Into You like a Train ((Forget-Me-Not))

[Anastasia Castlerock R4]

Play it cool, Stacey. You know he will. Public displays of affection don't exactly go with dark and twisty – and if you know anything about Rex you know that's what he's like. . . like a teddy bear with razors in its belly. Rex was complex but intriguing, with many layers and depths and secrets, even after three years of knowing him, Stacey was still surprised by what he said and did at times. I wonder if he's changed at all over the –

Rex!

They rushed over her like a tidal wave, powerful and completely overwhelming, warm and happy and a hundred different emotions she couldn’t name all wrapped in one when she saw him. She'd never known she'd missed this much, never could have imagined how wonderful this moment would be when she finally saw him again and could feast her eyes on him all she wanted and know they had a whole academic year to be together again. Little thrills broke out all over her skin and her smile lit up her face and she was surprised to feel her eyes slightly moisten – Rex! Dangerous but charming, the man of many depths, the man of her dreams – Rex! How could a person have such a hold on someone else, how could a person surround you and consume your thoughts and energy so much even if they weren't there? All thoughts of pride or decorum disappeared. Before she knew it she was running towards him, grinning like a fool, throwing her arms around his neck his long blond hair in her face as she held him to her.

A stream of memories flowed into her head, three years starting with Rex and ending with him and filled with him, the first person she'd talked to when she'd entered this world, the only person she really wanted to meet when she came back, to hear his voice and his stories and his jokes and have him in her life again.

**Four years ago**

She was nervous but she was hiding it, and she looked at both of her parents and stifled a sigh of exasperation. Her father was worrying too much and her mother was worrying too little, and she could sense the tension between them and really hoped they wouldn’t get into one of their heated altercations right now in front of all these people she didn’t know. The train had already arrived but her parents weren't quite ready to let her get on yet.

"Stacey, princess, you don’t have to do this… aren’t you happy at home with all your friends and with me? Don't I make you happy princess you know I can give you anything you want or need, you don't really need to go to this school, I'm happy just the way I am without this – magic – in my life," he pleaded with her. He seemed to know he wasn't going to get anywhere but was unable to stop himself from trying for one last time.

No you're not. And neither is Mum. And I don't know if I'm doing the right thing but at least it's a way to be away from both of you.

"Dad, I'm not doing this because of what Mum said - it's because I want to and I'm excited and please please please don't ruin this for me," she said. Part of her understood her father's reluctance – he hadn't been to Diagon Alley, he hadn’t seen all she'd seen, a world of potions and charms and magical creatures, he hadn't found a wand that chosen him to be its owner; he couldn't begin to understand why she needed to join this world and it was not something that she could easily explain to him. And yet her mother was no better, she felt the two were arguing simply to be right, somewhere deep down they did care about Stacey, and yet now they were caught up in being right rather than what was the right thing for their daughter. It was almost funny to see them together; Stacey could never in a million years imagine how her father and mother had thought they could share their lives together.

She could see her Mother's gloating smile even though she tried to hide it and Stacey felt a slight resentment building in her that she pushed down hurriedly. They were not allowed to make her feel upset. What they said and the way they acted did not affect her in any way – she would not be divorced child with the problems, it wasn't who she was, she was a happy, well-balanced individual, and people perceived her as different not because of the divorce or anything related to that, but because they were too conventional and boring and afraid of everything new or different.

"You're going to have a great time Stacey, and I'm sure you'll write and tell me all about it, I've never seen Hogwarts, and magical schools are all different," her mother said. She was certainly ruffling her ex-husband's feathers; the thought of just one school of magic had him disconcerted; the thought of more than one magical school seemed to positively alarm him. It was hard to tell whether or not she really meant Stacey was going to have a great time because she was looking smugly at her ex-husband. Stacey tried to ignore the whole situation and make up a story in her head, but there was too much going on around her for her to be able to focus. Her eyes drifted over the many families with their parents coddling them and laughing with them and Stacey couldn’t wait to get onto the train – she noticed a boy looking out of a window at her and her mother and father. Her father pulled her into a quick hug stopping her from looking back at the boy.

