Smoke drifted from the end of Nicholas’s lit cigarette before being sucked out the open window in the empty classroom.  The room was blue since the only light came from the end of the cigarette and the bluebell flames he'd conjured to keep the room warm with the window open.  It was still dinner time, but Nicholas had eaten quickly and escaped the Great Hall while everyone else was digging into dessert so he could find a quiet place to smoke, since outside it was cold and miserable and raining hard.  The kind of rain that made it impossible to see where you were walking, and he had no desire to get soaked to his boxers for a smoke, and it was easier to work spells when he could see and wasn't shivering.

Wand in one hand and cigarette in the other, he was using some spells he'd found during his last trip to the library to make the smoke turn into different shapes, sometimes animated like the unicorn that had galloped toward the window before being sucked out into the rain and dissipating.  While some smoke figures doing less seemly things had been pushed by an earlier gust toward the door of the classroom that still stood slightly ajar.  He smiled as he created a dragon that flew its smoke filled body away from the window and toward the door, with a slash of his wand the dragon turned into a small cloud of smoke before it could escape into the hall.

Slightly delirious, Jonothan wandered through the dark doorway into the deserted classroom. He almost felt bad about ditching on dinner, but the bludger in quidditch practice had really rung his bell and he was still feeling the after effects. He desperately needed somewhere dark and quiet to help him relax and wait out the throbbing in his head. A cool, empty classroom on the outer edge of the castle would do perfectly, he figured. When the long school day finally came to a close, seeking out that room was the first thing on his mind.

Thinking he had found just the place, Jonothan walked into a classroom that had enough windows to offer him fresh air, but enough solid stone to protect him from the pounding rain outside. He entered the classroom lazily, not in any hurry and knowing he would have all the time in the world to just sit. Precisely the moment that thought crossed Jonothan's mind, his eyes picked up on the flickering blue light near the window. Curious, he walked immediately towards it. As he approached, a figure began to appear. A silhouette at first, gradually Jonothan could make out a shortish, but strong looking young man. Jon didn't know him, but thought he recognized him from somewhere. The Gryffindor quidditch team maybe? In any case, Jonothan's immediate interest was in what the student was doing with the smoke streaming from his cigarette. The young man had somehow turned the smoke into various figures as it floated away; first a unicorn, then a particularly impressive dragon.

"Woah," Jonothan said. "Where'd you pick up that little trick?"

He hadn't meant to start a conversation with the other boy, but once the words slipped out, it seemed best to just finish the question and save any potential stammering-based embarrassment. Best to just hope the smoker was friendly and didn't mind an interruption.

Nicholas nearly jumped out of his skin when a voice spoke from just inside the room.  So much for hearing someone approaching.  He'd have to ask a Ravenclaw if there was a spell for that.  Or look in a book, though it was easier to just ask a Ravenclaw.  "Really?  Make some noise next time."  He said, blood thumping loudly in his ears.  He took a long drag on the cigarette, and pointing his wand at the exhaled smoke, the cloud turned into a bell and floated toward the other boy.  "Wear a bell next time."

He sighed as the bell hit the other student in the chest and turned back into a cloud of smoke.  "A book believe it or not.  I do occasionally read."  Actually it had been one of those times where he'd had no choice in the matter and was in the library for an essay.  He'd accidentally dropped a book and it had turned out to be an interesting book with fun spells, like the one he was using now, figuram faci for use in making shapes from smoke.    Supposedly it could work on clouds too and other gasses like that, but he hadn't tried yet.  "Unfortunately, it doesn't hold its shape when it hits a solid object. Like you, or rain drops."  He pointed his wand at one of the torches, casting a silent spell to light it.  With a crack, it and the other torches caught, flooding the room in light.  So much for not drawing attention to the normally empty room.  "Hi Jonothan,"  Nicholas said when his eyes adjusted and he could finally see who was standing in the room with him, "thought it sounded like you."

As Jon spoke, the other boy flinched slightly, apparently he hadn't heard Jon approach in the dark. The Hufflepuff immediately felt guilty, he hadn't meant to interrupt. The shadows hid Jonothan's face as he cast his gaze towards the ground and muttered a barely audible "Sorry."

