Mixed Signals

Chapter 2

"Come on kids let's hurry this up now!!" Arthur yelled from the bottom of the spiraling staircase as he linked arms with Molly.
     "Coming!!" Ginny yelled from the top of the stairs before running out of her room and slamming the door behind her.
     "Hey no slamming doors!" Molly said.
     "Sorry mum!" Ginny said as she reached the end of the steps.
     "Where are your brothers and Coraline?" Arthur asked while raising an eyebrow.
     "Destroying the upper part of the house." Ginny laughed before walking back over to the dining table and grabbing her letter that was now laying on a clean table in front of the chair she was formerly sitting in. She then walked back over and stood at her mother's side.
     "Well at least you're punctual Ginny dear." Molly said rubbing Ginny's back with a smile. Meanwhile, upstairs Ron, Fred, and George ran from room to room to gather their items, usually the boys were prepared having their items thrown into their trunks in an unorganized fashion ready to be straightened up before leaving but oddly enough none of them were prepared, all of the, except for Cora who had her trunk packed from the moment she left her house to stay with the Weasley's she now sat with her legs criss cross on Fred's bed, she was in her robe and holding her wand in her lap as she watched the boys run in and out of the room.
     "Hey, how about this sweater?" Fred asked holding up one of his infamous initial sweaters, the main color of it was a dark green and the large 'F' that was placed in the middle was a lovely golden mustard yellow, Coraline had quite a few of her own initial sweaters, they were her favorite girt to unwrap on Christmas, Molly was such a talented knitter and everything she made turned out gorgeous.
     "Of course that sweater!" Cora said as Fred tossed it into the trunk that sat next to Coraline on his bed. George was now rummaging through his things and organizing his trunk as Fred still gathered items. Coraline set down her wand on the bed and pushed herself up, she walked across the room and stood next to George before she pulled out his sweaters, pants, and uniform from trunk, she began to neatly fold them and place them on the bed next to the case. George watched her with a smile, he always admired how she cared about him and his family, she helped in such small ways that always showed she cared.
     "Thank you, I probably wouldn't have ever gotten to doing that." George said softly before placing a few more of his belongings into the trunk.
     "Oh no problem Georgie, I felt left out from the running around and throwing things in our trunks thing." Coraline let out a soft laugh along with George before she placed his now neatly folded clothes into his trunk. George then slammed it shut and latched it before turning around to see Fred sitting on his bed next to his trunk that had sleeves of shirts and pant legs sticking out of the sides. In each of his hands he held a wand, his own and Coraline's.
     "You all ready Freddie?" George asked as Fred stood up and nodded.
     "I've been ready for the last thirty minutes while you both had a folding and flirting session." Fred said as Coraline walked over and shoved him back onto the bed.
     "Oh hush it Weasley." She said before grabbing his wand from his hand and walking out of the room.
     "Oi you match you're hair Georgie." Fred teased George before pushing him towards the door.
     "Oh shut up Fred." George muttered as began to walk down the stairs with his brother.
     "She has you wrapped around her little finger." Fred said.
     "Shut it she'll hear you." George said as the two reached the bottom of the stairs, Ron was now downstairs along with Coraline, Ginny, Molly, Arthur, and Percy.
     "Who will hear you?" Ginny asked.
     "None of your business." The two said in unison as Ginny rolled her eyes.
     "Alright no squabbling, let go kids!" Molly said as the twins grabbed their letters and joined the group. Molly shoved everyone over to the fireplace she took a small metal pail into her hands and held it out to the group.
     "Now everyone grab a handful of Floo powder, hurry up, come along." Molly said as everyone stepped up one at a time and took a handful of powder into their hands.
     "I know you all have used the Floow Network before so I trust that I don't need to explain how it works yes? Great." Before anyone could respond Molly finished her sentence, but it was true, everyone in the room new how to travel by the Floo Network.
     "Ron dear you first, remember to speak clearly!" Molly said as Ron stepped into the fireplace and held out his hand.
