For One Way Travel PV Finished

Cheeks flushed from the march forward through the wagons of the train, it had become apparent to the blonde girl that there would be no such thing as a compartment to herself. Annaliese had taken too much of her time, kept her with that motherly drive that was as pleasant as it was annoying. At least she had wiped the smear of lipstick that had been pressed to her cheek. Boys playing with spiders, older girls gossiping there was a variety of students and for the first time since she had envisioned her settling into Hogwarts, it dawned on her that she would have to make friends, that she was still far from being what she imagined herself to be. This was where she would create herself, become what she would need to be to finally earn her father’s affection.

Heart hammering in her chest she looked around. People seemed to already know each other, to just be able to fall into their assigned place, yet there she stood with her chest in tow. It was through a window she peered two girls about her age - or so she hoped. A pretty blonde and a striking brunette. Hopefully they would be welcoming, two seemed less intimidating than the gaggles of giggles and hushed comments made around.

“Hi,” she greeted the girls with a small wave quickly tucking a long strand of silver blonde hair behind her ear. “Mind if I join you?” She asked. Angellica barely realized she'd been holding her breath in wait for a response. Truth be told, she wasn't sure what she would do if she was faced with rejection, as common as the feeling could feel.

The white-haired girl agreed to share the compartment and suddenly stood up to help her with the trunk, which was kind of unexpected, so Meenauh failed to understand what happened, but the trunk was already residing in its place.

The girl's name was Abi. She burst it out so quickly, and with a slightly non-British accent, that Meenauh would fail to get it if the name wouldn't have been that short. A few seconds passed before she realised she hadn't introduced herself and was just standing in the centre of the compartment when the girl claimed the window seat and shoved to it. She opened her mouth to speak up, but another girl appeared in the doorway, asking the same question as she did a minute ago. Meenauh silently landed on the second window seat, right across Abi, who cheerfully invited the newcomer and rose again to help her with her trunk as well. She didn't quite seem like a very strong girl, especially at her age, but some inner strength seemed to have driven her, again and again, to do the improvised weightlifting several times within a few minutes. 

Meenauh waited for the weightlifting to be over and the two girls sitting down to introduce herself as Abi, seemingly nervous, burst something about the window seat again, and the food, and invited them to introduce themselves. Meenauh took a deep breath:

"You know they say that the natural white hair is genuinely rare and represent the great kindness of the heart and loyalty to anyone the wearer considers being a friend? Watching you helping us with the trunks just proved your immense kindness and fulfilled my hypotheses I thought of when I saw your hair gleaming in the morning light. I am Meenauh and it's a pleasure to meet you, Abi, and ..." she turned her face to the other girl in the compartment, still feeling awkward about the whole thing happening there.

It was all so chaotic, and yet there was an organization to it. The train was akin to a beehive, all the buzzing about, and yet somehow everyone seemed to just fall into their place and follow the dance. She watched as names were exchanged, trunks were placed above head, and though she felt like an intruder at first, the brunette's silent yet emphatic request for her name made her realize she herself had slightly lost her own footing in the dance that was the awkward first meeting. They would have hours to get to know each other. At least she had all that time to make up for it.

"Angellica," she introduced in a light tone, a soft smile following suite on her rosy lips. She turned to the one that had introduced herself as Abigail. "Yes, it was very kind of you to help with our trunks, I'm not sure I would have managed without the assist," she offered shyly. Honestly, though she liked to think she was strong, she still had a ways to go when it came to physical strength. It hadn't helped that her mother had added everything and anything, including a few snacks which were tucked in her messenger bag for easy access. To make friends, he mother had said.

"Would you like the other window seat?" she asked turning towards the brunette, committing her name to memory. Meenaugh. It wasn't a name she had heard before, but she liked it. "I have some cookies, mom wouldn't let me leave without a tin," she admitted pulling the gilded box out of her bag. "I've heard there's a trolley with every sweet you could desire," she added.

The second girl's name was Angellica. Her voice was soft and shy as she talked about cookies and trolleys. Meenauh clearly felt some awkward tension as if all three found themselves together so unexpectedly that couldn't manage it properly just yet. And nervousness is always connected to food. So that was plainly the main topic in the compartment right now.

Meenauh rolled it all in her head for a while and remembered that Angellica asked her about the window seat she was currently sitting in.

