we'll always be friends (( zac ))

[HANNAH MARION WALSH]

hannah shifted the bag on her shoulder, moving to place it higher so as to avoid it slipped off entirely. damn why did she have to carry so much stuff? it was as though she had a darned brick in her bag. she didn't get why it was so heavy, she only had her parchments, a few quills and ink pots and her wand. maybe someone had played a trick on her to make it feel heavier, it was the kind of thing they'd do. people seemed to enjoy taunting her and such, not that she had much power to retaliate or anything, she just tried to ignore it as best she could. she was a pacifist at heart, always had been and always would be, no matter how she was bullied, she would never fight back. it wasn't part of her nature to be violent in any way, even if someone did wrong by her first, even in defence sometimes she wouldn't fight back, just throw protego and hope for the best.

she wasn't late to anything, actually she was pretty much killing time right now. she didn't have classes this morning, so she'd decided to grab her stuff and head for the library for a few hours to work peacefully. she often got a little distracted if she tried to work in the common room; not that she had much to do right now anyway but at least it was finished. it hadn't taken as long as she'd thought to sort out and now she had another hour to kill with nobody to hang out with. she didn't mind being alone, she didn't exactly have a lot of friends and so being alone wasn't a first this term by far. sometimes it sucked, she was a people person and she enjoyed hanging out with friends and chatting and all, but then again sometimes it was kinda nice....sometimes.

she was just heading for the stairwell when it happened. she didn't know what caused it, maybe a loose bit of carpet catching her foot, maybe her own foot catching her foot...most likely a tripping jinx but she couldn't be certain. suddenly she was flying forwards, sprawling across the hallway floor with a painful thud. she winced, made a noise of pain for a second. her bag split open on impact and everything went everywhere. she lay still for a moment, assessing damage. she hadn't broken anything but a quill or two, just bruised, and she made to push herself back up and try to start gathering her stuff together again...

[ZACHARIAH LENNY TRACY]

zac was living the type of life most kids from his background could only dream of. those dreams generally faded at around the time his had come true. magic, unicorns, flying broomsticks and castles, the fantastical world he lived in... it had been a thing of his dreams when he was younger. sleep time stories that played out in his head and left the little boy waking satisfied and happy. they had been awesome dreams... living in a castle as big as this one, where ghosts roamed the halls and anything was possible? it was the most amazing lifestyle to imagine... and then one day his letter had arrived and he'd been whisked off to this amazing castle to live in, not just visit, but live in for ten months out of every year. it was awesome.

of course zac would take advantage of the castle and its many winding hallways. since his first day at the school he'd explored. no matter how many times he wandered through the same hallways there was always something new and awesome to see, whether it was in the changing stairs or the moving paintings. he could never tire of the paintings... he could look at the same one a hundred times and never see the same scene or the same positioning twice. the best things were the conversations. he could stand by a painting and chat with the figures within within for hours. they'd seen far more than he had, and always had great stories to tell.

he was wandering along the fourth floor, not having any classes for an hour. his schedule was usually packed tight, but an explosion in the potions classroom in the last class had caused a putrid smell to spread throughout the dungeons. professor lesedi, who was one of the youngest teachers at the school and one of the most easy going as far as zac could tell, had declared that the class had worked hard enough the day before and could sacrifice a day of class for some free time. of course the class had scattered, enjoying their time of freedom, and zac had headed straight to the fourth floor where he'd found an awesome painting of a centaur the week earlier that he'd never noticed before. he was wondering what a conversation with such a majestic creature might be like... how better to figure out than a painting of one? ...okay, so there were better ways, but this was the only one that didn't involve venturing to the middle of a creepy dark forest.

on his way to the centaur painting a crash and a small cry of pain distracted zac, making him veer off from his course to turn a corner and see a familiar petite form sprawled out on the ground amid books, parchment, and quill. he was already on his way closer to her when she began to move and collect her stuff, a small grin on his lips. "better be careful around floors, hanhan," he chuckled, kneeling down beside her and automatically beginning to gather the scattered papers directly around him. "they're the one thing that doesn't change from the muggle world. they always like to rise up and trip you."

[HANNAH MARION WALSH]

perhaps if she'd been paying a little more attention she might not have tripped - then again if it'd been a tripping jinx she'd never have seen it coming...those darned tricksters were always out to get unsuspecting people ..usually puffs too..like her. still, she couldn't help but silently reprimand herself for allowing her to get so absorbed in her thoughts as she had been whilst wandering the corridors. that was how bullies ambushed you, or you painfully and embarrassingly walked into things...like walls or people. she'd done that a couple of times too much to her shame ... and she wasn't keen on demonstrating it or the effects it had on yourself and the surrounding laughing masses again..alone or not right now. still if louis weasley hadn't been on her mind for the 100th time that day it had to be recognised..then maybe she wouldn't have tripped.

still who could blame her for having the cute fellow fifth year hufflepuff on the forefront of her mind again? he was sweet, cute, charming, honest, with those blonde locks of him and incredibly gentle, dreamy eyes...and...she jumped a smile when she heard someone talk, not having heard the footsteps due to, yet again, veering off thought about her current crush. not that she'd have many crushes over the years - one or two, one that had only ever actually gotten her anywhere, and she didn't know if this crush would head somewhere or not besides friends yet..but hey a girl could dream right? oh yes someone had said something..and blinking, coming out of her reverie to realise she had a book in hand and had been sitting there staring into space for several minutes no doubt, she tried to recall the words spoken as she shook herself back to the present and met a pair of incredibly familiar eyes.

"better be careful around floors, hanhan," ah, even if she hadn't looked up into zac's familiar face she would have recognisable that nickname anyway and she grinned widely at her ex boyfriend and now good friend, glad as he knelt to help her out rather than some slytherin who probably would have taken the time to destroy the books, crush the quills, and kick the ink pots down the damn stairs. "they're the one thing that doesn't change from the muggle world. they always like to rise up and trip you." she smiled, wow it'd been ages since she'd spoken or seen zac and by heaven she'd missed his humour. "and hey to you too zac," she teased slightly with a grin and shoved the last of the stuff back in a newly repaired bag. "thanks... but you're right.. darned stairs huh?" she smiled again and made to stand, brushing herself off as she looked at him. "anyway how've you been?" she asked, eager to slip into conversation with her friend.