Awar's pouty face came to say hello, "Oh, Kace!" She threw her arms around him to give him THE BIGGEST BEAR HUG EVER!! Alec wouldn't be happy to find out he didn't get the THE BIGGEST BEAR HUG EVER!! better keep that on the down-low... "I wish I could do that, but it's not up to me or my brother."

The Hufflepuff rested her head on his shoulder, "Speaking of siblings and Belle! I just sent her an owl not too long ago about a party I'm having at home at the end of summer. I told her to make sure that you came!" That party wouldn't feel like an actual party without Kace-bear, that's for sure.

"More like you bumped into me. Not in the habit of looking where you're going I see." Not that she was one to talk. Merlin knew Lex could run into anyone whether she was actually looking or not. How? Don't ask her, it was just possible. Still, if they both went bumping into people neither could very well prevent the other from doing so. Public hazard right there. It would be up to the rest of the public to watch where they were going. "It wasn't that much trouble." She said with a casual shrug. "Ran into a couple people I wanted to see as well. Some by the food trolley. Our times just weren't working well together." When one went to the food trolley played a big role in the finding too.

Giving time for people to prepare? That got another shrug out of her. "It's all the same to me. I spend my birthdays on a train hoping nothing makes it stop before we hit the station. Whether people know and remember or not doesn't bother me so long as my father does." 'Happy Birthday's were fine but she liked what her father could do much better. Recognition of it was nice but she wouldn't die if no one remembered. There was a small smile after the head kissed that turned into a grin when she saw her presents. "You remembered!" Lex grabbed the first and stuck it to her shirt in the spot her Prefect Badge would have been. Train ride home, she was officially OFF duty. Idiots wanted to set themselves on fire, fine by her. It was NOT her problem until Septmber 1st. The Birthday Prefect Badge on her lap reminded her, "You owe me a 'Best Prefect' badge too." They'd already said she deserved it.

And the good news just kept on rolling. Getting this grin off her face would be hard. He was staying! "That's great! You finally talked them down!" His parents were among the most ridiculous she'd ever heard of but this was clearly all behind them now. Her grin faltered at the sound of there being a catch, something that sounded like it could potential cancel the good news but then she heard it and call her selfish but that didn't sound so bad. No auditions meant not needing to be in Seoul the whole time BUT she did know what sympathy was and could show it appropriately, thanks. "Bummer. Did they say why?"

Oh look at that. Another maladjusted Ravenclaw girl. How original. Cutty gave a smile that was more of a forced polite smirk, then a sneer...then, God, what was that? He rolled his eyes and continued to pretend to ignore his demi-charge.

Good, though. She noticed him. Exactly, what he was getting at.

Aaaand, that had to be the world's happiest 'Puff who joined them just then.




"Tell me about it! I mean there we were older than more than half the Professors on staff and yet we still had to be subjected to their whim and order. No respect at all!" But nothing about aches and pains from Cutty. Sure, he'd felt them, but being a cranky old man sort of suited this one. "I'm Cutty, by the way. Grace, was it?" He'd heard it over the opening feast.





Cutty's eyes floated toward the corridor in time to see Tobias, a dark cat and the girl he would refer to as Toby's succubus. A displeased, almost hurt expression crossed his face for the briefest moment before he was brought to by Caleb's own look of ... was it disapproval? Oh, Merlin! He hoped Caleb wasn't dating Hope Evans. That'd be disgusting. Disgusting and oh, so convenient.

"Oh, I was trying to develop temporary relief for the aging. You know something that went beyond the way it made us look." He unfastened the latch to his bag and began rummaging for the latest issue of his Quidditch magazine. "I arrived at Polyjuice Potion. The idea was that you could transform into your younger self if you had a sample from that period when you were young. It seemed to work out, but before I could share that with anyone, the Healers came in with the actual cure." Finding the publication, he produced it out of his bag with a crinkling sound. "Still, I think I'm going to write to Mesop and ask them about funding to explore the different and unintended uses for polyjuice." Cause if he had to spend his summer aboard instead of getting to go on that field trip he might as well be constructive. Though, he was quite perturbed at his mother for not allowing him to go, even when he said he could produce his own fare for it.

