Nice guys always finish last (completed)

Chapter 3

"Psst. Psst! Janus!" Roman whispered to his dorm mate. Janus rolled his eyes in the darkness.

"What do you want Roman?"

"What's up with your little friend? Is he okay?"

"Why don't you ask him?" Janus asked irritably, turning over in bed.

"He won't talk to me."

"Have you tried talking to him?" There was no answer. Janus rolled his eyes and prayed that Virgil wouldn't kill him for this. "Just.. try and talk to him. Apologise. He's always sitting under the big tree near the Great Lake."

Roman laughed slightly. "Thanks Snake-Face."

Janus rolled his eyes. "Oh, yeah and Roman?"

"Yes?"

Janus grinned in the darkness. "Hurt Virgil and I will personally Avada Kedavera your ass."

Janus rolled over in bed as Roman gulped.

***

Virgil was drawing another picture of a certain Gryffindor Keeper when someone tapped him on the shoulder, making him jump.

"Is that me?" Roman asked, sitting down beside him. Immediately, Virgil's emotional walls were up.

"What's it to you?" He asked, closing his sketchbook.

"I mean, it's a drawing of me. I think I deserve to know a little bit of context." Virgil stood up to go but Roman grabbed his wrist. "Please don't go! I want to apologise."

"Ha, ha. Funny joke." Virgil said dead-pane, staring daggers into Roman.

"No, I actually want to apologise. So... sorry."

Virgil stared at him with his head cocked to the side, searching his eyes to see if he was joking. The intensity of Virgil's gaze made a light blush dance across Roman's face. Eventually, Virgil sat down next to Roman and opened his sketchbook again.

"Does this mean I'm forgiven?"

Virgil nodded, sketching some guidelines. Soon, a picture appeared on the page. It looked like Roman sitting under a tree.

"You've missed someone." Roman said.

"No I haven't."

"Yes, you have. You've missed the best part of the picture."

"Oh really? And what would that be Mr Quidditch Star?" Virgil asked, looking Roman in the eyes.

"You. You've forgotten to draw yourself." Roman said, trying to be calm when really his heart was doing backflips.

Virgil looked from the picture to Roman to the picture. Then, he quickly sketched a small, insignificant, blurred figure in the foreground.

"There. I've drawn myself." He said, pointing to the blurred figure. Roman shook his head.

"You've drawn it wrong. You've missed everything. There's no eyes or hair or anything that makes it you."

"Exactly. I'm not part of the bigger picture." Virgil closed his sketchbook with a snap. "I'm just part of the background." Then, he stood up and left.

***

Something not many people at Hogwarts knew about Roman was that he loved to sing. Whenever he felt sad or guilty, he would sneak away to the Owlery and sing until his lungs gave out. This was one of those times.

"I close my eyes and see a whole new world that's waiting up for me. That I call my own. Through the dark, through the door, through where no one's been before. But it feels like home. They can say, they can say it all sounds crazy. They can say, they can say I've lost my mind. I don't care, I don't care, so call me crazy. We can live in a world that we design. Cause every night I lie in bed, the brightest colours fill my head, a million dreams are keeping me awake. I think of what the world could be, a vision of the one I see, a million dreams is all it's gonna take. Oh, a million dreams for the world we're gonna make."

"Nice voice, Quidditch." Roman whipped round to find Virgil leaning against the doorway of the Owlery and smirking. Roman felt his cheeks heat up.

"How much did you hear?"

Virgil shrugged. "Enough. I never took you for the singing type." He said, sliding down the wall near the doorway and opening his sketchbook.

"Do you just have your sketchbook with you everywhere? Or do you just Summon it?" Roman asked curiously.

"I just keep it with me. Just in case I see something beautiful that I need to draw."

Roman laughed and sat with his back against the wall next to Virgil. "I find that funny."

"Why?"

"Because Remus said that your book is filled with pictures of me."

Now it was Virgil turn to blush. His cheeks turned pink and the blush spread through his whole face. Roman laughed.

"Can I see?" Roman asked.

Virgil shook his head rapidly.

"Can you draw me and you? Sitting here?"

"Do you really want me to draw that picture?" Virgil asked, swivelling his eyes towards Roman.

Roman nodded. "And don't draw yourself featureless. You've got a pretty face." Roman slapped a hand over his mouth.

"Did you just compliment me, Quidditch?"

"Maybe. And why the nickname? You can just call me Roman. Or Ro."

Virgil shook his head, a dark blush creeping up his face at Roman's compliment. He sighed and started to move his pencil across the page.

Roman watched in awe as two figures came to life on the page. One was handsome, with wavy hair and shining eyes. The other one was thin and small with eyes too large for his face and thin, straggly hair. Roman's brow furrowed.

"Virgil, who's that?" He asked, pointing to the thin boy on the paper.

Virgil looked up at Roman with a twisted, pained smile. "Me." He said.

"You don't look like that at all."

"Don't lie, Quidditch. I know what I look like. I see myself in the mirror every day."

"Virgil, listen to me, you don't look like that. At all. You look..." Roman trailed off, trying to find the right words to describe how beautiful he found Virgil.

Virgil looked at Roman with a bitter glint in his eye. "Okay then, Roman." He said, his voice bitter and cold as ice. "Find one thing to compliment about me. I dare you."

Roman stuttered and garbled, trying to think of just one thing he could compliment about Virgil. Virgil was perfect, Roman couldn't choose just one thing. Virgil looked down and laughed slightly, tears in his eyes.

"You see. Even you can't find one thing to compliment about me." He said, cursing himself for the tears he felt welling up in his eyes. Scrubbing at his eyes, he stood up and ran out of the Owlery, leaving Roman alone and wondering what he had done wrong.