1 Sept '73: You and I Collide - Bridget

[Marlene McKinnon]

“This bloody door always sticks I swear,” Marlene said, kicking the bottom in frustration. It was just like her to get stuck in the lavatory of a moving train, and she wondered if any of her friends would come and save her. They probably didn’t even know she had gotten herself stuck again, and they were most likely settled into their compartment and deep in conversation about their summers. She wanted to know all the details, and instead she’d had to pee because she did nothing but drink juice all morning while she anxiously waited for her parents to take her to Kings Cross. There was so much to look forward to though, there would be new classes this year and she personally was thrilled about Care of Magical Creatures.

“Jiggle the lock, jiggle the lock.” she muttered under her breath, half tempted to use magic to break the door off. It was no use, she was just going to have to ride the whole way to school trapped in here. Sighing, Marlene leaned back against the door, flipping her wand around in her fingers. Suddenly the train turned a corner, and the door she was leaning against gave way. She tumbled out of the bathroom, and right into someone walking by, and they were up against the wall. Pushing against the wall with one hand, Marlene realized the someone she had just fallen into was a girl, a very pretty girl. And here they were, pressed up against each other and the wall, and Marlene was flustered. She had known for a while that boys weren’t her jam, but she’d never been this close to a girl like this before. If anyone was to come across them, it would surely look like she’d pinned the poor girl against the wall. “Funny how trains work, isn’t it?” she said with a laugh, giving herself time to figure out who she had run into. Hufflepuff - she had a brother, didn’t she? Two years of school and she hadn’t made friends outside of Gryffindor, and she hadn’t considered it would be an issue until now.

“I’m Marlene, most people call me Mick though,” she blurted out, brain slowly melting as she looked the other girl in the eyes. She had such pretty eyes, how was not the first thing Marlene had noticed? It took a few moments more before she realized that she was still pressed up against the Hufflepuff and she grinned as she took a step back. “Come to this part of the train often?” she asked, bending over to pick up her dropped wand before looking back to the other girl, hoping that her attempt at flirting wasn’t going to end in total disaster.

[Bridget Applebee]

"Ooh - super shiny badge, Kingsley - congrats!" Bridget beamed as she quickly scooted around her housemate and another new prefect. Her pocket jingled with wizarding coins again - a much more satisfying sound than muggle money, but perhaps that's because it was proof that this hidden world wasn't just in her imagination - as she hurried about the narrow corridor trying to catch up with the trolley. Sure, their compartment had procured enough sweets to give them all stomach aches and enough savories to tide them over until dinner...and they would have their first Hogsmeade trip soon to visit the real Honeydukes at last...but Greta had popped in and she'd heard about a new flavor of Droobles, so what was Bridget supposed to do? Sit tight and not track down the trolley? Ludicrous.

The bouncy Hufflepuff maneuvered her way through, smiling to herself as she overheard snippets of great-to-see-you-again's and where-have-you-been-hiding's, her balance tested every once and a while as the train took its time through the twists and turns of the route. While Bridget was hardly ever lacking in energy, there was an undeniable thrill about today that, while making sleep last night impossible, was powering her through the day. She loved her home, she loved her parents, she loved seeing childhood muggle friends with Bennett - but returning to Hogwarts, reuniting with their community here, having so many new classes and experiences to look forward to now that they were in their third year...This might just be the best one yet.

Bridget felt the train move beneath her trainers, and the lavatory door abruptly burst open, its occupant crash-landing into her and slamming them both into the opposite wall before she could do a thing about it. Adjusting herself so it was her back instead of her shoulder against the wall, and giving her shoulder a few little test rolls - You'll survive. - Bridget found herself nose-to-nose with...Oh my Merlin. Marlene McKinnon? Yeah...you'll survive. Bridget had noticed her before - ample opportunity in shared classes, wondering what she was busy doodling, what the joke was when it was too quiet to be heard from across the room but the laughter from the Gryffindors made it clear that the rest of them were missing out - as she'd realized she was noticing that Hogwarts was full of pretty girls. A realization that she hadn't shouted from the towers yet, but here she was with one of the cutest girls in her year pressed against her...asking about the train? Grinning through her confusion, Bridget found herself laughing. "Oh yes, almost as funny as doors." She nodded as Marlene introduced herself - as Mick introduced herself - although that stopped when their eyes met. What was I doing again? "Bridget! I'm Bridget, we've always had Astronomy together. If you're wondering where you might know me from." ...Bee, what?

