.

..

...

"I think we ate too much," Riley groaned.

"I can't feel my stomach anymore," Maya said thickly.

The girls were sprawled over their seats, stomachs fit to burst. They had spent the past hour devouring a little bit of everything from the trolley. Riley learned that Maya collected Chocolate Frogs whenever and wherever she could spare them. Maya's thirst for knowledge was unparalleled with anything Riley had ever seen. But then Riley thought of her know-it-all friend Farkle, and she brought him up almost instantly.

"Do you want to go somewhere with me?" Riley asked, standing up suddenly and offering her hand to Maya.

Maya's eyes lit up at the offer but at the same time she looked the slightest bit wary. "Where?"

"To meet my friend." Maya's eyes dropped just the slightest bit. "Come on, it'll be fun," Riley insisted. When Maya still didn't budge, Riley sat down next to Maya and plowed on.

"His name is Farkle. He's REALLY REALLY smart. Like you. Except, he brags about how smart he is all the time. He's not like you. But you two would get along. I just know it." She said, her eyes shining with a hopeful smile at the end.

Maya rolled her eyes. Riley took that as confirmation and Maya allowed herself to be dragged through the compartment door.

…

They had been walking through the corridor for about 15 minutes when they finally found him. "Oh!" Riley exclaimed. "There he is!"

Maya turned to follow the direction Riley's finger was pointing in.

From the compartment window, she saw a short, kindly looking boy with a bowl-cut sitting alone in a corner, buried nose-deep in a book called A History of Magic.

Riley glanced at her friend for a moment, then grabbed her hand. "Let's go, I'll introduce you," she said as she tugged her along.

Maya had no issue with meeting the boy. He looked vaguely familiar to her-he may have been at the restaurant before, or perhaps she knew his parents? She couldn't quite place it but she knew that there was some important connection with him.

As the door opened, Farkle lifted his head out of his book to greet his newcomers.

"Hi Riley," he said casually, before noticing Maya. "And who is this?" He inquired, blinking rapidly.

Maya's first impression was that the kid was conceited but as their eyes met, she saw an innocence in his that Maya instinctively knew she would protect at all costs.

God, what was happening to her? Maya thought. First Riley, now this boy, Farkle. Sure, she was used to fending for herself and protecting her own territory, but never had she felt so territorial over people before.

"Farkle," Riley said. "This is Maya. Maya, meet Farkle."

"Well, hello there," he said, raising his eyebrow in a comedic attempt to look seductive. "I am Farkle."

Maya raised her eyebrows in acknowledgement. "What's up," she said coolly.

As if he was waiting for someone to ask that question all day, he launched into an explanation of the history of Uric the Oddball, Emeric the Evil, and all these other names that she didn't much care for.

"Well, you see, I was checking out this chapter on Emeric the Evil, just for some light reading-"

"You call that light reading?" Maya scoffed. "That book is taller than you!"

Farkle laughed.

"Yay! Now you two know each other," Riley piped happily, "you two are gonna be great friends," she continued sycophantically, "and you two are so smart."

"Really?" Farkle said skeptically. "I bet you're not smarter than me."

"I bet you I am," she said challengingly.

40 minutes later, Riley was repeatedly banging her head against the window, waiting for the trivia competition to end. It had been entertaining for the first 20 minutes, but now it was downright irritating. She loved the difference between the two, though; Maya's personalized responses vs Farkle's near-perfect recitations made for a nice balance. Farkle was polished in his responses; Maya was raw. Unable to stand it much longer, Riley interceded.

"I have an idea!" She exclaimed excitedly. "Why don't we see who can do a spell?"

Farkle's confidence, reigning supreme mere seconds ago, suddenly dwindled away and he now looked rather nervous.

Maya, on the other hand, looked absolutely delighted at the idea. She turned to look at Farkle and laughed menacingly. "What's the matter? Read all those books but can't do a little wandwork?"

"No," Farkle said rigidly, "I can."

"Really, Farky? Show us what ya got." Maya prompted.

"Erm...okay." Farkle agreed reluctantly. He plunged his hand into the pocket of his robes, evidently searching for his wand.

"Tick-tock," Maya clucked impatiently. "What's the matter? Got nothing to show for."

He at last managed to locate his wand and pulled it out dramatically.

"I am Farkle," he stated, brandishing his wand boastfully.

"C'mon Farkle, show us a trick!" Riley piped up encouragingly.

"It's not a trick, simple Riley, but a charm," Farkle informed her.

Maya yawned pointedly. "We don't have all day."

"Okay." He said.

He pulled out what appeared to be a tiny spider from his bag.

Riley's eyes widened and she backed up. She was well acquainted with Farkle's love for spiders but they never failed to scare her. She turned to Maya, expecting her to be scared as well, but Maya looked intrigued above all. They all stared as Farkle raised his wand.

"Sunshine daisies, butter mellow, turn this big fat spider yellow" Farkle said, wand pointed at the spider.

Nothing happened.

"That was smooth," Maya said cooly. "Sure that's a real spell?"

"Maya," Riley chided.

"What?" Maya said defensively, "if he wants to try and outdo me, he was to do better than that."

Farkle was red in the cheeks and hurriedly put his spider away.

"Ermm, I guess that doesn't work. Someone told me it would."

"Watch and learn, kid," Maya said, taking her wand out and pointing it at the jar that the spider was now contained in.

"Wingardium leviosa!" As she raised her wand higher and higher, the jar levitated out of Farkle's hand, higher and higher.

Riley clapped in excitement. "Wow, Maya! You're really good!"

Maya raised her eyebrows in acknowledgement and lowered the jar back into Farkle's hands.

"That, my friend, is what you call spellwork."

"Excellent," Farkle said obsessively. "A lady who knows her spells. Me-like!"

Maya shuddered in disgust as Riley smiled to herself, congratulating herself on successfully introducing her friends to each other.

...

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a/n: hope you all enjoyed! sorry for the long wait. lucas will come in the next chapter or two. as always, lemme know what you think in the reviews. =)