Names in the wind

It was a horrible day to be in a train, Leo thought.

The sky was blue, the air clean; and what a day to be trapped inside of a metal box with wheels. The trees, the wind - Leo missed her sanctuary of leaves and sun.

Shaking the thoughts from her head, Leo stared down the ominous hall of the train. She felt crushed by just looking at the walls - they were closing in on her, suffocating. She forced her legs to walk. They felt like stiff boards of wood. She passed a door, then another, then another. They seemed to meld together.

Suddenly, the walls became too tight. They clamped down on her. Leo's hands grew lax. Her suitcase fell to the ground and Leo, to her knees. She clutched at her head, the darkness closing in.

"Nng..." Leo moaned in pain. There was someone helping her - someone tall, it seemed. With the help of her rescuer, Leo stumbled into the cabin, collapsing into one of the chairs. "Window," she gasped, inching towards the glass. With effort, she tugged the pane up.

Breathing in deeply, she grinned and turned to the stranger. "Better," she said, showing her pearly teeth. "These halls are much too small for the people they hold, I think," She laughed and slid onto the leather seats again, pulling her feet up into the booth as she did. "I'm Leonara Lila Lynwood, but please, call me Leo. I'd rather be lion than a light, and a beast than a fire. That is, if the lion is the nice type. Or maybe the fearless type. But anyway, I'm rambling, yes? Sorry, your name is?"

Leah took his seat -which actually wasn't the one he took before, he just plonked himself down at the closest one to him- as he watched the girl organise some better ventilation for herself.
Things were apparently taking a turn for the better, and the mirror neurons in the back of his brain kicked his space into reciprocating her smile.
Not that he hadn't been going to, but he was aware of where the impulse came from.

Leah chuckled, the unfortunate truth in that statement was that,"Things will only get worse as you get older unfortunately, it's quite cramped as it is." He was pretty sure that the Prefects Compartment was larger then their own, but he had never heard for certain. Something to verify perhaps.
Like most Ravenclaws, Leah had a very large tolerance for rambling, and found her outburst of semi-poetry rather refreshing. "Don't stop on my account Leo-lass," one eyebrow suggested that he wasn't sure about the name either, but was going to try it anyway. "If we're all friends, and a mile-wide is a mile closer, a bit of extra doesn't go missing." Leah tapped his chin thoughtfully, he could have executed that better.
"But if we're being businesslike, I'm Leah Valentai." He gave her a second to digest this -perhaps seeing if she'd heard of him before, you never knew- before playing his part in the conversational dance. "So are you a fearless lion or some beast with fire?" Queried Leah, using some of her own words to develop a theme to the conversation.

"Why, I'm neither, Leah-sir!" she grinned toothily. "I'd rather be a lion than a fire, a man than a lion, and a woman than a man!" she giggled. "And don't give me an eyebrow about my name. It's Leo, Leo, or Leo, if you prefer." a glint of honest amusement glittered in her eyes. "Coming from a boy named 'Leah,' I think that our names are as respectable as bread and honey!"

A sudden creak from the train startled Leo. She pulled her knees into her chest, breathing steadily. "Oh, it figures that this would get worse. If a mule is stubborn, let him be. But if a horse, wait 'till he gets worse." Closing her eyes and counting softly to ten, Leo rocked steadily back and forth. Then, her eyes snapped open. "But I'm as rude as a prude and funny as a duck. Leah, what year are you? I'm a first year, green as grass."

Leah chuckled at her progression of preference, enjoying the idle wit of the young girl. "It sounds as if you have your wishes all granted. For I see no flame, no mane and no male particulars- did you wish on a star?"
There didn't seem to be any particular rhyme or reason to this exchange, but Leah fancied that it was as much as to distract Leo from her claustrophobia as it was to pass the time. And it wasn't a bad way either.
"Am I a boy? Maybe I'm that little something inbetween, a bit of both; not quite either." Of course, he wasn't the most masculine person around, but that was him just playing for time in this odd little whimsical conversations. Her comparison to bread and honey was untouchable however, that wasn't something he was going to poke at.
It was nearly a universal law the honey and bread went well together. "Quack, quack, quack. Three little ducks went out one day, over the hill and far away. Mother duck went 'quack, quack, quack,' and four little ducks came back."
That was perhaps, terribly pedestrian of Leah, but he was gambling on the girl to either have no knowledge of the nursery rhyme and hence have no priors when she heard it. Or either she was and the message was obtuse enough to be seen in the rhyme. He'd been away for three years, and this was his fourth one. Maybe it could have phrased it better, but he felt the reversal was important for clarity.
Or as clear as it could be, it seemed that being obvious wasn't the aim of the game here.

