Looking for some empty cars, Jonas walked down the isle. He wanted to be alone. Just for a bit to collect his thoughts from this year. He sat at an empty compartment and stared out at the window. He thought about his fourth year at Hogwarts. Most of the time he just minded his own. Until he read that book and realized he shouldn't be friendless all the time. He yawned. This has been a very nice year.

It was such a bummer not being allowed in the Prefect's car, and Mo didn't want to let it end his term on a sour note. So much so that once he got out of his boat, Mo left Nigel to make his way to the illustrious compartment on his own, and Mo found an empty one to spread out a bit. He was sure that Cat would find him soon; she always did. And he was sure others would find him if they wanted to do so.

In the meantime, Mo sat on the floor of the compartment and sorted through his satchel. Stuff to keep, stuff to toss, and stuff to give away. Most of it was getting thrown away, honestly.

Having navigated half the length of the train looking for an empty compartment to reserve for her group of friends - namely Cat, Mo, and Tobes - Soph had gotten held up talking to Jasmine along the way, but she was back to searching. Though... enough time had passed that she wasn't sure that her friends hadn't gotten on the train already. They probably had, actually, and though Sophie was passing empty compartments that she could call dibs on, she figured it was best to reach the end of the train and just make sure they hadn't slipped in without her knowing.

It turned out one had.

"You're leaving us all forever," she began upon sliding open the compartment door, "and here you are by yourself." Wasn't that weird? And uncharacteristic for a social butterfly like Mo? Soph gave him a hard, calculating look, then turned her gaze to his belongings before joining him on the floor, leaning against him and resting her head on his shoulder. "Are you sad?" That was the only reason she could think of for why he'd want any sort of alone time.

It wasn't surprising at all when Sophie was the first person who found him. She had Mo radar most of the time, and today, on the very last day, she'd be especially keen. He didn't look up right away at her entry, although the corner of his mouth curled into a smile and he made room for her beside him.

"I'm not dying, Soph. I'm just graduating. It isn't nearly the same thing." He didn't have an answer for why he was by himself. He wasn't sulking about not being in the prefect compartment, but he'd needed a little space before being inundated with people. Mo held out a bowtie to Sophie; it was one of his favorites, although it had gotten a bit tight now that he had a grown-up sized neck. "D'you want this? Maybe not? I'm... not sad. I mean, I guess I am, but I'm okay."

Jonas glanced o er when he heard a couple students entering he back of the train. He wanted to talk to them but decided it was best not to. So, he just stared out the window again after not much was going on. At least it wasn't as crazy as what was going on at the Slytherin house table.

"Feels like it, though." Him dying and all. "Or... y'know, at least... feels like the Hogwarts part of you is dying. Soon you're gonna be off in the real world doing real world things and being an adult and growing up and what if the world tears up the person you are now? That good heart of yours?" She accentuated her statement with a poke to his chest and continued speaking entirely too fast, "What if they fill it with sadness and anger and all sorts of thing that cloud this version of you that I love so much? You're always fun and optimistic and happy and cheerful and adulthood does stuff to people. It does."

Wordlessly but gratefully she accepted the bowtie and tried to put it on, but she didn't know what she was doing and didn't find success. "I mean, I think change is kinda inevitable, but I don't want the world to accidentally change all the good parts of you." She paused briefly, pressing her lips together with a thoughtful gaze before adding softly, "I think... I think m'nervous to not be there to mess with you not just for my own entertainment, but 'cause I'm worried you're gonna go grow up on me and become a boring grown-up and not be my Mo." The one who played with her and went for runs with her and did homework with her and gave her piggy back rides and braided and pulled her hair and dressed up like royalty with her and threw her birthday parties and always knew how to cheer her up when she was sad and was the big brother she never had.

There may have been a little lip-wibbling, but she tried to put on a brave face despite her worries.

Those were... surprisingly sweet and realistic concerns that little Sophie had, and Mo continued to sort as he considered it. Would he change? Probably. Maybe in tiny ways, like his favorite pizza topping would change or he'd start wearing vests more often. Maybe in big ways, like he'd treat people differently or stop being able to find the silver lining in every cloud. But everyone changed. Even Sophie would change.

"Change is inevitable. I could stay with you and change completely. But some things are set for life. What I value, who I value, and who I am at my core... those won't change." Mo banished some dust and broken quill bits at the bottom of his bag before moving on to the pockets. "We'll owl. I have to go. I want to... be part of the world. Get my pictures published, find out if I'm good enough for professional Quidditch, learn how to cook souffle or something." He would owl.

