POV: MONIKA

I greedily gulped in deep breaths of refreshing evening air as I departed the bright scarlet carriage of the Hogwarts Express, and stepped out onto the dim, lantern-lit platform below. There was an excited bustling all around me as hundreds more chattering students did the same, pouring out from the train like buzzing bees from an upset nest, shoving and pushing each other in their hurry to leave the vehicle as quickly as possible.

I paid them no mind, focusing instead on savoring the cool autumn wind gently caressing my face and hair as I stretched my arms and legs, rejuvenating my body after the long trip inside an enclosed, cramped cabin. Not to say the seating hadn't been perfectly comfortable, but compared to being upright and outside again, it just wasn't a contest.

I glanced over the bobbing heads of swarming students, drinking in my surroundings from the humble, rustic appearance of Hogsmeade Station, to the breathtaking, towering silhouette of Hogwarts Castle in the distance. A smile crept across my face as I stared at the brightly lit windows visible even from this far away, silently enticing me with promises of comforting warmth, shelter and amazing food.

I'm here. I thought, giddily. At last, I'm home again!

"Ugh, finally some air! Monika, quit standing around like an idiot, you're blocking the way!"

I turned around at the high-pitched bark cutting sharply through the rest of the idle background chatter. I was met with the hard stare of a small girl lightly scowling up at me, both arms firmly crossed over her chest to project as much impatience and dissatisfaction as possible.

It was only then that I noticed the other students departing from the train cart scrambling somewhat to exit via the very sides of the door to avoid trampling the dumb brunette who'd selfishly decided to freeze up directly in front of the passageway- AKA, me.

"Oop, sorry everyone! Lost myself there for a sec, ahaha!" I apologized with a forlorn smile, quickly stepping aside and allowing the others to exit freely as I felt my cheeks flushing up. The girl who'd alerted me to my disposition shook her head in exasperation, the motion whipping about the short, twin pigtails of her bright and flashy pink hair.

"Well, that happened." Natsuki stated brusquely, joining my side a bit further along the platform to watch the other students depart. "What now?"

"Well…" I replied, pulling a small, golden pocket-watch from my inner pocket. "If I had to make an educated guess, I'd say it's only a matter of time before-"

"MONIKA!"

A loud, shrill shriek erupted from across the platform, and I glanced up to see a flash of red fabric steadily weaving its way through the sea of students, and straight toward us.

"…and, bingo." I smiled expectantly just as the owner of the red bow pushed herself through the last couple of students standing between us, and without hesitating for even a second leapt at me in a fierce, aggressive embrace that very nearly knocked us both over.

"N- nice to see you again too, Sayori!" I half-laughed, half-gasped in effort as the excited girl squeezed my ribs tightly, making me lose half my breath. Mercifully, she soon eased her hold and retracted herself to gaze at my face with those gigantic blue eyes of hers.

"Ohmygosh, look at you!" She exclaimed gushingly, raising a flat palm to her head and motioned it towards my chin to compare our heights. "You've grown so much!"

"So have you, silly!" I retorted with a chuckle.

Sayori then seemed to notice Natsuki's presence behind us, as her face suddenly lit up anew. She motioned forward and inhaled deeply, most likely gearing up for another loud exclamation.

"NATS-"

"Could you not cause a scene here?!" Natsuki hissed urgently, avoiding ensnarement by expertly ducking under Sayori's reaching arms. "Everyone's watching!"

"-TT,- I don't care!" Sayori casually dismissed the protest, making another, almost successful attempt to catch the pinkette in a hug. "I missed you guys so much! We haven't talked all summer, and- wait."

She ceased all movement, face scrunching up as she rapidly glanced between Natsuki and me.

"Where's Yuri?" She asked, with a hint of concern.

"Still onboard the train, if I know her right." Natsuki shrugged with a scoff, glancing towards the last sparse stragglers still exiting the crimson engine. "Probably stalling until everyone else leaves first."

"…why?" Sayori questioned.

"I don't know, it's just what she does." Natsuki shrugged again. "Maybe she just doesn't like getting caught in crowds."

"Can't fault her for that, I suppose…" I reasoned, stepping on my toes to scour the platform for any signs of our shy companion.

"But… what if we can't find her?" Sayori asked anxiously, echoing my movement.

