Backdated> Mid December - Winter Break

»»————-　✼ Open to Anyone! ✼ 　————-««

A flutter of excitement filled Lark as she boarded the train headed home for the Winter break. She would finally get to meet her baby brother.. and find out why her mother had been so secretive about it all. As Lark pulled her leather bag in front of her to easily walk through the hallway leading to the compartments, her heart raced. The young girl was already missing Hogwarts and her friends... she wasn't sure if any of them had already made it on the train and with one another somewhere in one of the compartments. Golden eyes peeked through some of the doors hoping to catch a glance of anyone she knew.

The first train ride to Hogwarts had been rather lonely as it was during Summer... this one hopefully wouldn't be as bad since she had friends now.

"Oh, s.sorry!" Lark stuttered as she was greeted with a couple of angry faces while sliding open another compartment door. Apparently she had interrupted a rather secretive gossip session being held by fifth years. Whoops!

Excusing herself past two other students, Lark finally found an empty compartment to settle into. Peeling off her winter jacket she tucked it overhead and took a seat, her legs stretching out in front of her. She already felt restless... It would be a long train ride followed by another lengthy trip back to Cork. Lark shifted uneasily in her seat as she heard the train let out another rush of steam warning its looming departure.

Lark hadn't told her parents yet about the Ball.. she assumed that Hogwarts had let them know but... as far as her newfound powers went Lark left out that bit of information in her last couple letters. She grinned thinking of the look on their face when they caught sight of their daughter with reddish gold locks and sparkling green eyes. Maybe if she concentrated on the ride back she could come up with a different crazy hair color... Her thoughts trailed off as the piercing noise of the train whistle rang out a last call to all those boarding.

For her part, Asteria expected the ride home to be uneventful. What bothered her more was the thought of being home, of having to explain her radio silence to her dad. A few letters had been exchanged - curt wisps of paper outlining break plans, but beyond that, she'd been too ill-tempered to send anything else, preferring to keep her ire bottled in her chest, festering like some long forgotten secret.

She walked down the train as if in a daze, one hand skimming the doors, looking for an open compartment, hoping to have some space to try and sort out her thoughts one last time. Of course, she could always sit with her friends. The thought lurked at the back of her mind, an unwelcome specter, one that she beat back with a broom. Her friendships were scattered and loose, and surely they'd have people that they would prefer to sit with that weren't her? She'd hate to intrude.

Sighing, she shook her head, trying to dispel the unwelcome thoughts, and paused, finding herself near the end of the train, and nary a fully open compartment in sight. Okay, she thought, I'll just pick the closest door and sit there. The idea didn't please her, but the last warning whistle had sounded, and she would have to find somewhere to sit, and fast.

A wave of anxiety rolling through her, she pulled open the door of a nearby compartment. In the process, she stumbled over the untied lace of one of her boots, nearly falling onto the single other occupant of it, someone who seemed to be another first year girl. Immediately, Asteria launched into a barrage of mumbled apologies as she pulled herself up, bracing against the door.

"S'cuse me," she half-whispered, begging her voice to stop wavering, hand wringing the at the handle of her suitcase, "You don't mind if I sit here, do you? Only, everywhere else seems fairly booked up." 

@Lark Flaer

»»————-　✼ @Asteria Kurokawa ✼ 　————-««

Closing her eyes and settling in for a quiet ride, Lark's attention perked up when she heard the door slide open. Was it James? Ruthie? Maybe one of her other friends were making their way onto the train and noticed her sitting--a slightly familiar dark haired girl stood in the doorway, luggage in hand.

"You don't mind if I sit here, do you? Only, everywhere else seems fairly booked up." 

Lark was a bit taken aback, her brain trying to catch up to the present and pull itself from her daydreamy state. "Oh! Of course not!" Pulling in her legs underneath her seat, Lark gestured a hand towards the space across from her. "I only have my bag so there's plenty of space for yours." She offered a warm smile. The girl looked so familiar.... where had she seen her before... Possibly another first year but it wasn't just from classes. Just then it sprang to the young Ravenclaw's mind.

"You went ta the dress swap didn't you?" Lark was pretty sure she had briefly met the girl, admittedly she couldn't pull her name from her memory. She had seen talking with her most of the night though. If had found her pleasing company than Lark felt rather sure that she would feel the same.

"Thank you so much," said Asteria, as she heaved her trunk onto the rack of the compartment and settled in the seat across from the Ravenclaw girl. Easing into her seat, the chill of the window against her side, she took the time to more closely consider the girl, whose appearance niggled a faint trigger of recognition in her mind. But from where? she wondered idly, fiddling with the hem of her sweater. 