 "Really?  Make some noise next time," the other student said to him. Then the tip of the cigarette brightened as the young man took another puff. The extra light illuminated his face some, and Jonothan's eyes strained to see who was talking. Before he could figure it out, the student pulled the cigarette from his lips and blew the smoke in Jonothan's direction. As the smoke floated, the boy said an incantation and flicked his wand. Jon watched as the smoke formed a three dimensional bell that floated steadily towards him before hitting in the dead center of his chest and dissipating. As the bell flew, the other boy spoke, "Wear a bell next time."

"Hmm, funny," Jon replied dryly. He listened as the other boy told him where he learned the spell. The student was saying something about it not keeping it's shape when he silently lit the torches in the room. The quick burst in to brightness surprised Jonothan, who immediately screwed his eyes shut to keep his headache from feeling any worse and to give himself a chance to adjust. Unfortunately, this meant missing the rest of the explanation. As Jonothan opened his eyes, the other young man said, " "Hi Jonothan, thought it sounded like you."

Jonothan looked up to see a familiar face as he finally recognized the boy in front of him. "Oh, hey, Nicholas," he responded, "Sorry, I didn't say anything, I couldn't tell who you were at first. I like that spell, you'll have to show it to me sometime. So, what made you skip out on dinner?" Jonothan was curious as to why he wasn't the only one avoiding the packed Great Hall.

Nicholas waved his cigarette in Jonothan's directon, "Dessert of course," he said with a smile.  "Hopefully without being caught."  He didn't think his head of house or the Headmistress would let it slid and he had no desire to end up writing lines or cleaning some deserted room of the castle.  "I guess I could show you the spell, its not that difficult," Nicholas wasn't generally someone who helped others learn spells, and he wasn't sure how good at Charms Jonothan was, since he never really paid attention to that.  When he needed help, he just assumed a Ravenclaw knew what they were about and asked them, so far that that hadn't failed him.

"You really shouldn't surprise a bloke though.  What if I'd been Professor Kesali.  I would not want to walk in on him in a dark room without him knowing well in advance that I was coming."  He wasn't as bad as Sandusky had been, but certainly stranger, and Nicholas still found the eye patch to be creepy.  Before Kesali started teaching, Nicholas had never seen a wizard with a missing eye and would have assumed the healers at St. Mungo's could heal and even regrow an injured eye.

"Why aren't you still in the Great Hall enjoying the desserts?"  Nicholas smiled, "Or are the Hufflepuff quidditch players no longer allowed to treat themselves with dessert?"  Not that they ever seemed to have  a reason to celebrate, but surely they could at least console themselves with trifle and spotted dick.

"Hufflepuffs need all the help they can get," Ezra drawled.  He pushed off the door frame where he'd been leaning and observing since he'd heard voices from inside.   He sauntered further into the room, pausing beside the Hufflepuff.  He spared a somewhat unfriendly smirk with the boy.

He licked his lips as he reached into a pocket and pulled out his own cigarettes.  He opened the case and placed one between his lips.  "Kesali's a killer," Ezra said around the stick.  "You can see it in his eyes.  Sneak up on him and you might as well kiss your ass goodbye."  His hooded eyes were quiet and penetrating as he regarded the slightly unfamiliar boy. 

Suddenly he smiled and held out the case of cigarettes. "Want one?" he asked mockingly.

Kinsey had been at the whole running-for-your-life thing for about two floors now. So when he tried a door, and it was actually miraculously unlocked, he got inside like nobody's business, banging the door closed behind him. The second he was in and safe, he leaned on the hard wood, eyes closed and gasped for air. "Bloody barmpot" he muttered under his breath, eyes still closed. "Told the knapper to take the antidote after an hour, not an hour and fifteen minutes. Minging blo—Jesus, Mary and bloody Joseph!" Phillip suddenly decided to grace the rest of the room with a cursory look only to realize, that he was not at all alone. Upon said realization his irrationally dysfunctional limbs and twitchy body attempted to step back. Into the hard wooden door. With his head.