"Don't worry. Somehow, I doubt we'll miss her…" I said, smirking to myself as I spotted a flash of purple hurriedly departing the cart at the very end of the train.

Gesturing for the girls to follow along, I lead us off in that direction, past the mass of older students who'd started gathering into groups and chatting excitedly amongst one another until finally seeing the solitary figure of a pale, slender girl standing by herself at the very edge of the platform. She was glancing around with an expression of mildly harrowed uncertainty while nervously running her fingers through a front strand of her long, flowing purple hair.

"Oi, Yuri! Over here!" Sayori called out ecstatically, waving her arms in mad greeting. The lavenderette flinched softly at the sudden exclamation before lifting her head towards our group.

I was pleased to see a frail smile replacing a good portion of the anxiety on her face as she recognized and approached us. It wasn't long before she too had been caught in another of Sayori's trademark, rib-squeezing hugs.

"G- greetings, everyone." Yuri muttered after Sayori relinquished her hold, tenderly rubbing her abused sides. "It's… nice, to see you again. Sayori. Monika. Natsuki."

She nodded her head lightly at each of us in turn in a gesture akin to a small bow. I had to bite my lip to keep from chuckling- I'd almost forgotten how formal she could be.

"Good to see you, Yuri!" I extended my arm to shake her hand. "Been a minute, hasn't it?"

"You've grown too!" Sayori gave a squeal of delight, pointing between us. "You're taller than Monika by like, three inches at least!"

"Uh, y- yes." Yuri's face flushed up, some of her initial anxiousness returning. "I… had to buy new robes… Is- is it really that noticeable…?"

"Yeah, and it's awesome!" Sayori reassured. "Don't worry though, we've all gone through it! Me, Moni, and-"

Her voice died in her throat when glancing sideways at Natsuki who'd more or less stayed the exact same height she'd been last year. If she'd grown, it couldn't have been more than half an inch at most.

"What?" Natsuki narrowed her eyes irritably at Sayori, as if daring her to finish the sentence. Sayori slowly retracted her pointing finger to awkwardly press it against her other index finger, looking flustered.

The lingering tension was cut mercifully short though, when a loud booming voice rang out from the opposite end of the platform.

"FIRS'-YEARS!" The voice was accompanied by the always-impressive sight of Hagrid, impossible for anyone to miss as he waved his large lantern about like a beacon in the dark. A small cacophony of gasps erupted from all the shortest students in the crowd as they got their first look at the abnormally large man. I couldn't really blame them- I'd reacted in much the same way last year.

"ALL FIRS'-YEARS, FOLLOW ME! OVER HERE, THIS WAY! FIRS'-YEARS!"

I looked on as a group of about thirty kids hesitantly began lining up and trudging towards the announcer, most of them bearing expressions of severe doubt and nervousness- all except for one particularly small boy who'd pulled out what looked to be a large, clunky camera which he proceeded to raise high above his head to blindly snap pictures at absolutely everything as he jittered forward.

"Oh, we'd better move!" Sayori exclaimed automatically, motioning to follow along- only to stop abruptly when I snagged hold of her collar, preventing her from taking another step.

"Not so fast, Vice President." I pointed out with a teasing, but patient smile as she glanced back at me with a clueless expression. "Did you forget you already passed first year?"

Her stare remained blank for a few seconds before she blinked thrice in a row, blushed, and erupted into a fit of embarrassed giggles.

"Wh- whoopsie!" She blurted out after regaining her breath, rubbing at the back of her head. "Uh- well, where are we supposed to go then?!"

"I'm not su- Yuri? You okay?" I frowned, only now noticing a stronger than usual look of trepidation on the taller girl's face as she stared in the direction of Hagrid and the first years departing.

"…huh?" Yuri recoiled, blinking distractedly. Her concerned expression quickly faded away, replaced by a deep flush. "O- oh yes, I'm f- fine… Uh- it appears as though most of the others are heading that way! Perhaps we'd be wise to follow?"

She gestured at a small collection of fifth and sixth-years heading towards a narrow, trampled mud pathway at a leisurely pace.

"…yeah, good idea!" I smiled back in acknowledgement, deciding to leave the matter alone for now. "Have to admit, I'm a bit curious myself. The books say the boat-ride is traditional for first-years, but it doesn't really mention how returning students get to the Castle."

"Whatever, let's just go already!" Natsuki shook her head impatiently, setting into a brisk walk towards the older students. "I'm freakin' starving!"

