When the Party's Over

by cuphalffull

Audrey Moore is the new Potions Master. Harry is the Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor. Both are still trying to find themselves, four years after the end of the war. (Non-linear drabbles of a slow-burn relationship. Deals with plenty of hurt left by the war, but there's lots of fun and happiness to be found here.)

5. Ex-Boyfriend

As soon as I walk into the Three Broomsticks - hair wet with snow and, quite frankly, frozen - I turn on my heel and leave.

I press my back to the old brick next to the entrance, heart pounding and fingers numb.

Neville pokes his head out of the door, frowning, takes in how I'm huddled against the wall. "You alright?"

I shake my head vehemently. "Absolutely not."

He considers me for a moment. "Do you want to talk about it, or do you just need a minute?"

"It's my ex-boyfriend," I say in a rush, because I won't say it otherwise. "He's at the bar."

Neville's face falls, realising. "Oh. That one?"

"Yeah. I can't go in there."

Then Harry appears, frowning. "Everything okay?"

Neville wraps an arm around my shoulder. I lean into him appreciatively. "Ex-boyfriend."

Harry's looks at me curiously. "The one we've heard of, or the one you wouldn't tell us about?"

I say nothing, which answers the question just fine. Harry's face tightens.

"We can go to the Hogs Head if you want," Neville says gently. "Hannah would understand."

I swallow thickly, seriously considering it. But despite the Hog's Head being something of a haunt for many of the visiting ex-students who had used it during the war, it still wasn't the Three Broomsticks. "No. No, I can't let him put me off."

"We're with you," Harry says, smiling kindly. His eyes, though, are sharp as steel. "If he comes over, we'll tell him to fuck off. Okay?"

I bite my tongue, trying not to smile. "I'm pretty sure that would hit the Prophet."

He shrugs. "I don't care."

Something in my chest flutters, heat rising in my cheeks.

Oh no.

I force a smile, wrapping my arms around my chest. "Yeah, well, I do. So don't do that."

Neville's smile takes on a certain edge, then, as he looks between the two of us. "Come on then. We're with you, okay?"

I swallow, inhale bracingly. "Yeah. Okay."

Neville gives me one last little comforting rub on the back before disappearing inside.

Harry catches my arm before I can follow him. I raise a brow, questioning.

"Hey." Harry points under his jaw, tilting it back. "Chin up. Fuck him."

I laugh breathlessly, lift my chin a little. "Yeah. Fuck him."

The way he looks at me, grinning generously, showing his teeth - so different to him, I think suddenly, so different - makes my chest ache. When he wraps an arm around my waist as we walk in, I don't even feel cold.