Her father let go of her and it was her mother's turn. It suddenly hit her again that she was completely on her own – she wasn't scared, she was excited but… she also felt a little strange. She wasn't exactly looking for a friend's company but it would've been nice to have someone right now as she embarked on this journey. Her parents were getting into a scuffle about something again but she couldn’t hear them – a large bell had sounded and people were getting onto the train. Stacey let out a low sigh of relief. Both her parents dropped their argument and turned to her with the same concerned expression. They both had the same final words of advice. "Don't get into trouble, Stacey," they said.

It was almost surreal to see them both saying the same words. It was almost a pity she was going to ruin the moment.

"You know I will," she said, a mischievous grin lighting up her face for the first time since they'd arrived. The last thing she saw of them was their shocked faces. At least thingsdidn't end with them fighting. She turned around to find herself a compartment and found herself face to face with the boy that she'd noticed looking down at them before.

"Nice parents, did you mean what you just told them?" he asked her, his eyes dancing with mischief. The word nice was obviously sarcastic.

"You don't even know me and you're making fun of my parents?" Stacey asked.

"I don’t think you particularly care – I know more about things like this than you'd think. Anyway, are you going to stand there for long or are you going to join me in my compartment where my new friend and I are up to no good?" he asked.

Stacey smiled and joined Rex in his compartment.

****

The hug lingered too long for a friendly hug and yet she let go reluctantly of him, the feel of his arms around her was something she got too little of and she wanted so much more.

"Hello, Billy," she said with a cursory glance in his direction and a quick perfunctory smile. "I've saved us seats, in the front compartment like you like Rex, you can sit by the window, you don’t need help with your luggage? How was your summer? Did you get that Zonko's package I sent you? I only sent one pack from Honeydukes, but they didn't have any more of those chocolates you like so much – anyway, you talk now. Tell me everything," she said happily. It's so good to see him.

All those girls that crushed on Rex and deemed themselves worthy of his attention – they wanted him because he was funny, unexpected, adventurous, a dare-devil if there ever was one, unafraid of anything and anyone. And yet all those girls failed to see Rex as Stacey saw him, she saw all of those things in him but she knew there was a scarred individual inside, with a temper that could scare the hell out of anyone, but there was much of him that he didn't show anyone; he kept his secrets and wounds well-hidden and even Stacey didn’t know everything about him but she had a strong and deep conviction that she knew him better than anyone else and that nothing he could say or do would drive her away. She didn't know why she didn’t find the fact that he had a sad and mysterious past alarming or reason to keep her away, she couldn’t completely rationalise why she wasn't like the girls that fell for him because he was popular and loved him simply because he was like a hero in a badly-conceived romance novel – good-looking but mysterious, a hero that just needed love to get over his wounds and heal and live happily ever after. She knew that most of the girls who liked Rex would run as fast as they could if they knew the real him. But for her it was a challenge to get him to see that they were meant for each other – not because she wanted to win him and rub it in the face of the other girls, but because in her mind they were truly perfect for each other. It was the inside jokes, it was that they got each other's eccentricities, it was that they accepted each other's mood swings and strange opinions without judging or getting scared of each other. Stacey didn't really believe in soul-mates or love for a long time judging by her parent's marriage and divorce and her mother's subsequent marriage, and then she'd met Rex. Stacey loved being different, she didn't mind at all what people thought, and then she'd met Rex and found he was almost exactly the same way. Maybe there was someone for everyone if you looked hard enough. Maybe this year he would finally realise that they were meant to be together.

