Blake Knight was quick to find an empty train car on the express, and part of him felt like the upperclassmen he looked up to for years when he was able to tell returning 2nd, 3rd and 4th years to bugger off to find a seat and then see the scared wide eyes of the firsties who weren't sure what to expect. He would soothe their worries and send them on their way before settling back into his seat.

He awaited the arrival of others in his year, anxious to see any significant changes and catch up about what happened over the summer. Blake had heard horror stories of friends growing apart over their years at Hogwart's and he naturally worried if his circle of friends would ever resemble what it did in the earlier years. Would that be a good or bad thing?

He saw his brother rush by to find other Slytherins, and Blake stood to peek into the hall where he spied someone who seemed to be looking for a place to sit.

"Ayla!" He called out. "You can come sit in here!"

Ayla was walking down the aisle of the train trying to figure out where to sit. It wasn't like she didn't have options, she just wasn't sure how she felt about such options. Normally she would have sat with Winnie and the other girls from Hufflepuff but she didn't see them and wasn't sure where they had decided to sit this year. Last year she had been obligated to sit with the other prefects. This year however she had chosen to step down from the duties in order to focus on being a good Quidditch Captain. Which meant that she wouldn't be sitting with Fred. Then again that really was a blessing in disguise. Not sitting with Fred meant she wouldn't run the chance of having to sit with or be near Alistair.

Over the course of the summer the pair had taken their flirtations and affections to a new level, one Ayla had never been with anyone else and well now . . . things were weird. She was doing everything she could to avoid him.

When she heard her name and an offer of company she leaped at the chance, knowing right away that the voice didn't belong to a certain someone she was avoiding. She flopped into the seat across from Blake with a wide smile. As soon as her green gold eyes took in his features a blush came to her cheeks. She had been so focused on who she didn't want to sit next to she didn't even think about who she would be sitting with.

Blake Knight.

Blake had been Ayla's first crush at Hogwarts and at one point in time one of her best friends. Then his troll of a brother had to mess things up and caused a rift between the pair that seemed to last for years. She couldn't even remember the last time she had spent any time with him outside of mandatory class assignments. It was actually a shame. She was ashamed. Ashamed of how jealous she had been, how angry she had been and how much time she had let go by. She always felt like she could have reconnected with him but never seemed to bring herself to do it. She supposed this was her chance. Though it didn't help that Blake was still just as gorgeous as he had been when she first crushed on him (perhaps even more so)

"Hey you." She kept her smile wide and became painfully aware of the blush on her cheeks, "Feels like it's been forever. How was your summer?"

As soon as he had called out, it occurred to Blake that he and Ayla tended to move in different circles these days and had for many years. Part of it was by circumstance given certain embarrassing events of the past, but some were probably also the by product of "growing up". Still, he considered that it might be awkward to have to share a train car all the way to Hogwart's. And talk. And get to know each other.

All. Over. Again.

Maybe he was overthinking things like any good Ravenclaw would do. They were 6th years now and everything was going to be fine.

As Blake settled into his seat opposite her, he returned her smile. And then she spoke and it sounded like he was being transported back to their younger years. "Hey back," he responded. He sheepishly dropped his gaze to his hands, which he now clasped together in his lap. "Yeah, it has been a long time it seems." Clearing his throat, he raised his eyes back to hers. "Summer was good. Tried to spend as little of it with my family as possible." He flashed her an impish grin. "But I did attend a few quidditch camps and spent some time running drills with Callum. Strange how now he's the one I get along with best now."

Watching him, it seemed he was as acutely aware of their situation as she was. The way he dropped his gaze to his hands when he talked made her wonder if he was nervous. Had it simply been a whim to call out to her, or maybe a long buried instinct? Had this been their third year it would have been only natural for them to be sitting together. She hoped they could get back to that comfort level or at least something similar, otherwise this was going to be a really long ride back to school.

