August 24, 2027:
"Tom, give me a strong one," I said as I walked into the Leaky Cauldron.
I had a hard day at work. The boss was being annoying, and everything I touched seemed to fall to pieces. I told the Michael that I would be home late. He offered to come and meet me somewhere, but I could tell that he really wanted to go home. Maybe he had a hard day at work, too, and just knows how to deal with it correctly.
I was kind of upset about it, though. Lately my boys have been really absent. I understood Scorpius being busy. This was the most important time of his career. The Quidditch Cup was only days away, and his team was playing. He was playing. I was super proud of him, but practices had been basically doubled. And when he wasn't practicing, he was reviewing techniques or studying up on his opponents. Scorpius was eating, dreaming, and breathing Quidditch.
On the other hand, Michael had been strangely busy. He always wanted to go home and sleep, or he would be out with work friends. It was strange, because usually he would be so willing to do whatever I wanted. He is usually always there for me, so much to the point where he is willing to drop anything he is doing to help me out. It was strange that I wasn't seeing him at least four times before I get home. Plus I have been using our mirrors way too much. I didn't like it.
Tom gave me one glance and sent over two firewhiskies and said, "You look like you got trampled by a troll. Don't worry. These are on me."
Sometimes I really loved that guy.
"I am in a slump, Tom," I replied, taking a big gulp out of the first cup. It burned slightly as the liquid went down my throat. I instantly felt a little bit warmer and a little bit fuzzier. Tonight was going to be a long night.
"I need something good to happen," I then said. "Nothing has necessarily been bad, you know? It's just, nothing has been going well. My boss sucks, my friends don't want to hang out with me anymore, and all relationships tend to end with me realizing that I am dating a sleazeball!"
I swirled the contents of the second drink before downing that one too. That one didn't make me feel as warm and fuzzy.
"Then I guess today is your lucky day," I heard a person behind me say.
I spun on the barstool to find a tall man with dark hair and dark eyes. It took me a second before I realized that I recognized him, and another to place exactly how I knew him. When I did, though, I was totally and completely in shock.
"Theo?" I asked in disbelief.
"Hey there, Sunshine. You miss me?" he merely replied, as he sat down on the stool next to my own.
"Oh my God. It really is you."
He chuckled and said, "It's not like I came back from the dead or anything."
I looked up at the ceiling and mentally whispered, Thank you!
I then looked back at Theo and said, "You may as well have. America is probably farther away from here than hell is anyways."
He started to laugh. "Glad to see you are still as sarcastic as ever."
"Hey, after a couple more drinks I don't think you will be as glad," I replied. He laughed some more.
"What brought you back to this side of the pond anyways?" I then asked.
"Well, I moved to the states. I lived there for a while, moving occasionally. Finally I got out of school, and I moved into an apartment. I was in between jobs, when I got an offer that I couldn't refuse. And here I am."
"Wow, you have an accent now and everything. You are practically an all-American boy," I replied, laughing.
"Sweetie, I do believe it's you that has the accent."
"And feisty too. You are definitely not the Theo I remember."
He smiled and gestured to Tom to bring another round of drinks. "I really shouldn't," I told him, as Tom approached with the drinks. "I need to get going soon, and my flat is all the way across town. Plus, I don't think you will be able to handle the 'I-Had-Too-Many-Drinks Rose.' She's a bit scary."
Tom gave me a look as he set the drinks in front of Theo and me. I knew exactly what he was thinking. You asked for something good. Now don't go and throw it away when it is given to you on a silver platter.
"I'll take my chances," he merely replied, knocking back his drink. "Besides, we do have a lot of catching up to do."
Theo and I talked for hours. I learned that he was working as an Auror here. Apparently my uncle sought him out, because he did something pretty amazing in the United States. He wouldn't disclose what his special service was though. "It's classified," he kept on saying with an obnoxious smirk.
He would then tell me stories of some of his rather scary girlfriends. One tried to get him to move in with her and her nineteen cats. Another wanted to elope with him after knowing each other for three weeks. One thought that because he wouldn't share a piece of gum with her, it meant that he wanted to break up.
"Hey! At least yours seemed pretty entertaining," I replied. "Mine all cheat on me, or become jealous of my boys, or propose!"
He started to laugh, and I joined in.
"I am just glad that you had about as much luck in that department as I have," he then said. "For a while there, I thought I was the only one on this earth that didn't know how to pick them."
"You don't understand how happy I am that you are here," I then said out of the blue. "You don't know how much I have missed you."
I didn't even know how much I missed Theo until just now. I remember why I liked him so much when we were in school. He was funny, nice, and smart. Plus he was just a great guy to be around. You felt good when you were with him, and there was never a dull moment. He could keep a conversation with a rock, and I just loved spending time with him.
"Look," he said, gesturing to my chest. "You still have my necklace."
"Oh, yeah. I guess I do."
He then smirked.
"Don't get too cocky," I replied. "I tried to get rid of it. Actually I broke it."
"Did you, now?" he questioned, raising an eyebrow in amusement. "After all the work and money I spent on it for you? Rose Weasley, did anybody teach you manners in that chaotic ginger household?"
I hit him lightly before saying, "Yeah, but Michael knows me too well. He fixed it, and forced me to keep it on. I never take it off."
For some reason, I didn't tell him about when I took it off when I was dating Michael and Scorpius. It just didn't seem to matter at the moment.
"Seems like I did something right then," he merely replied.
We continued talking for most of the night. I had just finished my thousandth laughing fit of the night, when Tom came over. "Unless you guys want a room," he said, "I am going to have to kick you out of my bar. It's closing time."
"Thanks, Tom," I replied, throwing a couple of Galleons on to the table.
"Hey, isn't the boy supposed to pay?" Theo then asked lightly. "You are making me look like a bad date."
"Oh, this was a date?"
He then surprised me by leaning in and kissing me. It was a short, chaste kiss, but it felt good.
"Of course it was," he said, after pulling back.
I smiled at him. "Let's just say you will pay for the second one."