She let out a breath as Mick backed up, her heart dancing as it did in the thrill of something new. "Mick, are you asking me if I frequent the lav car?" Bridget asked, catching the giggles. "I mean - first time here, had an absolutely awful experience with Bertie Bott's, which was just plain tragic. I'm all for a good joke, but tripe flavored candy? Thought it was going to be the end of me. But it would've been much worse if the door had done that," she said with a nod to the door, heart dancing just a little more vigorously as she decided to try and keep this going. "Are you alright? I don't feel good about letting you loose in the train. There are way too many doors that could betray you again, so you should probably just come along with me."

[Marlene McKinnon]

The poor girl Mick had unintentionally pinned against the wall was pretty, and she hated that it was the first thing on her mind. Mick had known she liked girls for a while now, she’d even confessed it to Sirius in first year. But so far she had managed to play it cool through her crushes, and not blabber like an idiot. That didn’t seem to be the case in this situation, but it was hard not to be distracted by someone so breathtaking. She wasn’t entirely sure how she even managed out a proper introduction, as she was too busy thinking thoughts about how this was only making her even more sure she was attracted to girls instead of boys. Bridget introduced herself, and Mick told herself to commit the name to memory. Memories of Astronomy class with the Huffelpuff in front of her were coming to mind, and Mick wondered why she’d never paid more attention to Bridget before.

Putting some distance between them was good, because she realized that her heart was pounding in her chest. She wasn’t normally nervous like this, but clearly she was having some sort of feelings if she was asking such ridiculous questions. “Suppose that was what I was asking,” she said with a laugh, grin growing at Bridget’s tale. “Can’t blame you about the beans, they come up with some of the worst flavors. Luckily for you, that door only seems to have issues with me.” Mick did want to say that she felt it was lucky the door had opened when it did, because crashing into someone so pretty was an instant uplift to her day. But the last thing she wanted to do was making Bridget feel uncomfortable by flirting with her.

Feeling like she should excuse herself, Mick couldn’t stop the smile when Bridget invited her along. Any plans of finding her friends on the train were gone, replaced with thoughts on how she could make Bridget smile that wonderful smile again. Taking Bridget’s hand in hers, she gave it a squeeze, “Can’t trust a single door around here, so I’ll stick with you. Lead the way.” There were a million questions running through her mind, Some of them seemed more important than others, but it was hard to sort out which to ask first. She was positive she could spend the whole train ride fascinated by anything Bridget had to say. “You have a brother right, a twin?” It was the one tidbit of information she knew for sure about the other girl.

She wanted to impress Bridget, but Mick wasn’t entirely sure how to. She could talk about the big house in Scotland, and the horses, but she didn’t want to come off as a snobby rich pureblood. She hated everything about that life. Somehow though, her mind wandered to Hogsmeade and words rushed out of her mouth, “Are you excited about getting to go into Hogsmeade this year? I am, just hoping I don’t end up going by myself.”

[Bridget Applebee]

"It doesn't have good taste then, that door. Wait - the doors aren't enchanted, are they?" Bridget lowered her voice to a whisper by the end, caught in a mischievous smile at the half-joking question. There was a surprise around every corner - or behind every door - when it came to the magical world, and she wouldn't put it past the train to have its doors enchanted for some reason or another. To help keep the students away from places they shouldn't be exploring, or to keep them secure in case something bad happened...You really are going to some lengths to not focus on Mick's hand, eh? Bridget continued on in the direction she'd been traveling, taking Mick by the hand along with her, and the heart that had been dancing before was now flailing in earnest as it didn't know the steps. You've held hands with girls before, Bee. Friends, family. Maybe never this soon, or with someone you'd had your eye on, but it probably doesn't mean anything... 