Her smile faltered when he mentioned Callum. She knew he always had trouble getting along with his brothers, his whole family really, but she never expected him to say he actually got along with Callum now. She supposed (or perhaps she hoped) that the last few years away from school and out in the real world had helped the former Slytherin Grow up some. She had watched Xavier mature while away from some of his more toxic influences, perhaps Callum had done the same. Still . . .

"That is so weird." She shook her head a bit. Callum had done nothing but bully her for years. She was so grateful when he left school early to play Quidditch Professionally. However if this was going to be a comfortable ride back to school talking about his older brother probably wasn't the greatest way to achieve that, "Well you look good," her blush deepened, "I mean, it looks like the camps did more than improve your game." Yup, that was not better.

She perked up as a thought occurred to her, "Hey, Peyton told me you're taking over as Captain!" She gave him a flirtatious smirk, "Looks like we're going to be rivals."

Blake winced, remembering Ayla's history with his older brother. Or any of his family, really. The Knights were pureblooded snobs, which was hardly a surprise to anyone. And early on at school, Blake had been concerned about what his family thought of his connections or even his interests. By third year, he had grown tired of that routine and some of his siblings -- Callum especially -- were intent on making his friendships more difficult. Some, like his with Ayla, suffered. Others, mostly within his own house, were maintained. And others, he had just grown apart from.

No time like the present to try and change things, Blake thought to himself as he glanced back over at Ayla. They could be friends again, right?

When she made her comments and seemed to stumble a bit over them, Blake tried to flash her a reassuring smile. "You're not so bad yourself," he returned, and he meant it. He had always thought Ayla was a good looking (or pretty) girl. But they had always been more like friends in their early years so he had not really thought of her in that way until Callum brought attention to it. Looking at her now, Blake could see that her features reflected her style and a confidence. He was sure she was not going to have a shortage of classmates clamoring to ask her to Yule Balls and the like.

His face visibly relaxed further with the change of subject to Quidditch and already Blake sat a little straighter, clearly bursting with pride for his new position. "I am! He left me all of his best plays and I've been studying them throughout the summer. I can't wait until the first match." His brows shot up when her next comment implied that she was taking the helm for Hufflepuff. "Uh oh! This should be interesting." After a beat, he threw out, "So shall we make a friendly wager? Or just band together to try and defeat the evil empire that is Slytherin?"

“Be good this year, Grimwold,” his mum had said as she said goodbye to him at the platform. “Please?”

He had sighed, given her an awkward hug back, and jumped on the train. His mother had said the same thing to him for the last four years. The first two times it had been with a stern voice, but now it had turned into something more like pleading, and it didn’t really sit right with Grimwold. He was good. At least he always tried to be. It wasn’t actually his fault that he somehow ended up being sent to detention more times than both of his siblings combined. Or, well, his siblings had actually never been sent to detention, but that was another story. The do-gooder Granville, and the little miss perfect Griselda never ended up in trouble. The only reason for that was, in Grimwold’s mind, that they were boring.

As his sister joined the other second year Gryffindors, Grimwold wandered down the train, looking for somewhere to sit. He wasn’t really fussed where he ended up, just as long as it wasn’t a compartment filled with first years - they always seemed to frightened for Grimwold’s taste.

The train was busy, just like every year, and Grimwold found it hard to find somewhere where he wanted to sit. As he ran into the trolley witch he picked up a package of Fizzing Whizzbees and popped one in his mouth. The familiar taste of acidic popping on his tongue exploded in his mouth and for a second his feet left the floor, levitating just above it. A thought occurred to him. A thought that might be the best thought he’d had since last week!

In one movement he emptied the package of sweet in his mouth, barely able to contain it all. As the sherberts popped and fizzled in his mouth, he slowly rose higher. As they were melting in his mouth, more and more of it’s ingredients entered his body, making him levitate higher and higher. The plan had worked, and before long he was floating in the ceiling. This was amazing!

