(Autumn 1980)
Sirius Black approached the raven-haired girl cautiously, trying to make as little noise as possible. But Bellatrix had always been on her guard, since they were children, and she heard his shoes sloshing in the rainwater. She whipped around with wide eyes, reaching for her wand but when she saw that it was only Sirius, she relaxed slightly.
"Hello Black," she sighed, moving over a few spaces to the left to make room for him on the wooden park bench. He nodded in response, or maybe the gesture was simply to dislodge the water from the tip of his nose. He sat down.
"Hello Lestrange."
Bellatrix looked at him sideways, a poignant smile on her dark painted lips as she lowered her chin slightly, looking at him through her long lashes. "Don't play that card," she said quietly, "Please."
"You deserve it," said Sirius, slumping down in his seat and crossing his arms over his leather-clad chest. She bit her lip, a nervous habit, but didn't contradict him. Instead, she pulled out a pack of Windsor Blue cigarettes (rough, harsh, her favorite kind) and held one out to him.
"Smoke?"
"I quit Bella, you know that. Don't force me." He said. Bellatrix rolled her eyes and placed one of the cigarettes between her lips, lighting the tip of it. Smoke blossomed in a pearly gray-blue haze and she sighed contentedly, taking a long drag, straight into her lungs. She breathed out, towards him, and the second-hand smoke engulfed his handsome features for a moment, making him cough a little. When he reappeared he gave her a hard stare. Bellatrix smirked, sending a wave of ice-cold nostalgia down his back. He shivered, and she flicked the tip of her cigarette, watching it fall to the ground.
"Not even today?" she asked him, looking up, and he tasted something bitter in his mouth. Sirius uncrossed his arms and held out his hand, taking a somewhat shaky breath as he did it.
"Fine. But only today." He said, and she handed it to him. He lit it with his wand, and as he sucked in a breath he felt the familiar feeling of warm smoke filling his body. He had missed it. Bellatrix watched him out of the corner of her eye, and only when he had taken a considerable amount of drags did she speak up.
"You know, I must confess I'm a little surprised to see you." She said and smoke left her mouth in clouds when she did. Sirius could smell her spicy vanilla perfume though the harsh smell of the cigarettes and another splash of nostalgia hit him in the face. Sirius chucked his cigarette at the ground, and crushed it under his biking boots, perhaps a little harder than was really necessary.
"No, you're not."