The train station was packed with people that morning. Wall to wall, shoulder to shoulder. Parents were saying good bye to their children, bidding them good luck, be safe, and warning them to behave while away at Britain's only school for witches and wizards; Hogwarts.

One particular group stood out, just a little, from the rest. An older couple, dressed in the traditional ways of the Victorian era and a young woman, dressed the same. The Bennetts were pretty well known, mostly for their Victorian way of life, but known none the less. Maddelynn, the young woman, shared their outlook on life.

After bidding their farewells and wishes for luck, Maddelynn handed her trunk off to be store in the luggage car, as well as the cage that held her prized owl. She then stepped up into the train and began searching for an empty compartment.

(Maddelynn is dressed in the outfit from the picture on the chit chat page. Just so you guys know!)

Xander had said his farewells rather quickly. Almost itching to get away from his parents again. He was already seated on the train, and he had turned, smiled and waved out the window to his parents for a few moments. Then he had settled down in his seat, turned slightly away from the window and watched those that passed by his compartment on their way to find their own or one full of friends. Xander didn't really care if anyone sat with him or not. Though most would pass him by just for the simple fact that he was a Slytherin. He didn't let that bother him.

Leaning in Jenna air kissed but of the parents. "Mum, Dad see you later. I love you." Grinning she handed her trunk and her caged owl off to be stored. Then grabbing the rail she hoisted herself upon the train. As she made her way through the isle Jenna waved and said hello to everyone she knew. Finally she spotted someone worth talking to and went over to her. "Maddelynn! How are you? Come with me. I know of an empty compartment." Jenna gave her a smile and started walking forward.

After passing a few compartments she finally stopped in front of one and slid the door open. Like she thought it was completely empty. Smiling she looked back to see if Maddelynn was coming. That's when she noticed Xander right across from them, sitting all alone. Pursing her lips Jenna closed the door she had just opened and went over to his compartment. "Xander," she said in greeting. "Mind if I and Maddelynn join you?" Jenna gave the boy a small smile. She didn't care that he was in Slytherin. He was different then all of his house mates.

Standing beside her brother, who towered over her, the brownish red haired girl crossed her arms and teetered on the tips of her toes. Her large, dark blue eyes blinked and she looked back, ignoring the hustle and bustle of the train station. She saw her father walking away, his tall stature making him easily visible. He had taken them for a week at the end of the summer, only to help them get supplies they absolutely needed.

"You figure he'd stay and see us off," she said in her light soprano voice, sighing sadly.

Demetri looked down at his small sister, watching her closely. At times he felt bad for her, for how their family was and how she was the blame of most everything, but at times he too blamed her, angry he had lost his mom, and in it losing his dad.

"You figure wrong," Demetri replied harshly as the Slytherin boy stepped on the train, followed by his Gryffindor sister. Spotting his friends at the back, he nodded and smirked, making his way towards them.

Delilah reached forward and punched her brother's back. "Stop treating me like this, we're in it together you know," she demanded and glowered up at him, delicate features contorted in anger and hurt.

Growling, the curly haired 7th year spun on his heel to face his younger sister. "We've never been 'in it together', you should know that by now," he hissed angrily and shoved her into the nearest compartment. He hurried off to his friends, hugged one or two and winked at passing hot girls.

"Ouch," Delilah breathed in through gritted teeth and rubbed her shoulder. Looking to the door of the compartment she had been pushed into, she saw a Slytherin boy, Alexander, and two girls. She gave them a soft smile and shrugged, trying to clear the tears from her eyes. Her trunk and snow white owl had already been handed off to be stored, leaving her alone as she stood in the middle of the aisle.