     "Diagon Alley!" Ron said before dropping the powder and disappearing in a burst of bright green flames. One by one everyone in the room stepped into the fireplace, said 'Diagon Alley' and disappeared just as Ron did and one by one the family reunited together in Diagon Alley. It was Fred, George's, and Coraline's sixth year at Hogwarts while it was Ron's fifth and Ginny's fourth. The three musketeers had more supplies to gather than Ron and Ginny so they decided it was be best to go off and gather their supplies on their own and allow Molly and Arthur to assist Ron and Ginny with their few supplies.
     "So where to first?" George asked his brother and Coraline.
     "Well the things we need this year are books and textbooks so I believe it would be best to head over to Flourish and Blotts first." Coraline said as she walked down the alleyway staring at her letter reading the list. Soon the twins began to guide her as she walked preventing her from ramming into others who were strolling up and down the cobblestone walkway.
     "How about we pay attention to where we are going yeah?" Fred said before lifting Coraline's head up from the letter as George laughed at her and tucked his letter into his back pocket.
     "Oh yeah, sorry about that." Coraline replied before folding up her letter and holding it between her fingers and wand.
     "So Flourish and Blotts first?" George asked before Coraline nodded and Fred pointed ahead of them.
     "Well here we are ladies." Fred said before George nudged him to the side and Coraline began to laugh. Fred ran ahead of Coraline and George to grab the door, he pulled it open and gestured for the two to walk in.
     "Ladies first aye?" Fred said with a big smile as George walked through the door rolling his eyes. Fred just loved making George look like a fool in front of Coraline, he always has but it only got worse once George had came out to Fred about the crush he had on her.
     "Why thank you Fred." Coraline said as she walked into the door.
     "You are certainly welcome Coraline, I wish everyone had manners like you. HEY GEORGE I THINK YOU COULD LEARN A THING OR TWO FROM CORA!!" Fred yelled across the store and laughed as heads from all areas of the store turned to look at him.
     "Okay, okay, lets get our books before we are forced to leave." Coraline said before walking farther into the store and separating from the boys. It felt like they had spent an eternity in that store. Coraline loved it, the smell of fresh parchment and the whole store was filled with happiness from the kids coming in to get books to return to Hogwarts all the way to wizards and witches who were coming in just to find a good book to read. Coraline had found all the books she needed hours ago so now she was just waiting for Fred and George to find what they needed, she would go to help them but she was now seven chapters deep and comfortably sprawled out on the floor of one of the many aisles in the store.
     "Hey-." A slightly timid voice grabbed Coraline's attention and she finally looked up from her book, there in front of her stood a slightly tall boy with dark brown hair. Coraline had seen him before and knew exactly who he was, she actually adored him from afar. His love for plants and Herbology made her heart flutter a bit and he was actually quite adorable with his soft voice and shy mannerisms. "I don't want to sound rude but I have been standing here for uh t-ten minutes now and I-I didn't want to bother you because I know the book you're reading and it's r-really good b-but-." Coraline cut him off.
     "I'm blocking your way to 'The Standard Book of Spells' For grade five." Coraline was a year ahead of Neville, she was actually a year ahead of a lot of kids she either wanted to befriend or was friends with. "sorry about that Neville, and you're right that book is really good." Coraline quickly shut the book she was reading and placed it back on top of the stack she retrieved it from as Neville looked at her with a face full of confusion, he didn't know how this girl knew his name. Coraline stood up and grabbed her small stack of school books and held them in her left arm. "Thank you for being patient dear, oh and here." Coraline grabbed a 'The Standard Book of Spells' Book made for year five students and handed it to Neville. Longbottom's face lit up and he smiled brightly.
     "Thank you." He said softly before holding the book to his chest, "Also if you don't mind me asking, how do you know my name?" Neville asked.
     "Oh, well Fred and George have talked about you a bit, they say you're 'Plant crazy', sometimes they call you the 'Herbology hero'." Coraline chuckled a bit making her last statement before speaking again "But I guess as a plant lover myself I think it's quite sweet and cute even how much you care for plants and adore Herbology." A faint pink blush washed over Neville's cheeks which caused Coraline to smile, she wouldn't point it out although she assumed the boy could feel the temperature rising on his cheeks anyway. "I'm Coraline by the way, Coraline Davis, most people call me Cora though." Coraline stuck her hand out for Neville to shake and smiled as he gently took her hand into his and shook it.
