On the road again... (Melody, Jasmine, Katrina)

[dana]

Hogwarts was over. Dana managed to find an empty compartment and she entered it. She adored her home and grand-parents and servants, who sometimes seemed like aunts and an uncle, but leaving Hogwarts always seemed to make her a bit nostalgic. Dana wondered absent-mindedly where her luggage was, but figured that it would be alright in the hands of her cousin.
Leaning back in the compartment for six people Dana looked out of the window and looked at the scenery surrounding the castle. It was nice. Dana wondered if it would be possible to visit the castle – just for the view – during the summer. She would be here working for part of the summer at Catalina’s sweets shops anyway.

Brushing the thought away Dana pushed off her heeled shoes and curled her legs under her as she shifted a little to find a more comfortable position. Summer was going to busy again. As always. But that was just the way she liked it. Dana smiled and leaned back looking over curiously as the compartment door opened. A young Gryffindor second year stepped in and Dana smiled happily as a greeting.
“Hello, Melody, glad to get out of school again?” Dana asked nodding towards a seat, “Are you looking for someone or will you sit down?”

[Melody Bang-Bala G6]

Melody bounced around her dormitory as she packed everything up. She mustn't leave anything behind, her mum always seemed annoyed if she lost things. Perfectly understandable of course. It meant Melody had to get new things or try and find them again when she went back to school. She'd left something behind last year, inconsequential of course, but this year she wanted to make sure that didn't happen. She'd never leave anything of value behind, nothing that really mattered to her or her mum or her dad. Her flute case lay on her bed alongside her guitar case. Melody reached underneath her bed and produced her violin case to put beside them. She eyed it thoughtfully. Was it really worth her time? She was good at it, but she was better at the flute and guitar and she needed to focus more on her studies really. She had never been a really outstanding student as far as her magical ability was concerned. But it could probably be improved with work. She'd rather work on her music though.

Melody grimaced as she reached underneath her bed again and pulled out a sock. She grinned offhandedly to herself and stuffed it in her trunk along with the other things she'd put in there - her Gryffindor jumper, not very neatly folded, school robes, jeans, pyjamas and nightdress, her white top and smart black skirt for musical performances, these neatly folded in the bottom of her trunk as she hadn't used them for a while, underwear fitted in the spaces, a various assortment of T-shirts and tops and at the top jeans and a T-shirt laid out for her to change into as they neared Kings Cross. She had some of her other possessions in there as well - hairbrush, toilet bag, school books, treats for Boris, music for her various instruments and for her singing - in fact she had rather a lot of things to fit into her trunk, which was undeniably in a state of disarray. She was glad she didn't have to try to zip it up.

Melody forced the trunk closed and clipped the brass fasteners together. She picked it up and winced as the weight forced her to drop it again on her big toe. She hopped around the 2nd year dormitory clutching her foot half the time, almost crashing into a bedpost as she collected up Boris in his cat basket. Boris wasn't in a very good mood today. She'd kept him indoors this morning since she couldn't have him wandering off and getting lost. She peeked in at him. He stared reproachfully back and she gave him a small pat on the head, withdrawing her hand quickly in case he tried to take a swipe at her. He wasn't the most good natured cat although he wasn't bad.

It took Melody two trips alone to get her trunk down to the Gryffindor Common Room, and she had to get all the way down to the Entrance Hall to leave it for someone else to bring onto the train for her. But she hadn't been late for the train last year and she didn't intend to be this year either. Perhaps she hadn't been as organised with her packing as she might have been but at least she had been enjoying her last few days at Hogwarts for this year. In the end she lugged the trunk down the several flights of stairs first and left it in the Entrance Hall before running back up to the Common Room to collect Boris and her three different instruments. She only just managed to get in a carriage to take her to Hogsmeade station, and spent no time on the platform, instead having to search for a long time on the train to find a compartment she would be able to sit in. In the end she pushed open the door of a compartment which looked as though it only had one person in and looked up as she heard someone greeting her. It turned out to be Dana Coran, a Ravenclaw prefect Melody had talked to a little and had seemed to get on all right with.
"Aye, I would nae say no to a seat, I'm nae lookin' for anybody." she said, her violin case banging on the door as she made her way in. "Though I'll 'ave ter do summat wit' all me clobber first." Melody busied herself getting everything packed away near her, Boris going on the seat next to her. "Summer hols are allus welcome," she continued. "What say yer to that?"

[dana]

Dana grinned watching as the younger Gryffindor girl entered the compartment. She had her trunk and a violin case and her cat and whatever more. Dana smiled in greeting and stood to see if she could help put Melody something away for the train-ride. When the Gryffindors things ha all been securely placed so they wouldn’t drop out from somewhere during the ride, Dana curled herself up on the seat again: “The compartment is meant for 6 persons, so we can fit in here with all your ‘clobber’ nicely.”

Dana laughed and raised her hand in agreement: “Aye, aye, summer holidays are always a dream come true. I like Hogwarts and don’t really mind most classes either – but the OWLs were horrifying. I’m glad I’m through them, even though NEWTs seem to be even worse. But it’s the first day of summer holidays. No school talk today.” Reaching out her hand Dana petted Melody’s cat for a moment before smiling warmly at Melody, “You have any special plans for the summer?”