Nichole Isabella Belmont;

"Nichole! Zachary! Wake up!" Yelling could be heard from down the hall as the mother desencded down the steps going to the kitchen. Slowly the girl stretched, halfways sitting up before plopping back down and snuggling her covers. "5 more minutes, then I'll get up.." Nichole muttered to herself, but her father wasn't having that. Suddenly her blanket was whipped off her and her blinds magically opened. "Daaaaadddd" The girl groaned as she saw her father standing in her doorway with a smile on his face, arms folded and wand in hand. "Rise and shine, Princess. We've got a train to catch." Nichole's eyes lit up at the statement, how could she have forgotten, it was THE day. Squealing in happiness the girl got up and sped past her dad to the bathroom and quickly brushed her teeth and fixed her hair. For a moment she stared at her eyes, still never realizing were the Lavender in her eyes came from, since both her parents had green eyes. Running back to her room to change the girls sock slipped on the wooden floor and the she almost fell, but grabbed the wall for balance. Usually Nichole was very graceful, except when she was in a hurry.

As she wandered into the kitchen she heard a meow from her feet, looking down she saw her silver tabby Fenris nuzzling her thigh. "Hello boy." He said as she picked him up and cradled him in her arms. "Are you ready?" Nichole asked as he nuzzled against her cheek. "Your bags are all packed." Her father said as he came down the stairs, Zachary thrown over his shoulder still in pajamas. "PUT ME DOWN!" He screamed as he squirmed and flailed trying to get down. After a chuckle the father granted the request and the boy huffed and folded his arms. "I dont want to go, its not fair, why is she special and I'm not!" the boy said with a pout. Nichole frowned, she hated when her brother acted like this, it made her feel bad that he called it being "special" when in fact he was the special one among the family. "Sweety you're special too, just not in the same way Nikki is." The girl rolled her eyes, she hated the nickname Nikki. "Now eat your breakfast with me while Daddy takes your sister ok? I got you Lucky Chaarrrmmss." Her mother said enticingly. A smile was on the boys face as he ran to go make a bowl. Giving her mom a kiss goodbye she waved to Zachary. "Bye, brat!" She teased and he stuck his tounge out at her before their father shut the door behind them.

"Now were gonna send Abel to you soon with a letter so we can keep in touch, Okay?" Nichole nodded and hugged her dad, Abel was their family owl, and he was always sent to Nichole while she was away. "Love you Dad." "Love you too, Sweet Pea." He said with a smile as the girl pulled away and headed towards the train to board. Carrying her small cat carrier she tried to avoid the boys and girls running down the aisles to get to their friends. Though Nichole loved her school, she never really made that many friends, alot of acquaintances, but friends? She wasnt sure. A sigh of relief escaped her as she found and empty compartment. Her luggage was put into storage so all she carried was Fenris in his carried and a satchel that had some of her art supplies in it; mostly her book, pens pencils and erasers. Sitting next to the window she opened the cat carrier and giggled as Fenris walked straight out, almost fumbling to the floor. "Careful Fenris." she giggled. Looking up as she heard two people fighting she saw a girl get shoved into the compartment across from her. "That wasnt very nice.." She mumbled, but seeing the boy was a Slytherin she wasnt surprised.

It was her 7th year to do this, to wake up and go to the train station to go onto the train to get to hogwarts. She had risen even before her mom, the excitement of going to a school for wizards and witches still coursed through her veins even after all of these years! Her dad soon woke up and saw her cooking breakfast. "We all need a healthy breakfast," she explained for the hundredth time.

"Yes, yes I understand," her father agreed with her. Her mother grumbled as she came down the stairs. She sat at the tablet as Ana dished out the omelets and hash browns.

"This year, I will definitely make it!" she said. She had been aiming to become the best in all of Hogwarts! Better than the Ravenclaws, Gryffindors, and Slytherins. Hell, she could feel that this was gonna be a great year. "This year is gonna be the best," she squealed. She went upstairs and began to bring her things down. Her cat sat on her trunk like he was freaking God or something. "You sily boy," she teased him

"Come on, we need to go!" Mr.Meridian yelled. She dragged it all out to the car and they took off to the train station.

