Curiosity and Other Misfortunes- Z.S.

Two.

It's when Will sees him two days after the bathroom incident the signs he was looking for in Zacharias become prominent.

It's a Saturday and only two weeks before Christmas when Will sits on a concrete bench in the courtyard, the sleeves of his cream-colored sweater that have frayed from age snagging on it's uneven, jagged edges.

His childhood friend, Anastasia, laid out on the ground by his feet on a blue-colored patchwork quilt she no doubt received from her mother. Straight dark hair hanging just above her shoulders, conjuring a flock of silver hummingbirds that circle her head like a crown.

Will watches, they laugh together in the way they have so many times before, when his eyes glance up for half a second and he sees what his mind has been searching his mind for those restless nights.

On the other side of the courtyard stands Zacharias with his friends. One of them looks to be telling a story, Will notices he's a hand talker. Those people who when they speak, the hand motions they make along with the words end up being funnier than the story itself.

He edges the middle of his story as the group bursts into a fit of laughter, Zacharias included, but Will notices it dosen't quite meet his eyes and his smile is the first to leave. As they resume their story after the brief interruption, Zacharias' eyes drift over to where Will sits.

They maintain eye contact for less than a minute but to Will it seems as though the world has stopped turning on it's axis.

Of course Will can admit he's attractive, anyone with eyes could tell him that. The kind of beauty that changes atmospheres and uplifts moods.

Will is the first to break eye contact, but only with the help of Anastasia's leg nudging his own.

"Do you two know each other?" she asks, curious.

Will opens his mouth, closes it.

"Not really," he answers, "We just had a run in a couple days ago."

"A run in?," Anastasia asks, quirking an interested brow.

Will's about to explain when certain memories come to mind, driven by Anastasia's question.

I would much appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone about this.

Of course, not.

"Yeah," Will says, tone flat that tells her he will not be elaborating any more on the matter.

Anastasia eyes him suspiciously but decides to let the matter drop, and moves toward a new topic.

"Are we still on for Hogsmeade with McKenzie tomorrow? It's the last trip before we leave for the holidays," Anastasia asks as she shifts herself to where she is now sitting up and facing him.

McKenzie, the last piece of their small friend group. The three of them had been friends ever since second year when McGonagall grouped them together in a project for Transfiguration and they managed to be the first group to turn their frog successfully into a goblet first try without the stray eyeball or limb like many of their other classmates.

"Yes," Will answers, offering her a small smile. "Yes we are."

Will approaches the greenhouse and wipes off the inches of snow coating the door handle with an almost giddy feeling in his chest.

Last spring he had went foraging for Asphodel, one of his favorite plants, along the tree line of the Forbidden Forest. It only occured to him that he should grow his own by propagation from the parent stock he found when he returned back to the Hufflepuff common room a couple hours later with tiny bite marks covering his hands when he reached into the home of very angry and threatened Bowtruckles.