JJ Parr

“You’ve helped me quite a bit,” she smiled, turning back to face him and saw his rosy cheeks.  She certainly felt accomplished in today’s little bit of mischief.  And she definitely did not need additional help for the training.  After all, she knew exactly what to do and she didn’t need her team to underestimate her by seeing a Hufflepuff help her.  “Thanks again soooo much, JJ,” she said sweetly as she planted a small kiss on his cheek.

“Wow getting ready for school?  Haven’t thought about school since, well since the last day of school.  But for me, ya’ know just trying to enjoy summer while it lasts.”  Sheldon replied with a grin.  He hadn’t even thought about getting ready for school, the longer it takes for him to get back to school the better. 

Jack-Jack laughed. he supposed that was the normal response to school. “Well, school and parties and such. Feels weird being the top year, but also amazing. I’m planning on trying to do a Welcome Back party. Got to get stuff together for it, y’know? Also gotta make the best of my last year. Live it up a little.”

As the girl peered into her cabin, Elan gave the girl a look back, almost challenging her to come inside. But sure enough, the girl passed on a few moments later and this end of the train slowly quieted down. But as the immediate confusion and potential danger passed, Elan found her curiosity rising in response. 

“What’s all that about?” She whispered back. 

Jack-Jack let out a breath and smiled at Elan, perhaps a bit sheepishly. “I’m running away from... well friends and coworkers. They decided right before I head back it would be a great time to embarrass me in a crowd and so I barely made it out and onto the train. Unfortunately, they’re definitely the sort to follow on despite not being students anymore.” he laughed, “Comes with being the youngest in a team.”

It still seemed hard to believe. People didn’t just start to play that sort of role on a whim, and she had vague memories of how he would help others periodically. Still, as he jostled her slightly, she bit her lip again, trying to hold back the wave of pain. Luckily, she could see that they were almost there. “Maybe. I’m looking forward to it being over. I can’t argue very well like this.”

Gabriella narrowed her eyes at the boy, irritated by his presence and his request.  However, he had said please and that satiated her just enough.  She didn’t respond and simply turned away to gaze out the window and ignore the boy’s presence.  Hopefully, he’d be gone soon enough.

Jack-Jack bit his lip, hearing the footsteps go by, only pausing to peek in cautiously to the compartment and rush off again. The sounds of them disappearing let him draw out a breath. As he did, he whispered to the girl who was pretending to be completely disinterested, “Hey thanks. Sorry to barge in on your compartment. You waiting for someone?” He asked, wondering if he really did sour her day and interrupt her plans.

At JJ’s distress, Bobby couldn’t help but laugh. This was the greatest day of his life, he just had to smile and rub it in his face. “I’m not sure, JJ, but I think I like it!” He continued to chuckle and put a hand on his friend’s face and hugged him like he was an adorable animal, cooing and all. 

Jack-Jack frowned, hating to admit that the hug felt good, if not wholly insulting. It was a terrible mix of feelings, and instantly he reached around and tickled Bobby’s sides in the hopes it would get him to lurch back. “I’m not a fan.” He said, looking over his friend once more. “Please, if there are gods out there, they have to help me grow.”

“Tough guy, aren’t you,” she chuckled as she leaned back against the wall.  For once, she really didn’t feel like talking about herself.  Her family was probably looking for her, ready to scold her to no end.  That was not a conversation she was looking forward to.  Another thing for her sister to put her down about.

So JJ thought Mertle was always ok?  Well, she supposed she was.  “You’re right.  I’m usually okay.  Am right now.  Nothing’s changed.  See?” she flashed him a winning smile that certainly didn’t feel genuine at all.

Jack-Jack rolled his eyes, “There’s a considerable effort made to make it appear that way, but no. Probably not.” he was hoping Mertle would want to talk more about it all, but he also understood why she didn’t. If anything, he was more concerned that she would even date someone so vile, and that she was going to get hurt in the process. But pushing was crossing a boundary, and nobody liked to be pushed when they were already exhausted.

Ah, so it wasn’t that innocent. Nick looked the bag and chuckled a little; that seemed like the type of thing Toulouse would do. At least it was alcohol in the bag and not like… a head. Nick could handle smuggling booze on the train. “Yeah, they’re not true friends unless they try to fluster you or embarrass you, right?” 

Jack-Jack laughed, “Exactly! But I’d still like to avoid it. Gotta put some training to use, though I suppose they were also trained.” He said, thinking on it, briefly, before laughing. “Mind if I ask about the instrument though? What were you singing?”

