The Hogwarts Express

Keith almost made another snarky comment, something along the lines of having seen them through the roof with his magical x-ray vision. However, upon seeing the look on the girl's face, he decided to instead tell the truth. He could imagine how it would feel to not know if your family was dead or dying.

"That was more of a generalization actually. I haven't seen any of them, me being on the roof and all, but I can help look if you want."

[OOC: Hey Jackles? Chase is in the Drivers compartment!]

Chase glanced around the compartment, her eyes landing on the person waving his butt at her. And she felt a burst of giggles escape her throat. She covered her mouth, and her eyes found the few in the drivers compartment. "Sorry to interrupt.." She said softly bending her knees and curtsying a bit awkwardly before turning back to Elijah. "yeah.. It'd be good.." She muttered her eyes downcast. Her eyes fell onto the driver and she sighed. One who seemed to have simply got in the way of the demons.

"Maybe just one.. no drinks." She said half afraid to say the word cigarette aloud. Like it marked her as a bad person who smoked. Both of her parents had been against smoking, but ever since her trip to Satin's disguised as Clara Bow, she had been hooked on the stuff. She had quit drinking normally, but she still smoked every now and then. Even with her vow to quit cold turkey. She made sure the siphon the scent off her afterward so that Andrew wouldn't get mad.

Andrew... Chase winced at the very thought of him, and felt the gash seem to deepen in her heart. Which she suddenly hid with a mask, her whole face becoming expressionless. She tried to sort out her emotions, and finally let her face settled on amused as her mind raged war with itself.

"Don't go off with some random Slytherin who promises cigarettes! Idiot! What would Andrew say?!"

"Andrew would say go off on her own, he doesn't care because it's better be with the Slytherin then fighting demons, or Ne'Os, or whatever other stuff is coming at her, save her from herself maybe, have someone watching her, Slytherin is as good as any."

Chase realized right then that she would go with the Slytherin, hopefully get a few drinks. If Andrew thought she was safe with him, maybe she could get him off her mind with a few cigarettes, and some forbidden company.

(Arg! I got mixed up. Okay, Jack started from the back and worked her way up. =D And yes, I am too lazy to edit)

Jack made her way up towards the front of the train, where the real hubbub had began it seemed. Chase and Elijah were there, and Chase seemed to have just accepted a cigarette from Elijah. Jack felt her stomach twist in confusion and irritation. Oh and she had been accused of being changed by Vito. One trip to Satin's and suddenly Chase was a smoker all of a sudden? After all her times with Vito, Jack had not taken up the habit, just gotten used to it.

True, she had been more prone to drinking, but it was only in his company, and it was only when any other person would be throwing themselves off a bridge and drowning themselves. she compensated by drowning herself in alcohol. again, she was exaggerating, she only drank enough to let herself relax and then she promptly broke down.

That was just the way things were.

"Done," she said, to the general company. She wiped the side of her head, which was beginning to perspire and grimaced at the two of them, her procession of the sickly making way to find healers. She sighed and her eyes darted between Chase and Elijah, before focusing her attention on Elijah; she could not look at Chase right now without exposing her anger and guilt. "You guys okay?"

After getting most of the people back into their compartments, Brienne joined Jack, Chase and Eli up in the front of the train.

"So, what do we do now? I've gotten most of the people back in their compartments. One little girl struggled though, but she slipped away from me. I tried to find her but I couldn't. I think she was a firstie. Luna's safe and sound along with some kids that I managed to heal up."

She noticed Chase smoking. "Is there any more where that came from? I could sure use one right now". She knew that this stuff was bad for her, but she didn't care anymore. She drank before she was 17, might as well smoke too. She was also a witch, and since witches and wizards lived long periods of time, she figured she wouldn't be impaired much by a few cigarettes. Also, she wanted to impress Eli, she liked him a lot. He seemed...appealing to her, alluring in such a way that she'd risk losing it in front of him.

She wasn't sure whether she liked that answer better than the one she'd presumed.

"If you like," she acquiesced.