     "Well it was nice to meet you Coraline, also, you should consider getting that book along with your school ones, you won't regret it." He said before flashing on more warm smile and turning to walk away. Coraline picked up the book she was previously reading and placed it within her stack of school books and smiled as she ran her fingers over the smooth paper back cover.
     "I see you've met Neville." A voice from behind Cora said causing her To jump, she turned around and chuckled a bit upon seeing George.
     "Yeah! He's really nice! I like him a lot! I should have asked you and Fred to introduce me to him awhile ago so I didn't have to meet him on the floor of the book store." Coraline said as George began to bite the inside of his cheek. She walked towards George with her books still in her arms, "Also, where is Fred?" Cora asked as George pointed to an area across the store where Fred was sat on the floor with books all sprawled out in front of him.
     "I have tried telling him seven times that he is in the wrong part of the store, he needs one more book and he will not find it in this area of the store." George says as Coraline groans.
     "What book does he need?" Cora asked as George walked over to Fred and snatched his letter from his hand.
     "Advanced potion making!" George shouted from across the store before Coraline nodded and walked down the staircase in front of her, she made her way to the back of the store on the first floor and rummaged through a few books before finding what Fred needed. Cora made her way back to the second floor and held up the book in her hand for the twins to see. As she approached the twins Fred jumped up from his once pouty state and threw his arms into the air.
     "I am cured! Coraline you are a life saver!" He yelled.
     "I'm beginning to think you were just too lazy to go get the book." George said as he crossed his arms.
     "That's a secret I'll never reveal." Fred joked before Cora slammed the book lightly into Fred's chest. "Oh! I've been stabbed." Fred placed his hand over his forehead and dropped the spell book before dramatically grabbing George's arm and falling to the ground, "Avenge me brother! AVENGE ME!!" Coraline's jaw dropped slightly before she made eye contact with George, a smirk appeared on his face before he fell on the ground next to Fred.
     "MURDERER MUR-." George began to yell, Coraline's eyes widened before she dropped her books and fell to the ground next to the boys covering their mouths.
     "You both are gonna get us kicked out of here with a one way ticket to Azkaban!" Coraline whispered as the two began to laugh at her.
     "Well at least we'll will be thrown behind bars together!" George said.
     "They newest headline! 'Two Twins and a Teen Girl Murderer Get Sent to Azkaban.'." Fred teased, Cora bit her bottom lip and tried to hold back giggles but soon she joined in with them. After some time her attention drifted away from the twins and to the people around them. They were staring.
     "Okay jail boys, up, up, let's get our books and go find the rest of our group." Coraline said as she pushed herself up and walked over to her books that were now in a messy pile on the floor, she picked them up and neatly placed them in her arms before turning around and looking at Fred and George who were still sitting on the floor next to each other staring at Coraline. "What?" She asked raising an eyebrow.
     "You sounded just like our mom." The twins said at once as Coraline rolled her eyes with a laugh.
     "Get your things so we can leave." Cora said as she walked over to and down the staircase leading to the first floor. The twins laughed a bit more before standing up and gathering their books, they followed Coraline down the staircase and joined her in line standing on either of her sides.
     "We have our books ma'am!" George said.
     "We are now ready to find the rest of the group!" Fred added.
     "No, now you're ready to pay." Coraline said flatly as the three made their way up to the counter, they placed their stacks of books on the counter, Fred and George purchased their books as one order and the Cora purchased hers as her own separate order. The three thanked the worker at the counter and walked out of the store together, just across the alley Molly, Arthur, Ginny, Ron, and Percy could be seen talking to Harry and Hermione, they seemed to be having a lively conversation, the twins and Coraline walked over to the group and showed Molly that they had gotten all the books they needed before greeting Harry and Hermione. Molly flashed a smile as Coraline hugged Hermione and Harry and the twins moved to stand behind the group.
     "It's so good to see you Cora! I've written you while we've been away from school, I'm thinking they might have gotten lost in the mail, you never wrote back." Hermione said as a slight frown formed on her face.
     "Oh no, did you send them to my house? I stayed with the Weasley's over break." Coraline responded.
