Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the situations all characters end up in. Hope you like this little story of mine!

Step Two

Enjoying the fact that Alexei was still letting him hold his hand, Hugo continued to smile and swing their hands, the unexpected twists his night was taking inspiring him to start humming a fun little tune under his breath. Soon he switched over to the actually lyrics, completely unaware he was singing as they walked down his street and got very weird looks from the people around them.

"I have often walked, down this street before;
But the pavement always stayed beneath my feet before.
All at once am I, several stories high.
Knowing I'm on the street where you live."

"Weasley, don't sing for no apparent reason or I'm going to smack you. And we're on your stupid street, not mine."

"You're welcome to sing the song too. Though I'd have to teach it to you first, since it's a Muggle one and you've probably never heard it before. And I know it's not your street, you'll also note that neither of us is several stories high."

Alexei's eyes immediately drilled into Hugo's, promising untold horrors. "Was that a crack about my height?"

Please, he wasn't suicidal. "No, it wasn't. We've known each other for over two decades and I've never once made a crack about that, now have I?"

"Yes you have."

"I most certainly have not. If I had the damage you would have inflicted on my person would stick out in my mind even if my exact words didn't. Not to mention every major fight we've ever had is permanently imprinted on my brain…when do you think I made a crack about your height, exactly?"

"You do it every time you give me that stupid look of yours that says you find me adorable!" He hated that look, especially since he'd never been able to figure out just what he did to make the stupid Gryffindor think that of him.

"What's the fact that I may or may not find you adorable at times got to do with your height?"

"You wouldn't think that if I were taller. For that matter you're the only person in this world stupid enough to think I'm remotely adorable. Not even my own mother probably thought that once I learned to talk. It has to be the height thing, that's the only logical answer!"

Hugo immediately pointed out the flaw in that argument. "People call me adorable all the time and I'm a lot taller than you. Height has nothing to do with someone's cuteness, I'm living proof of that."

"You are neither cute nor adorable."

"You're the only one who thinks so, if that's true. That's why so many of the Slytherins I know hate me too. They can't stand the fact that they think I'm cute even when they're determined to dislike me just because I'm a Gryffindor and a Weasley." He disturbed most Slytherins on a primitive level that would have amused him if not for the fact that he wished they could all be friends instead.

Alexei didn't want to think or talk about the numerous Slytherins brought low by that 'something' Hugo seemed to give off as easy as breathing that made people want to cuddle and protect him from the world. He'd heard the man's sister describe them as 'Bambi Eyes', but he didn't know what that was and refused on principle to ask Rose Weasley Daimon anything, even if she was married to a cousin of his on his mother's side.

Seeing her at the occasional family dinner when she and her mother in law were getting along was bad enough, though that rarely happened.

"And I know I've said it before, but you really need to stop thinking that every time someone says something remotely related to height it's an insult to you."

"Says the too bloody tall man who regularly whacks his head on ceilings and doorways as a result of his height."

"I'd whack my head even if I wasn't tall, you know that."

Okay, he did know that, but the Slytherin was still angry that the curly hair cherub he'd gone to preschool with had always been taller than him, to the point where his head had only reached the man's chin in seventh year. And then Weasley had DARED to get even taller after they'd graduated so that now his head was only slightly above the Gryffindor's shoulders.

How I hate that, Alexei silently fumed, let me count the ways.

Sighing, knowing it was pointless to argue with him about this, Hugo decided to once again let it go and concentrate instead on something else. He'd try to beat the 'height doesn't matter' idea into the mule-headed Slytherin's head in another few years or so.

"So I'm correct in thinking we're not going to discuss what's going on until we get to my place, right?"

"Right. So zip it until we get there."

)

To keep the peace Hugo kept quiet for the rest of the trip to their destination, unlocking his flat door and then holding it open for Alexei to go in first. Once they were both inside and he'd closed the door behind them Hugo switched on the lights, not surprised at all when the Slytherin's jaw immediately dropped in shock when the other man got a look at his now lit surroundings.

That was the usual reaction when people got a look at his idea of decorating for the first time.

"Holy fucking-you have a serious problem, you know that?!"

"It could be worse."

"HOW COULD IT BE WORSE?!"

"The shelves could be pink?"

Not even really listening to him Alexei walked further into the room, unable to believe the fact that there were literally no walls that he could see. There probably were behind all the bookshelves that had been magically altered to fit every nook and cranny of the place from floor to ceiling, but you wouldn't know it at first or fifth glance.

