white knuckles in the passenger seat (lance)

[Deleted]

The train was in transit, heading back to Kings Cross station. There were about a third of the way back, and Addilyn was in a car with Adrian and Edmund and two others. She had remained quiet for most of the ride, mostly worrying about what would happen with her prefect status next year. She really wanted to be Head Girl, but she didn't know if that would happen with the weird things that had been happening to her... still, no one knew about those, right? She was still a good student and still did well. She hadn't had a blackout in at least two wee-

She shook her head, flattening her hand on the nearest wall. She was in the train hallway, the doors around her closed and filled with students laughing. How did she get out here? Wasn't she just sitting with the boys? She shook her head again and looked around, her hands starting to shake. Instead of heading back to her car, she just stood there.

She couldn't remember which one they were in.

lancelot ray linley

[Deleted]

@addilyn

School had ended in a…bang. Lance was still trying to process all of it. He had been apprehensive about climbing onto the train to leave. Packing had taken a lot longer, and he had made sure to have lengthy conversations with his friends and Georgie before getting on board. Just in case. It was one thing to be terrified of another student that was killing people, it was another to be trapped on a moving mode of transportation, unsure of who or what was on it with you. There was a good chance Georgie wouldn’t be within his sight the entire trip either. They both had friends they wanted to talk to before going home for the summer, and acting like everything was normal was easier to do now than to be on edge the entire time.

Currently, Lance was doing just that; trying to get the edge to go away. He had finished up saying goodbye to a couple of other Hufflepuffs in his year and was heading back to the cabin that his belongings were in. He was pretty sure Georgie’s were there too, and probably Louis’s as well by now. Lance had basically tossed his things up on the rack and walked out, feeling the need to move the entire time. Closing the cabinet door behind him, he moved through the remainder of the car he was in, and stepped through the door into the next. He still had one more to go before reaching his cabin, but it was looking to be quick. The walkway was mostly empty, except for a girl leaning up against the wall. Lance didn’t think much of her as he got closer, until she started to look around and he realized that he recognized her: Addilyn Slater. They were in the same year, and occasionally had classes together. Nice girl. “Not lost are you?” he joked as he moved to the other side of the hallway in order to pass by her.

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She heard someone speaking and jumped a little, turning to look at him. "Lance," she breathed, shaking her head to try to stop freaking out. "Uh, no, no. Just... not sure where Edmund and Adrian are sitting," she admitted, clearing her throat.She feigned a smile. Addi was normally a bubbly and bright person, but these blackouts had her often paranoid and jumpy. She didn't want people thinking she was completely different and notice something was wrong. "They probably just changed cabins on me to be funny. I don't find it that funny, though," she faked a giggle, but it definitely sounded fake. "Where um... where are you sitting? With Georgie?" she didn't want to force him to help her look or stay out there with her but... she was still freaking out internally and Lance had always been a nice guy. It would be nice to have a little company while trying to find where she was sitting.

lancelot ray linley

[Deleted]

@addilyn

Maybe lost wasn’t the best description for Addilyn. The way she reacted to him asking made it seem like she was completely whacked out. Motion sickness possibly? The train went fairly straight for the majority of the trip, but he could see how not being in any sort of vehicle for months on end could cause slight nausea. A car right now would definitely get him, especially in stop and go traffic or making tight turns through city blocks. Personally, he was more of a ‘stick his head out the window’ kind of person when that happened, but walking around helped too.

Apparently his mind was working faster than his brain was when it came to processing what she was saying. She was looking for her friends, and the cabin they were in. Still, that didn’t make much sense because she had been leaning up against the wall and not moving. Didn’t searching for someone require looking in the actual cabins? Lance glanced around at the ones near them, and the majority were filled with what looked to be younger students. He didn’t really know Edmund and Adrian all that well, but he was pretty sure that they wouldn’t be sitting with students that age. “One last prank for the year,” he added to her idea that they were probably playing a joke on her. That or she had the train cars all mixed up. It was easy to do, especially if you weren’t paying attention. “Supposed to be,” Lance responded to her question about sitting with his sister. “But I’m sure she’s saying goodbyes to people as well. And if she got caught up with Louis’s crowd, that could be for the remainder of the trip.” Which meant he was going to be returning to an empty cabin. “Are you sure it wasn’t the next car up? Pretty sure there were older students up there.”