Holley shrugged with a smile.  “Maybe you could try!  I can’t say I know much about their socialization with humans, but you might need to learn some Mermish if that’s the case,” she giggled.

“I’m sure I’ll manage and salvage whatever I have.  History of Magic seems like that requires a lot of reading.  Surely you weren’t buried under all the books you needed to read.”

“Ahhh another language. Nearly forgot about that part.” he said, truthfully. JJ was already taking French and having a time of it. Adding another language on top seemed like overkill. 

“Oh god yes.” He said, maybe sounding a bit bitter about it. “And... I might have been? Frankly I didn’t pay attention to their titles while escaping. Maybe should have. Could have gone over the check-out limit that we have.”

It was the kind of advice she might have given someone else in the same situation, and she could hear the logic in it. Still, that didn’t make her feel any better because she was usually never the person that was in this sort of position. “It’s hard to imagine. You seem to spend so much time playing the hero instead.”

Elan was sitting in a cabin with her legs curled up under her, waiting for the train to start. Neither Moana nor Valorie were going to be on the train, so most likely the ride would be one she took by herself or with strangers. Of course, meeting strangers meant making new friends which she thoroughly enjoyed. But for now, she couldn’t help wishing that Moana was the first person she would see. Last night had been as bad as she had expected it to be. She was finding ti hard to pull herself back. 

But just then, her cabin door slammed and she spun around quickly, hand going for her wand as she tensed at the sound of danger. That was when she recognized him. JJ. They’d met at the wedding, but now he looked scared as he crouched below the window viewer. She only nodded and mimed zipping her lips at his whispered comment. 

The Parr nodded at her, gratefully, as footsteps approached and lingered just outside the carriage door. The intimidating girl on the other side peeked in, curiously, but only for a moment before someone else came by to tap her on the shoulder and point onward, directing the search forward to the other carriages.

JJ let out a breath and felt his head roll back in relief. They hadn’t found him. Looking over at Elan, he whispered out a “thank you.”

Gabriella had carefully selected a booth that had no one in it and managed to scare off anyone who might want to share the space with her.  She didn’t see the point in boarding the train back to school with a bunch of people when she could have just gone straight to school from her apartment in Hogsmeade, but she was silly and had ventured elsewhere briefly and now had to seek transport with the rest of the bumbling school.

So when a boy jumped into her car, she turned and glared at him.  Had the other students not warned everyone else to steer clear of this carriage?  “What do you want.”

Jack-Jack looked at the displeased girl with a wide-eyed gaze and put his finger to his lips, “Just silence until the train starts going. Please.”

When Toulouse finally relaxed on the familiar seats of the Hogwarts Express, he actually felt like he could breath again. He didn’t know how he did it but he managed to survive another summer as the middle O’Malley child. Though that last lecture before he board the train had been rough, it was still the same old ‘you need to do better, please actually make me proud, take you siblings for example’ speech. 

The Slytherin had just managed to relax, jumping into the first car he could, hoping that maybe his friends would end up making their way to him. He made himself comfortable, taking the small black cat out of her carrier. Before he could even put her down, she managed to wiggle her way out of his hands to explore. Before he had the chance to grab her, they both jumped at the cabin door swinging open and the Hufflepuff barging through. When everything finally registered, Toulouse gave the other a thumbs up, though his eyebrows were still knitted together because what the fuck? Though, he was definitely interested to say the least.

While the Parr was sure he was going to be bursting into some people who were not expecting to be disturbed, he wasn’t quite expecting to come face to face with a very red-headed kid and his cat both looking equally confused. The Hufflepuff nodded at the thumbs up as he heard a series of rushing feet barge through the walkway, peeking into the various rooms haphazardly as they went. He had forgotten to breathe until their feet couldn’t be heard except in the distant carriages beyond. 

A gasp was released as he gave a wan smile at the Slytherin before him, “Hey. Sorry ‘bout that.”

Anyone who knew Nick would crack up laughing if they heard this conversation. Luckily, though, Nick was by himself and JJ didn’t know him. Modest… The Hufflepuff had no idea. “Just a bit of sarcasm, mate,” He smiled again and then plucked a few chords on the Ukulele again. JJ didn’t have to believe him, but he’d rather not come off full of himself, he just didn’t know how else to recover.

“And yeah, I don’t mind at all. I’m betting those guys are still out there looking, no reason to switch to a cabin they might check.” He was planning on sitting with a few of his friends once the train got moving, but he had plenty of time to hang out with them. That and he was betting Toulouse was going to sleep the whole ride anyways. 