Leo grinned wide and laughed. "Ducks are merely pawns to time - do they come, will they shine? Each is different, each is fine; but watch their footsteps, worth more than dimes." Then she frowned. "I didn't like that at all." Quirking a lopsided smile, Leo said, "I owe many things to a certain person. Who is it? Not a star that granted wishes, just a friend that flick the switches." Leo shifted her legs, feet now settled on the ground. "As for you? Well, I think that you're a Leah, of course. And me?" She laughed. "My ducks, I fear, are small and few - only one, not even done."

Leo smiled mischievously. She liked the way Leah played his conversation. But she, too, loved the game. "A pair of lions in the distance, left behind their cub with kisses. Cub goes forth, brings a torch, venture to far off north. Back at home, beasts will feast. Wait to hear of their cub's feats. Lion, one, blood called pure. Two - blood, dark as her fur." Leo looked at Leah. "Now what do you think?"

The riddle, like the game, would be difficult. Leo only hope that Leah would not mind her blood status. Leah looked like a pureblood - sharp features, that nose - but Leo would only wait to find out.

Poetry, to Leo, were second nature. Riddles were the obvious follow of poetry. From a young age, Leo had spoke in rhyme - it flowed like the wind through the trees, or the river's current. Smooth, cool, fresh - like water gems falling from a cliff. Beautiful things.

Leo wondered idly if Leah would remain her friend once they reached Hogwarts. Was she too strange, even in a world full of magic?

Leah waved his hand to as a mime of 'clearing the board' to so speak, as if her words had been etched in white chalk on a pleasant green field- hovering in the air between them.
"Some works come, and go too fast. But in that speed there is beauty, and in the absence there is spacious imagination. Take two back, three forward. Make like a triangle and go full circle: all that really matters is where you start."
Possibly the less clear and more meaningful of his statements, Leah hoped the message came across readily enough.
"If I were to attribute my life to a thousand different faceless men, I'd spend a year and a day counting in the hay. So why not label it all unto a grand puppetmaster? We're all actors on his stage. Call it square with him (who else will listen?) and we'll put it on the title page."
Leah chucked at the comment about her ducks, "Listen briefly, a duck may lay two eggs, a pair may lay five, but keep them all a secret and all alive. Nothing is more confusing then the roads of life, and thirty dimes is well paid if it buys you a map." He wasn't sure about that one, it felt a little weak.

"Blood is blood, and water is water. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust- we're all in the same boat of blood on a sea of brine. Why waste time keeping it all in line? Mix and match, let Darwin have his game." From her own little sprout, Leah had decided that Leo shared his blood status, so he pulled in a bit of knowledge only one who'd studied some Mundane texts would have. Study of evolution wasn't really on the Hogwarts curriculum.  
That said, he didn't outright state his muggleborn (or 1st gen magi) status right off the bat. That'd be more then a little crude for this softly crafted game.

Much like Leo, poetry was familiar to Leah. He was brought up on a stage, all manner of works were read and recited around him. He wasn't as good at it as her (he might have been a better competitor on his own first year due to more recent practise and exposure, but he had let that side of his education in the arts slip somewhat) but it was still familiar enough that he didn't feel lost in her prose.
It would be interesting to see where the Hat placed her. Come to think of it, the baggy old thing needed a name. Stanely came to mind, but it seemed like Hat did a good job as well.

"Goodness me to skies and heavens," Leo giggled, "It seems my game is no longer mine to stay." She offered her hand. "I will concede this match, sir-Leah," she said, "But the game goes on - battles and wars - time seems long, and the lions roar." Putting a finger to her lips, Leo added, "though patiently."

Sitting back in a lax hold of anxiety yet content, Leo's eyes twitched at the doors. Their endless grasp of shadows seem to grasp hold of Leo again, and she shook violently. She jerked her head towards the window, starring cautiously at the rushing landscape. "My parents are poets," she said, distracting herself from darker things, "We used to start everyday with a new rhyme. How did the rules of the game come upon you?" She smiled. "Perhaps your friend Darwin taught you?"

She was not sure of this "Darwin" character, but he certainly seemed like a interesting fellow. Honestly, he sounded just like the purist purebloods who wrapped themselves in delusion and ignorance. Leah did not seem like this - if anything, he seemed more of an inventor than a conformist. But no matter the views, Leo decided that Leah seemed a good sort.