It seemed she understood, they were on the same page. He held his position as she changed hers, swinging up to sit on top of the bar. They were pretty much eye level now, and to make things easier for himself he swung a leg out to his opposite side to get himself on top of the bar so he could sit beside her.

And those were very good and reasonable points, which actually made him feel almost guilty. He hadn't spent much time with her this term, yet, but he had his reasons. Nothing seemed to go very well at the beginning of the term, save for perhaps the first night.. everything after that he'd be only too happy to forget. "Yeah, sorry about that... I wasn't in a social mood." He'd have elaborated further, but there wasn't much to tell. How was she though? Was she okay? She looked just fine but he was never very good at telling these things for certain, girls were weird. It wasn't their fault either, it was just the way they were... built? "How've you been anyway?" he questioned, "anything new?"

But then she went and said THAT.

Uh... no.

Nope.

"Getting on a bar is one thing, Miss Lynch, actually manoeuvring this space using the bars is a completely different thing." Legit. They were ON the obstacle, but hadn't done much with it. "Suppose we can swing our way to the foam pit though." A nice little crash landing. Heh.

Though she didn't seem to mind things, he still felt a little guilty. BUT, there was no time like the present to make up for his absence... he'd be a better friend. Regarding his less than social mood, he hadn't realised it had been so obvious to others, though he guessed it did make sense. So when Hady responded with an 'I know', he didn't think much more about it.

Her news was super exciting though, and Zeke couldn't help but GRIN. London was all sorts of wonderful. "Well good luck, I hope he gets it, and that you like it," he wished he was moving back to London, though at least he was sure he could talk Emily and Gavin into spending more time there in the following summer, he'd be able to find some sort of excuse for it, even if he had to pretend to go to a bogus extension learning course or something.

At her admission of making new friends, Zeke leant backward on the bar, his legs extended out in front of him so as to keep some balance and stop from toppling right over. Interesting. Making new friends was cool, though he would never call Dante a NEW friend. "Dante's awesome," he announced his approval, "what animals did you pick?" He still hadn't done his task yet, but he would... he had it ready to go.

He sat up straight again, a smirk slowly lifting the corners of his lips. "I sure can," he replied, though there was a degree of individualism as far as technique went. "How's your upper body strength?" His wasn't too bad now that he'd had plenty of practice at it, still had his moments though.

Did he like London? Heck yes he liked London! It had been more of a home to him than Birmingham had ever been, though he couldn't complain too much about Prague, it was neat in its own ways, he just missed the familiarity of England and the fact that the English language was far more accessible to him than Czech or French. "I'm something of a fan," he confirmed despite her knowing full well how he felt about the city. "I keep hoping we might move back, but it seems unlikely." There was always graduation though... or even when he turned of age - not that it'd be worthwhile, he'd still be here for school most of the year anyway.

The invitation though, now that was something he couldn't say no to. "I'm totally up for it, that is, if your dad's cool with it." Emily could be persuaded, that wouldn't be a problem. So long as she had a stomach full of sweet pastries then promises of ALL the O.W.L's would suffice to get him what he wanted.

...

And now... that seemed strange. Hady didn't really know Dante? Really? "He's your House mate, how do you not know him?" like, know him WELL. It wasn't as if he'd recently transferred or anything. Huh. Odd. Maybe it was a Slytherin thing? The potions task was weighing on him a bit, he still needed to do it, and he couldn't decide which animal to try on for size. A fox and snake DID sound like an interesting combination, though. "Interesting is good, right?" he asked, curious.

Swinging his legs off now, Zeke managed to keep a firm enough hold on the bars, adjusting his grip and trying not to let go as he considered Hady's response. "Sure, then copy me if you want, or you could use your legs to help, whatever is comfortable for you." He had longer arms, that was also something to consider.

Alternating his swinging from too and fro, to side to side, Zeke started off by taking long sweeping movements across the first bar, left hand, right hand, left hand, right hand... very much like a monkey. Pausing above a lower bar, he hung there, looking back to see how Hady was progressing.

