Dream felt like screaming as she stared at the empty train platform in front of her. She'd had nothing but bad luck all day long and now she wasn't going to be able to get to Hogwarts today. She'd been visiting some family at Collinswood for the last week of her holiday and she'd a wonderful time until today. Her awful day had started when she'd received a phone call on the family's one muggle phone, that was when she was told that her motorcycle had been stolen and was in a bad wreck. The muggle mechanic wasn't sure if it could be salvaged so Dream had asked one of the Ministry employees specializing in Muggle artifacts to pick it up from the junkyard and see if they could fix it. Then she resigned herself to the fact that she would be forced to ride the Hogwarts Express back to the school. She'd packed everything up and then sent out owls to a couple of her friends to let them know that she would be joining them on the train. Unfortunately it had been so long since she'd been on the train, that she'd completely forgotten that during daylight savings time, it left at 2PM instead of 3PM! Now she was an hour late and any of her friends that went off the time on the owls she'd sent out were going to be late as well. Dream doubted the day could get any worse.

Ooc: Sound interesting enough.

Bic: Chase had been one of those, should we say not fortunate enough to be left out of getting a Dreamy letter that day. He usually took the train, but he wasn't one to keep track of time as it was, so when the limo wanted him to leave earlier than the letter said, he waved it off saying a simple, "Dream knows best." Those words should have been spared in this event. He found himself there only a moment after her and sighed. "I suppose you aren't one to usually take the Express then?" He asked from behind her with a half smirk. He recognized the look on her face as one that said, 'There's no making this worse', and laughed. "It can always get worse..."

Twyla gazed moth half open at the empty platform.She looked at her watch and said in a deathly whisper "2 seconds!2 damn seconds.".She saw Dream and Chase and walked over looking evil."This is as bad as damn France!"Twyla said looking extremly angry."Where the hell is a flying car when you need one?"Twyla said looking out into the car park."Owl!Piggy where are you??"Twyla said looking for her owl.She saw the owl cage open and said "Great no damn owl either".

Leona had received and owl from Dream saying to meet her at the Hogwarts Express for the start of term. She knew how Dream HATED the train, and Leo couldn't blame her. However, her friend needed her. She looked at the time and was confused. Did they switch the time? Normally it left and hour earlier than that? Maybe Rogue changed the time. I mean Dream was his daughter, so out of all people she'd know if he did, she thought.

When she crossed over to platform 9 and 3/4s it was completely deserted. Leo put her fists up defensively, as if she was prepared to be ambushed by an enemy. It wouldn't have been the first time. When she saw Dream, Chase and Twyla her muscles relaxed a bit, but not that much. "Hey!" She shouted rushing over to them.

Cassie had completly forgotten about time zones. She hated them so much. And jet lag, which was assosciated with time zones. So Cassie raced ,surfboard slapping her back occaisionally, to Platform 9 3/4. Checking her watch she determind the would only be there five minutes before the train left. She let out a small sigh of relief and entered the platform, pushing her cart through. No train. Cassie momentarily looked a mixture of confused and agitated. Then she smacked her forehead and moved her clock ahead an hour. "Bloody Brilliant" she muttered. She saw Leo, Dream. Twyla and Chase ahead. "Meh...at least I'm not alone" she said walking over

Scarlett was not able to read Dream’s owl until she was already waiting for the train. Bella had thrashed the owl pretty good and the parchment had been torn. In all the fuss and confusion Scarlett had only had time to repair the letter as she arrived at Platform 9 and ¾. She could see that Dream had the time wrong as the train was loading up right then.

Scarlett decided she’d rather wait for Dream than get on the train with everyone else. She and Bella found an out of the way place to hang out until the train was gone. This place proved to be quiet and cozy and Scarlett fell asleep. She awoke to voices and upon investigation found Dream and various other students standing in confusion. “Wow I wonder if this many people usually miss the train. At this rate we are gonna need a bus to get us all to Hogwarts.”