Lexa Cambridge appeared to be looking for the Prefects compartment...or was she? As she would've known where it was by now, no? Maybe she was still struggling with the potion taking it's effect and her mind still being a bit old. Bless her. Bless her and her gold-lined, undetectable extension charmed pockets.

Grin.

"I tend not to see shorter people walking in front of me most of the time. Too much effort to look down," Not that he was all that tall anyway. 5'9" was an average height for a sixteen year old, right? Then again, most people in his family were tall with the exception of his Ma and grandmother. Still, Jun wasn't really "tall" considering his brother was the height of a building by now. "Next time we should agree on where to meet. Makes the search a lot easier," If you can get through all the people that likes hanging out in the corridor.

Spending your birthday on a long train ride. Sounded boring, actually, and Jun would probably sleep through the whole ride if he could. "Don't think any parent should forget their child's birthday. Though I've seen it happen," And it was all a bloody mess. Broken dishes, food scattered on the walls, decor on the floor. Yup, Andy was a drama king most of the time. But it was still a fun thing to watch from a distance. Like outside the house and seeing it through the large glass windows. "Of course I did! Hard to forget when you're already working on one," But he almost did and if it weren't for Jun writing it down in his notebook, he would've never remembered. 'Oh right' mouthed, searching through his jean pockets but coming up empty. His memory was fully restored so this was going to take a while. "I think I have it on me, or it's in my trunk.." Jun kept looking around him and moved onto his jacket. He had obviously forgotten he was wearing one. Sticking his hand into the inside pocket, he felt the badge and have it to her. "Now you'll have four badges to wear," And that was enough.

Nod. He did threatened to runaway and maybe that snapped them out of it? Either way, at least he was kind of happy about it. Staying meant finishing his magical education, but putting his future career on hold. Not really a win win here for him. Then again, Jun was never really lucky I'm these things. "A long process but something finally work," Plus all that right made his hand hurt. "Said if I pick Hogwarts, I can't audition because I won't be able to come to school. And since I'm underage, they'll have to sign a consent form,"

"I thought we were gonna be old forever." and that would not be good. Because she was only 11. She didn't need to be old or anything. "It was bad...and then they gave the professors the cure first. We should have had it!" Because they were totally important. Like. What if one of them had suddenly died. That wouldn't have been very good. Because dying was not good. But it hadn't happened. So she had been very glad. She didn't really know this guy. But he knew her. That was weird. Was she famous now? "Yup. I'm Grace." And yes. She was amazing.

Every time.

EVERY TIME.

Would Sophie Brown always use that one dreadful secret against him?

Because the train corridor was already so crowded with people, Toby hadn't picked up on those approaching footsteps. It wasn't until she squeezed his sides that he even suspected she was nearby.

He did, at least, manage not to squeal this time, but Tobias squirmed slightly and span around, a grin already on his face as he knew precisely one person who greeted him like that.

"SOph!" Toby responded, starting in a weird yelp and ending up doing that weird squeaky thing again. But she was off. Before darting after her, Tobias found himself glancing into the nearby compartment, as it was pretty much crammed with people, and therefore caught his attention. He caught sight of Cutty looking at him for the briefest of moments before the younger boy looked away, but had no time to analyse his friend's expression or anything, because he was already bounding after Sophie.

Toby dodged into the compartment he'd seen Sophie go into and flopped down on the seat beside her, grinning widely. Bludger, who had followed, hopped up to the luggage rack and perched there, watching the corridor closely for any of his fellow cats.

Sophie was looking much younger, which made Toby grin all the wider, because that meant that she was getting better and totally NOT GOING TO DIE WOO.

Not really knowing how best to go about mentioning that, Tobias instead just scrunched up his face slightly and booped Sophie on the end of the nose with his index finger. There. That would do.

