Homeward Bound ((Caden, Arya))

[hollow]

"Castor!" Adrian yelled after his owl exasperatedly, watching him wreak havoc in the fourth year boys dorm. Maybe it had been a mistake to bring him down and let him out of the cage but it hadn't seemed to be a big thing at the time. Now Adrian was starting to realize exactly why owls were kept in cages or in open spaces rather than a fairly small room such as a dorm. Clothes that had once been packed into his trunk neatly, were now scattered across the floor and over the beds. At least his books were considerably untouched... Adrian winced and launched his body forward as Castor swooped down to attack the books at the bottom of the trunk. "Gotcha!" Adrian breathed a sigh of mixed relief and triumph, grasping his owl firmly and reaching for the cage with his left hand. Just a little bit further... Adrian grasped the cage and pushed Castor inside gently.

He didn't know just what had gotten into his owl but put it down to the excitement floating around the school and scowled at a wall angrily. He was excited about going back to his house too but he didn't jump around and throw glitter at unsuspecting victims, as he had seen one overly-hyper young girl do. Judging by the red colour of the glitter, she was most likely a Gryffindor. Typical. Castor let out a screech and Adrian winced, turning his attention back to his belongings and sighing in annoyance. "Thanks a lot, Cas." Adrian sent an irritated glance at his owl, stooping to gather his clothes and folding them haphazardly before throwing them into his trunk carelessly. Finally he came to the last item, one of his favourite robes, and Adrian threw it into the trunk with obvious relief before collapsing onto his bed and closing his eyes.

Another screech made his eyes open and a quick flick of his eyes toward the watch on his wrist had him rolling off the bed and landing in a defensive crouch, ever on his guard. Then Adrian's attention was drawn again to his watch and he cursed to himself quietly, grabbing Castors cage with one hand and his trunk with the other before hurrying through the common room and the corridors to the train. However he had managed to fall asleep was beyond him but his only concern was about catching the train and so his steps quickened, ignoring the irritated peck at his hand from the annoyed owl in his hands, obviously resenting the unintentional bouncing caused by rushing. "Calm down, Castor." Adrian snapped at his owl quietly, boarding the train and starting the ever-annoying search for a reasonably empty compartment. After a few minutes, he entered a compartment and smirked, pleased by the emptiness but curious as to why no one had chosen to sit there. Not that it mattered. Adrian stored the cage by his feet and reclined comfortably, ready for the journey to start.

[caden]

Caden had packed most of his things early, although he was in no hurry to leave the presence of his beautiful young crush. He did want to return home and see his father again. He often worried about his father though most of the letters assured him that everything at home was simply splendid. Caden tried to think of a time since his mother's disappearance that everything was just splendid. There hadn't been one in his knowledge. Caden often thought of his mother. Maybe she was the reason for him being so unlike his fellow Slytherin. Most of them were cunning and tended to be overly rude. Caden just let things take course. He wouldn't say that he was a perfect gentleman, he had jinxed a few that he saw needed it. But he had done it for their own good.

Caden looked down at his watch, it was getting time for him to board the train. If he were lucky, there wouldn't be many places to sit and Arya would have to sit in the same compartment. He had managed to get to the train somehow before she had, and was in search of an empty compartment. He had been through the other parts of the train and was now working through the back of it. He was a bit nervous as he looked thinking of the attacks that had happened last year on the train. He shook off his feelings, and continued. He came to the last compartment, it wasn't empty either though, but there was only one person in it. This is going to be the closest I can find he thought to himself. He entered the compartment and looked at the other boy there already occupying it. He recognized the boy as a Slathering from classes, and the common room. But he had to admit he didn't know the boy's name. Smiling as he sat down, he decided to be nice enough to ask if the boy cared. "Mum.. Hola amigo. Would you mind if I joined you?" He asked. Caden hoped that he wouldn't mind.

[hollow]

"Oh hush." Adrian snapped in annoyance, tapping his owl on the head sternly in an attempt to quieten the owl. A louder hoot of protest was his only reply and Adrian rolled his eyes before opening a book pointedly and ignoring Castor hopefully. Maybe if he showed no sign of recognition then Castor would finally shut up. Sure enough, it seemed to work and he allowed a smirk of self-satisfaction to cross his face before turning back to his book, only to find that he couldn't concentrate. Probably due to the young girl who poked her head into the compartment, threw red glitter at him, announced that she was so happy to be returning home and squeaked at his glare before vanishing quickly, muttering about evil Slytherins with their evil glares. Adrian raised an eyebrow sceptically, wondering if the girl was quite sane and if she was to be trusted on a train. Didn't she have friends to control her? ...Probably not. Adrian decided silently. It was likely that her insanity had scared away any friends that she may have made. Come to think of it...wasn't she the Gryffindor that had thrown glitter at him before? Adrian scowled at the memory and promised himself to hunt down the girl if she annoyed him once more.

