Going Back Again {Open to all!}

[Alice Prewett]

Click, clack. Creak, creak, creak.

It's got a lovely ambiance, Alice thought, inhaling the scent of coal smoke mixed with well oiled leather deeply and then sighing contentedly. She'd woken up to a flurry of panicked activity as her mother had tried to get all four siblings out the door and to the train on time. A valid attempt, it had been, but it had definitely not been successful. After her crazed boarding, she'd decided a walk was in order, just to clear her head and to try and put her in that serene, happy mindset that she associated with the train ride to school.

I wonder where everyone is, she thought idly, tugging the sides of her cardigan closer to her body as she passed an open window that was letting in the chilly, foggy air that was rushing by outside. I clearly missed the memo on where to meet up.

[Marlene McKinnon]

Marlene pushed her golden hair out of her eyes, it was so typical that her hair didn't want to stay at place on the first day of school, when it was a need to look your best.

She was sitting alone in an empty compartment in the red Hogwarts train; she hadn't bothered to actually go look for her friends in hope they'd find her instead, but it seemed like they weren't going to for she had been sitting alone in the compartment for a while. Maybe it felt so long because she had arrived rather early, like usually, Matthew her oldest brother always felt the need to be always on time and as early as "on time" could pass for.

She uncrossed her legs, tugging on the skirt she was wearing, she had yet to change to her school uniform and was wearing a bright red skirt, which had her half sad over the fact of having to change to a un-colored skirt soon, bright colours got you so much more attention.

Marlene sighed and turned her attention to the doors, watching as people walked by, when suddenly she noticed someone she actually knew.

"Alice! Alice!" She called, excited as she jumped up from her seat and ran towards the door, pushing it open quickly and throwing herself on the brunette outside. "Ally Prewett! There you are! I thought you girls had all found a compartment without me and I'd have to start a long boring walk and look for you!"

[Roxanne Walker]

Roxanne had been walking for a good seven minutes before she found Alice and Marlene. They just had to sit on the opposite side of the train, didn't they? Muttering quietly to herself, she walked over to them and place her hands on her hips.

"Where have you two been? Do you know how much I had to walk to find you?" Roxy whined, pouting slightly.

Trying, and failing, at keeping the grin off of her face, Rox, opened her arms for a hug. "Did you guys miss me?" she asked.

[Marlene McKinnon]

Marlene turned around when she heard a familiar voice, as soon as Roxanne had opened her mouth, Marlene's eyes had started rolling, they did that a lot around the witty Ravenclaw.

"Roxanne!" Marlene greeted, smiling brightly, she then turned to Alice - whispering, but still loud enough for Roxanne to hear "Run while you still can, the devil is here!"

She then turned her attention back to the brunette and winked. "Kidding, and hmm.. I may just have missed you a little bit, Miss Prude-kins, and walking is good for you they say, if you want to keep your body thin." She laughed, before accepting Roxanne's embrace and hugging the girl tightly.

[Alice Prewett]

"Uff!"
Alice made a muffled squealing noise as a gold and red blur latched onto her and held on tight. "Of course we did!" she said, bumping Marlene with her hip as she extended the arm that wasn't around Marlene's shoulders to pull Roxanne into a tight hug. "And speaking of thin, dear, aren't you cold?" she asked, raising one eyebrow at the blonde. "Chiffon is not a good material choice when you live in a drafty old castle for eighty percent of the year,"

For all her motherly, albeit sarcastic, concern, Alice simply wanted to sigh at the 'thin' comment Marlene had made. She was the most "well endowed" of their circle of friends, and she despised it. Who wanted a lumpy, short little thing like her when you could have a lovely, willowy girl like Marlene or Roxanne?

Shaking the thoughts away, she grinned. "So, this is three, now where's miss Lily?"

[Roxanne Walker]

"I am not Miss Prude-kins!" Roxanne exclaimed, moving the glare that she had set on Marlene to a group of giggling second years nearby. They quickly shuffled into a compartment and shut it quickly.

Turning to Alice, Roxy grinned, the action not forced despite her irritation with the blond that she was currently hugging, and pulled Alice into a hug too.

"Well, I don't think Mars feels the cold, Ali. I mean, that ice block where her heart's supposed to be might make her sense of temperature a little whacky," she said, a smile tugging at the corners of her lips despite her serious tone.

"Lily is in another compartment all the waaaaaaay over there!" Roxanne said, pointing down the train, as if they could actually see the redhead.

[Marlene McKinnon]

Marlene rolled her eyes, pouting slightly at Alice before she answered. "Whats the fun in being dressed?" She grinned. "Beside, I like this skirt," she said, tugging on the hem of her skirt as she spoke. "I mean, its colourful. Our school uniform is so dull, we only get a colourful scarf and a tie. It's like we're stuck in a black and white painting." she pouted again.

