You brought snacks? Right? | Open

September 1st 1921
As the train is pulling out of the station

Summer had been alot.

What he expected to be a boring summer helping out in the Hospital his mother worked out in Belfast had been anything but. The Irish War for Independence, an independence he didn’t support, had come too close to home. The skirmishes had resulted in multiple injured coming into the hospital from both sides. The hospital was a neutral ground of sorts where as he fetched things the healers needed he heard all sorts of things. Things that caused him to ask questions that combined with the fact Belfast was seeming less and less safe by the day had his mother send him way.

At first he ended up in the summer camp in August. The catch was when the summer camp closed and the only other option was his mother’s parents who lived above their clock repair shop in Knockturn Alley. His father’s family in a surprise to his mother had taken up the fight for independence making his mother more wary of them than the idea of Bear again being in Knockturn Alley.

As for his opinion. He wished he could just have skipped the summer camp and hung out in Knockturn Alley as everything was so much more interesting there. Even if in the time he spent at his grandparents clock shop he realized as much as he was interested in clocks it wasn’t where he wanted to be headed. A shock to him as he thought all his other relatives who hadn’t taken opportunities at the shop after they graduated at Hogwarts were fools.

As he heard the compartment door open as the train pulled out of the station he was more than happy for the distraction. With a smile he said “ Plenty of room if you brought snacks. “

It went unsaid he was alone in a compartment so there was plenty of room if the person hadn’t brought snacks for him either. He was just hoping for snacks. As the reality was he didn't have any packed as business was slow so his grandmother only packed him a boring sandwich for the train ride.

Everything about the summer of 1921 had been different. Her typical summer since arriving at Hogwarts had been action packed and full of adventure. Summer parties with questionable behavior, Trips to Japan, Switzerland and Paris, the summer between 1st and 2nd year being locked in her room and ‘trained to be a pretty pureblood princess was the worst. And that was saying a lot considering last year she had nearly been eaten by a venomous plant in the amazon jungle. Just thinking about it made the scar on her leg tingle.

Strangely, this year had been boring. Damn near relaxing. It was odd, but needed. Sitting around reading and sketching in her journal. Tending to the plants around the facility. Spending time with her friends and making new friends that would be coming to the castle. Tilly was happy with the change in direction, but she was also ready to get back to the castle for a bit of fun and adventure. Not that last year had been fun, with the kidnapping and torture of Rae, Everleigh and Mae. With increased security, this term would hopefully be much better.

Looking in the compartments for a place to sit, Tilly knew that Rae and Benji would be around at some point. It was hard to hang around her best friends, always the third wheel. Since Ren left and the subsequent breakup, it was hard to be around couples. Finding a nearly empty spot, Tilly saw Bear and smiled. The Ravenclaw would be a fun companion for the trip back to school. Opening the door his voice came out without even checking to see who was entering.

“Plenty of room if you brought snacks.“

With a scoff Tilly smiled. “Do you know me at all? I always have snacks.”

Tilly sat with an oomph in the seat across from Bear. Pulling her canvas bag off her shoulder, she opened the bag and began to rummage around for snacks to share. “I have licorice wands in three flavors, Bertie Bots, Chocolate Frogs, Fizzing Whizzbees, Cauldron cakes and a few sandwiches. Annnnnnd… Hmmm… OH! And I’ve got a few bottles of butter beer. I came prepared, what can I get you?”

Tilly took a grape licorice wand and bite a piece off the end chewing the candy. "How was summer Bear? Ready for our fifth year?"

The summmer break had been okayish, it was the usual thing of being sentanced to Summer Camp because Mater had kids but honestly didn't know what to do with them. They were trophy children, kept to show good parenting skills and successful bloodlines, not for love or company. Well they would have been had they not been 'Them'. Clearly when the universe created the Asquith sisters it had not been playing by the plan drawn out by Mater and Papa, it had deffinitly had other ideas. If the plan had been for trophy children they were clearly the winners in some universal quest on hellbent insanity. The Asquith girls were certainly some sort of participation trophy. Between wanna be Starlets, blood traitors, tramps, anarchists, poisoners, chrimimals and very propbabily the devil herself, not one of them was winning any perfect child trophy. So as Mater didn't want to deal with the collective issues she sent them away to be someone elses problem.

