Readings ||Open||

[Zeke Harland de Lioncourt]

Zeke liked his time alone. He can catch up to a lot of readings. Right now, he was reading Dorian Gray. Ironicallly, the conquests of sexual acts were too much for his heart right now yet the wondrous usage of vocabulary was enough to spur him unto reading it continuously. He couldn't help but wonder if humans really did feel so sexual in nature. He never was one to go exploring upon the needs of sexuality, choosing rather to explore on intellectual matters. But right now, he was curious at most.

He frowned at the fireplace whose embers were slowly dying and he took a bit of firewood and tossed it in the remaining flames with a flick of his wand. He liked solitary times and he was enjoying in his thoughts immensely when he heard a set of footsteps. Looking up to see who has disturbed his silence, he smiled politely at the person.

[Deleted]

Vanessa hated the times when she was alone with just her thoughts in the castle. She preferred to be with her mates or at least around a group of people, preferably living people. But her dorm room was deserted at this time of day. Instead of sitting on her bed, thinking about the last year she'd spent in hiding with her family or other negative thoughts, she decided to try her luck with going downstairs to the common room to find someone to talk to. She wasn't going any further than that though - she felt particularly lazy today and already had to war with herself over going downstairs.

The common room was empty all except for one familiar face. "Zeke," she said his name, her eyes narrowing in on the book in his hands. It was one she'd yet to read, but then, it didn't seem like a textbook and she hadn't made time to read anything other than those lately. "I'd normally ask if you were bonkers for sitting up here reading, but I'm glad you decided to today. I  was going to go mad sitting alone in the dorm. Lucky I found you," said the blonde, moving closer to stand near the fireplace. It wasn't cold in the room, but the heat from the fire always made her thoughts feel a bit brighter than they were.

[Zeke Harland de Lioncourt]

"Vanessa" he nodded at her, feeling slightly awkward with all his thoughts. She had to add to it right now. He looked at her silhouette against the fireplace and couldn't help but check her out. His gaze roamed around her long curly hair. "I couldn't find another place I could catch up to my readings peacefully and I know this place would be empty" he said in a somewhat lazy, and breathy tone. His eyes moved lower down to her back and to the soft curve below her waist. He was mesmerized and curious how she'd look underneath those clothes.

He coughed and shook himself awake. What the bludgers was he thinking? Stupid, stupid book. "I-Is something the matter" he asked trying to distract his musings.

[Deleted]

Vanessa's gaze lingered on the fire as she listened to the other voice in the room. It brought about a sense of relief for her, dissipating all the thoughts that had previously been swarming like a thousand hornets in her head. "Empty or quiet, it's always one of the two. Was it the same last year," she asked, genuinely curious about what had happened in the year she was absent from school. The positive side of it all, she supposed, was that she'd been allowed to go straight to the year she was meant to be in rather than being held back one, although that meant more schoolwork to do. She felt buried in schoolwork at the moment.

She raised her eyebrows at the question, shifting her gaze from the fireplace to Zeke. "The matter? Let's see," she mused, a smile playing on her lips. "I spent the last year in hiding with my brother and parents, have double the schoolwork, and you still haven't asked me for a date," said the fourth year. She was teasing him; thoughts of dating had been far from her mind lately. "Only joking with you, of course. So, is that a good book," asked Vanessa, nodding her head towards the novel.

[Zeke Harland de Lioncourt]

Zeke squinted his eyes, trying to decipher what she meant before smiling at her slightly, "It always has...Can't say the same for the other Common Rooms" he shrugged thinking of the Gryffindor Common Room and their rowdy students and the noise emitting from it. He missed seeing her around and was worried they wouldn't be in the same year when she came back but he was absolutely happy to see the administration allow her to continue where she left off as if she didn't leave.

He looked up at her and tried as much not to focus on the soft mounds of her chest or the way her lips moved when she spoke or the way her eyes spoke volumes. He focused hard and blinked a couple of times before giving her a rather forced smile and then realizing she was talking about stress and had to stop his smile. The lost smile, however, was short lived when she joked. It was replaced with surprise and then an understanding smile, knowing she was joking. "I'm glad you're back, Vanessa, you haven't really missed much. As for the homework, you were sorted here for a reason and we all know you could handle it. The date CAN be arranged if it involved a trip to the museum and studying the wonders of entomology; just to live up the stereotype of Ravenclaws" he chuckled glad he was momentarily distracted from his ruthless thoughts.

He looked down at his book and felt his cheeks burn, he was around the chapter where Dorian bedded a lot of women; where he starts to corrupt his soul and explores the different natures of man's sexuality. No, he wouldn't want to say that out loud. "It's...uhm...a literary masterpiece laced with much taboo" he spoke slowly.

[Deleted]

Vanessa smiled to herself at the response she received. It was comforting to know that even with all that had happened - all the horrible stuff - the normal daily life around the school had been the same. Or had at least held the same atmosphere, to an extent. "Not for the Gryffindors. Always a rowdy bunch. I suppose the Hufflepuffs have knitting circles," she joked, having always pictured the Hufflepuff common as something like a living room that had been designed by a grandmother, with rocking chairs.

"Everyone says that. It's true that I can catch up. When it comes to actually doing all the work though I'm as lazy as they come. All I can think of is how I'm missing out on doing something that doesn't involve reading about giant wars," confessed the blonde. She felt bad for not being motivated to finish all the schoolwork from the previous year when she'd been given the chance to come back to Hogwarts and stay in the same year with the class she'd entered the school with. But then, sometimes she didn't care at all that she still had two weeks worth of fourth year assignments, including one ten page essay, and very little time to finish them.

She laughed at his suggestion for the location of a date. "What girl doesn't love a museum? I'd prefer a conversation on anatomy, however," she replied, glad that she was able to share times of fun banter with Zeke once again. She glanced at the book in his hand once more when he mentioned the word taboo and then towards his flushed cheeks before she said, "Taboo? It must be very hot and heavy to make you turn fifty shades of red."