#6 Dinner

In the middle of eating, Toby hadn't noticed Ryan entering the hall and he didn't notice his friend approach the Gryffindor table- but hearing him speak behind him had the boy's face breaking into a grin. He wished that Joe and Ryan could join him at the Gryffindor table, but he didn't think his housemates would appreciate the company of the Ravenclaw firsties.

"Hey!" he greeted Ryan, glancing around quickly as if expecting to see Joe hovering at his shoulder... But it seemed that Ryan had come alone to speak with him. Listening to Ryan speak- somewhat nervously, Toby was quick to catch on to what the implication behind his words were.

"Yes, I'll definitely see you there!" he said, a bit too enthusiastically for someone whose only goal was to discuss which ingredients they needed to hunt down next. Watching Ryan leave, Toby settled back to eating his dinner, only sparingly listening to conversation that was going on around him- his mind was full of what adventures they might stumble upon on their trip to the forest that night.

Soon dinner was more or less over, being replaced with dessert and Toby stuck around only long enough to gulp down some chocolate pudding (you didn't expect him to skip dessert, did you?) and then he was grabbing his bag and hurrying from the hall in search of his friends.