"Ow, motherf—ow" he skriked, scampering from the door like it was the darned fork of th' devil goin' straight for his—well, he just jumped away from the door. "What the bloody hell are ye all doin' huddled 'ere? Smokers anonymous? Should I whip out me speech? A sob story or wha'?" he asked them frowning while still muttering grunts about the obvious swell at the back of his head. He looked at each one with squinted eyes and let out a pensive "Hmmm..." Bevans was mint, nice bloke. The other lad that looked like he was way too old to even be at Hogwarts was on the Hufflepuff Quidditch team, or something. Never gave 'im much mind. And the other bloke was that Slyhie fellow that gave him the creeps and made him think of bloody Whitman and—ew, gross, slithery, slimy, anorexic snakes. Phillip shook his entire body with a grunt and moved the bloody hell away from the bloke, goin' for Bevans. "I'm gasping for a fag, mate. Can I scav one off ye?" he asked with a stupid grin on his kite.

“ ‘Scav’,” Theo hummed from the doorway, his tone light and thoughtful as he surveyed them all from there, eyes crinkled and lit by a faint, pleasant smile. “One would think, after all these years, I would remember what it means. Think I would find it in a dictionary, Ezra?”

Hands tucked into pockets, the Slytherin stepped into the empty classroom, his gait an echo of his housemate’s (smooth, relaxed and completely at ease) when he came to stand beside him. Side by side – despite the more obvious disparities – there was an eerie similarity between them, although on Theo’s chest a certain badge gleamed proudly. He didn’t bat so much as an eye at all the smoking (both occurring and pending), though. “So this is where you all congregate,” he joked, looking around airily before letting his gaze land on Nicholas, and the smile unfurled into a friendly grin. “Unless… you weren’t expecting the company.”

He glanced toward Jonothan, a brow silently raised in polite interest.

 Nicholas tried not to laugh when Ezra offered Jonothan a cigarette, before Phillip barged into the room, muttering something about an antidote.  He rolled his eyes at the older Gryffindor's mention of smokers anonymous before handing him the pack from his back pocket.

 "Only one mind you, any more and you can summon your own.  And who'd you...?" he started to ask as Theo quietly stepped into the room, prefect badge catching the torch light which would have certainly startled him again if he hadn't been looking toward the door already and seen who the badge belonged to, and knowing that Whitman would have to get on to all of them, including his housemate, if he decided to make an issue of the smoking.

Nicholas was still surprised that his once empty room had seemed to draw in so many so quickly and he was just thankful that none of them were professors since the cigarette was still in hand and the smoke wasn't going out the window nearly as well as it had been when he'd first started.  The opening and closing of the door wasn't helping, nor had blowing the smoke-bell at Jonothan. 

Two Gryffindors, two Slytherins, and a Hufflepuff in an empty room in Hogwarts, Nicholas was pretty sure this was how a game of wizard cluedo started.  "No, not expected, but not unwelcome," he said with a stupid grin on his face, trying to remind himself that despite Theo's appealing looks, he was as at least according to rumor as evil as a Slytherin could be, though no one could or would say exactly why.  Best to enjoy the view from afar, and not broadcast his enjoyment of the view with the stupid grin on his face.

Two Gryffindors, Two Slytherins, and a Hufflepuff walked into a bar, Ezra thought wryly to himself.  A professor could walk in right now and be so shocked by the company they were keeping that the fact that they were smoking inside the school would probably be completely overlooked.  They'd probably start wondering what kind of curse he and Theo  were planning to cast on their innocent Gryffindor counterparts.  Ezra's eyebrow twitched in mild irritation at the very though.  Although, Gryffindors and Slytherins were notoriously volatile when they gathered in private like this.

Ezra rolled his eyes at the dopey grin plastered all over his face.  There were safer Slytherins to develop a crush on than Theo, who was as devious a Slytherin as there ever was.  And he wouldn't be nearly as nice as Ezra was when he caught a glimpse of a weakness like that. 

"Stop drooling," Ezra advised with a wicked grin.  He licked his full lower lip, aware of just how attractive the picture he and Theo made was.  Cool, calm, and confident with the aristocratic looks they'd been born with.  He wordlessly handed Theo a cigarette and then hauled himself up onto the nearest table. 

"I hearby call the first meeting of Hogwart's Smoker's Anonymous to order," he joked with a glint in his eye. His legs swing idly back and forth.  "Hi, my name's Ezra and I'm a dedicated smoke breather."  He winked at the Hufflepuff.  "Come on now, if you want to stay you have too join us."

