It was normal for the train ride home to be bittersweet. Of course, everyone needed a break, but George would have much rather spent the whole year at Hogwarts around kids like him. Maybe it was different for the pure- and half-blooded students, but for him, it was insufferable to be paraded around the entirety of his muggle family during holiday. And he couldn't even tell them the truth about anything!

He was borderline failing transfiguration, but he'd have to translate that into muggle. 'I'm struggling with physics,' he thought. George rolled his eyes and lifted his head up off the cool glass of the window before bumping his face into the glass again, and again, like a frustrated fish in a tank. Those little bumps only managed to give him a headache, however, so he shut his eyes and rested his cheek on the window, leaving an ugly smear on the glass.

There was no one but him in the compartment. Of course not. He had no friends. None that he wanted to keep, anyway. Jake and him were not on speaking terms after he'd blown up at him in the common room. Alan was getting the cold shoulder for now, thanks to giving away his story to a bunch of first years. 'Stupid Alan,' George thought, though it was hard to resent someone who had been so nice to him. He was just clueless, like Jake. Ugh.

And worst of all, he couldn't even look forward to seeing his family. Mom and dad had a fight, apparently - or a few fights, if Sam was to be believed - and dad was in London for a bit. Good. Now he'd get to stay a few nights in an apartment he had never been in before and wander around the streets of London pretending he was having a good time with his father. At least Alan would let him stay a few nights.

With nothing to look forward to, George occupied his mind with some schoolwork. Not any that had been assigned, of course - he was already looking through next year's charms syllabus and picking out a few of the spells he wanted to work on ahead of time.

There he sat, alone, muttering incantations and waving his quill around as though it were his wand. What a pity.

Ah, summer holiday. The time for relaxation, for fresh starts, for leaving the past behind and letting yourself be refreshed. As June stepped aboard the Hogwarts Express for the second time, she reflected on how much (and yet how little) had happened since the last time she was here. She strolled through the car, peeking in through the compartment windows, trying to find an empty compartment (or, even better, one with her train buddy, Shawn).

That was it. Her first year was officially over. Well, nowhere to go but up from here, I suppose, June thought to herself. While it wasn't fantastic, it certainly wasn't bad. Still, June was ready for the reprieve of holiday and a second chance some September.

June saw a flash of dark brown hair sitting alone in a compartment. Without taking a closer look, June flung open the door and entered the compartment with an excited and hopeful grin. "Shawn! I've-" June finally got a look at the boy's face. It wasn't Shawn.

"Oh.. Sorry, I thought you were..." June trailed off as she looked at George. Feelings of anger, of guilt, of confusion rushed back into the forefront of June's mind. She'd been trying to forget them, but apparently fate had other plans for her. Well, she had fully entered the compartment, and there was space for her. It would have been cruel to leave, especially with George's downtrodden demeanor. She took a deep breath. "Mind if I sit here?"

June took a seat across from George Henry, doing her best to avoid eye contact with him for a while. She felt the ends of her newly-chopped off hair, missing her plaits at that moment. They were her security blanket of sorts, a constant comfort. But now it was gone in the name of fashion, the name of change. "I wouldn't have said it if I knew the whole story, you know." June finally broke the silence as she rested her chin on her hand and stared out the window. "I didn't mean for... all that to happen."

George put his quill aside as someone entered the compartment. He did not think that this train ride could get any worse, but life always seemed to find away to push things that little bit lower. "Oh," George said, as he was mistaken for Shawn - whoever that was. The boy spoke in monotone. He sustained a glare at her, looking like a vengeful ghost as he corrected the case of mistaken identity. "I am not Shawn."

The girl politely asked permission before she took a seat across from him. It did not seem that she was here to torment, but simply being here was enough to aggravate George. He had never taken well to accepting apologies. The same part of his brain that made him loyal to his friends was very skilled in nurturing a grudge. "Of course. There is absolutely no one in the world I'd rather spend my train ride to London with than June Selwyn," George said. He fidgeted with a book in the stack on the seat beside him. Reading material for a lonely ride.

The boy bit his tongue to hold down the tirade that itched to be launched at her. She was only a baby, and he had wronged her. Sometimes you didn't know how hard you were hitting someone until they really got hurt. That was an easy lesson to learn as a big brother. "You've cut your hair," he observed, trying to plant the seeds for a pleasant conversation amid the inevitable restatement of the worst night of his life. "Are you having a crisis?"