But no sooner than she had thought this, her question was answered. Beaming back at the smile the other girl offered, her memory alight with recognition at the mention of the dress swap. "Oh! Yeah, I was. That was a fun bit of chaos, wasn't it?" It hadn't been something she was used to up till now - sleepovers had never been her friends forte, either back at home or here, but it was a welcome distraction from the day to day life of Hogwarts. Running a hand through her hair, she paused, unsure of how to continue the conversation. 

Then she realized she had forgotten something. A fairly important something when it came to trying to hold polite conversation. Holding out her hand to the other girl, she rambled onward. "I'm Asteria, by the way. I think I introduced myself at the uh- at the the dress swap? But names have a tendency of being forgotten easily." 

@Lark Flaer

»»————-　✼ @Asteria Kurokawa ✼ 　————-««

Chaos. That was one word for a group of girls who were sugared up and let loose in a room full of dresses and makeup. The memories of that night made her grin..until it also was immediately followed by another type of chaos. The ball. Lark's smile vanished as quickly as it arrived.

Lark blinked away the clouded images of the ball as her compartment companion introduced herself, Asteria. That rang a bell! "Right, Sorry! It was so crazy that night..." Lark apologized as she took the girl's hand in a steady handshake. "I'm Lark." Another smile crossed the girl's freckled face. Sitting back in her seat and stretching her legs out once more, Lark let out a long sigh.

"Are you looking forward to break? Honestly... I sort of don't want to go home.." She nibbled at the corner of her lip nervously. Who knew what was awaiting her in Cork.. The addition of her baby brother would certainly be a whole new adventure. Her father had promised to at least be the one to meet her at the Platform.. Hopefully break flew by. Lark peeked out of the window as the train began its journey back. She wasn't sure if it was the lurching forward that made her stomach churn or the thought of having to be home for the next so many weeks... without her friends.

Oh right- going home. The thing that hand lingered at the back of Asteria's mind for the last month of so, the low hum of anxiety that had undergirded everything that she did. "I'm... sort of in the same boat honestly," she confessed to the other girl, idly tugging on a loose strand of hair. "My dad and I, we- well we didn't part on the best of terms? The whole thing is sort of a," and here she paused, gesturing her free hand outwards to emphasize her last word, "mess."

A Mess with a capital M was one way to describe her family. It felt like a secrets locked in secrets locked in secrets, a long line stretching on and on. Every time she thought she had figured it all out, something new came her way, tossing all her thoughts into chaos again.

"And what about you? What's got you worried over break?" Asteria asked, the ghost of smile lingering on her face, "If that isn't too personal of a question, sorry. And like, surely there's something that'll make break worth it, right?" That was what made break seem less like a menace for her, and she could only hope it was true for the other girl as well. While  knew that she would have to face the consequences of her words and actions when she got home, there was still the promise of tradition to buoy her fears. The tree, the opening of Christmas letters, the annual early morning walk on New Years, all the things that had been ingrained in her as ritual by her dad. Those things would still be there, at least. 

@Lark Flaer

»»————-　✼ @Asteria Kurokawa ✼ 　————-««

Lark couldn't help but nod along as Asteria spoke. A mess alright, she knew that feeling. Right down to the whole part about fathers. Lark hadn't really left on the best terms with her own either.. in fact the parting still was eating away at her ever since Summercamp.

"I know what you mean." She sighed and ran a hand through her hair as Asteria returned the question. Lark wrinkled her nose and sucked in a long breath.

"My Pa and I sort of had a rough goodbye too, just before school started. He left me at the Platform for camp but... well.." Lark leaned back in her seat and rested her head back. "I'm sure he's over it but ah..." Running her palms over her jeans, Lark wet her lips nervously. "My Ma just 'ad a baby so I'll get ta meet him." Her voice turned up a bit almost as if a question to whether this would be a good thing or not. Things would certainly be different once she was home.

"Plus well.. after the Ball.. I don't know how much my parents know about it or how they feel about it." Returning her gaze to the girl across from her, Lark rested her hands in her lap. "Did you end up goin' that night?" It didn't seem like visibly Asteria had been harmed if she had attended but... then again knowing what Ruthie and some of her other friends were going through most of the wounds people were still healing from weren't.

Asteria felt herself feeling for the other girl. Turmoil with a parent never felt good, always left her sick and bitter when she had the time to reflect on the whole situation.  She could only imagine that Lark felt something similar. Her hands traced spiraling patterns in her lap as the other girl talked, unsure quite how to reply, wanting to provide some empathy, but the words kept failing her.

All that was blow away though as Lark mentioned her new sibling, and Asteria's excitement, she nearly missed the edge of concern in the girl's voice. "Oh my gosh! Congrats, I've always wanted a younger sibling." She had begun to lean forward in her excitement, hands gripping against the seat cushion. "And? I'm sure he's going to love you? If that's what you're worried about. You seem like a really sweet person." This was declared with a self assured sense of certainty, the childish belief that things could and would be right with the world, so long as one said they would be. 

