Dinner time - of which, Nick was late again. He'd stayed out on the quidditch pitch well into dark, taking the opportunity to hone his visibility in the hours of dusk. It wasn't until the sun was all but nonexistent over the horizon did he realize how late he'd actually stayed out. It was at that moment he opted to take his favorite shortcut to the Ravenclaw common room: via broom, with a high arcing flight path over the lantern-lit courtyard, wrapping closely up and around the weathered stone tower until he made his landing upon the balcony that extended out from Ravenclaw tower.
After a change out of his flying gear, a quick wash up, and a change into a more suitable outfit for the evening - navy blue vest with the Ravenclaw emblem stitched into it, over a powder blue dress shirt, tucked into a pair of khakis - he then made his way down the spiraling staircase of the tower, and across the castle into the Great Hall.
As he entered the Great Hall, conjured candles high in the air illuminating the room, it was when he noticed how late he truly was. By this point, the students across the four houses had been well into their meals, engaged with each other in conversation, too occupied to notice the late arrival to their party. He made his way to the Ravenclaw tables, looking for an open seat, offering a few head nods of acknowledgement to a few class mates along the way, when he found just what he was looking for further down.
There was a spot at the table, the area was clean, and that section of the table was still offering a number of options for his meal that evening. His eyes fixated upon the open bench, and as he got closer to it, Nick noticed a girl sitting upon the other side of where he would be sat. He'd seen her around the past few years, but beyond that, had never had a conversation with her.
He took his seat across from the girl; albeit a bit to the right of across to afford himself some more space. "Hi, I'm Nick, nice to meet you", he offered as a courtesy.
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