Tulip was mostly happy to be someone's problem, she didn't care whos, she lived to be a somewhat sarcastic spanner in the works to anyone in authority. The problem, and what had defintily dampened this summer was the letter she had recieved in the third week, it had also reached home, her parents were over the moon, utterly confused, but they actually had something they could brag about to their socicalite friends. Her sister Rose was absolutly fuming as it should have been her, Briar and Poppy had lists of things they needed her to keep a blind eye to, and Tulip, well Tulip was not impressed.

When the prefect badge had turned up, she had assumed it was a joke, then assumed it was a crule punishment. Then she decided she didn't care and just wouldn't. So she chucked it in the lake.... 5 times. It kept coming back. Clearly she wasn't getting out of this. She had left it in the very bottom of her trunk, she didn't have to wear it. But putting her robes on for the train, there it was pinned to her collar. It was currently stuffed in her pocket where she hoped it would at least stay for the rest of the day or until she could find a way to loose it.

She wandered down the train away from Poppy and her ever growing list of insane demands she had, not for the first time she wondered if the hat had been having an off day when it sorted her sister. She headed down the train from the absolute chaos that were the 2nd and third years to the slightly less chaotic 4th and finally the more subdued 5th, they had all done this trip before. And were heading into daily reminders their OWLS were this year. She wandered past a few open doors before hearing a familiar voice list a vast array off goodies.

Tulip slipped in the open door, "Tilly that better be what you are willing to share as I feel I need a sugar coma to get through tonights welcoming feast." she said plonking herself down in a seat and seeing Bear, he was someone not on her tiresome people I might consider casting an unforgivable on list.

"Hallo Bear, I see Tilly is also your sugar dealer." she qipped.

The new school year announced itself with a lurch -- and no regard for Gianni’s footing.

He braced himself in the corridor as the train pulled away from the platform, fingers tightening around the strap of his bag. The carriages rattled into a steadier pull soon enough, metal wheels finding their pace as the countryside began to gradually slide past the windows. September had arrived, then.

Was it meant to feel any different?

Summer had passed much the same way it normally did. It was spent quietly, indoors, and under watchful eyes. Gianni spent most of it at home, each and every day folding into one another beneath rules that rarely needed stating. There had been some new books -- wow, exciting -- schedules (per usual), and typical polite conversations that didn’t last very long at all. His parents’ lives had continued alongside his rather than around it, their jobs taking precedence in a household where absence was common and attention limited. By the end of August, the walls of the townhouse felt smaller than he remembered.

Hogwarts, for all its faults, at least offered movement.

The corridor was already crowded with students stowing luggage and calling greetings down the length of the train. Gianni threaded his way past them, eyes skimming the compartment doors as he went. Most were already claimed, voices drifting from the nearer compartments along with the rustle of baggage. He slowed only when one door stood open enough to warrant a glance inside.

Two redheads.

Gianni paused for half a second longer than strictly necessary, taking them in as if the sight ought to explain itself. It didn’t. He supposed there were worse coincidences than stumbling into a compartment that appeared to have been claimed by an entire color palette. Still, it struck him as the sort of thing that ought to be intentional, even if it wasn’t.

One of them -- Matilda, or Tilly as most of their classmates called her -- was already talking, as though the train’s jostling hadn’t interrupted the conversation in the slightest. She’d lifted a grape licorice wand, bit a piece off the end, and chewed, the scent already starting to hang in the carriage.

“How was summer Bear? Ready for our fifth year?”

Gianni had barely shifted his weight when the space beside him abruptly vanished.

Someone slipped past with quicker intention, brushing close enough that Gianni instinctively drew his arm in to avoid colliding with her. Blonde hair, red and gold. Right, another Gryffindor. Tulip Asquith, if he remembered correctly. She took advantage of the half-empty compartment, mentioning something about a sugar coma as she dropped into a vacant spot as the easy openness of the carriage started to disappear.

Gianni lingered only a second longer in the corridor, irritation checked almost as soon as it surfaced, before stepping in behind her. There was no sense pretending he hadn’t already committed to joining them. And the idea of having to hunt down another compartment simply because he’d hesitated too long? Absolutely not.

“Don’t mind me,” Gianni said as he stepped inside. “Looks like this one’s filling up.”