Avalon, had lied to his mother once and said the prep school he was attending wouldn't allow such things as MP3 players, and she went promptly to town to purchase him a guitar of his own. His father had made certain to reassure the boy he could keep it, the old family one was well worn and it wouldn't hurt for him to have his own. The silver strings were walked nearly every night in the quiet confines of his room, but every now and then he would haunt the halls in a little attempt to gain an audience. Through music he could have a voice of his own, by pulling vocals from his peers as they sang along. Tonight would be no different, as he walked his fingers over the silver strings, and tried to encourage them to sing along.

Well it goes like this:
The fourth, the fifth,
The minor fall and the major lift
The baffled king composing Hallelujah

As silent as ever the boy without a voice walked through the lyrics with his eyes, helping his friends keep in time with the tempo, but most of the time it always ended with much laughter. Tonight, he played quietly, rather absent of the conversation and sketching little bits of the conversation he picked up on.

"Stop drooling," Ezra advised with a wicked grin.  He licked his full lower lip, aware of just how attractive the picture he and Theo made was.  Cool, calm, and confident with the aristocratic looks they'd been born with.  He wordlessly handed Theo a cigarette and then hauled himself up onto the nearest table. 

Avalon closed the distance between he and Ezra to take the smoke from the boy's fingertips so that he could get a drag before handing it back, and plopped himself up on the table as well. With a little kick to Bevan's foot he tried to get the boy to keep going with his thought. So what if Theo was a prefect, wasn't anything special about that. Not like didn't try his hardest to get his own badge since Sasha was stripped of it or anything.

Mouth off the floor. His eyes said, where his voice could not and he smirked back at Theo. Not that impressed. He could take him on the pitch.

"Just some raving Huffiepuffy—" Phillip started to answer over Nicholas talking before he felt the breeze of the door being opened and closed again. He turned to look and—oh, of course. Phillips's eyes basically rolled in their sockets and he huffed. "Aye, look what the cat dragged in" he smiled serenely when really, in his mind he had already killed Whitman five times.

"Dunno about yer fancy dictionaries, Whitman, but ye can sure google it" Phillip said with one bright eat that grin. He then proceeded to scowl at seeing the two slithery fellows being... all up in each others business. There were broom cupboards and bathrooms for that kind of crap. Ew. No.

He finally took the loosey from Bevans and shoved it between his lips with a bit too much force, while muttering something intelligible. Once his death stick was lit, then he turned to look incredulously at the other Slythie, the pretty boy, cigarette halfway to his mouth. "Oi! Did ye happen to leave yer pot of originality at home? Back off the smokers anonymous... 'S mine. And I want it copyrighted" he muttered before proceeding to shudder at the bloke winking. That was some scary crap. "Leave the poor bloke alone. Smoking's bloody awful" he said practically sucking face with his ciggie. "And expensive" he said nodding and 'mhm'ing at himself.

Kinsey shook his head a couple of times wondering if this was some really really bad coming-of-age movie about equality or bullying or whatever and went to sit next to Avalon. He shimmied until his shoulder was touching Avalon's and puffed. They were definitely the only sane people in the room... He took one last drag from the cig and offered it to the Ravie. Ravies may be weird, uptight and occasionally harpies, but they were definitely better company than most Slythies. Like Whitman. Phillip silently glared at him. "Some people just need a sympathetic pat... On the head... With a hammer" Phillip muttered softly with a roll of his eyes.

Fortune was smiling on Alex, it seemed, indistinct voices emanating from the classroom, which would, hopefully, mean that her brief search was at an end. "Good evening," she tried, not waiting for an answer before entering the classroom, shutting the door behind her before turning to look at the gathering. It was, she realised within instants, not the best decision she could have made - a collection of her year's baser element had gathered to break the rules in happy companionship, and for some reason (Alex blamed Inkwood) Theo had joined them, despite having promised that he would show her the results of his pet project that evening.

Oh. And Phillip was there as well. Wasn’t that just... worrying. While he was as far removed from Theo as possible, without quitting the room, that they were inhabiting the same space voluntarily was unusual, and unlikely to end happily. Not that it mattered, of course, because what Phillip did was of little concern to her.