"Oh, same here!" Sayori nodded emphatically, hurrying to join Natsuki. "I forgot to bring my wizard money again, so I couldn't pay the lunch-lady at the Expre- hey, wait a minute!"

She suddenly turned around, staring each of us down with a scrunched up frown.

"How come we didn't sit together like last year?!" She exclaimed indignantly, placing her hands on her hips. "I haven't seen any of you since last summer, and then we don't even meet up at the train! Seriously, what's up with that?!"

I exhaled in mild amusement at Sayori's expression. She was clearly trying sooo hard to look stern and cross with us, but it just came across as a light and slightly adorable pout.

"Natsuki and I were in the same Cabin, actually." I pointed out with a casual shrug. "It was really quite nice."

"Ugh, don't remind me…" Natsuki gave an over-exaggerated groan, as if our time together had been comparable to the most deplorable and horrendous of tortures.

"You're kidding!" Sayori's jaw dropped as she looked between us, positively scandalized. "Why wasn't I allowed with you?!"

"Who says you weren't?" I asked bemusedly. "Look, I ran into Natsuki completely by chance! She was struggling a bit with loading her luggage, so I helped her carry it into our cabin, and that's it. You just have to take whatever seats you can get on the Hogwarts Express, nothing more to it than that!"

"She practically forced me." Natsuki added dryly. "Wasn't like I could leave and risk her snooping through my stuff at that point, could I?"

"Oh right, I'm so sorry for selfishly offering you a hand like that!" I rolled my eyes. "Next time I'll make sure to just leave you to wrestle with your bags on your own, would that be all right?"

Natsuki didn't answer beyond a foul grimace in my direction, but I wasn't fooled by the act. I could practically see her invisible smirk hiding just underneath the surface. She'd never admit it of course, but I knew she secretly loved this banter dynamic just as much as I did.

"But what about you, Sayo?" I asked, shifting attention. "Did you end up sitting with someone really annoying or something like that?"

"Huh?" Her eyes widened in surprise, as if the whole concept of someone 'being annoying' was strange and foreign to her. "Oh no, not at all! I was with these really funny Gryffindors from fourth year, Fred, George and Lee!"

"Ugh, those clowns." Natsuki scoffed. "Did they give you any trouble? Do I need to knock some heads?"

I wasn't even sure if she was conscious of doing it, but regardless, hearing Natsuki defending Sayori this aggressively was more than a little bit cute- though naturally, I didn't voice my amusement out loud. Mentioning the 'C-word' in such close proximity was a good way to get my own head firmly knocked.

"Oh, no no no, they were really lovely!" Sayori assured hurriedly. "They let me try lighting some of their funky self-starting fireworks, it was so much fun! But still, I wanted to be with you guuuys!"

"Well, if you'd like us to sit together we've got to plan out a proper schedule in advance!" I shook my head, chuckling. "The Express is hectic enough already, you can't expect us to just arrive early and know where to go without any forewarning!"

"How was I supposed to make a plan when I can't even contact you?!" Sayori protested indignantly. "You don't have phones, and Uncle Dan says I'm too young to take care of an owl!"

"I have a phone…" Yuri mumbled quietly. Immediately, Sayori's head snapped in her direction.

"You what?!"

"Uh- technically, it b- belongs to my parents…!" Yuri corrected herself, looking thrown off at the sudden increase of interest. "They… need one for when their Contact Muggles wants to get in touch…"

"I'm gonna need your number like, right freaking now!" Sayori said, voice intense and serious. "Does anyone have a pen and paper?!"

Before I had a chance to ask if a 'pen' was one of those odd ink-less metal quills I'd seen her use last year, Yuri had already reached into her robes to rummage in an inner pocket.

"Uh, I can do this…" She then said, pulling out and raising her wand. "Conmeditor Numero!"

A long sequence of seemingly random numbers made of bright golden light appeared out of nothing, floating softly in the air before us. With a gesture, Yuri beckoned Sayori to hold out an arm, and pull up her sleeve. With the lightest and gentlest of flicks, Yuri tapped at her bared wrist, to which the numbers reacted, drifting downwards to settle themselves directly on Sayori's exposed skin, losing their glow and taking on a texture more akin to black ink.

Sayori looked at the number sequence adorned on her arm in amazement, her eyes so wide I was sure they were gonna pop right out of her sockets if she tried opening them any further.