"I do, yeah!" she piped up at the question, looking over to Mick to see her looking perhaps as at a loss as she felt. "His name's Bennett and he's in Hufflepuff, same as me. We lucked out being in the same House, he's just - " Words always felt too little when it came to describing who Ben was to her, but with a smile she continued, "He's my best friend. Do you have any brothers or sisters?" She let go of Mick's hand to reason with a door, ushering her new companion through before the contraption could turn on them, and looked around the taller girl to see the next corridor just as lacking of the trolley as the last had been. She couldn't find it within her to mind, though, now that she had company. They'd come upon it before long, it was inevitable, and until then, she took the other girl's hand and -

"I don't think you'll ever have to worry about that," Bridget asserted honestly, words flowing just as quickly as her companion's and a rise of warmth in her cheeks trailing shortly behind. "I just mean that I've seen you around at school, seems like you Gryffindors take the 'travel as a pride' thing pretty seriously," she teased. "We do too - did you know that a group of badgers is called a clan? how cute is that? - but even if you didn't want to go with the group, if you wanted to ask someone, I'd bet they'd say yes, and I never bet on anything. But I really am, yeah - excited about Hogsmeade, that is," she grinned, winding her way back to Mick's question through her excited rambles. "The older students speak so highly of it,  I can't wait to see it all for myself. A whole village just for magical people? I really can't imagine what that'll feel like, do you have any idea? Closest I've been to that is Diagon Alley, but our parents were with us then, so it wasn't quite the same."

[Marlene McKinnon]

Bridget was cute and funny, and Mick laughed as her companion lowered her voice. It was a fair question in reality, after all, everything at the school seemed enchanted, why wouldn’t the doors of the train also be enchanted? “If they are enchanted, perhaps it means we were meant to meet properly today,” she said in a quiet tone to match Bridgets. Mick would get a great story out of this, and hopefully a new friend outside of her house. Admittedly, Mick didn’t pay attention to many people outside of Gryffindor. From the get-go she allied herself with Sirius after they’d both been sent to the house of the lion, which led to her friendship with the boys. And her friendship with the girls had come naturally by spending so much time together.

But this was a start in getting to know someone else, and Mick was proud that she was able to remember Bridget had a twin. She didn’t know many twins, and the names had stuck out to her when they had been sorted three years ago. She was a tad jealous, to have someone that you literally shared a womb with you for your whole life. Her parents had never wanted to have more kids, even when young Marlene had begged for a sibling. What she knew now though, is that blood didn’t always make family, and she shook her head to Bridget’s question, “Not by blood - but I’ve got Sirius and Regulus, They are family to me.” Mick was disappointed when Bridget let go of her hand to usher her through the door, and Mick wondered what exactly B was looking for - hopefully not too soon though, because she’d taken up Mick’s hand again.

She smirked at Bridget’s tease, chuckling. They did tend to travel together, there was truth in that. The Marauders tended to travel as a group, sometimes with the girls between classes and sometimes just by themselves. Her and the girls always tended to be together, but was it not the same in the Hufflepuff house? Marlene had just assumed everyone was great friends with their dorm mates. She didn’t have to wait for an answer to her unasked question, and she laughed some more. A clan of badgers, it was cute. “You’ve never been to a magical village before?” The question spilled out before she could contain it, but it was curious. Diagon Alley was fun, but there were so many wizard only areas around. “I live in a magical village, sort of. It’s in Scotland, we have a lot of land and I’ve got my own horse - sorry, that makes me sound terrible doesn’t it? The house has been in the family for years. I’ve really not spent a lot of time in any muggle villages, ‘cept Edinburgh of course.”

She’d gone off on a tangent, but besides Lily and Guin she didn’t get to ask many questions about muggles. And if Bridget had never stepped foot in a wizard village, it was very likely she was muggleborn. Which was brilliant, because Mick still had hundreds of questions about muggle life and she was sure her friends would appreciate a break from the endless thoughts she had. It was just so fun to learn about how people did things without magic. “You know - if you want - we could go to Hogsmeade together.”

[Bridget Applebee]

"I like the way you think," Bridget whispered back, glad that her new companion was quick to jump into her silliness and add her own endearing twist onto things. While things like fate and destiny sometimes seemed far-fetched...if magic was real, if prophecies happened, if Viola's interpretations during their monthly tea readings did sometimes come true, then why couldn't there be enchanted doors on the train, and why couldn't she and Mick have had a touch of destiny in their meeting? Even if there was no truth to it, Bee didn't have it in her to mind, not when Mick was smiling back. 

"So you're in the same House as your family too," she replied with a laugh as they moved into the next compartment, hands linking together once more, "although, I don't know Regulus, so maybe not. Is he at Hogwarts?" Sirius, however, she remembered all the way back from their first night in the castle - she and Bennett had just been Sorted, everything was overwhelming in the grandest possible way, and the Hat took its time in assigning Sirius his House. The young Hufflepuff hoped she wasn't talking too much or too quickly, her mouth ran away with her when she was overly excited or nervous and was even more out of control when the combination was true, which it undeniably was in this moment. But she really couldn't help it! Whether Mick's attention was purely friendly or if it was something a little more - Getting way too ahead of yourself Bridie. - she wasn't entirely sure, but she liked how quick her companion was to laugh and their hands kept finding each other's and pretty soon she was going to run into someone because she kept glancing over to see if Mick was smiling as broadly as she was (and distracted again in delight to find that she was). 

