Chocolate Frogs and Pumpkin Juice

Axel looked out the window as the train sped away from the station, watching as his father disappeared behind the bend. Even behind the excitement of going to school, he felt like he was leaving too soon. After all, he had only just been reunited with his father, and now he had to leave all over again. But he wasn't complaining.

After all, this was his first time on a train, and it wasn't long before the boy was swept up in the experience, and forgot all about being sad. He looked out of the window as miles of landscape streaked by, and tried his best to remember what the castle looked like from pictures he'd seen in his books.

As he thought more and more of his future, Axel began to worry. What if he didn't get into the right house? What if his teachers didn't like him? What if the kids didn't like him? After all, the only things he knew about social norms he had learnt from books and the occasional talk with Jace. He would probably end up just embarrassing himself if he ever tried to talk to anybody.

Axel shook his head and looked back out the window, Whatever happens, happens. No sense trying to change the things you can't help.

Humming softly to herself, Savannah pulled her luggage along with her, bouncing with each step she took. After the great summer she'd had, it only made sense that she would have a great year right? And ever since that conversation about dragons, her head had been practically full of only them.

But as she scoured through the train for an empty compartment, she kept finding compartment after compartment full. Letting out a little growl at her failure, she momentarily contemplated simply staying out here in the aisle. But once the train began to move and she momentarily lost her balance, she glared around her.

She was going to find a compartment if it killed her.

Finally finding one with a single occupant, she breathed a sigh of relief before entering, giving the younger boy a little smile and a wave. "Hey," she said softly, standing in the doorway, "Do you mind if I sit here? I can't really find anywhere else."

Axel looked up quickly and, not trusting himself to say anything just yet, he simply nodded. After a few minutes of staring out the window, then at his shoes, then back to the window, he managed to softly say, "My name's Axel, by the way."

He was about to try and start a conversation, when he heard distinct clacking and rumbling noises coming down the hall. He could also hear a buzz as the conversations in the compartments around him picked up, "What is that?" He asked, and slid to the edge of his seat so as to get a better look out of the window leading into the hallway.

Giving the younger boy a large grin, Savannah put her trunk away before flopping down on the opposite side of the seat. As they settled into a silence, her mind was anything but, whispers and words making their way through it, though she paid them no heed. She'd become good at blocking them out.

"That's a cute name," she smiled, "I'm Savannah. Third year Gryffindor." Watching him amusedly, she shook her head slightly. His youth was practically adorable. "That's probably the food trolley. This your first time on the train?"

He frowned in thought for a moment. He remembered something about a food trolley, and he remembered the money in his pocket. He pulled out one of the bronze knuts in his pocket and looked at it closely.

Axel looked up at the girl and nodded, "I'm a first year." He fiddled with the money for a moment, then looked back up, "So there's Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Raveclaw and Slytherin, right? So... what's the difference?"

"I remember being a first year," Savannah sighed happily, grinning at the memory. They'd been good times. After all, that was when she'd met JJ. Wondering for a moment how different her life would be if she hadn't met the Hufflepuff, she tilted her head curiously.

Maybe you would've met either way. It could've been fate.

Grinning at that idea, she looked back at Axel. "First year's fun. Enjoy it." Swinging her feet, she pushed a strand of her dark hair behind an ear. "So, Gryffindor's the house of the brave and the chivalrous. Ravenclaw's for the smart, creative and individual. Hufflepuff for the hard-working and loyal and Slytherin for the determined and ambitious."

"I will," He allowed himself a small smile. He wasn't sure if this girl was serious, or if she was just being nice. Either way, it was reassuring, and he didn't feel so nervous anymore.

Axel's feet started swinging back and forth as he thought for a moment, "So.... If you get into a house you don't like... what happens then?"

His head snapped up as the candy trolley passed by, and he jumped off his seat, passing into the hallway. He bought a chocolate frog with the little money he had with him, and brought it back to the compartment. He looked back up at the girl, "Are you getting anything?"

"Good." Savannah grinned, sitting back. It felt good to show the little kids around. Like she was doing something important and grand.

"Well," she said slowly, eyebrows knitting together. "There's not really much you can do. But Axel, all the houses are great. There are great and terrible people in all houses. And trust me, you'll make loads of friends, both in your house and in the other ones. I mean, my best friend isn't even in my house or year, but we're still really close. And if anyone tries to give you a hard time." Her blue eyes darkened, gaze steely. "I'll punch them in the face."

Watching him get candy, Savannah shook her head amusedly. Pulling out a few Galleons, she studied them for a moment before looking up at Axel. "Yeah, of course." Grinning, she pulled herself up, making her way to the trolley. After a moment of thinking, she bought a few cauldron cakes and licorice wands before sitting down, sticking one of the licorice wands into her mouth.

Axel bit his lip, the uncertainty beginning to gnaw at him. He tried to find the reassurance in Savannah's words, but they were being clouded by his nervousness. Then he met her gaze, and he gave a grin, which quickly turned into a small laugh, "Thanks."

It was weird. He hadn't expected to meet anybody this nice at school. In fact, he didn't think he'd known anybody this nice... well... ever. Granted, he only knew a handful of people, and many of them were wanted criminals. Still, it made him feel really happy to know that good people actually existed in the world.

