Oliver sat in a compartment by himself right at the end. He heaved a small bag onto the middle seat on the left and then proceeded to heave himself up beside the window. He scanned out the window in search for his father, eyes gliding over the dozens of waving wizard parents in the crowds. He eventually found his target and gave a delighted grin, waving frantically out at him. His father, a huge ox of a man, waved back in to Oliver. He gave a modest smile and nod of his head as he raised his hand to his son. That was all there needed to be between the two, Oliver sat back in his chair to relax and Oliver's father just watched the whole procedure of loading students onto the Hogwarts Express. It wasn't long before the trait was packed and each compartment had groups of fours and six. Besides Oliver. Some kids looked in at him and then continued to walk on, others even knew who he was and proceeded to cackle between themselves and tried to push each other into the compartment.
Oliver let out a fat sigh and looked out at all the parents in the crowds. This was horrible for Oliver, he really hoped he'd finally get a step up on the social ladder this school year and he was already lonely, being made fun of and miserable.

Nothing from the regular however! Oliver pulled out a book from his small backpack and hefted it onto his lap. "The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self Protection", he was in the fourth year section, reading ahead as he always did. He had already mostly grasped all of third years DADA curriculum and was starting the fourth year academia.

As Oliver read, he became visibly agitated. Chewing on his tongue and constantly packing his pockets, Oliver was dying to idly eat some candy. He'd phase out at time and imagine wondrous chocolate thoughts. He wished he knew a spell just to fountain chocolate into his mouth.

Oliver sat with just a backpack by him. No pet to be seen. He wore his school uniform, although many kids wore casual clothes, Oliver was too lazy to change outfit later on. He sat alone in the compartment and one often lookup at kids passing. As he got the sense that other students were only going to laugh at him, he begun lowering his head, trying to hide his identity.

Shuffeling through the small train corridors, Nico peered at the different compartments. Gosh, many students today. She had hoped it would be rather empty but ... Guess not.

Dragging her big suitcase, Nico made her way by some students who were giggling to themselves.

'Oh my god... did you see the fatty?' ''Oh my god... Imagine... Our train won't leave because he's too heavy.'' They bursted out in laughter.

'How histerical..' She muttered. The little dhampir rolled her eyes and ignored them. There were some mean witches at Hogwarts, that's for sure.

Her suitcase was heavy and the corridor was narrow. How did she even get that luggage on board? Well, first, her dad helped. Then a boy who seemed to never stop staring at her offered to help a hand. She appreciated it and gave him her warmest smile. She was sure that she saw him turn red.

Nico pushed her way further on the train, peeking at every compartment, but was tired of going forward. 'Alright... The next one... I'm going in...'

Swiftly, Nico opened the door of the following compartment and looked in, swooping her suitcase on one of the seats that was open. With a deep sigh, she rest her hand on the doorframe, catching her breath.

'G-Gosh... so heavy... '

Finally, looking up to see if someone was here, she noticed the boy who... those kids were referring to earlier. 'Oh! I'm sorry... Is.. Is it okey if I... sit here?'

Her face flushed abit red, feeling embarassed about her (what was anything but elegant) entrance.
Atleast she wore her neatly ironed schooluniform in the colors of Slytherin. Well... It was neatly before she had to drag her way through the train corridors.

Oliver saw a flash of green uniform before a loud thud on the opposite chair. He instinctively assumed Erin Ryan and with that, his legs pulled up and he brought the book up to shield himself. The hair, the smaller height... it wasn't Erin! He immediately pulled his legs down and lowered his book right before Nico looked over at him. He tried to act cool, finally a kid who didn't just laugh at him as they passed. Oliver couldn't mess this up. He was going to enter Legendary Bad Boy Oliver mode.

'Oh! I'm sorry... Is.. Is it okey if I... sit here?'

