It was a relief that Hady didn't mind the near collision - but then she didn't seem the type to get angry easily. That was a good thing, because the last thing Esme needed right now was to get in a fight with an older student.

Or should she say that the last thing she needed was a HAG?

Shuddering slightly, Esme moved slightly so she was blocked even more from view. Her parents had told her and her sister some stories that involved hags, and they never ended well. "She won't try to eat us...will she?" Esme whispered before gulping.

She was too young to die! There was so much that she wanted to experience in life and none of those aspirations involved being someone's lunch!

Jasper grinned, managing to suppress his blush this time when she was teasing him about a hug. Looking in thought for a moment, he quickly pulled out his sketchbook and a pen.

Before she could ask what he was doing, he opened it to the last page, quickly writing down the two points that they'd commented on. "We'll probably forget," he reasoned, as he put the sketchbook down beside him. "Especially when it gets a lot larger..."

"Do you want a sugar quill?" he finally asked, thinking about the different types of sweets he had in his bag. That was the only 'magical' one he had in there. Though he had Jelly beans too and that might be familiar to her... "Or jelly beans?"

The small boy's eyes widened at the question and he looked at the hedgehog in his hands. He had read up a bit on how to take care of a hedgehog, but he'd never really looked into anything about their being poisonous. Now he was suspicious. "I don't think so... he's slept on my face sometimes and I'm still alive and stuff."

He wasn't going to give her the option. The boy very gently thrust the sniffling hedgehog into her hands, and promptly stuck his own into his pockets to dig around for treats. It was then that his attention was diverted to the tall man again, and Jay squinted up at him again, nose scrunching up.

"Dad said that only kids can go on the train, but... I keep finding old people..."

He looked at the girl as if she would understand what he was taking about, hands continuing to fish in his jacket's pockets until he finally found a small bag of hedgehog treats that were half-smooshed. Success. Sniffler woud not starve.

Julia considered this, and right about the time she concluded that the hedgehog was probably non-poisonous she looked down to discover it sitting in her hands. Well. Now she knew what her father meant when he said theorizing was only good to a point before physical testing was required. She watched the hedgehog snuffling at her palm, and smiled a little when it started licking at the creases it found there.

Eventually she noticed the boy looking at her, and looked back. Then looked at the man standing in front of them. Then looked back at the boy and suggested, "He's probably the conductor."

This was followed by explaining to the man, "I would give you my ticket but I'm currently holding a hedgehog."

Azura's purple eyes looked at Jazz curiously as he looked around and quickly pulled out a sketchbook? She tilted her head to the side as he seemed to turn to the last page and then he scribbled down something...

Ohhhh!! It was their bucket list!

"It's true! We might forget! She said with a smile as she twirled her hair thoughtfully, this action was different than when she was nervous! "Hmm, how about we put down teach each other to play each other's instruments! So you learn to play piano.. and I learn to play guitar?" That sounded like a good thing to do.. and that would keep them busy for awhile!

She looked at his thoughtfully as he asked if she wanted a sugar quill..

"A Sugar quill sounds good.. and a few jelly beans too.. She paused for a moment. "As long as they aren't Bertie Botts.." She added as she shook her head, she really didn't want to get some gross flavor and then have to spit it out and act all weird in front of Jazz!!

"Hey Jazz." She said as she turned and leaned on the side of the train, her back against the window.. "What do you think of the nickname.. Jazzy? Does anyone ever call you that?" She asked curiously.

LET ME LOVE YOU...


Olivia, of course, felt her friend's feeble attempts to break free but didn't let up just yet. She'd missed Chloe so much; had been cut off from her due to several weeks of being grounded (and being forced to accompany her mum to work). As it was, she wasn't that adept at escaping from the Ministry daycare yet. They...were extra cautious and watchful.

The WORST sort; though, Mrs. Athena was lovely and one of Liv's favorite people to date.

"I couldn't possibly know that...but it's only been a few hours since we left the station." She finally freed her arms from her friend. "You want jelly slugs?" Liv hadn't retrieved the dropped package...but she was pulling more out of her bag, quick to offer them up. "I've got pumpkin pasties, too...and some other stuff." Instead of listing each purchased item, the small blonde tilted her bag towards Chloe, revealing a variety of sweets.

Hehe, she'd went a little overboard at the trolley. There wouldn't be any starving on this journey, however, so who was really losing? Certainly not her, said the Cheshire Cat.

