Heart on fire | Albus & Rosie | TW: Alcohol&Sexual behavior

[Deleted]

August 2025

Rosie walked into her flat that day feeling defeated, but also kind of like a weight was lifted from her. She and Brandon had just made the mutual decision to call it quits. It wasn’t as if anything major happened, but they also hadn’t seen one another in a few weeks and sadly enough, neither seemed to miss the other. Rosie still cared for him, and she knew he cared for her as well. They would totally stay friends, and they agreed on that. But there just wasn’t the same love and passion as there had once been.

And while she was okay with the loss, it was still kind of heartbreaking. She had parted ways with her very first Boyfriend. And now she wanted to come home and have a drink with her best friend. If she could convince him to drink with her. She didn’t see Albus in the main room when she walked in, so she made her way to the kitchen and took one of her blood bags out of the freeze. She also pulled the blender down from the top shelf. Finally she heard footsteps and her eyes lit up. “Oh thank goodness you’re here. Do you think Vodka would be better with blood, or Tequila?” after she said that, she realized he would have no idea.

Albus Severus Potter

[Albus Severus Potter]

don't speak too soon.

WITH A NEW WAND AT HAND AND A SEMI permanent place to live away from home, Albus was feeling... almost human. Auror training hadn't improved, but he'd never expected it to. But, living with Rosie in central London made it almost bearable. He was balanced, even in the wake of Hermione's loss. It was easier to bear it when he went home in small increments. Staying with Rosie in the meantime, she'd never tell him to leave.

Albus had an almost routine, returning to the flat from training at the Ministry to an empty space. Rosie worked late most nights, and the nights she didn't work late were spent with Brandon. It was almost as if they were living parallel lives. He might have missed her, if he'd given himself the opportunity to think about it. He hadn't. Instead, he poured himself a whiskey and pretended not to notice the countless frozen blood pops in the freezer as he grabbed a couple of ice cubes. Living with a vampire wasn't nearly as complicated as most people might think. As Al might have thought, at one time.

At the sound of the key in the door, Al paused from his careful sip of whiskey. He looked at the fridge, noting that the calendar stated she shouldn't have been home so early. He felt sure she was supposed to be with Brandon tonight, otherwise he wouldn't have whipped the whiskey out so early. And then a thought hit him, with a heavy dose of dread. God, she's brought Prince Brando home for the night. He was already gathering up his shit to disappear in to the spare room when she came around the kitchen door... solo.

"Oh-" He said, glass halfway tucked in to his arm. "I thought-" But he stopped when he seen her gunning for the freezer, pushing the ice aside to grab a blood bag and simultaneously juggle the blender form atop the fridge. It was a pretty chaotic sight and Albus frowned, dropping his bag, but keeping the glass in hand in case he needed it.

"Uh, maybe slow down..." Albus laughed shortly, taking a short drink and coming around the dining table to take the blender from her, he left her with the blood bag. "First of all, nice to see you, Rosie, how was work...?" He said with exaggerated slowness. Setting the blender on the counter with deliberation. "What are we celebrating?" He bent in front of the counter to grab both tequila and vodka from the cupboard, setting them atop and pulling himself to his feet. 

rose harriet granger-weasley

NEVERLAND at ADOXOGRAPHY 2.0!

[Deleted]

Albus hurried over to the scene of her chaos and took the blender out of her arms. She knew the idea of a blood margareta might not sound as appealing to him as it did to her, but she was glad that he was at least being supportive of her odd new taste. He told her to slow down and asked how work was and said that it was nice to see her. “Hi Albus. I’m swell, how are you?” she asked politely with the slightest eye roll. She knew he was teasing her, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t tease back. She felt weirdly energized.

He set the blender down and asked what they were celebrating. The idea of celebrating the loss of her boyfriend of the last year and a half was kind of heartbreaking. “Um, well, the end of one chapter I guess, and whatever the next chapter brings…” she almost felt a little choked up. She set the blood bag down onto the counter and bit her lip, trying to figure out the best way to put it. “Brandon and I broke up.” she simply stated.

