Rayven's eyes brightened a bit. She hadn't considered apparating or even traveling by floo. She was a bit absent minded today. It was her birthday, she was excited about going home, and she was sitting with Walt. Her mind wasn't in the best condition so she was very thankful that Gigi brought it up.

"I hadn't considered that at all. Thank you for reminding me. In that case... um... Walt? Would... you like to come over for dinner tonight?"

"Awesome!" he said when Rayven agreed to have a butterbeer with him. That would be fun. He frowned a little when she mentioned her birthday dinner. He'd go with her. It would probably be fun. And he had to admit he was a little curious to meet her family- to see if they were anything like her.

"Yeah, I was planning to come and bother him... And it's not very nice to call him Schlawkward, you know." He felt like he should say something about, since he was Sasha's friend and also headboy. "He's a nice guy, just keeps catching bad breaks. There's nothing wrong with being studious, either. In the long run it will probably pay off for him." He wondered whether or not Georgiana might have some sort of issue with Sasha for some reason. It wasn't unusual for people to talk about Sasha like that, but usually it was only people who didn't like him very much.

Then she suggested apparation... "I didn't get my license last year," he said. "But I'll be taking the class this year and try to get my license to do it. But yeah, Floo is a good idea. I bet there is a floo connection somewhere close to where you live, Rayven. We can probably get a floo map and find one." He was pretty sure they had a floo map somewhere in Diagon for families who came in and out, and students with muggleborn families. He vaguely remember seeing one.

"Yeah, sure, I'd love to come! If you're sure your parents won't mind? I'll have to take my stuff home first though. But I guess you can tag along for that if you don't have anything better to do. Then we can go to Diagon and get a butterbeer and find the closest floo to where you live. I know they have them all over the network in Britain."

"When I come to bother Sasha, do you want to hang out with us?" Walton asked Georgiana. "I thought he could use some guy time- but I bet you'll be tired of your sister and her friends by that point. You and Erin both could come, I guess. So long as you guys don't give Sasha too hard of a time. I'm trying to get him to loosen up a bit and have a little fun."

Gigi shrugged a little at Walton's comments. That was one of the better nicknames, and she doubted that bad breaks got prefect badges pulled. "Operation loosen Sasha up? I'm in. Tappy's not going to do him much good there." Far too much nerdiness from that combination.

And she couldn't help shooting a conspiratorial grin towards Rayven. Someone there was interested in the Hufflepuff, and Walt most certainly wasn't crazy-always a good point for dates. "You two had better have fun. Make up for all the terror Cy'll put me through. She's my niece, though." Not that it was unheard of for them to be mistaken for sisters. Kind of a creepy thought, if you knew how old Tapendra was.

"And I could use some hanging out. Have to see if Erin's up for being dragged away from the internet, though. Going to show him its wonders. Been trying to explain it to him for years." She pressed a hand against her forehead and smirked. "Still haven't figured out how to explain memes."

"It won't be a problem at all! My parents have told me before that if I want to have anyone over for dinner I can. A few of the girls from school are planning on coming too. I'm excited about it. And I don't mind tagging along to take your things home. In fact, it may be a good idea. If I'm going to come visit for a few days, it would be nice for us to meet. That way I'm not a complete stranger staying in your house. I'll just call my parents and tell them that I'll travel by Floo to come home and that I'll be bringing you home with me. For dinner I mean! Bringing you over for dinner."

Rayven blushed a bit and fiddled with the string some more. She hated she got so flustered around him. She didn't get like this with anyone else. She was usually so put together and could talk to anyone about anything. Something about him turned her into jelly though. She was glad Gigi was there. She was a little afraid of how bad off she would be if they were the only two in the cart.

"I'm sure we'll have fun. I don't see why we would't. Thank you so much for giving us the ideas."

"And I could use some hanging out."

"I hope you all have fun as well. I'm sure it will be lovely to get out of the house a bit. Especially with that many people there."

"Awesome," he said to Rayven with a grin. "Yeah, good idea. My parents will be thrilled. I'm sorry if they badger you. They probably will when you come stay, too. They're just curious people. Since they're both teachers they always ask questions and want to learn. They might bore you with stuff, too. Dad is always going on about digs he's been on and stuff he's found. Mum is obsessed with Arthurian legend and will probably try to assign you a part or something. She is always trying to figure out which Knight of the Round Table I'm most like." For his complaining, he liked it, though. His parents were great. And he knew he was lucky to have them. Walton wondered whether or not he ought to forewarn Rayven that he was adopted- so he didn't get the weird look over his parents being a totally different ethnicity than he was. He'd worry with that later, though.