[Deleted]

Lance guessed that it was one last prank for the year and Addi gave a smile, fake smile and nodded. Then he said he was supposed to be with his sister but if she caught Louis then he wasn't seeing her again this trip, most likely. Then, he asked if it was the next car because it had older students in it. "Oh, um... I hadn't thought to check yet. I think I'm just going to sit somewhere else until I feel better," she realized that she didn't give an explanation for that and her brow furrowed. "I don't feel too well. A bit dizzy. Don't really want to go looking around... is your car nearby?" she could sit with Lance Linley, right? He had always been nice to her, and to everyone as far as she had seen. Plus, he was out there now talking to her instead of awkwardly walking by and gushing to the next person he saw about how weird Addilyn Slater was acting. "And I'm sure Georgie won't leave you alone the whole ride back," she added, remembering that she hadn't commented on his previous comments about his sister.

Grey was somewhere on this train, probably with friends or basically anyone other than her. He probably wouldn't have sat in the same car as her if she begged him. Her and her friends were often a little rowdy and loud, which wasn't really his thing. It wasn't Edmunds either, but he was used to it by now. Addi couldn't help that she made friends with the more active people in the school, mainly in Slytherin house. Grey probably didn't even check to make sure she got on the train safely, as far as she could tell. Or maybe this was just the headache talking. Still, she didn't realize she had slowly shifted to staring sadly down the hallway.

lancelot ray linley

[Deleted]

@addilyn

So she hadn’t checked up ahead. Lance’s guess was that her friends were somewhere in that vicinity, especially if they decided they didn’t want to be surrounded by first and second years running amok. While he personally had a high tolerance for that (coming from the orphanage), there were times where peace and quiet from squeaking, cracking voices was necessary. Every older student ever needed that at some point in time, and with all of them entering their final and seventh year, that capacity to handle younger students was decreasing dramatically.

The reason she hadn’t checked though, was because she wasn’t feeling well. Lance studied her face. That would explain the leaning on the wall thing, and definitely how zonked out she seemed. His bet was still on the motion sickness. Unfortunately he wasn’t sure if there was a spell to fix dizziness, or whatever else she was feeling, but he was positive that sitting down would help. “Uh yeah, it’s at the start of the next car,” Lance lazily pointed to the door ahead of them. “Do you need help getting there or…?” he started to offer. In his experience it was always better to give a couple options. Unfortunately, respecting everyone sometimes led to being oblivious to what a person really wanted. Obviously he wasn’t going to stop her from walking there if she wanted to do it on her own. “You’d be surprised,” he responded quickly about his sister as he started slowly towards the next car, wavering slightly to see if she needed assistance or not. “She can be extremely independent if she wants to be.”

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He said his was at the start of the next car, pointing ahead. He asked if she needed help and she smiled, starting to shake her head as she pushing off the wall to standing. But, then she stopped shaking her head. "Actually, sure," she changed her mind, moving to link her arm through his. "Thanks, Lance," she said. He spoke about how Georgie was independent and she chuckled, "I know all about independent siblings," both of her siblings were, and so was she, but Lance and Georgie were much closer than she was with Grey, of course. Her and Claire were close, though, so she did understand that.

