Still in the spirit of being a perfect angel child who would NEVER get herself expelled, and yet wanting to plot out every minute of summer so as to maximize her time, Bernie curled up in the very last compartment of the very back of the train. She had her Muggle notebook and ordinary pencil in hand, and was busy scribbling all these plans to herself.

First on her to-do list was to buy three cruppies.

SPOILER!!: Bernie! <3

Quote:

Originally Posted by BanaBatGirl

Still in the spirit of being a perfect angel child who would NEVER get herself expelled, and yet wanting to plot out every minute of summer so as to maximize her time, Bernie curled up in the very last compartment of the very back of the train. She had her Muggle notebook and ordinary pencil in hand, and was busy scribbling all these plans to herself.

First on her to-do list was to buy three cruppies.

With Sammy her pet rat riding on her shoulder, Claudine traversed from the front of the train on two missions: the first was to avoid Cole (which she successfully did after having spotting him in a compartment. It involved Claudine stooping low and crawling across the compartment door to avoid being seen. Thankfully that worked.) and the second was to find Bernie. The Snakette was actually starting to give up on the latter because she had almost come to the end of the train… Strike that. There was her friend alone in a compartment, scribbling away. Claudine hesitated a moment. Did Bernie want her there? There had been times when they were a little distant with each other since the Forest incident.

She decided to take the chance of having Bernie throwing her out.

Claudine slid the compartment door open then slipped in. “Hi, Bernie. Is it okay if I join you?’’

Quote:

Originally Posted by FearlessLeader19

With Sammy her pet rat riding on her shoulder, Claudine traversed from the front of the train on two missions: the first was to avoid Cole (which she successfully did after having spotting him in a compartment. It involved Claudine stooping low and crawling across the compartment door to avoid being seen. Thankfully that worked.) and the second was to find Bernie. The Snakette was actually starting to give up on the latter because she had almost come to the end of the train… Strike that. There was her friend alone in a compartment, scribbling away. Claudine hesitated a moment. Did Bernie want her there? There had been times when they were a little distant with each other since the Forest incident.

She decided to take the chance of having Bernie throwing her out.

Claudine slid the compartment door open then slipped in. “Hi, Bernie. Is it okay if I join you?’’

Bernie had not actually wanted to speak to Claudine today. She didn't know how to hang out with her friend and NOT get into trouble, and after the Headmaster's speech, she was determined to DO BETTER. And how could she do better with Claudine? How could they move past the disaster in the Forest, which Claudine had talked her into doing in the first place?!

But besides buy three cruppies, Bernie also had say goodbye to Claudine on her list.

So she nodded simply when her friend came to the door, and looked back down at her notebook as she tried to think of what to say. What to say. What to say.... did.... Claudine get a rat?! When had that happened?

Okay, this train ride was super long and super boring, and Isla was bound and determined to find something to take up her time. Her first grand idea had been stay awake most of the night before so she would be super tired and sleep the whole train ride. What had ended up happening, though, was that she stayed up most of the night and was now super tired and unable to fall asleep.

Go figure.

"Mind if I join you, too?" she asked, falling in line right behind Claudine and peering into the compartment Bernie was currently occupying. The second year, who was technically a third year, was busy jotting down something in a notebook. She didn't look like she wanted all this company, but she hadn't seemed to have minded when Claudine came through.

Oi, all the kids ALL TWO OF THEM, GOSH wanting to share her compartment?!

Bernie wouldn't say so, but she was glad for the company.

She nodded to Isla too, wondering who would show up next. Blake, probably. Bernie always found herself surrounded by Slytherins for some reason, though really, were Isla and Blake even real Slytherins? They usually acted like Puffers in her opinion. Anyway, both could come in, she supposed.

Bernie just sighed a little to herself and added a note to write to Blake over the summer in case she missed him on the train.

Bernie might have said yes to her sitting in that compartment but Claudine could tell that Bernie didn’t really want her there. She was curious enough about what the Lioness was writing. Was it a diary? A to-do list? A letter to someone? Claudine wouldn’t pry. Hearing the voice behind her, she looked over her shoulder to see Isla. “Hi, Isla.’’ As much as company wasn’t big on her list of favourtie things, this was Bernie’s decision. And when her best friend (ex bestie?) gave her approval, Claudine moved to a seat. She took the one opposite to Bernie.

