BY fates design

Rain

They found their usual compartment in the last carriage, splitting up into little groups. Cassiopeia, Achlys, Ginny, Jake, Luna and Fred in one compartment. Daphne, Pansy, Corvus, Astro and Draco in the another. Kira, Eleana, Alex, George, Neville and Astoria in the last.

"Hyacinth!" Ginny nearly tackled Cassiopeia to the floor when she entered the compartment, hugging her as tight as she could. She had grown over the summer, now as tall as the dark haired witch she looked up to. Her scarlet hair was longer, too, falling to her mid back and even more vibrant in colour than before.

Fabian and Gideon watched the screen happily. There was an inexplicable peace to them now that they had stripped Molly of her title and family magic, and a huge amount of  pride for their niece and nephews.

"Ruby." Cassiopeia grinned, pulling away to brush a section of hair from the younger girl's face. "Look at you, you've grown." She fawned, looking the girl up and down. "You look pretty."

"Wow. Really feeling the love." Fred exclaimed, acting as though he were injured. "My own baby sister prefers Cass over me."

"Well duh." Ginny rolled her eyes, moving to sit down on the floor beside Luna. "Hyacinth is so much better than you." She teased, leaning back against the older girl's legs while Luna began to set up a game of exploding snap for them.

"I hate exploding snap." Evan said to Barty and Regulus. "It's fucking dangerous." He grumbled.

"Ev," Barty looked at the blonde strangely, "I found you high as shit dangling over the edge of the astronomy tower literally last week."

They soon fell into conversation, recounting tales of their summer through fits of laughter or quiet support. The train didn't pull away until two and a half hours after they arrived at the station. Every now and then, one of their friends would walk in from a different compartment and sit with them for a bit before disappearing again.

When the train finally pulled out of the station at exactly 11:00, it had began to rain, sheets of precipitation pouring down outside the train. Smiling, Cassiopeia watched through the glass as droplets of water raced down the glass, before gently cracking open the small window at the top, just enough so that the sound of the rain hitting the ground could be heard and the smell seeped into the carriage.

Cassiopeia smiled as the sound of rain echoed through the Great Hall, resting her head on Percy's shoulder. "Only good thing Zuzu has ever done." Percy snickered at his wife's comment, nodding in agreement.

Ever since she was young, Cassiopeia had a fondness for rain, running outside during thunderstorms with Corvus and Astro chasing after her while Walburga watched them through the window, or slipping past the barrier at camp just to sit in the rain on the other side.

It was inexplicable, her love for it, but it was something that was distinctly and utterly hers. The rain seemed to wash everything away, the loss of her father, the expectation of her mother, the weight of the world, all tumbling away with each drop that fell from the clouds.

As the train trudged along through the length of England, Cassiopeia sorted through her paperwork: Potter family business that James couldn't sign, Pendragon's opinion of Ministry issues, financial statements that needed to be addressed by the head of house. It wasn't so bad, she told herself, with the idle chatter of her friends and the downpour of rain in the background, she found herself finishing the paperwork in the first three hours, leaving another six to be spent as she wished.

"Oh the endless joy of responsibility." Cassiopeia sighed sarcastically. "What fun."

At some point, the girls started a braiding train, Achlys doing Cassiopeia's hair, Cassiopeia doing Ginny's hair, Ginny doing Luna's hair and finally, once they were all done, Cassiopeia putting a few braids into Achlys's short blonde hair.