-Broken Past-

You walk into a bar. You have never been to this bar before, not that you ever wanted to be there. The only reason you were there now was because your best friends shanghaied you into it. Sighing, you head over to the bar knowing that there is nothing for it; you might hate the owner of this place but since you're here anyway you might as well get drunk.

"Bartender," you call out.

"Yes?" replies the gruff bartender.

"Martini, shaken not stirred."

He nods in reply and goes to work on your drink.

A man sits beside you, but you ignore him.

"Hey, do I know you?" he eyes you up and down. You do your best not to fidget, he is making you rather uncomfortable.

You can ignore him no longer, so you reply, "No, I do not believe you do."

He frowns not seeming to believe you, "Are you sure? I could have sworn that I knew you."

The bartender comes and places your drink in front of you.

"I'm certain."'

The frown does not leave his face, but he lets it go, turning to the bartender and ordering himself a beer.

You take your martini and start to drink it slowly, wishing that your friends had decided to go to any other bar than this one. You don't care that this is the most popular bar in town. If there is a chance that you could run into the owner... 'Maybe getting drunk is not such a good idea after all,' you think. Last time you got drunk in public you caused a riot, and it was your best friend's birthday. You really didn't want to ruin another of their birthday parties.

Looking at your watch, you sigh again, it was only 11:24, you couldn't leave until after the cake was served, and that was at 11:59. If you did leave early your friends would have something to hold over your head, for a really long time to come, and they would do it too.

All you wanted to do was go home and curl up in your comfy bed. It had been a long day and you hadn't had much sleep last night, having to babysit your sister's three year old. You didn't even get to sleep until 3 in the morning, and then you had to get up at six to get your niece ready to be picked up by your sister at seven.

At eight, when you were planning on going back to bed, your friends came over and dragged you out to celebrate all day. The bar was your last stop, you knew that, only you didn't know what bar it was, otherwise you would have made yourself busy and unable to come to the bar. Just like every other time. This time, though, they never gave you the chance.

The man beside you was starting to get really drunk; he was currently on his fifth beer, and you're sure that he already had a good bit to drink before you got there. He was starting to sway in his seat, and he was eying you again.

"You sure I don't know you?" he hiccups. "I could swear that I recognize ya..."

You open your mouth to reply with a negative again, but he interrupts you.

"Ah ha, now I know," he points at you, "You're Morag McDougal. A Ravenclaw, from my year. My- hiccup -year at Hog-hiccup-warts."

You turn away from him, and rest your head on the counter. "Leave me alone, Seamus."

"Come on Mor-hiccup-ag," he said, placing his arm over your shoulders. "Surely you're not still mad about..." he fell silent for a moment, and you didn't need to look up to know that he had his face screwed up as he tried to remember what it was. After a moment you assume that he decided to wave his hand about, because he hit you on the back of your head with it. "What are you mad about anyway?"

Groaning you look up, "If you can't remember you must be drunker than I thought."

"I'm not -hiccup- drunk!" exclaimed Seamus.

You raise an eyebrow at him, not believing that even he could believe that.

He looks sheepish, "Maybe a little."

"Unbelievable!" You get up and throw some galleons down on the counter, no longer caring that your friends will hold it over you. You have to get away from here – away from him.

He grabs your wrist before you could escape, "Come on, Morag. What's wrong?" he looks very confused.

You just shake your head and attempt to pull your wrist from his grasp, he won't budge and only tightens his grasp, making it impossible for you to escape.

"Let go of me," you order.

"Mor-"

` SLAP!

Seamus jolted back his hand releasing your arm as he brought it up to the quickly growing red spot on his face.

As soon as you were free you turned and fled the establishment.

HP*HP

You don't see him until a few weeks later. You were still mad at him but that night had helped you blow off of most of the steam. Enough, at least, that you didn't want to strangle him at first sight.

You had decided to take a relaxing trip to Diagon Alley. After weeks of constant work, you sorely needed a break. It was a beautiful sunny day, with nary a cloud in sight, perfect for sitting outside and eating some ice cream. That was one of your favorite methods of relaxing.

Just sitting down at your table you heard someone call your name. Recognizing the voice immediately you didn't look up until he had sat himself across from you. "What do you want, Seamus?"

He looks nervous, and keeps running his hand through his hair. He mumbles something nearly unintelligible. You give him a pointed look and his cheeks flush red in embarrassment. After clearing his throat he spoke again, this time so that you could hear him. "I wanted to appologize for... Well everything. The other day, what I did to you in the past..." He trails off, seemingly at a loss for words.

Eying him critically you say, "Why now? You had years to do it, why are you apologizing now?"

He sighed and looked down at his hands. "To be honest with you, I really don't know." With that he looked back up to you with an honest and imploring look on his face, "But I do know, that I want you to give me a second chance." When you open your mouth to turn him down, he shakes his head quickly, "No not like that, but as friends. Just friends. That's all I ask."

You look him over, thinking hard. He seems honest, in fact he seems to be more honest than you can ever remember him being. After several minutes of silent contemplation you nod. "Alright, but this is your last chance. If you hurt me again, I promise you will regret far more than you have regretted anything in your life."

He gave you a grateful smile, "And I promise you that I won't make you regret this."