Hey friends! I'm excited to post another installment in this little side story. I'll admit it might be hard to follow if you are reading it as a stand-alone piece, since I will be referencing things from my main fic Casualties of War. This is basically just a companion piece so if you want to be informed without the commitment, I recommend you read Chapter 69- Out before reading this.

When Justin awoke the next morning his first thought was Theo. It was also his second thought, and his third. For several minutes he let his mind wander to thoughts he'd only briefly entertained the night before. He thought about what it would be like to snog Theo, really snog him. To undress him and…

Goddamnit.

Justin could hear moaning coming from next door and groaned, his little break from reality quite rudely interrupted. The mood gone, Justin got up and headed to the shower. He had two hours before his shift at the Leaky. Justin was quite happy to relieve Hannah now and again so she could have a day off, even if that day off was spent with Neville Longbottom. Justin liked Neville, and whatever was going on with the two of them was surely none of his business, but he couldn't help feeling protective over her. Hannah was precious to him. And to Ernie, no matter how much he tried to say he didn't care what she did with her life.

Hannah had been Justin's first proper kiss, all disgusting tongues wriggling around in each others mouths at the Yule Ball. Ernie had been furious and Hannah, well, he couldn't speak for her, but she certainly wanted nothing more than to be his girlfriend after that. And that's when he'd told her, "I think I'm gay."

She had cried, though likely for her own loss than anything else. It had only taken a few days before things went back to normal. Following that fateful evening he also came out to Ernie and Susan and then...nothing, for nearly a year.

Justin hadn't been talking about Hannah when he said he'd kissed someone at school. In fact it had been Roger Davies that showed him what a kiss was supposed to feel like. Justin had been 15, Roger 17. Captain of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team, ex-boyfriend to several of the prettiest girls in school, probably up for Witch Weekly's best smile competition; queer as a gold knut. Justin had wanted nothing more than to run back to his dorm that night and wake Ernie up with every crucial detail of the event, but Roger wanted it to remain a secret for reasons that became clear right about when he'd started dating Mirabelle Watson.

And so Justin had never really gotten to feel what it was like, to go on dates and kiss in the rain and all that trite, predictable nonsense that he'd secretly craved for years.

Until now.

By the time Justin had fixed toast and tea Alicia tromped into the kitchen in a long sleep shirt.

"Morning," she said, pouring herself a cup.

"Silencio, Al. Say it with me, sil-en-cee-o."

Alicia laughed. "Sorry! It's hard to remember when you're in the middle of it! I'm sure you'll find that out soon enough," she teased, stealing a piece of his toast and skipping into the living room.

He followed her and sat on the opposite side of the sofa. "Where's Roz?"

"Had to go to work. So, can I guess?"

Justin sighed. He had hoped she would forget about it, but then again, Alicia was much more invested in his love life than he was.

"Go ahead."

"Ernie."

Justin snorted. "Absolutely not. Never."

"Alright, alright. Um, was he in your year?"

Justin shook his head.

"Can I at least know the house?"

Justin considered it for a moment as he sipped his tea. Finally he said, "Ravenclaw."

Alicia chewed thoughtfully on her toast for a moment before she gasped. "Davies?"

In his surprise, Justin swallowed wrong and began coughing violently.

"Oh shit! Are you ok?" Alicia asked, leaning over to pat his back.

Justin nodded, coughing a few more times before righting himself.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," he said, swallowing profusely before turning to look at Alicia. "How did you know that?"

Alicia grinned. "So I'm right? Brilliant. Now I want to know everything!"

"There isn't much to tell," Justin admitted. "He was tutoring me for my Astronomy OWL, we were on the tower, it was late and we kissed. End of story."

Alicia shook her head in disbelief. "Merlin, Davies is such a pouf!"

"How did you know?"

She shrugged. "You hear things. So was that it? Just a kiss?"

Justin pressed his lips together tightly. "Yeah, I mean it was pretty intense, but it only happened once."

"How come?"

"Well, afterwards he said it would be 'our little secret' which was understandable since I wasn't really out either. But then he started dating Mirabelle and it was like I didn't even exist."

Alicia sighed. "I know how that is," she said but did not elaborate. "So anyway, this Theo bloke, what's his deal?"

Damn, Justin thought, what can I say that won't have her freaking out?

"Um, we actually know each other, from school."

