A Quiet Ride Solo Closed

A Quiet Ride.

Date : 30th of June

It didn't take long for Cain to pack his things, his frog cards stuffed into a flowery tin and hidden in between his school and dress robes. A jar of chocolate frogs were nibbled on before the rest were release at the Slytherin table at lunch, each of them hopping this way and that and onto the plates of his peers. Some were caught, others were probably still roaming the hall until the summer heat would likely melt them away. This small act of chaos and general chocolate mayhem might've made him smile, but not today. The rest of his things were put away in short order, his school books, quills, parchment and notes to study over the summer. He then sat on his bed and stared at the bed not to far away from him in his shared dorm. It was empty, as if no one had been there at all.

He felt a clutch in his heart, but his face was blank. It wasn't long now until they had to go, he could have his luggage brought to the train early, find an empty or mostly empty car and read the one book he put in his satchel until he got to London where his mother would be waiting for him. He did not want to go just yet, he wanted to stay until the last minute. His friend had gone and in his place there was an emptiness in his heart. It had been his own fault too, he hadn't kept close enough or spent enough time with him. In his mind, there was always "later". Right after he was done with this or that, then he would spend time with him and his other friends. Schoolwork was harder than he thought it would be, on top of managing Prefect duties, time had simply gotten away from him. Maybe not so simply.
Now there was no more time at all.

His friend was gone. What was the use in making friends if he couldn't hold onto them? He stood up and shuffled over to the bed. His roommate was the one to make the most efforts, but you could only push a boulder so far up a hill. Cain placed a crow feather quill onto the pillow, then dragged his feet to find a house elf to help him with his trunk. He would use magic to do it himself one day, but it wasn't that day today. The halls and stairways seemed longer as he walked down them, hardly paying any mind to his surroundings, students running by, those who had been late to leave on accident rather than on purpose. What would happen if he missed the train? He didn't really care. His mother would probably blame the professors for not getting him there on time, he couldn't have her breathing fire on them because of him.

Cain made it to the train with little trouble, his small back and shoulders ushered and hurried into it while being simultaneously admonished with the rest of his peers for being so last minute. The words might as well have fallen on deaf ears. Everything around him seemed gray. The weather was pleasant, warm with the rare bit of sun that this country was allowed to have, but to him it might as well not be there. Just gray, gray, gray. He shambled along, some students moving out of his way only because he'd left his silly Prefect badge pinned on, of course some moving into his way for it. There were always students who delighted in being in trouble and trying to mess with the first year Prefect. Next year would be different, or so he told himself.

Almost all the cars were filled, of course, but he managed to find an empty seat close to a window and sat down into it. He greeted his fellow students politely before sticking his nose into his book to politely avoid them save for the stray questions of "What are you reading?" and the answering "Oh." when he told them. They didn't really care. It was like some sort of ritual to ask a reader what they were reading if ever they sat beside you with their book. It meant nothing. The ride home went much like this, starting in awkward quiet until the other students beside him got into their own conversations about Quidditch and the Spring Ball disaster and forgot he was there at all. Cain faded into the seat, occasionally looking out the window to check their progress to the station, listening to the clickety-clack of the rails underneath them until every sound too was tuned out and he was left with his thoughts, staring at the page of his book without reading or taking in the words.

After a long journey, they'd all made it safely to the station. He was last to disembark from the train, waiting until everyone else had left so he wouldn't be packed into the hall like a sardine. Whoever his fellow passengers were in their shared car, he'd already forgotten their names and faces. When he stepped down, he saw his mother, Deirdre Corvus, dressed to the nines as usual and waiting with a tapping foot by his luggage loaded onto a trolley. She had a look of tense impatience on her face until their eyes met and it washed away into a softer smile she usually reserved for him at home. Cain wondered if the loss he felt was written somewhere on his face, he thought he was keeping it well under control until he saw her expression. But then, his mother was always perceptive of him, for better or for worse. To her credit, she did not ask about it in that crowded train station, merely collected him and helped him push his things along until they could get out of sight of muggles. Cain wasn't sure he'd want to tell her either, but at home he'd have to give her something.
And he would.