Sophie nestled her head against Mo's shoulder once more as he spoke, sighing softly in resignation to his words while watching him sort through his things. Mo didn't seem like the type to get caught up in worldly things and lose all of his good qualities, but... Soph couldn't help but expect the worse. That way, at least, if he did make any changes for the worse, it wouldn't seem as horrible in comparison to the many things that could change about him in a very, very bad way.

It was a silly sort of defense mechanism, but it made perfect sense to her.

"And you'll do all those things. Probably with great success, 'cause you're Marcus Orion Branxton, but even if y'don't succeed at everything... you'll still always be the star of my heart." It sounded thoroughly heartfelt and cheesy, but she ruined a little of the sincerity by grinning big and nudging into him a little. "That reminds me, though. I have a present for you. And Cat, too. S'the same thing for both of you, but don't be put off by that - it's kind of fabulous." She patted her own rucksack and wiggled her eyebrows excitedly. Was HE excited? HE SHOULD BE. "S'my sending-you-off-into-the-real-world present. A graduation gift of sorts. D'you want to see it now, or should we wait till Cat's here, too?" Why was she not with her boyfriend right now anyway, hm?

Mo wished Cat was there already, actually. She was better at the cuddling and coddling business that Sophie really needed right now, and anything Mo said to make things better would just be a patch on the problem. Not a fix. All he could do was let her nestle against him and pet her hair occasionally and add stuff from his satchel to the growing pile in front of her. Mo stuff for Sophie. A quill in good condition, some peppermint toads, the golfball for Mophieball.

"I want the present now. Dunno when Cat will show up, and I want it now," Mo decided, reaching for her rucksack as if he was going to take it from her. "I don't want to be the star of your heart. You've already said I'm way too old for you, so I'll have to be the star of someone else's heart." Now gimme.

As the objects piled around them while they chatted, Sophie continued watching with curiosity until he was presenting her with a golfball.

Their golfball for Mophieball.

Not acknowledging the tears rapidly pooling in her eyes, her voice was steady as she squeezed the golfball and agreed, "Okay. Now, then." Tugging the rucksack back from him patiently, she dug her free hand inside, ignoring the teardrops that fell from her cheeks onto the bag and pulled out a good-sized vial of a molten gold-colored liquid - then she looked scandalized at what Mo said next. "Ew, nerd, I don't mean like that." She shoved him a little, her nose scrunching, "Tobes is that kind of star of my heart. You're more like... the hero of my heart. In a big brother kinda way." He knew that, though, surely, and was likely just teasing, but Soph gave him one more shove defensively and accompanied it with a grin.

Mo was such a turd sometimes.

"S'Felix Felicis. Your own vial. Culloden and I brewed it together this term in his office. He first gave me a lil vial as a present for his Potion Commotion thing, y'know, on the very first day of classes, and I talked him into teaching me how to make it." Imagine that. "Takes six months, so it was kinda like a secret, undercover term-long project - I wasn't allowed to tell anyone 'cause then everyone'd be wanting him to brew super cool potions like this with him, y'know? But anyway, I asked him if I could share some of it with you and Cat and he said I could, so..."

Her eyes were still blurred with tears, but her voice was still steady as she held the vial out to him with a weak smile. "Now that you're goin' off into the real world with real world dangers, y'never know... when, y'know, y'might need it. In case of emergencies. Could help. Or could be a fun thing. Whatever." Just don't break or lose it because it's worth a lot, she added silently, tearing her gaze back down from Mo to the golfball and finally wiped at her eye with a sleeve, her lips pressing together in a smile.

Mo may have been a big, dumb nerd, but Sophie sure loved him.

She'd found Sharky, surprisingly snuggled in with a bunch of younger students and getting pets and coos and enjoying every moment of it. It seemed like the cat was going to miss Hogwarts and its endless supply of kids to feed her and tell her she looked pretty. Caterina couldn't say she blamed her. With the feline secure in her arms, she went looking for somewhere to spend the rest of the ride and someone to spend it with.

"Hmm. What's this in here, hmmm?" Cat grinned. She kept coming across her favorite people being all huggy and happy to be together and she thought it was VERY cute.