-----

She looked in awe at everyone then hurried on and shuffled to find a compartment, she finally found one near a girl she'd seen before. She seemed to look a lot like a Slytherin, but she questioned that relationship. She saw her standing in the aisle and quickly attempted to pull her out of the way from being trampled! "Ah, sorry. But the crowd is thickening and it's unsafe to be in the aisle like that."

Her mother often told her to not meddle with other people's business, but honestly she thought that was better than not. She looked at the girl again, "There seems to be no one in this one, which is a bit shocking. So if you need a compartment you can stay here, as long as you do not mind Alphabet," the girl pointed at her cat that was a fluffy poofball that was black and had a white patch on his stomach.

Maddelynn had just been walking through the train in search of somewhere to sit when another girl come up to her. She seemed quite happy to see Maddelynn, but she had confess, she had trouble remembering her name.

Maddelynn wasn't popular outside of the small clique of girls and young men like herself and always had trouble remembering people's names. She followed her, though, when she was prompted to. She figured it might be good to make other friends, perhaps. She had only ever made nice with the other students, but mostly, she steered clear of them.

When they arrived in an already occupied compartment, Maddelynn raised an eyebrow and adjusted the small bag she had on her arm. She switched the thick black umbrella she held to her other hand and looked down at Xander. She smiled kindly to him, then looked back to Jenna. She glanced back when she heard someone stumble and smiled kindly to the girl. She wanted to ask if she was alright, but it seemed someone beat her to the punch. She turned back toward Xander and Jenna, awaiting his answer.

At first he was a bit surprised someone wanted to sit with him, but he smiled at Jenna, once he realized who it was standing in his doorway. "Help yourself. There's plenty of room." Xander was not british. He was very American. He had no accent, well, he had an American one. Those green eyes blinked when he saw Maddelynn behind Jenna. He knew her name. Of course he knew her name, but he hadn't known she was friends with Jenna. Xander thought Maddelynn was the prettiest girl in all of Hogwarts, no, all of the world.

And here she was. Sharing the train ride with him. Xander stood, it was polite to stand when a lady entered right? Maddelynn liked that sort of thing, right? She was very..old fashioned. "Please...share my compartment with me." He gesture to the empty seats in his compartment, a tiny bit of color had risen to his cheeks. Almost unnoticeable. Xander would wait until the two ladies had sat down before he resumed his own seat. Oh yes, Xander had a crush on Maddelynn. Yet he'd never actually approached her. Never really tried to. He had always assumed she'd just turn him down. She seemed to like to be around other old fashioned students more than the others.

Smiling Jenna entered the compartment and sat down next to the window. "Thank you Xander," she sang happily. Once she was situated she brought a bag of candy out of her pocket. It had just about every kind of candy in it. She was about to offer it to them both when she saw Xander stand. Curious Jenna cocked her head to the side and watched him.

He seemed fluttered almost and there was just a hint of heat in his cheeks. Almost so you could notice it but Jenna had an eye for such things. So Xander had a crush on Maddelynn. Bringing her hand to her mouth Jenna hid her grin from them. She thought it was the cutest thing in the world. Unlike the other Slytherians, Xander was actually pretty nice and though Maddelynn and her weren't best of friends she really liked the other girl.

Frowning, Delilah glanced over at the compartment across from the one she had been shoved into. She vaguely caught the comment of what her brother did not being nice. She shrugged again, sighing and rubbing her arm, dark teal irises glancing at the compartment her brother was in with a few friends.

"That's my brother. I'm used to it," she said and gave a light laugh. Sure, she was used to it, but it didn't mean she liked it any more than anyone else would. Suddenly she was pulled out of the way by another girl, her eyes widening in shock. She cauht her balance and watched as a herd of Slytherins trooped down the hallway. "Hah, thanks. And you're right," glancing down, she eyed the fluffy cat on the ground. Bending, she scratched its head and grinned.

