{OnE} [oF] *tHe* ~VaLaNtInEs~ -OpEn-

Rory was sitting in a compartment, alone and just waiting. She was waiting for Daniel..just to come by and say hi, would it hurt? She was waiting, hopefully for Frazier..he was nice..and cute and seemed sweet. She stared out the window and watched the scenery go by her in nano-seconds. She sighed because she wanted to just see the scenery longer.

She was in her Hufflepuff robes already and her hair was freshly curled. She had even added lip gloss and mascara just make herself look nicer and she also sprayed on some sweet smelling perfume.

"Come on..someone's got to come by..anyone..?" Rory mumbled to herself whilst drumming her fingers rhythmitically on the window.

Ace walked in, dragging his trunk close behind him. He walked into the compartment, his arms slumped, almost as if he was tired with the ride already. Through the window, he could see the trees flash by as the train carried them east ward, to Scotland. Hogwarts. Was the school a joke or something? He had once before entered battle at the castle-like school, and discovered how bad the students were at surviving. What's so scary about dying by little jets of green? he recalled thinking. You keep your form, no lost blood, no nothing.

He sighed as he took his seat, and then saw his fellow occupant. "Oh, whoops. Sorry, didn't see you there," he stammered, as he sat straighter, his eyes developing a more interested look. "Um, you don't mind if I sit here, do you?"

"Oh, no it's okay" Rory smiled, relieved that somebody came by and entered. She then heard the second part and gasped. "Please, you can stay, I mean, no, you may sit there, I've been alone for a while" Rory replied. He seemed bothered and tired and she didn't want to annoy him, but it couldn't hurt for a little bit of conversation.

"I'm Rory Lorelai Valantine" Rory introduced herself, with a big smile. "I'm a fourth year Hufflepuff" Rory quickly added. She felt a bit stupid for adding the Hufflepuff part, I mean she was wearing her robes, a bit obvious right?

"Ok good, I hate looking for more and more seats. They're hard to come by around here..." He swung his trunk onto the top of the railing effortlessly with his alchemic arm. He flopped into the comfortable seat and sighed.

"I'm James Wake. I'm a fifth year Ra-" He paused to pull out a piece of heavy parchment with the Hogwarts symbol, "Ray, Ray, Ravenclaw," he finally found the name he was seeking. "Of course, it's my first year at this school, so I might as well be a first year," he smiled back. It was forced of course.

"Pleasure to meet you, James" Rory smiled. So far she's learnt his name, year, house and observed something peculiar. His talking ability- he had trouble pronouncing his house name.

"Please don't get offended but, do you have a speech disability?" Rory asked curiously. "It's just you had trouble saying your house name, is all" Rory added.

"Huh? Oh no. I just keep forgetting the name. I mean, all the houses have these REALLY stupid names. I can't really remember something as useless as House names. I mean, we're all students, aren't we?" asked James, surprised by the question, but quite comfortable with answering.

Rory turned as red as a tomato. "Oh, right, of course!" Rory said. She bit her lip and decided to apologize. "Sorry" Rory added.

"And yeah, what's up with names Slytherin, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff?" Rory asked, out of the blue. "Why not group a, b, c and d or 1, 2, 3 and 4?" Rory asked, again.

"Apparently, those were the names of some old guys, and they put their names for each of the houses. But how should I know? You've been there more often than me!" he broke into a grin, happy that she wasn't unsettled by the embarrassment of the previous moment.
"But think about it. What's almost as demeaning as a stupid name like 'Hufflepuff?' (No offense of course)..." He paused to lay down the punchline.
"'Hey one! Over there! Two! No not you, the other one- no, not that one either- no, you stay there!'" James began to exclaim, taking on an authoritative and pointing at invisible "one's" and "two's."