Hope smiled and took the seat that he had vacated his feet from. "It's nice to meet you Caleb." She fell silent and looked out the window then shifted a bit in her seat. Her hip was doing that hurting thing again. Nothing was wrong with it exactly...just that phantom ache. "Crazy year right? Can't believe it was only my first. I can only imagine what will happen the other six."

She was trying small talk....she hated small talk. That just showed how much the year had changed her already.
Hope chewed on her tongue wanting to point out all the other issues this boy had when it came to his manners but something in her held her back. She had managed to get through the last half of the year without fighting with anyone and she wasn't going to spend the train ride arguing with a boy. Then he pilled out something that she could talk about. Quidditch.

"Do you play?" She nodded toward the magazine in his hand. "Or are you a just the average fan?" Would he even respond? So far all he'd done was jab her with a wand and give her and ugly look. Maybe that was just his natural look...

"Ah the problems tall people face." She said, stretching some to make herself a bit more comfortable. "Makes me glad I'm this height. I see everyone." Now ask if she wanted to see everyone. That was a different story entirely. There was no point in asking that he fix that height problem of his, but it made things a bit more problematic. There was a reason Lex hung around people her own height. Made sharing invisibility cloaks and sneaking around the castle easier. "Doubt that'll work. I'm never in one place too long, the smallest things are distracting. I don't mind the search. I find other people too." In the end it wasn't that bad for her and she rather liked being able to move about freely without worrying that if she did she wouldn't be found.

Her eyes widened a little. He'd seen parents forget? "That kid didn't do it right. You want something remembered then you have to drill it in a few times." Sorta..."Not for me though. My father's never forgotten." Ever. He wouldn't dare. No. Lex did a good job of making sure she wasn't forgotten from what she could tell. Oh? He hadn't forgotten? Excellent! She wanted that one now as well and patiently sat, back to the wall by the window, waiting for him to pull the badge out from wherever it was. After awhile even Felix lifted his head, uncurled and leaned over to watch the boy search. "Maybe it's in your trunk afterall." She offered, the disappointment evident in both her expression and her tone. The disappointed quickly faded with the new badge being placed on her lap, that her kneazle took to inspecting. "Neat! Of course you know you're not allowed to take it back now." It was official and everything so no more threatening to give it to Cassia!!! Ahem.

A long process was right. Whatever logic they'd been using at the time was clearly faulty. It was good he'd gotten them to see reason. Imagine him not coming back! "Look at the bright side." She would help him find some bright sides incase he was still too bummed to see any. "You get to stay where you've made friends and learn more magic so you won't enter the big world with amateur spell casting to back you up." Imagine being 20 and being outcast by a 14 year old. Man. "And I'll have you at school next term...but that's more a bright side for me. Sorry." Except she wasn't all that sorry either. Bottom line was, this was GOOD news.

Kace eyes went wide when she threw her arms around him and he felt a huge squeeze. He smiled and gave her a big bear hug in return. "Aww man i thought it was up to you.." he smiled and was sad he wasn't going to see her next term. "You won't be able to see my girlfriend Emmy come to Hogwarts next term." he said laying out that information on the table.

"Oh you're having a party?" he asked giving her a quizzical look. "Erm i didn't get the letter, she was probably waiting till i got home to tell me. But count me in!" he smiled. He loved parties and having fun. "Is it like a birthday party or a get together party?" he asked just to be sure.

Lana giggled. This guy was great. She liked him.

"Lana," she said with a nod. "Yep. Except now I'm a second year, aren't I? End of term feast and all. Except maybe not. Do you have to wait until the next year before it's considered your next year?" He should know, should he? Since he was older and all.

"Are you excited to go home? I am. I'm going to miss Hogwarts, though. At least it's just a few months."

Making herself comfortable, Sophie was pleased that Toby sat beside her rather than across from her, except he totally took away the possibility of her laying down across one seat and urging him to do the same so people would leave them alone - until, of course, she decided she could still lay down anyway, and ended up propping her legs up across Toby's lap, looking far too pleased with herself and the bop on her nose.

