A few months later, Flynn found himself in the passenger seat of Liz's car, trying to limit his nervous ticks to just the frantic strumming of his fingers against his thigh. He hated wearing a seatbelt, being strapped down to his seat like some sort of criminal, but Liz was already agitated, and he didn't want to turn her attention towards him.

Even though it had been months, she was angrily ranting about Jones's betrayal of her childhood dreams as they drove through the streets of London. Though he had accepted her offer to drive him, not wanting to risk even the smallest chance of his luggage being stolen, he was starting to regret it.

"I always wanted to be a wizard, did you know that?" she said, as they waited at a red light. "While all the other kids were dressed up as princesses and cowgirls for Halloween, I always made a wizard hat and beard out of cardboard and construction paper. I mean, I get that I can't actually be a wizard, but at least knowing that magic was real would've made me a very happy girl. Did he just hate me? I can't believe Marcus would do this to me."

"Yeah," Flynn grumbled. "He hates you. You've got your answer, now can you shut up?"

She ignored Flynn's suggestion, of course, and continued to rant about how terrible of a father figure Jones was, until they got to King's Cross station. Even after Flynn took out his sole piece of luggage that he owned, a small drawstring bag with his two robes and the Hogwarts acceptance letter inside, along with a few worn out shirts, shorts, and underwear. All of his possessions, aside from the clothes he wore, and the wand in his pocket were in that bag, and he clutched it tight as he walked inside the station.

He saw a security guard eye him as he walked in, but as soon as Liz skipped after him and patted his shoulders, the security guard seemed to forget he existed.

"Ooh, I'm so excited, Flynn," Liz said. "Just think about it, a train that takes you to a magical school? What do you think it looks like? Will it be made out of stardust? Will it be pulled along the tracks by dragons, or do you think the train itself will be alive? What if it has legs? Actually, I don't like that idea. Let's pretend I never said that."

Flynn tried his best to ignore the six year old that was trapped in a fifty year old's body that followed him through the station, and made his way down the station, searching for platform nine and three quarters, like the instructions on his letter had said to. When he got to where it should've been, he frowned.

"I knew it was too fucking good to be true," he said, when he saw nothing there. "We've been scammed."

Though the idea stung, that he could be taken for a fool so easily, he honestly didn't mind. After all, he'd gotten new clothes and a wand out of it. Even though he hadn't been taught how to use it, he could make it work.

"Don't be silly, Flynnie," Liz said, rolling her eyes. "Of course the super secret train platform wouldn't be in plain view. Didn't Marcus say that we had to keep it a secret from other Moogies?"

Flynn frowned at the name. Though he couldn't quite remember what the wizards liked to call normal people, he knew it hadn't been that. But he supposed he didn't care in either case.

"Then where is it, Einstein?" he asked, pointing at the empty space between platform nine and ten. "I sure as shit can't see anything."

If anything, Liz's smile seemed to brighten at the emptiness. "I'm not sure, but I'm dying to find out," she said. "Maybe it's a code word? Or maybe it only opens for the pure of heart? Flynn, was there anything else in that letter of yours?"

"No," Flynn said.

"May I see it?" Liz asked.

"No," he said again.

"Fine, I'll figure it out myself," Liz said, sticking her tongue out at him and once again giving him more evidence that the fifty year old doctor was possessed by the spirit of a rather immature six year old. Before he could voice the opinion out loud though, Liz turned towards the space in between platforms nine and ten, and scrunched her face up in a look of what could've been intense focus, or the signs of an intense battle against the worst constipation that she'd ever had in her life.

Flynn sighed and shook his head, but before he could tell Liz to stop, he noticed someone staring at him.

Two rich-looking adults with startlingly white teeth were looking around the station, with confused looks on their faces, scanning the same area as Liz was. While their eyes passed over Flynn easily, the young bushy-haired girl standing in front of them stared directly at him, her eyes boring into his.

"You really think they'd include some instructions," Liz complained, completely oblivious to their onlookers. "But you know what, maybe that's part of the process. Maybe the first step to you becoming a wizard is for you to discover where this missing train is! Wait, would I be messing it up by helping you, then?"

As soon as she said the word 'wizard' the two adults perked up and walked towards Liz. Flynn stepped aside for them, even if they barely seemed to notice him in the first place.

"Excuse me, miss," they said. "Would you happen to be headed to Hogwarts Express as well?"

Liz whipped her head around, almost whipping the two with her blonde hair as she smiled wide at them.