[rex]

Rex helped lug Billy’s trunk onto the platform with a soft grunt of effort, having always been the physically stronger of the two, before plonking Colman’s owl cage on top of it unceremoniously. The poor owl squawked in indignant resentment (and he had every right to), but Rex merely ignored him without much care as Billy bade his parents farewell until the holidays in Christmas. Rex thrust his curled fists into his jean pockets out of habit and tried to maintain a line of smile on his face for Mr and Mrs Brady whilst he waited, especially since they had let him stay over at their house for the summer for the fourth year running, and Rex was truly grateful for that opportunity. He didn’t want them to refuse him after their fifth year had come to an end, nor did he want to face an entire daunting summer alone. Though, Rex mused, Stacey would probably be delighted in letting him stay over at hers. It would be somewhat annoying, spending all that time with Stacey (who could be extremely irritating like all girls could), but better than solitude Rex thought to himself. He stared around the crowded platform with interest, familiar faces flashing by and nodding their acknowledgement. Some younger Gryffindor girls he recognised giggled as they skipped past him, one waving a coy hand, and he restrained a flirtatious wink in return. His excitement was already peaking at the thought of returning to Hogwarts, his home. Rex couldn’t wait.

Finally, after what seemed like forever Rex noted with irritation, he and Billy ascended the train before the whistle went to signal departure. Billy was looking from left to right with what Rex decided was an amusing lost expression as people streamed around them, knocking the pair as they went along. The train was already extremely full, and not everybody had boarded yet. Rex allowed a smirk rise to his face, ignoring the gentle bumps he was receiving (he had always been physically resilient, which was quite useful), and calmly stayed in the shadows trying not to be hit and run as he let his best friend do the work of finding a compartment for them. Billy indicated they go left after a short while of musing, and Rex followed unquestioningly, beaming handsome smiles at anyone he recognised along their short journey. This was where Rex shone in life, where he was raised on a pedestal high above the rest of the world, far away from the slums called the past. Rex could lose himself in the person Hogwarts knew as Rex Carter the Daredevil, and he loved it. He couldn’t help a smirk dance across his lips as a familiar bunch of Slytherins swarmed past him, each sending malicious glares in his direction. Rex brushed past his enemies without even batting an eyelid, enjoying the attention and heated atmosphere. Oh yes. This was home, all right.

Billy stopped momentarily to peek into a compartment, and a mute Rex leaned against the wall to glance at the boring exterior world portrayed on the other side of the large pane of glass, otherwise known as the window. There was a thick slab of dirty grey cement for Rex to run his guarded eyes over, before he was suddenly attacked by a smaller figure tumbling into him excitedly. Rex just about controlled an escaping yell of surprise whilst a well-known tinkling voice blew into his ear, familiar brown hair tickling his chin from below. “Stace!” Rex managed to choke out in amusement as Stacey’s thin, but supple arms closed around his neck. “Let me breathe!” Automatically his own wrapped around his friend’s waist fondly, hugging her in return. Her grip loosened somewhat, and Rex found he could breathe again. He allowed a full-blown grin to spread on his face as his nose was attacked by the smell of her shampoo, genuinely delighted at seeing Stacey again. Even if her affection for him was purely one sided, Rex still valued Stacey a lot; even considered the Ravenclaw to be his second best friend, after Billy. However annoying Stacey could be, Rex nevertheless considered her a close comrade. “It’s great to see you again too, chick.” Rex drawled in amusement, using a free hand to pat Stacey’s head in fondness.

“Did you miss me that much?” Rex questioned jokingly with his usual flirtatious eye twinkle when Stacey finally let go; he could swear her hugs were getting longer every single time. Rex didn’t mind too much, because it was Stacey, and not another girl. She knew her place, and she was permitted to cross the “boundary” with Rex now and again, as long as she didn’t overdo it. Rex trusted Stacey to be careful. Plus her hugs were nice. Not that he admitted that to her. Otherwise she might have gotten the wrong idea. And then everything would be too complicated. Rex almost laughed at Stacey’s emotionless greeting towards Billy, her usual non-caring attitude towards his best friend having still not changed after all these years. “Billy still not charmed you as much as I have yet, Stace?” Rex teased playfully, prodding at people’s buttons as he often did. “What do I have that he doesn’t?” He nudged Billy gently with a smirk that Rex knew his best friend would be able to translate. Often, there was no need for talk between the two boys. Glances were enough. And Billy knew well that Rex did not value himself higher on any scale than himself. The two were equal best friends, and always would be.