Marlene's icy blue eyes narrowed as she aimed her foot towards Roxy's leg. "I don't have an ice cold heart." she said, biting on the inside of her lip so she wouldn't start pouting again.

Her ears then perked up and a smile spread over her face at the mention of the red head. "Ohh, is Marce with her? Typical of them to take a seat far far away from us," she rolled her eyes.

[Alice Prewett]

"Occupational hazard of school uniforms," Alice sighed, taking an experimental step towards Lily's compartment, dragging Marlene and Roxanne along with her.

"They do seem to have made it a habit," she chuckled, untangling herself from her friends with a grin before smoothing her own skirt.

"Who wants to bet on who's in the compartment next to theirs?" she deadpanned, raising her eyebrows.

[Roxanne Walker]

"Yes, 'Lene, Marce is there. You'll be reunited with your fellow Gryffindorks soon," Roxy winked, hopping after Alice.

"Oh, and Sev is there too," she said as an after thought and threw a look at the blond. "Be nice." Not that she actually expected her to listen, but at least Roxy could say that she tried, right? Right.

"I bet 5 galleons that Potter, Black, and Remus are next door. Pettigrew won't be there because he's looking for the trolley," Roxanne stated, digging into her jacket pocket for some money. It took her a while, but she finally found some and handed it to Alice for safe keeping.

[Marlene McKinnon]

Marlene grinned at hearing that Marcelyn was around, but her grin turned into a scowl at the mention of Severus Snape. "I'm always nice, Rox, to nice people anyway." she said, sighing as her eyes narrowed again.

"If Rox wasn't such a great better, I'd bet James was already inside Lil's compartment trying to kiss her or get her to go out with her and Sirius would be trying to snog some random innocent third year." she laughed.

She sighed, playing with the hem of her skirt again. "I'll have to change soon," she pouted. "I'll miss the prettyness when I become a boring dull person again." she sighed dramatically.

[Alice Prewett]

Alice laughed. "I'll buy a round of butterbeer if you're both right," she said, shaking her head and then stretching up on her toes to pat the top of Marlene's head.

"You'll never be boring,dear, so stop fussing," she said, pursing her lips.

[Roxanne Walker]

Roxy scowled. "But we can't both be right," she whined. "If he's next door then he can't be in the compartment. And you call yourself a Ravenclaw," shaking her head in mock disapproval, a burst of giggles escaped her lips.

Looking at Marlene with an increduluos expression, Roxanne agreed with what Alice was saying. "If you, Marlene freakin' McKinnon, are dull and boring when you put on your uniform, then what the hell are we? Speaks of dust collecting on the walls, just waiting for someone to sweep us away? Way to improve my self-esteem, 'Lene," she said, rolling her eyes.

[Marlene McKinnon]

Marlene laughed. "Lets say Alice gets us butterbeer if I'm wrong and another set of butterbeer if Rox is right," she grinned, crossing her legs. "I doubt James is in the compartment if Snappo is there to be fair."

Marlene threaded her fingers through her curls, rolling her eyes again at the two girls. "Alright, I wont be boring. But perhaps dull, the tie will help though." She said, laughing. "And you guys wont be dusty-stuff or boring, as long as you're next to me." she grinned, pulling her purse into her lap. "I don't know if I have any lipstick in here," she sighed. "Do you guys have any on you?"

[Alice Prewett]

Alice shook her head. "I'm having an off day," she protested, laughing a little as she dug through the small purse that was slung cross body. "I had a pinkish one in here, the last time I checked, but I make no promises," she said gravely, biting her lip as she continued to paw through the contents of the bag.

"We should just glue 'Lene to our hips, Rox," she muttered, smiling as she produced a small tube of lipstick and passed it to Marlene. "That would be an excellent cure for our self esteem,"

[Roxanne Walker]

"So, if we're both wrong, no butterbeer?" Roxanne asked in a small voice, her lower lip sticking out in a pout.

Rolling her eyes, she shook her head. "No lip stick, just gloss," she said, pulling out a tube of glittery lip gloss from her back pocket. She would've handed it to Marlene, but decided against it when Alice pulled out lip stick.

"Ew! No! That would be like my worst nightmare time 10! What if she shacks it up with some person while we're attached to her? Yuck!" Roxy exclaimed, making extreme hand gestures to show her disgust at the idea.

[Marlene McKinnon]

Marlene rolled her eyes. "If I'm wrong, we get butterbeer. So beer anyway, unless I'm right, which I'm not cus Snappo the ars-lovely person," she quickly said, instead of using some of her worse words she had about Snape. "-is there, then James wont be." she finished.

