So, this is another of my favourite pairings and one that I only discovered very recently. I had the idea for this story in my head and I was thinking about which characters it could apply to and for some reason Hannah and Zacharias just popped into my brain and I couldn't shove them out of it so I gave up and let them be in the story :P. I'm a little bit displeased with my portrayal of Zacharias because he's quite a complex character in my opinion (for example, he was put in Hufflepuff, the house of loyalty and hard-work, but at the same time he fled from the final Battle) and I don't feel as though I've given him as much depth as I wanted to.
Anyway, enjoy and don't hesitate to give me some feedback :D
The graveyard looks gloomy in the evening light, fading rays of sun causing the gravestones to cast long shadows across the grass.
Hannah kneels down and places her bouquet of roses on the grave gently, just in front of the headstone that reads 'Justin Finch-Fletchley'. It doesn't say anything else - no date of birth or date of death, no delicately inscribed quotes or words of wisdom. It's the way he would have liked it, she thinks - Justin liked simplicity.
She hears footsteps crackle against the gravel footpath and raises her eyes to see who's approaching. It's a blond boy - he seems no older than her - and there's an arrogant set about his eyes that's familiar. Hannah thinks that she'd recognise a Housemate of hers anywhere.
"Zach?" she asks softly, rocking back on her heels and fiddling with the rose leaves peeking out underneath the flower heads.
He glances down at her in surprise, his eyes flickering from her to the grave that she's squatting next to. His eyes light up in understanding when he reads the name on the grave. "Hi, Hannah."
There's amiable silence between the two as Zacharias bends down himself and places a bundle of flowers on a grave a few graves down from Justin's. "I've never seen you here before."
"Oh," Hannah rises, a soft smile on her face, "I don't come here often - just when I have the time off from work and I can find somebody else to look after Mum."
"What happened to your mother?" he asks, pulling some weeds that are tangling themselves together around the headstone that he's placed the flowers in front of.
Hannah pauses, listening to the bird chirruping in the trees nearby. She's not very comfortable talking to other people about her mother, but Zacharias isn't just 'other people'. He was a good friend of hers when they were still going to Hogwarts and she knows that he's asking because he genuinely cares.
"She went a little crazy after the war. She lost her sight and her husband, and I guess that I don't blame her for going a bit mad," Hannah's voice is as gentle as ever. "But she's not violently crazy or anything, just a little... quirky, I suppose. She lives with me, though, because otherwise... well... yeah, she might do something that's not exactly smart."
Zacharias is silent for a little while, staring as the shadows grow longer and the sun starts to disappear behind the trees. Insects have already started their dusk chanting and he slaps his arm as a mosquito decides to take a sip of his blood.
"Who're you here for?" Hannah breaks the silence eventually. She walks across the footpath towards him, her shoes making a rhythmic crunch crunch crunch sound as she does so.
He smiles at her slightly and it's only up this close that she can see that his eyes - once arrogant and smirking - are shadows of what they once were. The snooty Zacharias Smith of the past (the one that was so difficult to talk to and made Hannah's school friends ask her why she stuck around and stayed friends with him) is gone and it's replaced by a sadder, wiser, older look.
She doesn't ask what happened to him. She knows, to a certain degree. It's what happened to everybody who was part of the war, whether they fought in the final battle (as she did) or chose to leave (as Zacharias did). It's difficult to remain smiling and innocent when so many little every day tasks and sights are reminders of who you've lost and all the cheerful days, before the war cast a smothering blanket over wizarding Britain.
"Theodore," he responds to her. At her surprised look, he elaborates. "What can I say? We weren't very close, but we grew up together and he wasn't very popular at school so I don't know if anybody else comes to see his grave, to be honest. But he deserves some respect... so I come here every so often to make sure he gets it."
Hannah's eyes stare up at him and there's still a glimmer of surprise in their grey depths. He doesn't sound much like the Zacharias Smith she knew when they were at school together, but then she reminds himself that the last time she saw him was two years ago when he fled from the battle, and people change.
He notices her gaze and laughs awkwardly. "Yeah, I know. I'm allowed to grow up a little bit, Hannah."
She blushes. "Sorry... I was just... yeah."
The light is fading fast now and the dusky air hangs as heavily between them as the silence does. He turns on his heels and is about to walk away from her and the graveyard full of memories, but something makes him pause.
"Hey, do you want to... I don't know... get a coffee or something?" he asks tentatively, his head turning back to look at her.
She smiles and does a comical little skip-walk up to him. "That sounds nice."
They begin to trek their way down the footpath and when they reach the gate that leads into the slow, uncrowded street beyond the cemetery, Hannah pauses and opens the gate for him with a chuckle.
He smirks down at her - some things, like his smirk, don't change. "Thanks - I obviously couldn't have done that myself."
