"Keep love in your heart. A life without it is like a sunlessgardenwhen the flowers are dead."- Oscar Wilde


More Vices Than It Had Before

Salty sweat dripped from his hair and his breath came in ragged grunts. He swallowed thickly as he realised he was near the finish, and squinted as he looked up at the blue morning sky.

'Oh fuck…' he groaned.

He bit his suddenly, tasting blood as he gave a final thrust and felt his release, warmth spreading instantly throughout his body.

For a few seconds, he was paralysed. Once he had recovered, he sighed and pulled out, dropping to the ground and lying on the grass, exhausted.

'Spliff?'

'Cheers,' he said, taking the joint and looking through his jean pockets for his wand.

'Wanna go to Hogsmeade together next weekend?'

Sean shook his head.

'Oh c'mon…'

'Look, Simon,' he said, sitting up and lighting the joint with his wand. 'I just can't.'

Simon pouted and sat up, tracing circles on Sean's knee.

'Why not. Why do you care what others think?'

Sean regarded Simon severely, but then sighed and kissed the corner of his mouth lightly.

'I…I can't. Those boys— they're my friends! They've been my friends for so long that—'

'And I'm your lover! Don't you care how I feel? Always being cast to the side- made to pretend that I hate you?'

Simon sighed and flopped back down on the grass.

'I hate this,' he said moodily.

Sean bit his lip.

'One day,' he said tentatively. 'One day, maybe the world won't judge us for what we are, but who we are.'

Simon scoffed.

'Oscar Wilde had that dream too. It didn't get him too far.'

'Well what do you want me to do?' Sean snapped, crossing his arms. 'I won't lose my friends.'

'You love him, don't you?'

'I love you, Simon, for fuck's sake!'

'No, you like me because I'm gay and you fancy a shag from time to time—but you don't love me. You love Alphie.'

Sean said nothing, but his mouth became a thin line.

'But what would he say if he knew?' Simon continued. 'What would he say if he knew his closest friend was in love with him?'

Sean tugged at his hair and then got up suddenly and started dressing.

'You can be a real prick, sometimes,' he sneered. 'All I asked was that we keep things simple and uncomplicated. So many straight couples keep themselves a secret, I don't understand why you had to try forcing me to become public with ours.'

Simon sat up and glowered at Sean, who was roughly putting his clothes back on.

'Are you breaking up with me?'

Sean looked at Simon and sighed.

'Yeah, I am. I can't take your bitching and whining any more. It's too much. See you round.'

--

'What's wrong with you?' Alphard laughed at Sean, punching his arm as he took his seat at the breakfast table. 'How was your run?'

Sean glowered.

'Enlightening.'

Alphard rolled his eyes at Sean.

'You always say that. You'll have to take me on one of these runs of yours, some day.'

Sean's lips twitched.

'Alphie,' he said, ruffling his hair and finding a stray bit of grass, 'I'd love nothing more to take you with me on a run. Unfortunately, I don't think you'd ever be up for it.'

'Hey! Of course I would be! I can rough it out!' Alphard exclaimed indignantly.

Sean laughed.

'Trust me,' he said, getting up. 'Whether you like it rough or not, you could never take it.'


Selene groaned as she woke up. Her eyes flew open as she felt overcome with nausea and ran to the window and threw up, over the ledge.

'Ugh,' she groaned, sinking to the ground and shaking. 'What's happened to me?'

She went back to bed and lay there, shivering.

'Selene, are you awake?'

Selene sat up to see Malkin drawing back her hangings. Malkin frowned.

'How are you feeling?'

'I've never had a hangover, but I'm sure this feels a hundred times worse,' Selene mumbled numbly.

Malkin laughed nervously.

'What happened to me?'

'Can't you remember?' Malkin asked sharply.

Selene shook her head.

Malkin sighed.

'That stupid Black got angry when I tried to snatch our Bulbous Root off him, and he tried to throw it in the bin. Of course, that boy has a terrible aim- which is why I'm so glad he's a Chaser on the Ravenclaw Quidditch team- and he got your cauldron of Amortensia instead.'

Selene blinked.

'And?'

Malkin's lips quivered.

'Um…so… the potion spilt on you and Tom and… you were kind in love with Tom Riddle yesterday.'

Selene stared at Malkin severely.

'Kind of?' she repeated, sharply.

Malkin sighed.

'Okay, fine. You snogged Tom fully in potions. Muriel, Augusta and I kept you hostage in this dorm, but you cleverly evaded us by fleeing from the window instead…'

'The window!' Selene exclaimed.

'You flew out,' Malkin said darkly.

Selene looked surprised.

'Oh, that's clever,' she said, looking impressed with herself.

'Hmn,' Malkin said, unimpressed.

Selene bit her lip.

'What else?'