Oh, right. She had to introduce Sammy.

“This is Sammy. I adopted him from... Cole.’’ Did they notice the way her voice faltered as she said the boy’s name? Hopefully not. “He’s friendly and wouldn’t bite if you don’t aggravate him.’’

Holly Tamesis was ridiculously happy that it was Summer. She had been happy yesterday afternoon as she'd been packing her bags, and she was excited to get to see Cam and visit their parents graves this summer.... and to have that conversation with her Mum about her biological parents. Holly didn't have a single part of her that thought she wasn't a loved daughter, but still... she wanted to know more about where she came from and what her parents had been like.

Sitting in an over-sized hoody that was pulled over her knees as she hugged her legs and stared out of the window, Holly sighed. She was zoning out, and was currently glad for the empty compartment... For however long it lasted anyway.

How could you feel so releaved, yet upset at the same time? Yeah, she didn't know either yet here she was.

Bernie added one more note to her little list and then closed her notebook with a soft snap, tucking the pencil behind her ear. She had a rat to i n v e s t i g a t e now.

"Sammy," Bernie repeated, not yet reaching out a hand to pet him or anything. It wasn't like he was a c a t, which would be a GREAT pet for Claudine. But a rat also suited her somehow. She noticed the small drop in her friend's voice as she mentioned Cole, but didn't want to bring it up in front of Isla. She hadn't intended on talking, like at all, but Bernie did blurt out, "Wasn't Cole your partner for the baby project?" Her blue eyes flicked to Isla, who'd been partnered with BLAKE, and then back to Claudine. "How did that go?"

Speaking of pets, though, Bernie did have to bring something up to Claudine. "We have to buy some crups this summer, before school starts again," she announced with a meaningful LOOK at Claudine and Sammy. Surely Claudine would know W H Y.

Isla's face cracked into a small smile, and she joined the other two in the compartment. Bernie was on one side and Claudine was on the other, so she'd have to sit by one of them. Bernie seemed busy doing whatever it was she was occupied with, so Isla took a seat near Claudine. "Hey, Claudine," she said, replying to the greeting.

The topic then turned to Claudine's new pet. Isla wasn't a fan of pet rats, but she wasn't the kind to get all squeamish over them either. "From who?" she asked, not hearing the name. Regardless, she should say something about the rat. Err... "Pretty cool pet." She needed a pet to carry around like that. Maybe a Pygmy Puff? Nah. A cat? Yeah, that'd be cool! "So...you two had a pretty interesting school year..." It actually sounded ind of fun in a way. Her own school year had been kind of a bore, save for all those founders.

As her two companions launched into conversation, Isla suddenly felt like a third wheel. It made her miss muggle primary school.

Great. They had noticed. How should she play this? Cool? Calm? Indifferent? Yes, indifference. That was her style anyway. “Cole,’’ she replied to Isla, her voice steady again. “Fifth year Gryffindor.’’ She now looked out the window of their compartment, while replying to Bernie. “Yeah. It was okay.’’ More than okay; she worked excellently with him it turned out. “Until we got into a small misunderstanding.’’ Claudine had no intention of speaking more of the topic. Sammy, meanwhile? Well, he seemed to have found Isla rather interesting. The rat scurried down from Claudine’s shoulder, across her lap and over to the first year where he sat on the seat space between the two girls and was looking up at Isla. “I think he likes you, Isla. You can hold him if you want. He made my year interesting. He’s one of the reasons anyway.’’

Back to Bernie. Claudine knew immediately what the Gryffindor was referring to. “We do.’’ Her fingers fidgeted on her lap and she suddenly wished she had brought along her sketchpad and packet of pencils. It was clear to her Bernie didn’t want to be her friend anymore and that was fine. Claudine was quite ready to leave the girl be for and and for however long. Cutting anyone out of her life wasn’t difficult. After they got the crups, she’d do that. “Over the summer? Diagon Alley? It won’t take long picking the perfect ones, I’ll be out of your hair in no time.’’ In case no one noticed, Claudine suffered from the event of the Forest. Then again, it wasn’t easy to notice since she usually wore a serious expression, rarely talked of herself and threw herself into her alone time.