"What were you doing out here anyway? Am I interrupting?" she asked suddenly, realizing that she was being incredibly rude making this little encounter all about herself...


lancelot ray linley

[Deleted]

@addilyn

Sometimes it paid off, growing up in South Carolina. There were few things he could be thankful for when it came to his parents, and one of them was how they had raised him for his first ten years of life. After that they fell considerably short, but instilling manners and the proper way to treat other people had yet to fail him, even a world away. From time to time he received weird glances while trying to be a gentleman, the customary obligations not always translating the way they were supposed to. This time it worked though, and leaving Addilyn to decide if she needed help or not resulted in his ideals being fulfilled. Hopefully that wasn’t too selfish of him. “My pleasure,” Lance flashed a smile as she linked her arm to his. He began to walk slowly, unsure of what sort of pace they were going to take. The next car wasn’t far from their current position, but if she really was having dizzy spells, making a run for his cabin most likely wouldn’t end with her standing still. At her own mention of understanding independent siblings, Lance laughed. “I’m not going to get a stern talkin’ to over this am I?” he referenced her holding onto his arm. He was unsure of exactly who her family members were, which probably wasn’t considering she knew who Georgie was.

“Not at all. Coming from a cabin that a few of my housemates were in. Last goodbyes for the summer,” he trailed off. A lot of his time going forward was going to be spent on his own, getting the apartment set up, and figuring out how to handle life for after graduation. It was terrifying.

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He said it was his pleasure to assist her, flashing a smile that was incredibly genuine. She had always liked Lance Linley, he was a nice guy. Those were hard to come by in her house, sadly. He asked if he would get a stern talking to over this and she raised an eyebrow, "um... no? Oh, oh. You mean my brother? Trust me, he won't notice." she didn't mean to sound sort of bitter at the end there, but she was sure Grey would hide in whatever compartment he was in and sleep the whole time, or just write or do something entirely unsocial. Just like Grey always did. No need to wonder where his sister was.

He said that she wasn't interrupting, for which she was grateful. He spoke of last goodbye and she nodded, following his lead. "Do you have summer plans away from England? I know a lot of people travel over the summer," she suggested. Even if he didn't have parents around, or whatever that situation was, he could still go off if he wanted to, right?

lancelot ray linley

[Deleted]

@addilyn

Addilyn said her brother wouldn’t notice, and Lance chuckled. That was almost impossible with Georgie. She practically saw everything he did. He couldn’t knock her for it though; it was only them, and that was that. If he hadn’t been so comfortable with her dating Louis, maybe he would have been closer to a hover parent, but the Gryffindor hadn’t done anything yet to pull that out of him. Lance kind of hoped he never had to do that, because it went against a lot of his own personal morals. And that was also why he was always concerned about coming across as too friendly, especially to classmates that had older siblings. Apparently being friends with girls always meant he had ulterior motives…if that was the case, he had to have been pretty stupid not to act on those yet. “Does he not care, or just lets you do your own thing?” Lance found himself asking. He liked to think there was a difference between the two, but even then it got muddied easily.

On the question about summer plans, Lance shook his head. If only. There were too many other things that he needed to figure out with living arrangements over the next few weeks. Luckily this early dismissal bought him even more time to get it all sorted out. “I wish. We’d go on occasional day trips at the orphanage, but the past couple years I turned into a babysitter more than having time to relax,” he chuckled, remembering to a past beach trip and how it had become his job to make sure kids weren’t drowning. Mostly because Georgie wouldn’t, or rather couldn’t, go in the water at all. “But this year I have an apartment to get set up, and move out of the orphanage. What about you? One last family trip before you’re graduated and everyone has different schedules?”

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Lance asked if her brother didn't care or if he just let her do her own thing. She thought that was kind of a personal question, but she supposed considering the situation with him helping her out and all he had every right to be personal. "He just... minds his own business," was her oh-so-elaborate answer. She didn't want to get into it too much... "we just don't really spend time with the same people," she added. That made sense, right? They had different friends. Really, she wasn't sure if Grey had friends at all... at least not a lot like she did.