She would not even look at him. And she hadn't even said sorry for anything aside from mistaking him for Shawn. The lack of a simple "I'm sorry" left George speechless for a moment - the kindling all laid for him to blow up, but the girl refused to provide the spark. It was a few moments before his feet his the ground, and he could speak again. "Oops," George said. "Well, now nobody has to wonder. Only asking what's on everybody's mind."

He swallowed and felt his cheeks burning up. But he wasn't about to cry in front of June today. Instead, he put his chin on his hand and looked out the window, mirroring the Slytherin opposite him. He let his forehead press on the cool window, mussing up his hair.

Maybe June should have left. She wasn't sure if the awkward tension between the two would have been better or worse if she had, though. It was a lose-lose situation. This whole thing was a lose-lose situation. And June Selwyn hated losing.

June felt her cheeks flush as George mentioned her hair. "I did." Was she having a crisis? It was a good question. "If I tell you I'm having a crisis, will you hurt me again? Like you did the last time I decided to be stupid and actually be vulnerable with someone?" June felt her words coming out faster than her brain was working. That wasn't good, she was usually very meticulous with her words. An overwhelming feeling of stupidity washed over June as she wiped at the corner of her eye.

"Oops," was that all he thought she felt about what she had done? June's gaze snapped towards George. "It wasn't on anyone's mind, George Henry. I shouldn't have gone asking around, it was stupid of me to do. I shouldn't have even gone to the detention. I..." June felt the apology catch in her throat. "I just don't want you to think that I meant to bring up something like that on purpose."

A strange mixture of anger and guilt swirled in June's stomach. She didn't mean to hurt George Henry like that, only embarrass him. Then again, he had meant to jinx her out of a tree.

"Shawn was my train buddy at the beginning of the year," June said, not fully realizing she was speaking aloud. "He was nice. Told me he was my 'ticket to greatness.'" June chuffed. "Could have used that ticket quite a few times this year. Haven't seen him around, though. I think he's avoiding me." June felt a tear fall down her cheek as she thought about her first friend, who now felt so far away. She quickly wiped it away, not wanting to show George how lonely she'd been again. "His hair looks kind of like yours, I guess. I apologize for mistaking you for him. Maybe then you'd actually spend your train ride with someone you'd rather be with." June slumped in her seat a bit, lacking the energy to keep up her usual posture. Her reputation with George Henry was basically ruined, anyways, there wasn't a point in keeping up a physical facade.

George rolled his eyes. Oh, poor June. Was that really what she thought? George hadn't thought it was that deep of a betrayal - she got to fly into the lake, even though he had learned since doing it that being flipendoed actually did sort of hurt. "Yes, I'm going to flipendo you out of the side of the train," George assured her. "You didn't get thrown in the lake because you were vulnerable. Any more than anyone near the lake is vulnerable, I guess. I just thought it would be funny if you went flying."

He accepted that what he had done was not nice, or right. But he would never accept that it was not funny. Before he could spit out any sort of apology, however, his thoughts were caught on the detention again. "It was on yours," George said softly. "On everyone's now. And I'm meant to believe you... searched around for something to say, came to the detention to say it, and that it was an accident?"

His face turned red as he thought about Alan telling the story again. It felt worse being conflicted than it did to hate somebody. He had meant well, but now everyone would know, which meant that twice as many people would half-know, and twice as many as that would quarter-know. A good bit of gossip never died, it just rose again, like a phoenix. "I would've rather you threw me out of the tree," George said, with a half a laugh. "Maybe next year you can do that and I can dig up the worst thing you've ever done for a bunch of first-years. Then we'll be even."

George spent some time fixing his hair as June mentioned mistaking him for Shawn, looking at the reflection in the glass. "Ugh," he grumbled. His eyes looked so puffy when he was sad. He pulled out a compact from his pocket and popped it open, letting the enchanted puff do its work and start concealing George's flaws on its own. He looked up to continue chatting while being made over. "He doesn't sound like such a good train buddy if he's avoiding you on the train. Might be time to start calling him an ex-train buddy. And don't be such a crybaby. If a dip in the lake was the worst thing that happened to you, you had a good year. Did you bomb your exams or something?"

