End of the Year (Invite only)

Finding an empty compartment, she placed her suitcase over the compartment seats and all that was left on her lap was her satchel with Coeur sleeping once more. Last time she was here, she was heading to her second year and now she was leaving, stronger and more confident.

She was so tired of everything that Hogwarts and it's surrounded areas gave her. She knew that the only thing that came with this year was Xander and her meeting, though it started very rocky, it fixed itself out, somewhat. And she was closer to Victoria than she was the year before, though the year before they'd bonded over fear of death.

She closed her eyes and simply took in the quiet. Even Coeur knew to stay quiet and she mentally thanked her.

Victoria walked onto the train feeling numb. She had received an owl on the last day of school. It was odd in and of itself because the only magical people she knew were already at the school. It had actually been from her parents. When she had written home to tell them what day to pick her up from the train station, they had sent a letter back.

She was still clutching the letter when she found the cabin Tess was in. She didn't bother knocking and just strode in and put her stuff away quietly. Taking her seat she muttered, "Hey."

Tess opened her eyes and looked at Victoria. A smile appeared on her face at seeing her best friend, but it dimmed as she saw her friend's expression. She sat up straighter and pushed Coeur off of her. Her familiar seemed to understand and curled up to the side and allowed Tess to pay attention to Victoria.

She had learned a lot about Victoria during the school year, and for her it seemed foreign to see her be so down. Tess believed she was usually the cynical one, but the tone in which she announced herself was just too blue for her.

"Hey, what's wrong?" she asked in a soft tone.

Victoria wondered if she should actually keep the letter to herself. She didn't want to worry Tess too much. Maybe I'm jumping to conclusions...

She looked down at the letter and realized she'd wrinkled it in her nervousness. "My parents wrote." She knew Tess would understand how weird that was for her, no matter what the note said.

She tried to sound cheerful. "We're going on a vacation as soon as I get back...." she looked out the window. "to Germany."

Tess looked at her wide-eyed and her mouth was parted. She couldn't hide her surprise, and then her fear. A witch, an American...well now English witch was going to Germany?! She placed a hand on her chest and let out a breath trying to be logical.

"Do they realize you're.....you're...Merlin they'd kill you!" she cried out.

She covered her mouth and got up to lock their compartment tight.

Victoria tried to smile, but only managed to lift one corner. At least she was imagining how dangerous it could be.

"Maybe they won't know." She didn't know much about the magical world, but she would be surprised if wizards or witches could detect her on sight.

But then...why should it surprise her, really? "Tess, how would they know I was a witch?" She made a mental note to carry her invisibility cloak on her at all times. And to learn next year how to enchant a handbag to hold lots of stuff. That way it would be easier.

Tess thought about her question deeply. She wanted to keep Victoria hopeful that it will be safe. She picked up the Daily Prophet in thought, and how it talked about the attacks. Looking at her friend she nodded.

"Well...personally, I have to deal with a few...defects in magic" she began "It's probably just me but...keep your feelings in check, don't be too mad, I mean to say this because your magical core might spiral out of control. I don't know if it's only my blood...well if it's our...if it's just me" she stuttered trying to make it as clear as possible.

She was worried about her wand and Victoria's use.

"Considering your parents are muggles, I have to say I doubt you will be dealing with magic. Try to avoid any form of usage and avoid magic places. I think it'll be easier for you to do. Also, be careful and block your mind at all times, I've read that in the Daily Prophet they try to push into it"

She tried to share a smile back and tried to stay confident for her friend.

"You'll do fine, send me a few owls please" she said.

"I will. As often as I can." Victoria was relieved that she'd taken at least one lesson of Occlumency this year. She may not have been the best at it, but at least she knew what to expect when it happened, and that alone could be a good defense.

She decided to make her parents stop at Diagon Alley before they left London, to purchase an owl. They weren't very well off, but it was an expense that would pay off in the end. It not only would allow her to owl Tess over the summer, but she could communicate with them more easily when school started up again.

Trying to lighten the topic, not wanting to dwell on something she couldn't really change, she asked, "What are your plans for the holidays? Any fun adventures?"

Tess smiled, a real one not wanted to dampen the spirit. She knew that there was something else that she needed to say and smiled brightly.

"Great! Oh take your cloak.." she whispered. "You need to protect yourself and your parents. Just keep mum about anything magical."

She wondered how hard that would be. She knew that personally she'd couldn't stop herself from mentioning magic, but she figured Victoria would succeed.

"As for me...I don't know. My parents said we aren't heading to America, but either staying out our London Manor, or travel once more. Last year we spent some time in Spain. Who knows with them" she said shrugging.

It was true, often times she'd find herself just wishing to stay home and spend time with family.

Sometimes Victoria wondered if Tess could read her mind. She squinted at Tess, trying to project funny pictures of funny little squirrels in sun dresses having tea, just to make sure. When it didn't seem to work she just smiled.

