The cold air whipped around inside the dimly lit Three Broomsticks, as the bell chimed and a rather petite woman walked through. The woman placed her coat over one of the barstools and perched herself half off the seat as she ordered.
"Can I get a firewhiskey Tom?" The woman asked as she leaned over the bar, so the bartender could hear her.
"Oh Alex! How lovely to see you again! I'll get you one right away!" Tom exasperated.
Alex smiled at him as he returned with her drink.
"Thank you Tom. Quite packed in here tonight, I don't think I've ever seen the Leaky Cauldron this full before" Alex commented as she took a sip out of her glass.
"Well time has surely passed since your last visit here, Alexandria" Tom insisted, raising an eyebrow and a small smile.
"I know, I know." Alex said, "But it's good to be back home."
"You thinking about moving back here to London?" Tom inquired.
"I already have Tom, signed the papers this morning for a nice, quiet home up in Godric's Hallow. This— (She raised her glass) —is my celebratory drink!"
"Ah, well congratulations!" Tom applauded. "You must come visit more often than"
"You know I will, Tom" Alex winked. To this Tom smiled.
"We got a new Karaoke joint over there" Tom pointed out.
"I noticed. Do you always get such wonderful singers in here Tom?" Alex said sarcastically, as two Welch Witches were currently belching out a song about pumpkins in the center stage across the room. Tom began to laugh.
"Well the Random Round begins in a few minutes; if you want I'll put your name in for you?" Tom chuckled, "Show these people what real talent looks like."
"What's the Random Round?"
"An old hat filled with people's names and two names get drawn out and they have to duet together. It's pretty fun; everyone comes here mainly for that now-a-days"
"Sure" Alex agreed, "Why not!"
Alexandria shot back the rest of her drink as she watched Tom scribble her name on a piece of paper and drop it into an old wizard's cap. He then walked his way around the room to take other people's name cards as well.
He then handed it to a rather large witch who then proceeded up to the stage. Tom returned back to the bar and re-filled Alex's drink.
"Alright, Ladies and Gents, it's time for the Random Round!" The witch joyfully expressed and cheers roared through the Leaky Cauldron.
"First up we have—(she dug her hand around inside the dusty, old hat)—Remus Lupin!" She called.
Alex's eyes grew wide. Almost spilling her drink, she placed it back down on the bar and turned to see the man she had once known so well. In the corner of the bar, a man rose from his table, set his book down, took a quick swig of his drink, and walked towards the stage. People were cheering all around, as he had many friends in the Leaky Cauldron that night.
Alex sat there mesmerized by him. It had been two years since she last saw him, two whole years since they departed ways. They had known each other for years before and had shared quite the intimate relationship, but that all fell apart when Alex took a job teaching in the States a couple years back.
There he was, hands in his pockets, standing before her eyes, with a glistening smile across his face. He was dressed in a blue plaid, button-up, long-sleeve shirt, with a pair of nice, loosely fit jeans. His scruffy face was filled with excitement and the same outline of facial hair he always wore. His thin mustache curled atop his wondrous smile and his beard had grown slightly curved due to a scar he had on the left of his chin.
Alexandria watched him in amazement. He looked the same as he always had, yet very different too.
"And his partner will be—(The witch scrounged through the hat once more)—Alexandria Sutton" The witch called once more.
The entire bar erupted with cheers as many remembered young Miss Sutton as well as her relationship with Remus Lupin. Remus on the other hand, who had been looking down at the floor, peered up and froze. He watched as Alex got up from the bar, as people patted her on the back, and as she made her way across the room towards him.
Alex could feel a set of cold sweat gather around her neckline as she walked closer to the stage. Her stomach began to do flips and she immediately began regretting placing her name in the hat.
Remus took in her every feature. Those brown eyes he had spent many moments gazing into now shone with warmth and conviction. Her hair swept across her shoulders in the most luscious way imaginable. Her hips swayed in a way that made Lupin cringe in amusement as he recalled the many nights he spent making love to that body of hers.
