Closed Dare or Dare Not? PV U. Drake

TIME | 10:56 DATE | September 1st, 2024 INTERACTING |@Ulysses Drake

“ I'm gonna pop your bubblegum heart ” 00:35⠀─── ◉ ───────⠀02:34

X| OUTFIT #B68EA7 | DIALOGUE @Pyxis Hellebore @Costanza Jewelweed @Kaito Foxglove | MENTIONING

The platform was alive with the usual chaos—parents fussing over trunks, younger students looking wide-eyed and overwhelmed, and the sharp whistle of the Hogwarts Express cutting through the air. Ula Takahashi moved through it all with a certain practiced ease, weaving between people without so much as a glance, her hand tightly gripping the leather handle of her trunk.

Her family had made themselves scarce at goodbye—predictably. They'd never been the sentimental type, and Ula had barely exchanged a word with her parents before slipping through the barrier at King's Cross. The farewell had been quick, perfunctory. A muttered "Be good" from her mother, a distracted nod from her father, and a flicker of relief when they didn't linger. It was typical. Normal. And, like most things involving her family, not worth dwelling on.

She stepped onto the train and paused, the narrow corridor already filled with the excited chatter of students and the scuffle of too many feet. Her first years train ride was still fresh in her mind, though not in a particularly interesting way—or was it? One of her compartment "buddies" had a cutting tongue and spent most of the ride tearing into anyone who dared breathe her way. Another had lounged in his seat as if nothing in the world could faze him, deflecting barbs with a maddening indifference. And then there was the one who'd made endless attempts to smooth things over, all painful politeness and placating smiles. She didn't bother remembering any of their names.

For all she knew, they weren't even still alive. A fleeting, morbid thought crossed her mind: What if they weren't? She snorted softly at the absurdity of the thought. It wasn't as if she'd notice, let alone care. Hogwarts was big enough to avoid people when you wanted to—and she was good at avoiding.

The thought trailed off as she maneuvered her trunk down the corridor, weaving through the usual chaos. Most compartments were packed with noisy groups, laughter and arguments spilling out into the hallway. She frowned faintly, sidestepping a small first-year whose trunk seemed determined to trip anyone nearby. Her grip tightened on her own trunk's handle as she moved further down the train, the press of noise and bodies beginning to thin. Finally, a stretch of blessed quiet.

Or so she thought.

As Ula reached the far end of the train, she spotted what seemed to be an empty compartment—mercifully peaceful and untouched. Sliding the door open with a small huff of relief, she stepped inside, only to freeze mid-step.

Two older students were practically glued together on the seat, clearly lost in their own little world, their faces inches apart, lips moving with the kind of intensity that made Ula's stomach churn.

"Are you seriously—?" she started, incredulously, but her voice was loud enough to snap them back into reality.

The two of them jerked apart like they'd been caught with their hands in the cookie jar. The girl, wide-eyed, scrambled to adjust her blouse, and the guy blurted out a string of awkward apologies, his face going beet red.

Ula narrowed her eyes, unimpressed. "What, are you trying to suffocate each other?" she asked, her tone dry. "The only thing more pathetic than this is the fact that I now have to scrub my mind with a Brillo pad to get rid of the mental image."

Both students froze, then practically shot up from the seat, hurriedly grabbing their things, cheeks burning. The girl fumbled for the door handle, nearly slamming it in her haste to escape.

Ula watched them scurry off, her lips curling into a smirk. "Good call," she muttered to no one in particular as she stepped into the compartment, dragging her trunk inside.

She flopped into the seat, leaning back with a sigh of satisfaction.

Honestly, it was too easy sometimes.