"Oh my god, are you wizards?" she asked, managing to whisper in a way that pierced the room. It drew a few odd looks from the passers by, but nobody kept their gaze on her for long.

"No, we're Muggles," the man said.

"Oh, that's what it was called," Liz said.

While the adults introduced themselves to each other, delighting in the fact that all three of them were apparently doctors in some form, Flynn warily eyed the young girl that hadn't taken her eyes off of him since he'd noticed her.

"Hello," she said, with a voice that suggested that she wanted to seem confident, even if she was anything but. "My name's Hermione Granger. It'll be my first year at Hogwarts. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Every word and motion she made suggested she was rich, or at least well off, and though Flynn didn't particularly feel like engaging with her, he also knew that some people could take offence at the smallest of slights.

For most of the kids he'd interacted with, he didn't give a shit whether he pissed them off or not, but he wasn't dumb enough to think that he could apply that attitude to everyone he met from there on out. While he hated the streets that he lived on, he could at least say he knew the rules there, but even though he knew that he was in a much better place than he had been before, he knew he had to be careful.

"Flintstone Fredericton. First year," he grunted.

"Flintstone Fredericton? Are you making a joke? Wait, did you just say you're a first year?" she asked.

It had been a long time since someone had made fun of his name, but at the very least, the girl seemed more concerned with the possibility of him mocking her, than she was bemused by what his name was. A little bit arrogant of her, but he didn't mind it.

"You got a problem with that?"

Hermione's eyes widened before she frowned. "Oh, I'm sorry," she said. "I didn't mean to make fun of you. It's just that you're very tall, and your name doesn't sound very real to me, if I'm being honest."

"I'm aware," Flynn responded with a shrug. "Ain't gonna change it though. My mom might've been a stupid bitch, but she at least she fucked the right guy and gave birth to me. Figure I owe her for the favour."

Hermione winced as soon as Flynn's crude language hit her ears, and he mentally reminded himself that he was going into a place that spoke more proper. He doubted he would be able to stop himself from talking like he usually did on a regular basis, but he knew could at least pretend to be 'civil' if he put his mind to it.

"Do you have to speak so crudely?" Hermione asked. "I'm sure your mother wouldn't appreciate you talking like that about her."

Following Hermione's gaze, Flynn's eyes narrowed when he saw where she was looking.

"She ain't my mom," he said, struggling not to cuss the girl out for even suggesting it. He considered telling her more, but he quickly decided against it. There was no reason to spill his life story to a random girl he'd just met.

Trying to ignore her as best as he could, he stepped forward towards the pillar in between the pillars marking platforms nine and ten, and pressed his hand against it. When his hand passed through the brick, he let out a silent hum of satisfaction and stepped inside of it.

Aside from the magical entrance, Flynn was surprised to see the platform looking pretty mundane, compared to what he'd seen in Diagon Alley. Aside from the abundance of cats and owls lounging around on the shoulders of students, and the robes that some of the people were wearing, the only thing that stood out to him was the bright red steam engine labelled the "Hogwarts Express". Though solidly built, the thing looked ancient.

Before he allowed the time to look around some more, he moved sideways, just in time for Hermione to phase through the stone pillar that he'd just walked through.

"I'm glad to see someone else has read 'Hogwarts: A History' as well," she said, smiling and giving a prompt nod of approval towards him.

"I don't have any idea what you're talking about," Flynn replied.

That seemed to surprise Hermione, as her lips turned to a frown. "I really don't appreciate you lying to me like that," she said.

The accusation surprised Flynn, but not too much. He was used to being accused of lying. More curious than offended, Flynn turned back to Hermione.

"And why would you think I'd bother lying to you?" he asked.

"To make fun of the poor first year, of course," she said, with an indignant sniffle, though she didn't seem anywhere near crying.

"If you could remember what I said twenty seconds ago, you'd know I was a first year too," Flynn responded.

"And you're rather tall for an eleven year old, aren't you," she replied, with a huff. "I might've believed you if you also hadn't lied about not reading Hogwarts: A History. You're definitely a muggleborn like me, given how punk you're dressed, so unless you read about it already or you're an older student, there's no way you could've known about the secret entrance."

The way she said the word 'punk' almost made Flynn laugh. With how awkward she sounded, it felt like it was the first time she was saying it out loud. Though he didn't make a sound, something must've showed in his expression, because she turned her nose up and walked further down the platform. A few seconds later, her parents emerged from the stone pillar, looking around the magical platform for a few seconds before spotting her and rushing after her, luggage in tow.

