Round 2 – Friends Are The Family We Choose For Ourselves
Catching Up
Chaser 3: Write about Slytherin x Slytherin friendship.
Optional Prompts:
2. (word) force
5. (style) first person present tense
9. (opening sentence) It had been a very long day.
Summary: Terence returns to London after years of working abroad. Will his friendship with Adrian be the same?
A/N and warnings: Terence x Adrian friendship, pairings: Adrian/Penelope, established background Flint/Wood, mentions of other Slytherin Quidditch team members, Star Wars references, Post-Hogwarts/Post-War. The story is set in February 2001; Terence will be c. 26 and Adrian c. 24 years old then. Harry Potter instead will be turning 21 years old. The War ended in 1998, and that would be 2, almost 3, years ago. And Jordi, thanks for betaing.
It had been a long day. It had been a long month actually, and an even longer year.
London seems different.
Terence doesn't recognize the faces of people passing by. They don't recognize him either. How could they? Terence hasn't been in London after 1993. The place has changed.
The street is covered in a thin layer of melting snow. The sun shines through the veil of clouds but it's not enough to warm the air. It's still chilly. Terence straightens out his scarf and pushes his hands into his pockets. He wishes he had brought gloves but the time he had spent across the ocean had made him forget how cold it actually is in London. He has been back for nearly two weeks and yet the weather surprises him every time he goes out.
Terence knows there is still almost half an hour left – just enough time to turn around and return to the Leaky Cauldron, where he's staying, and forget he ever sent that owl. But he doesn't do that, no matter how anxious and afraid he is.
The owl had returned with Adrian's letter the same day Terence had sent one to him. It had been a short and simple, or as Terence called it, a bluntly put response. Maybe Adrian is angry because it has been such a long time? Terence breathes out. He still has his twenty-five minutes time to try calming down.
"Terence!"
Terence turns around and swallows the lump forming in his throat. Adrian waves his hand and walks, runs, towards him. There is a wide, childish grin splitting his face. He's no longer the smooth cheeked chaser from their time at Hogwarts but now a mature young man with broad shoulders and neat stubble on his jaw line. Terence smiles and his nervousness fades a little.
"You're here early, Adrian," he says, uncertain. "We weren't supposed to meet until two."
"I decided to be on time so I left work early," Adrian replies with a grin. "It's not every day we get to see each other. How long has it been? Seven, eight years already?" Adrian looks at his fingers thoughtfully before staring at Terence with wide eyes. "Dammit, it's really been that long!"
"Yes, almost eight–"
Terence can't finish his sentence because Adrian has already pulled him into a bone-crushing hug. Terence smiles through the slight pain. "Mate, it's so great to see you," Adrian murmurs.
Adrian radiates happiness. His words are powerful and Terence feels warm inside even though the bitter cold pinches his skin. Adrian had missed him. It's enough to make his uncertainty disappear.
"You too, Adrian. It's been a while," Terence says when Adrian lets go off him. There is so much to say but he doesn't want to talk outside. He wants to tell Adrian everything, but even more so he wants to know everything he has missed. He points at the small coffee shop across the street. "Coffee?" he suggests.
"Only if you pay," Adrian quips easily.
Terence smiles fondly. "Coffee it is then."
It's easy to talk with Adrian. It has always been so, even now.
They had exchanged a few letters after Terence had graduated. Adrian had kept him updated of how things were progressing at Hogwarts: which House won the House Cup, who was appointed as a new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, the usual stuff. It had been almost like he had still been there with them. It had been followed by a time when Terence had truly regretted taking the job offer that forced him to move overseas.
"But really, Terence, it made my day when you owled me," Adrian murmurs happily and wraps his hands around the warm coffee cup. "I had kinda spent these, you know, last five years wondering if you had forgotten about me."
"I hadn't," Terence says and Adrian smiles at that. Of course Terence hadn't forgotten about Adrian. But the more time had passed, the harder contacting his old House mates had become and even Adrian, who had been his dearest friend during their years at Hogwarts, had seemed unreachable.
"You're still in touch with–?" Terence's voice trails off.