Realising that she’d been staring, Alex shook herself, moving her gaze deliberately away from the Gryffindor, the smile fading as swiftly as it had come. "Kinsey, Roth, Bevans, Hufflepuff, Inkwood," she rattled off, any politeness to the gesture negated by her perfunctory manner, "and Theo.” The final name was said with more warmth, not that it was hard to achieve, “That sounds like the precursor to a massacre. While I am intrigued to know who will survive, I'd rather not be caught in the crossfire."

"Shall we away, Theo?" she enquired, gesturing to the corridor behind her. "Or am I leaving you to this company of addicts?" Either way, she certainly wasn’t going to stay around for long, which would probably end unfortunately, and probably by being caught among smokers by a professor. But fortunately, she wouldn't be around if that were to happen, since she was leaving as soon as she had her reply, a hand already resting against the door. “Try not to lose us any points, Roth.”

Despite Ezra’s mockery, Theo took in Nicholas’ admiration serenely, taking the other Slytherin’s momentary distraction as an opportunity to reward the appreciation with a quick, mischievous lift to his mouth. After all, it was only polite.

At the Ravenclaw’s bold move, Theo blinked—and let another smile flicker in his expression, this one smaller and amused, before it was replaced by a puzzled frown as if it had never been there at all. “Roth,” Theo greeted with a faint air of surprise, ignoring Phillip for the moment as he slanted Ezra a look; don’t look at me, it seemed to say when he caught his friend’s eye, I don’t control the mice. “Are you quite sure?” Theo eyed the boy’s prize, meeting his challenging gaze with one of concern. “I understand smoking can be quite harmful to your…”

Blue eyes suddenly widened. “Oh, that’s right. You don’t have to worry like the rest of us, don’t you?” he said, gaze softening with pity, not even bothering to glance at Avalon’s throat. Wide and guileless, it met the Ravenclaw’s head on. “At least, not as much.”

The pity wasn’t even fake. Theo always had a little bit to spare for the ones who tried so hard to provoke him; not everyone could be like that one housemate he always seemed to have some respect for. And everyone knew Avalon Roth always did have to try harder than most.

Theo was sure there was some silly muggle children’s tale, somewhere, befitting of such… circumstances.

Finally deigning the Gryffindor some attention, Theo yawned. “Sorry, did you say something, Kinsey?” he drawled, tone silky sweet. He might as well have been commenting on the weather. “I couldn’t understand you over your usual petulance-”

And then Alex was there, surly and demanding (not to mention startled, although he noted that part rather sourly). Suddenly, annoying  ignoring Kinsey was twice as much fun. “Take me away, Alex,” Theo quickly replied with a considerably more genuine (if maliciously encouraged) smile, clutching his chest dramatically. He went so far as to even take both hands out of their pockets and – catching up to her in a few long strides – rest one lightly at the small of her back, by all appearances herding her away (though if anyone knew anything, one did not herd Alex Carstairs anywhere), tossing Ezra a grin and the others a mocking salute as he did.

It ended on Phillip as a cold, knowing smirk. Recent transgressions notwithstanding, Theo would still be hard-pressed to find the idiot worth his time. “Gentlemen,” he bid farewell, still smirking, and then he and Alex were gone, quickly lost in the post-dinner crush.


[Exit Theo and Alex.]

I understand smoking can be quite harmful to your…

Thoe's remark and his pity was met with a slight narrowing of his own eyes and another drag on the smoke in defiance, a slow deadly inhale that filled his lungs until they burned. He should have exhaled, but the moment Carstairs stepped in he froze in his place. Thankfully she stole the room as so often she did, and he could be ignored. His eyes watered and his lunge expelled the smoke and finally he started to cough. Avalon held onto Phillip as if he were the only thing keeping him passing out, as he handed back the smoke.

Try not to lose us any points, Roth.

Avalon, realized his heart was pounding, palms were sweaty, and...well...he wouldn't be able to stand for a bit as she spoke to him. The Ravenclaw sat at one of the desks and folded his hands beneath his chin to admire the both of them as they walked out. He continued to cough, and turned a few shades of green. Thankfully neither Theo or Alexandra would be here to witness him vow to never smoke again...or throw up, he wasn't far from that.