The compartment door opened once more and Adrian growled quietly, fully expecting the Gryffindor girl to be making a reappearance and ready to threaten her until she disappeared once more. Surprisingly, a boy that Adrian vaguely recognized as a fellow Slytherin entered and sat down. His eyebrow rose once more as the boy decided to sit down and then ask if he cared about him sitting down. "Didn't leave me much of a choice did you, really?" Adrian asked amusedly, letting a hint of laughter enter his voice. "But no, you can stay. You might want to be wary of a young Gryffindor girl though. She seems determined to throw glitter - red glitter, of course - at unsuspecting students. She's already been to this compartment but she may feel the need to return." Adrian warned quietly.

[aryasillhouette]

Arya looked around her dorm. She didn't want to leave it. She wasn't ready to go home and spend a summer with her muggle loving parents. She wasn't ready for the constant fighting between them and them telling her how wrong she was in her ways. She enjoyed hating the muggle population, and any offspring they might produce, be them witch or wizard. She loathed them in general, not just because of the type of blood they had. She loathed their fancy contraptions that didn't use some form of magic to work, she loathed the way that they did things without using any form of magic. She loathed that they were so skeptical that magic even existed. She began to pack her trunk as she continued to think her thoughts. She carefully packed what she had left of her pranks and jokes. Then she decided to pack her books and lastly her clothes. She had a few toys for Shadow that she put in her carrier along with him, so that he would have something to play with on the trip, and wouldn't try to wonder away. She was meeting an older friend in the common room before boarding the train so that they could sit together. She charmed her trunk so that she wouldn't have to lug it to the common room herself and headed off that way.

Arya came into the common room and looked around. She spotted her friend Hester standing a corner near the door. Walking over she quickly greeted Hester. Arya had introduced herself to Hester one day after a class. She enjoyed the way that Hester impartially despised everyone. "Are we ready?" She asked. Hester replied with a simple nod. Arya understood this. She understood that Hester chose not to be very talkative and that was alright with her. Arya wasn't always very talkative herself. The two charmed their trunks, and checked on their pets before heading to the carriages. They were lucky enough to find an empty carriage. They quickly climbed in, and considered it occupied. The trip from the castle was a bit quiet. Arya and Hester had exchanged plans for the summer, and had already agreed to meet at some point in Hogsmeade. Finally they arrived at the train.

Loading their trunks, the girls once again checked their pets carriers and boarded the back section of the train. They figured that the front and middle were already taken up by all those hyper young children that would be horribly loud and vociferous. That was something that they wanted to avoid. They had been searching the back of the train for a few moments when they came across a compartment with two other Slytherins in it. Arya quickly noticed one as Caden, a boy in her year. She knew the other was a younger year but wasn't sure of his name. Arya pushed the compartment door open, and looked at the two guys. "Mind if we join you two?" She asked. The girls knew that they could have been rude and just sit down, but they had agreed not to.

[hollow]

The compartment door opened again and Adrian looked up once more, a hint of irritation flickering in his eyes. As a rule, his ride back home was quiet and uninterrupted. Just him, a reasonably interesting book, Castor and perhaps a few quieter students who both tolerated and were tolerated by Adrian. If they were quiet, had more than a small shred of intelligence and were willing to deal with both his sharp tongue and his rather twisted sense of humour then Adrian would welcome them and sit in silence unless he felt the need to join the conversation - which didn't happen a lot of the time. But this year, he had been bothered by a glitter throwing Gryffindor girl, - twice! - an older Slytherin boy and now these two girls. Not to mention that Castor had decided to go crazy in the dorm room, awakening Adrians slow-paced temper. Would he ever get some peace and quiet?

