mr. vice guy

full name. zacharias smith-jeong. aliases. zach is what he usually goes by. age. twenty years old. birth date. april seventh, two thousand two. house. hufflepuff. blood status. halfblood. wand. ten and a quarter inches, yew wood, unicorn hair core. pet. fluffy tortoiseshell cat named elsie. spoken languages. english, korean.

*   𝙾𝙿𝙴𝙽 .

  ⁰.    who  even   are   you?          is a question she’s heard all night.          from herself,     tipsy   &   suspiciously existential,    or coming from pricks who like to get in her face for being a new face in the crowd.          she’d spat the question back each time,     sour in her throat,     before stalking away into a new corner to simmer in privacy.          she’d been the new girl before,     &   she had daphne there just as much as she has her here now,     which helps a ton     …     but mum not so much.          but that’s totally not happening right now.          no,     thank you.          she is not thinking about that,     &   a drink should help that happen quicker than finding daphne in a childish panic would.

        just as she makes it to the drinks station,     someone’s leaving.          at the risk of being rude,     she lightly taps their shoulder   &   pulls a “sorry” face for when they turn.          “i’m  so  sorry,     could  you  please  clue  me  in  on  what’s  what  with  the  drinks?          i’m about to go in blind.”          she gives a small laugh to ease her own tension,     perhaps unsuccessfully. 

unlike many others in the school, zacharias was able to place the younger greengrass sister from first glance. the yule ball was easy enough to recall, and he certainly could never forget the many months he’d teased anthony over the two’s correspondence to follow. so when zach turned at the tapping on his shoulder, who he was oh so hoping would be the ever alluring padma patil coming to tell him that she was, in fact, madly in love with him.. he wasn’t too gravely disappointed when it turned out to be astoria.

“well, well––if it isn’t the talk of the town,” zacharias greeted with a light chuckle of his own to match her pretty laugh, “i can’t say that i’m privy to anything going on in most of these drinks, but i know absolutely for certain this one has an entire flask of campbell's finest old wisky into this one. just.. don’t ask me how i know.” with a motion towards one of the containers to distract her, his other hand was busy sneaking a flask back into an inside pocket of his jacket.

susan had been avoiding the whispers of the morning's events as she went about her day, trying her best to reestablish herself into her old routine. this ‘winking witch’ had everyone on edge; no one quite sure who’s secret she’d reveal next. the female, clutching her books, fought her way through the crowded halls to the great hall, finding some relief that the room wasn’t as buzzing as outside. the tables were filled with people from every house, catching up with old friends at an opposing seat. finding an open seat at a table she hoped was hufflepuff, the ginger laid her books on the open bench next to her, reaching out to grab a biscuit from the plate. 

just as she was about to stick the bread into her mouth, it was snatched away; eyes following it in the hand to whom it belonged to. zach, of all people. it just had to be her ex-boyfriend. eyes rolled at his comment, reaching out to grab another biscuit to eat. “you think that lowly of me to think i would do such a thing? really, zach, that’s cruel, even for you.” her words were sharp, filled with distaste.

at her retort, the grin on his features faltered, hesitation taking place of his previously bright expression. it’d been an admittedly lousy attempt to keep things light-hearted between the two, wishing to keep susan in his life even though they could no longer be as close as they once were. zach couldn’t allow it, wouldn’t put susan in such danger by allowing her to be the most important thing in his life. she deserved better than him, but that didn’t mean that he was able to resist the urge to be near her.

“c’mon suze, i was just trying to have a laugh, i wasn’t being serious. neither of us would ever think you’d get into all that,” zach attempted to remedy her souring mood, reaching out to place a comforting hand upon her wrist. it was something he used to do frequently, but now his hand paused mid-air to come back into his lap with a clearing of his throat.

despite   the   chatter   around   him,   lee   was   having   a   rather   uncharacteristically   quiet   lunch.   this   was   not   of   his   own   volition,   of   course,   but   rather   something   that   had   been   thrust   upon   him   by   the   absence   of   his   friends.   sitting   with   his   own   thoughts   never   did   him   well,   especially   not   in   the   face   of   a   new   ‘winking   witch’   who   threatened   to   unravel   a   side   of   him   he   tried   to   keep   close   to   his   chest.   as   if   right   on   cue,   a   familiar   voice   pulls   him   out   of   it.   as   his   eyes   land   on   zach,   lee   can’t   fight   the   smile   that   materializes   on   his   face.   

the   cup   of   water   he’d   been   nursing   is   swiftly   set   down   for   the   sake   of   theatrics.   with   a   scoff   and   a   hand   over   his   chest,   the   gryffindor   feigned   offense,   “o   ye   of   little   faith,   ”   follows   the   statement   with   the   sound   of   three   tsks.      “   i’m   no   wanking   witch   but   surely   i   am   that   good,   ”   fingers   tap   rhythmically   on   the   cup   he   cradled,   “   i   just   can’t   risk   expulsion   when   i’m   this   close   to   never   having   to   see   you   again,   ”   he   teases,   sporting   a   cheeky   grin   to   match.      

of course he hadn’t taken the tease personally, but it did strike a somewhat somber chord within him. soon enough, he would return to hogwarts the next year without lee at his side, and the thought was just enough to inspire a sulky expression to take place on his features, lower lip jutting out in a pout. zacharias masked it as a planned reaction, patting the back of his hand against his forehead. “gods, i think i’m getting a fever. you shouldn’t remind me you’re that old, lee, i can’t keep fretting about how much time i have left with you in this life or i’ll get wrinkles.” zach bodily shivered at the thought.