He set his bag down with deliberate care as the train carried on and the door slid shut behind him. His robes were freshly pressed, Slytherin green sitting against black wool, every button fastened as it should’ve been. His dark brown hair had been combed back into place despite the morning, but disciplined enough to suggest routine habit more than something like vanity.

Gianni claimed a seat nearer the door, bypassing the window as he settled in and adjusted his bag at his feet. “Hard to believe it’s fifth year already,” he added, almost absentmindedly.

He smiled as he heard Tilly’s voice respond to his query about snacks. Tilly was right she always had snacks and he’d be not starving when they got to Hogwarts. An important detail as he’d learned last term there was no guaranteed huge feast at the end of this ride. Meaning his pathetic excuse for a peanut butter sandwich with a bit of clotted cream on it wouldn’t be what held him till the train got to Hogwarts.

With a smile he said “ and I’m always thankful for snacks “ in response. He continued and said “ I’d love some cauldron cakes please. “ They also were the most food of the options and he was a growing boy and even if he just had breakfast was getting hungry.

With a look towards Tulip he said “ Don’t give her any ideas about dealing out the candy. Think of people like me with just sandwiches. “ He needed this donations all things considering as he pulled out his sandwich and showed it. It even sagged in his hand a bit to showing how thin the bread was. As it sagged he wished he’d said nothing and kept the sandwich hidden as he didn’t expect it to sag that much. Still he put it on his lap knowing it would be yummy to eat.

Thankfully there was the topic of fifth year to distract him. Speaking after Gianni pointed out the obvious of it being hard to believe they all were in fifth year. He said “ Even harder to believe is they send me a prefect badge.“ Probably the first of such letters to ever be sent to Knockturn Alley. To say his grandparents, and mother had been surprised would be an understatement.

Then with a smile he said " I'm just trying to think of it as any other year. ". Mostly as he didn't want to think about OWLs.

Handing over the cauldron cakes to Bear, Tilly continued to eat her grape flavored gummy as the compartment door opened to another familiar face.

"Tilly that better be what you are willing to share as I feel I need a sugar coma to get through tonights welcoming feast.” Tulip said, sliding into a seat. “Hallo Bear, I see Tilly is also your sugar dealer."

Tilly smiled, opening her bag for Tulip to select her favorite guilty pleasures. She tried to keep her bag stocked, not only for herself, but for her best friend. Benji was always hungry and Tilly took it upon herself to make sure they never reached hangry territory. “Don’t give her any ideas about dealing out the candy. Think of people like me with just sandwiches.”

Tilly laughed at Bear, deciding to put his fears at rest. “Don’t worry, what's mine is yours. I will never gatekeep the sweets.” Following Tulip into the compartment was a face she wasn’t as familiar with.

“Don’t mind me,” he said as he took one of the last remaining spots. “Looks like this one’s filling up.” A fellow 5th year, but the green variety, Tilly nodded in Gianni’s direction.

“Hard to believe it’s fifth year already,” he said, causing Tilly to nod in agreement. “It felt like just yesterday that I was on the train for the first time. Gianni?” she said and motioned to her open bag, asking if he wanted any snacks.

“Even harder to believe is they send me a prefect badge.” Tilly’s eyes went wide. This would be her second year as a prefect, so it was fun to hear that Bear would be patrolling with her this term. “That's great news! Wait till you see the Prefect Bathroom. It’s pretty amazing. The bath looks like a small pond.”

Taking her bag of snacks off and putting it next to her on the bench, open for all to rummage through, Tilly sighed and looked out the window as the countryside passed by in a flash. “Did everyone have a nice summer? Mine was pretty boring compared to years past. Hopefully this term will be more calm. Last year was ridiculous.” Crazy magic going bonkers around the castle, kidnappings, torture, evil cults. It was a lot to deal with. Tilly sent up a silent prayer that this term would be normal… for once.

“Don’t mind me,”“Looks like this one’s filling up.”

Tulip looked up at Gianna "Plenty of room still grab a seat." she said, she looked over at Bear and Tilly, "Do recall how many people we crammed in a carriage in our thrd year?" she asked, "Maybe it's time we tried forthe record again?" she suggested. She figured they could be braver and more ambitioius craming people in if they would do it again.

Don’t give her any ideas about dealing out the candy. Think of people like me with just sandwiches.