Adrian calmed himself quickly, lifting his head to observe the girls silently. At least they were Slytherins, Adrian reasoned with himself. And they had asked if they minded - which was more than the other boy had done. "Of course. You're both very welcome." The hesitation lasted for barely a second as Adrian searched his memory for the names of the two girls standing by the door. "Ms Hester and Ms Arya, correct?" Thank Merlin for his good memory where matching faces to names was concerned. It was a wonderful ability to have at times. Especially when his manners were lacking. Adrian rolled his eyes, berating himself for letting his attention slip - if only for a few seconds. Certainly not long enough to miss a vital part of the conversation. If indeed a conversation existed. "Adrian Hollows, very pleased to meet you." He inclined his head gently, allowing a charming smile to rise to his lips. Well, it was always a good idea to stay on good terms with his fellow Slytherins. Even if they had interrupted what had promised to be a quiet journey.

[aryasillhouette]

Arya and Hester both nodded as Adrian introduced himself and made sure that he had remembered their names correctly. "Tis nice to be remembered for something. And Thank You. We didn't want to come be stuck in a group of chatty first years, nor be rude and not ask." Arya looked at the other boy in the compartment that she recognized as Caden and smiled. Watching Caden's face turn red, she wondered what had made him so nervous around her. Hester entered the compartment first, and placed her things above the seats, then sat beside Adrian, leaving only a place for Arya beside Caden.

Arya looked at the empty seat, and then at Caden. He looked a bit worried and that made Arya wonder why. She shook the feeling off, and placed her stuff above her seat. Arya didn't have much to say, and she knew that Hester would be moderately placid just occasionally nodding or adding a small piece to the conversation every so oft, just so that she wouldn't appear bored. It was just her way of doing things. Arya decided that she could speak, "So what are everyone's plans for the summer?"

Arya hadn't been able to answer for herself when she noticed a soft sound coming from Shadow's carrier. He was trying to get out. Arya checked to make sure that it was securely fastened and turned her attention back to the conversation, sitting Shadow on the floor.

Shortly Arya heard the soft noises again but there was no way that they were coming from the floor this time. She looked up to see Shadow already sitting in Caden's lap. Before she could contain herself, she was already blurting out things. "How did you get out of there Shadow?" She looked at the little puff, and noticed how content he was in Caden's lap. "And how is it that he's never that content with anyone else but me, and now he won't come out of your lap to me?" Arya knew that Shadow would know who her secret admirer was, and she wondered if this was Shadow's way of telling her that Caden was her secret admirer. She shook this thought off and sat silently contemplating this thought.

[hollow]

"How could I not remember such lovely ladies as yourselves?" Adrian smiled easily, flicking a glance toward his friend and smirking at Cadens red face. His crush on Arya was certainly amusing at times - this being one of those times. Hester sat beside him and his smirk widened slightly, realizing that the two lovebirds - as he often referred to Arya and Caden - would have to sit next to each other. It might even be a good thing, really. Maybe the two would bond during the journey. But Adrian would still tease Caden about his beloved Arya of course. It was the duty of a good friend to tease and Adrian would just hate to neglect his duties. Amusement flashed through his brown eyes quickly, followed by a tiny amount of worry. He might tease Caden about Arya and find it absolutely hilarious that his older friend had a crush but Adrian was almost protective of his friends - especially Caden since he regarded the older boy as a close friend, if not the closest that Adrian had. Sure, Caden might be older but his crush put him in a vulnerable position and if he got hurt...

Adrian was distracted from his thoughts by a soft sound and traced it to the carrier holding a pygmy puff. Ah. His eyes widened slightly in realization. This must be the pygmy puff that Caden had bought for Arya. What fun he could have with this! Nothing to truly embarrass his friend, of course. Just a few harmless comments about the puff - for the pure enjoyment of seeing Caden turn red. It was just too good of an opportunity to pass up. "A pygmy puff," Adrian started impishly, glancing toward Caden to make sure that his friend knew exactly what he was doing. Teasing but not ready to spill his friends secret. "A present perhaps?" Then Adrian stopped, having planned to say more but cut short by the sight of Shadow on Cadens lap. Well, this was a new turn of events and certainly not one that Adrian had planned for. His naturally cunning subconscious took over immediately, a quickly thought through plan forming in his mind. It was obvious that Shadow knew Caden and Arya was clever enough to figure it out. And something told him that Caden would have a hard time telling Arya about everything. So Adrian took control, his voice completely calm and deceptively light, even as his eyes remained on Caden warily, worried about his reaction. "Well, it seems that your secret has been discovered. Ah well, it couldn't remain hidden forever. Arya is smart enough to realize that her knight in tarnished armour is you, Caden."