Being back on the was the most exciting thing that happened to Jun this term. It meant going back home and away from the cold. Even though her really didn't mind it. But when it was more than the usual four to five months long, it was bad. Plus being snowed in didn't help either. Cabin fever must've hit hard or something. After walking from the front cars, the tall boy finally settled in empty compartment. Maybe someone will show up. Too bad he didn't bring Charmander along with him. The poor ferret would be sick of him already.

Connor thought he spotted Jun headed this way, he tried to catch up but people kept getting in the way, Merlin! He was ready to get out, like now! He assumed Addi wanted to sit with her friends, which was fine. They would both be in London over the summer, Jun though would be elsewhere and busy, so Connor wanted as much time with him as he could get.

Finally reaching the compartment he thought he saw Jun go into he walked in, good it was him and not some random weirdo. "Hey, just a little while longer of being cramped in one more place and we're free for a few months." He joked, plopping down on the opposite side of the compartment.

Ugh. No. Sophie was crying. Mo saw it, and he didn't comment on it because WHAT DO YOU EVEN SAY when you make a little girl cry? You say nothing. You just offer your sleeve like a gentleman and turn away your head and refuse to notice otherwise. Ahem. Merlin, now he was tearing up too, and he had to dag at his eyes with his other sleeve.

"Hero, then. I'll take that." Mo took the phial and turned it over and over in his hands as he examined it. "You're so brilliant, Soph. At potions, but also in general. I promise only to use it in an emergency, so I'll have to find a way to keep it safe and close at all times. I'll take it with me when I go yeti hunting and everything." He wrapped an arm around her and pulled Sophie in for a side hug. "You're going to be okay without me, baby bird?"

He glanced up when the door slid open and a Cat appeared. She got a wobbly sort of grin and Mo gestured for her to join. "Sophie has presents."

Mo's own tearing up going unnoticed, Sophie did her best to dry up her eyes with her shirt but the tears kept coming in an unstoppable flow. At least she could still hold a conversation, but her nose was starting to run now, too, and she sniffed. Ugh. "M'glad that's settled, then. You'll always be my hero." Even if the world changed him in some not-good ways down the line, she'd always remember the way he was now and how he was always there for her.

Sniffing again, she couldn't help but smile at Mo's kind words. She knew she was brilliant and all, but it was especially nice to hear that kind of praise from someone she admired so deeply as a role model. "Good. Yeti hunting is probably a wise way of using it, yeah." Though... death by yeti was a considerably cool way to go. Much more interesting than a heart attack or old age or something.

Soph was still smiling until Mo's question wiped it clean off her face and she grunted in exasperated disapproval, headbutting her forehead into Mo's shoulder. "No," was her simple reply, the one word heavy with emotion, and soon enough her breathing was shaky and uneven and she tried to keep from crying aloud. Sure, Sophie Brown would be okay without Marcus Branxton at Hogwarts, but at the moment, it felt like the end of the world.

The sound of the door sliding open made her bury her face more against Mo defensively, but at Cat's voice, Soph turned her blurry-eyed gaze up to meet Cat's and forced a smile. And she sniffed. "Mo's being mean and making me cry." Swiping an arm up to wipe at her eyes again, Sophie tried to steady her breathing - not without hiccuping first - and dug Cat's vial of Felix Felicis out of her rucksack. Her other hand was still holding tight to the Mophieball golfball as she extended the vial up to the Slytherin.

"Culloden and I brewed Felix Felicis. S'for you. Don't die." Those were all the words she could muster at the moment.

Cat's smile faded just a little bit when she noticed that Mo and Sophie both seemed to be all teared up. Was something wrong? Had she missed something happening when she was looking for Sharky? Mo was crying? What...............?

Closing the door again, she placed Sharky on the ground so that the feline could go off to wherever she pleased but not get lost again, then this Cat placed herself right beside Sophie and Mo and kissed them both. "Now, you two need to knock that off right now, hmm? This is a good thing. It's going to be so fun and you know if you cry more I'll start crying too." And no one wanted her to cry. She was a miserable crier. She smiled sweetly at them both before raising an eyebrow. "Presents, hmm? Let's see."

Spread out on one side of the compartment, Jun heard the door slide open and close. He was about to look up and see who walked in, but the voice confirmed who it was. Smiling to himself, the older boy nodded and laughed. "Oh, joy. And here I thought I was finally free!" Normal people were gonna be free these few months. Jun wasn't. Just like last summer. But the boy had more things to do this summer compared to the last. Sigh.

"So what was the job you had this summer? I'm stealing you a week or something," Just a heads up.