Albus Severus Potter

[Albus Severus Potter]

don't speak too soon.

ROSIE'S SUDDEN APPEARANCE HAD SHOOK AL. He didn't like surprises. And, with the way she whirled around the room, he felt like he was definitely missing something. Approaching her like a cornered animal as she pulled the blender away and sat it on the counter. She didn't sound as harebrained as she'd appeared, but that didn't make Al feel any better. Rosie had a good poker face. "I'm simply superb, thanks!" He grinned, following along with his game of civility the same way Rosie had.

The vodka and tequila laid out in front of them, Albus turned and leaned against the counter beside it. Thumbing the bottle tops and waiting expectantly. When she spoke, Al stopped, going very still for a moment as the confession sunk in. "You mean-" He shook his head, clearing his throat as if he'd misheard her. "No way." He settled on, snorting as he did. But, one good look at Rosie's wide eyed expression and he realised with a jarring boost that she was being totally truthful.

"You're telling me..." Albus began, groping the bottle of vodka in to his hand and unscrewing the top as he spoke. "That you and Prince Brando are... done...?" He spoke slowly, in case he really had misheard. Tossing the cap on to the table and promptly upending the contents in to his mouth. The rawness of the alcohol numbing his tongue and burning his throat.

Once upon a time, those words would have thrilled Albus. They were all he wanted to hear back at Hogwarts. He'd hated how perfect Brandon was, how much better he was at being with Rosie. But, over time he'd learned to live with it. He'd gotten past his pathetic crush and accepted that Brandon was better for Rosie. Stable, like an old rocking chair. He had never considered a future where that wouldn't be the case any more. It just didn't seem possible.

"I did not see that coming." Albus finally said with a chuckle, licking vodka from his lips as he passed the bottle to Rosie. His brain was reeling, thoughts mangled as he watched Rosie's expression. She didn't look heartbroken. She didn't even look as if she'd been crying. "Why...?" He asked, still openly baffled. He turned to the blender and opened the tequila, busying his hands by pouring in half the bottle and waving his hand expectantly for Rosie's blood bag. "Are you going to be okay?" He asked soberly, tearing the corner from the blood bag and grimacing as he squished the whole thing inside the blender. They needed two separate blenders, he decided then and there. 

rose harriet granger-weasley

NEVERLAND at ADOXOGRAPHY 2.0!

[Deleted]

Rosie wasn’t surprised by the amount of shock she could see coming off of her best friends face. Jamie would probably act the exact same way when she told her. Rosie and Brandon were perfect for one another. They were so sweet, so innocent, so willing to grow together and go through life as a pair. But Rosie saw the end of it the night she had changed into a vampire. But she had tried to put that off as long as she could. She knew there was only one way that her and Brandon would stay together through all of this, and that involved him taking her new lifestyle upon himself. She never brought it up to him because she knew he’d say yes. And she couldn’t ask him to do that.

Eventually everything she feared had come true. “Yep. It’s true.” she promised. He made a few more comments about how he hadn’t seen it coming, she gave a twitch of her eyebrow in response to that. It was painful to think that she had seen it coming. Even if she couldn’t admit it to herself. “We just grew apart. We’re different now and doing different things and trying to lead different lives. And those lives just don’t flow very easily, anymore.” Brandon was perfect. And he deserved someone perfect like he was. Rosie hadn’t been perfect since that Day in January. “Yep. I’m fine. Just thirsty...” she handed him the blood bag, trying to stay as casual about it as she could. “We’re still friends, like we didn’t have a fight or anything. We’re just not in love anymore you know?” she continued, watching as he ever so kindly began mixing blood with tequila. She wondered if they’d be able to get the stain out the blender.

Albus Severus Potter

[Albus Severus Potter]

don't speak too soon.

THOUGH SHE SPOKE CLEARLY AND CONCISELY Albus had the overwhelming feeling that he was missing something. Peering in to her face in an effort to see past the veneer of professional logic. She hadn't told Albus anything about 'growing apart', but something about the word 'different' made Albus uncomfortable. His mind ticking over it and coming away bleached in a gently boiling anger. He didn't say anything at first, just upended a bag of blood in to the blender with a very cool expression.