Remy was out walking down the streets of England window shopping when he saw the sun begin to set in the sky and he rushed to the train platform. He looked around and seeing no one around rushed to the brick pillar between platform 6 and 7 and ran smack into the brick wall. "ouch" he mumbled as he got up and then stumbled back a bit. "this is exactly why i never get on this blasted thing" he thought for himself as he began to think what platform the darn train left out of. "oh yea 9 and 3/4" he grinned and raced through the pillar between 9 and 10 and looked around and saw the rest of the students. "hey guys wheres the train" he asked cluelessly as he rubbed his forehead.

Emma got Dream's owl, and gave it a questioning look. She was almost positive it left an hour earlier, but maybe Dream knew something she didnt know about the leaving time. So, Emma packed all of her things, and left at 2 to get to the train station at 3. She walked through the wall, still giggling about seeing Remy run into the wrong wall. Emma walked up to her group of friends with Leala at her side, trotting happily, and her cat following Leala. Her blue carrier bag was slung over her left shoulder, and was enlarged inside to carrier all of her things.

"What's wrong with France?" she lightly mumbled under her breath as she walked by Twyla, hearing her complain about France. Stopping beside Leo, she put her bag down on the ground, and looked around. "So let me guess, it was 2 right?" she said with a grin, laughing slightly.

OOC: Hey guys! Sorry I was gone so long. I lvoe that you guys joined, and I'm now making this thread private. I don't want a big RP that has tons of people but I didn't want it to be an invite only kind of thing either. So everyone who's already posted in here is in and thanks for joining! :D

BIC: Dream groaned when she saw Chase join her. "You would choose NOW to listen to me." she griped at him, feeling awful for making him miss the train. She just hoped that no one else that she'd written to would be late. No sooner had she finished the thought when she heard another voice, quickly followed by a few more. She stared in mute dismay at Twyla, Leo and Emma who had all shown up as well. Not only had they shown up but Cassie and Remy were there as well. "I am NOT responsible for you two!" she said accusingly to Cassie and Remy. She knew she hadn't sent them OWLS so she refused to feel bad for them. She heard Scarlett's comment and spun around to see that she was there as well. "Ok seriously, this is just ridiculous. I don't take the train very often so I have an excuse for not knowing the time. You guys take it all the time so why the heck are you all still here?" she demanded.

"Because of a concept I know as blind faith," Leo winked on the verge of a lecture. "You said to meet you here at such and such time. We did. For several reasons. A) Because you said so, B.) It was possible that the trains time of departure changed and you were trying to inform us. And most importantly C.) You're basically my best friend so if you told us to jump off a cliff and into a firey pit o' lava; as the obligatory lemming I'd have to do it." Leo said letting out a huge breath as she finished her little speech.

Chase shrugged slightly at Dream when she started on her little, well, it wasn't exactly a rant. He smiled when she whined, well not whined, about him finally listening to her. Hearing Leo talk about blind faith and friendship, he counted heads momentarily and then looked back at Dream. "I just don't pay attention." He said with a slight grin and a little yawn. "Has anyone ever know me to pay attention?"

Remy looked at dream and laughed. This was too funny a moment and he couldn't contain his laughter any longer "you know i never get off the train and the one time i do this happens and the funnier thing is i wasn't alone in missing it. Can't you guys see how funny this is? I mean right now there is a train full of first years with the hufflepuff prefect :lol: . He looked at leo and wondered if she really would jump in lava and was tempted to ask dream to ask her to do so but he didnt see any volcanoes close by so he said nothing.

Scarlett couldn’t help smiling at Dream’s out burst. “I know what time the train leaves and I was here to watch it go. I guess the only thing I have to say for myself is kinda what Leo already said, I’d rather be late with you than on time without you. It’s bound to be more fun that way. But assumin’ we don’t just take up the lives of a band of travelin’ gypsies hangin’ on your skirts, how are we gonna get to Hogwarts?” Now is when the fun begins, thought Scarlett.

Cassie laughed and hid behind Remy as Dream turned on both of them. Creeping slowly out she made her way behind Chase. Poking her head out she grinned sheepishly. "Heh...well I..uh...I have an issue with time zones " she said meekly with a little grin growing on her face. "Apprently its not the same time in Australia as it is here" she commented hiding behind Chase again with a small laugh.

