Ezra whispered the password and entered the common room.  Poor, lovely Elijiah.  Ezra couldn't help the pleased smirk that crept onto his lips.  He did love playing with the other houses.  They were fun in a way that other Slytherins could never be, mainly because they lacked the devious complexity standard issue in most snakes. 

He flopped onto one of the comfortable green couches by the fire, nice on such a dreary day.  He leaned to the side and pulled his deck of tarot cards from his robe pocket.  He then leaned forward and contemplated laying them out on the coffee table.  He had questions he wanted answers for but wasn't certain that the cards would be of any benefit.  He'd tried laying them out for someone not present before and it had been largely a confusing jumble.  His own essence would get in the way, he knew.  He had to be able to concentrate fully on someone else.

It wasn't going to happen here, at the very least.  There were people moving about, studying and enjoying their Saturday.  Generally being distracting.  With a resigned sigh, he put the cards away and sat back.  Damn, he might as well go read for History, as much as he dreaded it. 

And that was how Theo found him, when he stepped inside the common room. Hands bracketing Ezra as they planted themselves along the couch’s back, Theo grinned down at him, a wide, amused thing that dimpled his cheeks.

The story of how the boys– well, young men, really– was, in hindsight, a bit predictable: boy met boy because both were scions of old, wealthy, Pureblood families, and a friendship between the two, their families believed, could only be beneficial. Before either of them knew it, Theo and Ezra were being dropped off at each other’s mansion, occasionally joined by another (although that was another story to tell).

Before long, they had become friends. Just as their families expected, it was a friendship borne out of mutual benefit; whatever… faults either found in the other, the perks – both perceived and actual – were too good for the children to pass up. They became friends because a young, rather volatile Theo rather liked the other boy, found his cunning and playful cruelty a near match for his own; they remained friends because Ezra – however nasty he eventually witnessed the other boy to be – found him rather interesting, certainly a real piece of work in the making that was best observed from the right side of things.

Plus, there simply weren’t enough people to keep up with them—and if they were, they were usually sane  smart enough to avoid them. Or, were selfishly guarded, uninterested in interlopers.

They weren’t the only pair of like minds to have bonded with each other, after all.

“Hello,” Theo greeted, eyes crinkling as he beamed. With a truly unfair amount of grace (that probably had more to do with innate predatoriness than possessing any amount of Veela blood), he circled the couch and made his way toward one of the opposite armchairs closest to the fire, collapsing into it in a graceful, disheveled heap. “How did your little meeting with Grimlish go? I would have joined you, but you two looked rather busy.”

Against the flickering light of the hearth, his halo of curls gleamed gold, lit that much brighter by his steady, weightless smile.

Although he did not hear Theo approach, Ezra did not tense or turn when those hands bracketed his shoulders on the back of the couch.  He did cant his head a bit to meet Theo's wide smile with an amused smirk.  "Hi," he replied with intentionally humorous bluntness.

Ezra and Theo were as close as any two boys who'd practically grown up together.  Their friendship, strongly approved by their parents, had been given every opportunity to succeed from the very first time they'd met.  Very few people had ever managed to even come close to the bond they'd formed with one another.  Theo led.  Ezra followed.  Their personalities matched well, especially given Ezra's willpower and tendency to call Theo's bullshit.  On top of that, he always remained proficient enough to notice when the person he was following wasn't doing a good enough job.  One had to be worthy of being followed for Ezra to follow them.  So far, Theo had remained worthy of being one of those people.

"I'm glad you didn't," Ezra murmured, gazing at Theo carefully.  "Grimlish has enough problems without adding a crush on you like all of those poor, unfortunate Gryffindors you manage to entice."  He was, of course, referencing Raine, who'd been blatantly turned on by the spilling of blood in a friendly dueling match, and Nick who'd been unable to take his eyes off Theo yesterday.  It was a little absurd but, in Ezra's mind, it only proved their marginal insanity.  At least now he knew about that rather significant defect.  Theo was pleasant and charming but had a deadly temper that simmered beneath the surface.  Maybe it was his extensive experience, but to him it was blatant.