Walton turned his attention back to Georgiana. "Oh. Sorry, my mistake." He'd always assumed they were sisters, for some reason. Then again, he had no idea how old Professor Trishna was. But he had learned Wizards ages were harder to tell than muggles. The magic made them live longer, he'd learned. "Well, I mean Sasha is fine as he is. But relaxing is good for you. He looked like he was having fun at the Yule Ball. I think he has a crush on that Abby girl." He shifted his gaze a little to Rayven. He'd already decided he might take her with him since she'd be staying with him for a few days. Maybe he could get that Abby girl to go out, too, like a double date or something.

Walt laughed at the image of explaining the internet. "Yeah, it's hard to explain muggle stuff to people who've never seen it. I had the same problem. Of course, same the other way around. My parents just can't fathom that half of the stuff they'd always assumed was legend exists. Dad loves it. He's always asking me to bring him magical artifacts. He doesn't understand that I can't do that. Statute of secrecy and what not. He's always asking what I'm going to do after Hogwarts, too, and I don't really know." Walt shrugged a little. "Wish I was still a sixth year so I could have more time to figure it out." And so that he would have more time at Hogwarts in general. The place was awesome. He really didn't want to leave it.

"Do both of you have internet, then?" he asked. "If so you'll have to give me your email or IM or something so that I can talk to you guys with something other than owls. Instant communication is the thing I miss the most about the muggle world. Parents won't pay for me to have a cellular, though, since I'm at school most of the year. They say it's a waste of money."

"Oh, it's going to be cramped. Not like we can expand the insides with all the tech." Gigi half-counted the guest list out on her fingers, while watching Rayven blush. "It's four extra, I think?" Twice what they usually had around, and the house wasn't big enough then anyways. Needed another telly and another 360 or two. Less competition.

She nodded at the mention of Abby. Seemed like they'd both had fun there, and the Sasha-thing couldn't usually be convinced into that.

"Nother year doesn't seem like much time to figure it out, either. Half of what I'd want doesn't work with being away from the internets for most of the year." There went her secret dreams of joining the Frag Dolls. Damnit.

She pulled a scrap of paper out of her backpack and scribbled a couple lines down on it. "Here, Walton. Got my gamertag there too, if you have an Xbox. Might be working on my Halo game. Want a copy, Rayven?" Did the Statute of Secrecy apply to voice chats over the internet? As if wizards would have gotten to that that quickly.

"I won't mind if they badger me. My parents are muggle too so I'm use to it," she said with a smile. She thought about the medieval era with knights and squires and such from time to time. She could see Walt being some sort of knight. If his mum was as obsessed as he made it out, it made sense that he acted the way he did. It was something she liked most about him. "I think it'll be fun to see what kind of character she would see me as. Which knight does she say you're like?"

Walt and Gigi both mentioned something about the internet world. This was an area where she was almost completely out of the element.

"Actually, we don't have internet at my parents house. We live in a commune. All the families help each other out and stuff. It's hard for some people to understand, but it's worked out well for us. Everyone in the neighborhood is very family oriented and it's something that's very important to us all. My father doesn't want to get the internet because he thinks it's a distraction and we will lose focus on what's truly important. I sort of know how to work a computer and such, but I'm not really familiar with it all. We don't have game systems either for the same reason. I don't think I would be coordinated enough to puss all those buttons anyway and when we play family games, we play card games or board games. We don't even have a telly. We have a radio, but that's it. We live a very simplistic life."

"I don't game much, but I'll add you. With so much time away from school I'm not very good at it- and my parents insist I should do more productive things with my time than play tons of violent video games." His parents were always dragging him to some kind of activity when he was home. Concerts, poetry readings, book signings, appearances, movies, et cetera. Not that Walt minded much. He loved his parents and the opportunities they provided for him. "I think they're always going to be disappointed I didn't get to go to school and then to uni like they always wanted. Mum and dad always thought I'd end up a great scholar like them." They were wrong. Though his grades by Hogwarts standards were pretty good, he was a bit of a slacker scholastically. But he was determined to really apply himself in his last semester, to live up to the Head Boy title he'd been granted.

"Mum says I'm a lot like Sir Gawain. He's supposed to be courteous and stuff. Defends the poor, stands up for women, stuff like that. Chivalry and what not, I guess. But I don't always know whether or not I believe her. But if she's mad at me, she compares me to less savory characters in the legends... I guess Gawain is really just your typical nice guy." Which definitely fit Walton's personality.

