Slipping into an empty compartment, Veronica stretched her arms and flopped down on the comfier looking side.

She was one of the odd birds who actually liked being at school quite a bit, but she was excited to get home and get to spend time with her parents and her local friends.

She'd purposely picked one of the farther-back compartments to minimize the chance that Huck and Penny would find her and attempt to sit with her. They'd have her jumping through hoops all summer, and the way she looked at it, this was her last big chance to be an independent woman before the hammer came down.

Wearing a flouncy canary-yellow sundress, she finally felt free of her frumpy Hogwarts uniform. She'd been choked in charcoal-gray for nearly nine months and only getting to wear her own clothes on nights and weekends wasn't acceptable.

It would be an accurate assumption to say Naomi Foley was lagging behind certain  levels of puberty, when regarding her peers, but her maturity in fashion was nearing its peak, for her third year at Hogwarts was when Miss Foley learned to live out of her purse.

She would, of course, refer to it as a hobo tote. Nonetheless, on the last trip to Hogsmeade Naomi took it upon herself to be someone else and snag a few drinks, (that a thirteen-year-old had little business snagging,) wove them in wicker wrappings and hid them away in her bag until school had reached its last day, when she snagged some hot chocolate and toppings from the kitchen and everyone began boarding the Hogwarts Express.

With tame-less black curls beating at her back Naomi strode down the corridors of the train until she found a trolley that she swiped some pumpkin juice from as well as a few glasses and trotted off to find a secluded car; it had been a long year, a year she somehow survived, with good grades even, so she was ready to sit down and do what she did best.

"Surprise," the tall witch's voice lingered with suspicion as she slipped into the cabin in which Veronica resided. Naomi dropped the glasses, spoons, and pumpkin juice on the table jutting out from beneath wide window, and then put her bag between herself and the window and pulled back its curtain to let her virid gaze survey the smoke beating from the train's chimney, "Hogwart's done," she let the curtain fall back over the window as she moved to unzip her bag to pull out some of the bottles hidden wrapped in wicker weaves, "hourglasses are 'escoed[1]," next she removed two bowls, one of whip cream and one of melted fudge, followed by a thermos of hot chocolate, "an' di' rules went wit' the owlery."

Naomi wasn't intending to get drunk, but she had had a sip of some of the acquired alcohol, in the past, and she thought they might make taste good with something sweet and spicy. If they didn't, then they could just go out the window--it's not like self-filling bowls and pitchers could run out anytime soon.

As the train's whistle blew and began to chug the students back home, Naomi partially filled all the glasses with steaming hot chocolate and finished her speech, "So fi'  you expect anyt'ing less than wicked of me 'den now's a good time t' go blind."

1.	referring to the vanishing spell used on their charms final

Veronica perked up when she saw Naomi enter the compartment, and sat up a little straighter. "What took you so long?" she asked in slight exasperation. "I thought you were gonna miss the train!"

Her eyes widened, however, when she watched Naomi unload her ill-gotten bounty. She had intended to get some sweets on the train, but this variety of treat was much harder to come by and a hell of a lot more fun. It was early yet and she hadn't had enough to drink at breakfast, so she grabbed a glass and filled it with pumpkin juice, taking her time to examine the other bottles.

"Where did you get those?" she asked curiously, but not negatively.

Veronica had been drunk before. It had never taken much for the petite girl to get tipsy, and the taste of alcohol had never bothered her.

...That might have been a bit of an understatement. Veronica got drunk every opportunity she got. And, oddly enough, there had been more opportunities at Hogwarts than at home. She had rarely been drunk at eleven o'clock in the morning, but there was a first time for everything, she assumed cheerily.

"Th' last Hogsmeade," Naomi replied as she pulled one of the glasses of hot chocolate towards her, "Wit' a special trick," she flashed a proud smile at Veronica as she poured some pumpkin juice in her drink and then undid the top on the bottle of firewhiskey.

"You ever mixed drinks fore?," she poured a gulp of firewhiskey into the hot chocolate, and its surface timidly sparked, "'Ave never done it wit' alcohol, but it's not much different," then her drink breathed a plume of steam and Naomi pursed her lips thoughtfully, "I t'ink..."

Drops of water pecked against the window of the train car as Naomi's eyes then met Veronica's, looking for criticism. She had a hunch that the other witch had had more experience with these sort of beverages than herself, but, Naomi assumed, since she wasn't using a lot, that it wouldn't be a big deal.