'Well, you were constantly professing your undying love for him before you left- to the point that you donned your white ball gown. You then proceeded to find Tom- somehow- and, by the time he dragged your sorry arse back to me, you were begging him to 'take' you, you were calling him 'My Lord' and threw a huge tantrum when he tried to get rid of you.'

'Oh no.'

'Oh yes. He had to stun you to get stop you.'

Selene stared at Malkin in horror.

'Hang on,' she said quickly. 'Why wasn't Tom affected?'

Malkin shrugged.

'No idea. Maybe not as much got on him… I say, you must have done nasty things to him, though. He had a hickey on his neck and his shirt was undone when I saw him.'

Selene tugged at her hair.

'Oh Merlin!' she exclaimed, 'I'm going to have to kill myself! How can I ever face him again?'

Malkin laughed.

'Oh, come on. I'm sure everyone understands it wasn't your fault. If anything, it was funny.'

Selene glared at Malkin.

'Yeah, really funny. Say, I might just slip and spill the Amortensia that you make with Alphard Black on you two. I'll see how funny you find it afterwards.'

Malkin shrugged.

'The way we're going, it won't even work. He's terrible in potions. Your problem was…'

Malkin started laughing.

'You had actually studied so much for that class- and we all know Tom's brillant- so, your potion must have been extra strength.'

Selene groaned and buried her head in her pillow.

'The world doesn't want me to be smart,' she sighed. 'Whenever I study, it always comes back to bite me in the arse.'

Malkin laughed and lay back down.

'I don't know if that's how it works, but anyway—we should get some more sleep. It's only 4am.'

'I don't know how you expect me to sleep now that you've told me all this,' Selene said drily.

Malkin laughed and, feeling frustrated, Selene lay back down and shivered as she realised that she had potions again that morning.


She took her seat next to Tom, keeping her eyes off him at all costs.

'My, what a fickle woman you are. Spouting sonnets one minute, and then ignoring me the next.'

Selene turned on him, but then sighed.

'Come on, you know it was only the potion,' she said reasonably.

Tom raised an eyebrow and Selene shook her head, annoyed.

'Don't expect to ever hear me calling you 'my Lord' ever again,' she said through gritted teeth.

Tom chuckled humourlessly.

--

'Draft of Living Death. Excellent,' Tom said after they were allocated tasks.

'Why?' Selene said dully. 'Because you'll arrange one of your little Slytherin friends to spill it on me, this time?

Tom smiled sardonically.

'That would be murder, Selene,' he said, smiling at how little she knew about him.

Selene crossed her arms.

'Well, I wouldn't mind spilling some on you,' she huffed. 'I bet you thought it was really funny when I was all over you, didn't you? And why didn't it affect you?' she accused him.

'I moved out of the way, didn't I?' he lied.

Selene said nothing and stopped walking, suddenly.

'What exactly did I do?' she asked, looking tormented. 'Malkin said how I kept trying to snog you and how your shirt was unbuttoned and my dress was torn in places… we didn't…?'

Tom's eyes widened as he remembered the searing heat of her kisses and quickly turned his thoughts to his Horcruxes.

'Nothing happened,' he said plainly.

'Surely something must have happened?' Selene pressed.

'Fine,' he snapped. 'You kept trying to snog me, I kept trying to get you off me. At one point, you grabbed my shirt and managed to rip it open. If your dress was torn, it was because you kept trying to get it off so I would shag you.'

'We didn't, did we?' Selene muttered, looking at the ground, her cheeks colouring.

Tom swallowed quickly and put on an incredulous expression.

'Of course not! That's disgusting!'

Selene looked up at him, and Tom almost smiled as he saw how offended she was.

'You could do a lot worse than me, Tom,' she hissed. 'In fact, I'm far better than you will ever get.'

'Fortunately, I'm not interested in women.'

'Hence Sister Jackie's book for you.'

Selene swallowed as she saw the cold fury in Tom's expression and decided to drop the subject.

'Right. Let's just…research this potion, then,' she said, not speaking to him for the rest of the session.

--

Malkin narrowed her eyes as she watched Alphard watch Selene.

'Alphard,' she sighed. 'Why don't you just ask her out, already, if you like her so much?'

Alphard looked up to see Malkin, not shouting at him, but merely raising an eyebrow.

'Eh?'

Malkin smiled and shook her head at him.

'Selene. You obviously like her a lot. I don't understand why you don't just ask her out.'

Alphard snorted.

'As if she'll go out with me after everything you've told her about me,' he muttered.

Malkin laughed.

'You think I actually told her about us?'

Alphard looked up at her in shock.

'You…you didn't tell her?'

Malkin sighed.

'Look, I think it's time we talked about this. I.. I liked you for a while. Quite a while.'