“Isla, how did you like your first year?’’ She was interested in hearing the thoughts and opinions of her Housemate.

Although the year hadn't been particularly awful - OWLs aside, of course - Józef was happy to be heading home. Summer meant Quidditch Camp, and (hopefully) retaining his place on the national team. Even though he'd been flying and practicing during the year, the Gryffindor had definitely missed the competitve aspect of the sport.

Never a lone wolf, Jó decided to look through the train for one of his friends or, failing that, someone else he could get to know during the journey. And so, after a brief stop at the food trolly for some essential snacks, he found Holly sitting alone and promptly slid the compartment door open.

"Alright, Holly? You want a pumpkin pasty?"

Was it just her, or was Claudine trying to change the subject away from Cole? Bernie's eyes narrowed somewhat. Before going into the Forest together, Bernie would have dug deeper here, and attempted to bug Claudine about whatever small misunderstanding she and Cole had had. But now, Bernie was noticing that Claudine seemed more interested in talking to ISLA BELLCHANT, of all people, instead of to her.

So she let out a small huff of annoyance and looked out the window instead.

Oh yes, an interesting school year. "So did you," Bernie muttered to Isla, watching the girl's reflection in the window. "I saw you running with Godric Gryffindor's sword." Bernie had been VERY intensely jealous of the Slytherin first year in that moment--- what right did SHE have to hold THE sword of Gryffindor?! Was she even WORTHY of it?? HOW had Isla gotten ahold of it??? But now, after everything had ended and Gryffindor had ended up being less chivalrous than she'd initially thought, Bernie just felt a pang of... nothing.

Huh.

Bernie frowned at the next thing Claudine said. "What do you mean, out of my hair?" she wondered innocently. That was an expression her mum used when she was annoyed with her. What did Claudine mean by it??? And, also, "Yes, Diagon Alley. I'm thinking four crups," she continued cryptically. "We should each buy two."

Had Holly moved since she had curled up and stared out of the window? Nope! Had she spoken to anyone? No, she hadn't. Her chin was resting on her knees and her arms were still wrapped tightly around her knees as she watched the countryside zip past the window.

She was so zoned out of it, however that Professor Trent likely would have told her off for not paying attention. It wasn't until Jó offered her food and she heard the word pasty that she even turned her head and blinked at the taller Gryffindor boy.

"Sorry... What?" She blinked again and motioned at any of the seats, assuming he'd said something about eating his pasty's.

Józef hadn't even noticed that Holly seemed out of it when he opened the compartment door. Nor did he really pay much attention to the slow response she was giving him as he took a seat opposite her, mouth full of pumpkin pasty.

Pointing to his mouth with one hand and then shaking the bag of pasties with his other,
Jó hoped that was enough to answer her question, for he was only just realising what a large mouthful of food he'd decided to have.

Still chewing, he eyed the girl opposite him a little closer, tilting his head to one side. When he finished, he was ready with a question, this time not about food. "What's up?"

Watching Józef eat food and shake the bag she nodded. He wanted to eat his lunch. Fine, fine. Whatever. She turned her head slightly to look out of the window again as the boy sat down and got comfortable but turned back to look at him as he asked her a question (no, she hadn't zoned out that quickly).

"With me?" She paused for a split second too long before shaking her head. "Nothing. It's fine." Turning away from him to look out of the window, she mutteredb"No problem..." softly under her breath as she leant forward again to lean her chin on her knees.

Everything was fine.

Isla nodded at the sound of Cole's name. "Oh, yeah. I worked with him a few times in classes," she said. She WOULD have added that she thought he was super cute, but judging by the way Claudine said his name, Isla thought now wasn't the time for that kind of thing. Ohh, so they had a small misunderstanding? Yeah...better leave that 'he's super cute' part out.

