Speech -- Thoughts

"Be careful with the sweets. Don't quish them."

"I know dad." Pam replied grinning, tugging at the covered box, which her father was still holding firmly, "Dad!"

Asher Graham let it go with a sheepish smile, tugging the girl into a hug, "Sorry! I'll just miss you." Pam giggled, melting into his father's arms, "I'll be back for the holidays," she reminded softly.

Her father shook his head and let her go, patting her back, "I know. Be safe." He threw her a warning look, "No catfights." Pam frowned, "That was ONCE! And it wasn't even my fault. Besides, we're friends."

˚₊‧꒰ა ♡ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚

She was finally, finally returning to Hogwarts.

She was super excited to enter into the new year. Her holidays had been pretty good. She had spent time with her father, and then the summer camp had come around, which had been equally fun. Admittedly, Pam had wished she'd had more time at home. It was alright, next year, she'd spend the entire term break at home!

She walked through the not-yet-crazy-crowded corridor, looking for a mostly empty compartment, preferably with a familiar face. It was only a matter of time before both her prayers were answered. She smiled as she spotted Amelia. We had shared a compartment last year too. Except last year, she had found me.Pam shook her head at the thought. Who would have thought that they would've remained decently close friends throughout the year.

She grinned as an evil idea came to her and she sneaked up (to the best of her ability) to the girl and looped her arms around her in a tight hug, "Amelia! Amelia!" She grinned childishly at her friend, "I've missed you!"

Before the girl could reply though, a sudden loud squawk drew Pam's attention to Lumi, who she had left in her cage, restricting the doorway. "Right sorry." She muttered, stepping away from Amelia, "Hold on a second," she quickly pulled Lumi's cage into the compartment, flashing the people outside a quick apology and then turned to Amelia again, "So! How were your holidays?"

Finally, platform nine and three quarters again. Amelia knew at least half of her friends spent their summer vacation at school, attending summer camp. Everyone was having fun, while she was stuck at home, babysitting her sister or seeing her cousins. She spent two months away from her friends... and now she'd have three months to get back with them until the next school break.

But not being with her friends during the summer wasn't what really worried Amelia. It was the fact she couldn't recall some of her best friends’ faces. All morning long, as she prepared her trunk and did her ponytail(which took three tries), Amelia tried to imagine what her friends would look like after a long summer.

Maybe tanned, or perhaps someone had cut their hair short, or even a new hair colour for those who dyed it. But not only could she not imagine the ‘new’ faces— she couldn't even recall some of the old, familiar ones. She did remember the names, much to her own surprise, but still, the fact she couldn't just imagine her friends as before was uncomfortable, disturbing even.

Taking a deep breath, Amelia shook her head, trying to banish the thought away. "Bye, mom," she turned back, giving her mom a quick, tired hug, which was returned with a kiss on the cheek and another ‘make me proud’ speech that Amelia filtered out immediately. For some reason, her mom decided they should get to the train station early. She claimed it was because of her job, but if she really needed to run, then Amelia could've just gone with her dad. Although he did seem a bit off this morning...

Shaking her head again, Amelia shifted her focus. All she wanted was to find a compartment and sit in it, wait for her friends, and start the year smoothly. "Bye, mom," Amelia repeated herself, stopping her mom's monologue. "Right. Goodbye, sweetie," her mom sighed in reply, but stopped talking and let the now-second-year board the train.

Amelia had no trouble finding an empty compartment. She sat down cross-legged, and watched the compartment entrance as students passed by. Every now and then, Amelia would perk up, thinking she saw her friends rushing past the door. But she couldn't call them— she couldn't know whether it was actually them. Desperate, she slid lower in her seat, hoping for a miracle.

All she wanted was for her friends to find her, preferably Pam. With a sigh, she turned to the window, readying herself for a really sad ride, when suddenly everything went black— warm hands covered her eyes, and a familiar voice called her name. "Pam!" Amelia exhaled in relief as she was wrapped in a hug, letting out a breath she didn't realize she was holding.

"I missed you too!" Amelia exclaimed, smiling as she turned around and hugged Pam back. She was so, so lucky Pam had found her first; it could’ve been really awkward... "This owl isn't giving you a break, eh?" she grinned, watching as Pam hurried to fulfill Lumi's wish. "Well, my summer holidays weren't all that interesting. Mostly at home or at my cousins'. The muggle side was surprised to hear I was at a boarding school for almost a full year," Amelia was sitting much more comfortably now, her posture relaxing, her eyes no longer threatening to spill her feelings. "How were yours, though? You went to summer camp, right?"

