Chocolate Frog Friendships Closed

Masika stood in the cramped train bathroom glowering at her reflection as she worked to wash soot off of her olive skin. Of all the compartments she might have chosen, she had to end up in one with an immature group of brats that wanted to play Exploding Snap. With a faulty deck. That nearly blew the small space off of the train.

"Already off tae a good start..." the muttered to herself. She looked down at her teal cardigan and sighed in exasperation, "Ayyy... pour que yo?" There were patches of soot in three different places and Papi and Baba had only just bought the sweater for her to help her deal with the colder climate. She sighed and gave cleaning herself up as a bad job. She'd have better luck waiting until she got her dorms, and most of her skin was clean at least.

Masika turned around in the tight space and stepped back into the hall to where she had left her trunk. She leaned over and picked up the belt she had wrapped around one of the handles, before she used it to continue dragging her well-worn traveling trunk along behind her. She thanked the gods that Baba had the foresight to charm it lighter for her, otherwise she probably would have had to leave it in that disaster of a compartment that she had left earlier.

She made her way down the hallway, passing several full compartments, before she found herself held up behind a rather noticeable head of red hair. Given that she couldn't really make her way past the girl while toting a trunk as she was, she leaned forward to peak into the compartment that the girl was standing in the door of, noting that it was about to reach capacity if this girl joined it as well. She ran her fingers through her thick black curls, trying to gauge if she might be able to politely squeeze by, before she concluded it would probably backfire.

Well... her parents had told her to try and make friends, she supposed. "What's all this then?" she asked, her voice carrying enough to be heard by those in the compartment, but not much more. She moved forward until she was standing within a couple feet of the girl, her dark brown eyes taking in the scene. More to be polite than anything else, she spoke again, her accent an odd mix of a subdued Irish lilt and at least one other language, "Is everythin' alright?"

Aravis noticed looking rather uncomfortable with the thought of being used for a spell. Aravis had planned on using both of them so they wouldn't be shocked when they had it done to them. At this point she was unsure if she should even do a spell. "It's actually Aravis, not Avaris." She corrected Sariel with a hint of sadness in her voice. She began to think she wouldn't make a friend by the time the train ride was over, as per usual. 

She sighed before speaking again. "Sorry Louis...I'm...I'm not going to do any magic actually. I don't feel well enough, it could effect the spell somehow, I was told not to if I was getting..." Getting what Aravis? Getting angry? Is that what you were going to say? A voice in the back of her head echoed as she trailed off speaking. This wasn't going as she had planned. Second year was supposed to be a fresh start for her. "And Sariel, it wears off after a few seconds or two. By the way, you'll have to cast it on yourself at school. Just so you've been warned." Not to long after she spoke another girl poked her head in. "Everything is fine, care to join us? I'll be leaving shortly to find my twin." Aravis said with a slightly sad smile. She felt like it was time for her to leave. She no longer felt welcomed, other than by Louis who had been entertained with some sort of butterfly earlier probably missing the whole situation. 

Well, Marianne did not expect the older girl to stare at her with such anger in her eyes. Frightening the way she changed the aggressive expression to a calm one that bordered on sociopathy - opinion of a child who grew up reading and listening to tales of terror of the older brother. The redheaded girl had been paralyzed for a moment and could not divert the attention of the white-haired girl. She wanted to retort that argument that was nothing more than an excuse to cast spells, but her voice did not come out. If she had not been so bad for being abandoned by her brother, Marianne would have started a discussion and possibly a fight. She was ready to retreat and try another cabin just to avoid greater chaos, but she heard the girl suggest Rictusempra. She made a grimace of indignation and still in the door Marianne gestured at the other two in the way they had managed not to accept such a spell - not that she would be noticed by that movement, of course. She did not know the enchantment and imagined that the others there did not know either, so it sounded very dangerous to realize it. Of course she wanted to see it all happen and it looked like fun, but... Now the redhead did not want the white-haired girl to get her way.

Before interacting with the other two from inside the cabin, Marianne felt that she was disturbing the passage from the corridor to a brunette with beautiful curly hair. "Oh, I did not mean to be rude." She was taller than Marianne was, so she looked up with a sympathetic but slightly sad expression.

