xzachxwilliamsâ:
@saviloquusâÂ
It was starting to become hard to focus when his mind was constantly being filled with ideas of how fucking attractive everyone around him was. It felt like being a teenager again only on goddamn steroids or something. Heâd tried everything he could think of and nothing was helping it. He was getting close to telling the owner he had to go and just leaving when a familiar face walked in the doors.Â
Once upon a time, Rose Parkinson had been a face that would fill him with relief. She wasnât like his brother who took every chance he could to shove Zach downâsometimes literally. No, sheâd stood between the two of them. Heâd always appreciated that. Heâd appreciated her as little as he sometimes wanted to admit it. But things had changed. They had changed. Theyâd both gotten swept up in their jobs.
Until suddenly one day he saw her face on the front of The Daily Prophet and his heart and sunk into his feet. Heâd let himself believe the best in herâsomething he so rarely did with anyone. He had actually thought she was good. And there she was, defending Death Eaters on their way to Azkaban. And not just one or twoâone or two he could write off as her taking money she couldnât turn down from cases doomed from the startâno, there were several. And then her brother. Zach was neither surprised he was a Death Eater nor at any of the charges against him. He was however surprised to see his sister defending him after she spent so many years fighting against him at Hogwarts.
He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. This was the last thing he needed right now, especially with whatever the hell was going on. Everyone knew Rose Parkinson was gorgeous, she always had been. And in his younger years, heâd had a crush on her almost as bad as Tedâs on Andromeda now. God, why couldnât she have just chosen any other bar tonight? âWhat do you want? Iâve had a really shit night, just tell me what you want to drink.â
Rose remembered Zach fondly, not necessarily because of their friendship but because of how much it had pissed off her brother and her parents. Her only goal in life when she was younger was to make sure that Nico and his pea-sized brain were thwarted at every turn. One of Roseâs favorite ways to do that was to get in the way of whichever sad creature Nico had decided to take his aggression out on; and more often than not, the times she succeeded were with Zach.Â
Balance of probabilityâZach had been one of Nicoâs favorite victims.Â
For a while, Rose had avoided Zach. There was something about seeing him that brought up a vague feeling of guilt, the feeling that maybe, just maybe, she was doing something wrong. Rose wasnât heartless after all. Even if she had used her relationship with Zach as a means to an end, that didnât mean she didnât also enjoy the quiet evenings that followed an afternoon of aggravating her brother. Zach was one of the few people who heard her voice in those days.Â
But now she was different, he was different, and they had grown apart. She stepped into the role she had been carving out for herself for the better part of a decadeâas soon as she was old enough to start scheming a way to get out from behind Nicoâs shadow and her parentsâ resentment, she formulated a plan. She hadnât planned for things like people and friendships getting in the way of the plan she had so carefully followed to the letter, and she didnât let them. That didnât mean that her decisions didnât still weigh on her sometimes.Â
It was especially apparent at times like these, her regrets. She was too tired and fried to continue working; and a strange laziness had taken over her body, slowed her brain down. She only got half the work she normally completed in a day done. When she was behind on anything, Rose was always the kind of person to stay late and get it done, but she had been feeling lackadaisical all afternoon. As soon as her supervisor left, she snuck away as well, unable to stand staring at her case files anymore. She needed a drinkâand even though she saw Zach through the window, she still went in. She couldnât be fucked to find somewhere else. It was a slip-up in her careful avoidance of the people she left behind.Â
âWhiskey,â she replied. âStraight.â Rose felt a slight smirk curve at her lips. Now this was something she could find some energy for. âNice to see you, too, Zachary.âÂ