𝑰𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 & 𝑴𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈: @Pamela Graham, @Ruth Fairchild| 𝑳𝒐𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏: Hogwarts Express| 𝑫𝒂𝒕𝒆 & 𝑻𝒊𝒎𝒆: Sep 1st, 2025

—Long time no see—
𝕽uth Isolde Fairchild stood upon the platform of 9 and 3/4, watching the Hogwarts Express chug into the station. The gust of wind lashed at her face, causing a cacophony of coughs to resonate from her siblings, huddled close to her.

The second year (second year!) Hufflepuff adjusted her grip on the box of cookies, beaming as the train shuddered to a stop. She couldn't believe it. Time had passed so fast. Ruth could hardly comprehend the fact that, just a year ago, she had been standing on the same platform with an innocent, curious gaze in her eyes, awaiting a world she had never once stepped into. Now she was doing it all over again.

Squaring her shoulders, she took a breath and turned to face her family of five, mustering a confident smile. "Well, this is it," she had barely begun before she was ambushed by three pairs of arms, each wrapping around her torso tightly. Ace, Rita, Aaron. Despite the attempt to keep things light-hearted, Ruth couldn't stop the tears welling up in her eyes as she hugged her siblings back, all the while making sure the box of treats didn't get crushed.

"Do you really have to go?" Aaron muttered into her hair, and she chuckled lightly, pulling away from all of them. She gave him a knowing smile, and he sighed dejectedly, gently tugging their younger brother away from Ruth's waist. Rita returned to their parents' sides, each teary-eyed. "Please don't wait until Summer to visit us again, Ruth."

Ruth rolled her eyes playfully before grinning. "Alright, alright." She stepped into her parents' embrace, letting their warmth seep into her skin for the last time in the next few months. "I love you guys." The train shrilled, a cue for Ruth to take her leave. Before she departed, however, she bent down in front of her youngest brother, producing Mandy, the pet rock graciously gifted to her by a very dear friend. "Ace," she spoke softly to the five-year-old. "Take care of her for me, okay? And please stop giving Aaron random pebbles." He nodded meekly, clutching the rock with wide eyes. Leaning in, she gave her brother a peck on his cheek, ruffling his hair as she whispered for him to chase after her compartment, just as he had the year before that.

Straightening up, Ruth grasped onto the handle of Sol's cage just in time to hear the final call for students. Whilst juggling the box, the cage, and her trunk, Ruth hastily bid her family goodbye and clambered onto the train, fingers slipping against the heavy luggage as she began the strenuous task of finding a place to store her trunk for the rest of the ride. Damn it, this is what happens when you take too long saying goodbye. One would have thought that a two-and-a-half-hour drive should be enough to bid farewell.

Ruth wiped a brow and gave up momentarily, plastering herself to a vacant window to cheer at Ace, who, obliging to her wishes, had begun scampering after his older sister, Mandy, held up in his small, squarish fingers. Oddly, they reminded her of Jan. Sol gazed up quizzically at her solemn face, the change in demeanour peculiar in his eyes.

"Amelia!" Ruth perked up at the voice, glancing around wildly. Palm sugar. It was a name that easily slipped off her tongue. There was no mistaking that voice, one she had grown used to within the past year--her best friend. In avid excitement, she hoisted up her belongings once again (cue squaking Sol, chiding Ruth for her reckless tendencies) and moved towards the direction of the voice. Though it hadn't been a while since the two had last seen each other, the thought of seizing a compartment and resting her aching arms was enough to propel her forward. She was in such exhilaration, Ruth had forgotten the name that had left Pamela's lips.

That is, until she peeked through the compartment glass and noticed Amelia, chatting away. The sight brought out a surprised gasp. She hadn't seen Amelia in so long. It looked as though the Slytherin had grown. Her hair seemed to have grown longer, though it was hard to tell with the ponytail. Her eyes...what was that? Ruth had blinked, and the moment was gone. She could have sworn-

The hand that had been resting on the handle slipped as the train lurched forward, causing Ruth to yelp and lean her body against the door. The entrance slid open and the Hufflepuff stumbled in, almost tripping on her feet. When she gained her balance, Ruth stared awkwardly at the two, embarrassed by her entry. "Er, sorry, hope you don't mind," she mumbled. Ruth took the momentary silence of shock as the opportunity to store her trunk away, propping the cage down next to her and her box of cookies on her lap. Those must have dealt some damage in all her tampering. Ruth was a little scared to open them up now, not after all the hours of baking them together with her parents. Best address the situation at hand.

