6:45 PMish

Halfway through dinner, the rain had stopped. The clouds revealed that it was only temporary, and now was his chance. Zel took the opportunity to put on some sweats and go running. Tomorrow he wouldn’t be able to do his daily exercise routine—he would be leaving ror the ministry in the morning, to be put in a protective cell. It only made sense—as he was growing and his metabolism was changing, it was difficult to tell how high of a dose of wolfsbane potion he needed. If he took too much, he’d be poisoned. If he took too little, it wouldn’t be as effective as usual.

So tonight was his last night of freedom. He was mentally exhausted, irritable, grumpy, and feeling all around crappy. At the same time, Zel felt like he could participate in a triathlon without breaking a sweat. He absolutely needed to be active. He didn’t attend classes—his mind just wasn’t into it. Luckily, werewolves were excused the day of, before, and after the full moon. Right now, Zel needed time to run until he was physically tired enough to sleep through the night. He was a restless sleeper in the week before the full moon, and exercise helped.

Zel was taking his normal route—around the lake, and then close to the edge of the forbidden forest.

He was surprised to see two other students there. Ji-Hyun, a fellow sixth year Hufflepuff and… Ugh. Theo Whitman.
To say that Zel disliked Theo Whitman was an understatement. Ever since their first year, that guy had been antagonizing Zel, breaking his things, and participating in all sorts of petty bullying behavior towards him. There was never any proof, and Zel was just ashamed enough about it to never mention it. Tonight though, it bothered him more than usual.

“Is…” He looked at Ji-Hyun. She didn’t look outright uncomfortable, but Zel couldn’t tell quite yet. “Is everything alright?”

As they walked, Ji-Hyun carried the conversation. It was something that she had a talent for, although it did tend to slip from what could accurately be called conversation and into Ji-Hyun talking at an increasingly glassy-eyed peer, aware that she was boring them but too nervous to stop, instead rushing on and on until she drew in a breath and they mercifully interrupted.

Theo was nice and stopped it from getting to that point. It was a relief, because if possible, she was worse about talking too much around him. It was actually a little embarrassing, even though he was always very nice about it and said he didn’t mind, she thought it was probably because he was being polite. Unlike her, because he was talking now and she had no idea what he was talking about. Reluctant to cut across him, she stared up and tried to work out why he was talking about Grindelwald. “Uh, Theo,” she started, “sorry, I don’t – what were we talking about?” It wasn’t even the first time she’d asked him that. “Sorry.”

Before she could be reminded, however, Ji-Hyun caught sight of a fellow student. It was only because she’d been so intent on Theo that she hadn’t noticed them earlier, and by now, they were within yelling distance. “Zel!” she called happily, waving an arm enthusiastically in greeting and changing track to approach her housemate, shadowed by the Slytherin.

“Is… Is everything alright?”

Ji-Hyun frowned, confused at the question. It was perfectly normal to ask people if they were okay, though, even if she had seen Zel earlier that day in classes. “Of course!” she promised, “Um, I know I missed supper but it’s okay because Theo got extra food from the kitchens.” She paused, aware that her answer didn’t quite meet the mark, and looked across to her companion nervously.

He was smiling. Reassured a little – she hadn’t put her foot in it yet – she smiled back, although it was a weak attempt at a smile, turning back to Zel to explain, “Theo wanted to show me something. Why are you out here? Not that you shouldn't be! I was just curious."

With a faint smile, Theo listened as Ji-Hyun spoke, her ramblings of all and sundry found much more palatable than the usual drivel perpetuated by their classmates. There was a charming quality to it, oddly enough (or perhaps not so oddly, as he glanced at her every so often); he supposed (though not unkindly) much it of it were the earnest looks and enthusiasm. They made it easy to let oneself be taken into it—convenient, even, to be kind, or at least perform the little things one may perceive as kindnesses.

Not that it was particularly difficult, however. In fact, Ji-Hyun made some things very easy.

