the cadence of part time poets

Chapter 4: Room 4A

I'll be there if you want me to,
No one else that could ever do,
Got to get some peace in my mind;
Monday morning you sure look fine,
Friday I got travelin' on my mind...

- "Monday Morning" Fleetwood Mac, 1975

"You used me to escape."

"No," Lily scoffed dismissively, leading him away from the primary buildings where she'd found him. She walked briskly, as though she enjoyed burning holes in her shoes. "You were lost, I couldn't just leave you. Unless you'd rather Sev take you to the dorms?"

She raised her red eyebrows at him and Remus thought back to the scowling boy. He doubted they'd have made it more than ten paces before one of them took a swing at the other.

Satisfied with his silence, Lily smiled. "Where are you from, Remus?"

"London."

She looked him up and down. "And did your parents send you here? Or was it something else...?"

"What else would it be?"

"Oh, never mind," she said quickly, before pointing down. "You have a hole in your shoe, you know."

Remus looked down and wiggled his big toe, which poked through the top of his trainer. He shrugged, nonchalant;

"Yeah, I know."

Lily looked amused, and eyed the small white case. "Is that all you brought with you?" She had already tried to make a grab for it before they'd set off, surely just to be helpful, but Remus had swiped up the handle before she could reach it. Lily, to her credit, hadn't flinched, only rose back to her full height and smiled innocently. Remus couldn't imagine a girl like her would appreciate finding out what was inside and he couldn't afford to lose his stash on the first day.

"No," he answered, sheepishly. "Most got sent ahead. S'just some other stuff."

"Ah, guess that makes sense if you missed move-in. Well, trolley's this way." She put a little skip into her step as they rounded one of the primary buildings. Remus blinked after her; trolley?

There was, in fact, a trolley. Hawkings' grounds were so vast—over two hundred acres, he remembered—that it only seemed to make sense to have a small tram to make sure students got to their lessons and meals on time. There were also bikes available to be taken around, according to Lily, but those had to be signed out at head office. The trolley itself was a nice ride. The windows were dropped open to allow a nice summer breeze to pass through and the driver was a young guy Lily just called 'Stan', who had acne that could've rivalled Lee's but was definitely older than nineteen or twenty. He said nothing as they got on despite Lily's cheerful hello, only tipping his head as he tugged the trolley's doors closed behind them, several coffee stains on the front of his uniform and a cigarette poking out of the side of his mouth.

"We're allowed to smoke in the cab?" Remus asked, following Lily to one of the middle rows and sitting down.

"No, never," Lily said, appalled. "But if you rat on Stan he'll purposely drive past you next time you're late for lessons."

Looking back to the front of the bus, only six or so rows ahead, Remus found Stan staring back at them in his mirror and quickly busied himself by looking out the window. A few other kids turned their noses up to stare, but Remus did his best to ignore them too. As they went Lily continued to ramble, pointing out each different building and giving them a name;

"That's the Atrium, and there's Le Fay Hall, the drama building—it's got the amphitheatre. That down that path there you'll find the gardens and greenhouses. Scamander Garden is where the year twelves and thirteens get to apply their botany lessons—it's an elective. The Agrippan Block there has the language arts classrooms, and just behind that is Flamel Block, for modern languages. And of course there's the Priori Block..."