Journey to the end of the train [o]

[JOHNNY TOWNSEND]

After passing his trunk onto a steward, Johnny walked the length of the train on the outside. Difficult as it was meandering through chaotic family goodbyes, it was actually a lot harder to get through the train corridor, which was usually packed with students all jostling to find a good compartment. He really couldn't be bothered fighting through that, and so took his chances with the families on the platform. It was relatively easy, he found, and the closer to the end of the train he got, the emptier it was.

Finally reaching the very last door, he stepped on, looking this way and that to check for blockages in the corridor. Down here, there were only a few stragglers. Johnny had learned a few years back that the back end of the train was always a lot quieter. Mostly due to the fact that the staff compartment was back there, but Johnny didn't mind. Pulling the door open on the first compartment he came to, he was quite pleased to find it empty, and sat himself down on one of the long benches that lined the two sides. He was sure his friends would find him eventually. They usually did, as they knew he wouldn't venture down into the middle of the train to locate them. And, what was a horrendously long train journey without Johnny Townsend in your compartment? Boring as hell, that's what. Yep. They would come looking soon enough.

[DELILAH EVERETT]

At first she had been ecstatic to meet up with so many of her friends. Once settled into their compartment, they quickly divulged into details about their summer. A few of the girls talked about summer flings, one guy rambled on about an old car he was fixing up and there were even a few accounts of concerts attended by all. Naturally, Delilah was showing off her summer using photographs she took of their family vacation, her summer job and her muggle friends. About an hour into the train ride and their cozy little compartment was turning more into a mosh pit with the arrival of a few other seventh years squeezing their way in.

A familiar tightening in her chest started to rise with the presence of new people. Of course that was when Delilah decided to get out and go visiting in a less crowded compartment for awhile. She found herself heading farther and farther towards the back of the train until she found a compartment with only one other occupant in it. She was in luck when she realized the man in it was a fellow seventh year. Her mind flitted towards her encounter with him at the Apothecary in Diagon Alley and her cheeks flushed. She was much more coherent now. Besides, she had always thought of Johnny as a friend.

She slid the door open. "Hey John, think you have room for one more in this bustling compartment?" she teased with a smile at the lack of other occupants. She found her way to a seat, settling herself right next to the window. "Did you have a good summer?"

[JOHNNY TOWNSEND]

He had been sitting there for maybe ten, fifteen minutes, tops, when the door slid open. His friend, Delilah, stood in the doorway, looking all cute and a hell of a lot more composed than she had been when they had last met in Diagon Alley. He shot her a cheeky grin. "Make yourself at home, sweetheart," he invited, waiting until she had taken a window seat before kicking his feet up onto the bench opposite him. Right next to her. Luckily, he had quite good hygiene habits, so she couldn't complain that they were smelly or anything.

He liked Delilah. She had her moments of insanity, but overall, she was a really nice girl. You know, the friendly, fun sort of type that were just easy to get along with. Well, it wasn't as though Johnny ever had trouble getting along with girls, but that was beside the point. Being around her was comfortable. That was it.

"My summer was just as boring as the last one." he answered, letting his gaze drift to the scenes outside the window, yet not really seeing anything that he was looking at. "Not like we ever get real summers here at all," he scoffed, folding his arms over his chest. "How was yours? You do anything exciting? Apart from having a mini breakdown in an Apothecary." The last part was mumbled under his breath, just loud enough for her to be able to hear it. He smirked at her, a playful glint in his eyes.

[DELILAH EVERETT]

Normally she would be weirded out by someone other then her parents or boyfriend calling her sweetheart, but she had learned Johnny had a tenancy to call pretty much anything with two legs in a skirt that. Well, the skirt part being figurative and optional that is. Delilah was actually wearing athletic pants and a comfortable t-shirt today. Comfortable muggle clothes, traveling clothes. She'd change into her school robes when they got closer to the Hogwarts. His legs beside her didn't bother her, and she tried to do the same and put her feet up beside him. Her legs had been too short so she instead shifted in her seat so her back was against the window and her legs bent to her chest and her feet were next to his. It had always been like this, comfortable between the two. With his almost paralyzing blue eyes, strong jaw, thick dark hair, it was no doubt he was attractive, but Delilah hadn't even allowed herself a chance to feel anything more then just friends with him. He was a charmer, half the female population was in love with him, and he had a bit a reputation of being a heartbreaker. Some girls in the school were a bit more dramatic then others though, so she wasn't sure what was true and what wasn't from the gossip she heard. Delilah had never liked to hear any of the rumors flying around the castle walls anyways.

