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It was early, and cold. That much Maximum recognized. Max never did like the early morning, maybe if he could still see the moon, but other than that he didn’t care for it. The blaring of the boy’s alarm clock tripped him out of a dream and smacked him into reality. He opened his dark eyes slowly and groaned lightly. It was a lot colder than he’d predicted in his half awake haze, so cold in fact, that he pulled the covers a little tighter over him. There he found warmth and with that warmth came the tugging sensation of slipping away into yet another dream.

It was so tempting to slip back into a peaceful dream, so tempting that he almost had. But Max knew he had to get up. He knew that if he over slept and slept through his parents stirring, that his plans would be foiled. So, with a hint of regret, Max pulled himself out of the oh-so inviting bed. Her slapped his palm to his face and rubbed his eyes, then slipped his palm through his dark hair. Max had a lengthy build, and slouched a lot. In one word he’d be a panther, lean and slouchy and scary-looking.

He had packed the night before; everything that he’d needed was in his backpack. Of course he’d placed a charm on it so big things could fit. Max looked around the room one last time. His room was like an average muggle’s, with white walls and a messy bed and closet. A few muggle sport team’s hung on the wall, and his dresser contained all of his muggle-related memories. He waved goodbye to his room, then slowly shut the door behind him.

Once in the drafty hall way, Max tip-toed down the hallway. If he weren’t intent on running away, today would have been the day that he’d return to Hogwarts: ‘The school for freaks who could do magic’. That’s what he’d always thought. Max wasn’t proud of being a wizard, he wasn’t proud of any of it. In fact he hated his wizard side. Maybe the scent of grilling bacon would fill the halls today if he were normal, maybe he’d walk in after a few more hours of sleeping and see his parents eating cinnamon buns and reading the Muggle News. But he was a Half-Blood, so if he’d waited a few more hours to wake, he’d find himself on a train, being transported away from his safe world.

And so, it was with a heavy heart that he departed from his small house. The outside air was even colder, but a few stars dotted the blue-gold sky still, and the moon still reared its face, even in the daylight. Max always did like this, how you could see the moon in the day, but never the sun in the night. Or maybe it was the other way around. Whatever the philosophy, Max liked it. He took note of that as he walked down the street and too the park.

Zara Collins heaved out a sigh, packing her things into her dark green backpack. Her owl Dexter sat on his perch, tilting his head to the side in an almost impossible angle for any other animal. Zara smiled and chuckled lightly, gently scratching beneath his beak with her thumb. "We can't go to Hogwarts this year boy... Oh how I'll miss it... Won't you?" She asked him quietly, as if he could talk back.
The owl simply replied with a gentle hoot, raising his foot to give it a few nibbles with his pointed beak.
Soon Zara was all packed and ready to go meet her friends. "Go on Dex, fly...And only come to us at night." She whispered and opened the window. The spotted owl flew out eagerly, disappearing above the clouds. Zara sighed again, she absolutely loved that owl.. He'd been a birthday present from her late uncle, who had died three years ago. She was very close to her uncle, and they were almost like brother and sister rather than uncle and niece. 'I just hope nothing bad happens to Dexter on this adventure.' She thought, jumping out of the window.. She sure was thankful her house wasn't very big.

Quickly Zara began to run towards the meeting place, almost stumbling a few times for it was still fairly dark. 'So this is it? No turning back... I'm sure gonna miss school.' She thought.

Maya couldn't help but walk quickly, the small tangle of nerves in her stomach converting into extra energy. She glanced at the roads to check her position, and took a quick left, turning onto Thornberry. Eventually, she slowed, her shoulder beginning to twinge with the constant annoyance of the rucksack. Her footsteps thudded softly as her tennis shoes hit the pavement, the only sound echoing in the early morning air.

She made her way to the small park they were using as a meeting place, remembering once again that she would be the only Slytherin there. Hesitantly, she stood by a creaking swing set, waiting for the others

Luke had been sitting on a low branch in a tree by the park for some time now. Due to lack of sleep he slowly drifted off into a light sleep until he lost his balnce and fell landing with a huff. He mumbled a few curses under his breath and stood up brushing himself off. He sighed putting his arms behind his head looking around at the dark park. Then he stopped someone by the swings and smiled, knowing it had to be one of his friends. he walked out of his little hiding place while walking toward the figure and soon saw that it was that Slytherin girl, Maya. He chuckled seeing that someone actually showed up so far. "Hiya Maya," he said walking casually up to her with a grin.

Zara slowed down as she approached the meeting place. She hoped she wouldn't be late, she wouldn't want them to leave her behind. Panting a little, she changed direction slightly and cut across the street; heading for the park. In the distance she could make out two shapes. 'Good, I'm not late...' She thought, breathing out a faint sigh of relief. Zara took off again, running up to the two as fast as she could with the added weight of her backpack. As she got closer she recognised Luke and Maya. "Hi guys." The Ravenclaw girl greeted, putting one hand up as she bent over puffing and panting.

Ooc: This needs some poking with a stick. I don't want it to die :(

Ana's silent steps hit the pavement, highlighted by the coming out sun. Her pace fast and her face beautified by a slight, tiny smile, a smile of relief that she won't need to walk much further. The breeze hit her face, picking up a few firy red strands and scattered them around her face, or more often than not, in her face. Ana pulled the annoyances further from her eyes in a swift motion. She certainly didn't like the wind and the cold and let out a stereotypically preppy grunt of annoyance. Stupid wind, get out of my face, she thought, but managed to keep her eyes concentrated on what's left of the road.

Hopefully I am doing the right thing, there are people who are still in the school, the teenager thought again, this time with a hint of doubt, regarding all of this. But a voice inside her whispered that it was right, and she prefered to listen to it. Her nonchalant thoughts were interrupted, for a minute, when she stopped by a crossroad. After giving herself a minute to remind herself where is her destination, she started a quick paced walk yet again. What was about twenty minutes felt like a few good hours for the freckled kid, but she had enough patience to go on. Well, she had to go on. She obviously wanted to hide and live, but she had a gut feeling this isn't going to be a guarantee to living.
At the end of the journey the cold got to her enough that she started shivering just a little. Finally being able to see the park with her own eyes rose the excitment in her and it only increased her shaking. After noticing three human figures in the park she began hurrying up and eventually her fast walk turned into a slow run.

"Guys," she spoke before she even approached them, though she had enough common sense to keep quiet. "You're here!" Stating the obvious, she finally stopped her run, meeting her buddies face to face.
"I'm so glad I wasn't late, I wouldn't want to be a burden," she spoke and then chuckled quietly. Her words were unclear. She still needed to catch her break after the run, but she was very glad she was finally here.