FIVE HANDSOME

     "Oi, have you told Maeve I'm smoking again?" Sirius approached Victor in his usual smoking corner against the walls of Hogwarts. It was getting harder to stay outside to smoke, but Victor had gotten quite skilled at using warming enchantments to withstand the cold a little longer than normal.  His expression as Sirius approached him was unchanged as he took another drag.

"It may have... slipped out," Victor admitted with a sigh, hanging Sirius an unlit cigarette. "Consider this a pity one for getting you in the doghouse."

"Thanks," Sirius huffed, clearly still trying to sound mad as he took the cigarette and lit it, "It's so stupid, really, like why does she even care? Everyone smokes! Just because it's harder to get 'em around here, doesn't mean people aren't doing it! I'd say she's acting like my mum, but my mum couldn't give a rat's arse about what I do."

Victor nodded solemnly, turning to the boy with a disdainful expression as he said, "I'm gonna be honest, I really don't care. Maeve is a nurturer, you know this. She'll nanny you into the grave without even realizing it. She also probably hates kissing you when I reckon you taste like an ashtray."

"Like you're any better," the boy scoffed, gray smoke dark against the snowy landscape around them spilling past his lips.

He just shrugged, "I'm not the one Maeve is kissing, am I?"

"Guess not," Sirius grumbled, "Hey, why aren't you dating anyone? I reckon Marlene's had a crush on you since second year, but you've never even had a girlfriend, have you?"

"Not important," Victor brushed it off, "We're teenagers, nothing we build here is going to last — no offense. I'd rather pay attention to my studies than go around chasing broads."

It was a lie, of course. There was a very clear reason that Victor never had a girlfriend, but it wasn't one that he was ever going to dare to say out loud. He turned to look at the boy smoking next to him, the way his long dark hair stood out against his red scarf and the snow around them. His features were sharp enough to cut glass; he wondered if he were to reach out and run a finger along his jaw if he would bleed.

"I respect that, I guess," Sirius continued, his eyes glued to the landscape around them. "I didn't think I was ever gonna be the type for a girlfriend either, never been good with commitment when it came to girls. But Maeve, she's just—"

"Just Maeve?" he supplied with a raised eyebrow as he finally turned his gaze away, "Yeah, she tends to affect people."

He feels Sirius's gaze bore into his side profile as the dark-haired-boy asks, "Has she ever has that effect on you?"

Victor turns and meets the gaze with a confused expression, "Are you asking me if I've ever had a crush on your girlfriend? The answer is no, but that's a bloody weird question to ask, Black. Maeve and I have always been best friends, nothing more. You've got nothing to worry about with me."

"I wasn't worried," he defends, but the nervous fluctuation in his voice tells Victor otherwise. If only he knew. He was so close to figuring him out, he was just a person off.

"Could've fooled me," Victor scoffed, "You'll never have to worry about me gunning for Maeve. I don't reckon I'll ever start dating. Even after Hogwarts."

"Why's that?" Because it's illegal. Because he'll never be free.

Instead, Victor shrugs, "Why do you even care? You come around here all pissed because I snitched on you and now you're quizzin' me about my dating life. Quite odd, wouldn't you say? What are you, interested or something? Didn't strike you as a queer, but eh, I guess people are surprising."

Sirius just laughs and shoves him to the side, tossing aside his cigarette and stealing the one from Victor's fingers, pressing it to his lips like it's the most normal thing in the world. Victor just shakes his head and pulls out a fresh one.

"Don't say that like it's a bad thing," Sirius speaks through mild chuckles, smoke leaving his lips as he speaks. "It's not, a lot of people think it is, but I... I don't."

"I don't either," Victor says, but it comes out as more of a whisper than he intended, "I think it's terrifying. And brave."

"Me too," Sirius nods and the subject ends there. "So, you've really never had a crush on Maeve?"

Victor frowned, "Merlin, no! How many times do I 'ave to tell you? No girlfriends, no crushes on your girlfriend, my love life is clean as a whistle, so I don't know what dirt you think you're gonna find! Keep asking, I'm gonna start thinking you're in love with me or something!"

The silence that passes after this comment is heavier than it should be and for a moment Victor wonders if he fucked up. Maybe that was the wrong thing to say to your best friends boyfriend, but them having secret smoke breaks underneath Maeve's nose is probably bad enough already.

The moment breaks when Sirius clears his throat and lets out a choked laugh, "You're funny, Victor, really. I'm sure you don't get that often, so appreciate it."

"Arsehole," Victor mumbles, shoving the boy to the side while both of them laugh. "For the record, I'm hilarious once you get to know me. Ask Marlene, she loves me."

"She's in love with you, don't be obtuse," Sirius shakes his head, "No, like, you should go for it. Hate to see a handsome fellow like you waste it."

"Handsome?" Victor exclaims jokingly, ignoring how the word coming from Sirius's mouth makes him feel, "Bloody hell, Sirius, you are in love with me, I knew it! Sheesh, I really should have seen this coming, I am irresistible, after all."

Sirius just shakes his head, "This is why I never talk to you! You're just the worst! Can't say anything around you, I reckon!"

"You're the one who just called me handsome," he continued to tease, having far too much fun with this even though his heart was beating out of his chest. "I'm starting to think Marlene is just a cover-up."

"I hate your guts," Sirius shook his head, but judging by the look in his eyes, they both knew that wasn't true. "Anyway, Moony had an idea, meet me in the library an hour before curfew tonight with Maeve."