It was one habit you had started quietly.

Not because it was cool. Not because anyone else did it. Just because the nights at Hogwarts felt too loud inside your head, and sneaking out past curfew gave you something to focus on besides everything you didn’t want to think about.

No one knew.

You were careful. cloak pulled tight, footsteps memorized, corridors chosen for their shadows. The Astronomy Tower balcony was your favorite. Windy. Empty. Safe.

You thought you were alone.

You leaned against the cold stone, pulled the cigarette from your pocket, and lit it. The flame flared briefly, warm against your fingers, and you took your first drag.

“Well, well, well”

You nearly dropped it.

You spun around so fast your shoulder hit the wall. There he was. Leaning casually against the archway like he’d been there the whole time. Arms crossed. Eyebrow raised. That stupid, familiar grin already forming.

Fred WeasIey.

“You’ve got nerve,” he said lightly. “Sneaking out without inviting me.”

Your heart was pounding. “Fred—what are you doing here?”

“Funny,” he replied, eyes flicking pointedly to the cigarette between your fingers. “I was just about to ask you the same thing.”

You instinctively hid it behind your back.

“Oh no you don’t,” he said, stepping closer. “I saw that. Merlin, I smelled that halfway up the stairs.”

“It’s nothing,” you muttered.

“That,” he said, pointing, “is a cigarette.”

You sighed. “Yes. I’m aware.”

Fred stared at you for a moment longer, then sighed like you had personally inconvenienced him.

“You know,” he said, rubbing his face, “this is not what I expected to find when I followed you out here.”

You stiffened. “You followed me?”

“Oh absolutely,” he said. “You think I do not notice when someone keeps sneaking out at ungodly hours? I am offended you thought I would not be curious.”

You glanced down at the cigarette still burning between your fingers. “So what, you have been spying on me?”

“Observing,” Fred corrected. “Very different. Also I assumed you were up to something dramatic. Secret boyfriend. Forbidden duels. Dark magic. This is… disappointing.”

You huffed a quiet laugh despite yourself. “You can go, Fred. I am not doing anything wrong.”

He raised an eyebrow. “You are smoking on school grounds. After curfew. Alone. On the Astronomy Tower. That is at least three things wrong.”