Lance shook his head about summer plans, saying that the orphanage did some day trips but now he was kind of a babysitter. She smiled at that thought as he added about an apartment and was moving out, then asked about her plans. "I bet the kids there look up to you," she said with a nod of assurance. Lance was a nice guy, easy to get along with. "No trip for us... I'm staying with my older sister for the summer," she explained. She actually didn't know what Greys plans were since he was graduated....

lancelot ray linley

[Deleted]

@addilyn

Lance nodded his head to her response about her brother. That made sense to him. Sometimes he wondered that if things were different, meaning if he and Georgie had stayed in America and gone to school there with their parents still around, if they would still be as close as they were right now. The devil on his one shoulder, or rather the voice of negativity, would say that they wouldn’t have been, and that being thrown into their shitty situation was what brought them closer together. He knew that lately he had hoped for more freedom from Georgie, not always getting moments alone to himself to do work or relax prior to her relationship with Louis, and so far it seemed like his wish was being granted. They still needed each other though, and that he wouldn’t trade anything for. As for Addilyn’s situation, he kind of understood where she was coming from. Lance very well could have been in her brother’s situation had he and Georgie gone to Ilvermorny. There was no telling though. “Nothing harmful in minding his own business,” Lance shrugged, unsure how to continue that part of their conversation.

He smiled a little as she said that the other kids at the orphanage probably looked up to him. They kind of did, in a way. At least the ones that were there for years at a time like he and Georgie had been, especially the ones that were really young. They were all eventually saved by Hogwarts once that time came, but those that had to spend years in their before going to school…he felt awful for them. The one year separated from Georgie right after everything went down had been difficult enough. He couldn’t imagine what a kid without anyone felt like. “Yeah, they’re all great too. You should see them when families come looking to adopt or foster a few of them at a time. Even the ones that are normally uncontrollable act like angels. Funniest thing I’ve ever seen.” He continued to listen as she explained that she was going to be staying with her sister over the summer instead of at home. That was definitely an interesting twist to the normal vacation break that most of his classmates had. “Sounds like a fun break from the parents. I’m lucky. Get to do that every day of the year.”

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He nodded, said that there was no harm in Grey minding his own business. Addilyn didn't continue the topic. She knew Lance was right, but she also knew that Lance didn't know the whole story and she wasn't going to give it to him. It was fine leaving it there. Her and Grey were fine, they just minded there own business and that was okay. They weren't in the same house like Lance and Georgie, so it made sense.

He said that the kids were all great and spoke about adoption routines. She laughed, "good acting skills," she said. "I find kids are easy to trust because they just look so innocent, but most people know better," she chuckled again. "Did you ever do a foster home? Is that an intrusive question?" she asked both questions one immediately after the other, realizing halfway through the first that the second might be necessary.

He said he was lucky to get a break from the parents every day, and she actually winced a little. She squeezed his arm. "Are we almost to your car?"


lancelot ray linley

[Deleted]

@addilyn

Lance laughed as Addi said that the other orphans had acting skills. That was definitely true. There weren’t many things that they had to themselves, the ability to put on a show for others was one of them though. A certain kind of patience was needed to understand what they had been through and what they could go through; Lance liked to think that he had it all figured out, but even then he had never been truly lonely. “They need that kind of trust though. Not the luckiest bunch out there,” he said rather solemnly. As for her question on the foster home, he shook his head. “Nah. It was too difficult to place both me and Georgie in the same place, and we wouldn’t let them split us up either. And it didn’t make a ton of sense to take in two kids that were going to spend half of the year in school,” he shrugged. He was done with the orphanage the second he stepped off the train. All that was left was moving his few belongings to the apartment and he had escaped.

He felt her squeeze his arm before asking if they were almost to the car. Lance glanced down at her as she did so. It didn’t look like she was about to pass out or get sick, but he hurried up a bit anyways. The last thing he wanted was Addi collapsing in the middle of the walkway. He was sure he knew the correct spells to wake her back up in case she did, but it was better to get her sitting down and safe from falling. “It’s right about…here,” he said, stopping in front of the car he had thrown his belongings in earlier on in the day. Sliding the door open, he led her into the car to sit down. “Probably don’t have much to go until we get to the station, so it’s fine with me if you stay here until then.”

[The End]