Author's Note: This was written for the Crystals, Gemstone, & Astrology Challenge: Ametrine (Basic) - Write about overcoming a troubled period of time. (150-600 words). Word Count: 600. Hope you enjoy!
The butterbeer bottle had sat on the counter for two hours. It's warm now, though nothing a Cooling Charm couldn't fix, but James can't even touch it with one finger.
.
Three days before Christmas four years ago, James swallowed back another shot of Bubbling Rum, chasing the fizzy liquid with his seventh butterbeer of the night. His Chudley Cannons teammates cheered. James threw his head back in laughter, falling back on his stool and landing on the floor. His teammates roared, slapping the table.
James chuckled at his own clumsiness, opening his eyes to see his girlfriend, Meghan McLaggen, staring down at him.
"Meg, my love!" he exclaimed, reaching his hand up towards her like a baby.
She walked away.
.
He scrapes his hands through his hair, urging himself to take a sip. He can do this. He's come so far. This shouldn't be so hard. Just one sip.
Just one sip.
.
He woke up the next day with his face in the toilet and Meg rummaging through drawers. "Love, could you get me some water?"
She didn't answer.
"Meg?"
"I'm leaving, James." She appeared in the doorway, a suitcase in hand.
"What? Why?"
She sighed, grabbing a glass from the sink counter and filling it with water. "I know alcoholism when I see it. My mother had it and overcame it. My grandmother had it and killed herself." She handed the cup to him and picked up her suitcase. "Either find me when you're sober, or I'll see you at your funeral."
.
The door opens, and Meg bustles in with an armful of packages dusted with snow. She drops them on the table but freezes when she sees James. "What are you doing?"
"I'm trying to have a drink."
.
He didn't leave his flat after she left. He missed Christmas with his family. But then it was New Year's Eve, a holiday not to be spent alone. He found a place at the Leaky Cauldron's bar.
"Fancy meeting you here." Erin McLaggen stumbled into the stool beside him, smiling up at him with the same big blue eyes that her little sister had. "Can I buy you a drink?"
.
"Why do you want a drink?" Meg asks, going to James' side.
He glares at the bottle. "Because I should be able to. The Cannons finally won the League Cup. You and I are getting married. We're having a baby." He reaches out and holds Meg's waist, her stomach still too flat to imagine a child in there. "I want to celebrate with my teammates, make a toast at our wedding, have a pint when the kid's napping."
"So why don't you drink it?"
"Because I don't want the past three years to mean nothing."
.
He slept with her sister. It had been over a year and he still hadn't forgiven himself. He didn't want forgiveness, he just wanted to keep a promise.
Meg opened the door, her face dropping in surprise. "James, what are you doing here?"
"I've been sober six months. Thought I was supposed to find you."
.
"It means everything," Meg says, rubbing her gloved hand across his cheek. "It's made you this person, this person right here, who I'm marrying and having a child with. I'm the last person who wants you slipping, but…I don't want you living in fear either."
She grabs the bottle, takes a swig, and holds it out to James. He hesitates, staring at it for a few second before taking a drink.
"How is it?"
James grimaces. "Warm."
She laughs and kisses him, tasting the butterbeer on each other's lips.