"Okay, would I know him?"

Justin shook his head. "Um, we were the same year, but he didn't play Quidditch or hang in any of our circles of friends."

Alicia knitted her brow. "So, was he in Ravenclaw?"

Justin flushed and shook his head.

"No fucking way," she said, standing up and overreacting exactly how he knew she would. "Justin! You're dating a Slytherin?"

"Not every Slytherin is a Death Eater, Al! And not every pureblood hates muggleborns. He knows my blood status and still asked me out again!"

Justin wasn't sure why but he felt extremely defensive. Maybe because Alicia was vocalizing his own internal debate.

Alicia was still gaping at him in shock. "And not every guy is worth dating just because he's into you," she countered.

"I know that. I'm giving him a chance. I like him."

Alicia eyed him for a few more moments before she conceded. "Fine. But you better not let him mess you about!"

He snorted. "Fair enough."

That sat in silence for a moment as Alicia drank her tea and distractedly flipped through the mail from the day before.

"Oh, he's a postman," Justin offered. "For the muggle post office."

"And that doesn't that seem strange to you?"

Justin groaned and stood up. He was done with her interrogation. "I need to get ready for work. I'll be back around 9, you gonna be home?"

Alicia shook her head. "Staying at Roz's tonight. Try not shag any Death Eaters while I'm gone, yeah?"

He rolled his eyes and headed for the door. "I'll do my best."

Theo was distracted for the better part of the morning. After his impromptu date with Justin, he had been too wired to sleep, instead opting for a late night visit to Daphne's. Their conversation had gone better than he'd expected, though he knew deep down that Daphne's blood status obsession only really applied to her choice of a mate. When it came to everyone she was downright apathetic. After leaving her to sleep, Theo had walked around the empty streets of London replaying the events of the evening. His adrenaline was pumping and he was anxious and fidgety, even after returning home and trying to get a few hours of sleep. Today, his self-doubt crept in once again; arguing with him that he was foolish to think anything would come of this.

During his lunch break, Theo bought a pack of cigarettes and sat in the park. It was a clear, sunny day and he felt lucky to find an empty bench in the blooming beauty of it all.

Theo lit a cigarette and pulled a small scroll from his pocket. A letter from Draco. He opened it and read.

Theo-

You were right. Happy? You will be where you hear what I've done now. Where the hell are you? Visit.

D

Theo folded the paper and slid it into his shirt pocket. Taking a drag of his cigarette he stared into the scenery and let his eyes go out of focus. Draco did something else idiotic. What a surprise. He almost didn't want to know. Might be that he'd find out in the next issue of the Prophet. Whatever it was, he needed a little bit of space from the drama. It might be nice for a change, to pretend he was just a normal person. Working at his normal job and going on normal dates.

He laughed to himself. If he wanted to go on normal dates maybe he shouldn't have gone for a recently-orphaned muggleborn. It was some consolation that his father hadn't been released from Azkaban at the time of those muggle attacks. The last thing he needed was to find out someone in his extended circle had killed Justin's parents.

Theo shrugged. You are a selfish twat, he thought, pulling another cigarette and lighting it clumsily with the muggle lighter he kept for such outings.

Theo thought back once again to his parting conversation with Justin. It was like he'd been possessed.

It'll be a surprise? Who did he think he was? He'd never planned a date, especially not a first date. David had done all the work in their relationship. For as self-centered and arrogant as he was, he did know all the best pubs and restaurants in the Greater London area.

Theo watched the muggles enjoying their Saturday; eating lunch on picnic blankets under lazily swaying willow trees, playing catch with friends or kids or dogs, listening to music on wireless radios or just enjoying each others company. He spotted a couple sitting near a small duck pond. The man was throwing bread to the ducks while the woman laughed and took photos. Instantly he thought of Daphne and for a moment felt very sad. He would never ever tell her this, but part of him always felt like a failure, not being able to love her the way she loved him. As if there was some little part of his brain that truly believed if he'd tried harder he could've convinced himself he was straight.

He remembered sitting on the edge of the Black Lake with her, throwing bread to the birds, laughing and scheming and talking shite about everyone. Those had been his favorite times at Hogwarts. And he could remember her looking at him the same way, but he could never return it. Last night, he had been compelled to see her right away, to tell her what happened. At the time he didn't know what was forcing him to act so impulsively but now that he thought about it, Theo wondered if he felt guilty, like he had to confess or something, to get her approval.

