Compartment 451

Part 19

When Zayn makes it back to the castle he messages the group to ask where they were, heading to the Great Hall as soon as he sees the reply. His wristwatch reads 4:32, far too early for dinner, but with it being a Saturday, and a game day no less, there are probably snacks strewn about on the tables to peck at.

As he walks in, he can't help but notice how refreshing it feels for the huge dining hall to be practically empty and borderline silent compared to how it usually was. It isn't their first time hanging out here between meals on the weekend, but he still gets the same feeling as if it were.

"Zayn! We're over here!" Niall's voice practically echoes from where he's stood on the bench, waving his arms dramatically. There were hardly any students in the hall with them, but a majority of those that were gave the blonde a dirty look, a handful not even bothering to turn around since it's something expected of someone from their group.

"It's a bit too loud," Louis says behind his mug. "Try yelling louder. I don't think he can hear you."

"ZA-"

"You're gonna get us kicked out again," Zayn cuts him off, both to prevent his words from coming true and to spare his ear drums.

"The last time wasn't my fault," Niall defends as he sits back down, Zayn joining him.

Harry plays with a ring on his finger, "you did let Salt loose."

"He snuck into my pocket without me looking! How was I supposed to know he was even there, nevermind that he was going to crawl out onto the table at dinner?" Niall shoves a biscuit into his mouth aggressively at the call out towards his rat. "Pepper has done way worse!"

Louis' eyes dart to Niall's once his own pet rat's being brought up. "Don't bring him into this! Might I remind you he came first? If it weren't for Pepper needing a friend, Salt wouldn't have even come about."

Zayn looks at Harry as the other two spat, "sorry you guys lost."

"It's fine." Harry pours himself a cup of tea, Zayn taking the kettle and doing the same once he was done. "I'm not that bothered by it, and we haven't had a good team since we won the Cup our first year, so I'm not surprised."

Soon after Niall gets bored of bantering with Louis, he brings up Liam's performance and they all go on to talk about quidditch - a topic that isn't Zayn's all time favourite, but he obliges.

Thankfully he feels his pocket heat up, and with the other three sitting around him, Zayn deduces that it has to be from Liam.

"Loverboy calling?" Louis asks, trying to peek over and read what the card said once he saw Zayn take it out of his trouser pocket.

Pulling the card close to his chest, the Ravenclaw sneaks a peek.

Party in the common room for dinner

There's something to be said about the fact that Liam addresses his own common room so universally, as if Zayn wasn't a part of another house all together, and there was indeed a single, shared room. There's that, and the lack of a proper invitation anywhere in there. To Liam, Zayn didn't need to be invited, only passed on the message that something he should already be aware of, was happening.

Sounds good, I'll be there

"So..."

"After party at his," Zayn puts simply, folding the card back up neatly.

"Another Gryffindor party rejection for the rest of us," Louis sighs unnecessarily loud.

Even after six years, Zayn still feels guilty that he's the only one out of the group that attends any of the parties Liam's house throws. If it were up to him he'd have them all tag along, and he knows Liam would agree, but even their inter-house friendships saw their boundaries. With Zayn being Liam's best friend, the boy refused to allow anyone to turn away the Ravenclaw. In retrospect, Zayn's not sure how Liam had much leverage with an empty threat like that, but it seemed to work, and while it was awkward at first, ever since the beginning of their second year, it was only the new students that needed re-educating on who Zayn was in relation to the Gryffindor house.