"Is it the vampire thing?" Albus asked bluntly, but he turned the blender on instead of listening, the whizzing mechanisms filling the small kitchen with noise. Albus turned it off briefly to add indignantly, "If he made it weird..." He remembered her desperate cries the first time she had told him, how she had felt like a worthless monster. "He's not better than you, you know?" He spat angrily, before turning and blazing the blender at full speed, the contents turning foamy. 

rose harriet granger-weasley

NEVERLAND at ADOXOGRAPHY 2.0!

[Deleted]

Almost instantly Albus asked Rosie if she and Brandon had broken up because she was now a vampire. Rosie wanted to growl at the idea, but she remained composed, or at least composed as she ever was. And instead she simply shook her head. “No… it didn’t really have anything to do with that, well, if it did it wasn’t directly. Though yeah, me becoming a vampire did set a few things differently in my life and it didn’t really align with his anymore in some ways.” she admitted, but she still didn’t blame their break up on her transition. Brandon had been there for her for nearly half a year through her ailment. He had never complained and had actually been incredibly kind and supportive about it after her attack.

No it had a actually very little to do with Rosie and actually quite a bit to do with the new reappearance of a certain individual. Albus insisted that Brandon wasn’t better than her but she didn’t think he was even listening to her responses anymore, he was running the blender and possibly mumbling under his breath, she couldn’t quite make it out if it was. She decided that if she couldn’t let it out to Albus, who could she? So she waited for him to stop and asked instead, “Do you remember Adonia Nystrom?” she asked, almost as if it had nothing at all to do with the conversation at hand. “She came during our 7th year for the tournament from Durmstrang.” she added, she had no clue whatsoever whether Albus would know her or not, he had enough going on that year already without worrying about the visiting students.

Albus Severus Potter

[Albus Severus Potter]

don't speak too soon.

UNCONVINCED, ALBUS FROWNED AT ROSIE AS she mulled over the semantics of the break up. How it was and wasn't anything to do with her sudden shift in Ministry categorisation. They were a protected species, just as sentient as wizards. There were whole organisations dedicated to equality for vampires. He didn't like the idea that Rosie was considered 'different' because she'd shifted in that book. It made him defensive.

"Oh-kay..." Albus mumbled under his breath, his brows lifted as he turned his face away to busy his hands. He didn't want to fight with her about Brandon's 'good guy' complex. They'd had the same fight many times before. He didn't want to upset her right after a break up. Turning the blender on, Albus shook the jug on top as the ice was crushed and whizzed noisily with the booze, buzzing in his ears.

When he turned it to stop, he paused to look at Rosie, a hand still pressed on top of it. Arms flexing as he thought of all the reasons he'd never really liked Brandon. "Hm?" He hummed in confusion, his brows pulling together as he reconsidered what she had asked. "Adonia..." His mind ran over a dozen faces in a dozen different uniforms. The tournament had been crazy, Albus couldn't picture anything beyond the bombings afterwards. "Did... did she die?" He asked with blunt curiosity. Her name was familiar, but he couldn't figure out why. 

rose harriet granger-weasley

NEVERLAND at ADOXOGRAPHY 2.0!

[Deleted]

Rosie could tell that Albus didn’t necessarily believe her when she said that her break up with Brandon didn’t have anything to do with her change into a vampire. Maybe it did, on another level. But on the surface, it just wasn’t working. Though the more she thought about it, the more she wanted to blame Adonia. She didn’t want to believe it was the vampire in the room, because that would mean it was her fault. Whether or not her becoming a vampire was her fault. And she wanted to think Brandon wasn’t like that.

Albus just blinked at the name she gave him. He had no idea who she was. And that gave Rosie immense satisfaction. “No she didn’t die…” Rosie sighed before mumbling, ”Unfortunately.” under her breath. Never before in her life did she wish death on anyone, and she didn’t really mean it in this moment either, but she couldn’t help but imagine that life would have been so much easier if Adonia just wasn’t here anymore. Or had stayed away. “She did have a thing for Brandon though… and when I was in America after graduation they kissed, a few times, i think. And then she left for a few months, and now she came back… and well, I guess i just don’t want to have to feel like I have to compete with anyone. So in a way it’s a big relief that we ended things now.” she admitted.