"Although, apparently you're back to Ravenclaws now."

Theo blinked, and laughed. Even now, despite all the signs… well. He certainly wasn’t going to be the one to ruin the party—not yet, anyway. “You don’t mean Alex, do you?” he smiled, chuckles softly subsiding as he settled his cheek into the cup of his hand, arm comfortably propped on the armrest. “Because I’ve told you,” –and there, there was that slight, almost impalpable edge of impatience that so often preceded his temper.

But quick as a flash, it disappeared under the brilliance of another, wider smile, this one framed by that familiar pair of dimples so many loved to hate. “If anyone’s returned to Ravenclaw,” Theo teased, tone lightening into playful mockery, “it would be you, I think. But at least you’re showing better taste this time.”

It was no secret that there was a certain amount of distaste between the Whitmans, who disliked each other for various reasons. Out of friendship, Theo had, for the most part, kept his peace when Ezra began showing more than interest in Livi. But even when silent he wasn’t quiet with his disdain for her. She was just so… pharisiac. “Merlin knows I can’t speak for others,” he said casually, shrugging, and his smile turned positively serene.

After all, the evidence spoke for itself, if said Gryffindors were anything to go by. Perhaps his friend was right; Raine in particular had drawn him in return—which Theo decided said more about her than it did for him.

Anyway.

“I can see how you’ve drawn that conclusion, especially after yesterday,” Theo conceded, his thoughts drawn back to that brief encounter, “but that says more about Kinsey's puerile mentality, which seems incapable of handling even basic attraction.” As it was with plain coherency, but everyone knew that was pretty much a given.

---

"I would hardly call Grimlish a return to Ravenclaw," Ezra drawled.  "He's amusing but little more than that."  His face did not reveal the other things he'd been thinking about Eli: the things that had recently been revealed.  For now that was his information and he'd share it with Theo if and when it became important for Theo to know. 

Elijah was sweet but in this conversation he'd be thrown under the bus in order to avoid talking about Livi.  Ezra happened to like her, despite the fact that their relationship had fallen apart a bit under the pressure of the post-Christmas term.  He gave Theo a quiet, steely look that clearly conveyed Livi ought to remain off limits.  Ezra wasn't sure what would happen if he didn't but it would surely be spectacular and neither of them would walk away unscathed.  That was, unfortunately, one of the downsides of being so well matched.  They could do just as much harm to one another as benefit. 

But, following Theo's cue, Ezra let the topic slide away and returned into graceful carelessness.  Gryffindors were people they could both disparage without stepping on each other's toes.  Especially Kinsey, who aimed a great deal of disrespect and attitude towards Slytherins as a whole.  Ezra couldn't recall having personally stepped on the guy's toes but in response to the hostile treatment, he was more than happy to engage.

"You're a hard man to love," Ezra teased, a sly smirk spreading over his face.  He looked at the other boy from under his eyelashes and winked.  "Those poor Gryffindors just don't have the brain capacity to cope with sheer strength of your aura."

For effect, he passed his palm in front of his face as though he were reading and manifesting Theo's aura.  He had, actually, done a reading in fourth year but it had revealed very little he didn't already know.  And  he wasn't exaggerating that it was strong, even if in an obvious sort of way. 

As Ezra gestured humorously, Theo looked on, his smile relaxed into a smaller one, tiny and amused and strange, crested only by a slight crinkling of his eyes. Auras. Unlike Alex, he didn’t find the idea of divination unsettling– it was, after all, useful –but he did find it rather… miscellaneous. As for Gryffindors, “I wouldn’t go so far as to dismiss all of them,” Theo hummed softly, almost warningly, though his tone was kept light and airy. If his tiresome cousin was still a touchy subject, then so was Raine—but not for the same reasons; only that Ezra himself was starting to sound woefully ignorant.

And as his friend, it was Theo’s friendly duty to rectify such things. “I think you meant ‘pain tolerance’,” he said smoothly, smile unfurling into a coy grin. A finger tapped against the curve of his cheek. “And Almasy is more than capable, I assure you.”

