First Day
Ezekiel didn’t sleep well. To be fair, he never truly did. He rolled out of bed, quite literally, and face-planted onto the floor. He groaned and sat up, grabbing his glasses from the nightstand, and crawled over to the wardrobe. Ezekiel squinted at the blur of clothes when he threw open the wardrobe’s doors, his eyes hadn’t adjusted to the light just yet. He felt around in his wardrobe for his turtleneck and uniform.
Once he found them, he stood and made his way into the bathroom, making sure to grab the bags with his toiletries and jewelry in them.
The water in the shower was warm, a little too warm. Still, he turned the handle and felt his skin burn. He ran his fingers through his hair as he washed it, making sure he got every inch.
Ezekiel, after a long and hot shower, stopped the water and dried off, wrapping his hair in the towel. He took his hair down and made sure it was dry. Ezekiel got dressed, pacing around as he did so, and looked at himself in the mirror
My scar is still there. Well, obviously. Ezekiel scratched at where the claw marks met with his jawline and grumbled to himself about “damn magic scars” and being “half blind ‘cause of you.”
One glance at his hair and he knew he’d be stuck brushing it for a few minutes. Eldritch winced as he brushed through the tangles and matted hair. He decided to braid his hair and grabbed two rubber bands. Ezekiel worked methodically with his hair until the braid reached a satisfactory length, then he pulled both rubber bands around the loose hair at the end.
Ezekiel dug through his jewelry bag and took out his star earrings, a globe necklace, and a plain black ring. He studied himself in the mirror and huffed, walking out of the bathroom and to the desk. He looked at the timetable and decided he would forget what house was what and ended up coloring what house he had each class with their correct colors.
“Transfiguration at 9 with blue-ones… Transfiguration again? Why do I need it twice?” Ezekiel muttered to himself as he grabbed the satchel that had all of his necessary supplies in it and walked out of his dormitory. He climbed down the stairs into the common room and noticed it was empty, but the fire was still blazing strongly. Ezekiel swallowed hard at the lump that formed in his throat upon seeing the fire and continued his way out the door.
He ended up wandering around the castle with no goal exactly in mind. As he walked the endless hallways, Ezekiel ran his right hand along the wall and felt each small crevice and crack. He decided he would keep to the right wall until he was satisfied where he found himself.
“I wonder if any of th’ others are up,” he said to himself as he turned another corner. Ezekiel started to hum his favorite song, Strawberry Fields Forever . He couldn’t describe the song in any way other than it was magical. Eldritch got so lost humming the song, he didn’t even realize when he had stumbled into the Great Hall.
“Ezekiel! Where have you been? We’ve all been sitting here waiting for you!” Potter fussed about, making sure Ezekiel got food, once he made it to the long table.
“I dunno. I’ve jus’ been walkin’ ‘round, y’know?”
“What do you mean you’ve been walking around?” James asked, furiously running his hands through his hair. “Did you even look at the schedule?”
“‘Course I did… D’ya have that li’le faith in me? I’m hurt, Potter,” Ezekiel put the back of his hand to his head and dramatically leaned onto Peter, who sat next to him. Black, as if on cue, changed the topic of the conversation and talked about quidditch with Potter, Peter piping in when he saw fit.
Ezekiel groaned and continued to nibble at the sausage. He usually cooked his own food, so at least it was nice to get a break from having to do that.
“Not a fan of quidditch, either?” Lupin mumbled and glanced over to him before focusing on his food again.
“No. I jus’ find it so much more borin’ than rugby or football. I mean, you can hardly see what’s happenin’ if you don’ ‘ave binoculars. Sure there’s someone describin’ what’s happening, but it’s not the same as seein’ it for yourself.”
“Have you been to a game before?”
“Once, with my mother and father. Decided I hated it and stayed home for the rest of the season. You?”
“No, I just don’t like the sound of being that high up with a chance to get knocked down,” he huffed a small laugh and looked at Ezekiel, who nodded in sympathy. The conversation ended in a nice understandment of being afraid of heights between the two as they tried to drown out the other’s talking.
***
“Eldritch! Did you copy down anything she said?” Peter asked after they exited Professor McGonagall’s classroom after being in there for a little more than an hour.
“Oh, yeah. You wan’ ta copy?”
“Yes, please! I couldn’t keep up with her,” he confessed as they climbed the stairs to their next class, History of Magic.
As it turns out, History of Magic is Ezekiel’s favorite. And Black’s least favorite, as they all find out as he complained the whole way to lunch at twelve o’clock sharp.
“History of any kind is just so boring ,” he sighed for about the fifth time.
“So we’ve heard,” Lupin raised an eyebrow. Black groaned as the boys laughed, the conversation flowing nicely as they all ate.
It’s quite nice to have someone to talk to in school. I guess the only ones I used to talk to were from summer classes… Ezekiel smiled to himself, remembering back to the art class he had signed up for a few years back and had attended since.
“Alright, Eldritch?” Lupin turned his head slightly towards him. “You that happy to eat?”