He looked down at the box in his hands, turning it over a few times before opening it. He had just barely done so when a tiny brown frog leapt out. Axel immediately dropped the box and caught it in midair, his eyes wide with surprise, "I didn't expect that."

"Anytime," Savannah grinned. "And I do mean it, about the beating them up. I hate bullies." Had she even met a bully before? Frowning, she tilted her head. Well, she'd met a lot of mean people, but they hadn't really been called bullies. But either way, she didn't like people who picked on others. It was just mean.

Giggling softly at Axel's expression as the chocolate frog tried to jump away, she grinned, swallowing the licorice in her mouth before saying, "I always freak out every time I open a chocolate frog. I know it's going to jump away and everything, but I guess I think it won't for some weird reason and just sit there and let me eat it in peace." Shaking her head softly at her own story, she smiled before sitting up a little straighter, remembering.

"Hogwarts has this little village by it, Hogsmeade. And in that village, there's a candy store called Honeydukes. The owner's my mentor, and I sort of get free chocolate. If you want, I could get you some." Savannah grinned at Axel. When she'd been homesick during her first few weeks at Hogwarts, it'd been chocolate that got her through. Maybe it'd help him.

Axel smiled at her, "All right. If anything goes down, I'll call you." Of course, he didn't expect to get into too many fights, seeing how quiet he was. And after all, the only people he was likely to interact with on a regular basis were the other first years, and most of them looked too scared to try and start a fight.

He felt the frog starting to melt in his hand, and it stopped squirming enough so he could shove it in his mouth. He had underestimated how much chocolate there was in the frog, and it took him a few good long minutes to eat.

He smiled at the generosity Savannah's offer. He looked down at the box that the chocolate had come in, and his smile faded a little, "Why are you being so nice to me?"

"And I'll be there," Savannah said softly, glancing out the window, watching the world whizz by. She'd been terrified of forests, once upon a time. She was still terrified of water. Once her father had died, she'd been a practically different person. Pulling her legs up to her chest, she hugged them close, and for a moment the third year looked almost vulnerable.

Absentmindedly continuing to gnaw on licorice, her thoughts were a million miles away, only brought back at the boy's voice.

Blinking, she frowned slightly. Why was she being nice? It wasn't as if she had a reputation for being nice. Tilting her head back, her frown only deepened as the only voice she heard was her own. "Honestly?" she asked finally, looking back at him. "I've just been in a really good mood. And I guess being nice to people is in that package."

Shrugging, she said, "Just wait a bit. I'll go back to being bi - mean." She coughed, covering her up slip up. "I'll go back to being mean."

As Savannah looked out the window, Axel noted the silence, and his eyes strayed to the hallway. A group of other kids, who looked around Axel's age, passed by, chatting and laughing and smiling as they did so.

The boy watched them as far as he could, "Savannah?" He turned to the girl, "Do you ever wonder what you're life would be like if, I don't know, something that happened to you... didn't happen?"

He was thinking, of course, of the death of his mother as well as his own kidnapping. If none of that had happened, well, he'd probably be one of those kids over there. Laughing and smiling, and not being quite as alone.

Axel couldn't help but giggle. He'd never heard someone his own age almost-swear before. Sure, he had heard it plenty from adults, but it sounded almost ridiculous coming from the mouth of a young girl.

"Hmm?" She blinked over at him, tearing her gaze away from the window to rest on him. Tilting her head at his question, she frowned in concentration, thinking. She'd be a different person, she knew that. Had her father not died, she wouldn't have been so messed up first year. And if Ava had never shown up, her second year might have been more pleasant.

"Well," she said slowly, "I used to. After - my dad was killed the summer before first year, and I just - I wanted to go back to the way I was before, or - or have him just come back. I missed him - and still do - but these days, I'm not as torn up about it." Shrugging, her eyes misted over. "You move on. Good things happen."

At his laugh, she mock glared. "Hey. No laughing at me." After a moment, she burst out laughing.

Axel looked politely at Sav while she talked, considering her words with all the earnest innocence of an eleven-year-old, his feet swinging absentmindedly beneath him. They slowed down as he heard her word, until eventually coming to a complete stop, "I'm sorry."

Axel thought for another moment, his expression still neutral. Not blank... just much more emotionless than it should be. He did feel sorry for Savannah, really sorry. At least he had the luxury of not remembering his mother. But losing someone, and understanding how. That must have been hard.

"I know what you mean- about moving on..." He looked down at his shoes, "But I guess there's always that 'what if'... and it sort of follows you around." Looking back up at the girl, he gave a small smile, "But you can never really know, can you?"

"Don't be," she murmered, shaking her head. She hadn't told him for pity, really, she'd only told him because out of everything that had ever happened to her, it was that that she wanted to not have happen.

At least getting kidnapped by that crow that'd been flying around had been cool. And she'd actually gotten to meet people. Momentarily wondering how all those friends she'd had before her dad had died and she'd cut them all out of her life were doing, she shook her head to dislodge those thoughts.

It didn't matter.

"The what if is the worst part," she nodded, rubbing a shoulder, "and I hate it. Someone should really make a spell or potion or something that let's you see what would've happened."