Tulip looked over at Bear and his sandwich and felt a pang of jealousy he seemed ashamed of it, at least he had family who cared enought to make sure he went on the train with food, her own just wanted them out of the house till Christmas. She would have loved to have sandwhiches made with care, instead of an empty stomach until school fed her.

She shook off the feeling and instead changed the subject back to Tilly and her sweets "I'll have you know, our Miss Tilly is the official sweet dealer for the Gryffindor common room." she joked.

Bear mentioned his new appointment to prefect, Tulip's stomach lurched, hers was stuffed in a pocket soon to be destined for a locked, leaded box at the bottom of the black lake.

That's great news! Wait till you see the Prefect Bathroom. It’s pretty amazing. The bath looks like a small pond.”

"Congrats Bear, well deserved, it seems the House of Ravenclaw have picked sensible prefects this year." she added,

When Tilly asked about peoples summers, Tulip didn't have a lot to say, her summer was spent at the Summer facility, "Mater had a 5 week headache so my Summer was all at camp."

“Even harder to believe is they sent me a prefect badge.”

Gianni didn’t immediately know how to respond to something like that. He didn’t know the Ravenclaw well enough to judge whether he deserved the position -- only that his name was a bit of a mouthful when spoken aloud (and probably worse when written), based on what he’d heard in class. Irish, right? Gianni wasn’t entirely sure, but he was grateful the ginger had gone with something simpler to be called. Bear.

That, at least, he could pronounce without effort.

“I can’t imagine taking on something like that this year,” he said after a moment. “Not after everything that happened last term.. but I’m sure you’ll make the most of it, Bear.”

It was a blunt reminder of the horrifying events that had unfolded during their fourth year; the kidnapping, the torture, Merlin knew what else he hadn’t been privy to. Gianni found himself briefly wondering if his tone had landed gently enough. These were the sorts of things that he’d been trying to think about more lately, especially when it came to delivery and restraint when talking to others.

Fortunately (or perhaps, mercifully), a bag that appeared to be entirely full of sweets was extended his way and quickly pulled his attention elsewhere before he could dwell too much on any awkward glances or raised brows his comment might’ve earned him. Gianni wasn’t about to argue with that timing.

Something small and grateful tugged at the corner of his plush mouth as he leaned forward to inspect Matilda’s generous offerings: licorice wands, sherbet balls, chocolate cakes, and a handful of other sugar-laden contraband. There were so many great choices, but Gianni (of course) opted for the least messy.

He selected a small bag of beans, colorful and striped in the unmistakable way only Bertie Bott’s ever were. Settling back into his seat, he untied the bag and reached in, hoping to avoid anything remotely unpleasant.

Marshmallow.

The flavor was sweet and light, almost fluffy, and he relaxed a fraction.

For the next few moments, Gianni stayed quiet, idly sampling beans as the others talked about crammed carriage records, the prefects’ bathroom, and eventually, how they’d each spent their summers.

“Did everyone have a nice summer?” Matilda asked at one point. “Mine was pretty boring compared to years past. Hopefully this term will be calmer. Last year was ridiculous.”

At least Gianni wasn’t the only one acknowledging it. He’d half-wondered if it was one of those too soon topics, but it seemed they were on the same page: better to say it outright than pretend it hadn’t happened.

“It was as usual,” Gianni replied after one of the others, sighing with feigned enthusiasm as he rolled another bean between his fingers. “I spent most of it in Bloomsbury. I briefly considered enlisting in Quidditch bootcamp, but that didn’t quite pan out.”

He left the reasons unspoken, as his parents’ preference for a nose buried in a book rather than him straddling a broomstick all summer wasn’t worth unpacking here -- especially not when it always led to the same conclusions about priorities and what they deemed a sensible use of one’s free time.

“How was the facility, anyway?” he added, turning his attention toward Tulip.

With a smirk towards Tulip he said “ We could definitely more than double this if people sat on laps. “

He smiled at Tilly and was definitely happy for her words that she wouldn’t gatekeeper the sweets. As the reality was the only sweets he’d likely be eating this term would be from the kitchens or gotten off of others. After all, with everything he doubted his mother would be sending him care packages. The reality was he probably should be sending her care packages with the mess she was likely dealing with at her job.

The idea of a bathroom like a small pond made his eyes widen. That would definitely be neat.