The only boy inside the cabin waved and Marianne returned the gesture, but only went to sit in the cabin when the other girl named Sariel invited her to do. Then the redhead sat before her in the cabin. "Thank you." She thanked the black-haired girl, and a more amiable smile came over her face. "My name is Marianne." She introduced herself a little more at ease. The butterfly also caught her attention and Marianne was delighted to look at her and could not distinguish the spell of a real insect. Shortly after that she indicated the vacant place beside her for the girl still standing at the door and waved for her to come. "Come on, there's still a place for you too. Your bag looks heavy, do you need help?" She offered cordially before Sariel asked Aravis a smart question. It was not a question that went through her mind before and it seemed very important to undo the spell once it was released.

Then the white-haired girl looked uncomfortable, apologized, and announced that she might go out to meet her twin. "H-Hey ... Aravis ... I did not want to get in the way of casting the spell or even being rude, I was actually worried you might get hurt. My brother once tried to cast a spell on our house and set fire to his own room, as well as being warned by the Ministry not to do so while he was not old enough. I did not know that was allowed here." Although she had felt bad about the way Aravis had treated her at the beginning, she would feel worse if the girl left now that she had sat in the cabin.

Aravis listened as Marianne spoke, she seemed nice enough but Aravis wasn't too sure of her. She nodded listening. "I understand, I can see why you were worried. It' was just a sneezing spell and the other was a tickling charm we learned at Hogwarts. I apologize for exploding, I'm schi-" She stopped speaking again. Would she want to tell these people that was bi-polar, schizophrenic, and had multiple personalities. She wasn't sure. That might run them off even more. "I'm a very tense person. It was not my intention to lash out at you." She said with a small yet upset smile. The only reason she was tense was because her upbringing. Everything that could go wrong in a kid seemed to be happening to Aravis. 

She took a deep breath to calm herself down a bit, feeling as if she was going to explode for no reason again. She had already manage to weaken any chance of friendship with Sariel it seemed. Marianne seemed sweet enough, but she was still unsure, Louis didn't seem to react to Aravis's outburst- which was a thing she was glad for- and then Masika missed the whole thing almost. Maybe there was still somewhat of a chance...or so Aravis hoped. Frankly the white haired girl couldn't miss any chances at friendship.

Hmm... a wish? What did he... oh! "I wish for chocolate. Lots and lots of chocolate!" Louis spreads his arms out as far as they could go to show the magic wish butterfly just how much 'lots and lots' of chocolate was, before turning his attention to matters that were slightly less concerning than getting chocolate, but only just.

"Awww, it's okay Aravis!" Louis says from where he was seated next to Sariel, sending the three girls the biggest grin he could as he waved hello to the two newcomers. Everyone at hogwarts was just so exciting! He couldn't wait to be better friends with them! "Everyone gets a little awkward sometimes! You don't need to do anything, just sit down and we can talk!" He leaned forward to pat the seat across from him in an invitation for her to put her butt right back where it was, before his joyful gaze slid over towards the two newcomers he had waved at.

"Hello! I'm Louis! Come on in, there's tons of space!" He calls to them happily, bouncing in his seat. These new two seemed so cool! He hoped they could get along well, as friends were the best thing ever! ...well, maybe aside from chocolate, but the point stood. A school was only a school if you had friends to share it with, and he was more than interested in tying himself down with a group as large and as exotic as this one. Think of all the fun they could have at a magic school. It would be like something from a dream, or a book!

At the new girl's story about his brother, he laughs almost awkwardly loudly, something about the boy setting fire to his own room while trying to do something else tickling him in just the right spot to have him leaning on Sariel's shoulder. "You're... You're funny." He manages to chuckle out after he had come down, small giggles shaking his entire body as he waved his wand like it was some sort of pointer, peering around the girl to see the new-new girl. "There's space for your case too! Mine was super heavy, but it's all good now!"

Sariel giggled at Louis' wish on the butterfly with a nod of approval. "A lifetime supply of chocolate sounds fantastic." The boy seemed to like his sweets and she made a mental note to offer him some of her mother's special Hot Chocolate Fudge treats she made around Thanksgiving. She had promised to send them since there would be no going home for that holiday and they were Sariel's favorite.

At Aravis' correction on her name, Sariel gave the girl an apologetic look, her brow pinching together. "Sorry about that, you have a name almost like my friend at home. I guess I just mixed them up because you're both pretty like that and...well...sorry." She wouldn't allow herself to be homesick yet. There was too much to look forward too!