Dream grinned at Remy as he said that all the students on the train were stuck with only the Hufflepuff Prefect. "Lord help them all." she said to him, completely ignored Chase and Cassie. Then she cocked her eyebrow at Scarlett consideringly. She had raised a very important question and Dream knew that since she was the one to blame for over half of the students in front of her, she would have to be the one to get them to Hogwarts. She thought about creating a portkey but she immediately decided against it. Sure it would get them to hogwarts, but it would get them there faster than the train which meant that she would get caught and be yelled at by her dad. She shook her head. She wasn't about to let that happen. "I need something that runs mechanically like the train, is slightly faster than the train and can fit all of us in it." she said thoughtfully. She continued to think in silence before an evil gleam came into her eye. She didn't know where the thought came from but now that it was in her head, it refused to go away. "Hey! I've got it figured out! Let's catch the Knight Bus! If we leave the train station and we're stranded then it should find us." she said, not revealing the rest of her idea to the others.

Scarlett was not exactly sure what the Knight Bus was, but it sounded like an apt rescuer. She gathered her things with a levitate spell so that they hung ready to follow her and prepared to follow everyone to a place where they would be “stranded.” She walked close to Remy and asked lowly, “What is the Knight Bus?”

Remy heard scar ask him what the knight bus was and he grinned. "Well the knight bus is a triple decker bus that provides emergency transportation to any stranded witch or wizard traveling anywhere in the world as long as theres land. At night it even has a dozen beds per level for its passengers" he explained then sighed "i just wouldn't ride it if i didn't have to its not a very pleasant ride" he muttered.

Dream giggled as she heard Remy explain to Scarlett what the Knight Bus was and that it wasn't a mode of transportation that he would like to use if he could help it. "It's not Ernie's fault that he's so old and he can't see through those thick glasses of his. I don't think he's killed any passengers for about 20 years and the last time he got into an accident was over 5 years ago." she told him impishly. Then she walked over to him and whispered for his ears only "Don't worry babe. I don't think ernie's driving will be a concern on this trip."

Scarlett listened to what Dream and Remy had to say about the Knight Bus and grew more fascinated all the time. “Sounds like this is gonna be real fun!” she said wandering into a nearby field so as to become stranded. Scarlett knew a lot about fast cars and erratic driving so nothing that Dream said scared her a bit. The sun was bright and the high tickled her legs as it blew in a soft breeze. She was extremely happy not to be trapped on the train with a pack of ravening firsties on a collision course with a sugar high.

Chase followed, hearing conversation of the Night Bus. He had only ever been on once, but he had had quite a good time during that trip to say the least. He shrugged off his thoughts and watched Scarlett move herself into a field. Chase could easily just get the limo to pick everyone up. He did, after all, only live a few blocks away. Eh... This would be more fun, he supposed.

Emma grinned along with everyone else at Dream's outburst, grinning even more when she mentioned the others stuck with the Huffelpuff prefect. That was funny. She would almost would have liked to have a hidden camera in the hallways to see what happened, but oh well, she could use that plan for some other time.

Seeing that she had been day-dreaming again, she quickly caught up with the others. "I still dont exactly get how you "call" the knight bus." she said, never understanding how her mother use to be able to summon it. "Do we just think about it or something?" she asked.

Dream followed Scarlett into the field and heard Emma's voice as she followed as well. In answer to Emma's question, Drea thought for a moment about how completely screwed they were since they'd missed the train and she held up her wand. Suddenly there was a loud screeching sound and she turned to watch an out of control bright purple triple decker bus coming full speed towards them. She stepped in front of it and calmly stayed exactly where she was even when it looked like the bus was goingto run her over. It stopped less than 6 inches in front of her and she grinned up at the face of old Ernie. "This is it." she said happily.

