Ezekiel sat on a low wall looking out across the open space and watching the rain start to fall, the stone above his head jutted out, just enough that he was protected from the rain, it was nice to feel the cool air and smell the moist grass. Recently he'd felt nothing but stuffiness. He slumped to his left a little and rested his shoulder against the wall as he continued staring at nothing. He smiled as he thought back to Ruby's first year and his second. The pair of them spent most of their time running around and throwing snowballs at each other. He chuckled to himself as he remembered how, dripping wet and freezing the pair and snuck into the kitchens where the house elves had made them both a creamy hot chocolate. 

Ezekiel was lost in thought when he heard the echo of footsteps and looked up curiously, he wore a small smile when he saw who it was, "Hey, Iz." He greeted, turning on the window ledge he'd been sat on, he brought his feet up and rested them on the wall opposite side of the windowsill so he was sat where the glass should be, "How have you been? I saw you with Ruby the other day."

@isabella

After a long day of pretending that she was actually paying attention in class, Isabella dropped her stuff back at the dormitory and left immediately after, finding that her bedroom was more containing than anything. It was rainy out, which was Isabella’s favorite. There was just something about the rain that was relaxing and peaceful, especially when it meant that many of the students would be inside, hiding away from the rain. Merlin, girls were obnoxious to listen to when it even LOOKED like it was going to rain, afraid it was going to ruin their hair or something.

Stepping into the Sundial Garden, immediately Isabella recognized her friend, Zeke. Wondering how he was doing as it had been quite some time since she had seen him, she walked over towards him, smiling at his greeting. “Hey Zeke,” she smiled. “I’ve been well, I s’pose,” Isabella shrugged, leaning against the stone wall. “And yep! I had to practically stalk that one out just to see her,” she laughed. “And you? How have you been?”

Ezekiel snorted when Isabella said about having to stalk out Ruby, "She's very good at hiding. Would have been a good snake, very cunning." He replied playfully teasing, still chuckling a little as he spoke. "I've been good, can't be bothered with classes but it's school, no one in their right mind would enjoy lessons. Except the Eagles. Ruby does suit Ravenclaw really when you think about it, doesn't she." He mused, thinking to his sister and how she could sit for hours reading books and working on homework. "I might have to get her to start doing my homework, I can bribe her by promising not to torture her and be a good big brother if she does it." He said with a lopsided grin at Iz, "What do you think?"

It was nice getting a chance to start seeing some friends around again. She had gone so long without really making friends, her only friend being Roman for a while until he decided that she was going to kill him or something ridiculous because she APPARENTLY thought lowly of people of a different blood status. He was going bloody bonkers, that boy. Obviously, if she were against those with ‘impure’ blood, she wouldn’t be dating a halfblood, nor would she be friends with them. There was just way too much drama nowadays. Isabella let out a soft chuckle at his words, rolling her eyes in amusement. “It would definitely be easier to find that girl if she were a snake,” she nodded, as she would simply have to barge into her dormitory. “Yes, she seems to be a true claw at heart. Hopefully some of her studying will rub off on her non-claw friends,” she stated, laughing. Studying just was NOT something Isabella could sit for long and do, always getting distracted by something else. “Hmm,” Isabella contemplated, throwing her hair up into a ponytail, shaking the rain drops from her hair. “I think that’s a fantastic idea. You might have some snake inside of you yet,” Isabella grinned. “But, will you really want to be a good big brother for only homework? Surely being obnoxious is much better,” she teased.

Ezekiel laughed a little, "Maybe if you ask nicely. If I tried that she'd tell me where to go." He smirked. The Gryffindor watched Isabella fasten her hair back and laughed when she said he may have some snake in him, "You never know." He replied with a dismissive shrug. "And I'm naturally a good big brother, but I have to torture her, it's the law of being a sibling." He grinned. "I actually need to do some form of torture soon, it's been too long." He thought aloud.

"Say, where did you last see her? I may need to hunt her down after our chat." He asked Iz with a mischievous grin.

Isabella laughed at Zeke’s statement, amused. “Glad to know she had some spunk,” she stated, glad that she had run into Zeke. He really just had a great heart and was nice to talk to. He was easygoing and he was apparently good at providing lighthearted distractions, even if he was going through something himself. “I’m pretty sure she’d tell me where to go even if I did ask nicely,” Isabella contemplated. Though, she wouldn’t ask someone to do her homework…at least, not now. And certainly not a Ravenclaw. Isabella smiled happily at his statement, glad that she could be happy for him having his sibling that he could still torture. Maybe the pain was finally subsiding at some point soon. “Torture is in the sibling handbook, yes,” she agreed, nodding sincerely. “I last saw her outside of the Ravenclaw tower…so I’m afraid if you want to catch her, I can lend you my tent,” she laughed. “Or, we could always try to figure out the riddle to get into the Ravenclaw tower. Can’t be too difficult, right? I mean….if first years can figure it out…it is a riddle, right? That’s what I’ve heard, anyways.”

"Oh, Ruby has more than some spunk." Zeke laughed. "And she'd probably say please as well if you asked her. But sometimes she's willing to help and you and her can have a girly gossip about boys or whatever. Which I hope she doesn't, no guy is allowed to touch her. If she tells you if she has a crush on someone, you tell me and I'll hunt him down." Ezekiel said, starting to go off track but he was very protective over Ruby. "Ruby isn't allowed to date until she's in her thirties." He said stubbornly, crossing his arms with a disapproving look ahead of him.

"We should try and figure out the riddle and then we can both torture her, it'll pass the time for us both." Ezekiel's grinned widened even more at that idea. "What do you say? Fancy helping me torture Ruby?" He offered with a crooked grin.

“I might need her help soon. Herbology and Care of Magical Creatures is kicking my butt,” she grinned sheepishly. They definitely were not her strong suit and with exams approaching, Isabella really needed to pass them in order to even pass the class. Honestly, she couldn’t name one plant and every creature really did seem to hate her, making it difficult to even want to know what their bloody names were. “Please tell me she’s good at those subjects,” she nearly pleaded, hoping that those courses didn’t happen to be the only classes that Ruby wasn’t skilled at. If so, that would be JUST her luck. “If I find out she is crushing on someone, I’ll tell you IF the bloke is crushing on her back,” she countered. “No one should be dating now anyways,” she agreed, except that she was obviously an exception to that.

“Try to figure out the riddle? I was thinking we trick a first year claw into giving us the answer, claiming that they should know who we are since we’re clearly the Headboy and girl…” she trailed off, grinning. “Help torture your sister? Only if I can put all of the blame on you,” she laughed.