Oliver looked up from his book, a brow raised and lips slightly pouted. This was his woman killer facial expression. As he made eye contact with Nico however, a mouthful of vomit rose up. He slowly gulped it back down, trying to not make it visible. This girl was... generic. As Oliver's eyes settled, he realised his first glance exaggerated the spectacle before him. Oliver wasn't interested in beauty, he could see how she'd be easy to fall for but good looking people were always dumb. Hand on heart the truth, as far as Oliver knew. If they were smart, then the trade off for his appearance to power was completely undermined. The sole purpose of him being gross was the price of being so talented with the wand. Any other belief would completely collapse Oliver's reality and the support he placed beneath his miserable self view.

"Y-y-y-y-y-y-y-y-y-y..." Oliver tried to speak but his stutter was so locked up, he was beginning to sound like a machine gun. He breathed deeply. Savage King Oliver was dead, his whole facade was shattered already, before he even got in one properly pronounced word.
Oliver raised a hand to beckon opposite to him," yes, go ahead," he nodded. He then very slowly lowered his head. He wasn't sure if he could retain the conversation or exit the embarrassment.
Oliver wasn't that much red in the cheeks though, he had been in severely worse situations. This was nothing. He was surprised though that a girl like Nico could be embarrassed in front of Oliver. Girls never got embarrassed before him.

'Thank you.'

She sighed relieved and shoved the door closed. Carefully sitting down next to her suitcase after she pushed it to the side of the window. Glancing at the people outside, she noticed how her father was looking for her to wave goodbye. Swiftly, she got up. Her father had always been a light in the darkness for her. Which might have been ironic, since their... creatures of the night.

Opening the window slightly, she leaned out the window abit. Not too far. She had seen way too many movies about how these sort of things could get you killed. She was that selfconcious.

With a bright smile her father waved back. 'I love you, sweetheart!' 'I love you too! I'll owl you when I have arrived!'

The train slowely started to move. Quickly she slid back in and closed the window. Her father tried to keep up with the train but soon he dissapeared in the crowd of parents and family members.

She smiled softly, feeling mellow. That feeling soon faded as she realised she was sitting in a room with someone she didn't know. Her anxiety was creeping up her spine again. It had become rather quiet and Nico felt as if she had to break that silence. The train had gained speed and the city surroundings of London started to get replaced by trees and open fields.

She decided not to sit infront of the rather large boy because she felt her legs would be in the way. Nico would also feel the dire need to look away as she basicly had nowhere to go. This was going to be a long trip. But... She didn't want to make him feel as if she was ignoring him. Softly sighing to herself she decided she wouldn't start a conversation. He was minding his own business and probably wanted his own space aswell.

Opening her suitcase she pulled out a sketchbook and a pencil. Quietly, she rest her gaze on the paper and let her pen slide across it.

Oliver watched the girl wave goodbye to her father. He didn't have a relationship similar with his own father at all, yet he wasn't jealous. His father was disconnected socially, cold and blunt. He was soft and manageable from the outside but internally Oliver rarely connected with him.

A Slytherin girl. Oliver really disliked Slytherins. He hated most of them too. They were all so... self centered. So delusional in their own ideals. Oliver would banish the house and all its members if he could. Yet this girl.... seemed really bearable. She was quiet and respected his space and actually sat with him instead of passed laughing. He couldn't help but like her for that alone.

The country side entered the view from the window and he gave a slight smile. He was a city boy, rarely left London outside of Hogwarts. Although he had some farmer cousins in northern border England and as a kid would spend time on their farm. They were bullies however, like everyone else. One evening they stole his clothes after tricking him into swimming naked in the river. He then had to hide in the pig sty as everyone tried to find and laugh at him. Oliver slept with the pigs that night, cuddling up to the mother pig with the other piglets. It was the most motherly affection he'd ever received his whole life.

Oliver looked at Nico, then back outside. He wondered if she was one of Erin's bully friends. A huge sigh begin to form out of Oliver's mouth. He pulled his head back and released a massive, groaning sigh. However, mid exhale, a big burp crawled out of his mouth. Hands clasped his mouth immediately and he looked over at Nico.
Was it obvious...? Oliver grew red and he turned to look out the window. He was so rotated in trying to hide his face that his knee was lifted onto the seat and he was turned 90°. Oliver was actually facing the wall at this point, his back turned towards Nico. On inspection, his top was raised at the back and a little, chubby butt crack could be seen emerging to get some light.

