Zack was seated in the back of the Three Broomsticks, in one of the more dimly lit, unattractive, less noticeable and least popular of spots in the building. He wasn't concerned with the other people in the room. There were too many of them with too many different worries to notice he, sitting alone, deep in reverie, a nearly empty bottle of whiskey between his hands. Occasionally, he spun the bottle, but it, like everything else in the world, seemed to be forgotten.
He was lost in his own dark thoughts, and he was fine with that. Clad in black jeans, a dark green shirt, a thick black cloak, of which the hood completely hid his features, mud-stained boots, and various weapons the sharpest of eyes would not be able to find, he didn't look very approachable, but he didn't much care about it. He was fine with that, too.
Lavy looked behind her from her bar stool and noticed a boy sitting alone in the back of the Three Broomsticks. She was known for always getting into circumstances that she really didn't want to be in, but she was always up for a challenge. And he seemed to be the perfect one. She scanned his mind for a moment only and then jumped down.
She made her way though the large crowed of people, occasionally having to push someone out of her way until she was a few feet in front of the table which the boy sat at.
~Mind if I sit down?~ she sent to his mind, so she didn't have to say it outloud.
Grey, shadowed eyes looked up as the girl approached, slow, watchful eyes searching her from toe to skull. His form was in no way sluggish, even with the alcohol in his system. He was a creature of fluid movability and dark purpose. He had finally come to realize that, and the effects were neuritic.
Each movement was slow, precise, and smooth. He sat back, slinging a casual arm over the back of his chair.
~No,~ he replied shortly. Without moving his eyes from hers, or moving at all actually, the one and only chair opposite him slid out, offering seat.
He looked away from her finally, tipping his head back slightly, and downing another long swig of the foul-tasting liquor. He set it back down, and spun it.
turnedat down in the chair, still watching him. Her eyes truned away for a minute staring at the door across the room but she she turned her attention back to the person at hand. She looked him up and down, or the parts she could see. Her eyes stopped on his, the only part of his face that she could see clearly.
~My, name's Lavy...~ she sent to him again, still not really wanted to speak outloud. It was too loud in there for him to hear her anyways.
~I know,~ he returned quietly, taking another long, solemn swig of his drink, and setting it down with a low chink of glass upon wood.
~You know the Weasleys, Lavender, Kiara, Pig... Or supposedly, from what I remember.. I have been around for quite a while, just lately.. I haven't been able to be in person around here.~
He shifted slightly, leaning foreword slightly in his chair to relieve some of the pressure in his back, setting his elbows upon the table and folding his hands.
~I'm Zack.~
Lavy smiled ~I know, I remember you. But this time around I know alot more about you. I wasn't very good at telepathy last time we meet, but this time....~
~Sorry to interuppt....~Ginny said softly to both of them before a bottle flew at Zacks head. She had her hands on her hips, and had purposly missed hitting him with the bottle, but came very close. She scowled at him.
"You jerk..." She muttered, not able to be heard in the loud bar. She smiled at Lavy.
~I see you met the one who can dissappear better then any.~ She was directing it at Lavy, but both heard her.
~I see I have~ Lavy sent to Ginny so that Zack couldn't hear her.
She glanced over at him and then turned back to Ginny. "That was a warm welcoming wasn't it?" she said outloud over the crowd of people. Lavy smiled back at Ginny. "What brings you here on this lovely evening?"
"Warmest yet, I'd say." Ginny muttered, sliding into a seat she had pulled from a vacant table. She smiled at Lavy.
"Just some odd jobs."
"Odd jobs? You seem to have alot of those lately."
~When has Ginny had a normal job?~ he stated blandly.
~I know I'm a jerk, Ginny. I deserve far more than a threatening bottle. You know that more than anybody.~
Zack leaned back again, draping an arm over the back of his chair, the hood of his black cloak dropping farther over his face, his chiseled features now completely hidden from view.
Zack moved differently. His thought pattern was different. He had changed consderably from the last time he had seen any of them. Drastically. Yet, he was still the same, in a few senses.
He took a swig of the drink, and sighed.
~Never,has she had a normal job. But that's beside the point~ Lavy looked back at Zack with a curious expression and then looked at Ginny again.
~I assum he's done something to you to make you so angry~
~Yes, dissappeared once again. I swear, he almost seems to take pleasure in making me worry about my old friends.~
Ginny waved a hand, almost hitting a passing stranger.
~He must~
~He doesn't.~ Zack imput shortly.
Rock hard, lean athletic muscles bunched and knotted beneath his dark green shirt, as he turned at the waist, drinking another long swig. This time, when he set it down though, his movements were somewhat aggravated, and tired. Something said had broken him from the spell of cool and casual air he had so ably cast around himself.
Still hidden beneath the long hood, though, he didn't let them see his face. Sullen, he took another drink of the whiskey.
Ginny watched his movments, with a smirk of self satsfaction. She knew what he was thinking, though this wasn't because she could hear his throughts. This came from knowing someone well.
~You apperently have a funny way of showing that, Zack~
~So I've come to realize,~ he shot back.
Zack set the whiskey bottle down onto the table with a dull chink. He had grown again, from the last time he had seen any of them, towering at a good 6'4 at least, and that was more than obvious, as he sort of uncoiled, and rose from his seat, turning, smoothly avoiding a few people, and exiting out the doors. He didn't carry himself like a man of height, though. Even as he sort of crouched, his body agile and light in both footing and size, there was a notable amount of weight holding him unsteady that had nothing to do with physicality.
Ginny continued to smirk and stood up, her chair scraping back. She walked out after him.
~Running again?~
Lavy rolled her eyes and his comment but nevertheless stood up as well and followed Ginny out.
~So how long you gonna be gone this time? Just a guess.~ Ginny shot these thoughts at him with out a second thought. She knew she was being rotten, and she knew he'd get angry.
Zack stopped, turning toward her, his hood finally falling back around his neck. He watched her eyes, his own glassy, but empty. He showed nothing.
~Well, how long do you want me gone? I've been getting the feeling that you want nothing of me around anyway, so why the hell should I stay around?~
He knew she was fishing, but he didn't care.
She stopped smirking, though her eyes still held laughter.
"I don't know. Why do you keep dissappearing? Leaving us again and agian, it's enough to make one wonder if you really care about us." She said, her voice ringing out in the empty street. Clear and precise.
Zack watched her for a long pause. Finally, he ran hand through his dark hair, shaking his head.
"Because it's my job," he said solidly. "Because I have to. Because if I did not sacrifice things I really wanted, people and creatures that do not deserve it, will fall. You know. I know you both do. You've seen the effects and devastation battle and hell like it can cause. And if I can keep that from spilling over at much as my ability will let me, if I can lead others into a safer route better than any other command in certain areas, then I can sleep at night. Never peacefully, but I've learned to take what I can get. That's why I keep disappearing, over and over."
His eyes weren't laughing, they weren't cold, they were just empty.
"I care about my friends more then you, and they, will ever know. I know I've always been horrible at showing it. I'm a jerk. I don't blame you if you give up and forget me, and I don't blame those that already have. I deserve it. But don't say, that I don't care."
He sighed,
Ginny smiled at him, finally.
"I never said you didn't care. I said it makes us wonder. I know you care. I can read minds, remember?"