We're on a boat!

Cepheus grinned at Lucy. She was excitable, it seemed. "It is cool. It runs in my family, but skips a couple generations before another person gets the ability. That's just my family, though. Metamorphmagus' are born, not made." He nodded happily, watching as Lucy bounced in her seat. When he heard the next question, he looked over to Georgie.

"Yeah, I could. Easily. Though, the body may be a bit hard as I was born a male, and I'm not used to the female body." He smiled sweetly at her, changing his hair to look like hers, before changing it back. "There're a lot of other cooler talents people have, and there are minor Metamorphamgus', that can only change a certain part of their bodies, like noses, eyes, hair etc."

Cepheus looked over to Damian appraisingly. "Damian is right. I can change into pretty much everything because I'm a full metamorphmagus, but I don't think I can change into an animal, to be honest, I never tried. I think I would have to be an animagus for that."

Georgie was in awe as he turned into herself. "Wow, that was strange!" she said looking at Cepheus, now he was back to his normal self. "Have you ever needed to use it in a real life situation?" she asked totally interested with what he was saying.

Cepheus raised an eyebrow at her, but shook his head. "Not really. There was never anything I could have used it for." He shrugged lightly, not all that concerned about it. He'd be able to use it somewhere else, and hopefully soon. It would be a lot of fun. Maybe he could change into a teacher or something and pretend to be patrolling after curfew.. Hm..

Georgie grinned a bit sneakily. "Well if you are planning to use it, I would like to be involved!" I giggled but was serious about what I meant.

Lacey smiled and sat down beside Aurie.

"How was your holiday?" she asked brightly, nearly bouncing in her seat with excitement for the news she wanted to share with her friend. "I've missed you!"

Melanie continued staring out the window, not really paying the others any attention, she was too busy staring at something outside.
Then she heard two familiar voices.

"LACEY? AURIE?!" She all but screamed up as she flung herself on both girls. "OH MY MERLIN! I've missed you like SO SO SO SO much!" she hugged them like she'd die if she let go.

Laedin awkwardly walked through the corridors, dodging people who walked past. It was really uncomfortable with how close he was to people.. He wanted to find Lacey soon. Stumbling over seemingly nothing, he looked through each of the compartments until he found one with a lot, and by Laedins standards - too many, people inside. He thought for a moment about if he should knock to talk to Lacey or go find an empty compartment and have it the same as first year - alone with his books.

He brought his hand up to knock on the door, hesitating before knocking on it lightly two times. 'Merde,' The French boy thought to himself. 'This'll be weird..'

As soon as she stepped into the compartment, a figure threw itself into her arms with cries of "OH MY MERLIN! I've missed you like SO SO SO SO much!"

Lacey smiled and hugged Mel back, a small bounce in her step as she managed to squeak out, "I've miss you too!"

She pulled away from the blond and greeted Aurie as well as the rest in the compartment. It was pretty full, having squished about eight people into the small space, and Lacey was considering the empty compartment she passed to this one. She liked everyone in the compartment, except for a fair few she had never met, but being stuck the whole ride in such a full area didn't appeal to her.

A knock on the door made her turn around and the face she was greeted with made a full-blown grin spread across her face. She opened the door in a haste and launched herself into the arms of Laedin Crouch.

"Laedin!" she gasped out. "It's so great to see you! I was scared I wouldn't be able to find you or that you missed the train!"

Laedin let out a small 'oof' as Lacey hugged him, and he almost fell over. He smiled down at the Gryffindor girl, wrapping his own arms around her, seemingly forgetting there were other people in the compartment. "Bonjour, Lacey." He muttered, chuckling. "Non, I did not miss the train, don't worry," He wasn't that bad. Honestly. Looking up to the other people in the compartment, he froze slightly.

'Merde.' Laedin thought before looking back down to Lacey, trying to ignore the other people. C'est génial-- It's great to see you again." He muttered quietly, as if to make sure the others couldn't hear.

A sigh of content escaped Lacey's lips as she felt his strong arms wrap around her. She inhaled his comforting scent, forgetting they were in the presence of her friends, and pressed herself closer to him as if she were going to melt.

"Good," she laughed quietly into his shirt, even though he was a year younger then she, he was still taller then her and far larger. "I knew you wouldn't, but it didn't stop me from worrying." She heard him murmur quietly to her, partly in French and smirked. Good thing she'd brushed up on her French a little more. "C'est génial de vous voir aussi." she whispered back.

Feeling him go rigid she pulled slightly and turned her head to see a pair of curious eyes watching them. Oh. . . oops. . Clearing her throat she pulled away and smiled. "Everyone, this is Laedin Crouch, a very good friend of mine. Laedin, these are my friends: Melanie, Aurelie, Cepheus, and . . well, I'm not sure who the rest are quite yet."

"I'm Damian," Damian chirped.

Being around so many people buoyed his spirits, particularly since no one was trying to beat the tar out him. It was a nice change after an entire year - in fact, it was probably a small miracle that said year hadn't turned the boy against people entirely.

"Damian Gray," he continued. "You have a slight accent. French, right? Erm... Je m'appelle Damian. Je suis de Surrey. Uh... that's all I know. Oh, and 'bon appetit', but we're not eating.

"You're really tall - what year are you? I'm only first year, so I think that's why I'm still so short. I hope I don't stay short!" Indeed a bit on the small side for his age, Damian looked genuinely horrified by this prospect. "My dad's normal height, though, so I - um... I'm chattering, aren't I?"