He offered no apology, and neither did she, for the main incidents on their mind. However, the ice was starting to thaw on George's end. With concerns like his beauty and their grades to chat about, it was a lot easier to relate to June than when she was being a howler about getting thrown in the lake or whatever.

June buried her head in her hand as she listened to George. Why couldn't he understand that she recognized that she crossed a line? That she was sorry? Sure, she hadn't said the words "I apologize", but she might as well have at this point. "Yes, that's exactly what you're supposed to believe. It was stupid, I was trying to get back at you and it blew up. Noted, I'll just push you out of a tree next time." June chuckled slightly, mostly out of embarrassment as she remembered the cold atmosphere in the room after her question. "No need to dig, that's probably the worst thing I've done so far. And it was in front of a bunch of peers that I didn't know. And it clearly upset some of them. A lot..." June shuddered as she remembered McGary's vague threat. June mumbled into her hand, “And just so you know, it was fun. Even if it hurt”

June looked quizzically at George as he let himself be made up. She certainly didn't take him for the kind to care about looks, but clearly June didn't have the greatest record of judging people accurately. “Guess you’re right, he’s not much of a train buddy if he’s only joined me for one train ride.” She frowned a bit as George called her a crybaby. Mostly because he was correct. “The ‘dip’ in the lake wasn’t the worst thing, so you know, because you’re clearly beating yourself up about it.” Her face lit up with pride as George mentioned exam grades. “I actually did quite well in my end-of-terms, actually. I almost didn’t get an ‘O’ in potions, but I managed to pull it off.”

The atmosphere in the compartment began to shift as the tension began to slowly fade away. June didn’t hate George Henry. She didn’t think she’d hated him for some time now, she just was too stubborn to let go of her grudge. “I guess I’m taking applications for a new train buddy, then. If you’re interested in applying…” June looked down at the ground, feeling a bit dumb. She’d probably have been good friends with George Henry by now if things hadn’t panned out the way they did.

George would never have accepted an outright apology - but this casual approximation of an apology seemed to do the trick without forcing him to confront what had gone on between them. It was an ingenious solution, soothing the pain enough that it could be caught and bottled. Stowed away to age and be brought out at a more suitable time. The train ride was not suitable for a confrontation at all. There was nowhere to run but the tracks, which seemed a bit drastic for a problem as small as June Selwyn.

"It was stupid," he agreed with a hearty nod. The girl had more sense than it seemed. He sat himself up straight and smoothed out his hair, looking as prim and proper as he could with his puffy eyes. "Well, if you had so much fun in the air and the lake, you could've done a better job playing along so we wouldn't have gotten detention. You scream so loud. I'm not beating myself up about it. I just felt a little bad I had terrorized you on your first year, since you seem to be so sensitive."

George folded his arms and leaned his head back against his seat. He raised an eyebrow when invited to apply for the 'train buddy' position. "I could apply, if you're interested in begging," George teased. They could both desperately use the friends, but George wasn't yet willing to reduce himself to that. He was adapting quite well to being lonely and bitter. "Well done on your exams. I didn't even get an O on potions... but whatever. OWLs aren't for ages yet, and frankly, I could care less about potions."

He rolled his shoulders, letting out a deep breath and slumping back in his seat, finally relaxed. He perked up a bit, leaning in as he moved the conversation even further from their shared history. "Are you going to the summer camp this year?"

This was probably as close to an apology as the pair would get. George's acknowledgement of June's stupid action was forgiveness enough for her, and she was perfectly fine with never needing to acknowledge the incident ever again. June bit back a retort about how only George had gotten a detention for the whole scenario. "You should feel bad for terrorizing me," June teased lightly. "I'm sure you'd scream loudly if you were kind of painfully launched into the air with hardly any warning."

A soft smile spread across June's face. "Well, I'm not interested in begging, for your information. Just thought you'd want to know." Her cheeks flushed slightly at the praise George gave her grades. "Thanks, I worked really hard..." She spoke softly, almost embarrassed to admit the effort it had taken her, rather than push the facade that everything came easy to her.

