Alex was standing next to his brother and uncle in front of the big train, the Hogwarts Express. He was practically clinging to his brother. Adrian looked down at Alex with an amused smile. "Hey kid, you'll be fine. The people are really nice there." he said. Their uncle looked at the two brothers with a smile. Alex let go of Adrian to hug his uncle. Hee-jun chuckled at his nephew's behavior. He hugged him. "I'll miss you buddy, try to remember your English." he said. Alex nodded, still not saying a word. He walked back over to Adrian and held his hand, still terrified. His brother was also a bit amused. Alex usually never did this unless he was really nervous. They boarded the train together and a bunch of Adrian's friends were already there, greeting them. Alex knew all of them, for they came over a lot. There was Emma, she was a blond girl with green eyes, Emil, a boy with red hair and brown eyes, and Faith, a girl with brown hair and blue eyes. His brother had blue hair and dark eyes, and he was perfect to Alex, unlike himself. He had black hair, brown eyes, delicate features, and pierced ears, once on one side and twice on the other. His brother gave him a smile. "Would you like to join us, Alex?" Emma said. Alex gave a small smile and shook his head. "Thank you Emma, but I should probably find some friends," he said. They all nodded and walked away from the other boy, Adrian giving him one last hug. He sighed. Truth was, he did want to go with them, but he didn't want to be the tag-along brother. He walked down the middle of the train, stopping at one of the empty compartments to sit down. He leaned on his elbow and looked out the window.

Ruby's parents hadn't come. They were always busy, always working, always leaving her and never actually got to know her as a person. She felt a little bitter towards them at this point. This would be one of the most important days of her life, at least around these years, and yet they couldn't even take her, couldn't wave to her when the train pulled away. Of course, it wasn't anything new to her. However, she did find a small bit of malicious satisfaction in knowing that the house she was convinced that she belonged in and would be put in was the very house her parents wouldn't accept. Slytherin. From the bitterness she was feeling towards them, it could be assumed that Ruby was a bad person. No. That was incorrect. Her parents had been abandoning her for years, unwittingly driving her to begin disliking the things they believed in and stood for.

That morning, her parents never even wished her off properly. They had sat down with her during the early hours of the morning and had a very serious conversation with her, running through exactly what she had to do and think to get into Gryffindor but reminding her that Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff were still okay. They reminded her not to associate with Slytherins, but if those Slytherins had wealthy pureblood families with good power and influence, then she was welcome to consider it. The best possible friends for her, she was told, were Gryffindor purebloods or people who were extremely kind and brave – people who stood for what was "right", no matter what. They had then checked her appearance, making sure that everything about it was pristinely clean, immaculate, and without so much as a single thread out of place. Ruby's appearance was always as perfect as they wanted it, though. Years of learning the necessity of it had helped her to take it into her own hands and make it a habit. Her hair had been done in a fishtail braid, which was simple enough, and she had argued for that rather than some elaborate crown updo. It did, however, have some little, fake, realistic-looking white flowers stuck into it, which contrasted beautifully with her dark hair.

Ruby had agreed to everything her parents said, of course, but the second she had left their company and got in the car to be driven, any hope they might have had for her following the path they wanted her to would have gone out the window had they been able to see her true intentions. Slytherin was her real home. She had decided that years ago, even if no one she knew from her family was a Slytherin. No matter. She had always prided herself on being a little bit unique, always slightly the odd one out. Not only that, but anything her parents had forbidden her from taking, she had given to her three closest male cousins to bring for her – the boys she grew up with. They were older students in Hogwarts, two of them from Gryffindor and one from Ravenclaw. The second she had arrived at the platform, she had found them. Of course, they had tried to convince her to come to a compartment on the train with them to plan mischief, but, for once, she had refused. She wanted to meet a few new people, ones from her own year. They had insisted on at least carrying her things for her and agreeing to meet up with her later, though, which she had agreed to. They were now boarding the train. Ruby's aunt and uncle, these cousins' parents, had lovingly bid both the boys and her farewell, and were waiting on the platform.

“Hurry up, Rubes!” the oldest of the four, one of the Gryffindors, had urged her with a cheeky grin, beckoning to her as she glided onto the train. Her movements were always smooth and flowing, and she moved silently with a subtle elegance. She rolled her eyes at the boys that were practically her brothers and best friends. “Lead the way, my kin!” she declared dramatically in turn with a smirk, making a wide gesture. The boys' friends called out to them, and they replied that they'd be there in a second. The four family members searched for an empty compartment, and eventually found one with just a single occupant, a boy sitting alone.

“Shall this be your final destination, our fair maiden?” the other Gryffindor asked with the same grin. Ruby nodded. “I believe so,” she confirmed as they lifted her stuff into the appropriate places of the compartment. It wasn't that Ruby wasn't capable or that she was "too good" to do all this herself, no. All four of them knew that this was a one-time offer, however, and Ruby was more than glad to take it. After farewells and whispers of a meeting place, the boys departed and Ruby was left with the much quieter first year in front of her.

