InsaneJournal

He had no clue what time it was or even any idea of where he was or how he ended up here. (Although, boy, was he going to owe his sister tomorrow, but that was still hours away.) Well, that wasn't true. At least not exactly. It all came down to the inherent problem that his puny flat in Brixon lacked the quality and more importantly quantity of liquor that Peebles had. His father might have been an absolute bastard, but the man knew a good whiskey. Then again Isaiah Smith could afford that sort of thing. Zacharias Smith was stuck to polishing off the bottom shelf whiskey he had in his flat and that wasn't going to last long.

Not to mention, there was just something inherently pathetic about drinking alone in his flat versus drinking with Lefty in his father's study.

So, the only solution had been to change into something a bit more appropriate and see what the pub scene had to offer tonight. The truth was that Zacharias Smith was lost and the drinking didn't really help it any, it just made the problems worse. He still didn't have a clue what he should be feeling and numb wasn't working for him and he doubted it would last through the next two days. Dealing with his more immediate family had been tiring enough without having to worry about how he should be acting with a bigger audience.

What he needed was to feel something else. Like what lunch with Marietta had brought, but bigger and more vibrant. Zacharias Smith took a pull from his bottle, scanning the crowd. Someone like Ginny Weasley, all the way across the way probably a few deep if he was gaging it right. Merlin, his flat was still in a state from their last little 'chat' and this time virgin boy didn't seem to be around anywhere. All he knew was that he the second he spotted her that he was set on this course now and there was no turning back.