"–with the old team?" Adrian concludes and Terence nods. "I am, mostly with just Miles since he lives practically next-door, but yeah. I take that as you're not."
Terence shrugs. "Not yet I'm not."
"Ooh! Speaking about the old team I actually met Marcus the other day!" Adrian exclaims and snickers. "I think all that time he's spending with Wood is finally turning him into a softie. He has totally lost his edge. You see, we were both shopping for groceries I saw him at the vegetable department–"
Terence blinks. "Wait a second. They are officially together? Really?" he splutters, interrupting Adrian. Adrian nods eagerly.
"Have been for two years by now," he confirms.
"All those years of denial... I never thought I'd live to see this day," Terence says and shakes his head. Marcus' crush on Oliver had been so blatantly obvious it hadn't been even funny.
"That's what I thought before they invited me to their house-warming party. Seeing all that making out made me want to die instead of having to watch it," Adrian jokes. "But at least they're happy together and not constantly at each other's throats."
"No more rivalry then?"
"Oh no, no! They still compete," Adrian explains. "They're both in the League – Marcus plays for the Falcons and Oliver for Puddlemere and they show absolutely no mercy on the pitch. But at home they're so lovey-dovey it's almost disgusting."
"What about you?"
"What about me?" Adrian asks. Terence chuckles a bit and looks at Adrian before glancing at the wedding ring on Adrian's finger.
"Oh, that."
"You got married."
Adrian nods slowly. "Yeah." There is a red hue on his cheeks and he grins in delight. "You remember Penny?" he asks.
"Penny?" Terence repeats with a raised eyebrow.
"Penelope Clearwater," Adrian corrects. His smile can't become any wider. "The Ravenclaw Prefect. We kinda… hit it off. You remember her, right?"
"Sure, I remember her. So I missed when Miss "sticker to the rules" Clearwater became Lady Pucey," Terence says with a lopsided grin.
"You could say so," he laughs heartily and delves his wallet from his pocket. "And you actually missed something else as well." Adrian passes a small photograph to Terence.
"Is that…?" Terence's eyes widen. No, it couldn't be.
Adrian grins. "Yup. My daughter."
Terence doesn't even remember the last time when his cheeks had hurt so much. There is still so much to share but after three cups of coffee Adrian looks at his clock and sighs.
"I need to go pick up Leia from the day-care," he says and sits up. "Penny will be working late."
"I still can't believe you named your daughter after that Muggle movie," Terence sighs, even though he's not surprised by the unusual naming choice. "May the Force be with you and all that crap. I still can't believe your parents didn't disinherit you."
Adrian laughs. "There were worse choices," he hums proudly. "I could have named her… I don't know, Gertrude? But if she had been a boy I would've named him Anakin."
"Seriously?" Terence snorts.
"Definitely," Adrian confirms. "Hey, Terence, hopefully you're not planning to leave London soon because I was thinking of inviting you to join us for a dinner this Saturday. You'd see Penny and Leia?" Adrian asks hopefully. "Maybe we could invite Miles, and Marcus, and Oliver as well. Graham will be there as long as there's free food but Cassius probably won't be able to make it–"
"Dinner sounds good," Terence says with a smile. "I wouldn't even consider saying no. You need me to bring anything? Like wine? Or roses for Lady Pucey?"
"Just be on time, Casanova" Adrian grins and punches Terence's shoulder playfully. He digs his phone from his pocket. "I'll call you. What's your number?"
Terence rolls his eyes. "Adrian."
"Wha–? Oh for the love of Merlin, Terence," Adrian complains and waves his phone in front of Terence's face. "It's the 21st century, you'll need one of these!"
"Not yet," Terence says. "You can keep your Muggle machinery."
"Oh right, fine, I'll owl you," Adrian replies and sticks out his tongue. "But let me tell you these Muggle inventions will be popular amongst the magical folk someday in the future. Just wait and see."
"Suuure," Terence drawls. "Just go fetch Leia from the day-care before she thinks you've forgotten her."
"I'll tell her you said hi." Adrian grins. "Hey, Terence," he adds softly. "I'm glad to have you back."
"Me too, Adrian," Terence says. "Me too."
In the end it doesn't matter how much time passes. A true friendship never ends.