The closer the train got to Hogwarts, the harder the rain fell. It started as a soft drizzle not to long after leaving the platform, but had gradually escalated.

Gerard stretched in his seat. Patrick and Pete were both asleep across from him. Ray had dozed off beside him with an open book in his lap. The rain made the small cabin seem so cozy; Gerard was tempted to sleep himself.

As tempting as it was, he instead pushed himself up to his feet as quietly as possible. Maybe he could find Frank somewhere on the train. He could wait until they got to Hogwarts, but he wasn't feeling the most patient after a summer of only speaking through letters.

Gerard slipped out into the corridor. The train rumbled on as he carefully slid the door to his small cabin shut. He had never really wandered the train during the actual journey to Hogwarts before; it was a bit of an odd feeling, with the movement under his feet as he walked down the train car's corridor, but he kind of liked it. He peeked into cabins as he passed by them, seeing a mixture of familiar and unfamiliar faces.

Gerard grinned when he saw one of his closer friends, Max, sitting with his Gryffindor boyfriend, Steven, and a couple of others in Gryffindor's colors. He waved to his friend, who eagerly waved back. Before Gerard could pass by, Max was up on his feet & sliding the compartment's door open.

"Gerard! How was your holiday?" Max smiled widely as he held his arms open for a hug. "Are you feeling alright?"

"I'm good." Gerard laughed as he hugged Max. "My holiday was fine, but I'm happy to be back. How was yours?"

"Fantastic!" He beamed as he pulled back from the hug, "Steven took me to a quidditch game. A professional quidditch game!"

"That's neato!" Max's excitement reminded Gerard of his and Mikey's first professional quidditch game. That was when Mikey first discovered his love for the sport. Max had a similar gleam in his eye. "Have you seen Frank by chance?"

Max shook his head. "Sorry, Gerard. We've been catching up. I haven't really seen anyone."

"Don't apologize! I'll let you get back to it." Gerard waved again, "See you at school!"

"Bye!" Max stepped back into his cabin and shut the door.

Gerard moved past it, sliding his hand along the wall for balance as the train shook. He gulped back a cry of surprise, careful to remain steady on his feet. He had never walked around while the train while it was still in motion before. It was something he didn't plan on doing again.

Gerard continued down the train cart, peeking into the different compartments as he passed. There was no sign of Frank yet. Gerard was losing hope that he'd find Frank before they got to the school. He turned to look down the train car, grinning at the sight just a few feet away.

"Hello!" He waved to the Trolley Witch as he hurried towards her, "Have you got any chocolate frogs?"

As the witch looked over the treats on her cart for Gerard, three Slytherins looked through the candy they had just aquired.

"Liquorice wands?" Brendon offered as he ripped the top of of the box.

Frank shook his head. "I hate them, now." He said, instead grabbing for a box of gummy slugs. He grinned, shaking it just slightly. "I dare you to hold a couple of these on your tongue."

"Throw in your chocolate frog cards and I'll do it." Spencer challenged, finally beginning to warm up to conversation again.

"I'll throw in a sickle to see that." Brendon grinned with the raise of an eyebrow.

"You're a mad man, Spencer." Frank laughed, tossing him the box.

Spencer caught it and ripped the top off. "Bottoms up." He shrugged before tilting his head back and dumping the colorful slugs into his mouth.

Both Frank and Brendon cried out in a mixture of disgust and awe. Spencer's cheeks puffed out with outlines of the slugs wiggling around inside. He was quickly turning green the longer he held his mouth shut.

"He's gunna blow!" Brendon exclaimed, "What charm stops puking?"

Frank began looking around for something Spencer could puke in. "I don't know, I'm barely passing as it is!"

Spencer shook his head. After a short pause, the sickening sound of a swallow echoed. "I... I'm going to be sick."

"I'll go ask the Trolley Witch about something to keep that from happening." Frank volunteered. He quickly stood up and pulled open the compartment door to slip out. He felt bad for initiating the bet, but he also didn't want to get puked on.

The Trolley Witch had only made it down a few compartments before getting stopped again, so Frank didn't have far to go. "Excuse me! Do you have anything to soothe and upset stomach? My friend just ate an entire box of gummy slugs and he's a bit green."

"Oh, dear." The witch turned to him with worry, "You boys and those slugs!" She knelt down to grab something from the lower shelf of her cart, revealing the white haired boy on the other side.

Frank felt his heart skip and his eyes widen. Gerard smiled at him, offering a timid wave.

"Hi, Frank." He sounded like he wanted to be casual, but there was an underlying excitement that made Frank grin back.

"Hey, Gerard."

The Trolley Witch popped up then, holding a small candy in her hand. "Give him this." She instructed, "Soothes the stomach and the mind, so he might become a bit quiet."

"T-thanks." Frank nodded, taking the candy. He wanted to see Gerard again. he wanted to hear more of his voice. He wanted to hold him so tight he might momentarily forget about what happened last year. Instead, he took a step back. "I'll see you at school, Gee?" He called out, hopefully.

"Yea! Uh... See you there." Gerard replied.

Frank didn't want to go back to his compartment after seeing Gerard, but he forced himself to turn back towards it so that he could give Spencer the candy. He could feel his stomach twist as he reentered the compartment. He silently tossed the candy to Spencer, who graciously unwrapped it and popped it in his mouth. He sighed in relief, shutting his eyes and leaning back in his seat.

"Thank Merlin..." Brendon mumbled before taking a bite of his liquorice wand.

Frank sat down quietly, looking at the candy boxes on the seat beside him. Suddenly, he really wasn't hungry anymore.