Taking the rest of the other end of the compartment, Connor spread out as well, he was good and comfy now. Mmmhmm. "I'm sure you thought so but you're never really free." He said and did his best evil laugh, well more like he attempted, he wasn't evil at all.

"My Mom got me a job with one of her friend's husbands. He has a Private Detective firm, i'll just be answering phones and taking notes and stuff." It wasn't that important. "A week? I'm sure i can manage that at some point." He needed his best friend, couldn't go all summer without.

Simon had gotten separated from Ethan and Grayson after the whole drama at the Slytherin House Table so he found his own way onto the train. With a backpack lazily slung over one shoulder, he walked past groups of students conversing until he found a familiar person. Jonas, right? "Hey! Mind if I sit with you?" he asked giving the older guy a friendly grin.

Eep. Cat kisses. Mo wiped at his face by pulling his head into his shirt like a turtle, and when he emerged, he gave Cat a rather long and wet kiss. Wet on account of tears. Long on account of he was sad now because Sophie made him so. "I didn't make her cry. She was crying when she got here. She was crying all day. She's always crying."

He'd totally made her cry, but to his defense, she'd returned the favor.

"We're not sad. Now thank the baby cupcake for her Felix Felicis and promise not to die or she'll start crying again." That was a bit bossy of him, so he pulled Cat into his lap and gave her a proper Abraxan!nuzzle so she'd know she was loved. "Tell Sophie not to cry anymore, ok? We can play a round of Mophieball. She's gonna keep the ball."

Jun couldn't help but snort. "With you as my best friend, I'm never going to be free. I'm trapped," Not that he even minded. Connor was the best best friend the older boy had every had. He somehow put up with Jun this entire term after all the things he put the poor lion through. True friend right there. "Ah, right the firm thing," Jun could never remember. He just remembered that Connor got a summer job and that was it.

"Good. I have two weeks off in July and in August from the program. But then I have Disneyland and a wedding," Too much going on.

Soph stayed cuddled up to Mo even when Cat gave them kisses and scolded them for being tearful. "You might as well cry with us, too." She sniffed again and set the golfball down to reach for Cat's hand. "And shut up, I haven't been crying all day." She lightly slapped at Mo's shoulder. "Only last night after the feast in my dorm and again now when Mo was mean and asked if I'm gonna be okay without him and called me baby bird. Rude of him - 'course I'm not gonna be okay." It was stated matter-of-factly rather than heartbrokenly this time and she let out a huff of exhaustion. She was sick of tears, even though her eyes were still involuntarily pooling with them.

And, somehow, she didn't really feel all that up to playing Mophieball right now either. "Neither of you are allowed to die." Just so they knew. "But Felix should help with that." Did Cat like the present?

Marigold was soooooo happy to be going home. At last. So happy, in fact, that she immediately head to the back of the train and resolved to go to the back of the train and try and nap so she wouldn't be tired from the ride home in order to stay up all night at home with Moo. Or not. Because she would be leaving some people maybe forever. Sigh.

This was seriously a weird thing for her and one that Cat really hadn't thought would happen. If anything, she'd been sure she would be the one to cry, not stubborn little Sophie and especially not Mo. Mo was always the one that Cat cried on and though she didn't mind in the slightest that he was the one who had a few tears now, it was really not what she was expecting. Neither was that kiss, actually. She returned the kiss, of course, and after it, she swiped a fingertip under his eyes. He looked like a sad boyfriend and she didn't like a sad boyfriend, so she was going to try to fix it. "Quit making little girls cry, you big bully." Helpful, right? She gave him her best grin too and rubbed her finger across his cheek. He was going to be okay.

Then, before she knew it, she was in Mo's lap where she very much liked to be. Cat gave him a snuggle before she turned her attention to Sophie. Reaching for the vial, Cat paused to kiss Sophie's forehead and wipe at her eyes because they were all sad and watery looking and it hurt her's heart to see it. "I promise not to die. And I promise not to push Mo off of a cliff." She was trying to be funny here, lighten the mood. "Not that I've ever entertained that thought, for the record." She grinned and tugged Soph closer as she settled back into Mo's lap. They could all have a snuggle, they needed one. "Thank you, Soph. You're such a sweet girl." And Cat was really going to miss her.

"That was very rude of him, wasn't it? Doesn't he know that baby bird is my name for you?" She nudged Soph and nuzzled Mo. Someone was going to have to smile soon or she might actually cry too.