"Wow…" She breathed out, rubbing testily at her wrist. The numbers remained right where they were, without so much as a light smudge. "My first tattoo…!"

"It'll disappear on its own in about three days…" Yuri said awkwardly, pocketing her wand again. "That should give you plenty of time to copy it down somewhere more permanent."

She'll forget and have to ask for a new number by the end of the year. I thought, but held my tongue, not daring to ruin the moment.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you so much!" Sayori exclaimed, catching Yuri in another hug.

"I'm confused." I admitted, furrowing my brows. "Do those numbers mean anything?"

"I think it's some sort of code Muggles use to search for each other on their 'telli-fone' machines." Natsuki said, thankfully carrying an equally mystified expression. "Pretty weird and complicated if you ask me…"

"Ehehe, that's kinda right…" Sayori giggled, rolling down her sleeve again. "With this number, I can basically call up Yuri and talk to her directly from my home whenever we're not at Hogwarts. And I'm gonna make sure to do that every single day next summer!"

"Uh-" Yuri looked alarmed. "M- maybe you c- could limit it t- to… every third day or so? M- my parents still need to use it f- for job purposes, after all."

"Hmm, maybe." Sayori hummed aloofly, checking her nails. "No promises, though."

I shook my head, still unsure if I really understood what they were going on about. Sayori's frequent mentions of the weird and bizarre devices Muggles had created in their attempts to function without magic never failed to leave me scratching my head.

I mean, talking to someone with some long and convoluted code instead of just lighting a fire, throwing in some powder and inserting your head into the flames?

How absurd.

"I'm sorry, Sayori." I said guiltily, deciding not to question the logic further. "I… should have sent letters over the summer. I didn't mean to neglect you."

"It's fine, don't sweat it!" Sayori brushed me off with a bright smile. "We're together again now, that's all that matters!"

"I'll definitely remember next summer!" I assured her, smiling back. "I've really missed talking to you all…"

"The feeling's not mutual!" Natsuki interjected gruffly, turning around to look at Sayori with a sour frown. "Monika was absolutely insufferable to sit with. I swear, she must'a used some kind of dark magic to make everyone in our cabin drone on and on about the most boring stuff imaginable!"

"By 'dark magic,' she means I 'engaged in polite and respectful conversations with my fellow students.'" I explained to the others with a wink. "But I suppose a concept like that must seem frightening and unnatural to someone like Natsuki."

"Har, har." Natsuki fake laughed. "I wish I could have sat with Yuri instead. At least she knows how to shut up every once in a while!"

"Uhm, th- thank you?" Yuri said unsurely, clearing her throat. "I was seated with some third-year students from my House. We didn't really talk much until Penelope Clearwater finished her duties and joined us. It was very… quiet."

"I envy you…" Natsuki muttered darkly.

"Clearwater, eh?" I smirked, and gave Yuri a suggestive glance. "Rubbing elbows with the Prefect elite, are we? Think you could coax her to reveal the password for their bathroom?"

"N- no, it's n- not like that at all!" Instead of rolling with what I'd thought to be a pretty obvious, harmless jest, Yuri surprised me with a downright shocked expression. "W- we b- barely talked, and I d- don't even know h- her that well!"

"Yuri, it's okay!" I raised my hands defensively, frowning at her outburst. "I was just, uh, making a joke?"

"…oh." She replied, deflating on the spot. "I- I'm sorry…"

"That's… all right?" I asked hesitantly, vaguely hoping for some sort of elaboration. None came.

"…awk-waaard…" Natsuki broke the lingering silence with an unhelpful whistle.

"Oh, I actually noticed something a bit strange on the way!" Sayori then piped up, seeming just as keen to move on as I was. "At one point I looked out the window, and I think I saw a blue car coming down from the sky!"

"A… car?" Yuri repeated with hesitant disbelief.

"Yeah!" Sayori nodded fervently. "It was flying in the air right next to us, then pulled up and disappeared behind the clouds again!"

"You sure you didn't just have a dream?" Natsuki asked.

"I didn't, honestly! And when I tried mentioning it to the twins, they got really pale for some reason. I think they might have known something about- Monika? What are you doing?"

"No no no, hold on, hang on, I know this one…" I shushed her, closing my eyes in concentration and snapped my fingers. "Car, car, carrr… it's just on the tip of my tongue… it's- it's those… metal boxes with- with wheels at the bottom, isn't it?"

