On the track before the train leaves....

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Chloe stood by the train, hearing it whistle as the steam poured out of it. The platform was filled with families kissing and hugging as they sent their little one's off to school. The first years were nearly shaking with nervousness, as first time parents checked again, and again if their youngsters had all of their things. It slightly warmed her heart, thinking back to all of the goodbyes she had been part of, all of the last hugs from her mom and Mrs. Hunter. At the same time, she felt sad. This was the last time she'd ever board the train, this would be the last time she'd stand on this platform and listen to the train. It would be a long time until she kissed her own little girl goodbye, and held her close before letting her go off.

At the same time, Chloe could see how much she had changed in the seven years. She was away from her parents, living with her boyfriend. She now played quidditch and kept her grades up. She bought her own school supplies now, and took care of herself. And, fastened right on her breast was a shiny prefect badge, something that she had always drempt of. Chloe looked over to Shade, her fingers looped around his. "I can't believe this is goodbye. I can't believe you're not coming aboard with me," She said, turning to look at him.

These last few months had been the best, with complete freedom to love who she wanted how she wanted to, and she wasn't ready for it to end. She wanted a few more weeks, more time to sit there and prefect how to draw his nose. She wanted more midnight fueled chats that hardly made any sense and that she wouldn't remember in the morning. She wanted more tea times, overlooking London. She wanted more giggles, more tickle parties, more cuddling when it thundered. With all of her heart, she didn't want to go back, at least without him. He was her everything. She pulled him against her, so she could tuck into his shoulder, trying to make this easier to deal with, to hide the tears that were collecting in her eyes. Slowly, her hands tightened around him, not wanting to let go, not wanting to move on.

She just wasn't ready.

Shade looked around at all the people on the platform, he never thought he'd be back here so soon, but here he was.  Wishing Chloe goodbye on her last year at Hogwarts.  He had mixed emotions about her leaving.  On one hand he wanted her to finish her schooling, but on the other hand, he really didn't want her to go.  He had been enjoying the time he had spent with her, the nervousness he had felt when he brought her to his apartment.

He actually couldn't believe he was living with her at this point and as much as he didn't want to admit it, he was going to miss her.
"Hey," he whispered as she pulled him close, "Don't say goodbye, you'll be coming back."  He tightened his arms around her slightly and said, "There are breaks and Hogsmeade weekends, and I could come up for Quidditch matches if you want."

The crowd of people were starting to thin out on the platform when Shade began to notice.  "It's almost time." he told her and lifted her head so that she was looking at him, "I know we're going to miss each other, but don't think about how much you miss me, think about how fast the days will go by until you get to see me again."

And then he kissed her.

As he talked with that perfect soft voice, as he held her close, she felt like her heart was breaking, shreading, into tons and tons of tiny, little pieces. She didn't want to leave him! She really, really didn't want to leave him! Why did he have to be so perfect? Why did he have to be everything that she wanted, everything that she needed? That just made it that much harder. She focused on his voice, and only his voice, trying to sooth her nerves.

"There are breaks and Hogsmeade weekends, and I could come up for Quidditch matches if you want."

At this her face lit up. She pictured seeing him in the stands from up in the sky, and playing purely to make him proud. She could just picture him decked out in Ravenclaw garb, cheering her on, and her scoring point after point after point, and seeing him smile, and laugh, and then them celebrating together. It would be awesome. "Really? You'd come up for my games?"

As he pulled her head back, and she looked at him with those tearfilled eyes, and he pulled her into a kiss, a sweet kiss, full of the rushing emotions she felt, how upset she was to leave him, and she then pulled him into a tighter hug when they pulled away. "I, I really like you Shade. So much, you're amazing, and, and perfect, and, and everything I could want. And I'm so lucky to call you mine." She  said, the words rushing out of her. tears started running, her nose turned bright red, and she hastily tried to wipe them away.

"It's not goodbye though, I gotta keep telling myself that. This is just see you later, right? I'm going to see you soon, right? And you'll come to my games, and we will get breakfast, and it'll be okay, right? it'll all be okay," She added at the last moment, turning back to him to hold him close again. The train was whistling, but she didn't care. she wasn't ready to leave.

Shade's arms wrapped around Chloe as she seemed to not want to leave even more now.  "I really like you too Chloe, and I will come and visit as often as I can okay. "  He didn't want her to leave either, but the train was going to start leaving if she didn't get on board soon.

He let go of her and stepped back, "I got something for you, something that will hopefully pass the time for you." Shade smiled and pulled a leather covered notebook out of his messenger bag and held it out to her.  "I only ask you to wait until you are situated on the train to open it, I know you've seen this around the apartment before." 

He knew she had, but he hadn't let her look in it at all and Shade knew she was getting curious.  She'd picked it up a few times, and usually Shade didn't have a problem with Chloe looking at his sketchbooks, but this one was special.  He'd filled the whole book with sketches of him and Chloe, some of them were of them together, some were single sketches, but they were all of sweet moments, and the one on the very first page was the sketch he did of her the night he let her stay at the Cauldron with him and he let her have the bed while he slept on a transfigured couch.  He'd stayed awake and couldn't resist sketching her sleeping before he passed out on the couch.

"You'll make it, I promise, you have friends to keep you occupied, don't worry about me, I'll find something to occupy my time."  He kissed her on the cheek and then said, "Go on, I'll see you soon."  What he didn't tell her was that there was a key to his apartment taped to the inside back cover of the sketchbook.

Chloe looked down at what she was being handed, she held it in her hands, and looked back up at him. Of course she had seen it, it was eating her alive, she had looked in all of his books, except this one. This one, he had kept close to himself. Her eyes were glassed over, and hugged him closely. "Thank you, I, I can't wait, thank you," She said with a big smile, and he leaned over to kiss her on the cheek. She wiped her tears off her face.

"And you better not become occupied with another girl," she said joking with a smile. The horn blew again, and she turned back. "Thank you, I, I love you Shade. I've gotta go," She hopped on the train at one of the last minutes. Chloe stood on the stairs, trunk in hand and smiled, waving. She blew him a kiss. "I'll see you soon!" she yelled, as they started pulling away. "Thank you!" When she couldn't see him anymore, the tears finally overflowed, and she swatted at them, trying to get her cheeks cleared of them.

"That boy, good God," She said, pushing the trunk into a luggage rack, and looking back through the window, the station becoming a little place among the hills. Chloe had to refocus. She was on a train to Hogwarts, where she was going to be a Prefect. She needed to man up, and be an example. She glanced in her mirror, wiping at her eyes, reapplying some mascara, and tucking the journal away. That would be for later, when she got some alonetime. There was no time for alonetime now.