"Of course not, I love cats," she said and stood back up, easily sliding into the compartment. The girl who said what her brother did wasn't nice was in the window. "Oh! You must've missed her!" Delilah exclaimed with sparkling blue eyes at the girl who had pulled her out of the way. She must not have caught the beautiful girl at the window.

Laughing at a rather perverted joke told by his friends, Demetri rose his gaze and looked to where his sister was, a blonde pulling her into a compartment. Brow furrowing, he stood and walked down the aisle, slapping hands with a few Slytherins that were walking by. One particular blonde haired male pulled him to the side and started chatting. Vaguely listening, his eyes wondered over to his sisters compartment.

The brown haired Slytherin pulled out a chocolate frog, one of his sister's favorite candies, from his pocket and tossed it, still package, in his hands. Ending the conversation, he peered in to his sister's compartment, opening the door and leaning in. He threw the frog gently at her and stuck out his tongue. "Peace offering," he said and gave her a puppy dog look.

Rolling her eyes, Delilah caught the frog in her left hand and looked at it. "Only 'cause I'm hungry. Jerk," she replied, but smiled. "Uh, I'm Delilah Deveraux and this is my brother Demetri," she introduced herself and brother to the two girls in the compartment.

Nichole smiled shyly at the two girls and tucked some hair behind her ear. "I don't blame you, people usually don't notice me." She admitted regrettably. It was sad, but true. Glancing down at the cat she smiled as Fenris sauntered over and pawed lightly at the other cat's ear. It was nice that he had another cat to play with, she suppoused. When yet another person slightly enter their compartment she was blushing, she wasnt used to so many peers around her in such a closed in space. Perhaps that was why she didnt make friends, she felt too awkward in close knit spaces with other people. "I-I'm Nichole." The girl stammered as she looked up at the slytherin boy with her lavender hazel eyes. Averting her gaze to the girl onces she met the boy's eyes she blushed. "Nice to meet you.."

"Oh, I am so sorry!" she exclaimed, gasping. The girl smiled and waved at Nichole. She nodded, then remembered she had yet to introduce herself. "Ah, well I am Anastasia, but most people call me Ana... And of course, that's Alphabet!" She was about to pick up her kitty when realized the two were wrestling. She began to laugh, "Your brother.. is popular, right? I think I have heard about him!"

Ana thought for a moment, 'That's right! I have, though not good things..' "No one really says anything good about him, well in Hufflepuff. Ah, Nichole, Delilah. Do you want anything from the cart?" She pulled out her coin purse and counted out how much she had. "I have 6 Galleons, 16 sickles, and 5 knuts. That's more than enough!" She smiled at the two.

That good feeling really was lasting!

Maddelynn watched Jenna sit, then looked to Xander. She smiled lightly when he stood out of respect for her. She nodded politely, "Thank you, Xander." She would confess if asked, she didn't know his last name. If she had, she would have addressed him properly and her cheeks colored slightly for it, which is not hard to notice.

Removing the small hat perched atop her head, she sat down next to Jenna. She was at a comfortable distance from her, but not too far away. She set her umbrella on the floor and leaned it up against the seat. It was still a little wet from the rain outside. She settled down in her seat and opened her bag, but didn't pull anything out of it just yet. She just nestled it against her thigh on the opposite side from Jenna. Not wanting to seem cold, she decided to speak up, "Ghastly weather this morning, isn't it?"

Once Maddelynn had seated herself, Xander lightly dropped back down into his own seat. "You're quite welcome." He spoke it to both of them, not just Maddelynn. Glancing at them each when he said it. He might have a crush on Maddelynn but that didn't mean he'd be purposely rude to Jenna, or leave her out of the conversation. Besides, Xander wasn't a rude person either. At least, if he was, it wasn't on purpose. "I suppose it could be better, but I don't mind weather like this too much." He gave both girls a sweet smile, glancing out the window for only a moment. His attention quickly returned to the females in his compartment.