"Right. Hello, you two, how have you been?" She nodded at both, grinning. "Man, it sure was bloody hard to find a place to sit. Thank goodness I've got you two, huh? Oh!" Ruth peered out of the window to find that the shift for the Trolley Witch had already begun. "Would you guys like anything? I myself am planning on purchasing a couple of chocolate frogs."

.

Speech -- Thoughts

Pam felt she was practically vibrating in her seat with excitement as she half listened to Amelia's words. She had not seen the girl in so long! They had exchanged letters, of course, but still the joy of physically meeting each other had been missing. A flash of a little something in Amelia's eyes made Pam pause, what was that? Did she not recognise me? but that wouldn't be true, since she had clearly just said her name. Pam shook her head, perhaps she had imagined it.

Amelia was asking her some questions, and Pam focused on those, despite the light discomfort that had settled into her stomach. The mention of summer camp lit her up, "Oh yeah, I did! Now that you mention that, I had bought..." She turned towards her bag, aiming to take out the seashell bracelets she had bought from the Arts expo, one for her and one for Ruth. She had not had the good luck to bump into her best friend at Camp. She couldn't wait to see her in-

The Almighty apparently had a different plan in mind.

A series of crashes (read two) foreshadowed the girl's arrival to the compartment, as the door slid open and Ruth Fairchild stumbled in, in all her chaotic and rather disheveled glory. Pam blinked in surprise, grinning at the girl as she greeted the her and Amelia.

Wait... her and Amelia?

Pam's head swiveled between the two girls, "What? You two know each other?" It was true that the two had met during the Twisted Tavern, but as far as Pam had seen, they'd barely interacted with each other. And suddenly, what was this? They were best friends? She pointed between the two, "Like, you're on talking terms with each other?!"

Pam's excitement was contagious, and soon Amelia's cheeks ached from smiling nonstop. There was something... odd about how Pam answered, though. Amelia couldn't pinpoint it. Eh, maybe it was just because the train started speeding ahead, or because of those loud sounds from the corridor. Shrugging inwardly, Amelia dismissed the thought.

However, the girl remained curious as to what Pam had bought, since the noises from outside got closer and stopped Pam mid-sentence. Another student fell into the compartment, interrupting the two friends' reunion. Looking towards the door, Amelia found none other than Ruth Fairchild standing there. Silence stretched in the compartment like a lazy cat, throwing Amelia off balance. Instead of replying with a nice 'hello', Amelia just stared, wide eyed, as Ruth put her trunk in place and sat down, chatting away.

Ruth was nice, sure, but Amelia still felt a little guilty about their teeny tiny incident back in January. They'd never had much of a chance to talk about what had happened, though they did see each other every now and then. Up until now, Amelia hadn't fully addressed it yet. She couldn't understand what Ruth felt about it; was she secretly mad, waiting for revenge? Had she truly forgiven her?

Should she be upset, since Ruth just stole precious time with her friend? Or perhaps, she should accept this calmly, and then they'd be equals— she stole a nice afternoon from Ruth, so Ruth would steal her friend for a few hours. No big deal, right? Better set this for once and for all, instead of keeping track of it forever. Besides, who knows, perhaps Ruth was entirely over it at this point.

However, before Amelia managed to think of what to say, Pam saved her, breaking the silence. As much as it could be considered a save... Now they'd have to address the situation. Amelia opened her mouth to say something, anything, but no words came out. What could she say? Closing and opening it again, Amelia let out a quick: "Yeah, uh, we met," her words slurred a little, not quite fitting together. "We know. Each other," she then added, not sure whether she'd said too little or too much. "How have you, er, been, Ruth?" Amelia had no idea what the girl had been up to during the summer. She'd exchanged letters with Pam, but there was no regular correspondence between herself and Ruth.

𝑰𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 & 𝑴𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈: @Pamela Graham, @Ruth Fairchild| 𝑳𝒐𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏: Hogwarts Express| 𝑫𝒂𝒕𝒆 & 𝑻𝒊𝒎𝒆: Sep 1st, 2025

—What a talker—
𝓣he moment Pamela’s grin slid onto her face at the sight of Ruth, the Hufflepuff thought everything was alright. That was, until a look of shock seeped onto her best friend’s face, as though the mere thought of Ruth greeting Amelia, knowing Amelia, speaking to Amelia, was far beyond her imagination.

Her offer to treat the others to some sweets was left unanswered. Hm. Nobody seemed particularly interested in the Trolley Witch. Ruth cast a reluctant look towards the lady, then back at the girls, then back at the lady. Yeah, no. She was not missing the opportunity to collect more cards and expand her ever-growing mound of duplicates.