Marlene then pouted her lips, after applying the lipstick. "Does it look okay?" she wondered.
She then turned to Roxanne and rolled her eyes again. "Shoosh you prudie." she said, resisting the urge to roll her eyes, instead she closed Alice's lipstick and chucked it towards Roxanne's head. "Sorry Alice," she said innocently, when the lipstick clattered with the floor and stood up to receive it from the floor again and handed it back to the brunette.

[Alice Prewett]

Alice made a face. "Point taken, Rox, now get the mental images out of my head," she said, accepting the lipstick and stuffing it back before giving her hair a slight fluff.

"So, shall we go see if we get butterbeer or not?" she asked, raising her eyebrows and putting her hands on her hips with a sigh.

[Roxanne Walker]

"Stop calling me a prude! Merlin, you'd think that every girl would want to watch her best friend shag someone right in front of her with the way you insult my lack of enthusiasm to being attached to you," Roxanne said, before ducking as Marlene threw the lipstick at her.

Scowling at the blond, Roxy crossed her arms and turned to Alice. "Lead us, Wise One," she joked, grinning at the brunette.

[Marlene McKinnon]

Marlene grinned at how both girls had ignored her almost slip of tongue about Snape, she knew Alice and Rox didn't really hold a grudge towards him, like she did herself so she was used to getting looks and being scolded when she said something that could count as "being mean" to the Slytherin.

"I was more objecting to the fact that you think I'd shack up with someone," she pouted. "must I remind you that I'm only fourteen? I just snog Walker." she said, crossing her arms "Alice, tell Rox to stop hinting that I'm a whooore." she then added, in a whiney-like-tone towards the other brunette.

Marlene raised her eyebrows, "Wise one?" she asked Roxanne "Is this admitting Alice is the smarter Ravenclaw?"

[Alice Prewett]

Alice shook her head. She loved her friends dearly, but it still baffled her how they could bicker so often and still tolerate each other.

Opposites attract, she thought dryly, getting in between her friends and holding her hands out to silence them both. "Rox, you're less of a prude than I am, so relax. 'Lene, you're not a whore," she said, raising her eyebrows.

[Roxanne Walker]

Sighing, Roxanne muttered an apology. Who she was apologizing to was beyond her. "We're so flippin' immature," she muttered under her breath, smiling slightly.

"I have no comment," Roxy said, making a motion to zip her lips. She didn't want to say that Alice was the smarter 'Claw because that would be saying that Alice was dumber. Which she wasn't. But, her pride wouldn't let her admit that Ali might actually be smarter than her.

[Marlene McKinnon]

Marlene grinned when Roxanne apologized. "Alright," she said, before sighing "Maybe you're not a prude.. you're just far too innocent for your own good." she said, nodding her head and laughing. "We're only fourteen, we can be immature."

The blonde then stopped in her steps. "Wait, are we looking for Lily? I don't want to look for Lily, I mean, I want Lily, and Marce, but what if Snapes still there," she whined. "Being all.. Snape-ish?" She crossed her arms again. "You guys know how hard its for me to stand that guy, beside he hates me!"

[Alice Prewett]

Alice sighed and shook her head. "If James is anywhere near Lily's compartment, Severus won't be there," she said, putting her hands on her hips and pursing her lips.

"We know it's hard, but maybe you should stop fighting fire with fire and try being nice to him, even though he's a git to you," she suggested, turning to Roxanne, hoping for backup.

[Roxanne Walker]

Roxanne put her fist in her mouth to keep herself from laughing. "Alice, Marlene is an open flame, dangerous and uncontrollable. I don't think she'd stop fighting fire with fire any time soon since it's probably the only way she knows how to fight. But, 'Lene, I agree with Alice. Just suck it up and be the woman that you pretend to be," she winked, nudging Marlene playfully.

Skipping a few paces forward, Roxanne turned back to the two girls and waved them over impatiently. "Well, c'mon!"

[Marlene McKinnon]

Marlene shook her head. "But it gets annoying around him!" she exclaimed. "I never know what to say, because he'll just be there, rolling his eyes and wishing he could steal Lily and jump them out the window, and I'll be there wishing I could push him out a window!" She crossed her arms.

The Gryffindor didn't follow Roxanne as she moved forward. "Lets just stay here, find someone with an owl, write a letter to Lily and Marce and make them come to us and somehow ditch Snape?," she said, half grinning, even though she knew her plan was rubbish. "Or you guys could try to carry me, but I'm taller than you guys and maybe stronger too."

Marlene couldn't stop a grin, as she stood, with folded arms and stared at both girls waiting for them to do something, she knew she as being immature but after four years of being her friends, they should be used to her getting her immature-moments, along with the blonde-ones, oh-totally-girly-ones and even the suddenly-smart moments she got at times.

[Sponsored content]