Sitting quietly Jenna watched the two of them converse with each other. Dropping her hand from her mouth she grabbed her baggie of candy and held it out. "Anyone fancy some? My Mum gave it to me for the ride. I have to agree with you Maddelynn. This weather is ghastly but your right to Xander. It could be much worse." After they took whatever they wanted from the bag Jenna set it down between herself and Maddelynn, close enough for Xander to reach it.

Grabbing a chocolate frog from the bag she popped it open and laughed when the frog jumped out. Catching it out of the air she bit into the now still chocolate. They were one of her favorite candies. Looking at the others she gave them both a smile.

"I think I can introduce myself Delilah," Demetri replied, rolling his big teal eyes. Smiling, he looked down at the three girls in the apartment. He slided in and sat on top of his sister, not caring that she beat his back with her hands.

Groaning, Delilah didn't have chance to reply as Demetri sat on top of her, making her lose her breath. "Get off, you fat lard!" She yelled at him. He pulled a bag of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans out of his pocket and opened it, popping a few in his mouth.

"Huh, guess I'm pretty well known. Shame you've only heard bad about me though," Demetri replied smoothly to Anastasia, winking at Nichole. "Oh I would love a chocolate frog."

"She didn't ask you what you wanted! Get off of me! Geez. Some Bertie Bott's beans if you don't mind," Delilah said to Anastasia, craving the jelly beans her brother was eating. "You have such a big ego," she growled at her brother, rolling her identical eyes. Her brown waves swished as she punched her brother's back, still trying to push him off her. Grinning wickedly, she opened the chocolate frog he had given her, watching it jump on top of him.

Hopping up, Demetri's hand flew to his back as he felt something land on his back. Grabbing, it, he glanced at it and grimaced, throwing it back at his sister.

"Why thank you," Delilah said as Demetri hopped up, ignoring his deathly glare as she took a bite of the unmoving chocolate frog..

Nichole blushed as the boy winked at her and then looked to Anastasia. "Bertie Botts beans for me too, please. If you dont mind.." The brunette glanced down to see the two cats playing and smiled. It was good Fenris had a friend to play with, he had been such a lazy cat all summer with nothing to do. When she heard the brother and sister bickering she looked up and giggled to herself at their interaction. They were a funny pair, and it made her miss Zachary. How she wished he wasnt born the way he was... Reaching in her back she pulled out a chocolate cauldron her mother had given her for the ride and broke off a piece, popping it into her mouth.

When Demetri sat on his sister, Ana made a face. 'That really isn't very nice,' she thought to herself. When she saw the cart she rushed out and bought some Bernie Botts beans, some pumpkin pasties, cauldron cakes, and ice mice. She gave the lady seven sickles and came back with the sweets, she handed out the sweets that Delilah and Nichole asked for and began to munch on a pumpkin pastie. "Well Alphabet seems to feel rather quaint today," she teased her cat with a nudge of her foot.

Anastasia sat down in a seat and looked out the window behind, the weather was soothing as always. 'I hope this year shall be great!' she thought, sadly it'd be her last. Anastasia smiled at everyone pleasantly.

Maddelynn smiled kindly when she was offered candy, but held her hand up, "No, but thank you. I'm not allowed to have candy." She pulled a large book from her small bag. It was obviously charmed to hold a lot more than it seemed. She pulled out a quill and a small stack of cards. "So, how were your summers? Anything exciting happen?" She looked to Jenna, then to Xander with a sweet little smile. She felt like a fish out of water. She had no idea what to talk about and she didn't want to start filling the cards out without making conversation. She wanted to write them casually while chatting. They were nice enough to sit with her and she didn't want to come off as rude.

"Oh. No thanks." Xander had politely refused Jenna's offer of candy, it had been very nice of her to offer though. He peered at Maddelynn a bit when she said she wasn't allowed to have candy. Well..He supposed it was a good thing he'd never tried to send her chocolates or something like that. He might have asked about that, but then decided better of it. "Nothing exciting ever happens in my neighborhood. It was a very long and very boring summer." He gave them both another smile and he looked to Jenna expectantly.

