Trouble’s Best Served After Hours [Open]

[Zeke Smith]

Zeke didn’t even bother with the dance floor, his eyes scanning the room with the same bored expression he wore at every event like this. The Yule Ball? Not his scene. Too much show, too many people trying to act all prim and proper. He’d barely walked inside before his gaze flicked over to Ryan, already sizing up his escape plan. Ryan looked almost normal in a suit, but Zeke felt like him wearing a suit always was a bit like he was playing pretend.

He leaned toward him and murmured, “Yeah, I’m not staying for this. You in?”

Ryan didn't need to ask twice. He’d expected Zeke to get bored fast. “Absolutely. Let’s get outta here.”

The two of them slipped away unnoticed, sneaking out of the crowded hall and into the quieter hallways of Hogwarts. Once they were outside of earshot, Zeke let out a content sigh, but his grin quickly shifted into that familiar mischievous smirk.

“Alright, so what now?” Ryan asked, knowing full well that Zeke wasn’t the type to just call it a night and sit still.

Zeke’s eyes gleamed with excitement as he unbuttoned the suit jacket and loosened the tie. “I don’t know about you, but I’m sick of all the pomp and circumstance. We’ve got the whole castle to ourselves, no one’s watching. How about we have a little fun?”

Ryan looked at him with a half-smile. “What are you thinking?”

“Easy,” Zeke said with a shrug, already plotting. “We raid the kitchens, grab some snacks, and then maybe prank a couple of the first years in the halls. They’re probably all stuck at the ball, so we’ve got the run of the place.”

Ryan hesitated, but the idea of getting up to mischief without worrying about anyone walking in on them sounded pretty tempting. “Alright, fine. But let's not do anything reckless,” he warned, remembering their past mishaps there.

“Don’t worry,” Zeke grinned. “Relax, we're sticking on the safer side of trouble for now."

As they began heading toward the kitchens, the sound of distant music from the ball growing fainter, Ryan couldn’t help but feel a bit of excitement building. Zeke had a knack for making even the most boring nights a little more interesting. And tonight, it looked like they were going to make some memories in the castle that no one would forget—at least not the first years.