A few hours? Wooooooooow.

Chloe couldn't believe they were already that far along into the ride. She didn't even mean to doze off but, well, that hadn't worked out for her so well. The lull of the train was like a perfect storm of warmth and motion that knocked her straight out. Apparently for a few hours. She was so embarassed.

It was like Liv had read her mind. She leaned back over, once she was free of the cuddles, and into Liv's personal space to look into her bag. There were a lot of sweets in there and post-nap usually called for food when she was with her family. This was just a happy coincidence.

Chloe's face flickered with appreciation, "Some jelly slugs, if you don't mind." If she minded, Chloe could do without. Really. Also, "Why the radio silence this summer?"

Quinn dragged his things along behind him on the train, turning his head left and right for an empty compartment. He sighed at the sight of all the packed compartments, shaking his head. If only his mother hadn't engulfed him in that huge hug that seemed to last forever, he would have had his own compartment all to himself, he was sure.

He found himself in the back compartments, and he spotted one with just one boy sitting inside. The boy looked around his age, so Quinn slid open the door and smiled. "Hey, mind if I join you?" He asked.

Dot was doing her rounds... mental rounds, since she wasn't actually required to do real ones just yet, and she was already bored of being responsible. The train was long and lonely and she wanted to sit down now. And THERE was a friendly face!

"Sha. Why are you reading? You have to read all term, and you do NOT have to read now..." Dot wrinkled her nose at the fellow ginger as she sunk into a seat. Their lives were all about books, starting in a few short hours, and nothing would bring Dot to start a moment earlier.

"Did you see the old lady out there? She smells like cooking cabbage and onions. Looks like cooking cabbage too." Dot's mum was Polish. She knew the scent of cabbage.

She didn’t look up until she heard her name being said, but as soon as she saw who it was her face spread into a wide beam. ”Dot!” Grinning happily, she held her book apart with her fingers as she looked across the compartment at her beautiful, talllll friend. Hmmmm. As much as they both had gorgeous red hair, Dot definitely had the better end of the deal when it came to their height. … Not that Sha was jealous. Nope. Never.

”To pass the time.” She answered, nodding her head. ”I figured I would read until people came to find me or I got bored and went to find them.” Seemed like sound logic to her. ”But its only my Care of Magical Creatures textbook, its not like I’m trying to learn Charms or anything. I’m reading about Salamandars and they are fascinating!” Yup, her whole face had lit up as she once again started talking about Creatures. Whoops.

Frowning slightly, the small Lion leant forward in her seat to try and see OUTSIDE and AROUND the corner. Because obviously that worked. ”I can’t see her from here… but I think she passed the door as she went up the corridor? I thought the sweet cart witch might have retired or something?” Confused look on her face, Marsha sat back comfortably in her chair. ”... Any idea who she is? Other than in need of a hot shower?” With lots of nice fresh soapy shower gel or bubble bath or … well something similar.

Elliot had been so engrossed in petting Kamja and staring out the window, he hadn't even heard the compartment door open. Hence why he was slightly startled at the sound of a voice. He turned blinking a little, seeing a boy who looked around his age, before nodding to the empty side of the compartment smiling a bit. "Sure. Go ahead."

Looking at the Azura, Jasper nodded, quickly grabbing the sketchbook again and wrote down the next part of their list. That meant that so far, there were already three things, and they'd literally only just started their bucket list! It didn't help that two out of three things would keep them going for a couple of years!

He wasn't sure if he could come up with something else to add quite yet, but that would come!

Smiling, he pulled out two sugar quills and a bag of jelly beans. "Here you go," he commented, holding out a sugar quill for her. "And no Bertie Botts!" he promised, a smile on his face. Jelly Beans were a lot safer.

Jazzy? He thought for a few moments. Did anyone call him that? He didn't think so.... maybe his sister when she was whining? No... she just split his name up into a long two syllable 'Jaaaaaazz'.

"No one calls me that," he finally answered, a small smile tugging on his lips. "But I like it!"

He did.

And it was special because Azura thought of it!

He really had to come up with a nice nickname for her!

Dot scoffed visibly at the suggestion that reading passed the time, and she plucked teh book from Marsha's fingers and sat on it. No talking about books or bugs or whatever she'd mentioned when there were more important things to talk about. Like... old ladies, obviously. "Now I'm here, so you can't pass the time reading any more. And Charms is a perfectly decent thing to read about, if you must read textbooks. I prefer romance novels."

