[center][img]http://txt-dynamic.static.1001fonts.net/txt/dHRmLjQ0LmI1MDMwMy5XbVZyWlNCU2IzZHNaUSwsLjAA/vtks-vacancy.regular.png[/img]

[img]http://i.imgur.com/IfskrjV.gif[/img][/center][b][u]Location:[/u][/b] Train/Great Hall
[b][u]Interacting With:[/u][/b] Ophelia ([@PhunkyPhoebe]); Charles ([@WittyWolf])[hr][hr]
When the train slowed to a stop, Zeke felt his heart lurch forward. [i][color=f26522]Just the momentum[/color][/i], he told himself as anticipation drummed through his veins, a numbing morphine that made his tongue feel thick and dense in his mouth.

Hogwarts was within view from the train, and in the moonlight Zeke didn't think it had looked any better, any more grandiose. He slid open the windows and leaned his torso out. Whimsically, he gazed over its candle-lit windows and stone walls that promised a warm first night. [color=f26522]"Didn't think I would miss it over the summer,"[/color] Zeke said, looking back over to Ophelia. There was a muted glow in his eyes. [color=f26522]"Probably just need the homework to - [b]oh buggering [i]shit[/i][/b]."[/color]

With a flutter of wings and one launch from his shoulder, Kymmen cawed and flew out through the window. Zeke made a grab for the bird, but Kymmen burst ahead in inky windswept feathers. Soaring over the heads of students meandering in a stream towards the castle, Kymmen flapped his wings and glided smoothly with them while Zeke watched, a frown deeply-set on his face. At least he knew which direction to head in. Hogsmeade was not a pleasant place to go looking for pitch-black birds. Zeke seized his trunk and Kymmen's wire cage, and flung them both out the window, before heaving himself after them. Squeezing through the frame he rolled heels over head and landed on the damp earth beneath him. Wasting no time, Zeke jumped back to his feet, dusting his jeans and robes off, before grabbing his possessions. [color=f26522]“See you in the Hall, Ophelia!”[/color] he called over his shoulder. [color=f26522]“I’ve got to go after that damned bird!”[/color]

Lugging luggage and cage in tow, Zeke elbowed his way by students who seemed to be content trudging at the pace of a bogey. Indignant [i]oomphs[/i] and [i]heys[/i] were left in his wake, but no second glance was cast their way. 

Zeke had tossed his things into the arms of a bewildered man standing sentry in the middle of a growing pile of belongings, when he glimpsed the midnight wings of his raven swooping around a corner. Panting hard, Zeke swept his fringe out of his eyes. That was the way to the rookery. So Kymmen did know where to go, Merlin’s beard. 

By the time Zeke got settled in the Great Hall, the tables were a thriving mass of heads and arms bobbing and reaching to graze the food, heaped upon platters and platters. The aroma was heavenly, and Zeke felt himself buoyed along to the Slytherin table, where he seated himself in a spot that wasn’t crowded with warm bodies. While the Sorting was carried out, Zeke gathered himself for a solo dinner, flaring his hair a brilliant emerald once for a pipsqueak of a girl who joined their ranks. She glanced his way, attention drawn by the act of solidarity, and perhaps meant to smile toothily at him. But the grin withered impressively when met with cold eyes and a scowl.

It was a poor habit; Zeke’s mannerisms grew atrocious when by himself. But it kept nosy people away, and enthused first-years with the complex of a puppy at bay. 

Settling into the comfort of a slouch, Zeke poked at his dinner-plate, sifting foodstuffs aside absent-mindedly. His eyes panned over the Great Hall, and he caught a raucous cheer from the Gryffindor table. Entertaining to listen to, but thoughts about the ball to come precipitated slowly in his mind. A grimace rippled across his face, appearing and disappearing seamlessly like the heaving roll of a wave. He would have to dig up some formal wear, or perhaps just not go.

Suddenly, there were noises of a body moving closer to him. Zeke looked up just in time to see Charles Kemp sliding to place near him. Zeke’s eyes raked over the sixth-year for a moment, while Charles greeted him.

The boy might be the furthest thing from good news in the school, but he wasn’t hexing Zeke over dinner at the moment, so he offered a lopsided smile, and sat up. [color=f26522]“Sparingly little,”[/color] he answered. [color=f26522]“Summer was uneventful.”[/color] Kemp didn’t seem like one to strike up unheralded conversation, but it was courteous of him, and he was part of the family Zeke had in Hogwarts. Nonetheless, puzzlement festered while Zeke continued conversation. Spearing a piece of pork on the end of his fork, Zeke returned the question. [color=f26522]“Yourself?”[/color]