"No, I thought not," Hannah replies smartly. Now that they're walking on pavement their footsteps have changed from the crunch crunch sound of shoes upon gravel to a sharper click click sound. "What have you been up to lately?"
They pause at the traffic lights, waiting for the little green man to blink a 'go-ahead' to them. "Not much, I guess. I work part-time for The Quibbler, editing and writing a few articles here and there... and when I'm not doing that I help out at the Weasleys' shop every so often - I just work there for them on the really busy days."
"You live in Diagon Alley, then?" they're on the other side of the road now and he's leading the way into a little coffee shop with big armchairs and annoyed-looking employees.
"Yeah - I share an apartment with Michael and Kenneth," he replies, this time opening the door for her and ushering her in first. They place their orders and pay for them before choosing to sit in a pair of big leather armchairs sitting opposite each other, a little table in between.
"Michael Corner?" she queries, sitting down and placing her handbag at her feet.
"Yeah, and Kenneth Towler - he was in Gryffindor a year or two above us. They're a lot of fun, actually, although Michael spends most of his time studying. He's trying to become a Healer," Zacharias says by way of explanation as he sits down opposite her. He leans forward and places his chin in his hands, scrutinising her face. "What about you?"
"Oh, well... I'm working in Madam Malkin's most days and I do the night-shift at the Leaky Cauldron," Hannah gets up to fetch their coffees as one of the irritated employees calls out their orders. She gingerly carries them back towards him and sets them carefully on the table.
"That's quite a lot of work," he frowns at her as he takes a sip of his coffee.
"Yeah, well, not everybody lands on their feet like you when it comes to money," much as she tries, she can't help some bitterness slip into her tone. It's always gotten to her that Zacharias is so blissfully unaware of his good fortunes. When they were at school together he'd regularly come in and flaunt his latest purchase - often an item that Hannah would have had to save up for for years to get.
He winces. Evidently he's thinking along the same lines as her. "Sorry. I didn't mean..."
"I know you didn't," Hannah sighs and attempts to sound slightly more cheerful. "And it's not so bad... I mean, look at Susan. She's working two jobs, too, whilst trying to get into the fashion industry and trying to feed little Lia."
"Wait, what?" Zacharias blinks at her in shock. "Susan has a kid?"
"Yeah - Amelia. Susan had a fling with a Muggle a little while ago and Amelia's what happened," Hannah takes a sip of her own coffee, before grimacing and ripping open a small sachet of sugar. She empties it into her cup and stirs it in. "Before you go asking... no, he's not with Susan anymore. He left her sometime last year."
They sit in silence once more. It's strange how easy it is for them to be together again, comfortable and safe. Hannah glances at him over the rim of her coffee cup and thinks that, in this moment, it's almost as if the battle and the last few years have never happened and they're back in Hogwarts, a pair of teenagers with clashing personalities who somehow manage to be best friends.
"What else is going on? Have you been with anybody since...?" since Justin, but Zacharias doesn't seem to want to say his name. She doesn't blame him - for the first year after Justin's death, Hannah was inconsolable and she thinks that she probably shed enough tears in that year to last a lifetime.
"Why, you interested?" she doesn't give him time to respond, instead tucking a strand of hair behind her ear as a small smile tugs at the corner of her lips. "I was with Percy Weasley for a couple of months but it didn't really work out. Susan set me up on a few dates with Terry, too."
"I heard about that - I think Michael mentioned something about you and Terry going out," he remarks idly. He sets his empty coffee cup down and fishes around in his pocket, producing several coins. He takes particular interest in one and starts spinning it on the table.
"How about you?" Hannah prompts, watching the coin spin dizzy little circles.
"No - I had a... thing with Parvati. Didn't last... neither of us were looking for something serious, anyway," he shrugs nonchalantly, deciding to stack up the Muggle coins now as he waits for her to finish her coffee.
She twists some blond hair around her finger and eyes him thoughtfully. She gulps down the last remnants of her coffee and sets the cup down. "You finished then?"
They leave a few coins as a tip and traipse towards the door, Hannah hoisting her handbag onto her shoulder comfortably. She beats him to the door and opens it for him, a dimple in her cheek as she smiles. He merely rolls his eyes at her and they both step outside, gazing at the street-lamps that light up the night.
She purses her lips thoughtfully, vaguely aware of the fact that she doesn't want him to disappear off into the night and never see her again. "Zach?"
"Yeah?" he's examining her with curiosity, brown eyes wide. She wonders if he maybe, just maybe, doesn't want her to vanish into the night, either.
"You don't want to grab dinner sometime, do you?"
"I'd love to."
Hannah gives him her address and trips home with a light heart and a smile on her lips, Zacharias's own address in her coat pocket.
This, she thinks, could be the start of something beautiful.