Walton arched an eyebrow when Rayven said she lived in a commune. No television? Just a radio? He laughed a little- not at her, but in amusement. "I bet adjusting to the wizarding world was super easy for you then!" he said. "I had such a hard time. But it's good that you guys focus on community and the other sort of things you think are important. I think that kind of stuff is starting to get lost in the hustle and bustle. I didn't realize until I got to Hogwarts and lived with the wizards exactly how much time I wasted doing a lot of nothing in the muggle world. You actually get to know people when you have to hang out without technology." He liked it. Even so, the convenience of being able to google something you didn't know was something the wizarding world severely lacked.

Glancing at his watch, Walt gave the girls an apologetic smile. "I'll probably have to do a round soon, to make sure everyone on the train is behaving. Not right away, but within the next ten or fifteen minutes or so. I don't want to get too slack on my duties just because we're on our way home. You wouldn't believe the amount of trouble a handful of eleven year olds can find in a matter of minutes."

Gigi had to admit, the commune thing sounded a little weird. But she was used to weird. So she kind of smiled and leaned toward Rayven a little. "Board games, huh? What kind? We play Dungeons and Dragons over Christmas. Some Arkham Horror if I can drag everyone in." Was a little easier to get everyone up for some Lovecraftian shenanigans now that Cy wasn't so little.

She tried to ignore the violent video game schtick. Usually made her roll her eyes, but she stopped herself and smirked a little at Walton. "So, you're a Paladin? Good sort to have around. More of a Rogue sort, myself." Neutral bugging Tapendra was a perfectly valid alignment. Revenge for how he had to always bring up her eating dice as a baby. If he brought out pictures she might have to go evil.

"And good luck with the first years. Should probably go back and find Harper myself. Don't want him getting lost part way to coming over." Still surprised her a little, that happening. But couldn't complain.

Rayven smiled at Walt. She could certainly see him being like a knight. He was always so nice and considerate to everyone. He was a strong leader too. He had to be since he was Head Boy. She couldn't wait to visit him and hear his mom talk about everything. She was interested to see who she was like as well. "I can see how you would be like him then," she said with a smile.

"Adjusting to the wizarding world wasn't that bad at all. The only thing I really miss is being able to fix my own food when I'm hungry and things like that. The lack of electronics is nothing." She looked to Gigi. "We play games like Apples to Apples, Pictionary, Scrabble, Life. Games like that. We have a lot of fun between the five of us really. Liam gets competitive at times but that makes it more fun in a way."

She looked a little sad when Walt said he had to go soon, but quickly perked back up. "You have duties to do. You wouldn't be a very good Head Boy if you let those slide. I've really enjoyed talking to you though. I hope you'll come back when you're done."

"Dungeons and Dragons is loads of fun," he said to Gigi. "My dad taught me to play. I go with him on occasion when he plays with his friends. And I do usually play a Paladin, if not that then a Cleric. I've dabbled with warriors a few time, too. And I can see you being a rogue." He shifted his gaze to Rayven. "I bet you'd be a good druid if you played that. I can see that. They can be pretty boss if you build them just right," he said.

He stood up after Gigi wished him luck with the first years and smiled when Rayven asked if he would come back. "Yeah, I'll be back! Have to come keep my owl company, after all," he said with a grin. And keep Rayven company, too, of course. But he didn't wan to come off as too desperate right away. Because that wouldn't be any good for him if he had any hope of getting to know her better. Whether or not it ended up romantic or not, he liked Rayven. She was nice and they got along.

"So I'll see you ladies later. If you're still around, Gigi. If you need to go find Harper then I'll see you when school starts back if I don't run into you over break... If you want to find someone else to hang out with until I'm done with my rounds, I can come find you when I'm done," he said to Rayven. "Or you can stick around to wait. It should't be very long so long as everyone is behaving. Hope not, anyway." He stopped by the door of the compartment and tossed both of the girls a wink and a smile. "See you soon, ladies." Then he left the compartment to go and do his rounds on the train to make sure that the students were minding their manners.

-exit-

"Go raid the kitchen when I'm hungry, myself." Gigi shrugged a little at Rayven. "Not so much anymore, seems I'm done growing." Much to her disappointment. One of these days she'd figure out that getting taller trick-on top of the high heels and stompy boots.

Time to go find Harper, though. She stood up, and stomped her boots a little. "Guess I'm off too, then. Have fun over break!" She certainly intended to. A nod to Rayven and then Gigi ducked out of the compartment herself.

Exit Gigi