She listened, enraptured, as Mick spoke about her home. The Gryffindor grew up in a magical village? Bee gave a quick shake of her head, giving the girl's hand a squeeze. "That doesn't make you sound terrible, that makes me want to invite myself over and meet your horse," she teased with a cheeky grin. "You grew up with magic and everything then? You're not missing much, not seeing the muggle way of things - but maybe it's as tricky for you to imagine a house without magic as it is for me to imagine one with it? If you're curious about anything, I'm happy to fill you in," she offered. While there had been some older students who'd cautioned her about speaking so frankly about her home and her parents, given that some of their fellows at school had it in their heads that muggleborns didn't belong there, she'd made a promise to herself to not let them intimidate her into being quiet. So far, so good, eh?

Bridget stopped their walk at Mick's question, facing her fully, eyes darting to the other girl's. Had Mick just asked her out? Everyone knew that Hogsmeade was the place to go for a date - because it was the only place to go for a date - and was that what Mick meant? Or was she asking her as a new friend? "Are you kidding? I'd love to go to Hogsmeade with you!" Bridget exclaimed. "I've always imagined being there for the first time with my brother, though - would you mind if we went together? If you like me, you'll love him, I promise."

[Marlene McKinnon]

Mick was glad for the silliness to counteract the fact she’d probably injured Bridget in her fall out of the door. Maybe calling it fate was also silly, but it certainly felt like some force outside of their control had arranged this meeting. Mick knew that her romantic situation was complicated, it wasn’t normal in their world for a girl to like another girl. But why did the feel of Bridget's hand in her own feel so right if wanting to date a girl was so wrong? Her parents would never learn of how she felt, the agreement she had with Sirius took care of that. And if that agreement was to become a marriage one day, well, Sirius already knew of her preferences. A marriage would just mean a permanent wingman when trying to pick up girls, and more performances for their parents over the years. And as much as she knew their families would want an heir, she would not even think about having sex with a boy. It made her want to throw up.

But nothing about how her interaction with Bridget was going made her feel sick. It made her feel like she was floating on a happy cloud, like butterflies would fly out of her stomach if they got the chance. Mick was here for it though, and she wanted to never stop feeling like this. She wanted to know if Bridget felt the same, or if the sweet Hufflepuff was simply just being friendly. “Yeah, it’s been great to be with Sirius, neither of us really thought we’d end up in Gryffindor to be honest. Regulus is a year younger than us, he’s in Slytherin. But he’s really great.” Was she giving too much information? Mick felt like she was talking too much, but she couldn’t seem to shake the nerves she felt every time she saw Bridget look at her and smile.

It was reassuring that talking about her home didn’t make her come off as snobby, because that was the last thing Mick wanted. She grinned, because she knew her horse would love Bridget, and she wished more than anything her parents would even consider letting a muggleborn into their lives. And her parents would know that Bridget wasn’t a pureblood, and Mick hated that they would hate Bridget just for that reason. It felt like she had to live two lives, and she absolutely hated it. “Magic was everywhere growing up, it really is cool to see. It’s a short walk into town from my house, and seeing people doing magic every day there is a fun way to grow up. But that’s just the pretty side of things. That and Vandella.” she rambled out, mind brimming with questions, “How long does it take to clean your whole house?”

It had been a risk, to so blatantly ask for a date from another girl. At least, she had thought it was obvious from her asking that was what she intended. It threw her off that Bridget wanted to bring her brother, but at the same time she understood why the other girl would want her first trip to include him. It simply meant she would have to adapt, and maybe talk a friend into coming. Guin would be down for a date with an attractive boy, wouldn’t she? “Yeah, of course he should come, and you know what I’ll bring Guin, she’s a blast if you haven’t met her,” Marlene said, stopping at the end of the corridor. If they went through the next door there might be people, and maybe whatever or whoever Bridget was searching for. Marlene closed the distance between them, glad that she was just a tad taller than the other girl and could look down at her. Mick gave Bridget’s hands a squeeze before she whispered, “Hey Bee, is your brother going to be upset if all I do is flirt with you?”