"Nice cat," she noted, her gaze meeting his before smiling at Tobes. "S'nice to see you back to normal, by the way." Or... mostly. "Too bad it had to happen so late in the term. Woulda liked to be able to adventure with you more like normal kids." She was fiddling with her hands in her lap and looking down at them, then she tried to say casually, "M'gonna miss you this summer," but there was a little bit of heartbroken emotion in her voice, which she tried to cover up by smiling at him. She didn't want to leave him and she planned on laying on him and keeping him there with her until they absolutely had to depart.

Totally selfish. And she totally didn't care. Tobes was her best friend in the whole world. It wasn't fair that the aging epidemic had ruined so much of their time together.

Oh, right! His girlyfriend was coming to Hogwarts next term! "Well, that's good! Now I know you won't be alone and that my Kace-bear is in good hands! I'll probably meet her over the summer though, right?" Sure they need their couple-y space, but hey!

Grin! "It's just a get together. You know, just before I go. So I can see everyone one last time. The following week, I move into my grandparent's in Spain, so I can start getting my stuff ready for school." Awar wrung her hands nervously. She stared at her house colored bracelet, only to take it off and hand it to Kace, "I know it's girly and stuff, but I made it my first year at Hogwarts and I want you to have it." Gosh, all these feels.

Cutty swatted the rolled up publication against his bare palm as he waited for Caleb's reply. Instead, soft little girl voice was heard. And Cutty turned toward it, wearing his haughty gaze.

It was his natural look.


"No. I don't play. I'm a mild enthusiast, though." A little more than an average fan. "You?" He wasn't a Slytherin snob, baby. He only played one on the Wireless.

"Sad perks of being too tall," But his brother suffered more since their Ma would ask Kai to reach for all the high things when she couldn't reach. Then again, she was only about 5'3" compared to the other guys in the house. "I was your height, at like twelve years old," Jun quietly laughed to himself. But it was true too. He was constantly buying new clothes because he was growing tall too fast. Jun nodded. He understood never being in one place for too long. He would usually just go places no one really ended up searching. At least he got to be alone like that. "Good way to kill time,"

"Oh, I know. My birthday is like right after coming back from Christmas break so that's how my parents remember," And they wouldn't dare forget. For some reason they always saved his gifts until he got back from school. Which sucked, but they were usually good presents so Jun didn't mind. Oh really? That was a shame. "Nuh uh! I'm allowed to take it away if I can! I gave it to you in the first place," Or else no more badges. Like ever. Seriously. Besides, they took up some time to make too.

He nodded again. "I know. I'm excited to stay. Rather be here than start all over at another school," He wasn't too well at making friends. Especially with his attitude at times. They would end up hexed instead of being friends. But he somehow managed to make some here. "Selfish, aren't you?" He laughed but it was true. They both didn't really know how it would've really worked out if he was at another school, in another continent. "But lucky you, you get to keep for another term,"

Lex wasn't sure she was ready to call him too tall just yet but he was inching closer to that side of the spectrum. For now it wasn't an issue but if he got to Odessa's height she might get neck strain and that wouldn't go over well. "12? You're making me feel like I was a midget at 12. I don't think I can remember how tall I was but it was obviously much shorter." Maybe 4"11? Had she hit 5 ft by then? The time killing she could definitely agree on. Time could be a tedious thing when it was going too slow. "It's a long ride too so that's extra time I usually need to kill. If you ask me it goes by faster on the way there than home." Mostly because after such a long term she was anxious to be home.

Right after coming back from Christmas, she was going to have to remember that, it was now an important thing, like Lottie, Aidan and Cassia's birthdays. They were among the few she bothered to remember. There were others she remembered but not a lot. "A specific date would be nice." That was her way of asking. Remembering right after Christmas was easy enough but it was also vague. Hahaha wait, what?? HAH! No. Just no. It was hard but Lex managed to maintain a straight face. "Just how do you plan to take it if I've already decided you can't have it back?" She sat forward in her seat, actually intrigued by whatever his answer would be. Boyfriend or not, she'd hex his face off to prove a point. The badge was hers.

