☽⦙ Date | Whenever The Train Ride Is, 2023 ⦙☾
☽⦙ Thread With | @Xailah Alptraum ⦙☾
☽⦙ Hex Code | #810B2D ⦙☾

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There had not been a tearful train send of for Dori since first year, and for that they were grateful. It had just become normal to do the drop-off at Platform 9 3/4. While their parents still accompanied them, and they still waved goodbye to each other, and their dad still looked like he could break at any second, it was normal. Train plans had not been made this year, no friends had decided to meet up on the fourth compartment in the second car on the left. Dori simply boarded with Buttons in tow on their shoulders and found an empty compartment to rest in. Their backpack was filled with sweets, books, and sadly no Nintendo Switch which they were already dearly missing. The muggle-born couldn't help but yearn for the brightly colored Animal Crossing, besides a train ride was the perfect amount of time to re-do their entire island.

For now they were content to watch outside the window as the train slowly picked up pace and they left the muggle world once more. No matter how many years it had been, their heart still ached for leaving that behind. There were parts of Dori that they felt like they left at home every year, that couldn't be shown to the wizard world for fear of being considered weak or a lesser than wix. It was second-year when Astrea had taught them about the concept of mudbloods, and their own blood being considered tainted by others. While they had never really taken it to heart, there were still fears that couldn't help but creep up the back of their skull and enter their consciousness. Especially with the OWL's coming up this year. Various tests to see just how wizard-y they had become.

It took a physical shake of their head to erase the thoughts from their mind for the moment, the school year hadn't even officially started. They pulled out a milk chocolate aero bar and a book about divination and settled it on Button's back as he had comfortably curled up on their lap. He was the best worst book rest as he could decide he no longer wanted to fulfill his duty and slide off with their book in tow.

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@Dorion Anderson

The Hogwarts Express journey was one of the few routines Xailah had come to enjoy from her time at the associated school. Tedious as the ritual was, it provided brief closure to a cycle that was otherwise dolorous and challenging for some. Perhaps for the darkling lioness, that was where appreciation laid. At least she could count on the train to provide an end to one question, where peers failed to. For now, she was content with the meager answer of migration that it offered.

The day she realized she was old enough to go to the station without the supervision of her parents, was a strange one. Independence and a hollow feeling of loneliness had accompanied her, standing in place of where her guardians should have been; one sensation took her right hand, while the other guided with her left. It was then she understood what life was going to look like going forward; and so she let those two phantom forces lead her onto the train. She only spared a look back once.

That day had been many years ago. Two? Three perhaps?

Time and age whittled away at that initial nagging feeling of disquiet, leaving behind wispy, paper-thin shavings of a memory. First-time anxiety became another notch in her adorned belt of inconveniences overcome. Xailah would find herself there again, like she had many times before: standing at the landing of the express stairs; the congestion of bodies moving around her like a unstable current of fish. And although that reminder of her first unattended departure was just a mere ghost of an imprint on her mind, she still, to this day, habitually glanced over her shoulder to see if someone... anyone was waiting there to say goodbye to her.

She would have been better off looking for ghosts.

Having grown used to the taste of this routine in particular, she knew the motions; and so she boarded the train silently, with only her luggage and beloved cat in tow. Bodies parted, like fissures through ice, making small paths for her to move between. She skillfully snaked through the walkways as they made themselves known, until she finally came upon a compartment that offered temporary refuge from the crowds.

Finding a cubby that wasn't too cramped, was the closest thing she ever had to a plan whenever the train ride was in question. The lioness tucked into the little space as quickly as she could, to avoid an anticipated outpour of peers also seeking their own spaces to claim. Xailah hadn't gotten a good look at the other person in the compartment before entering, but now that she was inside she could take them in fully.

Carefully setting her luggage to the side, and unhanding her feline friend, she gave the other passenger a quick once-over, or rather, what was meant to be one. She'd find her eyes lingering a little longer than intended. "Hallo?" The lioness offered, her voice carried by a note of distant familiarity. She'd meet her peer's face with an analytical squint, knowing she had seen them before- and not just in casual passing.

Her eyes glided over the head that once sported a waterfall of gold- no- pink- hair. Those long tresses were no more; dandelion tufts of pale sunshine now stood in their place instead. Ah, but before she could place a name on that fair face, Xailah's attention would be taken by the other cat in the compartment: a tangerine fellow, curled comfortably on his keepers lap while they used him as a book stand.

"Do you mind if we accompany you and your friend for a little while? It is still rather busy out there." The Gryffindor cocked her head to the compartment door. If there were to be any protests, they would come too late, for Xailah was already situating herself by the window with Schrödinger having already claimed his seat nearby. "Scrödinger and I will be happy to leave once the fuss has died down, if you are waiting for someone." She assured with a light nod.