"Exactly!" Sayori exclaimed encouragingly. "Well done, Monika!"

I proudly opened my eyes again, meeting her smile.

"Right, and these... cars…" I chewed on the word, noting how unnatural it sounded in my mouth. "I take it they… aren't supposed to fly, then?"

Natsuki snickered mockingly.

"Come on Monika, even I know tha- what the FUCK?!"

We'd reached the end of the pathway, opening up to a large, encompassing clearing of gravelly dirt surrounded by large oak trees. Presented in the middle of the field were about a hundred or so horseless stagecoaches, each one looking capable of fitting up to four students at a time. All were embroidered with the Hogwarts emblem, a stylized H surrounded by a lion, badger, eagle and serpent.

The students in front of us casually approached one of the coaches, still idly chatting amongst each other as they climbed aboard the dark, pristine and freshly polished carriage in a relaxed, flippant manner. Upon seating themselves inside the small cabin, the large wooden wheels set into motion by themselves, creaking and groaning the stagecoach along the bumpy road ahead.

"Oh, wow…" Sayori breathed out, jaw agape as she stared after the self-driving carriage. "You see that Monika? That's a bit like how a normal car works, only this is so much cooler!"

"Nifty." I smiled, and began approaching a coach near the front. "Guess we know how second-years and above are transported to the Castle now!"

"…Natsuki?" I heard Yuri's soft, concerned voice from behind. "Are- are you okay…?"

I stopped in my tracks, turning around to see Natsuki still standing at the end of the pathway without moving so much as a muscle. Her pink eyes were wide open and unblinking as she stared dead ahead at the black wagons with a face so pale it nearly glowed in the dim twilight.

"…those are the creepiest things I've ever seen!" She finally exclaimed, voice shaky as she pointed at the coaches. "Are we seriously supposed to ride those?!"

Furrowing my brows, I turned back around to re-appraise the coaches and see if I'd missed something. I supposed maybe it was a little eerie, but hardly enough to justify such a claim. Self-moving objects was nothing new, more akin to a commodity, really.

"You really think so?" I asked with an idle glance. It was especially weird to hear Natsuki of all people say this. I'd seen her walking right through Slytherin's house ghost, The Bloody Baron, without even batting an eye. Now here she was, scared of some wagons?

"Are they even safe to be around?!" Natsuki's frown deepened as she took a tentative step forwards, her eyes not leaving the carriages.

"Uhm… those other students didn't seem to be in any danger." Yuri reasoned, shooting a glance in my direction, silently communicating that she was just as confused as I was. "I… doubt Hogwarts would deliberately put us in harm's way."

"Yeah, come on, let's go!" Sayori said, excitedly skipping across the ground towards a carriage. "If we couldn't sit with each other on the train, then at least we'll be together here!"

Natsuki remained where she was, only flinching at Sayori's sudden movement. She stared after her in stunned disbelief, as though she'd never witnessed comparable bravery.

"Are you feeling well, Natsuki?" Yuri asked again.

"I'm fine!" The pinkette shook her head defensively, looking anything but. "Stuff like this just freaks me out, okay?!"

Maybe she'd had a traumatic experience with stagecoaches in the past and developed a very specific phobia as a result? That seemed maybe a bit far fetched, but hey. Who was I to judge?

"…would you like to hold my hand?" I offered, trying my best to come across as genuine and accommodating instead of condescending and rude. Judging from her offended expression, I didn't seem very successful in this task.

"Ugh, shut the hell up!" She scoffed, stomping past me and my out-stretched hand towards the stagecoach while making sure to give the front end as wide a berth as possible.

"Aaand she's back to normal." I shook my head, exchanged silent glances with Yuri and closed my open hand. We followed along and climbed aboard as well.

When we'd seated ourselves (me and Yuri besides each other, across from Nat and Sayori) the entire cart gave a small jolt of motion, trudging along the uneven, dirt road.

The atmosphere was a bit more awkward than I cared for, with Natsuki still staring out of the small window with a mixed look of revolted fascination. I could tell nobody seemed very inclined to comment out of fear she'd snap out again.

"So…" I eventually spoke up, unable to take the silence any more. "I suppose I'll try working my 'dark magic' again and ask how you've been this summer?"