A few years and he could indeed move wherever he wanted to. “Yeah,” he replied, nodding. He really didn’t know what he’d do though. Where he’d go was one thing, but what he would do when he was there, who he would spend his time with, and all of those big LIFE questions remained unasked and unanswered. As much as he liked the sound of the freedom it had, he’d miss having the comfort of a family home - especially since he hadn’t had it for very long.

BUT, Zeke shook the thoughts from his mind. NOW was not the time to be contemplating his future. In addition to that, it surprised him how quickly Hady replied, confirming that her dad would be okay with it. If she said so. “Cool.” So it was pretty much settled then? IF she DID move to London?

He still didn’t understand. He was sure he’d be able to identify his House mates socks in a lineup, and even those he hadn’t spoken to he felt he knew quite well simply through observation - except for perhaps this years new recruits, but there was still time to get to know them. “Huh,” he mused out loud. And then, it was interestingly awkward??? “Awkward how? You’re not giving me much to go on,” he questioned. Unless….

….

Unless it was awkward in another way?

Perhaps there was a reason why she didn’t elaborate to begin with.

Nevermind. Zeke quickly moved on, swinging further down the bar, just a bit.

It was good to see she was still right behind him, she hadn’t fallen, and neither had he…. yet.

He moved all the way down until his bar disappeared into one of the columns holding them up. They needed to get on another line. Swinging too and fro, Zeke built up momentum enough to allow himself to hook a let over the bar in front of him, doing the same with the other leg before letting go. Now HE was hanging upside down. He was close enough to the pillar bit, that he could reach around it with his arms and managed to get a one-handed hold on the next bar.

Here went nothing.

His legs sliding off from the first bar, Zeke did his best to pull himself up onto the other, but didn’t quite manage. The force of the drop of his legs had him ALMOST slipping off the bar altogether, but his fingers (aching) remained clinging to it for dear life. “Uuurggghh…” he moaned as he lunged upward to grab hold with both hands now. He was secure, and Hady was on the other bar.

…

“Need a hand? Maybe you should climb onto the top of the pillar and come across that way.” Because he only JUST thought of that NOW

A fox and snake playing tag?……… how would that even work exactly? Zeke had a hard time imagining it, but it was an amusing thought nonetheless, as evidenced by his smile. He might have even paid to see that. The piggyback thing also struck him as odd, kind of, but it made sense if one was considerably smaller than the other. Kudos to them, trying to have fun in animal form. All he knew was that he wanted to do something where he’d get to stretch his legs and RUUUUN. “Fair enough,” he decided. At least she could laugh about it now, and it didn’t sound all too awkward, not really.

He’d heard sounds of discontent from behind him, though it didn’t sound as though Hady was struggling. Maybe she was? As he settled into position and turned to face her, adjacent from where she was hanging, he couldn’t help but grin at her question. “I’m fine,” he assured, “I’m a tough cookie, I don’t crumble.” Not that easily anyway - or more to the point, not today.

Her nod at needing assistance was recognised, and so he would do his best to assist her anyway that he could. From where he was though, there was little he could actually do, so he watched on as she followed his advice. It did look easier, and now he was almost kicking himself that he didn’t do it that way too, not that it mattered, he’d made it after all.

“All good?” he asked as she seemed to reach the top, sitting down on it. He figured her response would be along the lines of YES SHE WAS GOOD, FINE, GREAT… and so the invitation to join her in sitting as almost excused. ALMOST… because, well, she seemed fine, HE was fine, and he wanted to get going, so he had been about to say “Naa—“ahhhhh…when he paused mid no. What if she really wanted a break and that’s why she’d been asking? Quickly shrugging, Zeke nodded as he propped a leg up beside him to help him stand, one hand on the pillar until he was up-right… from there it was simply a matter of pulling himself up beside her, which was easily done.