[Bridget Applebee]

"Where did you think you'd be?" she asked, taking mental notes along their path. Sirius and Regulus were like brothers, Sirius and Mick in Gryffindor and Regulus in Slytherin - were Sirius and Regulus brothers, then? She'd take Mick's word on the younger being "really great" despite his House; while entering Hogwarts with an open mind had benefited her and Benny in many ways, Bridget felt, not having much of a warning about the emphasis on "blood status" and the affinity of a certain House to members of a certain status...hadn't been the greatest. If Mick trusted that there was a good Slytherin, though, who was Bridget to judge?

She listened keenly as Mick told her of home, loving the quirk of her smile and the lilts of her accent as she went on, the brightness in her eyes as she spoke of the beloved place. Before she could inquire about Vandella - her horse? - she was caught in a laugh. "As my mum likes to say, it doesn't take long if we all do our part," she snickered, floored that of all the possible things to ask about the muggle world that Mick had asked her that. "It's not so bad, though, really, and pretty soon we'll be able to use magic to help!"

Is this a date? Did I just make it not a date by asking about Benny? Bee breathed out a relieved smile as Mick gave the okay about her brother, and added on a friend of hers...Is this a double date? "That's brilliant, thank you!" She was staying as still as she reasonably could in their pause, rolling up onto her toes to make her eye-level with Mick and returning her heels to the ground, not yet ready to get them moving again. Mick was close, and then closer, her voice dropping to a whisper as Bridget looked up to meet her eyes, and all of a sudden she wanted to run or jump or fly, it didn't matter, as long as Mick was with her. Because if Mick wanted to flirt with her in Hogsmeade then she was asking her out and she wasn't fool enough to say no to such an incredible offer and -

"He'll be alright," Bridget blurted, and after a moment's wavering that stopped when their eyes connected, she rose up again on her toes to quickly press her lips to Mick's before she'd thought it through. Granted, living her impulses hadn't let her down yet, and could this be any different? No, no - just having your first kiss in the train corridor, it's fine. Of all the times she'd imagined this moment, it'd never been like this. Or, more aptly - it'd never been so public. But the feeling? The feeling was what she'd longed for. The ripple of pure energy coiling in her belly, running like lightning through their held hands, through their lips. And the unexpectedness of this moment, now that it was upon her, felt right. The best moments in her life had been surprises, and this one was ricocheting its way to the top of her list. Years later, she'd laugh fondly at how clumsy it had been, how their noses had bonked and how quickly she'd dropped her heels back to the floor, but in the moment? All Bridget could do was look back up at the beautiful girl with an awed smile, cheeks flushed, hoping Mick was as giddy as she felt. "It's a date?"

[Marlene McKinnon]

It was a simple question, but truthfully Marlene didn’t really want to admit that out of the two houses she knew about at age 11, one of them was Slytherin. She knew the reputation that came with that house, and from what she’d encountered of the ones in her year they had rightfully earned the reputation. How horrible would her life be if she’d been roommates with the Medusas? “Well my ma was in Hufflepuff, and my da was in Slytherin - but how cool would it have been if we’d ended up in the same house?” It was great being in Gryffindor, but sometimes Marlene felt like an outsider in the group of girls. And in a way, she was, but she’d not been brave enough to have that conversation with them in fear of the rejection that might come with admitting she was pretty sure she liked girls. Maybe one girl in particular, because she was feeling butterflies in her stomach as she spoke with Bridget.

She’d asked Lily and Guin about muggle cleaning before, of course, but she liked to hear about it anyway. She understood how muggles cleaned, she wasn’t that daft, but it just seemed so boring when you could use magic to keep things tidy. She’d been sent to polish the trophies by hand more than once in detention, and it was so hard to focus on the task. Cleaning a whole house like that, Marlene couldn’t believe it. Then again, she had no idea how big of a house Bridget and her family resided in, was it as big as the house that she lived in? It felt wrong to assume how rich or poor the other girl might be, but it was also rude to ask that sort of question. “I will have to take your word for it, I find most muggle things to be absolutely fascinating. Science is so cool, I mean I still can’t believe they landed a man on the moon.”