The feeling in the air should have been more awkward between them after Diagon Alley. Delilah had blown up at him for basically helping. A small part of her still believed it had been his fault for pushing her over the edge, but at the same time – probably anything would of pushed her over the edge. At least he had helped her out in a considerate way and seemed to genuinely care for her well-being. What had she done in return? Blame him, snap at him and be generally horrible. Then moments later she had been back to her rational self, apologizing for her words and trying to be back to her nice self. It wouldn't surprise Delilah if he thought she was bipolar. When he brought it up, she blushed, still a bit embarrassed about it all. His smirk let her know he didn't take the incident personally, but she decided another apology was in order. “Yeah, that's not something I'm wishing to repeat any time soon. Listen, I'm sorry I snapped at you back in Diagon Alley. I shouldn't of gotten myself into that situation and I shouldn't of gotten so upset with you after. You were just doing all you could to help me,” she stated.

With that out of the way, she was feeling a whole bunch better. Even though most people had a tenancy to accept her 'sorry' after the first time, she didn't feel better until she had said it two or three more times. Now she could return back to the typical chatter that usually filled the train ride to Hogwarts – summer vacation. ”Always too short, never enough sunshine,” she agreed, ”But I did get my driver's license. I guess that's exciting. Although I'm not sure how often I'll get a chance to drive a car in the future. What with being able to apparate and all,” she shrugged.

[JOHNNY TOWNSEND]

Johnny's eyes followed her easily as she tried to get comfortable, eventually putting her feet up beside his, since her legs were too short to reach the distance to the seat he sat on. Wriggling his toes about inside his shoes, he drew his gaze down to his legs as Delilah began to apologize about the incident in the Apothecary shop. He really didn't mind. It was old news, and besides, he understood that she hadn't been herself, fully. Johnny had always sbeen a compassionate person, and considering the slight was really not that big, he had forgiven her already anyway, even though this was the first time they'd spoken since.

"Don't worry about it," he told her with a small shake of his head. "My gallant pride isn't wounded or anything, if that's what you're worried about." He let out a soft laugh, and looked back up to study her as she went on to mention how she had passed her driving test during the summer. He often forgot that she was Muggle born, like him. It was refreshing. Nice, that they had so many similarities. If he would make more of an effort to strengthen their friendship, she might be someone he would like to have around a lot more. Someone he could talk to and have fun with, since she seemed to be that kind of person who was a good friend. She was sat there apologizing profusely, after all, wasn't she?

"Yeah, but, it's not like your parents or family are gonna wanna be apparating all over the place with you, are they?" he reasoned, knowing his own parents would rather crawl on scabby knees than do such a thing. "Or that they would want you to be apparating in on them whenever you wanted. It might be easier in a Muggle world to just drive. I know I do." Johnny had passed his test a few months after his sixteenth birthday, and found that he always ended up driving places with his parents or Muggle friends, even though he didn't have to. He enjoyed pretending that he was normal sometimes, though. He supposed it was similar to the enjoyment people got from pretending to be wizards. How strange.

"Congrats, though," he added, with a genuine smile. "Do you even have a car yet? I got one for my sixteenth birthday last year. I wish I could drive to school, instead of getting the train, but that's a rule I'm not too keen on breaking," he laughed. Johnny broke as many rules as he could get away with when he could, but even he had his limits. He'd heard the trouble you could get in for pulling stunts like that.

[DELILAH EVERETT]

A smile filled her face as he basically said he didn't hold the events of Diagon Alley over her head. “I don't think anything could wound your 'gallant pride',” she joked with a playful roll of her eyes. Her smile faded slightly though. “Still. Even though I have excuses for the way I acted, they aren't valid. Your prude hurt or not, I am sorry,” she apologized again with a shrug. She had attempted to let him know she was sorry at least two times now, she decided she could probably start to shut up about it now. The past couldn't be changed, but the future was unknown. Who would know if she did something like this in the future? Perhaps she was attempting to get her 'sorry's' in for any future rudeness. Who knew.

She watched him as he logically thought of reasons she'd want to drive in the future. She wasn't regretting getting her license, but aparation was a much cheaper and quicker option. He was right, if she wanted to still be able to visit or perhaps even live among the muggle world in the future, driving a vehicle would soon become routine. “I guess you've got a point there,” she admitted wondering how her parents would react to side-aparation. Not that it was something Delilah would want to try with them. Too many what ifs and higher chances of splinching. No she wouldn't be aparating with her parents if she could help it. Besides, she liked driving. There's something about getting a bunch of friends together on a road trip that always made it a good time.