"Oh, no, I was planning to stare into pages, not the landscapes, so you can occupy that if you're up to some sightseeing," and she moved across the compartment to sit right next to Abi, politely declining the offered cookies along the way as she simply hadn't used to eat those.

"And nice to meet you as well, Abi and Angellica. My name is pronounced as 'me' and 'now', long story why, so if you accidentally had a misfortune to think it's a cool name, let's see how they'll announce it during the Sorting Ceremony," Meenauh sorrowfully smiled and exchanged quick glances with Abi.

Mentioning the Sorting Ceremony finally shifted the focus from food. Abi wondered how the whole thing would be carried out, so Meenauh shared her thoughts on the new topic:

"Well, I know there'll be some sort of very very ancient speaking artefact that's supposed to mess with our true nature, though I'm not sure whether it's conscious by itself or that's just our minds involved, but nevertheless, mom told me that it's placed on the newcomers' heads to announce which House everyone's sorted in. Did your Dad tell you anything about the Houses? Because based on my previous observations and what I read about the Houses, I'm pretty sure you're a very decent Hufflepuff. My mom was a Hufflepuff, and she's the kindest person in the world. As for me, mom told me I'm almost 100% Ravenclaw and chances to be sorted in other houses are close to chances of a dragon to become a babysitter," she finished and laughed at her mom's joke.

It clearly felt like she had never properly talked to child-wizards before and she didn't expect to be that talkative and a bit self-centred, as it seemed to her at the moment. She knew herself as pretty much tense in sharing as she had to cover a lot while talking to muggles in the neighbourhood. But now it seemed she was finally free to talk about her true nature with others of the sort.

That look on Abigail's features as she spoke of her father was something Angellica was well versed in. Although her father did enjoy picking on her, it was never that involved. His approval was something she had wanted, and rather than respond, she offered a soft smile to the white haired girl, tucking a strand behind her ear.

"What pages?" she asked as Meenauh spoke of reading. She herself had had plans to read some books, and as the others found their seats, the blonde settled in the seat opposite Abi, settling the tin of cookies on the table between them, her bag at her side and pulling out her copy of Hogwarts a History which she had also kept close for good measure. Though she left the tin open, she couldn't quite bring herself to take one. How could she eat when she had people around to talk to, theories to peddle, and more excitement than she could contain.

"I've been reading this before coming, though it doesn't mention much about the sorting ceremony." It had been disappointing. Unknown things were hard for Angellica. She liked to know what she was doing, where she was going, and everything in between. Some might have called her a control freak, but she wasn't quite there yet. Just needing structure, a schedule, and knowledge as to what was coming up. "I have read about the houses though," she smiled. "My father was a Slytherin, my mother was a Ravenclaw," she offered. "I'm not sure where I'll be sorted," she admitted. "I'm not sure where I want to be sorted," she pursued the thought. She wondered if they had had thoughts on the matter, if they would find where they wanted to be sorted. What she did know, is she wanted to succeed, and wanted to make friends which would probably lead her into Slytherin, but she didn't know how one got sorted. She hoped it was a test, she could handle a test. After all, she'd been studying.

For a moment Meenauh thought that it's all rolling down to the hell of communication. But things started to get pace as Abi, probably unexpectedly to herself, opened up a little, so Meenauh jumped right in to support the conversation:

"Oh! So you'd head to Ravenclaw as well then? Glad to hear. If Angellica's mother was a Ravenclaw then we have a chance to be a full Ravenclaw compartment here. Didn't each of us want to find an empty compartment just for oneself, right?" she smiled and hoped her guess was correct, "As for the moron thing: I'm sorry then that I called you a true Hufflepuff a moment ago," she chuckled, "But I think the Houses make people think too stereotypical. So if you'd ask my opinion, I'd say that a Ravenclaw would make a better moron rather than Hufflepuff."

Abi nervously continued to talk about smart and brave, which only confirmed her theory about too my stereotypes floating around. Meenauh frowned a bit at the continuation of Abi's picture of the Houses and the mention of her father. She wanted to interrupt in the middle but allowed Abi to finish composing her thoughts, which ended up with... cookies.

Meenauh kindly smiled at the end and tried to get the topic back, hoping Angellica would solve the cookies issue without putting much emphasis on it:

"Or a Gryffindor? We are told that the brave ones make their way into Gryffindor. That may be partially true. My mother says that they are more like 'wannabe heroes'. And also there are no fewer bullies in Gryffindor than in Slytherin. I personally cannot imagine how I could benefit from being sorted to Gryffindor. Anyway, you said that you'd want to be seen as brave or smart. As I said, the Hat is told to be putting people where they belong," she shrugged and looked directly into Abi, who didn't seem complete at the moment, probably because of the stuff on the table in front of her.