And then came the issue of the Ball. She had heard about it, had been there, if only for a moment, had had a halfhearted dance and that was that. A part of her wished that she had been able to help, but another was just glad that she had missed most of it. "Nah, I mean- I was there at the beginning? But a friend and I ended up ditching before everything happened? Spent the night in the library instead; her idea, not mine." She worried at her lip, again tugging at a loose strand of hair. And then the words came tumbling out, like they always did, her poor impulse control removing the filter between her brain and her mouth.  "But you were there? How are you holding up now?"

@Lark Flaer

»»————-　✼ @Asteria Kurokawa ✼ 　————-««

The excitement Asteria showed made Lark's nerves relax. Maybe having a sibling wouldn't be the worst thing. She had been beyond excited for weeks waiting for news but once it arrived as the days passed a knot had formed in her stomach. How would things be with an extra person? It had only ever been her and her parents, the perfect trio in her opinion. A blush rose across her cheeks as Asteria complimented her.

"T.thanks!" Lark didn't necessarily view herself in any high standard. In fact most of the time she spent worrying about bothering her friends or if she was more trouble than was worth it. Sort of a shadow that just hovered around them. Her tongue tied itself up making it impossible to put to words her appreciation for the kind comment.

It was for the best that Asteria had said she left the event early. As happy as Lark had been to attend and have someone even ask her to go with them, she wondered how different things would have been if she had left early as well. It wasn't like she had been able to do much other than... well be a burden. James had, had to carry her out and she hadn't even been able to help in any way shape or form. The thought of it still made her bitter with herself.

"It was...." There were no words for it in all honesty. "Well.. I didn't really even get ta do much or see what was goin' on." Lark swallowed hard, her mouth becoming instantly dry. How pathetic had she been and then afterwards dealing with being out of her mind over finding out what she was.. "A er .. shoe sort of knocked me out." Again her face turned red except this time out of embarrassment. She was turning out to be a rather awful witch so far. Classes were one thing but first hand experience proved most of her book knowledge to be useless.. or so she felt.

"Otherwise I didn't get hurt or anythin'. Not like some others.. One student was stabbed awfully bad, Dymphna, if you know her." She had only just gotten to know her and a number of others from the ball recently. At least that was a positive outcome, more friendly faces. Sucking in a deep breath, Lark strummed her fingers against her thigh, starting to visibly feel uneasy about the ball.


"So where are you headed back ta?" She turned her golden eyes back up towards Asteria and waited for a response before continuing her change of topic to hopefully something more, lighthearted. "Do you an your family do anything special for the holidays? I've never really celebrated. Sorta hopin' that'll change since there's a baby now y'know? Some of my friends seem ta go all out for Christmas, wish we did." Maybe her Ma would decorate and bake like everyone else seemed to mention their families did. Parties and trees, cookies, presents, it all sounded fantastic.

She hated herself a bit afterwards for it, but she couldn't help it: she laughed, a short laugh that she tried to mask as a cough, covering her mouth with her hand. "A shoe?" It was just the slightest bit ridiculous to her. But at least the other girl had gotten out okay. Asteria had slowly begun to piece together the whole story through the well established Hogwarts rumor mill, and from the bit and pieces she had acquired, it seemed lucky that nothing worse had happened.

"I'm glad you're okay though. I know Dymphna- or well, we've met at least - and what happened to her? It's all awful." There was no good way to really express Headliner membership, was there? Just someone she knew from a job, nothing else beyond that. It was enough to make her feel insubstantial sometimes, adrift through cavernous halls of Hogwarts. She sighed, shaking her head and wedging herself more firmly against the window, relying on her senses and the cold jolt it provided to make her feel more solid as she rested against its cool panes.

"Oh me? London's home." She was glad for the change in topic, the shift away from the prospect of death, the danger that even a safe space could hold. Even so, there was a bitter turn of a knife in her stomach at the reminder of home and her dad. "And it's just me and my dad, so we tend to keep it quiet? A small tree, an early morning walk on Christmas, and a nice dinner. It's- well, I like to think it's good though." Part of her worried that it might dissipate when she got home however, that all of their traditions might fly out of the window as the result of a single letter. She tugged on a strand of her hair nervously, shifting in her seat, still trying to find a way to get comfortable. "How about you though? Where's home?" She paused, and then rambled onward, trying to provide a modicum of comfort towards Lark. "And who knows? Maybe all the festive decor they use at Hogwarts will rub off on you and it'll be enough to pull your house right into the holiday spirit."

@Lark Flaer