Unlike some, he was tempted to add, but if Ezra’s quick look reminded him of anything at all, it was that for all his calm, the other boy was still so very human.

Not to mention his love life wasn’t all that interesting to Theo either, beyond the usual questions of practicality; the prefect already knew the answers to them, anyway. “Love would be boring if it were easy,” Theo shrugged. In all honesty, he was neither for it nor against it; only indifferent. There were too many examples of its influence in past triumphs and failures for him to dismiss it, simply because it didn’t appeal to him.

And it did. Although no one seemed to realize it, or think it possible– Theo had, in fact, found it, and he understood better than anyone what he had. It simply wasn’t the kind most assumed it to be, at first glance—and in his opinion, it was better.

That, he knew, would be what separated him from the failures that were Voldemort and Grindelwald.

In his musings, he had fallen silent. Shaking his head slightly as if to disperse the uncharacteristic thoughts, Theo picked up the Prophet that had been left on the end table beside him. Leisurely he scanned the front page. “What were you doing with Bevans and company, anyway?” he asked, genuinely curious, as he lowered the paper.

---

Ezra's sharp eyes did not miss the slightly bemused expression on Theo's face as he talked about the worth of Gryffindors.  Ezra played a very careful part within Slytherin house as someone who seemed careless.   It suited him fine for his best friend to make similar conclusions although, of anyone, he had least reason to believe it.  He and Theo had been part of more schemes than could be readily counted and typically worked quite well with one another. 

“Love would be boring if it were easy.”

Ezra grinned at the truth of that.  "Thank Merlin my life is never boring with my love for you to keep me occupied," he said dryly.  He settled into his chair and thought for a breath about Theo's tone of voice.  Love would be boring... Was Theo in love?  How much fun would that be for him if he was?  Ezra wouldn't ask, though, not until he was certain he knew the answer.

"A happy accident," Ezra offered as way of explanation, but no further.  That was pretty much all there was to it, anyway, but he needn't go into detail on his life just to satisfy Theo's curiosity.  Ezra pulled his Charms book out of his bag and opened it to the reading for the week.  He held his wand between long fingers, lazily prepared to underline anything useful.

The newspaper lowered another inch. “Oh?” Theo glanced over at Ezra, brow creasing even as his mouth curved into a grin. It was a bit late to be reticent now. “What a coincidence,” he drawled, looking back at the paper. “That’s what I said, when a cousin of mine saw fit to inform me she had contracted the plague,” and as they skimmed over the page, his eyes glimmered with amusement.

Why said cousin saw fit to inform him of such thing was, of course, best left to speculation—or better yet, none at all. Part of his charm was getting people to ‘open up’, so to speak; it was just a matter of how. And Theo had always been flexible with his definitions. “Terrible luck,” the boy murmured faintly, head cocked to the side.

And indeed it was—on Ezra’s part as much as it was on the aforementioned cousin’s. Beyond the entertainment value of such a mixed company, there was nearly no other benefit to immersing one’s self in it… unless one derived enjoyment from stepping into a room full of insects, simply to step on them, that is. At best, Hufflepuffs seemed to be a prickly lot, Theo had come to understand; snappish, but like their House mascot, typically when cornered. Gryffindors, on the other hand, were a blustering sort, all righteous anger but empty threats and zero finesse—Ravenclaws nearly as ridiculous and just marginally sharper. Any combination of them, with at least one competent member of his House, was asking for trouble.

…For others, anyway. For him, it was only a matter of inconvenience, at most—nothing he couldn’t remove himself from. Still, he wasn’t resentful that Alex had brought him away; he had promised, after all.

And any time spent with her was hardly a trial. Unlike some.

“I’m only sorry I couldn’t stay longer,” Theo sighed in real regret, the newspaper rustling as he turned another page. “Kinsey has such a delicate temper, and Roth…” Behind the paper, there was a soft huff of laughter; some days Theo forgot who that even was. “Well. He’s hardly the worst Ravenclaw has to offer, but that’s not saying much,” he added, amusement warming his tone. “He looked so proud of himself when he snatched that cigarette from you, one would think he was twelve.”

---