The more Oliver thought about it, the redder he grew. He was trying to control his breathing, growing even more hot. Realising he was only raising in temperature, Oliver stood and lifted the window over midway.
"Y-you don't mind, do you?"
Oliver looked over his shoulder at Nico, his face was as red as a tomato. So red it was actually scary. He couldn't make eye contact and after a second he turned back to facing the wall.

Slowely, she drew some lines across the paper. It was a good way to kill the time and to distract herself from this unusual predicament. With each new drawing she tried to challenge her own imagination. Since she didn't bring any books to use as a reference, she had to soley rely on her memory and fantasy.

Every so often she'd bring the back of the pen to her lip and gently press it against her. Thinking. Pondering. What kind of dragons are there again? You got Asian, European, American,... Asian dragons were the harmless ones. They symbolised wisdom and prosperity. Usually in beautiful blue colors.

European dragons on the other hand, were more agressive. They were usually fire red or green. The dragons they used to tell about in Muggle fairytales. Nico loved those. That thought brought a small smile to her face. As soon as it did, she felt kind of embarassed. Surely, she must've looked insane. Smiling at her paper.

She took a deep breath and laid abit back into the red cushions of the trainseats. Dragons...

Suddenly, her attention was pulled by the Ravenclaw student who had been looking out the window for a while. He had been groaning and leaning back in his seat aswell. Nico wasn't really looking at him... more like.. listening intently. Since she had always been quite on edge, she'd always pay close attention to the room she was in.

Burp

The sound almost made her jump up but instead, she clenched her pen abit tighter between her fingers. Hoping he didn't see her shoulders shrug in surprise, she carefully kept her eyes on her drawing. The boy started to feel agitated and nervous. Maybe even embarassed for his sudden exclamation of gas. Nico could no longer ignore it as he turned towards the wall.

She did her best to ignore his butt crack flashing. He puts his large hands on the window and looked over at her asking:

"Y-you don't mind, do you?"

Nico could see his face was beetred. It made her think of all the times she got into an awkward situation...

She lightly shook her head and smiled.

'No. I don't mind. Go ahead.'

Oliver pulled open the window, letting in a gale that circulated the room, fanning Nico's paper and flinging hair into eyes. Oliver took the moment to stick his head out the window, letting the breeze cool his overly hot face down. He stood for a few moments with his cheeks flapping like a ducks wings before reeling himself back in. It was definitely beneficial to his temperature.

Oliver looked back and noticed the wind billowing everything loose in the cabin. He immediately slammed the window shut, freezing up a bit.

"Uh- sorry, I didn't think that the wind would get in, that was... silly of me," Oliver looked at Nico's feet as he spoke.

His butt cheeks suddenly clenched.

Oh God.

No.

No. It didn't happen. Oliver managed to hold onto it. That had been happening all morning however and he was sure something catastrophic was forming everytime he held it in.

Oliver slowly and carefully took a seat, gently unclenching his football sized buttcheeks.

"You draw?... Me too," Oliver made a small smile, mostly cause he managed to get the words out without a stutter.
Oliver reached into the back of his DADA book and pulled out a loose page. It was fresh and uncreased, likely drawn in the last day or so.
He held it up so Nico could see. It looked as so:

A not so round boy, coloured with a blue top stood in the centre. He wore a black wizard hat and stood pointing his wand.
Behind him was a girl, taller with purple hair. She wore a green top and seemingly had big, gorilla-esque fists. They stood side by side, facing a dragon. A large, fat but very spiky, winged dragon. It was red.
Noticeably, the two had a small "3" on their chest, where a crest would be.
It was drawn with crayons and formed with the most primitive of shapes. The colouring barely fit within the lines.

Oliver smiled proudly, holding up his drawing to Nico, waiting for a response before lowering his masterpiece.

As soon as the Ravenclaw boy opened the window, a gust of wind blew in, flipping the pages of her sketchbook. With a soft but clear high pitched yelp, Nico got taken by surprise, pinching her eyes closed. Her hair swayed into her face, making some strands of hair stick to her face. Using her pinky, she tried her best to comb them back in place.