When Liz appeared from the stone pillar, she looked around to admire the setting a bit before her eyes landed on Flynn.

"Scared her off already?" she asked, giving him a sad smile.

Flynn shrugged and walked along the platform, looking for a car that didn't look too crowded.

"How'd you figure it out anyways?" Liz asked.

"There was a pillar in between the signs marking platforms nine and ten, right where nine and three quarters might've been," Flynn said with a shrug. He passed by the car that Hermione was standing by, as she gave her parents her hugs and goodbyes. "And everybody in the station was avoiding it, like it smelled like shit. I just took a guess."

"Huh," Liz said, her eyes trailing the tearful goodbyes that Hermione's mother was giving her, as they passed by. "I didn't notice."

"Probably a magic thing," he said, with a shrug. If a stupid orphan like him could figure it out after two minutes, he doubted that none of the normal people that used the station daily would've noticed something off if there wasn't some sort of magic that protected it.

"Makes sense," Liz said.

Flynn finally reached a compartment that looked empty enough, near the end of the train and stepped aboard, before he felt something tapping his shoulder. He turned around to see Liz staring expectantly at him, holding her arms wide open.

"What?" Flynn asked.

"Aren't you going to give me a hug?" she asked, with a teasing grin. "You'll be gone for a year. I'll miss you."

Flynn glanced sideways, down the train. Though Hermione had already boarded the train, her parents were straining on their tiptoes to shout some things at her through the windows. From where he was, he could make out a few words about them missing her, and wishing her well, just the typical things that parents would say to their children in moments like this.

Or at least, that's what he imagined.

"You're not my mom," Flynn said.

"I know I'm not," Liz said, with her arms still spread open. "But I do care about you."

Flynn stared at her for a few seconds before he sighed.

"I'll miss you too," he said.

Liz's smile widened slightly as she lowered her arms, taking what she could get. "I'll see you next year," she said.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

"Yeah, yeah," Flynn said, turning around and waving behind him without looking, too exhausted from Liz's antics to entertain her any further. Saying nothing else, he stepped inside of the train.

It wasn't much to look at, that was to say, the train didn't look like anything particularly magical. It was still the first train that he'd ever been on, and the plush seats looked and felt rich to the point where he felt uncomfortable being around it, but he knew he'd been invited on.

Though he still wasn't confident that the conductor wouldn't just drop by and throw him out the side for being an orphan, he walked down the compartment until he found an empty one and sat down, making sure to sit on his bag so it wouldn't get stolen.

Liz had insisted on being early, so the train didn't move for a while. As Flynn sat in the compartment in silence, keeping his eyes forward, ignoring the window beside him, he discretely rubbed his wand with his thumb, a habit he'd picked up in the few months that he'd owned it. At his touch, the wand thrummed with magic. It sent a tremor of strength through him, resonating deep within his body as he closed his eyes to focus on the feeling.

His eyes snapped open when he heard the quiet mutterings and footfalls of children outside of his compartment. Taking his thumb off his wand, he leaned back and waited.

Flynn heard multiple sets of footsteps walking in the train's corridor. Though he could've simply turned his head to glance at the passersby through the small window at the top of the door, he kept his eyes facing forward, determined not to make eye contact with anyone that might be peeking inside, looking for a place to sit.

More than a few of the footsteps did stop momentarily at Flynn's compartment, but continued after only a moment's pause. When the train started to move, Flynn was glad that nobody had stopped by his compartment in the end, preferring the solitude, even if he didn't plan to sleep at all.

But just as he had the thought, Flynn heard a set of footsteps coming towards him, thumping in an odd rhythm, like the person responsible for it was either skipping or dancing down the train's corridors. These footsteps also stopped at Flynn's door, but unlike the rest, it was accompanied by a rhythmic knocking.

Flynn glanced to the side to see a short blonde girl with a relaxed smile on her face, peering in through the window. She waved at him, and even when he gave her no reaction, the smile didn't fade whatsoever.

Apparently taking his lack of reaction as permission, she slid open the door.

"Got room for one more?" she asked, grinning like she'd just told a joke.

Though Flynn supposed it might've actually been an attempt at one, seeing as he was the only person in the compartment, which looked like it could comfortably fit four adults.

"I suppose," he responded, seeing no reason to deny her.

The girl let out a single bark of a laugh, supporting Flynn's working theory that the girl didn't have a great understanding of what a joke was supposed to be.

"My name's Lily Moon," she said, stepping inside and thrusting her hand in front of his face. "I'm a first year. Nice to meet ya!"