The cheesier, the better.

"Now, no, I saw the trolley lady too. Maybe she's a professor? I wonder if it's against the rules to say mean things about professors when they can't hear you? I be she's very nice and clever and doesn't smell at all like onions and cabbage. And... I bet she's teaching Ancient Runes. 'Cause she was there when they were New Runes."

Janelle looked questioningly at the man who had peeked into her compartment. "Everything's fine, a little boring, but fine", she replied. "I'm Janelle", she offered, pausing in hopes that she would learn who the mysterious man was. Closing her book and putting it down, she took a moment to study the man she had pegged as a new professor.

"Would you like to come in?" Probably not, but it couldn't hurt to ask, could it?

That was why Olivia absolutely adored her Chloe! Jelly slug twinsies! She quickly removed a pack of the delicious candy, handing them over. After sorting her bag, she snuggled up to her friend again.

"Mum was being mean, overreactioning about every little thing." Code for I was grounded for trying to have a life. She sighed, plucking up the comic. "Is this one new?" There was so much to catch up on. Guh, SO MUCH.

"Ah, so you're a first year," Ansley nodded at the young girl. Not that it wasn't obvious or anything, but he supposed it made sense given her current level of enthusiasm, her lack of stature, and general distraction. "Well, there's nothing wrong with exploring, as long as you stay out of trouble and watch where you're going." As in no running into people. But he approved of the curiosity.

Did he have a favorite Disney movie? Ansley thought a moment as it had been a while since he had seen one of those. Well, Destino was amazing, but he'd bet on the girl never having heard of that one. "I always kind of liked Lady and the Tramp. No princes in that one though." He raised an eyebrow at her and gave a short, light chuckle. "Well, if I'm not mistaken, those princes are animated and I am a real person. So no chance of that." Hopefully that didn't burst her bubble, but yeah.

Still with the questions. Well, he certainly hoped she participated this much in class. "How do you know I didn't just get held back a few years?" he winked. Was he that out of place? Apparently so, by some of the curious looks he had gotten from a few of the students who had passed by. Anyway.. "I am, you can call me Professor Finch." He watched as she picked up the doll then furrowed his brow slightly. "Oh.. not yours then? Well.. I'm sure the owner will turn up. It looks expensive." And who would leave a doll like that lying around. But if the girl wanted to look around for who might have lost it, he thought that was quite helpful.

His eyes snapped to the haggardly-looking old woman as she got awfully close to the both of them. "I need your help? How's that?" He then glanced down at her hand on his arm, mildly amused. Eccentric old bat, was she not? "Well, I did choose to work with teenagers at Hogwarts, I guess that holds a sense of danger in itself." He scoffed a bit as she started to walk away, then glanced down at the young girl who was obviously spooked. "Colorful, isn't she?" And probably harmless, unless she really did eat children.

Old? He wasn't old. Had the kid seen the hag that had just come through here? Now she was old but Ansley wasn't so unprofessional to mention that.

"Times change, friend," Ansley said with a shrug. "The train is merely a means to an end. And I'd guess we're all just headed to the same place, no matter what the age." But the fact that this kid was so weirded out by his appearance only made him suspicious that he was hoping there wouldn't be any adults on board.

He furrowed his brow slightly at the boy's female companion. Was that the only logical deduction? Ansley supposed it was a good guess, but.. "I sure hope I'm not meant to be the conductor," he said giving her a knowing smile. "Because I'm not sure who is currently driving the train while I'm back here.." Aaaand they'd probably wreck if the train was moving along unmanned.

"Good to know," Ansley nodded at the girl, but he expected the same. Everything appeared to be fine, which was a good thing, and quiet too, also a better thing than out in the corridor where it was loud. Janelle.. "I suppose you could call me Professor Finch." The title might take some getting used to for him having been called Mr. Finch for several years in his work.

Would he like to come in. Well.. he had considered it, or at least thought about sitting after he did a round through the corridors, but things seemed fine for the most part. Maybe he'd take a seat while the train was moving and then he'd go take a walk again, maybe sitting with someone else. "Sure, why not," he said before entering the compartment fully and taking a seat across from the girl.

Azura smiled happily as Jasper wrote down the things she had suggested! She had a few more things to add to it eventually, but she wanted to make sure they were really good ones.. Better than things like "climb a tree." or "swim in the lake." Though.. "sorted into the same house." Would be amazing! She bit her lip a little as she thought of that before taking a deep breath and relaxing.. Jasper had said it would be all right..