"Well I guess it's time to saddle up," Scarlett drawled. Her belongings followed her up the steps of the triple decker bus. An old man crouched over the wheel, his eyes hugely magnified by a pair of horn rimmed glasses. "Hello, we're all gonna need a ride to Hogwarts." Ernie the driver bobbed his head and stared forward. Scarlett continued up the stairs and made way for the others.

Remy looked at the bus and groaned as he climbed on board and made his way to the back. Remy sat down on a seat and looked around for a seat belt and groaned even louder when he saw none of hte seats had any. He hoped the driver had gotten better since the last time he had been on but he wasn't about to hold his breath

Dream hopped onto the bus and gave a quick wave to the conductor Stan. He'd been the conductor of the bus for more years than Dream even knew and from what she'd heard about him, his mouth never stopped running. She knew better than to say a word to him or he'd start yapping up a storm. "Och! Look at da beautiful red-headed girl, Ernie! What you say we take her straight to da island and keep her dere, eh?" came a heavily accented Jamaican voice. Dream giggled as she looked at the shrunken head that was dangling from the rearview mirror. "When are you gonna come home with me and leave this old man to rot in peace?" she replied with a flirtatious wink. Then she sat down in the front seat of the bus and waited for the others to board so they could get going.

Twyla woke out of her daydream and hopped onto the strange bus with everyone esle.The minute she got on she regretted it.The bus driver looked like he could not see a thing and he had a shrunken head on his daskboard.Instead of saying "That's wicked'Like normal she bit her lip making sure she wasn't sick when it talked.She sat down and said 'Well this should be fun".

Chase followed the people on and sat down, making sure the seat beside was empty so Cassie could take it. It wasn't that he wouldn't mind sitting by someone else, he was just in a Cassie mood. He heard the comment on Dream and laughed slightly. "You won't want her there for long!" He assured the shrunken head before giving Dream a smile and shrugging.

Cassie had never been on the KNight Bus but it was purple and looked like fun. So shrinking her things Cassie raced onto the messy bus and immediatly loved it. She saw everyone sitting on the fronts and the bottom row and Cassie frowned. So with a grab of Chase, or an attempted one at least, she raced up the stairs and sat on the very top pressing the nose to her glass like a small child.

Emma grinned as the bus came to a hault right in front of Dream. She had been on this bus several times with her mother, and each time was just as memorable as the last. This day would certaintly make the books also. With a flick of her wand, her things floated behind her as Leala ran up the steps of the bus, immediately taking interest in the talking head. Apparently the puppy thought it was a chew toy. "Come on Leala." she said, nudging the dog slightly down the aisle, were she sat in the row behind Dream.

"I think Cassie has the right idea," Scarlett said as she headed up the stairs for the top of the bus. "The view is always better from up top eh Cassie," Scarlett said to the girl who had her face pressed to the glass. Scarlett was glad to sit with Cassie for a while. It had been a long time since they had talked. "How are you?"

Dream grinned at Twyla, Chase, Cassie, Emma and Scarlett as they all boarded as well. The only person left to get on the train was Leo. Dream gave an exasperated sigh and got off the bus. "Hang on ernie." she said. Then she walked ovr to Leo and grabbed her, yanking her up onto the bus with her, and pushing her down in the seat in front of Remy. She then took her own seat again and looked at Stan. "We're all ready now! Let's make a stop at The Leaky Cauldron before Hogwarts. We'll have plenty of time, and I think we'll need refreshments for that long of a ride. I'll buy you a butterbeer!" she said cheerfully. Stan, not being one tturn down free anything, gladly nodded his head and looked over at Ernie. "To The Leaky then Ernie!" he called out. Less than a second later the bus jolted into full speed ahead and Dream grabbed onto the handlebar next to her seat.

Leona had been spacing out for some time. She couldn't explain it, but she had a bad feeling about this entire trip. Then again maybe it was just a wave of nausea induced by the mere mentioning of the poor fate of the students that did manage to board the Hogwarts express. She was glad to discover that they'd be making a stop to the Leaky Cauldron, Leo would be able to get a few under her belt before they made the long haul. Now that Leo was thinking about it, she was becoming something of an alcoholic as of late.