“Hello,” she said simply, with a nod of acknowledgment.

Alex jumped and turned around to see four people enter his compartment. Three seemed to be older than Alex, and the fifth was a girl. The girl was very elegant it seemed, and her hair was in a plait. She was very pretty, but of course, Alex didn't like her like that, the boy was gay. Alex looked at himself. He wasn't wearing anything special, all he was wearing was a white beanie, an oversized white long-sleeved shirt, black skinny jeans, and black boots. He saw the older boys put up the girl's bags and suitcases while she watched them. It seemed like they were joking around, though, so Alex didn't take it seriously. He watched the three boys leave the compartment and he was left with the brown-haired girl. She said hello. He gave her a friendly smile. "How do you do?" he said in a soft voice. He wasn't necessarily shy, it's just he was nervous. He gestured to the seat in front of him as if to say it was okay to sit down, which she probably already knew, of course. He smiled again. "May I ask your name?" he said. He was a very polite boy, to be honest.

After being with her three favorite cousins, Ruby was in a good mood. Maybe she could make a friend – boys were often her favorite friends and she found it easier to be around them, especially as she had never had a crush before so she didn't need to worry about that. Could she drop the coldness for a while to make a friend? Yes, probably, because she was in such a good mood.

Everyone had an aura, an air that followed them, a certain presence. It was shown through one's body language, the way they interacted and treated people, and in more ways besides these. Ruby's was shown mainly through her posture and the way she held herself. For one, she was almost constantly sitting and standing up perfectly straight. Her air was almost a tangible thing, able to be sensed easily. It was one of sharp intelligence, quiet confidence, and strong ambition, determination, passion, and power. It all blended together to make something that lots of people couldn't entirely pick apart. Of course, she knew about this aura from people mentioning it, but it was something that came naturally to her and she made no effort to change it.

The fire in her light blue eyes that was created by these powerful things was normally masked by the cool, calculating, unrevealing part of her. She was constantly analyzing, calculating, and observing. Sometimes she would save an image in her head of a scene and analyze it later, and sometimes she would do it on the spot and gain more knowledge about the people around her or their location. Right now, she made a couple of analyses on the compartment and the boy in front of her.

Some important, obvious things she noticed about the boy in front of her: he wasn't wearing the plain black robes like she was, he had been watching her previously, he seemed friendly enough and polite, and he also seemed a bit nervous. She could cure that, right? No shyness or nervousness here, not right now with her!

However, she did like his soft voice and politeness. It made her feel comfortable, in a way. She returned his smiles with one of her own. “I'm Ruby Cazares, nice to meet you. What's your name?” she said as she sat down. She held out a hand for him to shake.

Alex wasn't really nervous about the girl as much as he was before. She seemed quite kind, so she wouldn't like, attack him. Of course, that wouldn't happen, he just had a weird imagination. The boy was extremely creative, and he loved it. Everyone had to have at least a little bit of imagination in their brains to be happy, or at least that's what he thought. He'd never met a person who was solely based on logic. If they were then they could live how they wanted, he didn't want to control them. He fidgeted with his slim fingers. He could analyze people slightly, but it was based off of their emotions. He could tell what they were feeling and would try to make it better. He wanted everyone to be happy, even if he wasn't. They were more important than him, and he would always help them. Besides that, he couldn't tell. He looked back at the brown-haired girl in front of him. She seemed like the person to analyze people, more than him for sure. She introduced herself as Ruby Cazares. He gave her a small smile and shook her hand. "Pleasure to meet you. Alex. Alex Cheong," he said softly.

~ * ~

Ruby had picked the right compartment, she was sure of it. The boy inside was nice and decently intelligent from what she had seen so far, and he seemed able to hold a good conversation but also up for a quiet ride if she preferred that. She wondered whether to leave him alone and read, or if he'd like to talk. She knew his name now, sure, but she had still found out hardly anything about him. She had easily figured out that he was Asian from his appearance, last name, and accent. Nevertheless, it would be an opportunity wasted to have a learning experience presented in front of her in the form of another person but end up not talking after the exchange of names. With that decision made, Ruby debated what to talk about and what to ask him.

One of the things that came to mind quickly was asking him what house he thought he'd be in. If he wasn't from a wizarding family and hadn't read up on the houses, then she could tell him about them. If he did know about them, then his response could give her an insight into his personality, way of thinking, and desires. By his tone of voice and the way he talked about it, she would probably also be able to discover whether he was excited or not looking forward to it at all. That sounded like she'd learn a lot… she decided to go with that. She nodded in response to what he had said earlier, and then switched topics. “Do you have an idea of what house you'll be in?” she asked curiously.

~ * ~