     "Oh goodness I was mailing them to your house, this is a relief I thought you were ignoring me." Hermione's smile returned and her laughs filled with relief, Cora placed a hand on Hermione's shoulder and flashed a reassuring smile.
     "I could never ignore you!" She said as Harry chimed in.
     "I don't mean to cut the visit short but I think your parents are growing impatient." Harry said as he pointed to Hermione's parents whose body language made it increasingly obvious that they had been waiting for awhile now.
     "We better get going." Hermione said before giving Coraline a hug and turning to walk away, Harry said goodbye to Ron, the twins, Ginny, along with Coraline and began to walk away with Hermione.
     "See you guys in school!!" He shouted before turning and facing forward to walk away with His group. Apparently Harry stayed with Hermione over the summer, he was invited to stay with the Weasley's like he usually did but declined the offer. Coraline was a little upset when she found out Harry wasn't staying at the burrow this year, she always enjoyed hanging out with him and Ron, their chess matches were certainly a riot.
     "Well I think it's about time we head back home and get your newly purchased supplies into your trunks, then off to platform nine and three quarters!" Molly said as the kids cheered, even Percy cheered a bit, but maybe it was because he was excited for the house to finally be quiet after this endlessly long school break. The house usually never was quiet but with Coraline there the volume of the house only increased, from her giggling and gossiping with Ginny to arguing with Ron about chess matches and rules, all the way to her and the twins blaring all different types of music. The Weasley house would be a form of hell for anyone who happened to have a headache. Molly rushed the group over to the fire place of the Floo Network that they arrived in and repeated the process of returning one by one to the Weasley house.
     "Once you all have gathered your things we will head to King's Cross Station so don't dilly dally!" Arthur said before the kids ran up the stairs and to their rooms where they collected their trunks and animals this meant that Coraline would finally bring out her dragon toad whom she named 'Sparky' After getting him while shopping for supplies her first year. Coraline's father always thought it was such a silly name for a toad but she thought it was perfect because of his species. Cora pulled sparky out of his glass case and gave him a kiss on the top of his head before smiling and gently holding him within her hands.
     "You're gonna get warts on your lips." George's teased as he lifted up his trunk and moved towards the door, "If I'm correct the only way to prevent that is to receive a kiss from a very tall red headed boy." George puckered his lips and closed his eyes as Coraline laughed softly, she placed Sparky back into his case and lifted up her trunk before pulling the glass case into her other arm.
     "I suppose I'll just have to deal with the warty lips then... Or kiss Fred instead." She joked while walking out of the room, George slowly opened his eyes and sighed. Fred who was now standing in the hallways mouthed 'That was pathetic.' To George while silently laughing. George walked out of the room and shoved Fred to the side and walked down the stairs. Soon Fred walked downstairs with his trunk and was the last to join the group.
     "Are we all ready to go?" Molly asked prior to receiving nods and faint responses from the kids. Arthur wrapped his arm around his wife and smiled as she placed her hands together and pressed them against her lips. "Oh you all look so precious!" Her eyes got a bit teary while Arthur rubbed her arm, she always did this, the second she saw all of the kids in their robes holding their trunks and other supplies in their hands she got so emotional. It was awfully sweet how much she cared, Coraline always admired that about her, she was a strong women with the biggest soft spot for the people she loved.
     "Okay before I get more emotional let's get going." Molly rushed the kids out the door along with Arthur. After thirty minutes of adjusting, reorganizing, and shouting everyone got their trunks and other belongings into the car and with that the kids piled into the car along with Arthur and Molly. The car ride was full of jokes, chanting, teasing, and singing, not one dull moment.
     "Bloody hell it's so cramped in here." Ron complained.
     "Could be worse, we considered putting you in the trunk." Fred said.
     "I, for one thought that was the best idea anyone has had all day, can't believe we decided against it." George added as they high-fived over Coraline's head who got squished in between the two due to her being the smallest of the group. Cora grabbed their hands and yanked their arms down before glaring at them.
     "If you both high five over my head one more time I will shove you both in the trunk!" She threatened as Ginny giggled behind her, Ron adjusted himself in his seat and swallowed hard.