When Maddelynn said she couldn't have candy Jenna frowned but decided not to say anything. Finishing her chocolate she watched Maddelynn grab out some stuff from her bag. Then when she asked about there summers Jenna grinned. Summers were her favorite! Her parents always did something fun. "Mine was awesome! This year my parents took me to Mexico. It was amazing there especially by the water." She smiled at them both and looked at Maddelynn. "What about you? Anything exciting?"

Delilah happily took the bag, identical to her brother's, and opened it, popping a jelly bean in her mouth. "Thanks!" There were some extremely odd flavors in it, but she loved the weird tastes you wouldn't get from Muggle jelly beans. Chewing happily, a soft smile on her face, she too glanced out the window. She loved the feel of riding the train, returning to her real home.

However the train ride was sad, a reminder of her last year. Next year, she'd miss the train ride in. She'd never forget her times there, and ultimately hoped to return as a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, though the class was typically taught by a male.

Watching the cats, Demetri chuckled, a dimple forming on the right side of his mouth. Brushing a hand through his brown lucks, he glanced back through the compartment and saw a fellow Syltherin pass by, raising an eyebrow. Demetri simply turned his head away, not bothering to return the other male's look.

Demetri had a cat as well, odd especially for a guy, that was orange with a black dot in the middle of his forehead. Where was his cat anyways? As if on cue, Flash bounded in, meowing loudly and in a weird type of way. It almost so
unded like he was gurgling or unhappy, but it was just his natural noise. "Sorry ladies, I'll take him out if you like."

Shaking her head, Delilah swallowed the candy she had been chewing on. "Leave him, he couldn't hurt a fly," the brunette shruged and reached down, ruffling the cat's fur. It's gurgling meow was long and loud as she messed with it, but it seemed content with the affection.

Nichole smiled as she recieved the bag from the girl. "Thanks, Ana." She said softly and placed one of the jellybeans in her mouth, spitting it out almost instantly. "Ugh! That tasted like...like...i dont even know!" Sparing down at the yellowy white half chewed jellybean on the ground she realized it was the dreaded "pus" flavor. Quickly losing her appetite for the beans she placed the candy in her bag, not daring to try again. Her sudden outburst made the girl blush furiously in embarassment. "S-sorry...it just..tasted disgusting." Nichole admitted and occupied herself with drawing trying to forget the complete fool she made of herself.

When she saw the cat, she got down on her knees and cooed at it. "How are you Mr. Kitty?" she asked him picking him up and petting him, her fluffball saw this and immediately got jealous, so as "payback" he went up to Demitri and meowed. "Pet me, pet mee. Love mee, make her jealouus," he insisted. He jumped up onto Demitiri's lap and rubbed his head on his chest, purring. She set down Flash and sat on the seat again, just then Nichole made a noise and spat out her jelly bean.

"Ugh! That tasted like... like... I don't even know!" she complained. Ana came to the same realization as her and couldn't help but giggle.

"That is why I rarely eat those!" she smiled, she was having fun today. "I can't believe it's my last year here," she commented. Sighing she poked her cat who was still loving on Demetri as revenge, Alphabet looked at her then stuck his fluffy tail up and ignored her. She laughed at him. She soon finished off a second pastry.

She gave Xander a small smile when he said his summer was boring. One of those 'That sucks' kind of smiles. She looked to Jenna when she mentioned her fantastic vacation and smiled again. "Mine was alright. I spent a few weeks in France. We expected it to be very cloudy, but the sun broke through and I had to stay inside. Other than that, it was alright. Many luncheons, lessons, and quite a few appointments kept me busy." She glanced down to her lap and took in a sharp breath, "Oh! And I had a party for my seventeenth birthday. That was alright." She didn't look too convincing when she said things were 'alright', but she didn't give off the impression that it was so horrible she nearly died of boredom.