But then a second thought occurred to him. When the effect wore off the fall down on the floor would be a hard and unpleasant one, one that he didn’t really want to experience this early in the morning. As he looked around, and a few frightened first years ran under him, he grabbed the list of the first door next to him and heaved himself in. In his head there would be less of a hurtful fall of it was on top of a seat.

There were two people in the compartment. Two that he actually knew and recognised. And they were in the same year! Blake Knight from Ravenclaw, and Ayla Collins from Hufflepuff. As he waved sheepishly too them, mouth still filled to the brim with sweets making it impossible to talk, he felt kind of stupid. Ayla was an attractive girl, and floating into the compartment with a mouth full of sweets might not be the best impression to make after a summer away from Hogwarts. He probably should've waited to try this out until he was in the Gryffindor common room.

Ayla couldn't help the smile that spread across her lips. His joy was infectious. He was so excited and proud to be the new Captain. As much as she playfully mentioned them being Rivals, she really hoped they could stay friendly during the competitions. She had no problem being friendly with Peyton, even on game days, she was sure she could do it for Blake. It was also further motivation for her to make amends with him as they were going to end up seeing each other even more throughout the school year.

She flashed him a wicked grin, "Oh the Slytherins are so going down." It definitely helped that the large majority of the Slytherin Team had graduated the year before. She had no idea who was even going to be left to take control. She had a good feeling the team was mostly going to be made up of Rookies. With the previous group of Seventh Years having graduated the team lost Erin Harper, Xavier Tawse, Kitty Li, Demetria Strelnikov, Bellatrix Dark, Gracie Slant, Theo Whitman and likely more that she couldn't think of. Almost all of the main roster and even some of the secondaries were now out in the adult world leaving the likes of Casey O'Doherty and Erin Dark to carry on.

Ayla was about to continue on with her plan to defeat the Slytherin Team when she caught movement out of the corner of her eye. She looked up and let out a surprised yelp. It took her a moment to recognize the figure floating across the ceiling, "Holy Helga, Grim!" She gripped at her chest, "You trying to give us heart attacks?!" In all fairness she was slightly thankful for the distraction. As much as the subject of Quidditch was a safe place for her and Blake to be, it was only a matter of time before the ran out of something to say on the topic and be forced to talk about something else. Knowing that she didn't have to spend the entire trip back to school alone with Blake made her feel more relaxed.

She got to her feet giving the Gryffindor a sympathetic smile, "How did you even get up there?" She reached up to try to grab him but wasn't tall enough to catch hold of anything on her first attempt. She climbed up on her seat instead and took hold of his sleeve, giving it a good yank. She managed to gain purchase, pulling at him, finally grabbing hold of his arms as she fought against the levitation spell. Finally she managed to have her arms wrapped around his middle, most of him pressed against her while his feet still floated off the ground. She teetered on the edge of her seat, trying to keep her balance.

Ayla chuckled, "I did not think this through." Her face was about mid chest level as Grim had a good eight inches on the petite Hufflepuff, "We're totally going to fall."

Even though it would have been exciting to have a bet with Ayla (and to see what she put down as the stakes), Blake was not disappointed that she seemed amenable to being friendly rivals with the shared goal of seeing Slytherin fall in the rankings. It had really been a blow the previous year to have both Head Boy and Head Girl as well as the House and Quidditch Cups go the snakes. the Knight household has been unbearable with that outcome as his brothers (and less his sister) were braggarts.

And this was probably the best year to see them get put in their place -- hopefully last place! Blake could barely contain his grin when imagining the whole Slytherin House looking as disappointed. He was about to join in his Hufflepuff's comments about it when the relative peace in the train car was disturbed. Blake followed Ayla's gaze to the door where their Gryffindor classmate floated inside.

The Ravenclaw's brow furrowed with concern as he wondered what Grim had done to get in such a state. Ayla stood to try and help and he watched for a bit as she tried her best to gain some leverage. As she teetered on her seat, Blake stood and rushed to help as well.