As she arrived on stage, she could feel Remus's attempt to avoid eye contact with her at all costs.
"Get ready" The witch said, as she hit them both with a spell to expel their vocal sounds as a microphone would do. "Here's your song."
Suddenly the music played all around them, and Alex decided to take the lead, smiling as she did so,
"It's been a long time since I came around
Been a long time but I'm back in town
This time I'm not leaving without you"
Remus looked up at Alex who had turned her body and attention towards him as she still sang,
"You taste like whiskey when you kiss me, oh
I'd give anything again to be your baby doll
This time I'm not leaving without you"
Remus could feel his confidence building inside him.
Alex continued singing, "You said—"
But Remus cut her off,
"sit back down where you belong
In the corner of my bar with your high heels on
Sit back down on the couch where we
Made love the first time and you said to me"
The music came crashing down and the bar erupted with cheers as Alex sang the next verse, looking into each other's eyes, anticipation building,
"Something, something about this place
Something 'bout lonely nights and my lipstick on your face
Something, something about my cool Nebraska guy
Yeah something about, baby, you and I"
Remus took the next verses, as they swirled around each other in excitement and smiles:
"It`s been two years since I let you go,
I couldn't listen to a joke or rock `n roll
Muscle cars drove a truck right through my heart
On my birthday you sang me a heart of gold
With a guitar humming and no clothes
This time I'm not leaving without you
Ooh-oh ooh-oh"
Remus made his way across the stage grabbing Alex around the waist and continuing, forcefully singing,
"Sit back down where you belong
In the corner of my bar with your high heels on
Sit back down on the couch where we
Made love the first time and you said to me"
Alex rubbed her arm across his chest and twirled around him as she sang—
"Something, something about this place
Something 'bout lonely nights and my lipstick on your face
Something, something about my cool Nebraska guy
Yeah something about, baby, you and I"
Together they belted, as they both crossed the bar, jumping from table to table.
"You and I
You, you and I
You, you and I
You, you and I, I
You and I
You, you and I
Oh yeah!
I'd rather die
Without you and I"
Tom the bartender, who was thoroughly enjoying the show by now, shouted from the behind the bar,
"C'mon!
Put your drinks up!"
Both Alex and Remus stopped at two adjacent tables and turned toward one another. There were a million eyes on them and smiles and drinks in the air as far as the eyes could see. With every fiber of his being, every emotion running through his veins, Remus loudly endured then next verse of the song.
"We got a whole lot of money, but we still pay rent
'Cause you can't buy a house in Heaven"
Alex preceded him, mustering up all of the old emotions they once shared in her system,
"There's only three men that Imma serve my whole life
It's my daddy and Nebraska and Jesus Christ!
Something, something about the chase
Six whole years
I'm a New York woman, born to run you down
So have my lipstick all over your face
Something, something about just knowing when it's right
So put your drinks up for Nebraska
For Nebraska, Nebraska, I love you"
Remus sang, "You and I"
Alex followed, "You, you and I"
Remus roared, "Baby, I rather die!"
They both began ripping their way down off the tables, through the crowds, and back up towards the stage, where Alexandria continued singing,
"Without you and I
You and I"
Remus met her back on the stage where he closed his eyes and gave the song all he had,
"You, you and I"
"Nebraska, I'd rather die," Alex shouted.
"Without you and I" Remus stole the stage once more.
The music slowed as the song died down. They walked toward each other and Remus snuck his arm around the left side of her waist as she peered deep into his eyes and sang softly,
"It's been a long time since I came around"
Just as soft, Remus retaliated with, "Been a long time but I'm back in town"
"This time I'm not leaving without you," They finished together, still holding the embrace of one another.
The crowd in the pub swarmed with cheers and chants as Remus grabbed Alex by the chin and lifted her face up to his. He swarmed her with a deep, passionate kiss as everyone continued to clap and shout all around them.
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