And what was even more disturbing was the fact that he'd bet good money that the bibliophile he was with had read every single bloody one of the thousands of books surrounding them in this room alone. How many more were in other rooms he didn't even want to think about.

Spinning around Alexei only had one question. "Why?"

Hugo just shrugged. "I love my books."

"To a very, very, unhealthy degree."

Hugo disagreed, but then he could never seem to get people to understand that he could never bear to part with his books once he had them. Rosie understood a little, but even she thought his rooms were excessive, though she was kind about it.

So instead he motioned towards the couches in the room. "Would you like to have a seat then? Can I get you something to drink?"

Alexei's first impulse was to say no, but on second thought... "The strongest liquor you have."

"Okay then."

Not ready to settle yet Alexei waited until Hugo had headed out of the room before walking over to the shelves, eyes scanning various titles, not at all surprised that they appeared to be grouped by topic as well as put in alphabetical order. And there weren't even labels, the man must have just memorized where everything was. There were books on so many subjects, many of which he assumed were Muggle related from the odd names of the authors and works.

"You're welcome to borrow something if one's caught your interest."

"You'd trust me with one of your precious books?" One of the few things that was guaranteed to have Hugo Weasley showing his bad ass side was to wreck books in front of him. When they'd been in their sixth year some idiot Ravenclaws had devised this spell that they thought would let them take all the information from the books in the library and magically transfer that knowledge into their heads. What they'd ended up doing was destroying three shelves worth of books, damaging many of them beyond repair.

Mr. Nice Guy had gone postal on them and had turned them both into statues so they couldn't do any more damage in the future. Nobody had been able to figure out how to undo what he'd done and the Gryffindor had only agreed to lift the curse when the grandmothers of the two idiots begged him to.

The man had a weakness where grandmothers were concerned.

"I'd trust you with one of my books because destroying them just to hurt me is beneath you."

Okay, he couldn't argue with that.

Taking the glass he was offered Alexei nodded his thanks and then joined Hugo in sitting down, deliberately choosing a seat across from the other man. "So I had a fight with my father's side of the family tonight."

"That's nothing new."

"No, it's not. But in this case I put out an ultimatum and they called my bluff, so to speak. But I wasn't bluffing, and now to punish them I'm going to date you and make them very sorry they ever thought they could tell me how to live my life again."

Normally Hugo would have asked how dating him could be perceived as a punishment for someone's family, but this was the Dolohovs they were talking about. They disliked him more than any other family on the planet. Alexei might be the only one who could stand to actually be in a room with him for over ten minutes and not feel bad about being nasty to him, but as a group they'd probably dance on his grave if they knew how to dance…which he sort of doubted that they did.

Too happy an activity.

But back to the conversation at hand, Hugo reminded himself. "So you think you can just pretend to date me and everyone will believe it…why? I mean everyone has three set responses when they see us together and that's to run away to escape the fireworks, leap to my defense, or egg you on because they're your fellow Slytherins. No one's going to believe you just woke up one morning and decided you wanted to jump my bones."

"My family will know what I'm up to and that's all that matters to me. And we won't be pretending, I'll actually take you places and stuff. You're single right now, right?" Not that he had a problem getting rid of any competition there if necessary.

"I am, but you…this can't work. You think they'll be psychologically damaged because some people are going to believe that their heir is involved with me? Because all they have to do is spread the word that you're doing this to punish them and then everyone will figure we're faking it."

"Oh I'll make them believe it's real. Trust me."

He only had to think about that for a moment before Hugo raised his glass in a toast. "Even I have the sense not to trust you when you want to use me."

Inclining his head in acknowledgement, Alexei let that go for the moment and turned the conversation towards the reason he'd decided he needed a stiff drink before their talk, draining his glass in preparation before asking the dreaded question.

"What do you want in exchange for your cooperation?"

)

Sipping his drink thoughtfully Hugo studied the other man over the rim of the glass, not letting his thoughts show on his face as he considered the question poised. What did he want? Oh any number of things. But something the other man could provide him with in exchange…well that was a decidedly loaded question indeed. Because despite what the rest of the Wizarding World though they knew about his relationship with Alexei Dolohov, they did, in fact, know nothing at all. They'd both seen to that over the years and what the Slytherin was proposing…well that would require revisiting a time in their past that they'd both shut the door on long ago.

To buy himself time, and genuinely curious anyway, Hugo deliberately leaned forward, the cunning he so rarely showed entering his normally cheerful brown eyes. "And just what do you think I would ask for in return, Alexei? From the look in your eyes I'd say you're imagining something really unpleasant."