Ruth glanced towards Amelia. She seemed a bit stumped by Pamela’s query, which Ruth personally thought was already a silly question, so it made sense. “I…” She placed the cookie box aside momentarily, “...shall be back to answer both your questions.”

And with that, she gently slid the compartment door open, leaving it ajar as she poked half her body out to intercept the lady just as she was about to pass by. “Three boxes of chocolate frogs, please!” She chirped, already sliding silvers onto the wooden tray. The Trolley witch beamed, and the interaction came to a swift end as Ruth slid the door back shut. She had barely sat back down when the first chocolate box was unwrapped, her hand immediately fisting around the leaping confectionery and beheading the frog. “Of coaf ah know ha,” she mumbled with her mouth full of chocolate, absentmindedly fumbling with the flap to reveal her card.

Darn. A bloody Morholt. That was the third duplicate she owned. She swallowed the remainder of the chocolate, then tried again, “Of course I know her,” she explained to Pam. “It’s hard not to after a year of seeing each other. Hogwarts isn’t that big, you know?” Ruth sat back down, tracing her fingers on the picture of the Celtic. “But yeah, like what Amelia…said…” Stuttered, really, she thought to herself. “We know each other.” She smiled at Amelia. “Thanks for asking. I’ve been great, actually!” And then she went on a blabber, talking about how she had gone home to a family who had missed her very much, baked cookies, caught up with everyone, escaped a bunch of bullies as she went to buy some fresh Muggle books…

“Summer Camp was fantastic. I’m a bit gutted by everything that they’ve provided, but I definitely don’t regret it.” Ruth tapped her fingers against her cookie box. “I’m glad to be back at school, though. If the holiday had been any longer, I’d have been bored out of my mind.” Ruth began opening the second chocolate frog box. “What about you, Amelia? I don’t think I saw you around camp. What have you been up to?”

.

Speech -- Thoughts

Pam shrugged at the girls' rather predictable replies, vaguely realising that the question itself had been rather silly. Oh well, nothing wrong about it.

What she did notice, however, was that Amelia seemed rather awkward around the girl. Ooh, I smell gossip. She'd be sure to ask sometime.

Or now.

"How did you guys get talking?" She asked, watching as Ruth filled her mouth with chocolate frogs. She grinned as she caught sight of her card, what was probably her fifth copy of Morholt. "That reminds me." Pam lifted the covered box onto her lap and opened it, "I brought some sweets I made at home so— oh?"

The fact that the sweets were prettily packed contributed to her momentary surprise. Her father had clearly taken some creative liberty with the packaging, and besides the macaroons, muffins and brownies she had made herself, the box had tiny pink roses which Pam guessed were her dad's handiwork. She eyed the sugar roses curiously, when did he even make those.

He should get into baking bridal cakes.

She blinked up at her friends, "Well um, would you like any?" She held out the box to the two, waiting for them to take their pick.

The other two were moving way too fast for Amelia. She was still somewhat tired, and everything all around her still had some weird sense of oddness. She couldn't bring herself to think of it now, though, if she wanted to catch up with Pam and Ruth.

As she followed them with her eyes, it felt like a race, her against their bubbly presence. It wasn't that Amelia didn't like bubbly, she herself enjoyed being such, but the situation had simply thrown her off.

Ruth was running out and back into the carriage, with even more sweets and talking quickly— Amelia managed to catch some of the things Ruth had been up to, and even nodded to show she was listening(was she really, though?). And then there was also Pam, talking excitedly and inquiring about Ruth and Amelia's connection, offering sweets as well.

It was much easier to accept Pam's sweets rather than Ruth's cookies, as Amelia felt more comfortable with the former. Amelia expressed her gratitude and took a muffin, appreciating the design internally. She always knew Pam had an artistic side, but this was gorgeous, she thought proudly.

Now that her was mouth busy, though, answering questions was much harder. Amelia just shrugged and mumbled something along the lines of "Mmm I dunno", replying both to Pam's question earlier as well as Ruth's current one.

It was relaxing, actually. Just sitting like that, eating, and listening to them talk. She should just be friendly, for now, right? Pam was here, anyways, so things should be okay.

"Glad to hear y'all've been good," Amelia managed between bites, calming down and getting comfortable. "Good to go back to Hogwarts, eh?"

𝑰𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 & 𝑴𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈: @Pamela Graham, @Ruth Fairchild| 𝑳𝒐𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏: Hogwarts Express| 𝑫𝒂𝒕𝒆 & 𝑻𝒊𝒎𝒆: Sep 1st, 2025

—A little more—
𝓗ow should one describe the happiness of childhood and carefree innocence?