Flynn stared at the extended hand for a few seconds before he grunted and took it. "Flintstone Fredericton," he said. "First year."

"Woah, really?" she asked, her voice full of awe as her eyes looked him up and down. "You're tall for an eleven-year-old."

"I get that a lot," Flynn replied. He glanced at their still clasped hands, and at Lily, who seemed to have forgotten to shake it, simply holding it aloft in front of her. "You gonna let go?"

"Oh yeah," she said, letting go of his hand with another laugh. "I got a little distracted. I thought you were at least a third-year. Say, could I call you Flynn? Flintstone's a bit of a mouthful. Though I'm fine with calling you Flintstone if that's what you prefer."

Flynn frowned, and let out a sigh. "Do what you want," he said, already regretting not trying to scare her away.

He resisted the urge to sigh again. He did anyway, letting out a loud huff that she couldn't possibly ignore. She did anyway, giving him a beaming smile and sitting across from him, leaning forward and resting her elbows on her knees.

"Oh, I'm so excited to go to Hogwarts, aren't you?" she asked, kicking her feet excitedly, only barely missing his shins with her toes. "What class are you looking forward to most? I think maybe Charms for me, though that's only because we can only take Care of Magical Creatures starting third year. Isn't that unfair, Flynn? Think of all the cuddly animals we won't get to play with. For two whole years!"

Flynn stared at her blankly and silently. She stared back, just as silently, but with a wide grin on her face.

It was only when it became clear to Flynn that this girl simply would just stay like that forever, until he gave her a response, he sighed.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," he said.

Lily's smile faded slightly, as she tilted her head in confusion, before she brought a hand to her mouth and gasped dramatically.

"Oh!" she said. "You're a Muggleborn, aren't you? I'm sorry, I didn't realize. I mean, I kind of guessed from your clothes, but I wasn't sure. I'm sorry. I've been very rude to you, haven't I?"

Flynn was a little taken aback by the intensity of her reaction. If any other person was acting in such an obviously dramatic way towards him, he would've probably assumed they were being sarcastic, but the girl sitting in front of him didn't seem capable of it.

Flynn crossed his arms and shook his head.

"I don't care," he grumbled. "It's fine."

Lily smiled once more.

"Thanks, Flynn," she said. "You're a very forgiving person, aren't you?"

Flynn glared at her. How she managed to get that impression, he had no idea.

"You're a bit stupid, aren't you?" he said, unable to hold himself back from asking, despite his earlier reminders that it would be a bad idea to make enemies when he didn't know who could make his life more difficult.

Thankfully, Lily's smile only widened at the insult.

"Maybe," she admitted. "Is that a bad thing?"

"Yes," he answered, though he didn't know why he bothered. Stupid people got taken advantage of, but her stupidity had no effect on him.

Lily's smile faltered, but with a shake of her head, as if she was trying to physically rearrange her thoughts, she put on a smile once more.

"Oh well," she said, still smiling. "That's a shame. You're very bold, you know, telling an impressionable young girl that she's stupid, right to her face. Has anyone ever told you that you're quite rude?"

Flynn shrugged. "I've heard it before," he said.

"I'm not surprised," Lily replied, with a laugh. "You're a very rude boy indeed, Mr. Flintstone."

Flynn grunted in response, not knowing what to say, or if he wanted to say anything at all. Though he'd hoped for a quiet train ride to the school, it seemed that he'd been saddled with the most chatty conversation partner he could've possibly asked for.

"Say, what house do you suppose you'll be Sorted into?" Lily asked, breaking the silence before it could even start to form. "I think I'll be a Hufflepuff, myself."

Flynn glanced at Lily, who only gave him a teasing grin in response.

"You definitely won't be a Hufflepuff, I don't think," she said.

Flynn had to fight the urge to ask what in the hell a Hufflepuff was. He didn't want to engage the stupid girl any more than he had to.

Unfortunately, the lack of response only seemed to motivate her into speaking more.

"Gryffindor? Maybe. You're certainly brave if you're insulting your fellow students on the first day of school. But I do hear Slytherins are pretty rude, so maybe you'd fit in there. I don't know if Ravenclaw would suit you though. You did call me stupid, and you know how the saying goes. It takes one to know one."

"Hey," Flynn said, with a glare. "Are you calling me stupid?"

Lily cackled with glee. "Yep!" she said, popping the p.