Listening intently (certainly far more intently than most would credit him for, at any rate), Theo smiled and nodded at turns—decidedly not laughing, as others might have, though he wanted to, and carefully keeping her on track when necessary. He neither laughed nor sighed, either, when it became clear she’d lost track of the conversation; if anything, there was a curious urge to take her hand.

His hand curled into a fist instead, albeit loosely. The ground was still slippery from the rain, after all.

It did, however, come back a little more strongly than before, when she suddenly veered off into another direction– one that drew her away from him, and even more so when the reason became apparent: Trumble.

Theo smiled; he could think of better reasons to allow oneself to be so easily distracted—a slugworm, perhaps, or a simple carcass, for either possessed more scientific value. His carcass would possess more value (more so, because at least there could be a pelt). Trailing closely behind her– longer legs allowing him to catch up with her easily –the Slytherin followed, his strides long but measured on the wet, slippery ground.

At her choice of words his polite smile grew in amusement, and he ducked his head as if bashful—guilty. “Perhaps he’s merely restless,” he suggested lightly. He met the werewolf’s look head on, his own concerned and friendly. “A walk can help anyone. But I’m sure you’ll feel better come morning.”

“Theo wanted to show me something. Why are you out here? Not that you shouldn't be! I was just curious."

That seemed to be a strange, and rather.. Suspicious answer. Zel wasn’t going to think much of it, until she looked at Whitman with an expression that was all too familiar to him. Zel was chronically anxious. He’d have to be completely oblivious to the feelings of others not to recognize nervousness when he saw it. “I’m just, running. Like I usually do.” He didn’t usually run during dinner, but he wasn’t exactly in the mood to be surrounded by people. Besides, he doubted he could hold any sort of food down at the moment.

“A walk can help anyone. But I’m sure you’ll feel better come morning.”

The expression on Zel’s face was nothing short of incredulous. His cheeks and ears began to burn and feel heavy, and he knew that his skin must’ve been red and blotchy. Was Theo poking fun at him, or was he being intentionally offensive? The full moon was tomorrow, and he was going to feel worse until he recovered from his transformation. That usually took a couple days. He stared at Theo in the eye. “Ji-Hyun, are you sure nothing is going on? I mean. If you want him to stop bothering you… It’s okay to ask him to go away.”

But what if she had already asked him to? And he didn't respect that? Zelig let out a breath and broke eye contact with the Slytherin to study his housemate's expression. Was she okay? He was confident she could handle things on her own, but sometimes it was easier if there was support.

She frowned at that, aware from personal experience that saying things that alluded to Zel being a werewolf were generally – well, it wasn’t good to mention it, even if you were just curious. But he didn’t say anything about it, and Ji-Hyun managed a hopeful smile. It couldn’t be easy, suddenly being a werewolf, especially because some people were so prejudiced against them, so it made sense that he didn’t like to talk about it. She wouldn’t, if it were her, and she still felt ashamed that she hadn’t been more sensitive about it before.

Her relief that they wouldn’t be dwelling on that disappeared at the new topic, replaced by confusion. What on earth was Zel talking about? “If I want him to stop bothering me?” It wasn’t an idea that had ever crossed Ji-Hyun’s mind, Theo never bothered her, even if sometimes she was flustered when he got a little closer than expected, that wasn’t his fault at all and if she really didn’t like it, she would ask him to stop. If anything, she would have said that she was the bother – Theo was always helping her, appearing at just the right moment and making sure that she didn’t mess up. But why was he staring at Theo, if he was talking to her?

She wasn’t sure what she should say, or even what the problem was, but his questions made her feel like there should be one. “I, we were just going for a walk,” she explained, the guilt she was feeling seeping into her tone. It didn’t sound convincing at all, “I didn’t want to interrupt the meal by arriving late.” It was always embarrassing when she arrived after everyone else, conscious of the eyes that tracked her path to her seat, even if everyone forgot about it afterwards, "I didn't want to bother anyone."