Rex chuckled with a shake of his head as Stacey rambled on happily, amused by her typical behaviour. “Whoa, calm down, girl! Stop yapping so fast, the train won’t be able to keep up. Let’s just stop it there, shall we?” Swiftly, Rex’s finger swooped downwards and sealed Stacey’s lips from speaking. He grinned. “But I’m glad to see you’re still my good old Stacey. Always so considerate.” He leaned down to kiss her chastely on the forehead before moving smoothly towards the front of the train. “You know just what I like, chick.” Rex let a satisfied smile linger on his lips quickly as he dragged his trunk along. “Of course I don’t need help, Stace. What do I look like to you? I’m no girl. And I certainly wouldn’t ask a girl to help me. Are you purposefully digging at my male pride?” Rex joked with a raised eyebrow as he turned his head backwards with a wink. When he was with his two best friends, Rex had not a care in the world, and he liked it that way. “I’ll answer the rest of your questions later, okay? I just want to settle down. Took us long enough to get here, right, Billio?” Rex directed at his best friend as he took off again, manoeuvring like liquid through the staring crowd. “Don’t worry, Stace.” Rex called back after he squeezed past a few second years effortlessly, a smooth grin playing on his lips. “I’ll tell you everything.” And with that, Rex slid into the front compartment, leaving Stacey and Billy to catch up.

((I’m sorry, I don’t know if I played Rex to his full potential well enough, but I did my best. I’m just nothing like him, but I hope to get the hang of him soon enough.))

[Billy Brady H6]

"Keep the change" Billy said, handing the taxi driver a £10 note while dragging his large, maroon trunk behind him out of the vehicle. In truth, the journey from Heathrow to Kings Cross had only cost him £8.60, but he liked to be generous, and it was just easier and more conveniant not to accept any change. And the driver had given him, his parents and Rex strange looks when they climbed into the taxi with owl cages. The flight from Dublin had taken about an hour, as expected, with no delays, and at this point in time it was 10.30, so they had half an hour left to get onto the train, and settled-plenty of time. The two boys entered the station, grabbed some trolleys to put their luggage on-Billy cursed the day he chose to buy a wheel-less case, however stylish it seemed-and Billy popped an owl treat into Colman's mouth as he lifted him onto the top of the trunk.

In truth, the summer had been pretty average, pretty uneventful. The boys had got up to the average mischief, accompanied by groans and disapproving looks from his parents, but the boys didn't care. It wasn't as if they intentionally went out to hurt people, or damage things. They planted the odd dung bomb and firecrackers-supplied by the greatest joke shop ever, in Diagon Alley, the day they went to get their supplies. They'd annoyed his parents when they were playing a game of cards with a pack, bought from the same shop, that always made it so that the owner always won, whatever the game was, and wouldn't shuffle properly in the hands of anyone but the owner.

As they went through the wall, into platform 9 3/4, Billy felt the usual sensation that always made him blink, as if he was in some place he thought was impossible to get to, despite that only actually being true when he was there 3 years previously as a nervious soon-to-be 1st year. He vaguely noticed Rex handing him the owl cages as he lugged both Billy's and his own trunk onto the train. He noticed Rex's trademark wink at any girls that came up to him in awe-Rex got all the girls. Good job he was such a big flirt, despite Billy having the feeling that one day it would all backfire on him.