Meenauh decided that it's better not to bring more attention to her father, whom she supposedly wasn't too much fond of.

Oswald was making his way through the seemingly endless train. While this task alone was already exhausting enough, he also had to carry his trunk with him; a big and red one, with a small sticker of the family's insignia: A small white shield, containg two Vs, a bigger red and and a smaller blue one.

He was looking for an empty compartment where he could read his book , undisturbed by the anoying screaming of other children. "How on Earth is every hecking one full?" , he would ask himself whenever he passes one. After what felt like hours (although it most likely just have been few minutes), he finally decided to simply enter the next compartment with a free seat. He didn't care how many people where sitting there, or how loud they would be. All he wanted is a place to sit and calm down from the stress.

When Oswald finally found a compartment he would carefully peek inside and observe the passengers. 3 girls were sitting inside it, apparently talking to each other ; most likely about the newest boy-band ,or clothes - that's atleast what he expected.

He'd carefully slid the door open and ask with a slightly quite voice "Excuse me....can I take a seat?" , while trying to avoid direct eye contact as good as possible.

It took quite a bit of restraint for Angellica not to laugh at the mention of Abigail’s father being something of Dic…tator. She knew how that was, not that she would say anything on the matter. Truth be told, as horribly archaic and do what I say not what I do manner her father was, she was still quite hopeful to earn his approval, his respect. He was a strong man, an intelligent man, and a ruthless one, and though he wasn’t with her particularly, she had seen him with others, and it had been enough to ensure she never cross him.

The smile on her lips expanded to a full grin at Abigails inquiry. “Of course,” she nodded her head towards the girl. “Everyone is welcome to a cookie, or however many you want,” she added. The petite blonde girl doubted she’d be able to eat much with all the stress, but so far with Meenaugh and Abigail, perhaps she would find herself at ease enough to eat something. It would be more than she’d had all day despite her mother’s attempts to get her to down any sort of breakfast.

“We do have that in common,” she nodded thoughtfully at the brunette’s statement. “It would be nice if we were all sorted together, I mean you all seem really nice,” she told them. Intelligence was subjective really. Yes, there were objective tests to decide how much one could retain, but there were different types of intelligences.

Sat near the window she didn’t find much interest with the panorama displayed as they crossed the country from the station, enjoying the chatter that was happening around her. She listened, carefully, thinking to herself, anything would be better than Hufflepuff or Gryffindor, and yet not wanting to speak such things and offend the people she met first. What if they were to become friends? The thoughts were interrupted with a boy opening the door and quietly asking to join them. Angellica smiled. “I don’t see why you couldn’t,” she said gently, tucking a blonde strand behind her ear. “We were discussing how we get sorted into houses,” she added, offering an in into their conversation. “Oh and how the cookies are for everyone,” she pointed to the tin her mother had made her bring along. “Mum insisted.”

The conversation was interrupted by a sliding door, which revealed a boy with sort of reddish or brownish hair, too much pale skin, a pair of glasses and beauty that was utterly prohibited to have if you were a boy. He asked permission to join them in a way too quiet voice, which was probably mostly caused by the trunk carrying exhaustion. Meenauh wondered where the boy was all this time as the train was going for quite a while already. She stopped talking and was calmly watching how the new member of their group would join the party. Cookies were introduced once again, so Meenauh felt like there were now five people in the compartment: Abi, Angellica, herself, the new boy and cookies. 

As Angellica invited the boy in, Meenauh was carefully watching the boy's expression, which was distant as if he was deliberately avoiding eye contact. And then in the back of her neck, she felt Abi standing up ("God, no, please, no!"), and Meenauh put her palm over her eyes and slid it down to her mouth as Abi was making her way to the boy to help him with the trunk. (Hufflepuff, Abi, that's Hufflepuff.) Meenauh remembered all the times her mother was trying to help father with carrying stuff around in the muggle environment, which only made father kind of annoyed because he knew he could manage that stuff on his own. But they were kids and probably helping each other was okay, disregarding the gender stereotypes Meenauh herself wasn't fond of.

As everyone was settled and exhaled, Abi asked the boy about his name and Meenauh turned her eyes to the boy, waiting for his response.