A Snake and His Gem

Chapter 2: The long train ride

Lapis pov:
I had finally managed to deal with my luggage, bringing at the very least my purse I had which held the photo of mom and some things to keep me busy on the train. I was hoping that someone would be able to spare a seat but as it turns out I was wrong. As I made my way down looking for a seat the sounds of chuckling and whispers were hear. As I looked at different compartments the other children either blocked the seat, said that they were full, though some were probably lying, or closed the door in my face as they would laugh through the window. "That girl with the exploding luggage", "She's such a klutz", one after another I heard nothing but comments about what had happened. I'm sure it's not the first time someone had embarrassed themselves in front of a crowd but I sure know I'm not the last either and it's usually all people talk about till something else happens. I slowly kept shuffling back and forth between the carts as I was hoping that it wasn't too late to just give up and go home as my anxiety started rising. I felt tears starting to build up and prick at the corners of my eyes, curling up in a ball in the middle of the aisle before, "Hey!" I heard another voice behind me thinking it another person making fun of me until I hear, "Leave her alone. I'm sure all of you have done something embarrassing at some point, so why don't you all lay off"

Mira's p.o.v

I was busy looking around for the snack trolley when I had heard the commotion. The poor girl, she's shaking like a leaf and looks about ready to disappear. Everyone had quieted down at my remark as I walked towards her to make sure she's ok. I guess she knew I was right next to her cause her shaking was a little more violent before I gently placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Hey, hey. It's alright I'm not here to be ugly. I just thought you might want some company." I say in the softest voice I can as one of her hands reached up and grabbed my wrist before she turned her head and looked at me. Her sky blue hair had covered her face but her bright blue eyes looked like they gave a look of appreciation. "Come with me, I promise I don't bite" I giggled as appreciation turned to confusion. "You aren't going to be spending the rest of the time in the aisle, are you? Let's get your things" I say reaching for one of them as she grabs the other and follows me. "I'm Mira, Mira Snape. What's your name?" I ask trying to get a word out of her, though I'm sure she wouldn't want to talk right now and I was right. The whole walk back was in silence as we finally reached our destination. "Alright, we're a few seats away. Just to let you know we aren't going to be the only two. My brother is there to so stay behind me as I notify him you'll be joining us. " I say and she nods looking down at the floor as I look through the window and see Alan reading like he usually does in his spare time.

Alan p.o.v

"Brother I'm back" I hear Mira call as the door slides open. "How was your trip to the snack cart? Did you stock up like you usually do?" I give a small smile as I continue reading. "Well, I didn't really make it to the snacks. I ran into someone and I brought them to ride with us." She says with a hopeful tone in her voice. I usually don't like riding with anyone else, of course aside from Mira because she's my sister because they become unbearable and can be exceptionally annoying. I put the marker in my book as I looked up at the figure peeking out from behind her before I noticed the familiar hair and outfit. "Lapis?" I say a bit surprised and she must have felt the same as she looked up with wide eyes. It wasn't till then that I noticed she had been crying as her sapphire eyes were pink and puffy, and her face tear-stained and red. "What happened?" I said setting my book down as I stood and walked to her. "You two know each other?" Mira said confused before I explain what had happened at the station and she connected two and two together and Lapis turned red again looking like she was gonna cry again. I was unsure of what to do in this situation but I remembered of all the times when Mira was just like this. I shyly opened my arms and wrapped them around her as I felt her stiffen for a second. It was normal when said person is Mira so it being someone else was kind of awkward for me. A few more seconds passed before Lapis returned the gesture and I looked over at Mira who, as I was going to ask for help, had a big grin plastered on her face as she holds back a chuckle. I look at her as if she mentally is reading my mind telling her not to start knowing she'll tease me about it and she walks over and joins the hug. "Don't worry Lapis," Mira says as she pats Lapis's back" You don't have to worry. We're here for you, we're your friends and we will protect you" She says as I grunt in agreement "Thank you" she said as we stood there for a little while. Moments had passed from our hug session as we all got settled in and comfy. I continued reading my book before looking over, Mira was drawing stuff in the air with her wand and my eyes stopped on Lapis as she laid down on the seat drifting to sleep after all her crying. I couldn't help but give a small smile, happy that she was comfortable and happy where she was as we sat in silence for the rest of the ride.