     "I'd certainty stop then." Ron mumbled while Coraline released her grip on the twins hands, Fred pulled his hand back into his lap as George stared at Coraline's hand that he was still latching onto.
     "Can I help you George?" Coraline asked.
     "Your hands are clammy." He said staring at their hands prior to Coraline yanking hers hand away from his grip as Fred laughed.
     "Real smooth George." Fred whispered as he teased his brother. Cora wiped her hand on her robe and placed her hands back on either side of Sparky's case.
     "Attention ladies and gentlemen, oh and Sparky, we are arriving at the one and only King's Cross Station!" Arthur announced in a cheesy announcer voice. Soon Molly parked the car and everyone gathered their trunks and other belongings from the vehicle, the group walked up to the train station as Arthur ran ahead to get luggage carts for each of the kids. As Molly and the kids walked through the brick entrance Arthur rolled a cart over to each of them. Cora lifted up her trunk and placed it on the cart before gently placing Sparky and his glass case on top of it. Fred and George rolled their carts up next to her on either side and looked down to her.
     "Ready flower fairy?" Fred asked.
     "Hm, that's a new one, 'Flower fairy'." Coraline replied.
     "It suits the plant loving personality." Fred said.
     "Don't let your clammy fingers cause you to lose your cart." George jumped into the conversation and quickly ran off with Fred pushing their carts ahead of them. Shortly after Coraline began to push her cart as Ginny joined her at her left side.
     "I have no idea how you put up with them." She stated with a soft laugh, Coraline simply looked down with a smile, if she received a dollar every time she heard that statement she would be rich. It took patience she wouldn't lie but she loved the both to no end even though they would sometimes wake her up by pouring ice cold water on her, tease her relentlessly, almost get her kicked out of stores, embarrass her in front of people, and prank her almost every second of everyday she knew they loved and cared for her just as much as she did for them. but this didn't keep her from teasing and making fun of them.
     "Ear plugs." Coraline joked as her and Ginny broke out into a fit of laughter, soon the rest of the group reunited with Fred and George at the platform. Molly stood next to Arthur as Ginny, Ron, Fred, George, and Coraline formed a line off to the side of the platform.
     "Okay you know the drill my dears, but first-." Molly walked down the line and cupped each of the kids faces before giving them a kiss on the forehead and then giving them a tight hug, she stopped at Coraline and held her face gently just a bit longer, "Keep them out of trouble for me Coraline." Molly then pulled Coraline into a comforting hug.
     "I promise I will." Coraline responded with a slight laugh as Molly slowly pulled away from the hug and walked back over to stand at Arthur's side. One by one the kids ran through the wall and onto the platform, they rolled their carts across the platform next to the tracks. The twins walked onto the train with their trunks in hand and left their carts on the metal walkway, Ron had gotten onto the train and placed his trunk and other belongings into a cabin with Harry and Hermione before stepping back off the train to help Ginny with her things. As Coraline watched all of them and many other Hogwarts students get onto the train she realized she was just standing around, while frantically trying to grab Sparky in his case and her trunk she heard a familiar voice.
     "Need a hand?" As Cora turned her head she saw the same boy who found her laying on the floor in the book store.
     "Neville! Hi! Oh, actually yeah. Can you take this?" Coraline held out the glass case holding her beloved friend, Neville nodded with a smile admiring the creature as Cora lifted up her trunk and used her foot to push the luggage cart out of the way.
     "A dragon toad!" Neville said with excitement as they walked onto the train.
     "Yeah! His name is Sparky." Coraline responded with a smile as they walked down the aisle between all the train cabins. Cora looked around in all the cabins for Fred and George or even an open seat but didn't have much luck.
     "I have my own toad actually, he's a smooth sided toad and his name is Trevor. Maybe him and Sparky could be friends ya know I-I-." Neville ceased his slight rambling and noticed Coraline's minor panic to find a seat. "Y-You can join me in my cabin Coraline. I-If you'd like to of course." Neville said timidly pulling Coraline's attention back to him, a smile grew on her face and she nodded.
