"It's so hot, so hot. I need a shower, Lynn. I'm sweating everywhere, and I'm all sticky."
Holly fanned her face as she walked down the train corridor. More and more, she acted and talked like a girl without even noticing it.
"You really treat my place like it's your own room, don't you?"
"Please? Pretty please? I'm begging you."
Lynn sighed, half exasperated and half amused. "I never said you couldn't go. Just don't turn on the cute routine. I can't handle that."
"You two get along so well," Qiu said, sounding a little envious. She'd never had a childhood friend.
"No, we've only known each other for a bit over two months. I guess we just click."
"That's right," Holly added. "Honestly, I like girls. Especially girls like Qiu, who are pretty and sweet."
Once she warmed up, Holly wasn't nearly as nervous as before. She was discovering that being around other girls wasn't as scary as she'd imagined. In fact, it was pretty easy.
"Well, I like Holly too."
Qiu linked arms with her affectionately. "You fly so well, Holly. Like a little fairy, fast and light. Next year you should try out for the Quidditch team. If you get sorted into Ravenclaw, we could even play together."
"Yeah!" Holly nodded, but then her confidence faltered. "But Ravenclaw only takes the smartest students, right? I'm not that good in school…"
"Lynn can memorize a book after reading it once. I read something three times and still forget parts."
"You can memorize a whole book after one read?" Qiu stared at Lynn. When he nodded, she patted her chest and told Holly, "Don't compare yourself to monsters like this. Even Ravenclaw students can't do that."
"Really?" Holly blinked. She'd honestly thought she was just stupid.
They reached their compartment. Because Lynn had told them the trolley had already passed the one they'd been in earlier, they'd gone down two cars to buy snacks on the way back.
But the moment they slid the compartment door open, they found someone inside. They'd left, but their luggage was still on the seats. There were always more seats on the Hogwarts Express than students. Even if you got on last minute, you could always find somewhere to sit.
The boy inside looked up in surprise when the door opened.
He had bright red hair, a face full of freckles, and a smudge of black grime on his long nose. In both hands, he held a hefty meat-filled sandwich. Or rather, what remained of one. He was stuffing the last chunk into his mouth when they appeared.
"Cough… gulp."
He pounded his chest and forced the food down. When he realized two pretty girls were standing in front of him, his face flushed beet red.
"We stepped out for a bit," Qiu said. She wasn't angry at all. Seats were seats. Anyone could sit. "But it's fine. There are three of us. Plenty of room."
"Sorry… and thanks…"
The red-haired boy had been about to get up in a panic, but relaxed when he heard her. "I'm Ron Weasley, first ye—"
"Ah!!!"
Qiu's scream cut him off.
A filthy, scruffy-looking rat crouched on the table. The wooden box that had held Qiu's coconut milk pudding was now just crumbs.
Truly frightened, Qiu shrieked and spun around, throwing herself onto Lynn. She practically climbed him like a tree.
Holly wasn't scared of rats. Before she ever had a bedroom, she slept in a cupboard. Spiders kept her company, and mice chewing wood at night were nothing new.
"I thought no one… was here… so I just…"
Ron's stammered excuse had zero effect. Seeing Qiu's reaction, turning as red as his hair, he grabbed Scabbers, who was still munching happily, shoved him into his pocket, yanked his trunk from the rack, and bolted out the door.
"That guy's unbelievable," Holly muttered, glaring at his retreating figure.
"It was a misunderstanding, let it go," Lynn said, trying to smooth things over. Knowing Ron's personality… well, the scatterbrained idiot was capable of any bizarre decision. This was the same guy who once suggested the genius idea of "let's drive the car to school." Instead of sending Hedwig with a letter or waiting near the car for his parents to return—both perfectly reasonable—he had chosen the disaster route.
"Qiu, are you really that scared of rats?"
Lynn patted her back and spoke softly near her ear.
"No," Qiu said miserably, her face scrunched. "We've used rats in class experiments before. But that one was filthy and disgusting. And it was sitting on our food… eating and… doing the other thing at the same time!"
"Please get rid of it."
Her voice trembled as she pressed her face against Lynn's shoulder. "I'm definitely having nightmares tonight. Who does that… that's awful…"
Hearing that, Lynn felt the disgust rise in his own chest. The rat itself wasn't the problem. The problem was a dirty vermin doing whatever it wanted. If it had been a mouse like Jerry, you could honestly keep it as a pet.