So hopefully it would!

"Thank you!" She took the sugar quill and sucked on it a bit.. before looking over at Jasper and smiling.. "Much safer!" That was an understatement! Normal jelly beans were not only safer.. but more fun to eat! Cause you knew you wouldn't get something like dirt or boogers!

YECH!

Purple eyes trained on the boy sitting across from her as he contemplated the nickname she was about to give him! She bit her lip a little, hoping that he would like it and that it wouldn't be stupid! She wanted something she came up with! A special nickname..

For the incredibly special boy across from her!!

For a moment her face fell as he said that no one called him that.. but then, as a small smile moved across his face,hers mirrored it as he said he liked it!!

"Really?" Relief swept across her features as she smiled happily at him. "Good! I was hoping you would! Jazzy! Yeah..well there you go.". She looked over at him, smiling happily, her heart was beating rapidly and she just wanted to get up and hug him!

Instead she just sat there and twisted her fingers happily as she squealed inwardly.

Did Owen want a fist-bump? Of course! He would definitely give him one FIST BUMP and many more to come! Hufflepuffs bros always stick together. Remember that. "We have to conquer the kitchens again, Owen! This time we're going to bake more delicious pastries you can ever imagine in your lifetime, what do you think? Are you in this thing with me?"he offered.

Henric grinned when he asked about his girlfriend. "Oh you'll meet her soon enough, she's brilliant. I'll introduce to her one day alright, she's a slytherin sixth year like me." He winked.

Ahh! Not the tickle attack again! "Ava stop!" he laughed, avoiding her poking finger too. He nodded, "YES AVA. Unless you have something better to give me? Like a baby dragon? My birthday just passed, you know," he pouted once more. "And I'm not a giraffe! I don't have a long neck...wait, do I?" he asked his strawberry shorkcake younger bestie. He chuckled,"Yeah yeah...go ahead and tell Adi, I'm going to be a great prefect to all of you...watch me!" he told her proudly.

Henric scoffed playfully at Ava, "You will...soon enough.*hehe*" He did say kissing was amazing, didn't he? Oops. "Should I lie then, that its not?"he shrugged. He frowned a little and wagged a finger at her,"Manners Ava...manners. You shouldn't talk like that...I respect her very much, and a gentleman always asked his lady first. Take note, Owen, this is how you win a lady's heart,"he smiled at the both of them.

"No worries," Jasper said, grin on his face. It was a lot more fun to eat candy when it was shared with friends. In his own opinion at least. He happily began sucking on the sugar quill. "And I agree," he said, face scrunching up at the thought of what flavours he might end up eating if they had Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans. "Though not as funny."

A grin crossed his face as he remembered when they bought them for the first time, and his sister had accidentally grabbed a chilli bean.

He tried to think of something for her once again. But his lips twisted into a frown a moment later.

"I'll have to try to think of something for you," currently he couldn't think of anything, but a smile crossed his face a moment later. He was going to think of a name that was also special to her! One that she would always remember as one being given to her by him!

It could take him a while though...

Maybe he could do something else meaningful then?

Jaemin busied himself with trying to unknot the plastic baggie of treat-smush while the man talked; he was still listening, but he wasn't quite sure what the guy meant. He looked up as he finally got it open and fished out one of the mostly-whole treats to hold out to the hedgehog in the girl's hands. Sniffler sniffed at it before dutifully chomping down, and Jaemin was free to look up again. Why were old people so very tall?

"But why are you going to-" waaaaaaait a minute. If he wasn't a conductor, and he very clearly wasn't a student... Jaemin squinted at him suspiciously. "You're not meant to be a teacher, are you?"

He was old, but he wasn't old. There was a difference and this man was clearly not old enough to be a teacher.

Azura laughed a little as Jazz said that regular jelly beans were not as funny! "I guess you do have a point there! They are kind of funny, I remember when my cousin got a dirt one! I thought he was going to throw up! Ahh the look on Wes's face! it had been so hilarious! Ahh.. That had been back when he liked her and wasn't too cool to hang out with her!

*sigh*

Though her smile came back to her face as he said he had to think of a nickname for her! "Well take your time! I know Azura isn't exactly the easiest name to come up with a nickname for, besides the obvious Az." But pretty much all of her family called her that! "My middle name is Snow, if that helps at all?" Yup, her mother's maiden name was her middle name! But she kinda liked it! Plus how cool was the last name Snow?