Normally, a blatant insult like that would've earned her a punch to the face, but with the wide smile on Lily's face and the giggles that escaped through her lips, he doubted that she was genuinely trying to make fun of him. It was more likely that she was enjoying the sound of her own voice. Besides, he did insult her first.

So rather than responding, Flynn only let out a huff of annoyance and turned his head towards the window, watching the grassy landscape pass by. He had no idea where they were, though that fact wasn't surprising to him. He had little reason to recognize the route to a magical school.

"Aww, I'm sorry, Flynn," Lily said, her voice teasing. "Did I hurt your feelings?"

Flynn held himself back from rising to the obvious bait. Keeping his eyes firmly out the window, he ignored her as best as he could. Unfortunately for him, that didn't mean that she stopped talking. In fact, she almost seemed to talk more, now that she didn't have to pause occasionally to accommodate a conversation partner.

Lily began to rant about what she was excited to do at Hogwarts, effectively giving him a brief breakdown of what to expect in each of the classes. Flynn wasn't sure if she was doing it on purpose, knowing that he would be going in blind otherwise as a muggleborn, but he had the suspicion that she was just an idiot, especially with how often she interrupted her explanations to go on random tangents to tell him stories that her parents had told her about their time at Hogwarts.

Though Flynn hadn't been keeping track of the time, not that he had any way to, Lily must have talked for hours before a knock on the door interrupted her, halfway through a rant about something called nifflers.

"Yes? Who is it?" Lily asked politely, as if she were inviting someone into her home.

The door slid open, revealing a stout smiling woman pushing along a trolley.

"Anything off the cart, dears?" she asked.

Flynn glanced at the trolley, and turned his eyes back out the window. While he hadn't eaten breakfast, he also didn't have any money to buy anything. Though he might've been hopeful that the school would provide meals on the train, given that it was a boarding school, the glaringly colourful spread of food suggested that the lady wasn't carting around actual meals, only snacks. He doubted they would give those out for free.

"Two chocolate frogs, and pumpkin pasties, please," Lily said, smiling up at the woman.

"Of course," the woman said, taking four packages from her cart and placing them in Lily's outstretched hand. "That'll be twenty-three knuts, dear."

Flynn glanced at the bronze coins that Lily took out of her pocket, but quickly averted his eyes to stare out the window. He didn't intend to steal from her, and he knew it made some people uncomfortable to stare at their money, even if he didn't think Lily seemed to be the type to mind.

Unfortunately, the fact that he'd averted his gaze meant that he nearly jumped in surprise when something pressed itself into his hand. He almost flung the unknown object away, until he saw Lily's smug smile staring directly at him. He frowned at her and glanced down into his hand, where a small purple package labelled 'Chocolate Frogs' stared back up at him.

"What is this?" he asked.

"It's a chocolate frog. Can't you read?" Lily asked, under a guise of false innocence. "I suppose you really aren't Ravenclaw material, are you?"

"I can read," Flynn hissed. Even if she didn't likely mean it to be anything more than a joke, the assumption was a common enough one that he was tired of hearing it. "Don't fucking play with me. Why the fuck is it in my hand?"

"Language," Lily said, frowning for the first time since they'd met. "And I put it there. With my hands. I don't quite know how to cast many spells yet, I'm afraid."

"I don't have money," Flynn said, thrusting the package towards her. "Take it back."

"I didn't give it to you expecting money," she said, rolling her eyes. When she stared back at him, she gave him a grin. "I gave it to you because I thought it would be funny. Open the package."

Flynn glared at her, but when she hid her hands against her chest to prevent it from giving it back, he frowned and opened the package.

A chocolate frog stared up at him from inside the package, but before he could ask what Lily was supposed to find funny, the frog jumped off the package and landed on the window.

Flynn stared at it for a few seconds, before Lily let out a low-pitched whine.

"I thought you were a muggleborn! Why aren't you more surprised?" she groaned, crossing her arms and letting out a huff. "I thought you would freak out and everything. Even the frog's confused!"

True to her word, the frog tilted its head curiously to the side, as if it didn't know whether to run or not.

Flynn simply shrugged in response.

"Is that not supposed to happen?" he asked. "I just assumed magic snacks would do something magical."

Lily let out another huff of annoyance and she turned away from Flynn, grumbling angrily. "Fine," she said. "Just eat the dumb frog, Flynn. You ruined my fun, it's the least you could do to make it up to me."

