James' suitcase was packed, his dorm cleared out, and endless leftover homework papers stuffed in some desolate corner of the universe.
James was really going to miss Hogwarts. Over the last 9 months or so, he had had the best time in his life. Maybe except for all of his encounters with fires the last year, he wouldn't have changed a thing.
After breakfast, it was time to board the Hogwarts Express back home. At Platform 9 3/4 the Hogwarts Express had looked hopeful and friendly. Now in Hogsmeade station, it was a bit more bittersweet. The train would be taking him home, away from Hogwarts, his friends, and the magical world. But, he would be coming back for his second year, and then the train would take him back. Something about this experience reminded him of Narnia.
James made his way through the bustling crowd of graduated first years. He was looking around for any familiar faces, hoping to not sit alone on the way back home. He was starting to realize how many people there actually were in this school, and how it would only grow next year and the years afterwards. James thought it was odd and unbelievable that next year and the years afterwards, he would be part of the older crowd. 
A smile played across his face, but not just because of the thought. Standing on tiptoe over the sea of heads, he thought he saw someone.
"Hey, *~Name~*!" he called...

Marissa had stuffed everything that could possibly fit into her bag. Clothes, books and even pictures she had taken with her. Probably all broken since Marissa North was not known for her talent of packing. Tugging her luggage along with her through Hogsmeade station, she wondered if Claryssa would show up or go with her other friends. It would be nice to sit with her twin sister since she barely knew anyone else. Mari only made one friend really, met some others but they probably had forgotten her by now. Zoning back, Marissa realised she was surrounded. Being socially awkward and selectively mute did not help in this situation.

Trying to get through the crowds, she gave awkward smiled to whoever she bumped into and then tried to quickly walk off. A few older students gave her dirty looks as she accidentally hit them her with her luggage, in which she just scurried off in hope that they would not hex her. As she tried to travel through the overbearing crowd, Mari heard her name being called out. Claryssa? Maybe another Marissa?

She tried to go up on her tippy toes and look for whoever it was, which slightly failed since she was not the tallest. But finally she saw who it was. James! Marissa looked relieved as she found someone she knew. After a few awkward smilihh and many whispers of sorrys to whoever she bumped into, Marissa made it to James. She waved awkwardly to him and looking around nervously as they waited to aboard the train.

James' heart leapt as Marissa made her way towards him. She smiled and waved, and James smiled back.
"Hey!" James greeted. "How ya doing?" he asked. He had to speak a little louder than normal because of the chatter around him. At least he didn't have to full-on yell.
"Come on, let's get inside!" he encouraged, still smiling. There was a train door close by, and James reached for it through he crowd. He managed to make a space for Marissa to climb in. 
James gestured for Marissa to enter. "Ladies first." he said jokingly.
He then saw how much Marissa was struggling with her luggage. James still had one free hand, so he reached out to help.
"Here, let me take that for you." he offered.
He didn't want Marissa or anyone else to possibly trip and fall over some heavy luggage. Plus, he was in a good mood, so there wasn't any reason why he shouldn't offer help.
"There'll probably be an empty compartment we could take, because a lot of people still haven't boarded yet." James said hopefully. "Maybe we'll see your sister or someone else!" he said encouragingly. He realized that Marissa was probably overwhelmed by the huge crowd.

She did a thumbs up, giving him a nervous smile as the loud chatter between them continued. Large crowds were definitely not Marissa's strong point, she would probably have to work on that over the years. She giggled slightly as James joked about ladies first, trying to act like a gentlemen when opening the door for her. Marissa continued to try and pull her luggage along, wincing whenever she felt like she was hitting someone with it. Luckily enough, her knig- .. Marissa stopped instantly because that thought was extremely childish and weird. Anyways, James helped her with her luggage which was she thankful for. Mari nodded a thanks to James as they got onto the train with their luggage. Marissa check if her outfit was alright, her yellow dungarees and her top seemed fine so far, since Mari wanted to go simple. She looked down the isle of the train, trying to find an empty compartment for them. So far they were full with other students, chatting about what it was going to be like when they got home.

Home. Marissa had written barely any letters to home, and she still had to find Claryssa. Her twin had basically been MIA the entire school year, only seeing her a couple times during the year. She was probably off with her new friends, but it still would have been nice to see her. But anyways, Marissa continued to try and find an empty for herself and James. Would others have to join them? Did James even have any other friends? Not in a rude way of course, but she had never really met any of them. She frowned slightly to herself for a moment before putting on a smile. They continued their search!

After Marissa was aboard the train, James followed, lugging along the luggage (pun very much intended).
James heaved the trunks onto the train and then climbed aboard after them. He picked them up off the floor with both hands and slowly started wading through the narrow train hallway.
“There’s one.” James said, gesturing with his head because his hands were weighed down by the two suitcases. “It’s all empty.”
James waited until Marissa stepped inside before he did as well. He managed to hoist the trunks up onto the rack with just a little difficulty. It wasn’t too hard, but his face was slightly flushed when he sat down.
“Whoo…” he exhaled. “Wow… those were heavier than they looked.” he said, laughing a bit.
James bounced lightly on his seat opposite of Marissa, as if testing it out. In reality, he was excited. The train ride to Hogwarts at the beginning of the year had been exciting for James, but for some reason, sitting here with his friend, the train ride back home was even more exciting. Maybe he was just excited to come back next year, he didn’t know…
“Heyo!” James said, waving to Marissa with a smile, even though he’d already said hi to her. He laughed, and then asked, “How are you doing?”