He noticed after a few moments, her internal and external struggle with the sudden blaze. With a swift pull, he closed the window, looking over at her.

Nico sighed relieved... internally... and finally managed to pull her hair out of her face. She'd surely need to brush it once she'd arrive at her dorm.

'That's okey. It was abit dusty in here. The bit of wind was refreshing.' She smiled warmly at him before, folding her legs and looking back to her now tamed pages.

Before she could fully immerse herself into her little fantasy sketch world, the boy spoke up. Apparantly her sketchbook pulled his attention. Nico blinked as the boy then dove into his bag to pull out a page.

He drew too. Full pride, the Ravenclaw held it out to her so she could see ever inch of his creation. Intrigued, the little Dhampir leaned in to take a look closer look. Surely, his drawings were quite ... rough. But they were drawn with a certain passion that warmed her heart.

'Oh? Is that you? And who's the person with the purple hair? Someone you know?' Nico looked over at him, her finger hovering above the figure with the witchhat. 'It looks pretty good though. I like it. If you keep it up, I'm sure you'll get even better.'

Oliver smiled proud and wiggled his head as he took in the compliments. He usually didn't draw stuff like this, his preferred genre was comics. Usually himself in Captain Redhot's spandex. He pulled the page back to himself once Nico was done and looked at it as she spoke, needing to look at his own art after receiving the nice words.

"Oh? Is that you? And who's the person with the purple hair? Someone you know?"

"Yup, that's me alright! Oh, her? That's Erin, she's—"

Oliver stopped himself as he realised he just revealed drawing a girl most students didn't like. He looked up at Nico to make some awkward eye contact, then back down.

"What year are you in?" Oliver questioned, wondering out loud whether Nico could know Erin. If she replied third year he'd throw himself out the window immediately.
That's too obvious!
"Uh... Cause I'm in third year, I haven't seen you around," Oliver told. Then it hit him that he was skipping the initial step of every introduction. "I'm Oliver, Oliver Hart," he gave a weak smile, losing his confidence again.
Oliver wiped his hand on his knee and then leaned forward for a handshake. As he did, his right thigh/buttcheek swiped his bag and book onto the cabin floor. His bag just happened to be open, spitting out many more books.
"Oh, pickle-sticks," Oliver muttered and got on his knees to quickly pick his things up, sighing and scooping his books back up. They were notably very scruffed, some with covers hanging off.

If Nico does try to help Oliver pick up his stuff, he will say," no, it's okay. Really."

Nico noticed how her compliments soothed him. She was glad. The redhead herself had a hard time accepting and seeing approval from others. Her gut usually told her that they were lying or leading her on. Another thing she had to learn not to believe. Surely, there are people who mean harm but... feeling bad about those instead of enjoying the ones who don't mean harm, is something she really had to stop focussing on.

As he leaned back in his chair, he replied to her remark.
"Yup, that's me alright! Oh, her? That's Erin, she's—"

Erin? Nico only knew one Erin.. but was it really about the same girl? At first she didn't really paid attention to it, but the Ravenclaw was suddenly... holding back. He gave her a weird look as if retracing his steps. What happened?

'Oh.. I'm a Second Year. That probably explains why you haven't seen me around.' Before she could fully explain herself further, he introduced himself as Oliver Hart. 'Oh, nice to me-'

He was reaching out his hand so that she could shake it but the situation changed when his papers fell out of his bag. Nico first felt awkward as she was already halfway reaching out to his hand... Which never reached its destination. Quickly recovering from that, Nico almost instinctively wanted to kneel down to help him out. He refused her help in a polite and kind way.

As the Dhampir wasn't a pushy person, she nodded softly at him not intervening his clean-up any further. Her face had gotten abit red. The situation ran out of hand and she had to improvise.

'W-Well. I'm Nico. Nico Shymane. It's nice to meet you, Oliver.' She offered him a warm smile once more. As he was gathering his belongings, Nico's mind slipped back to where this accident started.

'Who is this Erin person? Is she from our school too? So far I only know one person with that name, to be fair... She's... well.. I don't know her well. But she seemed... odd. And.. even kinda scary.'