At least they had managed to avoid Stace for the past couple of months. Although he considered her a good friend, her infatuation with his partner in crime simply annoyed him. Not that he wanted the attention himself. He just didn't understand girls, and quite possibly never would. No, Harmony was the only girl for him. Such a sweet, kind, thoughtful pretty little thing he'd never met. Oh, Harmony, sweet sweet Harmony. and such a perfect name for a perfect girl. He sighed...he'd never managed to talk to Harmony properly, apart from that time he saved her from those slyths. He just spent so much time with Rex, more than anything, although Harmony was always in his mind somewhere.

He decided to try to look for the carriage that Harmony was in, though from what he'd seen she was probably with her sister and cousin. But just as he was looking to his left, a girl bounced out of the carriage and flung herself over Rex. It could only be the one, the only, Stacey Castlerock. No other girl was mad enough to go anywhere near him. Ah well, peaceful times were now officially over for 10 months. Well, only 303 days to endure the constant flirting between them. He'd just have to thing sweet thoughts of sweet Harmony. If Stace was gonna be so emotionless towards him, he'd be the same to her. "Hey, so, good summer then?" He said, just to make polite conversation more than anything.

Billy sniggered at Rex's comment about his "male pride". He was probably the most masculine boy he knew, quite different from Billy. Not that he was feminine at all. Then he noticed that they'd actually bothered to include him in a conversation, albeit just about the journey. "Oh yeah, took ages. Flight was at 9am, so we had to be at the airport by 6.30. Hence we had to be up at 5 to make sure we got everything packed and sorted before we left." He said, as he went into the compartment, sitting next to Rex before Stacey had the chance to

[Anastasia Castlerock R4]

She was grinning like an idiot and there was nothing she could do about it. Then he patted her on the head. "Don’t do that, I'm not your dog!" she said with a huff. "I wasn't implying that you were a girl, I was implying that you were a weak. There's a difference. And it's not like you have enough male pride to help any girl with her luggage, you'd only help her if you had an ulterior motive," said Stacey with a smirk. I wish you did want to help me. "So don’t play the macho card with me," she said jovially. "And don't call me chick, it's sleazy," she finished, pretending to be offended. Not that he ever paid any attention to her when she told him to not do something.

He was toying with their emotions as he often liked to. Well, two could play at that game. For a moment Stacey stared at Rex, an unreadable look in her eyes, biting a bit on her lower lip as she thought before answering. Then she turned the question around and answered it. "Billy cares about people, Billy is genuinely nice to people without expecting people to be nice back, and with Billy what you see is what you get, no beating around the bush, Billy isn’t on cloud nine one moment and down in the dumps the second. No drama – just a good guy with his heart in the right place who'd never intentionally hurt a girl he liked," said Stacey. "You on the other hand," Stacey said with a sigh. She couldn’t quite look at him in that moment and pretended to be checking her bags weren't going to fall on them when the train started moving. She had just pretended she didn’t think he would be the perfect boyfriend and that Billy had everything a girl was looking for and she'd pulled it off, but if she'd looked at Rex for one more second her eyes would have betrayed her. She didn't want Billy. She didn’t want anyone but Rex – Stacey had never got romantically attached to anyone but him, she'd gone on the odd date, but it hadn't changed the way she felt one bit. "Let's not go there eh?" she said when she turned around. "The charm will wear off if I think about it too much," she said playfully. If only you knew.

Billy spoke and he lost her attention after about two seconds. Same old boring talk, same old boring Billy with nothing interesting to say or do – what did Rex see in Billy? It was something she'd often wondered about and had never found a satisfactory answer to. She knew why Rex went to Billy's in the summer, his home was hardly a happy place to go back to, and Stacey in his place might have done the same and pretended to like someone just to spend the summer at their place, but she knew Rex's affection for Billy was real – they were like brothers. Stacey had never felt she could talk to Billy much or that she wanted to listen to anything he said and she wasn't sure why – she'd never exactly given him a chance but then he was always with Rex, how could she think of him even if she wanted to with Rex in the picture?

