It's night, okay? past curfew, blah blah. 6th year boy's dorm.

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Zel had just gotten back from prefect rounds—and it was fairly late, though there wre plenty of people who were still gathered in the common room. A side effect of finals coming up. He sat down on the edge of his bed and kicked off his shoes and shoved them under his bed, wiggling his toes from underneath his socks with lobsters on them. If one looked closely, they would see that the lobsters occasionally snapped their claws. They were the werewolf’s favorite pair, and his love for them rivalled his fondness for his rather hideous cat sweater.

His dormroom was… Fairly empty. Neither a good thing or a bad thing. Zel actually liked most of his dormmates,  especially Micah and Figaro.  And the former was currently sitting on his bed, reading some sort of textbook like a responsible NEWT student. Or so Zel assumed, as there was a book on his lap—oh, nevermind.

Micah closed the book and reached under his bed and…

Pulled out a potted plant. What even…?

Zel gawked. “Oi, mate—" He cleared his throat, feeling like he was interrupting some sort of romantic moment between the leafy green thing and the Hufflepuff. On second thought, Zel didn’t want to comment on the plant. But it was too late. He had Micah’s focus.

“So.” He looked down at his hands, remembering a few things that his dear friend Verity had mentioned about his dormmate. “…. Sooooo.” The werewolf cleared his throat again.

 “Verity, eh?” Way to be vague, Zelig.

Micah stared at Zel. And promptly turned a deep, impossible shade of red.

Earlier that day– week, even– Micah had gone about his business the way he usually did, every day: classes, hanging out with his friends, napping, studying, (napping) visiting the greenhouses, nightly kitchen raids with his fellow Hufflepuffs (napping)... As far as routines went, his was, maybe, a little boring. But it was comfortable, and okay, and got the things important to him done, so who cared if it was?

Some, probably. But none of them were Micah, and he was okay, really okay with that. Excitement was– it wasn’t for everyone. He was more than happy enough to let it pass him by, find someone who’d welcome it more gladly. Him? He didn’t know what he wanted to do, after Hogwarts, but being able to spend the rest of his days knee-deep in dirt, green things growing around him, and napping the rest of them away…

And then one night, a little over a week ago, the boy had found himself in the kitchens alone with Verity, the other, prettier half of the Hufflepuff prefects. It wasn’t– it hadn’t been like that (not that it would), just a lesson in cheese carving (cheese carving) and getting to know a good friend of his friends better, but–

For some reason just thinking about it made his face heat to the sun and back, palms sweat and heart beat a little faster, something like embarrassment but not quite settling beneath his skin. And it didn’t make any sense because they hadn’t– they were just– it was just cheese!

Micah’s fingers tightened around the bulk of his plant, too frozen to do anything except stare.

“…?” he articulated hopelessly.

Shit, this was awkward.

With a curt nod, Zel motioned sharply towards the potted plant. "That's a cute shrub." Face flushed, he stood up and stared down at Micah without actually looking at Micah.  Then he pretended to look into the distance, as if Micah wasn't actually who he was talking to.

This wasn't going to work.

Zel  mumbled something about going to the bathroom, and left the dorm, leaving behind a cloud of awkward shame.