Compartment 21

Selia managed to cram all of Serenity's pink bags into half of one seat, although they seemed rather precariously balanced near the top. Oh well, she didn't really expect to have anyone sitting with her. She put her one plain white suitcase on the side of Serenity's, to give them extra support, and sat down opposite all of the mess, looking rather proud of her handiwork.
After making sure the compartment door was closed, she unlocked the cage of her and Serenity's fluffy white cat Tiffany, and allowed it to get comfortably situated on her cross-legged lap. After everything was quite situated, Selia sighed deeply, and began to pour over one of her textbooks.
What a lovely head start, the train hadn't even started moving yet. Much different from last year, where it had taken her about thirty minutes into the ride to finally pack all of Serenity's stuff.

She should have thought otherwise. After a few polite raps on the door, another girl slipped inside the compartment. She was a pretty thing-tall, oval faced, nice curves, a shock of red hair. In one hand was a dingy carpetbag with an Edwardian appearance, and a carrier with a yowling, inky cat.

"Don't mind Mitzi. She'll settle even if I have to charm her." Her voice was as crisp as the autumn weather.

Selia wrapped her arms protectively around Tiffany, whose fur was standing on end from all that yowling.
"Y.. You'll charm your cat?" Selia's voice was quiet, and she could feel claws digging into the fabric of her clothes.

She nodded boldly as she sat down across from Selia, without asking for permission. "Yes! I'll jinx her so she can whine all she wants, but we won't hear it!"

Her face was perfectly straight, without a hint of a smile. And then she broke into a sunny grin. "Only kidding! I have no idea to do that-I'm only a first year!"

"Oh! That's good, I suppose." Selia looked away from the girl, and let out a sigh of relief. Although, her response wasn't entirely soothing- she really hadn't made it clear whether or not she would actually jinx a cat if she knew how to do so. This was all so very scary.

"Um.. I'm a first year too. My name is.." Her voice trailed off, and she mumbled "Sévérilette Rosensteel" very, very quietly.

There was a timid knock on the compartment's open door frame. Standing there was a short, though not particularly petite girl (she carried a bit of extra chub in her stomach and legs). The fist curled around her trunk's handle was nearly white - a stark comparison to the rest of her skin, which was more of a beige tone.

"U-um... is there, is there anywayIcouldsithere?" The latter half of her sentence just kind of poured out in a panic. Holly had been pacing the train for almost fifteen minutes trying to find a compartment with people that looked at least moderately friendly. These two girls looked young, and the blonde looked almost as scared as Holly, so it would have to do.

Selia gave a short nod of approval, although she was still clutching tightly to her poor kitty. The pink boxes next to her threatened to overtake her, and she immediately realized how incredibly bad it must have looked to have so many bags.
"T-There aren't all mine!" She burst out, looking back and forth from the two girls. "They're my older sister's."

Karin stared at... Silver Rosenteel? Was that her name? Her parents must have been very concerned about appearances.

"I knew those all couldn't have been yours! You don't seem like the type. Oh, wait-here." She scooted close towards the window of the compartment so that Holly may have had a place to sit.

"O-oh, okay... thanks!" Holly entered the compartment hoisted her trunk up into the rack above the seats, standing on her tiptoes to reach that high up. She plopped down onto the seat next to Karin, directly across from Serenity's bags. She wanted to ask something or make a joke about how crazy Selia's sister must be, but was too afraid to. "I, uh, I'm Holly, by the way," she said. "What're your names?"

"My name is Karin. And that's Silver with the crazy sister!" Karin flashed a wicked smile at Holly. And then she turned to frown at her yowling cat. "Mitzi, damn it, I swear..." she murmured, her voice dark. Then she looked back up at Holly.

"Are you alright?"

"Silver? That's a... unique name." Holly smiled politely. "It's nice to meet you. Uh, yeah, I'm fine. Just a little nervous, heh, Hogwarts, y'know," she said meekly. This Karin girl was a bit overbearing. Kinda like Libby.

"You'll be fine!" Karin replied briskly. "It's not like they are going to throw you into the lake!" (As her older sister claimed in a weak attempt to spark fear into her baby sis).

"And you have the two of us, already!"

Holly sighed in relief and couldn't help but grin when Karin said Holly had the two of them. She barely knew them, but if Karin already considered them friends, maybe the next seven years wouldn't be too bad. "Awesome! Thanks, heh. The, uh, lake thing hadn't really crossed my mind..."

"Actually, my name is--" Selia trailed off into silence. She could say her name again, and have them mispronounce it, or.. "Selia. It's just Selia."

"Wait, there's a lake? My sister doesn't tell me anything about school.."

"Oh, Selia! I'm sorry. That's a really pretty name." Holly smiled softly. "Oh, uh, well, my sister tells me there's a lake, and it's got monsters in it, or something... and there's staircases that move... and ghosts and stuff too... but she could just be messing with me, though." Holly's enthusiasm softened the more she talked, as she realized how ridiculous she was starting to sound.

"Thank you!" Selia smiled back nervously, before speaking again. "That all sounds so amazing. All my sister talks about are the boys at this school. She has this big binder, with photos and notes on all of them. And she talks about her friends, too. She's a second year, this year, and.." Selia trailed off. "How old is your sister?"