Pushing her trolly a little bit further so it was almost against the wall. Not a lick more or Muggles would notice the disappearing metal framing of the trolly.

The Gryffindor prefect could tell there was still a touch of nerves within his young companion and Gideon assumed it had to do with the fact that sometimes it was hard to imagine something like a wall as something else. "Aye...it is. And once ye get used to it it'll be even simplier." He tried to assure her while watching to see if the girl was really believing him or just favoring him.

"Yer welcome," Gideon returned, smiling back and moving his own trolley into position and adjusting the two straps on his shoulder. "On the count of three, ye push right through and don't look back," he instructed looking at her to make sure she was ready before starting the count-off.

"One...two...three."

And with that he took off, pushing into the wall and through the barrier to the real platform they were looking for. Gideon hoping the Ravenclaw was following along.

Oh, well that made sense. This guy was new last year. At least he knew somewhat how Milton was feeling. Except Milton was more frustrated and angry than anything. He didn't want to be there. And he most certainly did not want to get on that blasted train to go to that blasted school. UGH.

But... this guy was being nice. And he wasn't even that annoying. And he looked acceptable. Minus the dufflebag. But, oh well. He would try. Maybe. He hadn't really made any 'friends' yet.

Milton chuckled quietly with a small nod. Took him twenty minutes, ey? Milton tipped his chin up a little. "I probably could've figured it out eventually," he mumbled with slight pride. He wasn't stupid, after all.

"I'll be a fifth year," Milton said with a nod. Along with his step-sister. Ugh. Double-ugh, even. Milton leaned against his trunk. "And you?"

Breath.

Breath.

Amelia needed to remember to breath - she looked up at Gideon as he told her how to get through the barrier and they would go on the count of three. Her hands tightened around the handle of her trolly.

One.

She took a deep breath.

Two.

She closed her eyes.

Three.

She ran for it. Gasping and taking a deep breath and holding it before she pushed through the wall - soon, she could open her eyes and see the train that would bring her to her home away from home.

Kurumi sort of just stood there not really knowing what all she should say about all this. It was hard to talk about it and almost always the end result was that Kurumi just cried, and she was tired of crying. She just wanted a sense of normalcy, which was rather hard to come by these days. She didn't even have normal sleep these days as it was always haunted by nightmares. She couldn't even sleep in complete darkness...something she was going to need to warn Selina about.

Kurumi gasped softly, coming out of her thoughts, when Vickers reached out and came her arm a squeeze. Instinctively, she put her free hand on top of his and breathed in deeply to compose herself. It was amazing what the touch of a concerned friend could do to you, what sort of message it could transmit, and Kurumi appreciated the gesture. "Thank you...Vickers," she said with a small smile.

Dropping her hand to her side again, Kurumi nodded slowly at his offer of food. An egg salad sandwich sounded like a good idea right now. That, and she actually hadn't eaten breakfast this morning, hadn't really had the heart to and she was far too nervous about what all this term had in store for her. "I'd like that," she nodded as she took a step back and her expression softened a bit more.

Ralph was waiting for his friend Eric. It had been over 10 minutes. He wasn't a very patient person. He had all of his school supplies, and now he was waiting for someone, so they could go on the adventure of a lifetime. But for now he was waiting. Fun. Then he saw Eric in the crowd.
"Eric!!!! Over here!!!!" he yelled.

Eric heard Ralph's yell and met up with him.
"How are you today?" Eric asked. One look at Ralph's exasperated face told him his answer.
"Okay okay I'm sorry I'm late." He looked at the pillar. "So this is how you get to platform 9 3/4?" "Okay then. On three shall we?"

"We Shall." Ralph replied. "I'm calling it."
"ONE" The boys steadied their trollies
"TWO" They got ready to run
"THREE" they sprinted through the seemingly solid wall.

Once the initial stage of panic from running through a solid brick wall passed, the boys looked at eachother and laughed.