     "I'd love to." She replied softly as Neville's smiled grew a bit and he lead the way to his cabin. Neville opened the door and let Coraline walk in first, the only thing inside was Neville's trunk underneath his seat. He followed Coraline into the cabin as she pushed her trunk under the seat across from Neville's.
     "Thank you." Coraline said as she stood up straight, Neville was patiently waiting for her to get settled as he held Sparky and his glass case in his lap, "Also, you can just set him on the storage shelf above you if you don't want to hold his case, he usually sleeps the whole ride to Hogwarts anyway." Cora said with a faint chuckle as she sat down, Neville nodded and stood up to place the case above his head with a smile.
     "He's cute." Neville said before he sat down again and got comfortable, "It's nice to see you again by the way, did you end up getting that book?" He asked.
     "Oh yeah!" Coraline's face lit up a bit, just as she jumped up from her seat the train began moving and she fell back onto her butt as Neville's eyes widened, "Just my luck." She said as she began to laugh.
     "Are you okay?" Neville asked, his voice was laced with concern while Coraline crawled over to her trunk.
     "Oh yeah I'm fine, my best friends are The Weasley twins, I've taken worse falls than that." She yanked her trunk out from under the seat and opened it, 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.' Was the title of the book, it laid at the top of her trunk on top of her royal blue and grey scarf. Cora picked up the book and slammed her trunk shut before latching it and shoving it right back under her seat. She rose from the floor and plopped down on her seat opening the book. "I only made it to the seventh chapter about 'Bundimuns' before I met you."
     "Oh I love that chapter! But I think my favorite is chapter sixteen category seven." Neville walked across the cabin and sat next to Coraline, she handed him the book and he flipped through the pages a bit, he then found the page. "Right here!" He said with a smile before handing the book back to Coraline.
      "'Dragons the Peruvian Vipertooth' She read aloud before she began to scan the page.
     "Dragons in themselves are really interesting creatures but the Peruvian Vipertooth is my favorite to read about." He said while he watched Coraline read the book as the smile on her face grew. Soon Longbottom caught himself just staring at the soft spoken girl in front of him in complete amazement, he didn't meet many people as sweet as her, someone who was willing to listen to him talk about things like this and actually show interest, she was-. "Extraordinary." He whispered.
     "Huh?" Coraline asked looking up from the book to Neville.
     "O-Oh! The-The dragons! They are extraordinary!" He pushed out attempting to cover up what he actually meant.
     "Oh yeah! They really are! They are." Coraline said faintly making eye contact with Neville, their faces were now only inches apart. The cabin became quiet before there was a knock on the door and it opened.
     "anything off the trolley dears?" The kind lady asked. Neville stood up and reached into his pocket and walked forward.
     "Can I get two boxes of Cauldron Cakes and two iced Pumpkin Juices please?" Neville said.
     "Of course dear." The lady grabbed two iced Pumpkin Juices and two boxes of Cauldron Cakes and handed them to Neville.
     "Thank you!", Longbottom paid for the sweet treats before shutting the cabin door and walking back over to Coraline, he sat down and handed her one drink and one box.
     "Oh wow you didn't have to do that Neville, thank you!" She said with a bright smile. "Here let me pay you back." She reached into the pocket of her robe and Neville placed his hand over hers to stop her.
     "No, no, it's okay, I won't let you anyway." He said simply, "Just enjoy the delicious treats." The two exchanged smiles again and began to feast while talking about dragons and different plants. Coraline told Neville about all of the pranks she had pulled with the twins along with ideas for future ones. Neville told Coraline all the different crazy facts he knew about Herbology and plants in general. They told jokes and stories and had such a great time enjoying each others company and the conversation they shared. Meanwhile in the cabin the twins were in they were still anticipating Coraline's arrival, the three always rode together on the way to Hogwarts each year.
     "What if she didn't make it onto the train?" George asked.
     "Well I suppose she will just have to make like Harry and Ron do that one year, steal dads flying car." Fred replied.
     "Don't be ridiculous Fred, Coraline would be a much better flying car driver than Ron."
     "Are you sure about that? Have you ever even seen Coraline drive?"
     "No."
     "Exactly, anyway, I'm sure she got on the train George, maybe she got pulled into another cabin, she talks to everyone and befriends everyone."
     "We should go search for her."