Finally he was admitting his excitement. Good. They could only move positively from here. "Don't think you'd have as much fun as if you were there either." They had to face it, Hogwarts was amazing...when you weren't lying on your death bed waiting for the term to be over and cures to be handed up. Minor setbacks really. Lex grinned despite selfish not usually being used in a good way. It was true. She was selfish and didn't see a thing wrong with it. The Gryffindor cleared her throat at his last sentence. "You mean until you graduate. Unless you're planning to be outted at the end of next term? But a friend of mine told me the old Headmaster had a rule against dying."

Just as Soph moved her legs so they were resting across his lap, Toby raised his own feet and propped them on the seat across from him, so he could lounge as well.

"Thanks," he replied, looking up at his cat as well. "His name's Bludger, and he's kinda crazy." As Tobias said this, his voice still weirdly squeaking and trembling from time to time, the cat in question suddenly pounced from the luggage rack overhead to the no man's land of the train corridor and out of sight. Figuring that maybe he'd seen Lando or something, Toby looked to Sophie instead and grinned right back at her.

"You too. Getting old was, uh... getting old." Heh. Funny. Ahem.

Tobias shrugged one shoulder and, still smiling his genuine smile, began fiddling with Sophie's shoelaces. He was once again back to a state wherein sitting still was not an option.

"It's cool, we can do loads of extra fun stuff next term to make up for it, yeah?" he suggested, winding one of the laces round and round his index finger. Toby was about to bring up the fact that they could hang out on the practice pitch more next term, when Soph spoke again, and he automatically looked at her.

N'aww.

Toby's grin shifted from that gleeful one to a kind of happysad smile, and he rested his head back on the seat behind him, still looking at Sophie.

"I'm gonna miss you too," he said, completely sincerely and genuinely. "Summer's not too long though, right? We'll be back before you know it. Maybe we'll even see each other in Diagon Alley?" Maybe. It all counted on their families' plans, he supposed. "We can always write to each other, yeah? Well, I'm writing to you whether you like it or not." Well, obviously he'd not write if she didn't want him to, but Soph would know that.

He shrugged. "Not my fault people on my dad's side of the family are tall. My brother's like six feet by now, and my dad's around 6'2". Except Ma, she's about 5'3"," But that woman would not let the tall men in the house boss her around. Jun probably got her bad temper. His Ma would yell from the backyard they had and you can hear her two blocks down. But Jun calls her a teddy bear for being short and squishy. He was the only one that got away with it. "Pretty sure that's because we're all eager to head home instead of school. The more eager you are, the longer the ride," Again, that's why Jun ended up sleeping most of the time. And because he'd lock the compartment door behind him. No one to disturb the long slumber.

Oops. January 6th is specific enough for you?" Obviously. And Lex's was the day they got on the train. That wasn't hard to remember really. It was always on the same day. "I can always accio it away from you. Is that a problem, Cambridge? To her it obviously was. But that might mean hexing may happen and Jun liked the way he looked so far. He'll just let her keep it, for now. Or until she isn't prefect anymore? Imagine Lex becoming Head Girl in her final year. Jun might die from shock if he could.

"Even with family there, I don't think it would've been as fun either," Because Shin was really quiet, then you have his twin sister who was always bouncing off the walls and yelling at everyone. But somehow they all got along just fine and were the closest compared to other people in his family. Pfft. "You knew what I meant. Don't see myself going anywhere else for the next two years. I'm stuck here with you," And he didn't mind it being that way at all.

Once you hit 6 ft, you were on a whole different level according to Alexa. 6ft? How did one grow that tall? It obviously wasn't a conscious effort but that didn't make it any less curious. "Do you reckon you'll get that tall? 6ft and all or more?" Genes varied a lot within a family and with his mum being so short there was a chance he wouldn't get too tall, yes? She couldn't really be sure. "Dunno how tall my father is. I've never asked." And it'd never interested her to know before but now that they were on the subject she might ask. Yeah.....being eager usually stretched things further than they need be stretched. "Must be the term wearing down people. I was plenty eager for school my First Year, the ride was short enough. Now though....yeah, can't wait for King's Cross." The sooner they got there the better.

