/𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐒\ [𝒔. 𝒃𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒌]

𝟑.𝟙𝟚.𝟣

"Shouldn't you at least ask?"

Marlene snorted as she moved a pile of skirts to the side. "You really think she'd say yes? Come on, she won't even notice it's..." Her voice trailed off and her eyes grew wide, staring down at something in the bottom of the trunk. "-gone," she finished her sentence softly.

"What is it?" asked Lily, suddenly intrigued.

Marlene reached down into the trunk and pulled out a small box with the label; "Tobacconist Finest Wizarding Cigarettes." She opened the pack. "There's only two gone," she said softly.

Lily raised her eyebrows. "Think Art smokes?"

"Why else would she have this?" asked Marlene, still staring down at the box in wonder. Both of her parents smoked Tobacconist cigarettes and the smell wasn't unfamiliar to her.

Lily stepped over a pile of clothes on the floor by Marlene's bed and took the pack from her hands. She inspected them closely. "I've never smoked a cigarette before," she said softly.

Marlene shook her head. "Me either." Then, all at once, she was overcome by the longing for the bitter, sharp scent of the cigarettes that always brought her back to her childhood when her dad would come home for work and immediately light one, standing by the window and telling his children about his day as he puffed smoke out into the fresh air. "You wanna try it?" Marlene asked.

"What?"

A small grin twitched onto Marlene's lips. "Come on, Lils. Let's try them."

Lily seemed to be caught up in an internal battle. Then, finally, she smiled. "Yeah, you know what? Let's try them. Why not?"

"That's my girl," laughed Marlene. "Come on, let's do it by the window so nobody smells the smoke."

The girls headed to the alcove of the dormitory and crouched next to the open window together, the darkened grounds sprawling out for as far as they could see. Marlene opened the pack and pulled out two cigarettes. Lily took out her wand. "Ready?" she asked, taking a cigarette from Marlene.

"Totally." Marlene put the cigarette to her lips with elegant grace, thinking of the way Audrey Hepburn looked when she smoked.

Lily lit Marlene's cigarette first and then her own. Both girls took a short drag, and then promptly burst out laughing. Smoke curled from their mouths around them and out the window, the scent so familiar to Marlene she could practically see her dad standing there with a cigarette of his own. Lily leaned back against the wall, one hand over her mouth and her eyes tearing up with laughter. "My parents would kill me," she said, and put the cigarette to her lips once again.

The girls were giggling over the clouds of smoke when Artemis stormed up the stairs and into the dormitory. She froze when she saw the pack of cigarettes sitting between Lily and Marlene and the guilty looks on their faces. They all stared at each other for a long moment. "There's... still a bunch left..." Lily said apologetically.

"Yeah, give me one of those," said Artemis, sitting on the floor next to Marlene and lighting herself a cigarette. Her blue eyes looked more like a stormy gray as she gazed moodily out the dark window.

Marlene and Lily exchanged a look, silently exchanging worry over the behavior of Artemis. "Everything alright?" Marlene asked at last.

Artemis instinctively started to tell them yes, she was fine, but then she shook her head. "No," she said honestly. "No, not at all."

Lily's worried expression deepened. Artemis never told them when something was wrong, she just got quiet and sullen. "What is it?" she asked softly.

"I got a letter from my mum today," Artemis said slowly, not making eye contact with either of the girls. "She told me... she said she's engaged. She's getting married at the beginning of next summer."