The news that his parents bought him a car last year made her jealous. Just buying your children a car wasn't something her parents could afford. Delilah didn't hold it against them, but sometimes she wondered how different their lives would be if money wasn't an issue. She'd have a car of her own, that was for sure. But then again, if she was given everything instead of having to work for it, then she probably would have been a spoiled brat. But Johnny seemed good and humble enough. Perhaps his parents had raised him right and unspoiled. She shook her head. She trying to clear her thoughts from analyzing Johnny as well as answering his question, “No, well, sorta. My brother and I share a vehicle. Actually, let me get his straight. My twin lets me drive his truck when I want to. It's more his then mine. He and my dad fixed up an old broken down truck that used to belong to my Grandfather. As my mother said, it's a bit rusty, and a bit of a clunker, but at least it's got character!” a smile lifted the corners of her mouth at the memory of her mother trying to find something positive to say about it.

A rule that Johnny wasn't willing to break? The penalty must of be pretty serious then. That meant it was either something that would keep him from playing Quidditch all year, or get him expelled. Her eyebrows shot up and she attempted to make a face that looked like she was hurt by his words. "Aww, you don't like sitting and chatting with the rest of us about our mundane summer stories?" She probably looked more like she had eaten something sour to be honest, and she laughed s moment later letting him know she was only teasing. She personally liked the train; it was easy to socialize in, and everyone was just forced to kick back and relax until they got to school. Most people enjoyed the feast, but this was probably her favorite of the day.

[JOHNNY TOWNSEND]

He could picture Delilah rattling around in a broken old rust bucket with a smile on her face. He shook his head with a laugh as she teased about him not enjoying mingling with everybody else on the train. It was true, to a certain extent. Johnny got bored easily every year on the Hogwarts Express. This being the case, he often ended up doing something stupid to entertain him and his friends, like last year, they had managed to make the window to their compartment disappear and took it in turns to stick the top half of their bodies out and stay there for as long as possible without being impaled by tree branches or decapitated by unexpected tunnels. He knew it had been stupid and dangerous, but it was hilarious at the time, and they never got caught for it, so what was the harm?

Grinning at the memory, he pulled himself back to the present, and Delilah, giving her a shrug. "Well, you know," he began, "I'm not much of a people person." It was an obvious lie, since anybody that knew him even slightly, would know that he had far too many friends and was always surrounded by people wherever he went. "But, this year, Dee, there's no place I'd rather be, than spending two hundred hours in a small compartment, with you."

The charm had been turned up to the highest and cheesiest notch he could find, and he gave her a smoldering look of mock sincerity. Not that he was mocking her. He meant the words, on some less dramatic level. She was good company, embarrassing situations not counted. Things could be a lot worse. And if she decided to leave, he always had his trusty ipod in his bag. Well, when I say bag, Johnny had taken a leaf out of a lot of his female friends' books and enchanted his small black money pouch to carry a lot more than it was intended to. Who said that charm was only for girls, right? If it worked, it worked, and he was gonna benefit from it no matter how girly anyone thought it may be. The only downside to having his ipod, was that once they got to the castle, it wouldn't work anymore. He found himself scowling out of the window. That really was one of the most ridiculous rules the school had. And it wasn't even one he could break if he wanted.

[DELILAH EVERETT]

Not a people person her arse. Johnny was just as sociable as Delilah was and they both knew it. Usually she saw him crammed in an apartment with a bunch of other guys goofing off and being rambunctious. But personally, she was sort of glad that it was just the two of them hanging out. The reminder that the compartment was small wasn't welcomed, but she wasn't that sensitive that she was going to start feel claustrophobic again either. The lack of other occupants helped though too. She laughed lightly at his exaggeration and obvious overkill on the charm factor. She decided to match his level of mock cheesiness though. “Oh I'm so flattered you think so highly of me.” Fluttering her eyes excessively and bringing a hand to her chest dramatically, she pretended to gush in gratitude.

The train made a gradual turn so the window of their compartment was facing towards the west. Even though the Sun was high in the sky because it was mid afternoon, the change in lighting was dramatic enough to anyone who was always looking for photo opportunities. The scenery outside was beginning to get greener and thicker, blurring in bizarre but pretty ways at the train speed past it. Delilah was one who noticed these kind of things. She barely even thought about what she was doing when her hand automatically reached into the shoulder bag she had brought along and pulled out her magic-infused camera. There had been something about the contrast between the bright cheery outdoors and Johnny's unexplained scowl. It had been too good of an opportunity to pass up.