Lex eased of the wall to get a look through it. They hadn't been riding for all that long but they must have covered some distance by now? After 5 years of course she knew to judge the time left by what she saw outside. Still a lot of time. Her eyes drifted back from the window and over to him at the mention of accio-ing. "That date works fine." But it wasn't what had caught her attention, it was the accio-ing of her Best Prefect Badge. Hers because he'd given it to her and everyone knew it was bad form to take things back. "Big problem Kim." Huge problem even. "I'd keep my wand and its spells to myself if I were you. If this badge goes missing I'm holding you responsible, even if it wasn't you and all cause you had to go making threats like that." Number one suspect as of now. Yup.

Lex settled back into her seat again, her back once more against the wall and Felix curling up again. This time she reached into her bag and pulled out a chocolate frog while nodding her full agreement. Family was great but they couldn't really replace your friends and in a way the people at Hogwarts became family too. "Good." She said with a decisive nod, ripping at the chocolate frog wrapper. "The next two years will fly by before you know it." Lex tipped her bag toward him. "Want anything?"

Quote:

Originally Posted by SlytherinSistah

Cutty's eyes floated toward the corridor in time to see Tobias, a dark cat and the girl he would refer to as Toby's succubus. A displeased, almost hurt expression crossed his face for the briefest moment before he was brought to by Caleb's own look of ... was it disapproval? Oh, Merlin! He hoped Caleb wasn't dating Hope Evans. That'd be disgusting. Disgusting and oh, so convenient.

"Oh, I was trying to develop temporary relief for the aging. You know something that went beyond the way it made us look." He unfastened the latch to his bag and began rummaging for the latest issue of his Quidditch magazine. "I arrived at Polyjuice Potion. The idea was that you could transform into your younger self if you had a sample from that period when you were young. It seemed to work out, but before I could share that with anyone, the Healers came in with the actual cure." Finding the publication, he produced it out of his bag with a crinkling sound. "Still, I think I'm going to write to Mesop and ask them about funding to explore the different and unintended uses for polyjuice." Cause if he had to spend his summer aboard instead of getting to go on that field trip he might as well be constructive. Though, he was quite perturbed at his mother for not allowing him to go, even when he said he could produce his own fare for it.

Lexa Cambridge appeared to be looking for the Prefects compartment...or was she? As she would've known where it was by now, no? Maybe she was still struggling with the potion taking it's effect and her mind still being a bit old. Bless her. Bless her and her gold-lined, undetectable extension charmed pockets.

"Wow. That's like...really smart," Caleb said, suddenly feeling really inferior and, well, stupid compared to his Slytherin classmate. This was WEIRD. When had Cutty gotten this smart?! Maybe it was an unintended side effect of the aging stuff. Aww man, why hadn't CALEB gotten smart?!

"So I'm guessing that's gonna be a pretty big project for you this summer," he chuckled. "Anything else going on?" he asked. Something that DIDN'T seem like it would be a one-way ticket to the back of a chocolate frog card?

Quote:

Originally Posted by RachieRu

"I thought we were gonna be old forever." and that would not be good. Because she was only 11. She didn't need to be old or anything. "It was bad...and then they gave the professors the cure first. We should have had it!" Because they were totally important. Like. What if one of them had suddenly died. That wouldn't have been very good. Because dying was not good. But it hadn't happened. So she had been very glad. She didn't really know this guy. But he knew her. That was weird. Was she famous now? "Yup. I'm Grace." And yes. She was amazing.

"At least we got it NOW," Caleb reminded her with a grin. Yes, that was all that mattered - they were finally young again! Took them long enough though, much to his dismay. "And they were probably in more danger - since they were old when they STARTED aging, ya know?" he joked. Some of them were old, at least...the others were probably not in much danger, but then again, Caleb had felt on the verge of death those last few weeks. He wondered how any of them had survived that long...

"So any plans for the summer?" he asked.