The pillar wasn’t particularly this, but it was thick enough for two to sit comfortably, which was something

Sense? No, it didn't, not really. But he COULD see the comedic value in it, of course. "I wouldn't mind seeing that, didn't get it recorded did you?" No photographic evidence? If they could get their hands on a pensieve then her memory would do just fine.

But BAH!

Cookies didn't need to crumble. Not even when dropped. Had she not learnt anything in over three years of formal magical education? "Obviously I'm a charmed tough cookie, indestructable, and if I did crumble then I could always be repaired." The only thing he would have to be concerned about if he were a cookie, was being eaten, because he would be the most delicious chocolatey cookie of them all. Duh.

From this spot he could assess the way they needed to move in order to come to the foam pit, where they could simply swing and drop into its plush depths. He was thinking of this when Hady questioned him. It wasn't even a matter of how he'd been... that was a question he wouldn't have questioned normally... but the fact she emphasised 'seriously' had him narrowing his brows in thought.

"Seriously?"

...

Zeke shrugged.

What was he supposed to say to that?

"Alright, I guess..."

So it was settled, photographic evidence would have been awesome, and secondly, he WAS a tough cookie. Yep. He was winning right now, and his smirk said as much. However, it wasn't maintained as it seemed they were going to have a 'serious' conversation.

He waited for her to elaborate. Inform him on why she felt he had something so significant to share... but her comment yielded more questions than answers.

What did she think he was thinking? Because honestly, he wasn't think much except that he was. Was this about him not being around? About the Apparecium? Cause yeah, he heard. Or was it about the detention? It made sense for it to be about the detention.

He didn't shy away from the hug, but he didn't know how to return it in this position without feeling awkward. In the end her rest his head on her shoulder briefly before pulling away.

"Detention was... well it was what it was."

Words, he was so good with his words.

For a moment he was happy to just sit, quietly all the while enjoying the fingers in his hair. It reminded him of.... .... yeah never mind.

Gross? HA! It wasn't exactly the opposite of gross... whatever the word for that was.

"It wasn't too bad," he decided, as far as the grossness was concerned. He could laugh about the toads now, the rest of it he was still quite happy to pretend didn't happen. "We had to kiss toads, there were heaps of them, but only one was charmed to turn into a key for each of us," he informed casually. It could have been worse, there could have been dung involved.

Even though they were 'catching up', Zeke couldn't help but feel as if he was in an interrogation room about now. It wasn't so much that Hady was asking questions, but again, it was he type of questions she asked. What did it matter if they could leave straight away or not? But more to the point... "Why would we have to wait if we had the key to the door?" Legit question. It made no sense. "Nah, Flamsteed said we just needed out key."

...

"Why?" Seriously. WHY was she asking him this?

Head tilted to the side to see her better, his hazel eyes locked on Hady. An answer would be appreciated.

There were a few things he'd come to learn about people in his insignificant-in-the-grand-scheme-of-things 14 years - of which he could only really remember about 8 years with fairly good detail. Firstly, that when people sat idle to 'chat' it was usually a serious matter. Secondly when they had persistently unusual questions, it was usually serious. Thirdly, when someone emphasised the need to be "honest" or "true to" you that things were going to get real. Just WHAT, was Hady on about?!

"Uh huuuuhhhh," he prompted uncertainly. This was perhaps the Gryffindor's worst fear, serious talks.

At first though, he didn't get it. Okay, yes, there was the article or whatever. And she'd spoken to Maggie, that was, normal, right? Then again he didn't know WHAT was discussed, so there was an element of concern clouding that one. But in the end, he was quite honestly perplexed.

"Do something I wouldn't normally do?" he questioned. And just what was it that he wouldn't normally do? Kiss toads? Have detention? Swim in swamp water.. well okay, that one was plausible. And then it clicked.

...

"She told you I left her," he stated, somehow managing to tie in everything Hady had just referred to. But, she wanted to know why?

"Because she wasn't being fair." That's why.