Twyla screamed as she fell of her seat the minute they went.She slide all the way down to the back of the bus and whacked the ladder/steps to the top of the bus."Well that was fun"She said sarcastically.She climbed/walked to the top of the bus and sat next to Cassie "Damn bus"She muttered as she clutched the side of the bus.

Emma felt the sudden movement of the bus, and quickly held onto her seat and things, trying to keep them or her from moving. She heard yelling of Twyla, and grinned, remembering her first trip on this bus which had been similar. Looking out the window, she watched as they zoomed by muggle areas without them even noticing.

Remy felt the train begin to move and he looked around for something, anything to hold on to but of course there was nothing. He put his feet up and placed them on the seat in front of him to keep from falling. He was glad there were no such things as magical cops or the driver of hte knight bus would never drive anywhere.

Dream decided to start talking to Stan so she struck up a conversation about anything and everything. As usual once he started talking, he wouldn't shut up. She listened to him in seemingly wide-eyed fascination, throwing in the occasional "Ooh" and "Ahh" in order to make it seem as though she was impressed with the way he had taken out this criminal or about the time when he had been wrongly incarcerated at Azkaban for being a deatheater. "That must have been so awful for you Stan! I can't believe how strong and brave you were! Why if it wasme I would have cried myself to sleep every night!" she cooed at him. He stood up a little straighter and wore a smug look on his face at her praise. Just then the bus came to an instant stop and Dream had to grab onto the nearby handle in order to keep from sliding out of her seat. "Here we are then! The Leaky Cauldron." Stan announced. Dream looked aroud at all of her school mates and said "Let's have a drink then! everyone back at the bus in fifteen minutes or you'll be lft here." she said. Then she looped her arm through Stan's and grabbed Ernie's hand as well. "Come on then. Let's have a drink! My treat!" she said happily as she got off the bus with them and walked into the tavern.

Chase zoned out until he felt Cassie pull him up to the upper level. He wasn't fazed by the bus' rapid movements. Well, not as much as some. His limo driver drove the same way, he was used to it. The starting up jolt was always a lot smoother than the end jolt, which made him push his back hard into the seat. Looking over at Cassie then at the Leaky Cauldron he smirked and gave a shrug. "How 'bout some Firewhiskey then?" He stood up, only then realizing that Twyla had appeared. He was usually more perceptive.

Emma had taken a book out to read for the few minutes that the ride would last. She had read through a chapter when she felt the sudden jolt of the bus coming to halt. Hearing Dream call for drinks, she slipped the book back into her bag, and followed Dream, signaling for Cassie to follow her. "Come on guys." she said with a grin as she walked out of the bus.

Remy was pleasantly suprised as the bus stopped and he looked up and saw dream flirting with stan and ernie and he put his head down. He was not in the mood to drink anything and he certainly didn't want to get off the bus and see his beloved acting like that so he lay on the seat and closed his eyes.

Dream grinned when she walked into the Leaky Cauldron. It only took her eyes a moment to adjust because she was used to walking into Hogs Head all the time. The darkness and scent of stale alcohol were things that she was very used to. She pointed out a table to Stan, Ernie and the other people who had joined them from the bus. "Why don't you guys grab that table over there and I'll get us some drinks!" she said. Then she walked up to the bar and waited for the bartender. When he walked up to her she smiled. "Hey Tom! I'd like 7 shots of firewhiskey, 6 butterbeers, 4 sodas and 3 waters." she said as she casually tossed him a gold coin. He served up the firewhiskeys first and when he went to go get the butterbeers, Dream took the opportunity to pour something into two of the shots of firewhiskey. Once Tim came back with the rest of her order she thanked him and took the large tray of drinks over to the table. She handed Ernie and Stan a shot of firewhiskey each, making sure that they had the shots that she'd spiked. Then she picked up a shot for herself of regular firewhiskey. "To your health boys. cheers!" she said, clinking glasses with them. Then the three of them all tossed back their shots, Ernie doing so at a much slower pace. Dream slammed her empty shot glass down on the table and gave a wicked sigh of satisfaction.