"My mother's maiden name is Snow, and apparently she was so clumsy in school the nicknamed her "Snow Fall." She said with a soft giggle as she shook her head a bit.

"I guess clumsiness runs in the family?" Her purple eyes twinkled up at him, she was really rather touched that he wanted to come up with a nickname for her too!!

They really were friends weren't they! That made her happy!

He hoped he wasn't the conductor? That was the sort of thing an adult was supposed to know, wasn't it? Then again, perhaps all this exuberance on the train had got him all turned about; the best thing to do would be to sort him out again without a fuss.

"If it's a magic train," she reasoned, attempting to be helpful in the face of his uncertainty, "I'm sure it could get along by itself for a while."

But then he was saying that the train was a means to an end, and when the boy -- whose hedgehog she was still holding *ahem* -- asked if the man was a teacher, she supposed that made much more sense. Transportation was transportation, after all.

Jasper laughed along with Azura at the mention of her cousin getting a dirt flavoured bean. The grin stayed on his face as he told her one of his own stories, "When dad took me shopping he bought a box, and mum didn't realise that it really meant every flavour... I think that she got an envelope glue flavoured one."

That had also been funny.

Not for their mother naturally.

Since then she hadn't really trusted any snacks that anyone had left lying around the house... Jasper really didn't blame her for that. Though he and his father hadn't really thought to warn her, thinking the label was clear enough.

Snow fall as a nickname. That was cute nice, though it wasn't original. He was going to figure it out himself!

"Maybe you'll outgrow it," he offered with a grin, hearing that her mother was also clumsy. It did seem to be passed on, but he was looking on the bright side. He had the oddest feeling that if she didn't outgrow it, he'd spend half his time in Hogwarts in the Hospital Wing checking whether or not she was there!

Maybe he could draw her a sketch of something... that was a thoughtful gift wasn't it? Maybe even a portrait of herself.

Just in case, he quickly glanced at her face, trying to imprint the basic shape in his mind.

Azura put a hand up to her mouth in order to stifle her giggles as Jasper spoke of his mother and the Bertie Botts beans! "Oh no!! That's so terrible" Envelope flavored glue.. That was terrible. "The worst one I've ever run into was pepper, and I thought that was bad! She had choked and nearly ran for some water to help soothe her burning throat! It was an adventure eating those!

She smiled at him as he said that maybe she would outgrow it.. "I hope to all that is dear and good that I outgrow it! Really, I don't want to be this way forever!" She said with an emphatic nod. It would be worse off for her friends really! She could handle it, but they would probably be freaking out!

She bit her lip a little as she vowed there and then to make sure she was as careful as possible around Jazzy..She didn't want to worry him! Also.. falling down was not even remotely close to being cute..

And she wanted him to think she was cute.. And pretty!

"From what I hear my mother has gotten better though, she barely falls.. just uhh.. don't put us on ice skates." She didn't want to have another incident..

She shivered a bit, that had been awful!

She looked up at him as he glanced over at her and she gave him a bit of a smile, wondering what he was thinking!

She blinked.. Wait.. why did she want to know what he was thinking!! ACK!

Jasper couldn't help but let out a giggle small laugh of his own at the mention of a pepper flavoured bean, nodding as he recalled his own experiences with one of those. "I hate those ones," why couldn't the majority of these beans be a good flavour.

Speaking of good flavours, he'd just had a bubblegum flavoured jellybean.

That made him quite happy.

"If not we might learn some spells so you wouldn't hurt yourself that much," that was a nice thought. Better than commenting that they might have to put her in a padded room with cushions everywhere and nothing else.

His eyes widened at the thought of putting her on ice skates, before shaking his head. "Definitely not," he agreed. That would be terrifying.

Absolutely terrifying for him.

Jasper noted the curious look on her face, but he wasn't sure if he actually wanted her to know what he was thinking. What if he couldn't draw her properly? What if the drawings just never worked? Then she'd think it was pathetic. Or maybe she'd be polite and throw them out when he wasn't around. No it would be best if she didn't know. Then he could spend some time working on it and make sure it was perfect!

She was going to love it!

A grin crossed his face at the thought.

Instead he shifted the topic back to her clumsiness. "I won't allow you to play quidditch either."

The grin stayed on his face. That would cover him, wouldn't it?