Ask them about their thoughts on sweets. 

Should their answer follow something along the lines of… ‘always got space for candy’, well then, folks, there you have it. The epitome of a child’s life–the ability to stuff themselves full of chocolate frogs and still have enough space within their queasy stomachs for a little more, especially if it’s treats offered by your best friend’s father, from your best friend. Or maybe that was being a little too specific. Perhaps it was simply describing Ruth’s string of thoughts that piled one on top of another as she beheaded yet another chocolate frog, only to chew halfway through and be gifted the opportunity to select through an array of delicacies. 

As mentioned before, there is always room for more candy. “Whoa,” Ruth breathed as she leaned forward to take a closer look, plucking a brownie out after Amelia had a chance to pick through for her own consumption. “These look amazing, Pam. Thank you.” For a moment, Ruth felt a twinge of inferiority over the lack of variation within her cookies. This she squelched, though she slid the box slightly further away from the two of them, insisting that the cookies were for ‘later’ and they should simply enjoy Pamela’s prepared treats while they were at it. 

“Did you by chance make these all by yourself?” she asked, chomping into the brownie before moaning in pleasure, discreetly brushing the crumbs accumulating on her robes down. “They taste just as fantastic as they look.” And Amelia seemed to agree, judging from her easy swallow of the muffin in her hand. 

Her judgment fizzled out shortly after when she appeared evasive of how they had met. Ruth stared for a moment, a hint of a frown perched on her face, one that she hid by angling her turned down lips towards Sol. 

Ruth never found Amelia to be someone as boisterous as her. Within her eyes, the other often seemed less reckless and was often more reflective than not. Yet, there came the extent between sociable and closed-off, and Ruth had a niggling feeling that a problem that surfaced long time ago was still simmering despite the chance in systems. All of a sudden, it felt rather awkward. Come to think of it, it wasn't like Ruth could remember either. Why should she feel so uneasy? It doesn't matter if the two felt the same towards each other, would it? Embarrassed at forgetting where they had met.

"I read, somewhere, that if you're good friends with someone, soon enough you'd even forget where you guys met." Ruth rummaged through her robes and fetched another owl treat before grinning to herself. She saved a glance towards Amelia, leaving it there, before continuing, "Yeah. It's great. I'm excited." Not everyday that Ruth would ever utter those words. "There are always things within the walls of Hogwarts that you would never get to see beyond it."

.

Speech -- Thoughts

Pam pouted as her question was dodged by the two girls with what could be called ninja-level skill, Amelia giving a vague and evasive answer and Ruth smoothly passing over it with a phrase about close friends that entered through one ear and got stored away in some part of the brain labelled "to be interpreted". She would do that later on.

But they weren’t informing her about the gossip. I want the gossip dude. Hogwarts was vast and she hadn’t expected the two of them to have met, but this awkwardness? This was next-level weird.

The curiosity had killed her resident cat already, but the answer if ever came would probably resurrect it and then some others. Whoever had said that curiosity was not the thing to engage in did not discuss with cats. Or Pam.

She tilted her head, her eyebrow arched. "So… did you normally get this awkward with each other or I am just lucky enough to witness a historical event?"

Her friends devoured the sweets and Pam felt very pleased by their approving murmurs, so she quickly popped a sugar rose in her mouth humming like she had just discovered magic at that moment. "Well, not exactly," she said to Ruth. She chuckled lightly and felt slightly guilty inside."I built it with my dad – mostly because he and I were short on time so we had to pack an hour of prep into only thirty minutes. It was… intense. Like, bake-or-die intense."

Taking a brownie too, she bit into its chocolatey goodness as Amelia finally broke the silence and spoke in voice that was carefully light.

Pam chewed on the inside of her cheek as the two girls chatted; she watched her friends with a quiet interest and just a touch of apprehension. Hopefully, they weren't in some strange accident or anything. It didn't look like an argument—it lacked the tension, malice, and 'look at me and I'll end you' in their conversations—but still… Hogwarts had a way of surprising you.

"It feels so good to be back," she said, as she settled into her seat with a contented sigh. "Truth be told, I really missed the magic, for sure."

Turning to Ruth with a smile, she said "Oh! By the way, I signed up for the Gender-Neutral Dorms this year, so remember that if you need me—not Badger Bungalow."

Then she was intrigued by something else. She looked over to Amelia, with just a small tilt of the head and an arched brow. "And… what kind of dormitories do you have, Amelia? Are they… well, chaotic?"