everything has changed.

[Chase Christen]

And here she was, at the Hogwarts Express. Not for the end of the term. Not even for the beginning of the term.

Her luggage was slung carelessly along the floor of the train station, her various pets perched upon her shoulders. Her owl, KaChasicka (who happened to be named after one of the most awesome people in the world, Ericka Madison) was twittering irritably, wanting to get out of her cage. Ericka and Lizzy, her cat and dog, were chasing eachother around her feet, causing a few glares from the train workers. But she wasn't focusing on them -- not even Nigella, her monkey, who was pulling her hair and squawking loudly in her ear, or Broch, her parrot, who was just...squawking loudly. Nope.

She was focusing on just getting back. All her friends...Cassidy, Cammy, Erickerr, and, most importantly, Troy. She'd hadn't seen them in awhile -- hadn't even seen them much before she had left.

But her leaving had been urgent. You see, her dear parents (Mama and Papa Polar Bear) had become violently ill, and she had to take a last-minute train to Alaska. Stupid James couldn't go, apparantly...too busy looking at himself in the mirror or something, she hadn't listened to his hasty explanation too carefully. All that mattered was that she was back, though, and how glad she was that she was...back. (<_< YEAH ITS A BAD SENTENCE. I DON'T CARE.)

She had been waiting here for awhile. After the train had arrived, she didn't feel the need to move...she just wanted to hang out here for awhile, soak in the experience of coming back. She whistled to herself and tapped the wall...yep. She rather enjoyed having nothing at all to do.

((YEAH I CAN'T DO MODERATELY SIRIUS. TOO BAD, BUDDY. <_<))

[Troy Novus]

[[Well, at least you tried. *patpat* xD]]

Woo, the Hogwarts Express.

Strange place, he thought. Or at least, he would think so if he wasn't a wizard. Troy sat on a bench, staring at the scarlet train that was coming to a silently eerie stop in front of him. He wondered who could possibly be on it now. It wasn't even the end, or the beginning, of the term. Then why was Troy here, you ask? Well, a lot of things had changed, to say the least. For one, he had not gone to a lot of his classes. He had tried, but he just couldn't bring up the attention needed for it anymore. Secondly, he had not done a lot around Hogwarts lately, but had instead stayed cooped up in his dorm. But lastly, and perhaps the cause of all of these things, one of his best friends had left. Chase ...

Shaking his head lightly, Troy leaned his head on the back of the bench. He pulled out a book and held it above him, reading the words but not really taking in what the hell it was saying. On the cover, shiny letters alerted everyone that the book was titled "How Not To Upset A Potentially Dangerous Magical Creature 101". He wasn't even taking Care of Magical Creatures this term, but eh, the book seemed interesting enough. At least the violent depictions of these creatures took his mind off of how depressed he had been lately.

Troy sighed, setting the book down on the spot next to him. Gah, he just didn't really enjoy much of anything anymore. What was happening to him? He really shouldn't let someone -- let alone, a girl -- get to him. But he couldn't help it. Deep down, he had always known that he had liked her, at least a little bit. And now, he couldn't even see her, and probably wouldn't, not ever again ...

[Chase Christen]

What should she do first? Go and see her friends? Or maybe she should get caught up on classes...she'd probably have to clean up her dorm with her roommate, Caridee, but she could leave that for later. Sighing, she leaned her head back against the wall and stuffed her hands in her pockets. There was so much to flippin' do -- she wasn't sure how she would get it all done.

Sighing again, she picked up her things and began to walk around, bored of just standing there. Oh, how she'd missed the scarlet Hogwarts Express in all its glory. And the weepy parents of the first years, beginning their new life at Hogwarts...even the walls, the floor, that strange red blob over there...

...hey, wait. She recognized that strange red blob! Eyes widening to the size of lightbulbs, she scrambled over to him, apologizing to a few people she ran into along the way. And, as she finally stood before her, she tried to figure out what to say...but she couldn't. So there she was, standing at there, grinning at him like an idiot.

But she snapped out of it pretty quickly. Clearing her throat, she set down her luggage, cleared a book away from next to him, and sat down. At first, she just sorta stared at him, legs swinging back and forth, thumbs twiddling nervously. And then, after a few moments of awkward silence..."HI," she blurted, scooting closer to him. "I missed you so much. How've you been doing? Did you do anything interesting? Is the CAF going well? Just...I missed you."

She ended her babbling by resting her head on his shoulder, not really waiting for his answers. She sighed, again, eager for what he might say...but just a liiittle afraid.

[Troy Novus]

Troy sighed lightly, blowing a lock of his shaggy hair from his face. Well, this was interesting. Surely any fifth year would want to be doing this right now. Daamn straight. He chuckled out loud, dryly, at his lame, inner sarcasm. Things had certainly dropped to an all-time low around here for him. Where had all his streaking days gone, hm? And all of his crazy stunts? And where, just where, had his snoggees gone? All of that had disappeared ...

He was just about to get ready to leave when, BAM, someone was in front of him. Sort of blocking his way, actually. Troy was about to shout at them and tell them to shove off before he shoved his wand in several very uncomfortable places, when he realized who it was. His eyes widened, and before he could do anything, she had thrown his book to the ground and was seated next to him.

"My book ..." he murmured, not really caring about the book at all. He was just trying to find something to distract him from this, as though trying to tell himself that it wasn't really happening. Troy avoided staring directly into her eyes, also trying not to concentrate on what she was saying. If he did this, maybe he wouldn't believe that it was real. Even though it certainly seemed to be.

"Uh ... good, I guess," Troy said. He hadn't known what he had just responded to, but he really hoped she hadn't asked him something about his downstairs area. Because that would have been a really awkward answer. He figured it wasn't, though, seeing as afterwards her head was on his shoulder. Like old times. After a few moments of relishing in this moment, he spoke up with some questions of his own.

"Why'd you leave?" His voice was barely above a whisper. "Why didn't you say goodbye? Why didn't you tell me?"

[Chase Christen]

The question caught her by surprise, though she realized she ought to have been prepared. "Well...I-I...It was urgent." Why was she stammering? This was Troy, her best friend..."I just...y'know, my parents got sick, and I don't see them very often...not many of these trains go across the water, y'see," she said, playing with a lock of hair. "Plus, I'm not even really sure how long a polar bear's life span is. So, y'know, gotta see them while I still can..."

"I would've told you," she said, lifting her head and looking at him. "I really, I just...I didn't have time. I was going to send you a letter, but KaChasicka couldn't manage through the blizzard wins," she said, glancing at the owl, who was still hooting relentlessly. "They're alright now, though," she said, resting her head on his shoulder once more. "So I shouldn't be leaving again any time soon."

Toying with the cloth of his shirt, she sighed, and said "Graduation is soon, though, huh? Cammy's gonna be a seventh year...us sixth years." It was all pretty craaazy to think. She remembered when they were just second years, Cammy third, swimming in the lake in January, having Pokemon battles (which they actually still did now), frolicking nude all over the castle...it all seemed to far awaay, man.

"How's the CAF going?" she asked suddenly, as she had completely forgotten about it. Yes, they would have to organize another meeting...

[stfu]

Love ya.

[Carma Rousseau]

Thanks for the memories.