Flynn glared at her, but he got the sneaking suspicion that he didn't do as she asked, she would be even more insufferable for the rest of the train ride. Seeing as he had no idea how long it would be before they arrived, he grumbled and stood up to snatch the frog from the window. It struggled slightly against his grip, but it didn't seem to be too eager to escape, possibly suspecting that Flynn might not chase after it if it actually got away.

Flynn bit off the frog's head and after a few twitches, the frog's body remained still.

"That's one way to eat a chocolate frog," Lily said, her mood getting better almost immediately. "Usually people just shove it all in their mouth in one go. Seems a bit mean to eat it like you do. How's it taste anyways? Anything like your muggle chocolates?"

Flynn shoved the rest of the frog into his mouth and swallowed it before responding.

"It's too sweet," he grumbled. "And I wouldn't know. I've never had chocolate before."

"Oh," she said, her face twisting into an awkward smile. "You didn't have to eat it, if you didn't like it."

Flynn gave her an indignant look and she winced before looking to the side, pretending like she couldn't see him.

"Point taken. Sorry for forcing you to eat it. On the bright side, pumpkin pasties are a lot less sugary than chocolate frogs are," she said, with a nervous giggle.

Flynn narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms, ignoring the way that Lily gently prodded him with another package, this one a bright orange.

"No," he said.

"Aww, come on," she whined, prodding his arm with the package again. "I'm gonna get fat if I eat two of these things. You wouldn't want me to get fat, would you?"

"You should've thought of that before you ordered two then," Flynn said.

"Yeah, but I bought the other one for you, dummy," she said, prodding him yet another time. "C'mon Flynn. I promise it'll be delicious. Flynn? Flynn? Flynn?"

Flynn scowled and stayed silent, as Lily prodded him and repeated his name over and over, telling himself that she would tire of it soon. It was only after the twentieth time that he remembered that she'd been talking about Hogwarts for hours without stopping before the trolley woman had stopped by their compartment.

"Fine," he snapped, reaching out and taking the package from her hand. Tearing the package open, he shoved its contents into his mouth. "Happy?" he asked, mumbling around the food in his mouth.

Lily gave him a smug smile. "Very," she said.

Flynn narrowed his eyes at her, though she didn't seem intimidated by it at all, not that any of his glares had worked on her since she'd entered the train compartment.

"I'll get you back for this," he growled.

"That's a very unique way of saying, thank you," Lily responded, with yet another smile.

Flynn swallowed his pumpkin pasty, and turned his head to look back out the window. Lily laughed for some reason, and took it as another sign to keep talking about Hogwarts, not bothering to stop to chew when she finally decided to eat her own chocolate frog and pumpkin pasty.

Aside from a few interruptions where a pudgy looking boy opened their door to ask if they'd seen his toad, and a blond kid reeking of money came by mumbling something about another kid named Harry Potter, the train ride passed by rather peacefully, especially after Flynn managed to tune out Lily's constant rambling.

It was dark outside by the time a disembodied voice echoed through the train, despite there being no visible speakers anywhere.

Magic, he supposed.

"We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes' time," the voice said. "Please leave your luggage on the train. It will be taken to the school separately."

"Okay," Lily said immediately. "Shoo shoo."

Flynn stared at her until she huffed and grabbed his wrist, pulling at it to make him try to get up, but Flynn didn't budge.

"C'mon, Flynn," she said, straining to no avail to get him to move. "You can't just watch a girl change."

Flynn raised an eyebrow, but dutifully got up anyway, taking his bag with him. "You're just pulling a robe over your head," he said, even as he let himself be pushed into the corridor of the train.

"It's the principle of the matter," she said, before sliding the door closed with a gentle thud and a click, as she locked the door.

Looking around, he saw two more boys in a similar situation as him, as well as Hermione, who seemed determined not to lock eyes with him. Ignoring them, he opened his bag and pulled out one of his two robes and pulled it over his head. He put on his drawstring bag underneath his robes, not wanting to leave his precious few possessions behind, not willing to trust the school staff not to rummage through his things if he left them behind.

When he heard the door open behind him, he turned around to see Lily frowning up at him.

"What?" he asked.

"You changed in the hallway," she said. "That's rude."

"I literally pulled a robe over my head," Flynn said, once more.

"And again, it's the principle of the matter," Lily repeated, shaking her head.

The train started to noticeably slow before Flynn could think of a response, and seeing the opportunity to pull away from the small blonde girl, he turned around and walked towards the exit. Despite a handful of students pushing their way out into the hallway, trying to be the first to exit, Lily somehow still managed to muscle her way through them, sticking close behind Flynn.