No way out

[Agnes Baros]

Agnes couldn't remember the last time she felt okay. She didn't want to be reminded of the last few hours she'd had with Elsie that morning on July 12th, right before her world broke around her. People would for the most part, continue on as though nothing had ever happened. Kids still went to their lessons, even Ilija was out doing Quidditch and hosting lessons for Sign Language, Zennon resumed his post as Head Boy, and Elio had so much to keep himself distracted she was sure it was impossible for any of them to focus on Elsie. There was the exception of course, having heard about Rowan, who like Agnes didn't seem to be able to function now that the Ravenclaw had been pulled from their lives, and while Agnes felt for the girl there wasn't a whole lot she could do since she'd not seen her since the twins' birthday. ​

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The prefect was sat on the platform at Brightstone, although she didn't have any intention of getting the next train back to the school. She had probably a couple of friends at school, but no one close enough to her for Agnes to worry that anyone will realise she was missing for a good few days. It was the perfect head start. Agnes didn't want to disappoint anyone, but when she thought about it there was only one person she would have cared if she let down, and she wasn't here anymore. She was only trying to train as a healer because it was her parents wishes. Agnes had never been given a chance to ever discover what her real passions were in life, she was just someone else's puppet, a cog in their machine. The reigns her parents and family had over were tight and were the reason she'd not even been able to tell anyone about Elsie in the first place. She was stuck between a rock and a hard place and if she was ever going to pull herself out of it she knew she had to get out of Hogwarts, and get out of the grip her family had on her. ​

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She wasn't entirely sure where she'd go. Any of the places she'd talked about before could have been too obvious, she'd be caught instantly and not to mention what her mum would say when they returned her daughter back to her. The Slytherin didn't know where she was going, or what she was going to do. The only thing she did know was that she had nothing left to lose.​

 

[Robert Kain]

Rob liked to make the most of the trips to Brightstone just as much as the students, and while of course he would offer to go to supervise, he was really there out of his own enjoyment too. It wasn't everyday one could pace around the same parts of an old castle without needing a little break every now and then and besides it gave the man a chance to meet new people. He got on well with his coworkers, but there was something exciting still about meeting a fresh face. The professor was sat on the train, trying to help dislodge a bag of puking pastels from down the side of one of the seats before a curious first year got hold of it, as he waited for the train to depart from the station. After grabbing the retched thing and putting it out of harms way, he left his seat to poke his head down the corridor. Too many students lingering when the train started to move wasn't ideal. He spotted a figure still outside, sat by herself and staring ahead, and the Charms professor sighed before moving through the train and out one of the doors. ​

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Agnes wasn't like his other nieces and nephews. The only daughter of his younger brother, Agnes had always been more secluded from the rest of the family. It had been hard almost twenty years ago to lose Jack to the Norgaards. Of what little he knew of that family, he knew their influence over his brother had swayed him to detach completely from the rest of them, and now the relationship Jack had with the rest of his siblings was minimal at best. Rob spent many years looking after his nieces and nephews, even little Maggie when she'd been particularly small, although when Chaser and Maggie were together it was the hardest of his afternoons. Maggie would be graduating at the end of the year now, which just left Agnes, his niece that he'd never really had a chance to bond with at all. "Hey squirt," he gave her a grin, hands in his pockets as he walked across the platform towards her, taking a seat on the bench a short distance away. "You're gonna miss the train," he was sure that Agnes was already aware of that given her body language, but Uncle or not, Rob wasn't going to just leave a student out here by themselves and he wanted to know why she wasn't with the others. ​

 

[Agnes Baros]

It was true that Agnes was nervous, but it was better this way. She didn't want to be found and she'd be able to start over by herself, figure out what she wanted, and have a chance at some sort of normality. It was what she'd wanted to do with Elsie, break away from her own family and start fresh, only now she'd left that too late. The prefect had always felt guilty that Elsie hadn't have the opportunity to be herself at least in regards to their relationship, and it was something Agnes was going to have to carry with her. ​

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She glanced up when someone left the train, her stomach dropping at realising who it was. She'd been avoiding her Uncle intentionally since meeting Elsie, the fear that he could get word to her father at the forefront of her mind. She had no reason to talk to him now, and why did he care about her either, it wasn't as though she was Maggie. She tried to act natural when he sat behind her, he would leave soon if she didn't engage too much, there were plenty of other students to take his attention off her from. Looking away, further down the track she did what she could to remain unbothered. "I'm getting the next one. This ones too busy," she lied, hoping the man would buy it and not pay too close attention at just how large her bag was at her feet. There was no way he was going to be able to pull the truth out of her. She'd come this far, she wasn't about to give in now.​