Naomi rolled up her sleeves and pulled the bowl of whip cream and chocolate over to her warm beverage as rain began to patter the windows, "Figure I could come up wit' somethin' stylish and tasty, and keep mixin' it all th' way home," she began to spoon cream over her drink, followed the deed with drizzling chocolate over the cream, then mushed her spoon over it a little and then repeated the ritual several times, "or jump between Platform eight and a half and mix it all th' way to Venice--"

The cream with chocolate swirls finally foamed to the rim of the glass and Naomi added a final drizzle of chocolate before happily cleaned the spoon, "Runnin' 'way from home sounds like a good plan right now." The witch then pressed her thick lips against the edge of her glass and slurped up some of her drink.

"Look at you!" Ronnie said approvingly, clapping her hands together excitedly. "This is a welcome surprise."

The train ride home had always been a long drag for her. How much sense did it make to have to take a stupid train all the way from Scotland to London when she lived in Durham? If she got off the train in the first third of the ride she'd be home. As it was, it meant a trek across the whole friggin' country only to have to turn heel and trudge the whole way back.

It would be much easier to swallow the stupidity of it with a bit of help. 

She shrugged nonchalantly and took the bottle when Naomi had finished with it. "Well," she began, filling half the cup with firewhiskey before adding only a splash of cocoa, "I mean, I usually go straight up," she said with a sheepish shrug and a grin. "But I'm pretty sure cocoa makes  everything better."

She took a tentative sip and raised her eyebrows at the strength of the drink, but then coughed a little and grinned. "Wooh," she breathed. "This was your best idea yet."

Naomi wasn't sure if it was a welcome surprise that she got her hands on something she shouldn't, which was a usual occurrence for a metamorph with her blatant distaste for rules (not that everyone was aware of that,) or if she had gotten her hands on alcohol. Naomi was very positive it was the latter.

The gulp of hot chocolate mixture slowly sank down Naomi's throat as she pushed a smile across her lips and shamefully shook her head at the witch sitting across from her, "You like getting smashed or you jus' like th' drink?" The liquid then dropped into her stomach and flared, twisting her amused expression, "An' if you do get smashed, it's not goin' t' be on me."

Then, Naomi's brows furrowed as a hushed belch crawled from her scrawny belly and a searing heat filled her chest. Then she hicupped and held her breath, until she coughed. A plume of smoke puffed from her mouth and she instinctively reached to cover it, still coughing smoke between her fingers, as she reached to unlatch the window.

She gave a final forceful cough, bursting with a short bloom of flames and seeped out the crack in the window pane. With a few more feeble coughs, Naomi left the window open and flopped back down in her seat as she fanned her mouth.

"My bad," Naomi said, "Not thinkin'." It hadn't crossed Naomi's mind that drinking would work up one of her own traditional habits, from Jamaica.

"How's my breath?" she finally asked, her nose was burning so much from her smoking fit, Naomi had temporarily lost her sense of smell, and she pushed the drink over to to Veronica, "'Ere, you 'cin have eet."

Veronica smirked, a small, sly smile that she had inherited from her brother. "Ladies don't get smashed, Naomi," she replied carefully. "Ladies can hold their drinks. Unfortunately for the rest of you, I've got a good four years left before I'm a lady." She took a deft, strong swig from her glass of hundred-proof hot chocolate, immediately feeling the hot rush of the flames licking her esophagus. Focusing, she breathed out calmly through her nostrils, letting two smoldering trails of smoke seep out.

Wizard liquor took effect faster than the muggle variety, and she felt her head swim slightly in response to the sudden influx of delicious toxins. "Oof," she said quietly, rubbing between her eyes. "That's... wow."

Ronnie smiled again, a conspiratorial little look. "Let it out, hun," she replied with a little shrug. "Hucky holds me down and burps in my face... among other things... so this is practically a tropical vacation."

"Your breath is fine," she giggled. "Sterile as a bandaid, I imagine." The possibility of having another drink all to herself was tempting, but she was almost certain that she'd get hammered within a few more decent sips and do something entirely regrettable on the train. She wanted to avoid that situation if at all possible. And yet she continued to drink, taking bold slugs of it, until her first cup was empty save for the chocolatey dregs

Once Veronica suffered her own effects of the drink, and Naomi had recovered from her own, she gave a growl a chuckle, "Told you now, huh?"