     "If that will get you to stop throwing a tantrum then come on George." The two stood up and walked out of their cabin peaking into all of the other cabins, asking if anyone had seen Coraline, most people had never met her and others just hadn't seen her. Soon George made it to Neville's cabin, the door was cracked a bit and both Coraline and Neville could be heard laughing and talking inside.
     "Why are you being a creep George." Fred whispered hitting George's arm.
     "I'm not, I'm just checking on her." George replied in a hushed tone.
     "Someone's jealous."
     "I am not shut it Fred." George spat back. "Do you think I ever make her laugh like that." George asked.
     "'I'm not jealous.'" Feed said in a mocking tone.
     "I told you I'm not jealous and I'm just checking on her!"
     "Oi I don't think Neville would hurt her." Fred said pulling the door open, Neville and Coraline both looked to the door as they heard it open.
     "Fred! George!" Coraline said sitting up straight.
     "We were beginning to believe you died." George said.
     "No I didn't die."
     "Well obviously, unless you're a ghost." Fred said.
     "Oooo." George added wiggling his fingers in the air while Fred stepped forward and poked Coraline's arm as Neville laughed quietly.
     "Hey stop it!" Coraline slapped Fred's hand away.
     "She not a ghost George."
     "Way to ruin all of our plans for ghost pranks Coraline."
     "I am so very sorry." She joked before looking at the small watch on her wrist, "Oh shoot! I need to go get in my uniform on." Coraline pulled her trunk out and opened it, she pulled out her uniform and then latched it shut before shoving it back under her seat. "I'll be back Neville."
     "Okay! I'll be here." Neville said as Coraline walked past the twins and stopped in the doorway of the cabin.
     "And now that you both know I'm not dead or a ghost I think you can go back to your cabin." Coraline said before walking towards the restroom located in the back of the train.
     "Maybe we wanted to talk to Neville!" George shouted to Coraline.
     "No we didn't, no offense Neville." Fred said.
     "Oh none taken, I'd rather talk to Coraline too." Neville joked as George scanned the cabin.
     "Sparky! My man!" He said looking up at the glass case on the storage shelf above the left side seat in the cabin.
     "Oh yeah, Coraline said he usually sleeps on the way here." Neville said.
     "Yeah I know that." George responded softly, "I know a lot about Coraline she's one of my best friends, obviously I knew that." George snapped in a lowered tone as Fred rolled his eyes.
     "Ignore him he's jealous." Fred said.
     "Jealous? Of what?" Neville asked raising an eyebrow.
     "It's nothing. I'm not jealous." George said leaving the cabin.
     "See you at school Neville." Fred said leaving the cabin as well.
     "Oh, yeah see you there-." Neville said faintly as Fred shut the cabin door and walked down the train aisle to his and George's cabin.
     "You know Coraline wouldn't like you acting like that." Fred said as he joined George in the cabin.
     "I didn't do anything." George said.
     "You snapped at Neville like he stole a prized possession of yours."
     "Well-."
     "SEE YOU ARE JEALOUS!" Fred yelled.
     "SHUT IT PEOPLE WILL HEAR YOU!" George yelled in return straightening his posture in his seat, he let out a soft sigh and rested his face in his hands. "Three years Fred, how does she not know?"
     "You try too hard."
     "What is that supposed to mean?"
     "I have known you all my life and countless times I have watched you flirt with a girl with no effort but then you get around Coraline and try to flirt and your whole mind just I don't know breaks." Fred said, "We are twins after all, whenever your brain breaks I can feel it."
     "Fred just this one time, you aren't funny." George said slamming his back into his seat.
     "Just calm down George, I'll help you get with the plant princess, just relax okay? We will be at school soon, we will get settled tonight, we will rest and then tomorrow we start phase one of mission Coraline Davis." Fred said leaning back into his seat.
     "She isn't a mission Fred, I'm in love with her." George replied.
     "I know I know, and I'm simply going to help you get her, now relax okay?" Fred said.
     "Okay okay, we start tomorrow, we start tomorrow." George said softly adjusting himself to sit comfortably, he let out a soft sigh and leaned his head against the back of the seat before beginning to drift off to sleep.