Well he had it, as much as hope for. He knew his other confidant would likely not be so supportive.

Deciding he'd wait a few days before writing Draco, Theo stubbed out his cigarette and looked at his watch. Ten more minutes then back to work.

As soon as Justin got home Alicia ambushed him.

"I want a word with you," she said before he was even through the door. His shift had been dead and he was pretty unhappy with the handful of tips he had made. Most of the evening had been spent listening to a particularly chatty and very drunk wizard express his opinion about, well, everything.

"Good evening to you, too," he said, stalking over to the fridge and getting a bottle of ale. "I thought you were going to Roz's tonight."

"I saw Ron Weasley today," she stated in lieu of an answer. Justin flopped down in the armchair and drank his beer unable to be concerned by the obvious tension in Alicia's voice.

"That's nice," he said, feeling tired and irritated. He registered Alicia plunking down on the edge of the coffee table, but his eyes were somewhat fixed on a spider dangling from the ceiling.

"He said the only person in your year named Theo is Theodore Nott."

Justin felt his frown deepen. The only thing that had lifted his spirits today was the occasional memory of last night's events and now Alicia was going to ruin that for him too. "He goes by Theo Black now, actually."

"I don't care what he goes by Justin! He's Theodore Nott! His father is…"

Finally Justin snapped his attention to the woman sitting across from him. "I know who is father is, or was rather! And if I don't care, then you shouldn't either. Leave it alone, Alicia."

She frowned at him with her arms crossed against her chest. "I don't know what you are playing at, but I don't like it. I think you are being reckless and irresponsible."

"Good to know," he said dryly, knocking back the rest of his ale in one. Would this day ever end?

"Why are you being so stubborn?" she finally asked. "You don't even know him!"

"And neither do you," he countered quickly. "I'm going to say this as clearly as I can, Alicia. Butt out."

And with that he pushed himself out of the sagging armchair and stalked past her to his bedroom. Once inside he collapsed on his bed with a groan. Part of him knew she meant well. And it wasn't as if he hadn't expected her to react this way; it was the reason he'd been so vague about who Theo was in the first place. He kicked his shoes off and curled further into bed, ignoring the fact that he could still smell the pub on his clothes.

Justin lay there for a long time imagining having the same conversation with his mother. When he was on the run, one of the things that played over and over in his head were the many possible scenarios regarding him telling his parents he was gay. There was full support, that one always boosted his mood. There was initial discomfort and disapproval followed by ambivalence and eventual approval and then, of course, there was the worst.

When Justin found out he was a wizard, his mother had been hard to win round. There had been a real possibility he wasn't going to go to Hogwarts for nearly a month after Professor McGonagall showed up at his house with his first letter. But Justin's father had been the voice of reason, taking him to Diagon Alley to get his supplies and hiding it in the attic until she could be convinced. This time, he wagered, there'd be no reasoning with his mother. If she knew what Alicia knew, about Theo, she'd lock him in his room and snap his wand in half.

Pressing his face deep into the pillow he let out a loud groan before getting back out of bed and returning to the living room to apologize. While he was still adamant about Alicia butting out of his love life, he understood it came from a place of caring. But Alicia was not in the living room.

"Al?" he called, walking to her bedroom. The door was open and he peeked inside. Nothing.

Guess she went to Roz's after all, he thought, shuffling grumpily to the bathroom for a hot shower. He couldn't help but lament that the one person who was excited for him to get out and meet someone now wholeheartedly disapproved.

Who is going to help me get ready for this damn date?!

A/N 2: So this picks up right after Chapter 69 in COW and then follows along parallel with that story, which is currently about a week ahead. I'm hoping to get this at least caught up with Alicia's chapter (74) in the next month or two.

If you haven't already, I also suggest you take a look at another companion piece I wrote featuring Theo and Daphne called Not That Kind of Love. It chronicles their rocky friendship in regards to her unrequited feelings for him. Part of me is considering publishing Theo's late night meeting with Daphne (I already wrote it) but I haven't decided yet.

If you haven't noticed, I'm slow to publish. I do not necessarily write everything out ahead of time and then publish a chapter per week like some. So if you like it, feel free to follow/fave so that you get notified when I finally get around to putting up something new.

Also, please review! Thank you!