The ruined lunchbox lifted silently into the air. Using telekinesis, Lynn tossed it out the window. When he opened it, Hedwig and Sigurd swooped down toward him, and he guided them inside.
"Scourgify."
Qiu sniffed, pulled out her wand, and cleaned the whole compartment. Even so, she still looked uncomfortable.
"We'll sit with you, Lynn."
She glared at the seat across from them. Ron had been sitting where she'd been sitting earlier. She wasn't mad at Ron himself, but at the rat he'd brought.
"Plenty of space. But…"
Lynn stood up, locked the compartment door, and pulled the curtains shut.
"You two might want a bath, just to calm down."
He pulled out his Universal Tent from his backpack. It was compact enough to fit on the opposite bench.
"A camping tent? I have one at home. Dad takes me camping sometimes."
Qiu perked up a little. She was used to magic tents. Tiny on the outside, huge on the inside. Nothing strange to a witch.
The three of them ducked inside. At first, the empty interior made Qiu tilt her head in confusion, but when Holly pressed a button and the interior shifted, her eyes lit up.
"What a cool design. It's nothing like mine. This bathroom is huge!"
The hot spring pool looked big enough to swim in. Qiu's mood brightened immediately.
She crouched at the pool's edge, dipping her fingers into the water. A moment later, the sound of running water came from the shower.
"I'm still here, Holly."
Lynn's voice carried a note of helplessness. "You're a girl, remember."
"I forgot…"
Holly peeked back, embarrassed. "I'll be careful next time."
"I really hope there won't be a next time… sigh…"
Lynn rubbed his temples. He genuinely sounded tired.
"You two normally do this?" Qiu asked, her cheeks tinged pink, though she looked like she was fighting a laugh. Lynn's expression wasn't fake. His dark eyes weren't leering at all.
"Probably because Holly doesn't think of me as… well… she doesn't think of me as a person."
"Honestly… that sounds kind of correct, hahaha!"
Qiu burst out laughing. This wasn't a case of Holly not treating him like a man. She barely treated him like a human.
"Could you do me a favor, Qiu?"
Just before leaving the tent, Lynn turned to her.
"Of course," she said.
"Please help Holly learn how to be a girl. She's way too careless sometimes."
"I'll do my best."
Qiu pressed a hand over her mouth, snickering again.
Lynn waited outside for nearly an hour and a half before Holly and Qiu finally emerged. Fresh from the bath, the two girls smelled faintly sweet and seemed even closer than before. Holly's cheeks were red, like she'd spent too long in the hot spring.
"I'm starving."
"Me too."
They pulled out the snacks they'd bought earlier, but after glancing at the table that had hosted a rat, neither of them wanted to set anything down there.
"Maybe we should just eat inside the tent?" Qiu suggested.
"Great idea."
"Lynn, go take a shower. We're dying here."
"I didn't really sweat…"
"That's because the wind dried you out."
"Fine, fine. Give me two minutes."
A boy's shower was always faster. Holly used to be done in five minutes too, but lately, that time was getting longer. Especially today.
The bathroom was still steamy when Lynn stepped inside. The scent of body wash mixed with something light and sweet lingering from the girls. But he didn't think about any of that. He finished washing up in record time. After switching the tent to living room mode, he poked his head out to call them in.
"Finally, food!"
Qiu unpacked the lunch her mom had made. She hadn't taken it out earlier, so the rat hadn't gotten to it.
Her mother's cooking was incredible, full of dishes Lynn had craved for ages. You couldn't find food like this in England, and the Gourmet Tablecloth rarely generated authentic Chinese meals.
The enchanted lunchboxes kept everything warm. There wasn't a lot, really just enough for Qiu herself, but they shared, and with the pastries and snacks they'd bought on the trolley, the three of them filled their stomachs well enough.
Compared to the cramped train seats, the spacious tent was heaven. They lay comfortably on the soft carpet without a single bump poking into them.
"This feels amazing. I could totally nap."
Holly stretched lazily and closed her eyes. With the tent set to transparent mode, the afternoon sunlight streamed in through the train window. Warm and gentle, it made anyone sleepy.
"Should I switch it to bedroom mode?"
"The carpet's comfy enough."
Holly rolled onto her side, already drifting off.
Watching her—cute, content, and curled up like that—the compartment grew quiet and peaceful.