Then he smiled when Tilly said that Ravenclaw picked sensible prefects. With a smile he said “ It will be an honor to work with Cass. “ as he looked up to the older year so much. When everything had happened last term it was Cass he sat next to and followed the lead of. Though with everything happening in Belfast he had to admit he was less shocked about it all than his classmates then.

Then he said “ Last term was rough, but after what I saw in Belfast this summer helping my mother at her job at a hospital there I think I’d be handle a situation like that better. “ The fact that probably none of his classmates likely knew what was happening in Belfast completely didn’t cross his mind. As to him the civil war going on in Ireland where he was from was a part of life that was just getting worse. Then he continued “ Though I hope nothing happens like that again as my mother ended up sending me to camp in August as she didn’t think I could handle it. “

Which meant even if he thought he could handle if something rough happened like last term, or what was happening in Belfast he wasn’t confident in it. Mostly as everything he was told to do was to stay out of the way and hope to go unnoticed. The exact opposite of a prefect was supposed to do. The opposite of what Cass did in keeping them together.

He hoped he didn’t bring down the compartment as he ate his cauldron cake.

Looking in her bag, the level of sweets dwindling faster than expected, her stomach grumbled. Maybe a sandwich or some non-sugar filled food items would have been a good idea. With an internal shrug she grabbed a bottle of butterbeer and opened it, her mouth watering with the crack and fiz.

"Do recall how many people we crammed in a carriage in our third year?" Tilly thought back to their 3rd year, it didn’t feel like two years, but the math was indisputable. Counting on her hands she smiled. “I can remember twelve people I think, but there were a few people that came and went, so it could have been more like fourteen.” During their little stuff the cabin experiment, she had been sitting on Ren’s lap. Unfortunately, there were no laps to sit on this summer.

“ We could definitely more than double this if people sat on laps. “ Tilly’s cheeks went pink, looking at the others in the compartment. Bear and her were friends, but not THAT kind of friends. And she barely knew Gianni. If there was to be lap sitting, she would go with Tulip, much less awkward.

Taking a bite of a cauldron cake, Tilly smiled at Tulip’s comment. "I'll have you know, our Miss Tilly is the official sweet dealer for the Gryffindor common room." With a small mock bow, she smiled at those in attendance. “Madam Sugar Dealer at your service. I have a standing order with the candy shop at Diagon Alley. My Grand-dad didn’t realize he was singing a bi-weekly delivery and what he doesn’t know won’t hurt him,” she said with a giggle.

“ Last term was rough, but after what I saw in Belfast this summer helping my mother at her job at a hospital there I think I’d be handle a situation like that better. “

Tilly looked on as Bear spoke about Belfast. Of course she had heard the news. Bloody Sunday had been all over the newspapers, even the magical ones. It was a horrific tragedy. To know that bear was there caused her stomach to drop.

“ Though I hope nothing happens like that again as my mother ended up sending me to camp in August as she didn’t think I could handle it. “

Living in London, in the core magical residential area, and then visiting her family home in Sweden, Tilly wasn’t exposed to the war tearing through Ireland. It was hard to believe it was real and affecting those close to her. “I hear it’s bad in Belfast. I’m glad you and your mum are ok. I imagine you’ll be a lot of help in the Hospital Wing this term then. I think I’ll stick to the Greenhouse. While the plants can be dangerous on occasion, they don’t typically start wars.”

The green scar pulsed on her leg, visible to those that knew to look for it. Most thought it was a colorful drawing or a pair of tights. In actuality it was from a horrible plant attack. Thankfully the castle greenhouses were a lot more tame than the Amazon.

“I spent most of it in Bloomsbury. I briefly considered enlisting in Quidditch bootcamp, but that didn’t quite pan out.” Her head nodded along, for those that liked Quidditch this would have been great. For herself, Quidditch was not a positive. Heights were not her thing. Although, the adrenaline while flying was enjoyable. If you didn’t look down.

“Putting Quidditch and Bootcamp in the same sentence makes it sound like my worst nightmare. What position do you play?” She asked this like she knew anything about the sport. She did not. “How was the facility, anyway?”

“It was good. Relaxing. Not much happened to be honest. It was almost boring. Compared to years past that is. I almost asked to go home early, but I didn't want to leave my friends. Not sure I will go next term.”