Lucy began walking toward the front of the train, reasoning that most of the fighting had happened in that area, and if any of her family members were hurt, they'd be somewhere up that way. If they were down the back of the train, or by some miracle hadn't decided to risk life and limb, they were probably okay and she'd see them when they got to Hogwarts.

Chase spun around and looked at Jack. Crap, she hadn't expected her here. Not here anyway. Chase realized Jack probably wasn't used to the gore of the train station, and Chase should either, but for some reason it had never affected her. Chase bit her lip and backed away from her slightly, her eyes downcast. "Hey Jack.." She said softly and glanced up at Elijah, half wishing there was a cigarette in her hand, but he hadn't handed her one yet. She glanced him over and then side stepped farther into the compartment.

"We met in the dining cart, helping people." She said glancing at Jack. She hadn't meant for Jack to find out she smoked. She hadn't wanted Andrew to find out either, but she had come home drunk and smelling of cigarette smoke, it was hard for him NOT to find out. But Jack, she hadn't expected to see her right when she was asking for one. And she knew her face was red, and she found herself staring at the driver. Her eyes stuck on the man, her face flushed. Wondering if he had a family, a lover, a girlfriend. His version of an Andrew, or if he was alone, like Chase was now. Suffering after a bad break up.

Chase winced at the memory, and wanted out of the compartment.. NOW! But she took a deep breath in and smiled at the two. "I'm just down a bit.. right side." She said glancing at Elijah, half hoping he would just give her a pack and go, but knowing it probably meant she'd be stuck in a compartment with a Slytherin, and somehow, she didn't mind that.

“Alright! Two and one drink.” Elijah grinned, purposely ignoring what she’d said. He didn’t want to be sober by the time they got to Hogwarts. What was the point? All they were going to do was listen to Majere babble and watch the midgets get sorted into their houses. Elijah just hoped Julia would make sure he didn’t fall down the stairs on the way to the dungeons. If he got his way the bottle of Ogden’s would go down his throat and not even touch the sides. He was tired, hungry and he needed a cigarette again. The first time the first years had irritated him so he didn’t get to finish it. The second time ...he’d been glared at and it had been stolen. Third time was the charm.

But of course here he was, once again finding himself surrounded by women two of whom wanted his cigarettes. He was fairly sure he was going soft in his old age. They wanted his cigarettes so he’d humour then and give them some but bloody hell, if they wanted his Firewhisky then the compartment door would be slammed shut because he needed it. His brain was rotting as he stood and he wasn’t a happy camper. Rob was getting his ass kicked back to Hogwarts when he returned. Bloody idiot. He’d women him up by moving the body and he’d left him with women that wanted his things. The next thing they’d want is his clothes. Now, that route he’d been down and he’d learned from that so he wasn’t going to humour them it if got that far.

“I truly want to cry,” Eli exclaimed dramatically. “you’re all trying to steal my things. I, however, am glad I still have Wilson as a teacher and that prat as my father so I’m quite content.” His ramblings weren’t even coherent but he produced the packet of cigarettes nethertheless.

He took one out and popped it between his lips. He lit it and took another, pressing the two tips together to light them and he handed that one to Brienne. He lit one last one and handed it to Chase with a small smile curving the sides of his lips. He inhaled and took the cigarette from his lips as he slipped the packet into his pocket. He exhaled the smoke and sighed contently. “You know it is really a shame. If the train wasn’t moving and we were all going to die then we could have killed all of the first years and roasted them.” Elijah said thoughtfully. He glanced at the girls and smiled innocently. “I am joking.”

He patted Chase on the head and cocked his head towards the door. “How ‘bout it, love? Fancy a drink? Company is much more pleasurable when it’s....” Elijah struggled for something to say that wasn’t laced with an innuendo and he smiled. “Well, when the company is a feisty redhead that steals my cigarettes. Although granted it is an odd thing. Would have killed anyone else in an instant.” There was one man that was braver than some of the other people he’d known. It was during an art exhibition and he’d taken one of Elijah’s cigarettes. It is safe to say that there wasn’t much left of him, especially when the girls got hold of him. They knew not to touch them, as did everyone else. He had just been naive.