She settled down on the couch across them, a little annoyed that Billy hadn't let het sit next to Rex, and then pulled her shoes off. She then slipped her legs underneath her and her socks came into view. She had been wearing a black shoe and a white one, and her socks were also one white and black, but that was Stacey for you, bohemian in all of her tastes. "So anything interesting happen over the summer?" she asked Rex. She had a few stories to tell them if they wanted to listen, but right now she just wanted to listen him talk. How is it possible to miss a person's voice so much?

[rex]

Rex’s eyes darkened momentarily at Stacey’s quiet speech, watching her with fixed attention. She didn’t meet his gaze. A short silence spanned between them, until Stacey turned away, and Rex broke in jovially too, his usual grin plastered back onto his handsome face. “Glad to see you’ve finally seen why he’s my best friend.” Rex joked as he entered the compartment, knowing Billy hadn’t heard Stacey’s words clearly. “Maybe you’ll consider dating him now.” Rex tried not to laugh at this; the thought of Anastasia Castlerock and Billy Brady getting together was an impossible notion. If there had been even a slight chance, Rex would’ve been worried about losing his two closest friends – because they’d love one another more than him. He would be the third wheel. But no, Stacey was his friend, and Billy was his best friend. They were a threesome only because of Rex; he tied them together. Otherwise the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff would not talk to each other at all; even now they avoided it at all costs. Rex knew quite well what Stacey had been trying to convey to him before. She was telling things he didn’t want to know. About him, his personality… about how much she was willing to sacrifice for him because she--

“I am not weak.” Rex ridiculed. “And how is ‘chick’ sleazy, Stace?” He then grinned with amusement as he shoved his trunk away, turning to help Stacey with hers, and finally Billy’s, plonking Colman once again uncaringly on top of the luggage. “See. I’m helping you with your luggage now.” Rex often liked to use odd words when addressing girls… chick was only one of many. “I think it suits you. Better chick than dog, eh? But if you’re not happy with that, sweetheart…” Rex switched to another of his favourite nicknames, and settled down on one side of the compartment seats, lifting his legs to the other side in a relaxed manner. “Girls are so fickle.” Rex mock sighed with a dramatic roll of his blue eyes. Billy shoved him slightly as he sat down beside him, leaving Stacey to grudgingly take the one opposite the Hufflepuff, next to Rex’s long legs. Rex noted Stacey’s disgruntled expression with mild amusement. “Cheer up, Stacey. You were so happy before.” Rex teased her lightly. He did care about Stacey – perhaps too much sometimes – so he didn’t want to see her glum and down in the dumps, for it didn’t suit her personality whatsoever. Rex rarely went out of his way to make somebody happy… usually it would be for his own benefit. But Stacey, and Billy, were different. They were people he cared about.

“How you.” Rex commented with a sly grin as Stacey’s socks caught his gaze. He proceeded to lower his legs, kick his own shoes off into the corner and nudge playfully at Stacey’s black and white clad feet. “Black and white. I like it.” Rex nodded. Stacey knew well these colours were his favourite combination. Rex shrugged at Stacey’s question, his gaze turning to glance outside the window at the blurred view. “Hm… Not eventful. We didn’t manage to get up to much. Most people have sussed out our tricks by now.” Rex glanced back at Stacey with a mischievous grin. “But this means Billy and I have had plenty of time to come up with bigger and better ideas for this year, and we plan to execute them soon. You want in?” Rex questioned Stacey lightly as he kept his attention on her. He knew well that Stacey would be somewhat reluctant, because Rex tended to go overboard with his antics. They changed from jokes to dangerous situations, and Stacey and Billy had often had to bust him out - usually with Billy’s quick thinking and Stacey’s sweet-talk. If it weren’t for these two, Rex would’ve been expelled from Hogwarts now. He valued his school as his home, and dreaded leaving, but the thrill of trouble pulled him ever closer. Perhaps Stacey would not want to join the ride again. Even Billy had been less willing and enthusiastic.