She relaxed and patted the small messenger bag she'd had for years. "I always carry it with me. Just in case there's a chance for adventure."

She envied Tess the chances to travel to such wonderful places. Kathleen had surprised her last summer with the trip back to America. Apparently she'd been saving to take Victoria ever since they moved to London.

"Maybe you'll go to Greece this time. Or France! Or anywhere warm really."

Tess blinked and tilted her head confused at Victoria's squinting. She let out an innocent smile and laughed softly at her interesting face. Seeing her smile, she grinned in return. She figured it was better if she didn't know what was going on.

At the thought of France she shrugged.

"I wouldn't really want to go with my parents to France" she said chuckling. "I'd feel like a third wheel, especially if we went to Paris"

She shuddered at the thought. In reality, she did want to go one day, but with a loved one, someone that loved her in a deeper way. She wanted to be romanced, as disgustingly sweet as she'd thought it'd be.

"Greece sounds lovely, island hopping and so forth. We usually head to Spain, this would be our third time if we went there, my mother's family is there" she explained. "Still, whatever they choose, I usually go along with."

Yup! Victoria was definitely jealous. Island hopping, how wonderful! She looked out the window and was thankful for small fortunes. At least it was green here. She could live with that.

Suddenly she remembered how Tess and Xander had acted in class. "Hey, how are you and Xander doing?" She was curious about their relationship. She'd never been very into guys before this year, and had never had a close friend in a relationship, so this was new for her.

Tess blinked a few times surprised by the question, but then again she figured that she'd act the same if it was Luke and Victoria. She wanted to ask about Luke in return, but she knew she'd be ignoring the question. She shrugged a bit.

"Well we're...something" she said confused. "H-he I think we're together..right? If they tell you that he wants to me more than your friend that means boyfriend right?"

She remembered what he had told her clearly, after all no one had ever paid attention to her in such a way.

Tess, I have to ask. What are we? I...I really like you. I like being with you. But...I know we can bring out the...character in each other. So...if you just want to be friends, I can accept that. But please know I want more than that.

"He asks me what we were and he...he never asked me if I wanted to be his girlfriend." she wrinkled her nose confused.

She looked to Victoria, her closest friend and the only person she truly trusted in the castle. She wondered if she would know any more.

"How would you even...how would I take that as? What would you guys be if you were in my position?"

Hmm... Victoria didn't know quite what to make of it. She wondered if pure blood wizards and witches maybe didn't believe in "dating"? She didn't know enough about their culture to be able to guess.

"Maybe...maybe he doesn't care about labels? I don't know. I know back in America people often have 'boyfriends' and 'girlfriends' at our age, but maybe it's different here."

She thought about her an Luke. There were things she wanted to talk about, but they would get to that later. Tess seemed pretty rattled at her and Xander's...Lack of communication? And she could see how frustrating that could be.

"I think what's important is what YOU want. As long as you two are exclusive, if that's what you want, then I think it's up to you what you call yourselves." She smiled at Tess. Victoria was all for clearing things up between two people, but felt that sometimes labels were constricting. Or that people would label themselves before they really understood what they wanted.

Tess smiled a bit and shrugged looking at her friend sheepishly.

"I'd rather not make it out bigger than it is. If he is unclear, then I'll wait it out I suppose. He does come from an old fashioned-wizarding family. I mean we met by him insulting me for being an American, obviously there's a cultural difference"

She sighed and shrugged.

"I'd rather not dwell. I'm just going to simply keep moving" she said softly more telling herself than Victoria. "Plus, I really don't want to deal with the drama. I mean look at us two, we're probably one in a handful of people that don't deal with drama. I'd like to keep it that way."

Victoria laughed. "Very true. It makes life a lot easier, doesn't it?"

For the most part she liked the lack of drama in her life. It allowed her to focus on her school work and developing as a young witch in this new world. She remembered the drama from the ball their first year, and the fighting and arguing between the girls in Astronomy. She shook her head at their inability to settle things logically. But she knew she shouldn't judge without all the facts.

Looking out the window she sighed. Maybe it wouldn't be so terrible having a little bit of drama. A little excitement or adventure. She wondered if this vacation could give her some of that. But what were the chances she would find adventure by herself. It was never as much fun with just one.

Her stomach grumbled. "Where's that bloody trolley? I'm starved."

She nodded and looked out the window as silence loomed over them. It was a comfortable one, one that she didn't mind, and one that she often times relished. She figured they were that used to one another.

She had avoided drama like the plague, she didn't need to deal with the madness around them, often times she felt like she was older than she actually was. There was always a hint of trepidation when it came to things like socializing because of the consequences. She might not have been, nor is the most outgoing individual, but she didn't regret that.

Those ideas dashed as soon as she heard Victoria's comment and grinned cheekily.

"When aren't you?" she teased. "Hope she's here soon I wouldn't mind something, I feel a bit peckish"