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With the school year having come to an end, Leo was feeling a mix of emotions as he packed up to leave his dorm room. Persephone was hiding under the bed for a few minutes before Leo could finally get her out. "I know you don't want to leave either but we have to go home silly kitty." He chuckled as he held the little black cat in his arm and pulled his luggage behind him with his other hand. Leo had grown so accustomed to his little home away from home that leaving now was a little sad. For the trip coming to Hogwarts he had entered a cabin alone and had one other student join him, now for this ride home he was going to be enjoying the ride with his friends. He was excited to spend the trip with them and knew the time would fly by as their little group talked and hung out. Leo met up with Rosaline, the two were usually the ones who were most likely to arrive places early compared to the rest of their friends so today the two would get to the train first and save a cabin for the others. What was going to be interesting was seeing them try to fit the whole group into the cabin. Were they going to have to basically be in each other's laps or on the floor? Not just that but he knew Perse was going to be wandering around to everyone wanting attention, which he didn't necessarily mind but hopefully the others wouldn't mind as well. Looking over his shoulder at the brunette girl, Leo pointed to the first empty cabin and asked her what she thought. "Here okay to you?" There wasn't much difference between this cabin and any of the others but he figured he would ask anyways. Entering the cabin now and placing his luggage away, it truly felt real that he was going home for the summer and his first year at Hogwarts, the thing he had looked forward to for so long, was now over and he was going to be a second year. There was so much that happened over the year, good and bad, that Leo was suddenly feeling so nostalgic of all those moments he got to experience. He did feel truly lucky to have the group he did though. Without them he wasn't sure he would have had as much fun as he did and he couldn't wait for them to all come together again next year. Once he sat down on the seat, he looked out the window and watched as students were filing onto the train. "I can't believe we are done with our first year." Leo said softly to Rosa as the two waited alone in the cabin for their friends to join them. Persephone had become fond of Rosa, almost as much as Leo himself, and climbed over onto her lap to lay down. Leo just laughed and smiled at the sight, "At this point she is going to miss you as much as I will." He admitted before he could stop himself and instantly felt embarrassed at the words. Leo kept his eyes down, focused on the little black cat as his eyes changed into dark purple.

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location ; Hogwarts Express June 30th ; date wordcount ; 550 Leo has his pet cat, Persephone, with him for the ride ; ooc notes

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mentions ; @Rosaline Everhart, @Frederick Buckley, @Cecilia Merrick, @Erast Yan, @Verity Engels, @Milica Vranekova

Vera had forgotten how much she packed when she first came to Hogwarts, or rather, how much extra she'd brought in the winter break. It didn't help that she only had her suitcases, a severe lack of shrinking spells, and no interest in leaving anything behind lest the cleaning elves decided to throw something that happened to be important while she was off the grounds for two whole months. Not that she believed they would, but the Scottish Highlands were quite the distance from London.

At the very least, she wasn't carrying them alone, not with the levitating spell she did learn during her first year. The bags trailed behind her, floating just a few inches off the ground. A bead of sweat formed along the edge of her forehead. It was hard to believe her first year at Hogwarts had gone by so quickly; among all the daily classes and three meals, she had become a duellist (and a captain, for a short period), secretary of the school newspaper, and gone overseas among many other disasters. She let out a deep sigh. If that was first year, she didn't want to think too hard about what second year was going to look like.

Passing through all the compartments, Vera found two of her friends. She had made a fair few during the year; Leo and Rosa, for one, who were already inside the compartment; @Cecilia Merrick, another musician she'd met in the Rehearsal Room one day; @Erast Yan, a Hufflepuff prefect that Vera had grown somewhat close to. There were others, too, like her roommates during the Tenūsa event earlier this year.

She knocked lightly on the compartment door, then slid it open and leaned her head in. "Hello," Vera greeted them, giving them a big smile, "You don't mind if I join, do you?"

Vera waved her wand towards the upper luggage rack, watching as her suitcases landed one on top of the other in an orderly fashion. Once they seemed secure, she closed her eyes and brought her wand arm down.

She slumped into the seats, letting the residual tension bleed out from her fingertips. She sighed. "What a year."