“Oh! Yeah, ‘m good. Jus’ thinkin’ ‘bout somethin’ is all.”
Lunch ended and the different houses made their ways to their respective classes, leaving the Gryffindors and Slytherins stuck together for both Potions and Defense Against the Dark Arts.
Why is this professor attractive? was Ezekiel’s first thought when stepping into the two o’clock class after Potions. The professor, who they all learned was Professor Onyx, was attractive, and it seemed it wasn’t only Ezekiel who thought so. Mary and Marlene, along with a few other girls, were currently passing notes as Professor Onyx carried on with his lesson, pretending not to notice their giggles.
The lesson ended with Ezekiel confused and in a daze as he and his friends found their way to Charms, Potter having to grab his arm and direct him the right way multiple times.
Ezekiel quickly snapped out of whatever haze he was in when a feather was placed in front of him with the expectation to make it float. And, after many attempts and a few laughs, the feather floated high in the air.
The class ended with Professor Flitwick gathering all of the feathers and congratulating all of the students that managed to make theirs float and reassuring the ones that didn’t that there’s always next time.
“What class is next? I hope it’s something fun…” Pettigrew slumped his shoulders as he walked.
“Uh, Astronomy. That’s, like, stars and stuff. Plus, the classroom’s all the way up a tower,” Potter replied, leading the group through the castle. Ezekiel and Lupin were at the back of the group and were quietly talking amongst themselves when someone shouldered Ezekiel.
“Mudblood freak!” they whispered as they passed him. Ezekiel momentarily turned and watched them, along with a little posse, walk away before catching up with his friends.
“Hey, you alright?” Lupin asked quietly, making sure the three in the front didn’t hear.
“I… Yeah. Guess I jus’ didn’ expect ta be called out on the firs’ day, y’know?”
“I get that. Happened to me earlier on my way to breakfast. Don’t let it get to ya.”
“I won’. I don’ even care ‘bout blood status.”
***
The Great Hall was bustling with students, all either stuffing their mouths or talking loudly with their friends. Eldritch, however, didn’t do much of either.
“You don’t want any more?” Potter asked after he saw him put his head down.
“Nah. Not hungry.”
The conversation continued with laughter and smiles. Ezekiel wasn’t paying much attention and let his mind drift back to his hometown and old school.
As dinner ended and everyone followed their prefects to their common rooms, the small group of boys continued to talk.
“Eldritch, sleep in our room tonight. We’re going to plan pranks,” Black smirked.
“ And get to know each other since we haven’t really known one another for long,” Potter added, clearly the only one that knows how making friends works.
“That too, but mostly coming up with pranks.”
***
Ezekiel had just finished getting ready for bed and had grabbed a pillow when there was a knock on the door.
“Come in!” he half yelled as he grabbed a blanket.
“Are you nearly done? We’ve been waiting for you for ages…” it was Pettigrew. Ezekiel assumed the other boys were quick to rule him as the errand boy.
“I’m done,” he turned and smiled. Once they both entered the other dormitory, it was clear whose bed belonged to who.
“There you are! Nearly died from the wait!” Potter grinned and was currently laying on his back with his head hanging off his bed, his face red.
Lupin threw a pillow at him. “Stop lying down like that, it isn’t good for your already small brain.”
“Excuse me?”
“You’re excused,” Lupin said, maintaining eye contact with Potter.
“Alrigh’, calm down. Isn’ this s’possed to be fun?” Eldritch interrupted and sat down on the floor.
“We have beds to sit on, you know,” Pettigrew said, but joined him on the floor anyway along with the other boys.
“I like sittin’ on the floor though. Much more comfortable. Anywho, what’re we doin’ tonight?”
“Uhm, how about truth or dare? I know it’s a silly game, but it’s fun sometimes,” Lupin suggested quietly, as though the thought of them saying no would break him.
“Hey, that’s not a bad idea! Who wants to go first?” Ezekiel smiled.
“Well, I would if I knew what game this is,” Black had a confused look on his face and looked at the two half-bloods like they were insane.
“Right, so… Basically, you ask someone “truth or dare” and if they pick truth, you ask them something and they have to answer without lying. And if they pick dare, you give them something to do and they have to,” Lupin explained, looking at their faces to see if he lost them or not.
“I suggest, since we don’ know each other that well, that we are allowed to skip truths or dares if we are uncomfortable doin’ or answerin’ them,” Ezekiel added, getting nods from the rest.
“I’ll go first then. Potter, truth or dare?” Black asked.
“Truth, I’m scared you’ll do something bad for dare.”
“Do you fancy anyone currently or has anyone caught your eye?”
“Uhm, well sort of. There is a girl I think is pretty,” he smiled and ran his hand through his hair.
“Tell us, would you?” Black insisted.
“Hey, no! That wasn’t part of the question!” The silly game continued all night, the room filled with laughter and small whispers as the night went on.
Ezekiel was the first to go to sleep, on the floor of course, painfully aware of how early he was going to get up in the morning. He wasn’t sure how late the other boys stayed up, but he did seem to notice the arm that found its way around him as he slept.