Howard turned his head to the side, subtly looking into the compartment opposite his own. The train rattled around him and not for the first time he wished for wizards to be a bit more progressive and let him work on this train. Hell, he would use magic to make the train a bit more modern if they wanted to, just because it was an old machine didn't mean it had to sound like one.
He huffed a bit at the thought and possibilities and then turned his attention back to the other compartment. That Gryffindor girl Peggy Carter was sitting there, red scarf tucked around her and across from her sat two faces Howard had never seen before. They were two boys, his age and if the scarves around their necks were any indication they had to have been there the year before but Howard couldn't remember them.
They belonged to Gryffindor. One of them was dark-haired and handsome, the sporty, handsome kind of boy that loved to bully people like Howard and got all the attention from the ladies, although, Howard noted, Peggy didn't seem at all impressed by him, instead she was focused on the other boy, the one with the blond hair. He looked tiny in comparison and like a stiff breeze would blow him over but Peggy seemed to have only eyes for him and Howard... Howard felt jealousy twist like snakes in his guts until Steve turned and their eyes met and that twisting sensation disappeared and instead he flushed scarlet and jerked his face around so fast he felt is neck twinge in pain.
He didn't look over again and if anyone asked why Howard Stark was blushing he'd just tell them to fuck off, even if it meant being beaten up again later.