Rex turned to Billy without waiting for an answer from Stacey. “You got the list?” He asked casually. Colman began squawking in his owl cage at a high pitch, and Rex rolled his eyes in annoyance. “God, shut that stupid thing up, Billy. I can’t believe I went another year without killing him.” Rex knew the truth of the matter was Colman remained in his good books merely because he needed the owl to deliver things for him now and again. Rex was too lazy for pets – plus he had never liked animals at all. He could tolerate dogs… just about. Graham had bought a Labrador for him and Raph for them after their mother’s death; probably to keep them company. But Lucky had died just before Raph’s accident, and Rex had never enjoyed animal company again. “Billy.” Rex’s voice was turning to venom. He could easily swing from mood to mood, and his friends knew better than to get him properly annoyed. Little things like this could often do the worst. “Shut. Him. Up… Now.”

[Billy Brady H6]

Billy sighed. When would Stace ever learn? Even if Rex didn't know it, it was obvious to him that she wanted to get her claws into him, even if Rex wasn't interested. Not that he showed it, with his constant flirting. They would make a pretty great couple, he thought, but if that ever did happen, then he'd most likely be the middle-man, and pretty much unwanted. Rex would deny this of course, saying that he'd be more important to him than ever, but he just knew that his thoughts would be elsewhere. Well, it'd make a change for him to actually have a girlfriend, rather than loads of admirers. Well, hopefully by the time that happened Harmony would've payed attention to him, so he'd have a companion of his own.

And now Rex was going on about how Stace and himself would make a good couple. NO WAY was Billy's first reaction. He wasn't remotely interested, and he had the feeling that, despite what she said, Stace wasn't either. Rex was the only guy for her, as Harmony was the only girl for him. At least she was being nice about him, even if it was some sort of facade that she didn't mean...it meant she was at least capable of being nice to him even if it was all lies. And anyway, if he did hook up with Stace, then Rex would be even more of the middle-man than Billy would if Rex hooked up with her, as Rex was the one that held the threesome together...the Oxygen in the water molecule, perhaps, or the carbon in the carbon dioxide. And he was linked to Harmony's H2O molecule by some sort of theoretical hydrogen bond, with her sister and cousin being the hydrogens in her molecule, perhaps.

Rex was once again involving Billy in the conversation, about last summer. He was right, it had been pretty uneventful, but it had been alright. Rex made his summer holidays worthwhile, and kept him sane from boredom. he always had fun ideas. And Billy had kept him from getting into more trouble than necessary. And Rex had had such a hard life as it was, he didn't need any more suffering. "Hmm...yeah, you're right. We need to think of some big plan for next summer. And an even BIGGER one for the summer after...after OWLs." Billy was disappointed that Rex had decided to invite Stace in...their pranks were supposed to be a Billy-Rex thing. Not a Billy-Rex-Stace thing...Girls wouldn't get it. They had a completely different sense of fun.

Colman was screeching again, as he always did when he hadn't been paying much attention to him. He was getting annoying now, so Billy emptied the bag of owl treats into the bottom of his cage. That should shut him up. If not, then Billy would be tempted to open the window and throw the cage out, but then the cage would probably break and Colman would probably be able to find him somehow. He wasn't a bad owl really. Just...attention seeking. And loud. He was a good companion though, and had been with Billy since he first started in his first year at Hogwarts.

For the next few hours, the journey passed in much the same way. They talked about their summers, Colman started screeching again, and they feasted on a bunch of food from the trolley, before changing into their robes, and preparing to arrive at school. Their fourth year. Now what fun would it bring...

((The end. Unless, Stace, you wanna post again.))

((Sorry for the chemistry lecture...it lost sorta popped into my head haha, and seemed appropriate. Viv, I know you hate science and would rather NOT be reminded of your awful experience of Chemistry lessons...but hey! It's not called chemistry between 2 people for no reason .))