The Ravenclaw had shot up in height considerably over the last few years so now he was one of the taller males in the school. His more athletic build also helped provide some much needed muscle and weight for helping Ayla tug their classmate down. "What are you on?" Blake queried as he looked up at Grim's face.

Having Ayla wrapped around his and dangling from the middle of his body made Grimwold weirdly tingly inside. It wasn’t that he had thought of her in that way before, but just the fact that he had a girl the same age as him currently wrapped around his waist was an exciting one. Or, rather, it would have been exciting for real if the reason for the witch to cling to him so tightly wasn’t only because she was trying to get him down out of the ceiling.

And when Blake ran over to help as well, any fleeting thought that might have ran through Grimwold’s mind disappeared.

“What are you on?”

At Blake's question Grimwold started chewing at the sweets in his mouth, but they were too many and still to hard, and it did nothing but make his teeth hurt and his mouth to tingle. Instead he opted for a second option, however undignified it might be. He opened his mouth and spat, getting the dozen or so yellow sweets leave his mouth and gather on the floor beneath him. With a small cough he could finally feel the effect waning.

“Sorry,” he said with a goofy smile. “I was just trying an idea I had. I hope I didn’t interrupt anything?”

He looked between the Ravenclaw and the Slytherin (which was somewhat awkward given his current position floating above them) as he felt the Whizzbees’ effect leave his body, very slowly lowering him towards the floor.

Ayla had thought nothing of being pressed up against Grimlock. It wasn't that he wasn't an attractive bloke (to be fair he was super cute) but she had never thought of him that way. However once Blake stood up to help she felt her skin catch on fire in the small spots where they connected. She was surprised at her body's reaction and wondered if she'd ever grow out of it. She wasn't sure how she felt about having permanent physical attractions (especially when she took guys like Alistair and Xavier into account)

She let herself fall back to her seat as Grim started to float back down, "An idea?!" Ayla asked incredulously, "Those are Fizzing Whizbees! How many did you put in your mouth?" Ayla was more shocked than angry and she had to admit a little impressed. The small enchanted candies only had a minor levitating charm to them, she tried to wrap her head around just how many were needed to end up on the ceiling.

She sneaked a peek at Blake before waving Grim off, "No, no. You weren't interrupting anything. Just talking about how we're going to obliterate Slytherin in the Quidditch cup this year." She spoke non chalantly about it, giving that Grim was a Gryffindor and likely to feel the same way the two of them felt about the snakes.

Having not changed into her school robes yet, Ayla was still in her casual muggle garb. She pulled her purse close by and dug through it before producing a small box. She opened the little tin and offered it to Grim. Sweet smelling cookies lay inside, "it should help get the taste out . . . and may help alleviate any lingering embarrassment." Now in their sixth year Ayla had become notorious for her own enchanted treats.

Blake couldn't help chuckling a bit at the predicament. Students at Hogwart's sure did know how to get into those. When Grim tried spitting out what was in his mouth, the Ravenclaw turned his head away and closed his eyes, hoping to not get sprayed with anything.

At Grim's query about interrupting anything, Blake shot a glance to Ayla who responded. Blake nodded and emphatically added, "Yeah, It would be torture if Slytherin won again this year." Since it seemed that the effects on Grim were starting to wear off, Blake offered, "Wanna stay for the rest of the ride? Maybe we can concoct a plan to use your Fizzing Whizbees  or some of Ayla's treast to prank some of the Slytherins."

“Well,” Grimwold said, now floating just a few inches off the seats. “I think there’s about a dozen in a package?”

He gave Ayla an excusing smile. Luckily for him she assured him he hadn’t interrupted anything. He had been scared there for a second that he had walked (erhm, floated) in on something he shouldn’t have, but his fears seemed to be nothing to worry about.

“Oh yes,” he responded with a nod. “They were all boasting a bit too much about winning last year. Did you all hear Argyros boasting after it? It was crazy!”