Quote:

Originally Posted by HOPEendures

Hope smiled and took the seat that he had vacated his feet from. "It's nice to meet you Caleb." She fell silent and looked out the window then shifted a bit in her seat. Her hip was doing that hurting thing again. Nothing was wrong with it exactly...just that phantom ache. "Crazy year right? Can't believe it was only my first. I can only imagine what will happen the other six."

She was trying small talk....she hated small talk. That just showed how much the year had changed her already.


Hope chewed on her tongue wanting to point out all the other issues this boy had when it came to his manners but something in her held her back. She had managed to get through the last half of the year without fighting with anyone and she wasn't going to spend the train ride arguing with a boy. Then he pilled out something that she could talk about. Quidditch.

"Do you play?" She nodded toward the magazine in his hand. "Or are you a just the average fan?" Would he even respond? So far all he'd done was jab her with a wand and give her and ugly look. Maybe that was just his natural look...

"That was your first year?" Caleb asked, raising an eyebrow at the young girl. Oh wow. Talk about bad luck. "Well, if it helps, my last year was pretty boring. Just some silly quiz tournament," he said with a shrug. So yeah. USUALLY they weren't dying of some weird supernatural disease. Usually.

...and just WHERE did Caleb Newell call himself being?! He was supposed to wait on her like any loyal brother should! Yeah, yeah. Most sisters were annoyed by their brothers, but somewhere along the line, Caleb had become Sophie's BFF.

So was the reason Sophie was peeking into every compartment in the front of the train and now in the middle. When she finally found him, she halfway failed to see just who else was in the compartment with him. Grace, she saw. Some Ravenclaw, too. There were others, but at the moment, she was too focused on letting her brother have it for leaving her behind.

"Thanks for waiting up for me," she said, playfully pushing him on the shoulder. "Scoot over." She suddenly sat down, leaving him no other choice besides scooting over for her. She glanced up at everyone else then and gave them an obligatory smile. Then she saw him. Yes, him.

Cutty frazzling Mordaunt.

He got a smile, too. Sort of. There was a bit of awdwardness mixed in there, too.

Caelen smiled and put her bag on the seat across from the blonde. Who was that? She wasn't a Ravenclaw, or she didn't go to the table, and she was older than the redhead. Hmm, looked like a good friend to have. Someone to be in her friend group. Get her own thing like Nate had with his friends.

Oooh, was that squeak a pygmy puff? The girl with the braid LOVED pygmy puffs! They were so adorable. She wanted to play with it, she wanted to play with it! The twelve year old was going to need to ask about getting one of those for her next birthday. Because they were sooo cute!

"Not at all. I love pygmy puffs! I think they're sooo cute! What's the pygmy puffs name?" The soon to be second year sat in the seat and immediately leaned back to make herself comfortable. It was some sort of thing that she JUST DID. Because the freckled face girl loved to travel and to travel you needed to sit in cars and trains. Which was also fun. Because you got to see the landscape without actually working.

"Oh. I'm Caelen. Caelen Winters. I'm going to be a second year." The girl played with her braid as she talked, laughing at the part where she was going to be a second year. The short girl never thought about how much had happened in one school year.

People turned old and classes became about being old. Caelen handed in some work and thought about solving the issue. Though she never actually got to the point of understanding. But that was something for the healers...IIIIF she was someone that was content to sit when the answer was given. But the thin girl was restless by nature and she wanted to know everything that was worth knowing.

And speaking of the weird old people thing, this was an interesting topic of conversation. Especially if the girl was one of those who turned old. How did that feel? Was it tiring? Did it suck? Or what if she was the minority who didn't get affected? How did THAT feel from her perspective? So many things that Caelen wanted to know.

"That old thing that was happening at school this year, did you get affected by that? And, do you have any idea what it was? Because I was thinking either potion or some weird transfiguration charm thing. Does something weird happen at the school every year?" This was a lot of conversation, but Caelen wanted to know it all. Maybe she should calm down and let conversation be conversation. Let the flow of normal conversation flow. Like natural conversation should.

"Bludger?" Sophie was grinning, but her head cocked to the side in confusion. "What's your reasoning behind that one?" Did the cat go around slamming into people and breaking limbs? Perhaps, she decided, after the cat suddenly decided to go racing out of the compartment. Hm. "Strange." Cats were weird.

