Anthony need not have been afraid of anyone strange answering the door. While the Smiths had several house elves, like any old family, they were not treated unkindly nor did they do tasks that would seem demeaning. Zacharias mother spent more time in the kitchen propped on a stool with a glass of elf wine talking to the house elves as they cooked and clean than she spent with him. In either case, his parents weren't home anyway. He really was alone in the way too large house.
Zacharias wasn't usually one for asking for forgiveness. Even when he knew he'd been a total arse, he just couldn't admit his wrong doing. But what happened in the battle-the fact that he'd run so fast and far without even looking back-well, that wasn't something people would forget. He'd had many nights crying himself to sleep, thinking about what a coward he was. There wasn't much explanation that made him sound good. It was only the promise of fooling around with Anthony, whom he did find beautiful and fun, that even had him considering talking about that embarrassment.
He answered the door, his mouth spreading in a grin which held a little too much cockiness for its own good. "There you are. Worried you weren't going to show," he said, though he wasn't worried at all. "Come in, come in," he said, stepping aside and letting Anthony in. "I thought we could go to the pool house to relax and talk a bit, if that's all right with you?"