The witch decided to lace her fingers back around the glass and pulled it back towards herself, picking up the pitcher of hot chocolate with her free hand and pouring it into her drink until the cream perched at the rim again. With a much more cautious sip, Naomi drank her mixed drink with much more pleasure, careful to suppress the little fire rumbling in her gut, "Brothuhs for you," she conceded as she exhaled her spicy breath. "Imagine havin' four of 'em."

Naomi was always at constant war with her siblings, that's just how they functioned as a unit, but it didn't make it any less irritating.

Then the dark-skinned witch couldn't help but let her puffy lips drop in awe at her friend downing the whole shot of firewhiskey. "'Least am saved from yer pukin'," Naomi studied Veronica's face to catch any sign of her still being sober, "Now you 'cin know what it's like to smoke like a Jamaican, yeah?" she gave a bittersweet giggle and then raised an eyebrow and nodded towards her friend.

"Still wit' di' sober?" Naomi's drink was much less alcoholic than her companion's, so she only felt the warm spicy heat of the drink and was saved from the dulling effects of it.

Blake had taken a bit longer to get on board the train than he had intended, but being the nice and practical brother that he was, he wanted to make sure his siblings had everything together before leaving school. Callum would not be returning the following year and his other two brothers were helpless when it came to organization. And then their was Aggie who was such a dainty thing and required perfect pampering. She certainly couldn't be expected to carry anything weighing even a smidge of her own weight.

But finally Blake was on board and he made his way through the train cars in search of classmates to sit with. He passed through the car where Ayla was and rather than grin and bear it full of awkwardness, Blake kept walking. Maybe some day the two of them would be back to where they were from the beginning of their Hogwart's days, but Blake wasn't sure when that would happen.

With a sigh, he passed through cars with some male classmates joking around and sharing sweets and though he was tempted to stop and fraternize, he continued on in search of a more comforting car.

He eventually found one when he knocked and then entered the one containing Naomi and Ronni. Blake was fortunate enough to arrive just in time to hear his Jamaican friend's belch and Ronni's subsequent retort. Blake's brows shot up and he smirked. Then, shaking his head, he clicked his tongue at Naomi. "So very attractive...."

Ronnie laughed a little. She thought it was entirely a waste of one's time to drink things with a small amount of alcohol. Either go big or go home, she figured. "You're in charge of keeping me from doing something bloody stupid," she informed her friend with a level glare.

She rolled her eyes. "I can't even imagine," she grimaced. "One of 'em is bad enough."

Veronica leaned her head back slightly, her eyes heavy and dizzy, and blew a smoke ring. It was definitely at the point where she had begun to slip into the murky state of reduced faculty. She knew it would be only a matter of time before she was nearly unintelligible. A petite girl was no match for something like firewhiskey. "For the time being," she replied cautiously. "I can feel meself slippin'."

Startled at the comment, Ronnie looked up quickly to spot Blake in the doorway. "Oh, hullo, Knight. Stiff drink?"

If anyone could have the best timing to enter any room, it could be Blake Knight. He was as innocent as the next Ravenclaw could be but Naomi knew he could bend that streak whichever way he liked, at least lately he could. Naomi just pouted a smile and shrugged in response; It was definitely not a response that would convince Blake of her innocence, however fake it was.

But when Veronica offered Blake a drink the darker-skinned Slytherin turned to the boy slowly shaking her head as her lips pursed around the word 'No.'

Without turning to face her lightheaded friend Naomi casually gave Blake a daring smile as she picked on him, "He t'inks too much, Ronnie, I don't trust what he'll do drunk," then she turned to Veronica and raised a critical eyebrow, "or you p'on dat note."

"You 'cin lock th' door and have 'dis instead," Naomi pushed her own, less alcoholic drink towards Blake, because having only a little bit of Firewhiskey in her decorated hot chocolate made it totally okay to drink.

Blake admitted to not knowing Veronica as well as he knew Naomi, but since the two girls were friendly, Blake had no reason not to be friends with Veronica as well. The though crossed his mind that he didn't know who was the “worse” influence on the other and he supposed if one had to characterize the friendship between the Slytherins, it was that they equally influenced the other—badly.

Though Blake realized he was far from squeaky clean that year in terms of his own behavior (as Naomi was quick to scold him for his boasting of Straight A's), Blake held up his hand and shook his head at Ronni's offer of the firey liquid. His father would have his head if he showed up to Kings Cross in a less than respectable manner. “Thanks anyway,” he told the girl with a quirky grin. Blake turned the same grin to Naomi, who he could tell was worried about corrupting him too much. And she confirmed this by echoing his sentiments. But he snickered for her explanation of it. “I think too much? Tell that to my professors this semester.” He knew it might earn him another round of scolding from his friend.