Albus Severus Potter

[Albus Severus Potter]

don't speak too soon.

THE INSIDE OF THE BLENDER LOOKED A CRIME scene as it settled. Foamy bubbles pinking at the top and the deep red concoction staining the glass at the sides. Albus appeared transfixed by it, deep in thought. The Tri-wizard Tournament had been a disaster, a lot of good people dead after what was supposed to be a crowning moment. As if it were trying to top the last tragedy from all those years before. Albus cringed at the thought, but listened to Rosie's reply. He only became angrier.

"Brandon fucked about?" Albus snapped, though things had been a little hazy for Rosie once she'd left, he couldn't remember her ever mentioning this. Al had missed Rosie terribly while she'd been gone, but he'd never thought to replace her. Apparently, Brandon had gotten bored. Albus's face screwed meanly and he turned to stop himself from ranting, stewing in his own rage. He pulled the cupboard door open above his head, yanked out a large cocktail glass and turned back around on a sharp intake of breath.

"You never told me that," He said with an accusing stare. "You never told me because you knew I'd kick off, right?" He smiled without humour, pulling the top of the blender and unclipping it to pour the contents in to the glass. His knuckles white on the handle with barely contained fury. "I just- you were so in love with him," He shook his head, the thought still baffling him. He'd never understood why. Or, maybe he did, he just didn't like it. "I can't believe he did that to you." Albus lifted his head as he set the blender back down and bit the inside of his lip. "He wasn't as good as you thought he was, you know." He muttered, brows lifted honestly. "He wasn't perfect." 'He didn't deserve you', went unsaid. Albus handed her the glass. 

rose harriet granger-weasley

NEVERLAND at ADOXOGRAPHY 2.0!

[Deleted]

Rosie hated the way that Albus phrased it. He wasn’t entirely wrong, but there was probably a lot more to the story than Rosie was letting on. She hadn’t told Brandon she was leaving, at the time she had felt like he didn’t want her around anyway and was convinced he just wanted Adonia. Maybe he had all along. Maybe she should have taken the hint earlier and saved herself the trouble now. “I guess, kind of.” she admitted, blinking back the visuals from her mind. That was just about the last thing that she wanted to think about. She couldn’t imagine why Brandon even liked the other girl. Rosie was pretty sure Adonia had attacked her in their seventh year, but her memory of the event was still fuzzy.

She shrugged when he asked why she had never told him. “Wasn’t exactly something I wanted to boast about either…” she added. She already knew Brandon and Albus weren’t going to be best friends, she didn’t want to give either a reason to hate one another more. She sighed when he said that she had been so in love with Brandon and that he couldn’t believe that he had done that to her. “Yeah well, I guess that’s done with.” she concluded. She didn’t really want to talk about her heartbreak, that was kind of the point of the alcohol. She stopped the blender and poured the slushie drink into the closest cup she could find; a mug. Suitable enough. Albus added that Brandon wasn’t perfect and Rosie nodded after taking a drink of her concoction. It wasn’t wonderful, but it would do the trick. “I know… But it’s easy to ignore red flags when you don’t want to see them…” she mumbled. She wondered for a moment what else she might have been blind to.

Albus Severus Potter

[Albus Severus Potter]

don't speak too soon.

SHOCK MADE ALBUS CALLOUS IN HIS APPROACH. Seeing Rosie's rapid blinking and realising how what he'd said might sound out loud. How hard it probably was for her to even tell him such a thing, so soon after they'd broken up. "I'm sorry," He mumbled, his skin too hot and tight to fit inside. "I'm just... I'm surprised, that's all." And he would remain surprised, Albus realised. As much as he'd disliked Brandon, he'd never thought the guy was capable of that.