As Ayla held out the tin Grimwold eagerly accepted the cookies offered to him. She had been right - his mouth was filled with a citric taste that didn’t seem to want to leave. He usually loved Fizzing Whizbees, but he could already feel that it would be a while before he had some again. Luckily the cookie was delicious and he closed his eyes without realising, taking in the flavor.

“Wanna stay for the rest of the ride? Maybe we can concoct a plan to use your Fizzing Whizbees or some of Ayla’s treats to prank some of the Slytherins.”

Grimwold’s eyes popped open, glistening with ideas, and as he looked towards Blake his face turned into a wide grin.

“Actually,” he said, his eagerness very evident in his tone. “Have you guys heard of Bulbadox powder?”

Ayla was happy to hear that Grim found the Slytherins as insufferable as they had themselves. She shook her head, "You think they'd won the World Cup the way they were going on. Tawse especially." She swallowed hard and looked away momentarily. She knew Blake was aware of most of her history with the older Slytherin (or at least the beginnings of it, he hadn't been there for the ring, the drunken kiss or the Christmas apology) She had no idea if the Gryffindor next to her knew about any of it.

A smile spread wide across her lips as Grim closed his eyes to enjoy her cookie. She loved a happy customer and there was just something special about watching someone enjoy something you'd made.

"Bulbadox powder?" A wicked glint shone in Ayla's emerald eyes, "Oh man if we could get that on their uniforms?" She bit her lip, "that might be considered sabotage . . . But! Maybe we could sneak it into the common room somehow. Make it a little less conspicuous." She had never actually considered pranking the Slytherins before, her brother would be proud.

The mention of the boastfulness of Slytherins was enough to make Blake's eyes roll what with all of his siblings being sorted into that house and he having first hand experience in such behavior. Only he had to endure it all summer long multiple times over. It was frustrating and annoying and it made him even more determined that they should not win again.

The talk of Bulbadox powder pulled Blake out of his inner woes and he eagerly glanced between his Gryffindor and Hufflepuff companions. Ayla mentioned putting it on their uniforms and how that could be considered sabotage. And then she posed the "what if" of sneaking into the common room and the Ravenclaw perked up even more.

"Heyyyy......" Blake sported the goofiest grin imaginable as he gave a double thumbs up before pointing towards himself while also raising his eyebrows suggestively. "Guess who has two thumbs and because he's a twin he can sneak into the Slytherin common room[1]?"

1.	Happy Birthday, Big Bother....I Mean Brother

First impressions were important- Winifred knew that. And now she was going into her sixth year- already verging on seventeen (stupid birthday keeping her from starting sooner!) she was determined that her first day back would be a good one. She'd just gotten a haircut- still the same shade of auburn it had always been, but this time with bangs. She'd gotten up super early to make sure that her makeup was perfect, to make sure she had packed everything she'd need, and wrangle Lord Fluffybutt for the trip. The cat was fat as ever and was none too pleased about being put into a carrier for the trip to the train station.

Winnie managed to duck out of her parents' grip when they tried to smother her with kisses- insisting she was too old now- and made her way onto the train. It took a while to find a compartment where she recognized someone- and when she realized it was other sixth years decided this was definitely the place for her. She considered letting Fluffy out of his carrier- but knew better, she'd never catch him- and instead tucked him under a seat.

"Can you believe it?" she exclaimed with a smile, turning a quick circle- ever self-involved and not realizing she might be interrupting. "Winifred Leigh Oliver returning to Hogwarts for her sixth year. Never would have thought it possible. You'd all be appalled to see my OWL scores from last year- but I guess I did just good enough to squeak by for another year at Hogwarts." Reaching into her pocket she pulled out a bag of Bertie Botts and plopped down in a seat and opened it.  "Mum says I'm doing all throw-away classes but she's just glad I'm still in school instead of waitressing at my Aunt's pub for the rest of my days."