Keeping up with Oberon Clarke wasn't easy. The tall and lanky prefect kept a constant marching pace with the spring you'd expect from someone recently appointed into a position they had wanted to fill for some time. He strolled past the occupied carriages, giving the groups of friends chatting merrily inside each of them a simple once over, stopping only once to check that a group of third year boys were effectively play-fighting. This allowed Teddy and the orange and purple haired girl to both catch up and catch their breaths.

At long last it seemed that Oberon found an empty carriage and opened the door for his escorts. 'Alright, you two sit in here,' he instructed. 'I'd love to stay, but I have an urgent meeting in the prefect carriage for my first briefing and I'm already running late. I'll be back to check up on you once I'm done. If there's any more trouble I'm in the next coach along.'

And with that, he scampered off.

The disappearance of the confident fifth year left an uncomfortable silence. The pair sat on opposite sides of each other, legs crossed and glaring out of the window or the carriage doorway watching the world go by. Teddy even thought it got so quiet that he could hear thin tree branches brushing and scraping the top of the train.

How was this possible? His first chance to make a friend and there he was about to blow it. Desperately Teddy struggled to try and formulate a conversation about something. 'What's your name' sounded too cliché. 'Nice hair' would just get a simple 'Thanks' and nothing else, besides, with hair like that she probably got that said to her a lot. Salvation came when an elderly and slightly hunchback looking woman swung the door open with a thud, startling the pair of them.

'Anything from the trolley, dears?' she cooed sweetly.

The pair accepted, purchasing a pumpkin pastie each and a couple of Cauldron Cakes. Saffron also requested a chocolate frog and bit straight into it before it got the chance to leap away.

'Who did you get?' blurted Teddy, leaping himself on the opportunity for some form of conversation. He was referring, of course, to the famous chocolate frog cards that witches and wizards everywhere collected of famous other witches and wizards. The orange and purple haired girl munched on her frog for a while before glancing at her card.

'Cliodne,' she replied, sounding somewhat disinterested.

'Oh! Who's that?' improvised Teddy. 'I don't have that one. Can you read it out, please?' This was a complete lie. Teddy already had Cliodne's card, but knew this was a guaranteed way of obtaining a few sentences out of his equally silent carriage companion.

And so, she read: 'Irish druidess who first discovered properties of Moondew. The beautiful druid Cliodne had three magical birds that sang the sick to sleep and cured them. Legends say that she could take the shape of a sea bird or change into a wave. Her favourite hobby was flying.'

'Well with a power like that, I'm not surprised,' joked Teddy. The girl gave a half-hearted giggle and everything almost went quiet again. 'I collect those cards too y'know. My godfather's on one.'

At this girl looked up in surprise. Despite getting a committed reaction, Teddy realised what he had said and retracted this statement. 'Or so he claims, anyway,' he chucked embarrassingly. In Teddy's mind the last thing he wanted was to be labelled as Harry Potter's godson, especially not before he had even set foot in Hogwarts.

Ω Ω Ω

Chatting became easier between Teddy and the girl, though there was never a point where they asked each other's names. Mostly they would discuss celebrities who made onto chocolate frog cards and what exactly constitutes a druidess. Oberon did come and check on them eventually, but seeing that there was nothing wrong, resumed patrolling the corridors.

And so the train ploughed along up through England as Scotland, never stopping or slowing to reach any stations. It simply plodded along through fields, tunnels and valleys, the rustle of the occasional moor being the only other sound than the chugging against the rails. Until finally, the city of Hogsmeade, Scotland was in vision.

"Can I stick with you?" asked the girl before they got up. "I don't know anyone so I'm all alone."

"Me too. So we're essentially not-alone-buddies right now," smiled Teddy.

"Not alone buddies!" repeated the girl. "Now, let's get off here before those Slytherins find us again."