But he dutifully closed and locked the door and took a seat, accepting the drink that she gave him. “So what are we celebrating?”

Veronica leveled her gaze at Naomi and squinted  a glare at her for trying to shield Blake from her corruptions. She was already a little loopy, and realized slightly too late that downing her drink so quickly had been a mistake. She had to squint a little harder than she would have liked to bring her friend into focus.

Ronnie wasn't familiar enough with Blake to make a snide comment about his grades, but as he was a Ravenclaw she assumed he received great grades- not that she didn't.  An attractive guy who was clearly smart enough to be a Ravenclaw. She was intrigued. "I'm sure," she commented dryly, running her finger around the still-moist rim of her now-empty glass. "Only E's, then?" Her eyes, which had been previously focused on the glass, looked up with a mischievous glitter to meet his.

"Isn't it obvious?" she cocked an eyebrow, looking to Naomi. "It's summer. No more cold dingy gray. Another week of it and I thought I'd slit me wrists."

At the subject of Blake's grade Naomi rolled her green eyes, "More play an' less work, Ronni," then her eyes condescendingly fell on Blake, "like Harold[1], but actually passing." Naomi knew she had already scolded her friend plenty of times for his laid back semester, but she never failed to capitalize on the subject with a harsh tinge; she knew he could do better, but he just didn't for some reason.

Then Veronica moved on to talk about what they were celebrating, which wasn't exactly what Naomi was celebrating but trying to explain to her friends about an ancient Egyptian cursed dagger seemed impossible, so instead she added, "An' surviving Ancient Runes[2], Storm, classmates--" Naomi poured herself another glass of hot chocolate, and then added some butterbeer and pumpkin juice before sticking her spoon in the whip cream again.

"T'ink I'll play it safe and get a dragon fer a pet 'dis summer," Naomi smiled satisfactorily, but spoke in a deadpan serious lilt as she kept her focus on her hot chocolate as she layered the whip cream and melted chocolate again. After finishing her topping, the curly-haired witch darted her attention to the boy next to her, "You shuld lock your brodder in a book all summer." She assumed that was the only reason Blake would have gotten lazy with school at all, but didn't feel like being that serious with Blake about that sort of thing in front of Veronica.

She coated her finger in her whip cream and chocolate topping and then poked it between her lips for a taste, "Nobaddy would mind anyway, right?"

1.	Blake's lazier and more slovenly twin
2.	referring to their last class where they got locked in a room and mayhem broke out over a project she did on Hieroglyphs

Blake raised his brows but said nothing in regards to Ronni and Naomi's doings. Even though his Jamaican friend thought she needed to protect him from their rebel rousings, Blake wasn't the sort to really drink...or do other mind altering substances. He would rather rebel in other ways that would make him seem less perfect than his family really thought.

Like get straight A's for a year.

Blake knew that the feat would not go unnoticed by his father. His mother would be far less severe about it and would certainly try to temper the anger of his father. He knew he was going to get a lecture about slacking off and what it could mean for his future.

Blake had gone through his earlier years trying to be the good son and it really hadn't gotten him that much farther than his other brothers. He'd start to really care when what he did really started to matter--like when he took his OWLS or his NEWTS. And he was still pretty confident that even with his slacking off this year, by the time fifth year rolled around, he'd still be in contention to be a prefect. The only person he could see himself losing that role to was Baxter. And if Blake really considered it, his dormmate wasn't a bad fellow to lose it to.

Bottom line was, Blake's priorities had changed somewhat in the year. The once super-serious pureblood was quickly becoming the most relaxed one around.

To Ronnie, Blake puffed out his chest and grinned about the grades and raised his glass. "Straight A's. If I were a muggle, that would be an awesome report card!"

His face darkened at Naomi's scolding. "Pfft! I couldn't be more like Harold if I tried even harder. He didn't even pass some of his classes. He'll be lucky if he gets enough OWLS to even get enough NEWTS for a decent job. I might get a whuppin' from my pa, but at least I know I have a future." He paused and sipped the tame drink his friend had given him. "I just know now that I don't have to kill myself to achieve it...yet."

His grin widened at Naomi's choice in pets. "Sounds killer," he joked. "I think for some adventure, I'm going to try and volunteer at that new muggle department in the Ministry this summer. How's that for adventurous?"