"Sooo bored!" Sayori whimpered dramatically. "I mean, I guess it was nice to finally get back to my TV and watch cartoons again, but after everything that happened last year, all I could think about was coming back here! I couldn't even impress Uncle Dan with the spells I learned! It sucks that we're not allowed to do magic outside school!"

"Ahaha, sorry to hear that." I giggled sympathetically. "Uh- can you remind me what a 'tee-vee' is, again?"

"It's a sort of box with a glass screen, powered by electricity." Yuri explained, miming a square with her hands to illustrate the dimensions. "It rapidly displays images and sounds at the viewer to give the illusion of movement. Muggles often gather around it and watch for information and entertainment purposes."

"Ah, I see…" I nodded, struggling to imagine the appeal of such a device. Having my senses bombarded with flashing images and noises sounded nauseating.

"Well… yeah, that's technically what a TV is…" Sayori frowned reluctantly. "But they're so much cooler than Yuri makes it sound!"

"It sounds bloody annoying." Natsuki chimed in, still not averting her gaze from the window.

"It can be, sometimes…" Sayori concurred. "But most of the time it's really fun! I honestly think both you and Moni would love it!"

"I'll take your word for it…"

"How was your summer, Natsuki?" I addressed her, taking her input as a sign that it was okay to try and involve her in the discussion.

"Nothing worth reporting." She grunted, mercilessly shutting down my attempt.

"Right…" Not about to give up that easily, I tried a different angle. "So uhm, can I ask if you and Yuri are comfortable talking about… your hair?"

Natsuki gave a carefree shrug. Yuri sighed lightly, clearing her throat.

"I've… made my peace with it." She said, vaguely brushing a long strand of purple with her slender fingers. "Thanks to Natsuki, I've learned to accept this is just who I am now, and to not waste any more time regretting the event."

"I just gave you a small pep-talk, that's all." Natsuki groaned, rolling her eyes. "You don't need to credit me as if I did something noble."

"S- sorry." Yuri apologized. "B- but regardless, I still greatly appreciated the gesture."

"Whatever…" Natsuki muttered, and returned her attention to the window again.

"How did your parents react when they saw you?" I chanced asking the one question gnawing at my curiosity ever since the incident had first taken place.

"They… were a bit surprised at first, as one might expect." Yuri muttered reservedly. "But after I told them it was irreversible, they just quietly accepted it. Nowadays, they barely mention it."

"Well, that's good innit?" I smiled back, and received a vague nod. "What about you, Natsuki?"

"I'm still alive." Natsuki said shortly. "So, that's nice I guess."

She didn't elaborate further than that, and I could tell she was done answering questions.

Come to think of it, she'd been weirdly moody all evening. On the train she'd pretty much only replied in short grunts and snarky remarks that somehow seemed a whole lot more barbed than usual, and I didn't understand why. As far as I could tell, nobody had said anything that could've upset her- although, maybe I wasn't the best judge of that since apparently something as ordinary as a self-pulling stagecoach had been enough to disturb her. Perhaps she was just a whole lot more sensitive than I'd thought.

It couldn't be that she still harbored resentment for me, right? Hadn't we gotten past all our differences last year, or had that just been wishful thinking on my part? Or maybe nothing was wrong at all, and I was just overthinking a simple explanation, like her being tired after a long trip.

But then, how was I supposed to know when she refused to tell me anything?!

"I still think you look so cool!" Sayori declared, oblivious to any tension as she leaned in closer to Nat, dreamily inspecting her scalp. Then, she began taking deep, inhaling breaths through her nose.

"Oi!" Natsuki exclaimed indignantly, recoiling away from her seating partner. "Don't sniff my hair, that's weird!"

"But it smells delicious!" Came Sayori's earnest reply, tilting her body closer until Natsuki had to raise a flat, blocking palm just to keep her at bay. "Just like candy! What shampoo do you use?!"

"Uh-" Yuri began, watching the wrestling match unfolding before her with fretful interest. "W- when we inserted the items into our brews, the potion didn't just imbue us with their colour, but a- also their scent."

"Oh! So that's why I've been smelling lavender since we entered!" I exclaimed, glancing sideways at Yuri.

"Y- yes…" She said, face flushed. "It- it's not bothering you, is it…?"

"Not at all!" I assured her. "It's quite pleasant, actually."