There were so many questions about science that she could have asked instead of proposing a date, but thankfully Bridget seemed on board with bringing another person along with them. All Mick had to do now was convince Guin, or promise to owe her one later. What she hoped more though, was that Bennett and Guin would hit it off, and they’d thank her for the introduction when they got married one day. Thinking of marriage brought her thoughts back around to Sirius, and she wondered if she should bring up the arrangement that they’d come up with. They’d reached the age where everyone would expect them to start actually dating, and the plan was to fool them all by pretending to be hopelessly in love with each other at pureblood events. Not that Bridget would ever be allowed to come to one of those events - which Mick hated - but it did seem like a logical thing to bring up eventually.

There wasn’t time to think on it though, because Mick was falling as she looked in Bridget’s eyes and closed the distance between them, and in the moment she knew that the sorting hat had done a good job in placing her in Gryffindor, because it felt so bold to admit to another girl she was wanting to flirt with her. This was where things could go south, and she’d have to walk to her friends and act like she hadn’t just embarrassed the hell out of herself. Instead, Bridget was kissing her and Mick felt like she could just float away. It was a spark that traveled through her whole body, and she couldn’t stop herself from smiling down at Bridget when the girl pulled away. Mick knew that she could spend all day kissing Bridget if the other girl would let her. “It is most certainly a date,” she answered with a grin, not caring for one second that they were simply standing at the end of a corridor. Everything about this was perfect. “You were on a mission for something, and now I’ve interrupted you twice. Where are we headed?”

[Bridget Applebee]

"The coolest," Bee agreed heartily, giving Mick's hand a squeeze. "But, then again, then we wouldn't have been meant to meet today. Don't know enough about Divination to know for certain, but I like the feel of a little destiny. What about you?"

Hearing Mick speak about the world Bridget had grown up in with such earnest appreciation, it tickled the Hufflepuff's heart. While she generally found herself around those at school who didn't look down their noses at muggleborns like her and Ben, it was always a nice surprise to find someone who truly appreciated the non-magical folk too. Hestia was such a love, the younger badger always eager to try any muggle foods she brought back to school after a holiday, and here was another girl from a magical family whose heart and mind were just as open! "Imagine if we could work on that sort of thing together, all of us," she said with a quiet grin. "I know it'd break the rules and everything, no more secret world - and I do love the secret of it, it's thrilling, isn't it? - but just think of what we could discover!" There would be downsides to the mixing of their worlds, she knew there would be. The destruction that each was capable of independently was enough to make someone shudder at the thought of combining power, but if they could find a way to bring everyone together...the potential for good was limitless, wasn't it? (And not being able to share the full extent of her life with her parents and friends from home, having to lie about so much of their "boarding school" experience...it simply didn't sit right, however exciting it was to know that Hogwarts was waiting to welcome her back.)

Bridget was shortly wanting their pause at the end of the corridor to linger on forever. She had kissed Marlene McKinnon and the girl was beaming. While she hadn't waited long enough between the impulse and acting on it to allow herself a moment to worry, she felt a belated sense of gleeful relief as she returned her classmate's bright smile. She'd held on to crushes here or there, her heartstrings most stubbornly tangled around one of her roommates, but before today hadn't had the courage to act. And now that she had? She felt delightfully invincible and laughed, ducking her head to Mick's shoulder. "I'm on a mission for the trolley, but by all means, interrupt away," she encouraged. "Heard there was a new flavor of Droobles, had to check it out. Where were you off to?"

[Marlene McKinnon]

There were a lot of things about destiny that Marlene wasn’t so sure on. For example, had it been destiny for her to be born into a pure-blood family that seemed to refuse changing their ways? She hated to think that she would spend her entire life fighting that battle with them. Was it destiny for her to be attracted to girls, in a world where the message being spread that people like Mick were wrong? She had lots of questions about it, but she certainly wasn’t questioning this. “I’m right shite at Divination, but I think we were clearly meant to meet today. Destiny it is.” She’d be thinking about this chance meeting for the entirety of this train ride, perhaps even longer. In fact, she was already thinking about hunting down Sirius before she found her roommates and filling him in on whatever this chance encounter led to.

It was hard to come across muggle news during the summers at home, except when her parents would accompany her into Edinburgh and she could catch up on local gossip and get a muggle newspaper. She relied on her friends to keep her updated as well, writing them often during her times away from them. She’d been blown away when she had heard about the man landing on the moon, she hadn’t even found out about that until first year - two years after it had happened. “Oh, I can’t even begin to imagine what we could explore if we worked together, I think we’d be able to go further into space, and even the ocean would be cool to explore. I thought everyone knew about mermaids being real, or Nessie, for the longest time,” she was rambling, excited to talk about this subject with someone new. Lily, Guin, and Mary had heard her talk about this so many times, “I do love the secret world and all, but I hate thinking that muggles could be suffering because of us keeping our world a secret.”