Hopefully he didn't think her weird for just randomly taking a picture, but it's what she did. Mostly everyone knew this by now anyways. Besides, her photos almost always turned out exceptional and she was unobtrusive taking them. She had even been approached last year by a prefect at the idea of creating a yearbook sort of thing. She turned it down of course, that sounded too much like work and she wasn't interested in trying to get good pictures of everyone in their year. Her pictures reflected her opinions on things and people anyways. And she didn't have the nicest thoughts about everyone either. No, her photos were more like her own personal yearbook, or perhaps more of a visual diary. There were plenty pictures that she shared and showed whoever asked, but select few were kept private. Quietly she set her camera carefully down on top of her bag as she looked at Johnny. “The contrast between your frown and the sunshine was too good to pass up,” she explained gingerly. “Taken out of context and it looked like you were mad at mother nature for looking too cheery and interrupting your sullen mood. Almost comical,” she shrugged. Although she wondered the reason for the sour look on his face, she didn't ask. He could explain the reason for it or not. It was his choice.

[JOHNNY TOWNSEND]

A small clicking noise drew his attention, and Johnny's eyes flicked to Delilah, who was carefully setting a camera down on top of her bag. She had just taken his picture. Well, that was flattering, and maybe a bit strange. Johnny didn't know why anyone would want to have a random picture of him, except for maybe his close friends and family. But then, he had seen Delilah snapping away a lot over the years. He figured she was into photography, but had never really realized she liked to take pictures of actual people, too. People like him.

He listened intently, though it didn't show, as she explained, in the most beautifully artistic way, the way the light had shone through the window, and... Well, he couldn't quite remember word for word, but it was very impressive, the things she saw that most others would probably overlook. He wanted to smile at her. To tell her how obviously talented she was, even to someone who had never really seen any of her work. Or whatever she wanted to call it. Instead, he returned his gaze to the window. For some reason, he couldn't seem to bring himself to give her such high compliments. Maybe it was a defence mechanism, he pondered. He always worried - since it tended to happen far too often - that saying nice things to girls in any kind of serious way, would lead them on. In his experience, girls he was genuinely 'nice' to, often developed crushes on him, and ended up hating him when he had to let them down.

It was quite the predicament, and it left Johnny utterly confused as to how complimentary he should be, even in a platonic way. He wished it were more simple. Wished it was merely a case of making it blatantly obvious that you were in to a person, and if you didn't, they kindly restrained themselves from getting any wild ideas and fantasizing. He shot Delilah another quick glance. "I charge for every picture, you know," he told her quietly. He had heard that some money-obsessed celebrities often did that. Let fans take pictures of or with them for a fee. How pompous and self-absorbed did a person need to be? Johnny would sooner push them off a cliff than hand over a penny.

"Do I get to see it?" he asked, suddenly curious as to what this picture would look like. If it was as perfect a moment as she claimed, it might be worth asking her for a copy. "Does anyone else get to see it?" he sat up in his seat, leaning toward her, suddenly worried that it would look awful and everyone in school would get a good look and a laugh out of it. Maybe he would get himself one of those old cameras that worked inside the castle, just so he could get revenge if it were needed.

[ISABEL TAYLOR]

Isabel had only just managed to get on the train before it pulled away from the station, and it seemed every single compartment she had passed was full. Except for the two that her sisters had jumped into. Which left Izzy strolling down the train on her own, trying not to fall over when it rounded corners or went over bumpy patches. The very end of the train was growing nearer the more she walked, and after peering through the window of what felt like every single compartment on the steam engine, Isabel was about ready to give up and sit right there in the corridor.

The last door was slightly ajar, and Izzy could hear soft voices coming from inside. "Do I get to see it? Does anyone else get to see it?" Her eyebrows quirked in amusement as she wondered what 'it' was, and who was showing it to this guy. Pushing any wilder thoughts from her already uninhibited mind, Isabel approached the door and peeked inside. Johnny Townsend, a boy she had known for practically her whole school life, was sat inside talking to a girl she was sure was called Delilah something-or-other. Feeling a little more confident than she normally would, on account of she was familiar with Johnny, Izzy pulled the door open to reveal herself.

"Hi," she greeted the pair with an uncertain smile. "Is it alright if I join you? Everywhere else is full..." Hovering in the doorway, she looked back and forth between Johnny and Delilah, and couldn't help but feel a small pang of sadness. What if she was intruding on something... more? Were these two involved? She had never really noticed them spending too much time together, but then, it's not like she watched either of them as a hobby. Though she had had a major crush on Johnny ever since her first year at school. Not that he would ever find out. That was top secret information that only her very closest of friends were privy to.