Flinching instinctively at the way the Gryffindor had all but purred his first name, not to mention his usual reaction when Hugo went all serious and sly on him, Alexei glared at him reflectively. "Don't push me on this one, Hugo. What do you want in return?"

Setting his glass aside the Gryffindor considered drawing things out, but knew that would only come back to bite his ass as hard as it would Alexei's. "I'm not expecting you to shag me if that's what you're worried about. I don't need to force people to share my bed…as you'll recall."

And there lay the undeniable fact that had been their dirty little secret for a little under a decade.

For two months in their seventh year they'd shagged each other's brains out whenever the opportunity had presented itself.

They'd made damn sure there was plenty opportunity to be had.

Hugo was willing to admit that he'd started it, the kiss he'd laid on the shocked Slytherin's lips a combination of curiosity and a desire to shut the man up before he said something that really would require him to give Alexei the cursing he had coming. It had worked and he'd walked away from the statue still Slytherin thinking that the other man would give him hell once he regained his voice, but that that would be it.

He definitely hadn't expected Alexei to track him down later on to regain his 'honor' by snogging the hell out of him in order to prove that he was the guy and not the girl.

Neither of them had expected that snogging session to lead to them nearly rounding third base in a school hallway, much less that they'd end up using the Room of Requirement a few days after that to get to know each other in a much more intimate manner.

By mutual agreement they'd never told anyone.

Seeing the memories in the man's eyes Alexei fought back the urge to squirm as he forced himself to concentrate on the conversation they were having and the fact that he needed to be at the top of his game if this meeting was going to go the way he wanted it to.

So while it was on the tip of the Slytherin's tongue to make some very disparaging remarks about Hugo's prowess in the bedroom, just to take back control of the conversation, Alexei wisely held those comments back. The Gryffindor had far too much sex between them to throw in his face if he did, and he'd worked really hard over the years to forget those long ago two months, failing miserably a lot of the time.

And it killed Alexei to admit it, but he was a realist when it came to his reaction to snogging and touching the Gryffindor. That was how they'd ended up behaving like fucking rabbits together. Sex with the bastard had been like a drug for him, and he'd gone cold turkey for nearly ten years. Now that he was putting himself in a situation where that was no longer an option….

"You and I both know we can't date without ending up in bed together, Weasley. The sex is a given."

Surprise briefly crossed Hugo's features before becoming speculative. He hadn't thought Alexei would be willing to admit that. The man prided himself on his control after all. Plus he'd always gotten the sense that Alexei's greatest 'shame' in life was that he'd even briefly gotten involved with him sexually.

"Why go this route then? Why use me against them. I know your mind, Alexei. You're never short of ways to make people as miserable as you want them to be."

"You've managed to remain fairly sunny natured."

"I'm your exception."

In so many ways, Alexei mentally tacked on.

"I may hate most of my family, but they aren't worth going to Azkaban for. I'm not going to ruin my life just for the pleasure of removing them from this existence. I've done what physically damage I can get away with and it hasn't worked for long. I'm trying the psychological route this time."

That didn't fly with Hugo, there had to be some ulterior motive to this that he was missing. But, unfortunately, the only explanation his mind wanted to come up with at the moment was the possibility that Alexei wanted to try and have a real relationship with him and this was some convoluted plan the Slytherin had concocted to trick him into it.

Which, his rational brain pointed out, was about as likely as Hagrid starting to dress like Louis.

Stupid Weasley curiosity…he was just itching to play along long enough to find out just what the Slytherin was really up to.

And okay…that thought of having regular sex with Alexei again was as addicting to him as chocolate was to his cousin Al.

Hey, he was only human.

"So you're willing to give me whatever I want if I agree to date you for the next…couple weeks?"

Alexei winced, know what was coming. "Just say it and get it over with."

"But I don't know what I want in return. You haven't exactly given me a lot of time to consider my options."

When the Slytherin said his name Hugo recognized the tone well enough to know that Alexei thought he was playing him. So that must mean that he was correct in thinking that the other man thought he knew what he would be asked for in exchange. Just what did Alexei think he wanted from him?

It couldn't be for the other man to change his personality or treat him sweetly; that would be like asking the Earth to stop revolving around the sun. So wouldn't happen. It had to be something else, something Alexei would hate to do or allow but would because his plan was more important to him.

So he thought. And he thought. And he thought.

"You think I'm going to demand I be on top when we have sex, don't you?"

The look on the Slytherin's face said it all.

Hugo couldn't help it, he had to laugh.