Rosie had a point, though, he had to give her that. Sometimes Albus forgot that Rosie had a right not to tell him things. He was so open with her about all of his problems - maybe a little too open - that he forgot how private she could be. Clearing his throat, Albus tried to stop himself from being offended. "Good riddance..." Albus said flatly, the glass pushed toward Rosie dripping condensation. Turning, Albus rummaged around the kitchen before he found a bottle of firewhiskey tucked behind a basket of cleaning supplies. It was half finished, but it would do.

Rounding the counter, Albus slung an arm around Rosie's shoulder. "C'mon," He pulled her along towards the living room as she cradled the glass.  "We can talk shit about him and get shit-faced." He declared, his tone of voice just a little shy of cheerful as they entered the living room and Albus used his guiding arm to pull them both down on to the sofa heavily. He kept his arm there and used his teeth to uncork the bottle of whiskey. "To new beginnings," He toasted, knocking his bottle neck against her glass and taking a long swig to stop himself from ranting about Prince Brandon.  

rose harriet granger-weasley

NEVERLAND at ADOXOGRAPHY 2.0!

[Deleted]

Rosie hated the look on her best friend's face when the truth finally came out. She had been doing an excellent job of hiding her feelings for the past several months and there was a part of her, a rather large part, that was really glad to finally get it all out in the open and be able to move on from it. But, it was also exactly the reason that she hadn’t told Albus about any of this sooner. She might have forgiven Brandon, but Albus never would have. And at the time, she couldn’t think of something worse than having her best friend hate her boyfriend. Now, she took comfort in his open disdain, even if it made her feel bad to enjoy it.

He pulled out a bottle of firewhiskey from behind a bunch of cleaning supplies and Rosie raised her eyebrow and gave a small chuckle at the discovery. Had she been drinking that much lately that he thought it necessary to hide the alcohol? She didn’t blame him. Rosie let Albus lead her easily into the living room and she followed his movements, falling back with him into the sofa and pulling her feet up to tuck her legs to her side, letting herself lean in more towards her friend who toasted with her. “To new beginnings,” she agreed with a giggle as her cup nearly sloshed over the rim. Rosie took a long drink of the concoction in her glass. She licked the few drops of blood from her lips and then looked up at Albus. “Okay, let me have it. I know you’re dying to tell me how much you hate him. I should have listened to you. You always seem to know what’s best for me.” she said before taking another drink. She supposed she should stop talking about him. She didn’t really want to. But also, talking about him like this was kind of cathartic. She knew Albus was never Brandon's biggest fan, and she had always ignored it, but now she desperately wanted to know why.

Albus Severus Potter

[Albus Severus Potter]

don't speak too soon.

LEADING THEM BOTH TO THE SOFA, AL SUNK deep in to the cushions. Rosie falling into his side, an arm still around her shoulders as he did. He awkwardly pulled it free to cradle his bottle of firewhiskey, twisting the cap off and balancing it on the arm carefully. Once toasted, he was free to take a swig. It burned beyond reason and his nose wrinkled slightly as it shot through his sinuses, but he persevered as he swallowed hotly.

"I didn't hate him..." Al defended himself feebly, shoulders pulling up around his ears as he scowled. It sounded like a lie when he said it, as if he were fending off an accusation he had already been tried for. It had been a topic of contention for the two on many different occasions, but ultimately Al had always softened his opinion to appease Rosie. "It's... a general dislike." He muttered, the leaning against his bottom lip a she hid a smirk behind it before he took another drink.

"I don't think I know what's best for you, Rosie," Al disagreed, the whiskey wet on his lips as he took a small, cautionary sip to distract himself. He did not want that responsibility, as he barely knew what was best for himself. "I just think sometimes people are... too nice." His voice dipped low, whispering its honesty into the space between them. He hadn't thought Brandon was particularly cruel, or unworthy of Rosie - as he had once thought of himself. "I think he expected the same from you and it- I just don't think that's fair." Al shrugged, he had a very narrow view of Rosie and Brandon's relationship. "What about you?" He leaned in close, nudging her shoulder with his own. "How do you feel?"

rose harriet granger-weasley

NEVERLAND at ADOXOGRAPHY 2.0!