Immediately, that bubble was burst in a quick exchange between Marianne and Aravis which ended in the red hed joining them and the silvery-haired girl expressing a wish to leave after an at least sincere-sounding apology. Sariel wouldn't exactly have called it exploding so much as being a bit of a brat, but at least she apologized properly this time. That thought lended to another. Maybe Aravis was just awkward? How many weird an unexplainable apologies had she had to give to her muggle friends?

Shrugging casually to Avaris, she put her wand down. "You don't have to show us anything if you don't feel like it and you don't have to leave either. I have a deck of playing cards in my bag. Maybe we can play? What do you think, Louis? Aravis?" Her eyes shifted to Marianne and the new girl with the unruly black hair. "You two are welcome to join too....Marrianne and...I didn't get catch your name?" To show her invitation was sincere, she smiled and slid closer to Louis who didn't seem to mind being squished a little since he was already leaning on her shoulder a bit. Not that she minded. He was nice enough and the compartment would be near full if the tan girl decided to join them.

"Everything is fine, care to join us? I'll be leaving shortly to find my twin."  

"Come on, there's still a place for you too. Your bag looks heavy, do you need help?"

"Hello! I'm Louis! Come on in, there's tons of space!"

"There's space for your case too! Mine was super heavy, but it's all good now!"

"I have a deck of playing cards in my bag. Maybe we can play? What do you think, Louis? Aravis?"

"You two are welcome to join too....Marrianne and...I didn't get catch your name?"

Masika stared at the group feeling vaguely overwhelmed as they all chattered away, though she didn't miss their invitations. Her dark brown eyes that looked black in the train's lighting darted between the cluster of children, not sure who to answer first.

Adults were so much easier. They just didn't seem to talk nearly as much, and she felt like she had stumbled into several conversations somehow occurring simultaneously.

After a brief moment of indecision, Masika shook herself inwardly and pulled her trunk closer to the door, "Help would be appreciated if you don' mind..." she trailed off, eyeing her trunk with no little trepidation. "The trunk came with a feather-light charm an' expansion charm, an' my Baba spelled it with another feather-light tae help, but 's still bulky an' not exactly weightless..." She sighed inwardly as she realized she was babbling away.

Get it together Masika...

She tugged the trunk forward using the belt as she stepped into the compartment, subtly analyzing the inhabitants. They all seemed so... young. Of course, so was she, but still, the oddity of being in a confined with so many children would still take some getting used to.

A thought flickered at the edge of her consciousness and after a moment she realized with embarrassment that she had yet to introduce herself, "Lo siento, where are my manners? My name is Masika Morales." She worried at the inside of her lip for a moment, before a realization struck her, "Ah, an' if that's Exploding Snap... could we not? I've still got 'nough soot on me from a messed up deck earlier..."

Despite her arrogant and pampered traits, Marianne did not usually treat people without warmth. In fact, too much education made her annoying when she want to provoke someone. In Aravis's case Marianne's tantrum passed as soon as she saw her so fragile. It was not in her nature to attack anyone in that state. She was not a coward. "I can understand it now that I know you are an explosive and sensitive person. Try to control your anger, Aravis, because you can get involved with really bad people and they can be more dangerous as well." Like everyone with a more rational personality, Marianne just wanted to alert the obvious.

As a way to establish a "peace" vow, Marianne picked up a chocolate frog box and held it out to the white-haired girl. She did so with a nice smile on her lips. All because the other girl had apologized. Which made everything different and less conducive to fighting in that cabin. The redhead then looked around at each one there and thought about how diverse the school would be on an even larger scale. Her mother had warned Marianne to respect the various cultures at Hogwarts and her father tried to shove in her mind that Slytherin and Gryffindor did not have to be enemies. This, of course, because he had the mindset of a Hufflepuff. Would she be able to maintain relations with all of them? It would be so cool!

She did not know what to feel or think of Louis's opinion, but she thanked him with a confused smile. "Thanks?" When she was invited to play cards, the girl nodded. "Of course! Why not? My father taught me Muggle card games and also some wizarding games. Not that I'm good at playing..." She had an unexplainable bad luck for that sort of thing. Always, always, always losts. She was not sad for always losing, in fact it was fun the feeling of always starting over and maybe next time... Win. And it was always wonderful when she won, since she usually lost!

Simultaneously as she responded to Sariel's invitation, the redhead stepped forward to help the another girl with her enormous trunk. She held onto one side of the trunk and stared at Louis as if she spoke in absolute silence: "Will you help me raise this?" "Masika... What's in there, a Hippogriff? Your whole room? I did not bring so many things... And my mother also left my trunk lighter..."