Alphard looked surprised and Malkin blushed.

'But then…I… well, I thought it would be you and Selene. You two actually talked during Arithmancy and, after a few classes, you seemed to get along.'

She cleared her throat.

'And then… this was my fault. All of it. I saw how worried you were when she was petrified, and I panicked, because I wanted you to notice me. But the entire time, I felt so guilty because I knew it wasn't me who you wanted, but her. I…I felt like such a bad person when I was with you and I blamed you for it.'

She sighed and looked up at Alphard who stared at her, in shock.

'So, what I'm saying here, is – sorry. I'm sorry for putting you through all that. I'm actually not as much of a bitch as you think I am. I just… well, I…'

She shook her head.

'Ah, never mind.'

'I wanted you.'

Malkin shook her head.

'No. You didn't.'

'Yes,' Alphard said, getting up and sitting in the chair next to her. 'When I was with you, I only wanted you. I had never even thought of Selene in that way. I just found her interesting.'

Malkin bit her lip.

'But you… I wanted you.'

Malkin shrugged.

'Oh well. We ruined our chance. But… it would be nice if we weren't fighting all the time. It sort of gets me worked up for the rest of the day when we do.'

Alphard looked down at the table and Malkin took his hand.

'Friends?'

Alphard smiled, though it was bittersweet.

'I don't know if I'll be a good friend for you.'

Malkin laughed.

'So are you going to ask her out, then?'

Alphard watched Selene and then shook his head.

'No.'

Malkin groaned.

'Why not?'

Alphard shrugged.

'I don't see her in that way. She's so… young.'

'Young!' Malkin exclaimed.

Alphard nodded and smiled.

'She seems so innocent. She's not like any girl our age I've ever known.'

'Surely that's a good thing,' Malkin muttered.

'Yes and no. I find her interesting, but I don't want to go out with her. I don't see her in that way at all.'

Malkin groaned again and put her head in her arms on the table.

'Why can't you just be with someone else so I can forget about you?'

Alphard laughed.

'So that's what this is about?'

Malkin threw up her hands.

'I suppose it should be better now that we're talking again.'

She blushed and Alphard watched her closely.

'What?'

Malkin shook her head.

'Come on. What is it?' he pressed.

'I… I sometimes wonder it would have been like if I hadn't forced us to rush into doing it that day in Hogsmeade,' she whispered.

Alphard tucked a stray tendril of Malkin's hair behind her ear.

'You know, I don't think any boys here deserve you. Not yet, anyway,' he said.

Malkin sighed in frustration.

'Everyone thinks I'm such a prude. What if, despite appearances, I just want to have a distraction from everything—I just want to be a little bit naughty, every now and then?'

Alphard laughed at her.

'Sex a la carte?'

'Yes please,' she mumbled. 'Well, enough for me to properly decide if I like it or not.'

Alphard considered her.

'It's funny, but I don't feel strange discussing any of this with you.'

'Neither.'

'Would you like to, then?'

Malkin sat up, her eyes wide.

'I… I wasn't talking about you,' she said uncomfortably.

Alphard looked down.

'Oh.'

He then frowned.

'Who were you talking about, then?'

Malkin shrugged.

'No one. I don't know if he even exists,' she sighed, watching Selene casting furtive glances over at Tom.

Suddenly, Malkin realised that he did exist.

'Okay then,' she said slowly, looking to Alphard.

'What?'

'Okay,' she nodded. 'What you—'

'You want to… us?'

Malkin shook her head.

'It doesn't mean anything. I just…'

She laughed.

'Ah… forget it.'

'No, go on,' Alphard pressed.

'Well, if anyone every asked me how good you were in bed, I'd never be able to give them a very decent answer, would I?' she said simply, grinning.


It was so different to the first time. The first time, she was trying to impress him—desperately trying to keep him.

This time, it had nothing to do with it. It was purely for pleasure.

He sat on the bed, watching as she unbuttoned her shirt, slowly slid down her skirt.

'Leave your stockings,' Alphard breathed as she went to undo her suspender belt.

Malkin raised an eyebrow and grinned suggestively.

'You like stockings?' she said softly, climbing onto the bed.

Alphard grinned.

'Hmn,' he said, leaning forward and kissing her softly.

Malkin pushed him away, her eyes guarded.

'Just… this means nothing, right?'

'Pure and simple sex,' Alphard nodded.

She smiled and leant forward to kiss him again.

Alphard leant back.

'Do you want to try something?' he asked.

Malkin sat up on her knees.

'Try what?' she asked, looking as Alphard leant over his bed and rummaged around his trunk.

He sat up and brought out a small paper bag and shook out two small pills onto the bed.

Malkin's eyes widened.

'Vice?' she whispered. 'Where'd you get this? It's really expensive stuff.'