“have you written your will yet?” he wondered, looking wistfully into the distance as he added, “i hope you leave your most beloved microphone with me.. i promise i’ll do well in your memory.”

 having  been  in  the  great  hall  for  no  longer  than  twenty  minutes,  draco  should  have  known  the  serenity  that  came  with  being  left  to  his  own  devices  would  come  to  an  end  sooner  rather  than  later.  even  so,  the  unusually  quiet  bustle  of  the  great  hall  offered  a  calming  background  noise  as  draco  read  through  the  note  that  his  mother’s  owl  dropped  off  minutes  prior.  mental  notes  were  stored  away  of  conversation  topics  as  well  as  answers  to  her  questions  for  later  when  draco  had  the  time  to  send  a  proper  reply.  the  last  thing  he  wanted  was  to  send  his  mother  a  rushed  and  insincere  letter  in  response.  draco  just  fed  the  family  owl  a  piece  of  his  sausage  when  a  familiar  voice  stole  whatever  peace  and  quiet  he  had  going  for  him.

 ❝  and  when  have  i  ever  been  known  to  insult  someone  behind  their  back  rather  than  to  their  face,  zacharias  ??  surely  i  would  imagine  my  reputation  precedes  me,  ❞  draco  drawls,  tone  laced  in  a  level  of  dryness  that  he  could  practically  envision  tumbleweeds  floating  by  the  two  of  them.  grey  eyes  narrow  in  silent  judgement  as  he  watches  the  brunette  swipe  a  jammy  biscuit  from  the  slytherin  table  before  settling  into  the  seat  beside  him.  what  zacharias  says  next  manages  to  get  a  reaction  from  draco  —  laughter  bubbling  out  before  a  saccharine  smile  tugs  at  the  ends  of  his  lips.  ❝  is  that  so  ??  now  tell  me,  do  you  and  anthony  talk  about  me  quite  often  ??  i  would  say  i’m  flattered  but  let  me  settle  something  before  we  continue.  ❞  draco  places  his  letter  down  on  the  table  and  leans  in  toward  zacharias,  eyes  flashing  with  something  near  predatory.  ❝  everything  i  do  is  more  than  great  so  jot  that  down  for  future  reference.  second,  i’m  many  things  but  a  coward  is  not  one  of  them.  do  i  need  to  hide  behind  a  piece  of  parchment  to  let  you  know  your  haircut  makes  you  look  like  a  drowned  cabbage  patch  kid  ??  no,  i’m  here  telling  you  now  because  i’m  feeling  charitable.  ❞

a blasé shrug of his shoulder was the answer to draco’s question, because it wasn’t he that had thought draco was the wailing witch everyone was going on about. really, zach would’ve responded verbally, but he’d shoved the cookie into his mouth; he was far too busy chewing and wholly disinterested in speaking with his mouth full. not that malfoy didn’t deserve to have his appetite ruined, but zacharias was a better person than that. he was. “i wouldn’t exactly say–” he started, but draco didn’t wait for him to finish before continuing with what he’d planned on saying. it was no surprise that the speech he prepared was full of self-centred talk and insults thrown his way, and he was quite disappointed that he hadn’t thought up a ‘malfoy bingo’ card before deciding to approach him.. he could’ve surely hit three or four different squares by now.

“well.. your haircut makes you look like a perfectly dry, coiffed cabbage patch kid,” zacharias countered, a petulant huff parting his downturned lips. leave it to malfoy to ruin his good fun by taking everything so personally.

this wasn’t the first time padma heard the name winking witch - there were whispers and hushed conversations between her parents and their friends, random articles in the daily prophet that hinted back to that time. as a curious kid, she looked into it, of course  - but it was much easier to brush off when it wasn’t her own quill writing it. she couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling she got as she watched the ink bled onto the page, writing about their professor’s secrets. including one particularly incriminating rumor of their headmaster. she couldn’t help but wonder - was it the same person returning? someone pretending to just rile everyone up? they certainly did a good job of the latter; a younger student that sat to her left couldn’t stop ranting on about dumbledore’s escape plan. “you don’t know it’s true,” padma reminded them, watching as they looked towards the end of the hall where the professors sat. though as much as she wanted to believe they were just rumors, professor sprout did look a bit more flustered than normal. 

“winking witch,” padma offered the correction in lieu of a greeting, turning her body to face the new addition to their table. she took a sip of her tea as she watched zach settle in across from her, scrunching her eyebrows as his display. an amused smirk pulled at her lips of the mention of anthony - flattered that he’d believe she was capable of such a spell, only to have a roll of her eyes follow. it was no surprise to her that the two of them already had their ideas about who was behind this. “did he, now? and are you insulting my intelligence or defending my character, zach?” 

a huff of amusement left zacharias at the correction, corners of his lips quirked up as he wondered just what was going on in that clever brain of hers with all of the mess going on about the wanking witch. “well you can call her what you want, i’ll be calling the wanker what she really is,” he retorted, gaze following her movements as she sipped at her drink, curiosity ever so beckoning the cat. warmth spread through his chest at the sight of padma’s smirk, and his features brightened with a cheeky grin as he reached over to nick the drink from her hand.

the halls were alight with the sound of not-so-silent whispers, just about every student  ( and teacher, for that matter )  going on about the morning’s mysterious letter appearing upon everyone’s parchment once classes had begun. there was.. apprehension in knowing there was some wix out there spilling secrets when zach had one that he so desperately wanted to keep under wraps, but there was only one other soul in the world who knew and there was no doubting he’d keep mum about it. the great hall was no quieter than the rest of the castle when he entered it, and while everyone could’ve simply been busy catching up, there were notably more gazes on him when he walked through the doors than had ever been before. they all seemed to be watching, waiting for something else to happen––too bad it was just zacharias, on his merry way to cause even more mayhem.

zacharias smith-jeong, compiled. ♡    ┈    plotting   task   i.       :       media   compilation.