It was probably a good thing she hadn't launched into more conversation because Sammy, who used to be Cole's pet but was now Claudine's pet, had apparently decided it needed some of her attention. Weird. Did rats usually take to humans or something? It wasn't the candy in her pocket, was it? "Oh, so he does," Isla commented, replying to what Claudine had said about the rat liking her. Isla placed the palm of her hand flat on the seat and allowed the rat to climb aboard and scurry up to her shoulder. It didn't poop on humans, did it? "Cool pet!"

She tried hard not to pay attention to Bernie and Claudine's conversation, but it sounded super interesting and full of juicy details. Claudine broke her concentration by asking how her first year had been. "Honestly? It was kind of boring. I mean, save for all those founders. I need to get out more next year," she admitted.

She noticed Bernie's huff, but it didn't really stand out to her as anything she needed to concern herself with. Bernie was always keyed up about something it seemed, and who knew what had tugged at her strings this time. Then she brought up the fact that Isla had come running with Gryffindor's sword, and Isla's facial expression took on a look of indifference. "Look, I know it was dangerous and all, and I should have done differently, but honestly, it'll always be one of those most awesome things I've done," she said. I mean, how many people got to say they came running into battle with THE sword of Gryffindor?

Glad that the subject of Cole was behind her (though unlike Isla, she did not find him cute. He was regular looking like everyone else but not cute), Claudine pounced on the other topics at hand. And yes, she was more interested in forming a conversation with her Housemate now that she had it in her head that Bernie didn’t want to be her friend anymore, based on the girl’s demeanour. Furthermore, Claudine chose to ignore the huff, whatever it was about. “Fine. We’ll buy two each and then you’d never have to be my friend again.’’ Her reply to Bernie was condensed into those words, her tone cold. One could figuratively hear the walls she had let down for Bernie going back up again.

Sammy really was a trusting rat. Not that there was anything about Isla to be suspicious of, was there? “Right? I didn’t know I wanted a pet until I saw him.’’ Claudine was very happy with having him around, though a lot of the times he had been snoozing after she had adopted him. “Does this mean you find lessons boring?’’ Isla wouldn’t be judged on that because sometimes Claudine did too. She watched Sammy sniff at Isla’s ear.

WoWOWOWOwowowowowOWOWOowowowwowow, Claudine.

That was clear enough for even Bernie to get the message.

"Fine." She repeated the other girl, ignoring Isla's humblebrag for now. "It's obvious you don't want to have to be my friend either."

She decided to ignore both girls now and pulled open her notebook again, beginning to furiously scribble something. Obviously it was irritating how Isla just NONCHALANTLY bragged about carrying Gryffindor's sword, and then tried to get cool points by calling lessons boring or something, and then befriended Claudine's rat, like it was nothing...

Bernie was just irritated. IRRITATED WITH THEM BOTH. She titled her head down toward her notebook so no one could see her glossy blue eyes. Did someone have a window open? She had ALLERGIES, people. She was THISCLOSE to sneeze-crying due to ALLERGIES and NOTHIN' ELSE.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait. Hold the presses.

Did Claudine just say they'd never have to be friends again?! Yes. That is definitely what she'd said. Isla didn't even try to hide the fact that she was following along now. She turned to look at Bernie, waiting for a reply. Should Isla step in and say something? Should she just act like she hadn't heard or something? What to do, what to doooo?

Then Claudine just switched topics of conversation like she hadn't just dropped the friendship bomb on somebody. "Oh, umm...the rat. Sammy! Right, umm..." Did she find the lessons boring? What had she said again? Oh, right! Her first year! She was all levels of distracted now. "No, I mean, the lessons weren't a bore or anything, but that's kind of all I got to experience about Hogwarts." Again, save for the founders roaming around trying to stir up trouble. "It was kind of lonely at times, so I hope to get out more next year."

Sammy scurried down Isla's arm and headed back in the direction of his new owner. Thank Merlin none of them had a kneazle or something.

Then things got iffy again, and Isla cleared her throat and shifted around in her seat. "Umm, you guys okay?" she finally asked, because it was one thing to be nosey, but it was something else altogether to ignore people when they were down. She doubted either of them would spill the beans, but whatever. She'd asked anyway, and she'd gathered that whatever was going on had something to do with crups?