"Oh my gosh, it just keeps sounding better and better!" Sayori said, hopefully. "Are you sure you still won't tell me how you made that potio-"

"No." Me, Yuri and Natsuki all spoke at the same time, making her sigh in disappointment.

"Okay, fine!" She groaned. "Don't change my hair, then. But could you maybe help me with another kind of potion?"

"…that really depends." I said, instantly cautious. "Is it for your homework?"

"No, no, no-" She shook her head fervently. "It's for this dream I had during the summer! Okay, hear me out here, guys- mermaids!"

"…Mermaids?" Yuri repeated hesitantly, and I could tell from her tone that she'd had the same, trepid thought as me.

"Yeah!" Sayori nodded energetically, as if that one word had explained everything perfectly. Then, realizing we'd need a bit more to go off, she inhaled deeply. "I want you to help me brew a potion that gives us big, long tails and makes us breathe underwater!"

A moment of silence followed in the wake of that. Then, Natsuki scoffed.

"No potion does that."

"Uhm-" Yuri hurriedly added upon seeing Sayori's subsequent crestfallen face. "…a- although a partial transfiguration could in theory supply us with tails... then, it's j- just a matter of finding something that can provide gills to our anatomy…"

"Really?!" Sayori exclaimed, excited again at once. "Oooh, I'd love that so much! Imagine the four of us, swimming in the Great Lake together as mermaids!"

"Oh yeah. Nothing like splashing around in murky water surrounded by Grindylows, a giant squid and Merlin knows what else…" Natsuki muttered sardonically.

"T- transfiguring living creatures is tremendously difficult…" Yuri tried reeling her suggestion back in. "E- especially humanoids… It's n- not as hard as actual Animagi, but we've barely even reached the gerbil stage in our lessons…"

Sayori ignored both of them, going on with her tangent.

"-I'd want my tail to have beautiful blue scales and turquoise fins! Monika should have a green one, and obviously Yuri and Natsuki's would be purple and pink-"

"Leave me out of this crazy fever dream." Natsuki scoffed again.

"I'm not really sure if the actual Merpeople of the Lake would be too thrilled to see us there…" I mused quietly, more to myself than anyone else.

Sayori appeared to have picked up on it, given the way her head snapped sideways toward me.

"The what of the WHAT?!"

"That's true…" Yuri confirmed with a dim nod, which in turn gained her Sayori's full, undivided attention. "The Hogwarts: A History book tells of a large, diverse cast of magical creatures residing within the Lake's depths, among which are the indigenous Merpeople."

"SHUT. UP!" Sayori hollered, getting truly riled up now as her very eyes seemed to sparkle with excitement. "But wait… why wouldn't they be thrilled to have us?"

"Look at it from their point of view." Natsuki suggested. "They're just mindin' their own business, and then suddenly these tourists come along with tails and gills they magicked on for fun. That'd be like, culturally insensitive to them. Or something, I don't know…"

"Oh… right…" Sayori said, the light in her eyes extinguishing.

While I took no pleasure in seeing my friend downtrodden, I couldn't help from feeling very grateful for Natsuki interjecting with her take before Sayori had gotten too carried away.

Peeking out the window, I could see we'd almost reached the Castle walls. I'd estimate we were only about ten minutes away.

"Uh, Pres- I mean, Monika." Yuri corrected herself, and I turned to look at her. "D- do you know when we'll s- start our meetings again?"

"As soon as possible!" I smiled back eagerly, reminded of how much I'd been looking forward to recommence the Literature Club. "Tomorrow, if it fits the schedule! Oh, and remember to be on the lookout for new members!"

Yuri stared blankly back at me before blinking.

"Oh… right." She said, her voice suddenly a lot less enthusiastic. "More members…"

"That's right, we've gotta expand! Sayori, when you see Cedric, ask him if he won't rethink our proposal!"

"Uh-" Sayori hesitated. "B- but CD said he didn't want to join-"

"I know he did, but I'm not giving up on him that easily!" I winked back. "A guy as handsome as him is exactly what we need to lure in even more people!"

"M- Monika!" Sayori blushed.

An exasperated groan could be heard across from us.

"Not this again… She already tried 'mentioning' the Club to the two idiots sitting with us." Natsuki informed sardonically. "Big shocker, they weren't interested in literature! Just give this 'recruitment' scheme a rest Monika, it's obvious we're the only ones nerdy enough to be in a Club all about reading and writing!"

