"Alright, boys, let's board." Lupin suggested, flicking his wand so their luggage levitated onto the train.

Reggie and Leo were staring around the station in awe, seeing the magic that was flying around the area. They completely missed both Lupin's comment and his own magic that was right behind them.

Smiling, Lupin tapped them both on their shoulders. "Boys…"

They both jumped and spun around, Reggie grinning, Leo blushing. Reggie regained his voice as quickly as ever. "Sorry, sir. It's just…"

"Magical…"

Leo's blush grew. He obviously hadn't meant to say that out loud.

Lupin grinned. "That it is Leo, now you two go and find a compartment. I'm going to go and talk to the prefects." The older werewolf smiled and gently squeezed their shoulders. "I'll see you both at school."

Reggie barrelled into him before he could leave, his skinny arms wrapping around Lupin's chest. "Thank you, Professor." he whispered.

Lupin smiled and hugged Reggie back before placing a hand on the boy's arm where his cut was just beginning to scar. "You're welcome, Reggie." he whispered back.

Reggie and Leo jumped up onto the train and watched as Lupin vanished around the corner. He had gotten them there in good time, so about half of the compartments were still empty as the boys trundled down the hallways with their trunks. Leo was unimpressed. "Ok, I think this is the least magical thing I've come across…it's a train."

Reggie gave him a grin. "Ok, you've got a point, but it leads to the most magical place you'll ever come across, so I guess it's allowed." He held open a compartment door and gestured for Leo to enter.

Rolling his eyes, Leo walked into the compartment and they boys helped each other to stow their trunks in the baggage hold before settling down for a long trip.

It was only half an hour into the journey when the sky darkened and rain began to pelt the windows.

Already supplied with a significant amount of magical sweets, Reggie had a chocolate frog in the side of his mouth as he pressed his face against the glass. "It looks like we're heading up our way, Leo."

Looking up from his inspection of a chocolate frog card, Leo raised an eyebrow. "You can see through that?"

Reggie threw him a critical look. "Yes, I can, and it looks like we're passing York."

Leo shook his head. "York? You mean, we went all the way down to London from the Lake District, just to come all the way back up again?"

Grinning, Reggie settled back on his seat again. "Looks like it." He reached out to his cat, which he had named Melvin. It was on the other seat, taking up all of the space that Leo wasn't sitting in, allowing the boy to scratch its ears. Reggie, on the other hand, was a completely different matter. As soon as he reached out to touch it, Melvin struck, swiping at his hand and opening a few light cuts on the back of Reggie's hand.

It wasn't the first time it had happened, but Reggie still insisted on trying it again and again. He was persistent, if nothing else.

It was strange, Melvin was cuddly and friendly to everyone except for Leo and Lupin. He had attacked both of them every time they tried to touch him. Lupin had at least gotten the hint and stopped trying after the second or third time.

Reggie just wasn't getting it.

Leo rolled his eyes for the thousandth time that trip. "It's getting kind of loud out there, isn't it?" he asked after a moment.

Cocking his ears, Reggie listened for a moment. Indeed, there were loud whoops and cheers coming from outside. It took Reggie less than a second to slam open the door and pop his head out. "Leo! Come and look at what's going on!"

Reggie heard Leo sigh and come over, and then felt it as his head popped out beside his own, but his attention was taken up by the situation in front of him.

There were two older students in the corridor, both of them looking about fifteen, and they were both angry. One was a girl, a tall, skinny girl with pale skin and white blonde hair. The other was a boy, ever so slightly taller than the girl, with tan skin and duckbutt styled, blonde hair. As they watched, the girl reached up and whisked out a wand from where it had been in her bun. Her hair quickly unravelled, falling down past her shoulders, but she took no notice of it. Reggie couldn't help but gape at her beauty and her action. The boy reacted quickly, pulling out a wand out of his pocket and steadying himself, taking aim at the girl.

A crowd had formed, crowding the hall, and they cheered loudly as the pair began to circle. "Go on then Andy, hex me." the girl called before laughing lightly. "Wait, I forgot, Carni is head boy this year, isn't he?" She grinned at the boy-Andy, apparently-in a charming way. "Scared of your big brother, are you?"

Feeling very out of his depth, Reggie just watched as Andy's lip curled and he shot a spell at the girl.

She quickly put up a shield, sending back a volley of hexes.

Andy grinned, easily defending himself. "You're going to have to do better than that, Chrissie."

Quickly falling for the taunt, Chrissie fired another shot at Andy.

The duel in the carriage went on with neither ever getting in a shot. Reggie and Leo eagerly watched every spell that was cast and shared a grin. "We're gonna be able to do that soon, Leo." Reggie whispered, not taking his eyes off the duel.

Leo nodded emphatically, his eyes never leaving the pair either.

"Expelliarmus!"