Alphard grinned and tapped his nose.

'I have contacts. I've never done it before, though, but it's meant to calm you down and get you high. Want to try?'

Malkin grinned and opened her mouth. Alphard placed one on her tongue and she leant forward and kissed him until it was on his tongue. He swallowed, and then put the other pill on his tongue and kissed Malkin as they both lay back on his bed.

'Will anyone come in here?' Malkin asked, blinking as she felt the drug's effects slowly taking hold of her.

'No,' Alphard murmured against her lips.

Malkin gasped as he started kissing her neck slowly, his hands sliding down her stomach and fingering the lace of her underpants.

'You have very nice taste… black lace,' Alphard murmured as he kissed his way down to her underpants. 'My favourite.'

Malkin's breathing came in short gasps and her chest rose and fell rapidly.

Slowly, Alphard pulled down the panties and went to kiss her in the same spot again, no longer clothed in black lace.

'No,' Malkin gasped.

Alphard looked up at her, frowning.

'Girls usually like it,' he said, looking confused.

Malkin shook her head.

'No, I don't want it. I just want… you. In me. Now.'

'Well, if you put it that way…'

Malkin desperately tugged at his boxers, pulling them down as quickly as she could as he kissed her again.

'Oh fuck!' she sighed as he entered her, her back arching in towards him. 'Fuck.'

'It's not hurting now, is it?'

Malkin kissed him urgently.

'Too restrictive. And shut up and fuck me. That's what we're doing, isn't it?' she snapped, tangling her hand in his hair and pulling him to her again, gasping as he slid deeper into her and began to move rhythmically through her.

Suddenly, he hoisted her up so they were both sitting and she gasped as the movement allowed for him to enter her even more deeply.

She buried her head in his neck as they continued to move, her nails dragging across his back as their breaths quickened with their pace.

'Fuck,' Alphard groaned, feeling that he was close to his release.

'Oh Merlin, not yet,' Malkin sighed, her nails digging even deeper into his back as she felt her muscles starting to clench. 'Not yet, not yet… oh fuck!'

Suddenly, they both shuddered and held each other so tightly that her nails drew blood from his back. He buried his face in her chest, their breathing harsh and erratic as they waited for the ripples of pleasure which were coursing through their bodies to subside.

They both lay back on the bed, spent and exhausted.

'Fuck me,' Alphard breathed.

'I believe I just did,' Malkin said drily with a small smile, closing her eyes as she allowed the Vice to take over her senses.


'You look very happy for someone who has been very stroppy for the past few months,' Selene commented as Malkin glided into their dorm room and sunk onto her bed, giggling ecstatically.

'I love… life,' she sighed, giggling again.

'Oh no, not you too. Did you take Amortensia?' Selene frowned.

'Who needs Amortensia when there's real loving to be had?' Malkin said dreamily. 'I love drugs.'

Selene's eyes widened and she sprung over to Malkin's bed and slapped her cheeks.

'What did you take? Oh Lord, we're going to have to take you to the Hospital Wing…'

Malkin laughed.

'Ah, Selene, take a chill pill. Ask Alphie if he can get you some Vice. The most awesome shit I've ever had.'

Selene's face darkened.

'He gave you drugs? Why, the little…'

She looked up as Muriel walked in the room and sprung up.

'Muriel, watch over Malkin. She's been drugged,' she called over her shoulder as she ran out of the dorm.

'You!' she shouted as she spotted one of Alphard's friends- Sean.

'Me?' Sean repeated, confused.

'Where's that imbecile of a friend of yours?' she demanded.

Sean raised an eyebrow.

'Which one. I have a few.'

'Black,' Selene glowered.

Sean bit his lip.

'I'm sure he'll see you again. He's probably just sick or something…'

'Not me! He drugged my friend!' Selene snapped.

'Eh?'

'He gave her Vice! Now she's lying on her bed, as loopy as a fruit loop!'

Sean laughed.

'Just let her sleep it off, she'll be fine.'

'Vice! The worst one on the market! What was he thinking?' Selene shouted.

Sean held up his hands.

'Don't look at me,' he said defensively. 'I haven't been supplying him with it.'

Selene glared at Sean.

'Well, you tell him that he's in big trouble when I next see him,' Selene said haughtily.

'I will, but I have a feeling he'll be too drugged up to care,' Sean shrugged.

Selene shook her head exasperatedly and stalked off back to check on Malkin.


Did we think Alphie and Malkin were over yet? They're not… and now that our troubled Malkin has been introduced to Vice, what will happen to her?

'Five seconds, Selene. You have a choice. It's either this, or the real thing. I warn you, it won't be fun…'

Now, please leave some love with a review. The last review count made me feel rather unloved… (But thanks to those who have been reviewing. You are all lovely!)

Love,

Anya