“What were they chasing you for anyways?” He asked, his curiosity getting the best of him, but his anxiety quickly correcting it, “-Oh, nevermind. Probably personal, I’m sorry,”

Jack-Jack returned the grin with a grateful one, “Cool, thanks. They should be gone once the train starts moving, though... considering who they are they might also think they can leap from a moving train... hm...” He thought on it, almost trying to judge whether they would or not, “... nevermind, they’ll be gone by the time it moves.”

And there it was. The question of why. JJ felt himself nearly blush, “ah... well... you see I did an internship over the summer and my coworkers and I got real chummy and...” he took a breath, rolling his eyes, “... I’m the only one returning to school so of course they came to embarrass me and likely get me in trouble.” he said, lifting his bag delicately, “Asked a few for some help with some boozy substance for a party I’m throwing in the beginning of the year and while they did hand it over... they also were ready to announce the whole thing to that huge crowd of parents.” 

Jack-Jack laughed, giving a roll of his eyes, “So.. y’know... hiding out away from them seems like the better plan.”

As he predicted, once he started to sing the higher pitched part of the song, the person looking for JJ immediately back tracked and went on his way. He was relieved it worked and let out a breath of air in unison with JJ. 

“No worries,” Nick smiled as he stopped playing. He seemed friendly enough, but Nick wanted to know why he was hiding. Hell if he was going to ask, though. “Oh, I know,” He replied in response to JJ’s introduction, but his eyes quickly went wide. That was such a stupid thing to say! He wanted to slap himself. “I mean, I know I’m really good, not who you are, yeah,” He corrected himself with a nod, “I’m Nick.”

JJ froze at the comment, not quite sure what to make of it. Thankfully Nick clarified and offered his own name relieving some of the tension. “Modest, are we?” he said with a chuckle, “Nice to meet ya, Nick. You... ugh... don’t mind if I stick around here do you? At least until the train leaves and then you can decide if you want to kick me out or not. Just need to wait them out...” He said, peeking once more up over the ledge of the window to peer through and hopefully get a sense of things. It wasn’t much help considering the walkway was still filled with kids.

Rose was sitting quietly in her compartment, perfectly content being by herself since she had her phone and a good book, when JJ came practically crashing in. Last spring she’d sort of avoided him after the whole library explosion thing (he was way too attentive to other people’s needs and having someone be so genuinely concerned about her injury was oddly uncomfortable) but Rose figured he’d probably already forgotten about it.

She did as asked and didn’t say anything until it got quieter on the opposite side of the door. Rose crossed her arms and quirked a brow, “What was that all about?”

JJ took a deep breath, hearing the feet get further away. He didn’t dare move away, though, and join her on the seat. Instead, he guiltily laughed and looked down at the bag at his side which clinked lightly as he shifted. “ahhh... Planning ahead for a party early into the year. Welcome back sort of thing. Without school permission which means...” He eyed the bag, “... well, booze. And I had thought I was smart building a stockpile of ‘favors’ from my older siblings and friends, but... once it came time to hit the train I realized how dumb it was. And here we are.” He said, wrapping up the tale with a small laugh. “How are you doing?”

When Jack-Jack ran into the train cabin and ducked down like he was hiding something, Nick quickly sat up, not sure what to think. JJ’s reputation in the school was… Interesting. The other boy probably didn’t know who Nick was, but Nick sure as shit knew who JJ was. If anything, that encouraged the Ravenclaw to keep his mouth shut.  

He nodded at JJ’s request and tried to busy himself by plucking a few chords on the ukulele he brought on the train. Sure enough, the people who were looking for JJ came by the cabin and were looking at the one they were in suspiciously. Not really sure what to do, Nick started to sing an embarrassing song, loudly. No one liked to be around someone that was singing obnoxiously, he hoped the second-hand embarrassment would draw them away.

“I try to be like Grace Kelly mmmmmmmng But all her looks were too sad ahhhhhah So I try a little Freddie MMMMmhmMM I’ve gone identity maaaaaaaad!~”

JJ waited, hearing the footsteps grow closer to the door as he shut his eyes in worry and held his breath. When his compartment-mate started up with singing a song, the Parr jumped a bit and heard the footsteps slink back and head down the hall with the rest of the jostling students seeking out a place to sit. The breath he’d been holding let out in one large gust.

“Hey, thanks man. Saved me a lot of embarrassment.” JJ said, leaning up to peek over the edge of the window for a brief moment before ducking back down. “You’re really good at that thing.” He said, grinning and pointing at the instrument. “Oh! Shit! I’m Jack-Jack. Sorry, forgot that part.”