He ducked his head sheepishly, blushing a bit. He didn't think he used to be quite so chatty, but having had no one to really talk to for a year, he couldn't really remember.

"Sorry," he murmured.

"I'm Lucy," she smiled, "I know some french, but my grammar is crap, so I'll spare you all. It's nice to meet you Laedin, Lacey, Aurelie, and everyone else," calming down somewhat, she turned to Damian, "What are you apologizing for? Being short? You'll probably be tall someday, even if it takes a couple years. I've got a couple friends who didn't grow until they were fifteen."

She grinned, hoping she didn't sound to much like a know it all or anything, "Um... yah, I'll shut up now."

Melanie stared with raised eyebrows at Lacey and the new dude.
She nudged Aurie "Who the ?" she mleft the question hanging as she continued watching her friend and the new french talking guy.

"Lacey dear, remind me to find you at dinner tonight," She said, giving her friend a little wink. "I need to ask you about some... things."

Lacey's face flushed red. "Yeah. . . erm. . . yeah, I'll find you guys at dinner. . ." she coughed awkwardly.

Lucy grinned, she didn't know this Lacey girl too well but she seemed nice, and Lucy made up her mind to stick by and hear what her and Laedin really were. She moved her bag over slightly in an attempt to offer Lacey or Laedin a seat, without actually saying anything.

"It is nice to meet you all," Laedin said to the suddenly quiet compartment. "And very good French, Lacey and Damian." He grinned crookedly at them, shifting from foot to foot.

He looked to Damian to answer his question. "Je suis.. I am a Second year Ravenclaw," Shrugging, he looked around to avoid the gazes. "You'll grow, don't worry. I used to be trés petit.*" About 4"3 when he was 9. A lot of other people were taller than him, and it was awkward when he wanted to talk to his parents he had to look right up.

*Very small

Lacey nudged Laedin lightly with her elbow. "Did you want to sit in an empty compartment? I passed one on my way here, but I didn't want to sit alone. It does seem a bit crowded. . ." she eyed the passengers and Mel's sparkling eyes; maybe it would be best if they were in a seperate compartment then Mel. . .

"My sister was... trés petit," Damian mimicked; he didn't do so very well, however, despite his effort, "when she was my age, too. She's still short. But that's because she's a girl, right?

Damian paused to pet Maximus through the wire of his cage and got a reproving nip. Max didn't like being caged and didn't see the point of it.

"You're really smart, then," the eleven-year-old continued amiably, since no one else seemed to be doing much talking just then. "Well, most Ravenclaws are really smart. I suppose if one studied really hard, the Hat'd still put 'em there. I'm really smart, too. That's mostly 'cos my sister taught me, though. She wanted me to be the 'best prepared' for my year."

He sat up a bit. "Does anyone else have a sister? or brother?" he asked, curious. "My sister is the best. She's a teacher at Hogwarts. She teaches Astronomy and... well, I don't remember. I'm not taking it."

Georgie smiled at Damien. "I understand about the height! Trés petit is an understatement for me" she said giggling, only being 5'2 herself. "I have a sister, but she is really tall, always has been... She works at Honeydukes now, so she said she will send me some sweets!" she grinned.

As J. J. walked along the corridor, her stomach growled painfully again. She really needed to find food fast. She passed a very crowded compartment and stopped. There was bound to be an older student in there who would know where she could get something to eat.
Her stomach clenched, this time with nerves not hunger -- but she wasn't getting anywhere on her own. She had to get over herself and do this.
With a sigh to steady her nerves, she slid the door open.
"Excuse me," she said quietly to the group, "Sorry for interupting but I was wondering --" her stomach growled loudly and J. J. blushed, sure everyone could hear it, "but I had a quick question - Does anybody know where I could purchase a snack?"

Damian grinned at Georgie. "I'll have to make sure to be friends with you, then!" he declared impishly. "I love sweets!"

The boy turned to look at the newcomer and couldn't resist answering her question. "The trolley should be by in just a bit," he answered. Theolynne had told him all about the Express, which is the only reason he knew. "You should also be able to find it at the far end of the train, though, when it's not making rounds."





((OOC: OMG - I've created a know-it-all! >.< He won't stay this way... I hope.))

Georgie smiled. "Ooo food..." she said drifting off. She was remarkably skinny, considering how much she actually ate. She turned to Damien. "Definitely, I will warn you though, I am not know to share" she giggled. She got her cat out of her carrier so she could fuss over him. She knew he hated been in anything that moved, but he felt safe with her.

J. J. smiled in relief. She had felt silly just wandering around. She was glad to have a destination.
"Thank you so much," she was a little jealous that this boy seemed so informed. She wondered if she would always feel this clueless when it came to things that were magical.
J. J. turned to leave, but her mother's words rang in her head again, stopping her.
No one can get to know you if you don't put yourself out there first
Biting her lip she turned around, and let out a quick, "Maybe I'll see you around school sometime."
Then feeling extremely claustrophobic in the very crowded compartment she slipped out the door as fast as she could, and went quickly down the corridor.
It was only once she was long gone that she realized she had never said her name.
Wasn't that how putting yourself out there was supposed worked?

(OC - Wow! Sorry guys, I didn't see the other comments... )

Damian grew more and more excited as it drew closer to the time that they would arrive. He couldn't wait!

"It's going to be brilliant!" he said alloud.

Well, except maybe the boat ride Theo warned him about...