"I disagree." I objected flatly, crossing my arms. "That first-year with the red hair in our cabin sure seemed to enjoy writing. I don't think I saw her quill leave that book even once on the whole trip!"

"She was obviously writing in her diary, not poem entries!" Natsuki retorted. "Probably recounting how scared she was about being in the same cabin as you!"

I recognized the obvious bait for what it was, and refused to take it.

"Fine, but just because she didn't want to join, doesn't mean nobody else will! I'm sure there'll be plenty of people at Hogwarts who'd be interested!"

"I don't want more people to join!" Natsuki exclaimed heatedly. "I think the four of us is good enough already! Doesn't that matter to you at all?!"

"I don't think…" I hesitated, trying to formulate a levelheaded, diplomatic response to her childish arguments. "…look, how about we just try and keep an open mind? I mean, surely you didn't expect to just stay in your comfort zone for all of time, right? Aren't you the least bit curious to see other people's writing styles?"

"No, I'm n- ugh!" She bellowed angrily, grasping at her head. "…fine, whatever! Ruin the good thing we have, but can you at least wait a month? I think me and Yuri would like to enjoy the only safe space we have in this school before you destroy it!"

"I- but- what?!" I sputtered, momentarily lost for words at such an outrageous statement. Here I was, trying to improve the great thing we had and get as many people in on it as possible, and for some reason she was spinning it as if I was the difficult one?! What the hell was her problem?!

Fair enough that she was a bit more sensitive than I'd have thought, but there were limits to how sensitive you could be before it became unreasonable. And halting all progress for an entire month just because you refused to accept more people was just about the most unreasonable thing I could imagine.

I glanced at the others for assistance, someone to help me make Natsuki see reason. All I found was Yuri silently hiding her face in her hair and Sayori glancing sympathetically between us all.

"Uh-" She then spoke up, making eye contact with me. "M- maybe it would be a good idea to just take it chill for a month, Moni? Get everyone nice and settled in before we make any big changes?"

I was about to argue back, unable to believe she was taking Natsuki's side.

There wasn't a single, rational reason to wait. In no reality could expanding our Club to include more voices be considered a bad thing. Why were they all being so fucking immature?

But then, I noticed the pleading glint in her blue eyes, silently begging me to let it go for now.

Reluctantly, I suppressed a sigh.

"…all right." I relented with a shrug. "We'll… wait."

Natsuki didn't respond, merely nodding in grim acceptance as she leaned back in her seat again. Quietly, I tried convincing myself that maybe she'd be more agreeable at tomorrow's meeting. Surely she just needed a proper night's rest to realize this wasn't that big of a deal?

But then I recalled the similar argument we'd had at the end of last year when I'd originally pitched the idea to the group. From what I remembered, she hadn't been very keen on it then, either. And now here she was, after a whole summer to think it over, and her opinion seemed completely unchanged. What exactly was I supposed to do about that?

I'm still the Club President. I reminded myself. At the end of the day, my decision is final. Natsuki can either accept that, or leave.

It wasn't a thought I relished. Despite our clashes, I did like and appreciate her presence in my Club. I had no real desire to see her go.

But if she was going to insist on standing in the way of development like that, then she was ultimately a sacrifice I was willing to make.

For the greater good.

Sayori leaned sideways again to whisper something in Natsuki's ear. For a moment, I thought she was trying to calm her down again by saying something nice, doing that whole empathy thing she excelled at so much.

Then, Natsuki abruptly recoiled away from her, bearing a look of utter disgust.

"Ew, no!" She exclaimed shrilly. "What the hell, Sayori?!"

"Please, just a quick nibble!" Sayori pleaded, inching her face closer to Natsuki's with a hungry look in her eyes.

"NO! You can't eat my hair, that's so gross!" Natsuki adamantly protested, doing her best to push the steadily advancing girl away.

"Please, I just… want… a taste…!" Sayori said, lunging herself forward to try and take a bite of Natsuki's pigtails. "I'm… so… hungry!"

"Get offa me!"

A/N: Thanks to everyone for reading, and two special shout-outs to TreePotion and 54godamora for the kind words they left on the previous chapter. I'd never heard of MerMay before, but your description gave me an idea for a funny scene which I couldn't help myself from including in this chapter.

Hope that's okay with you, it made me laugh.