The Ravenclaw did think he was funny, but she rolled her eyes and lightly shoved at his arm for his bad joke. If he meant it to be a joke. She was still smiling though. She couldn't stop smiling around him, actually. "We'll have to, yeah. Lots of lost time to make up for," she agreed, observing him playing with her shoelaces with amusement. "I'll make a list this summer of a bunch of adventures for us to go on. Like... a third - for me, fourth term for you bucket list of sorts, y'know?" So on days when they were going to hang out with nothing to do, they could have something to check off their list. Totally a good idea, and the excitement was apparent on her face at the very thought. SO MANY POSSIBILITIES.

As Tobes went on to talk about the summer, Sophie continued to fidget and look down at her hands. Summer wasn't too long, sure, but... surely it would feel that way. And of course they could write... and would undoubtedly catch up in Diagon Alley later... but... "Writing's good, but d'you... have lots of plans? Lots of things going on?" Could she see him sooner rather than later?

Annaleecia smiled at the younger girl, not able to tell if she wanted to talk or not, she was being kinda quiet… and hadn’t say hello yet. Maybe she was just looking for someone to be quiet and leave her be… and she’d be happy to keep quiet.

And again she looked at the younger girl as she smiled at Juju, “You can see her if you want to. Juju’s a huge fan of people.” She smiled and handed the little pink puff to her, “She’s just the sweetest little thing. Just likes to cuddle up next to people and love on them.” Anna smiled and looked at her little pet.

“I’ll be a fourth year next year.” She nodded and smiled at her. So at least she was getting better with telling people’s ages! She was younger than her. Might seem like an odd thing to be happy about but Anna was horrid with guessing people’s ages and people who seemed younger ended up being older or vice versa and she didn’t want to make the mistake again.

She looked at her fidget and smiled slightly and looked at her, “Oh, that old thing? Yeah… I unfortunately was hit with it. But I have no idea what caused it or how people caught it… It was just odd to me honestly. I mean… All I did most the time was lay in bed and wait for the cure to come.” Or rather had hoped a cure would come… Yeah, that would’ve been an interesting story for the orphanage. ‘I’m a 14 year old trapped in an 80-something year olds body.’

“What about you? Did you catch that horrid disease?” Because if she didn’t the younger girl was lucky. Being old and not able to do much was just crappy for Anna, she wanted to be up and out exploring everywhere, but her hip was so bad she had her makeshift cane and it was near impossible for her to walk.

Did it happen every year? That was a good question… Honestly Anna didn’t know, she hadn’t heard much about the year before, after all, she hadn’t gone to the school last year. “This was my first year at this school but I’ve heard rumors of things that have happened in the past here… but I’m not sure if they’re true or not… No one cares to talk about the school’s past.”

"I know." He said, unabashedly shameless over what he perceived about his own cleverness. "Just the usual seeing my family. Cairo and British Columbia." And maybe he'd bring him something back. Cutty was thinking of trying to do something with Caleb that included buying him off and placing him in a position of power. Like a cog in his well oiled machine. He was going to be expensive, though.

As for anything else going on. "Yeah, I'm getting me a girl." Just like that, Cutty Mordaunt, really? Like, it's just thaaaat easy? M'mmm H'mm...okay, then.




Cutty returned the smile given by the other Newell twin as they sandwiched the Newell brother. But he stayed quiet waiting for an opportunity to strike.












Like Thunderball.

Sophie was completely content to ignore the conversation of the boys next to her. That is unless, of course, something came up that proved worthy enough for her to converse with them. Boys just annoyed her at times, and most of the time, That resulted in her tuning them out. But this just couldn't be tuned out.

"You're going to get you a girl?" she asked, grinning in amusement. "Sorry, Mordaunt. There's no Diagon Alley shop for that." But then that awkwardness she'd experienced earlier struck again, and she grew straight-faced as she looked toward him. "What you don't...already have a girlfriend or something?"

...and why was that suddenly important?