Chase took the cigarette, and glanced at the other girl who had entered. It was getting pretty crowded in the room. She glanced at the door, as though risking just taking the cigarette and running. But the idea of firewhiskey and company, well, it had her standing still, staring at Elijah. The other girl was giving him looks that told her that if she got invited back to his compartment alone, she'd be in the way of jealous daggers from eyes. She bit her lip, and then brought the cigarette to her lips. Inhaling the sweet nicotine, before glancing at Jack quickly.

She smiled lightly and leaned against the wall. "Well, lets just say you don't mess with me I won't mess with you, and I won't have to tell any other teacher about your stash of cigarettes and firewhiskey bub." She said pushing away and making sure she was heard clearly by getting close to him again. Letting the smoke pour out of her mouth and it delicately curled around her head. She grinned at him. "I'd love it." She muttered and moved away from him again, pushing her way out into the corridor.

She knew it was odd for her to be acting this way, in fact she was startled with her own words. But right now, she didn't feel like Chase. The Chase who had dated Andrew Thompson, who had met the man who killed her family, or even Chase who had lost her family at all. At the moment, she wanted to be anything but the loyal friend everyone thought she was. She wanted to be the rebel, and she wanted to find herself alone in a compartment with a tall Slytherin and a lot of alcohol.

Brienne smiled, "Actually, I like your dark sense of humor, Eli. It's pretty funny". She'd have to ante it up, "Well, how about after killing and roasting them, we use one of the heads as a kick ball?" She took the lit cigarette and pressed it to her lips, inhaling the fumes. Man, the flavor of the smoke was unlike that of most cigarettes. These were either high quality, or they just felt better because it wasn't second hand. When in social situations, she hoped others had dark senses of humor as well as she did. That was another blessing about Eli.

"So, uh, anyone want some candy? Or a Firewhiskey? I smuggled a huge bottle of the good stuff in my luggage after Daniel packed it for me. I can go get it if you'd all like." She hoped this offer would make her popular among the people in the compartment.

Jack rolled her eyes at Elijah's words, knowing better than to take anything he said as seriousness, because he was one of those ego-boosting people that seemed to swarm Hogwarts. She did not mind of course, because she would be the first to admit that her pride was almost as large as the castle itself, and she made no attempts to humble, especially when she felt justified in it. Which was most of the time. As in, basically all of the time.

But at the moment, Elijah's cockiness was not a pleasant distraction from memories of tear-ridden friends and hate-filled rivals. She thought his lightness in the situation was rather aggravating, especially because she had not seen him do anything to help the situation. She did not mind if you were simply unable to do something, but incompetent, lazy, and cocky? No thank you, she did not like the combination in this particular setting.

Her irritation was burst when she began to really process the situation between Elijah and Chase and she felt anger boil inside her. Chase was flirting. So much for distraught, dumped Chase. Jack much rather preferred the lying Chase who had hidden her relationship with Andrew to the one who flirted with sleazy Slytherins and troublesome poltergeists. Jack felt her hands quake with anger and she thrust her hands into her pockets, turning to leave when Chase beat her.

She paused; she had no aspiration to follow Chase, but she would not stand being couped up with Elijah nor his fangirl Brienne. She would take her chances outside. She stepped outside the compartment and her fierce eyes focused on Elijah. In a 'don't-test-me-just-enjoy-yourself-here' tone of choice, she said, "Well, you have fun. I'm going to close the compartment door, and I'd love if you would do something right and stay put." She closed the door and tapped the lock with her wand, as she had done with the other compartments before hurrying down the aisle.

She overtook Chase in no time, and as she pushed past her, she could not keep herself from growling under her breath, "It's okay, Andrew's not around. Who's to tell if you and Elijah get cozy, eh?" The snarl sounded half between a muttered musing to herself and a threat, but there was no doubt Chase heard it. Jack quickened her pace to go find an adult and something to do. She needed to distract herself by taking on some actual adult responsibility, unlike the children she had just abandoned.