Tidal Wave [george weasley post war]

23. Wildest Dreams

"You'll see me in hindsight
Tangled up with you all night
Burnin' it down
Someday when you leave me
I bet these memories
Follow you around"

-       Wildest Dreams, Taylor Swift

⭑*•̩̩͙⊱••••✩••••̩̩͙⊰•*⭑

The weeks following tore Aurora down. Ginny did her best to visit – between spending time with Harry and practice with the Harpies, she was busy. Aurora understood, and of course didn't hold it against her best friend. Quite frankly – when looking at Ginny, Aurora saw George. Aurora had worked hard to not drink too much but found that alcohol helped her sleep better at night. Maybe breaking things off with George was the wrong choice. In her heart she knew that they were using one another to feel better. It was fun...carefree...exciting.

Aurora found herself being a bit of a hermit in the first few weeks of July. It wasn't until she received a text from Theo asking if she wanted to meet for coffee did she venture back into the magical world. She agreed and told him she would meet him in Diagon Alley.

She hadn't been back there since the last time she was at George's flat. As she stepped around groups of kids doing their early back to school shopping, Aurora found herself thinking about George and how the shop was going. He had a few new products that he had told her about – wanting her opinion and her help on testing them. They never got around to it, though.

"Aurora! Over here!"

Theo was standing outside Madam Malkin's with a suit bag draped over his arm. "You look lovely." Theo told her, leaning over to gently greet her with a kiss to both cheeks. Aurora smiled warmly up at Theo at his intimate greeting. This was the first time they were meeting one another in person since that early night in May at Hogwarts. They found themselves talking often through text messaging, and even a few phone calls if Aurora really felt down and needed someone to listen to her vent about whatever it was that was bothering her.

"Thank you, Theo." Aurora beamed, nudging him in the side with her elbow. "You're too kind." She stuck her tongue out playfully before turning to look at the coffee shop. It was only a little bit past ten in the morning, so it wasn't that crowded. "Let's hope it's nice and cool inside, I'm burning up out here." Fanning herself with her hand, Aurora moved past Theo and into the coffee shop. She eyed the garment bag he was holding – curious to know the need Theo had for a new tailored suit.

She had ordered herself a coffee over ice – to help with cooling her down. This was all the rage now, so she was interested to see how it was. Theo had ordered himself tea and once he received his steaming mug of hot water, he plucked up two teabags of Oolong tea from the counter and followed Aurora to a spot by the window. She was right, it was must cooler inside, and Theo thanked the gods for that. He was already sweating from the nerves of finally spending time with her in person. He didn't need to sweat from the heat.

"So... how has work been? You work at the Ministry, right?" Aurora took a sip of her chilled coffee through the straw provided, licking her lips a bit as she set the cup down.

"Yes." Theo took a sip of his tea, a small smile appearing on his lips. "I'm with the Department of Mystery, in the time room." Theo told her. "I was always fascinated by time. Father once had a time-turner, though he never let me touch it. It always intrigued me... I guess I was also interested in things that I wasn't allowed to touch or want."

Aurora couldn't help herself – she blushed at Theo's description of his feelings on the time-turner. She could feel her cheeks warm up a bit before she glanced out the window. Get your bloody mind out of the gutter, Aurora, she thought to herself, shaking her head a bit at imagining Theo wanting her – someone he was not supposed to want.