Disclaimer- Characters are owned by JKR/WB/Bloomsbury et al. Not making any profit off of this fiction. Prose and situation are the only things I claim.
Smoke Screen
"Tell me the truth."
Sirius blinks up at the coldly enraged face of his godson, acting unsure of what Harry is asking despite being all too aware why the confrontation is occurring.
"The truth about what, Harry?"Sirius asks as he picks up the mug full of tea he keeps by his elbow when up writing late into the night.
"Cho Chang,"Harry says bluntly, his eyes a burning green.
Sirius's heart gives a small jolt, but he firmly ignores it and takes a sip of hot tea.
"What about the girl?" he asks Harry coolly. Harry's eyes narrow.
"Are. You. Seeing. Her?" it isn't a sentence, the way that the words are clenched out. Rather, they are their own separate sentences that make Sirius want to wince. Especially when he knows the exact words that are going to come out of his mouth the next minute are what Harry wants to hear, but not what he needs to hear.
Sirius laughs humourlessly at the query. "No. We only went out for tea a few times. I only accepted because we work in the same department,"he hastily adds when he sees a slight flush of colour rise high on Harry's cheekbones.
Harry studies him for a few moments, as if he is weighing the answer for veracity before he finally gives his god-father an apologetic smile before running out the door, no doubt going to boost up his courage to ask Cho Chang out on a date.
An invitation that Sirius knows all too well she will decline, because she is already going out with him.
Sirius closes his eyes and tries to not feel guilty about what will happen tomorrow. He knows he's taking the easy way out and that will eventually cause more problems than solutions. But he can't bear to be the bad guy. Not to his own beloved godson. So he remains quiet.
He will offer a sympathetic ear to his godson, and maybe some words of advice for the next time. The next girl. All the while knowing that he should maybe stop lying to Harry and admit the truth.
But he can't. Not when it means that he is taking what Harry wants the most.
And pretending to him that it isn't what he thinks it is.
Maybe someday, when Harry's got another girl to give his heart to, Sirius will come clean about Cho. But for now, he will drink his tea and work on the papers scattered on his desk.
And pretend that everything is okay.
For now. At least.