They arrived at their own compartment! Marissa was glad to be away from the large crowd with all the overwhelming noise. She sighed in relief as she sat down on a seat, making sure to be next to the window! Mari was hoping to take some pictures of the landscapes with her camera, hoping to show her parents and siblings once she got home. Marissa snapped out of her trance as James waved and smiled, saying hello again. She raised an eyebrow towards him with a slight smile, wondering why he was introducing again. Mari waved back either way, finding it slightly entertaining.

After a few moment of hesitation, she did a thumbs up. Marissa was sligtly nervous to go back but had decided to put on a brave face for everyone. She nodded once back to James, as if telepathically asking how he was doing even though he probably did not understand. They had not really caught up after the dance at the Owlery, probably too busy packing and preparing to arrive home. Mari smiled slightly at the memory, possibly one of her best even though it happened after a tragic moment.. which she would not like to be reminded of. Either way, she was going to enjoy riding back to London with a friend.

Marissa performed a little nod to James, and James understood it as "What about you?"
James nodded back in response. “Good, good… I’m doing alright.” he said. James looked out the window at the crowded station, and then looked outside their compartment door. The train corridor outside was crowded too.
“I didn’t realize this until later,” James started, facing Marissa, “but that night up in the owlery? When you said ‘goodnight’ to me, you didn’t stutter at all!” James had a huge smile on his face as he said that, because when he first met Marissa, she didn’t speak at all, and when she started to talk to him, she stuttered all the time. So this was a good change! He was honestly proud of her.
Then, he realized he was probably embarrassing her.
“Oh, but uh, I don’t mean to embarrass you… just, good job!” he said, nervously laughing a bit. He didn’t know what to say after that… he hoped he hadn’t just ruined the atmosphere. Maybe if he really did just ruin the conversation, it would restart happily when the snack trolley went around.
James hadn’t had a bunch of wizard money on the train ride to Hogwarts, so he hadn’t gotten a real taste of any of the wizard sweets. A part of him really wanted to try some of them, but first, Marissa.

Marissa smiled slightly as he mentioned about the dance and how she did not stutter. Mari was pretty proud of herself as well, as she did have a miniature celebration herself. She turned and faced James, nodding and smiling. Glancing outside for a second, she then turned back to James. “It.. has.. been a-a challenge.” She said slowly, trying to get each word out fully. Marissa only stuttered once, which was a huge improvement for herself. She felt pride as James felt proud of her as well, it really did show how far she had come since the beginning of the year.

Marissa glanced outside again, watchimg everyone else get into their own compartments. She was surprised on how no one had asked to sit with them yet, since there were so many of them. Mari shrugged it off by thinking of what to do now. She smiled instantly and went through her backpack, trying to find something. Marissa giggled when she found it.. two chocolate frogs in their packaging. She slowly handed James one before looking down at her own. Marissa had tried to have one before, but it ended up running away before she could have it. She smiled down at it before looking at James expectantly.

“It.. has.. been a-a challenge.” Marissa said. James looked back up at her, and saw that she was smiling proudly.
Oh, good… James thought, She’s not embarrassed.
James smiled back at Marissa. He was so proud of his friend.
“And you’re rocking it.” James told her, referring to her saying that it’s been a challenge.
Marissa kept smiling as she reached inside her bag. James craned his neck to try and see what she was doing, or what she was getting. Marissa emerged from the bag holding two chocolate frogs.
“I swear, you can read minds.” James joked, laughing with a bright smile. He accepted the package as she held it out to him, and he examined the pentagonal box.
“I actually haven’t had any of these yet.” James admitted. “What exactly are they? Just chocolate molded into the form of a frog?” James had a sneaking suspicion that whatever this sweet was, it was definitely more than just that. By now, James knew that there was going to be some kind of magical trick to it.
“And, I’ve heard something about cards that come with these?” James asked. He was holding the box up, looking at it from all sides. He was eager to open it, but he was slightly afraid that it might explode in his face or something.

Marissa slowly opened her own and a small croak would be heard. She giggled and then quicky showed James the ‘alive’ chocolate frog before eating it. It seemed weird to eat it, since it seemed alive. Mari shivered slightly at the thought and ate the rest. She looked inside the box to see what card she got. Circe! The ancient greek witch that used to turn sailors into pigs. She smiled and then showed James, pretty proud that she got her the first time. Since Marissa was muggleborn, she was experiencing things for the first time a lot.. especially recently. The sweets, food, drinks and magic!

She tilted her head as James examined his, she found it weird that he never knew about these even though he was a half blood, must have been kept a secret. She shrugged it off and looked back outside the window. They were still at the train station but mostly everyone had got onto the train. She expected that they would be setting off soon. At least she had not messed up since she got on the plan, no accidents so far! Claryssa was probably sitting with her other friends, so Marie guessed they would have to catch up later.