"Oh, summer camp? Yes! I'm really excited, it seems a lot more fun than being alone with my parents all summer." June heard the sound of the sweets trolley nearing the compartment, and began looking for the coins she had set aside for the trip "I mean, I love them and all, but when it's just you and them for a whole two months, things can get a bit... Boring." The door slid open, and June marveled at the pile of assorted treats and sweets displayed on it. She smiled, "2 liquorice wands, please. Oh, and 3 peppermint toads!" June handed the attendant exact change (which had been calculated several days in advance), took her sweets, and began to bit off the end of one of her candied wands. "I slept through the sweets trolley last time, you know. You're already one-upping your former competition for train-buddy if you were to apply."

George rolled his eyes as June agreed that what had happened as him terrorizing her. God, first-years were so soft these days. Back in George's time, the only thing that counted as terrorizing a first-year was setting them on fire! A little dip in the lake was the opposite of being on fire. "It wasn't painful," George said, with the careless ease of someone who had never been hit with the knockback jinx in his life.

He'd never been hit with any spell, in fact, doing his best to keep out of the way of particularly psycho wizards. He suspected that'd soon end with him joining the racing team and annoying June Selwyn, though. "And I very rarely scream loudly. It's shrill and doesn't help anyone. You'd have been much better served casting a spell or something. But I guess they don't really teach anything good in first year, you've got to read ahead for the good stuff."

He laughed as she gave genuine thanks at the compliments to her grades. Not to make fun, or anything. It was just so bizarre to have a nice moment like that during what was the most passive-aggressive diffusion of tension that George had engaged in without Ivy. "I wish I had a bit more friends to share a tent with, but Jack's... my best friend, so, he'll do the trick, I suppose."

The sound of the trolley destroyed any remaining unease in the compartment. "Oh, no, I agree. There is nothing to do in Walkerburn," he lamented, digging in his pocket and pulling out a decent chunk of sickles to count out onto his palm. He waited for June to finish her purchases before reaching over her head to grab a bag of every-flavor beans off the trolley, handing over his money and waiting to receive the knuts he was owed from June's collection of exact change. "You buying for the whole summer or just the train ride?"

George returned to his seat and opened up his bag of beans, laying it out on the little table between them that he had been using to read on. He looked across at June and gasped quietly, eyes alight with sudden inspiration. Eureka.

"I have an experiment," George said. No sooner than he had announced it, he had lifted up a copy of The Castle Around Your Bones by Phinehas Selwyn, and began to slam it hard down onto the bag of beans until it were flattened and crumbled beneath. Tossing the book back onto the pile, he ripped the bag away from the solid mass of colorful candy. The beans could still be distinguished, somewhat, although their coatings had all been mashed in to turn it into a single mass. He grabbed it and began to massage it between his hands, mixing it until it was a very unappetizing brown color. He then dropped it onto the table and pointed at it.

"It's the every flavor bean," he said. "If you eat it we can be friends."

Was too," June quickly retorted. Her back was bruised for a couple of days after The Lake Incident.

June felt a little juvenile buying so many sweets after George had bought just the one. She bit her liquorish wand in half, covering her mouth as she chewed. "I just get snack-ish sometimes. Don't come crying to me in a few hours when you're dying for something sweet because you're hungry." June gave him a sideways glance. "Jack... Jack Burnett?" She didn't know of any other 'Jack's, but she found it a bit hard to imagine they were referring to the same person.

An experiment? June watched as George pulled out a book from the stack he had sitting next to him. Hold on, she'd recognize that cover anywhere. Was... Did George read her father's writing? The book clearly wasn't brand-new, as the spine was indented from being open. "Is your experiment asking me about the plot of his next book? Because I swear I don't know any- AH!" June jumped in her seat, startled by the noise of the slamming book. Ah. That was not his experiment. It was probably some random book that he'd grabbed to... June didn't know, maybe George Henry just liked to carry books around? That probably wasn't right. June cleared her throat, trying to move on from her assumption.

June looked in slight disgust as George merged all of the beans into one. "That looks disgusting, George Henry." She thought about it for a moment. "Although, the idea of a true every flavour bean is quite funny..." June stared at the "bean" for a moment, before picking it up and pulling it apart in two. She took the slightly larger of the pieces, sliding the other one across the table to George. "If we eat it," she corrected, "we can be friends." She took the large candy bean, sizing it up. She could take it in a bite, easy. No problem. June gulped. "Ready? One... Two..."