Compartment 451

Part 3

Living in a tower has its pros and cons. On the one hand Zayn loves listening to the wind breeze past the windows at night and the clear view of the starry sky, but every morning he's reminded of the one blaring negative: direct access to the sun's early rays.

After the first week of school Zayn had thought about putting up some sort of curtains to keep the brightness out until a reasonable hour, but he had to tell himself that he didn't have his own room anymore, and the thought of disrupting the aesthetic for the others in the dorm had him holding back from even bringing up the idea in the first place.

He tries to look at the benefits though: at least he's never been late to a morning class or had the misfortune of sleeping through breakfast.

Waiting for his first class of the term to start, Zayn's grateful for both.

There's no denying that he's a bit stressed as he stares up at the front of the room. It wasn't as if he was going to fail his N.E.W.T.s, that would be near impossible with a brain like his, it's just a matter of whether or not he's going to do well or hit it out of the park. As the figure of speech comes to him, Zayn makes a mental note to teach it to Louis.

Looking back at the front door, he breathes a sigh of relief as the other four enter the class. He would have walked with them from breakfast, but since this was the only course they all shared, he was chosen as the lucky one to get to the room a bit early in order to save them seats next to each other.

'It's our only class together. It doesn't make sense for us to not sit together. So go make sure that doesn't happen.'

Zayn was no pushover, but he did agree with Louis. What sort of all for one and one for all (mental note #2) group would they be if they didn't sit together while all being in the same room? Liam had offered to go with, but Zayn told him not to worry about it, he had gotten to breakfast a bit late so he should eat. He was just relieved that Liam had kept his promise and didn't even bat an eye at the prefect table that morning to be all that bothered about anything else.

"Thanks again Zayn," Harry greets as he hands over the Ravenclaw robe that Zayn had used to mark his territory on the desk in front of him.

Slipping the robe back over his crisp shirt and tie, Zayn shrugs. "It's all good. Just grateful I didn't have to fight off anyone."

Louis takes the seat next to Harry, dropping his bag on the ground beside his chair. "You get to sit next to Liam, don't complain."

There's a small blush that Zayn can feel heat up his cheeks - something that he doesn't think anyone can make out by virtue of being too busy getting settled in, but it's there nonetheless.

"And me," Niall pipes up as he slides into the seat to Zayn's left, their desk for three officially full with Liam to his right.

Sitting down, Zayn takes back his parchment and book that acted as placeholders for the spots where his two friends now are, stacking them in front of him neatly.

"Eat enough?" Zayn asks of the boy to his right.

Liam sends him a quick smile as he gets out his own materials. "Yeah, but you know that I hate having to eat fast."

And Zayn does know, knows a lot of little things like that about Liam. "If you keep showing up late then I guess I'll have to wake you up myself."

The flirtatious comment came from out of nowhere and Zayn was pretty proud of it sounding as smooth as it did. He wasn't inept at flirting. If the time called for it, Zayn could actually be pretty charming, but it had been a while since that time had existed. That, and the fact that his mind didn't usually allow for flirting and Liam to coincide. The real test would be how the other decided to respond.