All her thoughts of science and maths and space exploration were gone though after Bridget kissed her, and Mick was sure that she was grinning stupidly at the other girl. Marlene didn’t even care about any of her plans to find her friends, because she’d spend the entire train ride with Bridget if the girl asked her to. Which is why, while part of her wanted to help Bridget on this mission for the trolley, a bigger part of her wanted to delay at the end of this corridor forever. The door opened, some first years bickering over candy and not paying them any mind, and Mick chuckled as they walked away, “Well, they look like they found the trolley, so we must be getting close. Let’s find those Droobles, yeah?” She held the door open, intertwining their fingers together once they both were in the next train car, and she was delighted and disappointed all at once to see the trolley stopped near the end of the corridor. “Okay, droobles and what else? Chocolate frogs? I’m still looking for a Artemisia Lufkin card personally.”

[Bridget Applebee]

"Yeah, there's - there's loads to get into there," she said quickly, wanting to take the time to learn exactly what Mick meant, but...later, for there was an extremely pressing matter to attend to. "I mean, even just the little daily things take less time with magic, and then there's more time to put towards bigger things. Not harm exactly, but opportunity, and - Nessie?" Bridget had been fast to believe a whole lot about her new world and its rules. Transfiguration? That some equations and wand-waving and use of a dead language could change something into something else? Absolutely. That's what magic was all about, right? But the creatures...creatures were still full of surprises and suspicion, seeing as she hadn't yet had any formal learning on them, and had just picked up what she could over the last two years. Separating childhood myths from magical reality was a tricky business, and not having seen most of them for herself, and having been taken for a fool before... 

"You're  telling me that there actually is some grand beastie in the loch?" Mick was likely telling the truth, she knew that - no reason to try and trick her, was there? - but Bee had to check! The girl laughed a groan however, feeling that her earlier dismissal of some younger students was already coming around to bite her in the arse. "Next you're going to tell me I have to apologize to my housemates, because there really are dragons hiding in Wales!"

Her first kiss pushed thoughts of cryptids to the back of her mind, where she was happy to let them stay as more beautiful thoughts took over. Thoughts of romance, something that she'd figured was still in the far off future for her, and a brown-eyed Scot were of a much higher priority. She wanted to tuck away with Mick and ask her everything about herself, find out what else they had in common, try for a second kiss, and a third, and scurry back to her brother and their friends and see what would happen first - them guessing that something had happened besides her getting lost, or her blurting out the news. Goodn- Merlin, you haven't even told them yet. 

    They love you, Bridie. They'll love who you do, too.

The third year shook herself out of her head and gave a belated grin, nodding at the Gryffindor's words, and headed through the door. The air was just that much richer with wafts of warm pumpkin pasties, and Bee went to join the excited little queue, hand-in-hand with Mick. "Artemisia Lufkin," she repeated, scrunching her eyes closed because she knew that name, she did - "Minister Lufkin! You're collecting Ministry officials? No, no - famous Hufflepuffs, that's got to be it. Tell you what, if I get one with her, she's all yours. We could get a few, try our luck?"

[Marlene McKinnon]

Marlene spent a lot of time thinking about the things that could be accomplished if muggles and magic folk worked together. The possibilities were endless! It bothered her that they didn’t learn science at school, because she’d read as much muggle information she could get on it. The things that had been figured out about life without the use of a magic wand were astounding. She had about a million new questions running through her mind because it was the perfect chance to ask someone who grew up in the muggle world about the details of it. However, her casual mention of Nessie had surprised Bridget, and Mick was absolutely delighted. It wasn’t that often she got to boast of her hometown, right on the water’s edge. “She’s a kelpie, likes to appear as a sea serpent. She’s funny like that,” she said with a laugh to Bridget’s groan, before continuing, “Wait, you’re telling me you’ve never gone to Wales to see the dragons?”

Marlene had had crushes before, although she hadn’t always realized that is what it was. But this, whatever it was, that was happening between her and Bridget was causing butterflies in her stomach and a grin on her face. She had a date, with a cute girl who had kissed her, to Hogsmeade. She’d never dated before, and she wasn’t quite sure who to even ask for advice. She’d only ever told Sirius that she liked girls, and between the Marauders and the gaggle of girls who always seemed to be around, getting him alone to talk about this was out of the question. Which meant that she had to find a way to do it on her own, or tell her roommates that she was now absolutely positively sure that she was gay. The latter would probably be the answer because while she knew it was risky, she also knew how much those girls loved her.

“She’s pretty rad Hufflepuff - and first female Minister for Magic, like that’s so wicked,” she gushed, “But I’m game to get a few. Do you collect any of them? I only got into it this summer.” The real reason she’d started collecting so late was that she felt guilty for eating the frogs, even if they weren’t real frogs. She enjoyed catching them down by the water growing up, but her love for chocolate had won out over the summer and she’d gotten her first card, Blenheim Stalk. Waiting in the queue gave her the opportunity to ask Bridget questions, but Marlene felt her brain was still scrambled from being kissed. All she wanted to do was kiss Bridget again, and forget about catching up with everyone else on the train to school. “What was it like, learning that magic was real?”

[Bridget Applebee]

"Is she...a personal friend?" Bridget asked, uncertain if Mick's familiarity with Nessie was just out of growing up among wizards, or if there was more to it. Surprises still abounded in this world, and she was too excited to dig deeper to be embarrassed at her gap in knowledge. There was too much catching up to do for her and the other muggleborns, or so she thought - she was thrilled to be an expert in Muggle Studies this year, but why couldn't there be Wizarding Studies? Sure, learning the core subjects was grand fun, but were they supposed to just pick up on wizarding culture and systems as they went? Some things were no-brainers, at least the class rules were pretty much the same as she'd experienced in primary, with the addition of only performing spells when practicing. But others were so subtle. The weird family feuds that crept up from time-to-time - was everyone just supposed to know who was related? so many distant cousins! didn't they know that marrying cousins wasn't something to be proud of? - and even properly wearing her new wizarding clothes? Mum couldn't believe they'd needed robes and pointy hats to adhere to dress code, and seeing herself in them as her real clothes and not as costume was something she was still working on.

"The stories about Nessie," she grinned, "who d'you think started telling them first? The muggles, and the wizards climbed on to cover it up? Or the wizards, and it's been a trick the whole time? And no, not yet - we're Londoners!" Bridget laughed as if that was explanation enough. "Getting our folks out of the city is like getting them to plan a full holiday abroad. You think I can just ask them to take us to Wales? To see dragons? I wish!" 

Their first kiss had - Bee was optimistic about more, if the other girl's hand in hers was any kind of sign - and another door successfully passed through, she was almost disappointed to join the queue to the trolley. After they got their sweets, what then? She'd sort of gone in full steam here, taking over Mick's trainride. Surely their friends and family were wondering where they were, and she wanted to share the Droobles with them as promised, but she didn't want to say goodbye to the Gryffindor! Maybe she'd want to hang out with everyone? Or you could go with to see her friends? Both? Stuck onboard quite a while yet, why split up if neither of you want to? Getting to know someone new was usually a blast, especially someone who humored her questions and asked great ones of her own, and asked her to Hogsmeade...

"Most Hufflepuffs are pretty rad, you know," she teased, playfully nudging shoulders. "I haven't really, but no time like the present! What got you into collecting?" Bridget had to beam at the next question, brows raising as they took a step forward. You really want to get to know me? "It was a whole mix of things, honestly. Explained a whole lot, of course, and Dumbledore was nice about it, however weird it was to have him in our sitting room," she chuckled. "I wish I had pictures, you would've loved to see it. He's just there chatting up my parents about their magical children, making us all tea, while my parents slowly give up on keeping us quiet and kicking him out. Best day ever, really."

Another step forward and the girl paused, thinking. Whenever someone asked, not that it happened often, she tried to find another way to explain. Nothing had ever felt perfectly able to capture the feeling of that day, and maybe nothing ever would, but it was so fun to try. "It was like - it was like we'd been writing our own little fairytale, Ben and me, these well-meaning mischief makers who just can't help it when their magic comes out. Then it turns out our book's part of this - this vast collection, this whole endless library of stories, and they're all connected. What was special and just ours...wasn't anymore, but we got to become part of something more grand than we could ever imagine on our own. Changed our whole lives." Another step, another pause in thought, and she squeezed her companion's hand, determined to stay out of her head and play. "Your parents never had to break the news to you? Mick, you're a witch!"