December 31st, 1917.
London, England. United Kingdom.
Theseus Scamander's house.

Another year later, Theseus was promoted to Head Auror of the British office, and that meant being invited to many balls to attend and having a ton more of duties and paperwork to do.

Today, was the New Year's Ball, thrown by the British Ministry of Magic. Many important members of different Ministries had been invited. Here people would meet their friends, celebrate the end of a year and the beginning of the next one...it was going to be a cheerful party.

"Do we really need to go?" Asked Leta from the bathroom. Theseus smiled to himself as he tied his bowtie.

"These are formalities, so, yes." He knew she has never liked social interactions as much as he did. Leta was more like a lone-wolf and introverted being. Even if she was more cheerful and let herself go whenever she was surrounded by those who meant something to her, she'd much rather stay home and be by herself or with the company of one man, himself. And he loved that.

"I really don't think we should go." She said as she walked out, her makeup and hair ready. She was wearing a long white gown that fell behind her back like a cape and her hair was curled, tied into a low bun. Pearls hanged from her ears and were placed around her neck. Theseus turned around to admire the woman much properly than through her reflection in the mirror. "What?" She asked after a second.

"Nothing." He smiled. "You look truly beautiful, that is all." She smiled and he offered his arm when he walked up to her. She looped hers with his and they started to walk out of his place. "Look, it's the first ball I'm invited to as the Head Auror, I have to be there, and I'd like to have you there with me." She nodded. "I promise that, as soon as I meet some people, shake hands and say a few other 'congratulations' all we'll do is dance and you'll have me all to yourself for the rest of the evening."

"Promise?" He grabbed her hand and kissed her knuckles before offering a charming smirk, the kind of smirks only Theseus Scamander could give.

"Promise." She smiled back at him and they hopped into a taxi that would take them to the ballroom. When they arrived, they walked in and immediately felt all the eyes on them. They were the talk of the town.

  Theseus, new Head Auror, and Leta, an assistant of one of the most important departments in the Ministry. Both very important in their own fields, one very cheerful and known for always being there to offer a hand, one that is considered colder and whom seems like a fish out of water in every room she steps in. They were complete opposites, and that made many people want to know what was happening between them.

  They were aware people were whispering about them. Theseus was a bit annoyed by it but Leta was used to it, people did that a lot throughout her years at Hogwarts, but she didn't care that much now. Not when she was with him, at least.

  As promised, Theseus left to talk to some people. Unfortunately, the second he was alone and tried to meet Leta again, many people surrounded him to congratulate him on his promotion and certainly to ask questions, meaning he left Lestrange alone for a longer while.

She grabbed a glass of champagne from a silver trade a waiter was carrying as he walked past her and started walking towards a corner of the room, just to accidentally bump someone in the process.

"My apologies." Said the woman.
"I'm sorry." Leta apologised at the unison. They laughed the awkwardness off.

"No, truly it was my fault, I was walking backwards." Lestrange smiled.

"Escaping from someone?" The stranger laughed.

"How did you know?"

"Let's just say...I'm an expert. I know the tactics." They chuckled and sighed. The redheaded woman nodded and smiled.

"Working at the Ministry is no easy task. You have to do a lot of talking and I am not too fond with that. Not today, at least."

"Totally get it." She extended a hand. "Leta Lestrange."

"Amélie Rosier." They shook hands nicely, exchanging kind smiles.

"Oh, have we met before?" Élie narrowed her eyes and thought about where had she seen Leta's face. "Your name sounds very familiar."

"Yours as well."

"Were you ever at Hogwarts?"

"Yes, for an exchange year." Leta's name echoed all over her head as well as her eyes...where, where, where? Ding. "You were the girl who told me where to find Professor Dumbledore's classroom."

"True. I told you to go to the third floor instead." They chuckled as Rosier nodded.

"I remember the boy that was with you said your name and...there you go."

"That was Newt." Amélie nodded.

"What about my brother?" Asked a male voice from behind. Leta turned around while Amélie looked past her shoulder. Her smile dropped a bit when she saw the British soldier, when he looked past Leta's shoulder he found the French nurse. Both of them froze in place for a second.

"Nothing, we were simply reminiscing our school times." Said Lestrange. A waitress walked past them and Amélie grabbed a glass of Firewhiskey, she took a large sip of it. "Theseus, this is Amélie Rosier, she was at Hogwarts when the students from Beauxbatons and Dumstrang were with us." She looked at her. "This is Theseus Scamander." She realised the way they looked at each other. "You...know each other?"

"No." Amélie lied.
"Yes." Said Theseus. She sent him an annoyed glare while Leta looked curiously at her, arching an eyebrow.

"I mean, yes. We know each other, but, I don't...I never got to meet him, properly." More lies.

"Exactly." Said Theseus. "Truth is, we didn't get along." Rosier nodded. That was mostly true and described perfectly the first and last days of that year.

"Oh." Said Leta before taking another sip of her drink. "How so?"

"She was annoying." Leta raised her eyebrows while Élie chuckled dryly.

"And I was also exasperating, wasn't I?" Theseus gulped. "He was just the same, a prankster. He's the reason why I had to ask you where was the classroom located."

"Really? Because of him?" Leta asked, pointing at Theseus. Rosier nodded while Leta shook her head. "Very rude." She shook her head with an amused smile at him.

"Indeed. He was a funny guy, or at least that's what he thought he was." It was Theseus' turn to chuckle with little to no emotion. Rosier took a sip of her cold drink.

"Not to mention that, to be an Auror you need perfect grades and she wanted to be top of the class at Hogwarts even if she already was top of her class in Beauxbatons. And that was my position." Theseus explained, changing a bit the subject.

"Yes, well, that gave me extra points in my curriculum. And I succeeded."

"No, you didn't."

"Yes, I did."

"No." Amélie knew they'd argue, so, she simple took a deep breath and smiled. "We were tied as number one students." She shrugged and Leta chuckled.

"Now I suppose we're no longer tied."

"Academically speaking? No, we're not."

"Also Professionally."

"Right, you're Sir Head Auror now, aren't you?" Theseus smiled proudly. They knew what they were doing and he enjoyed it, like he enjoyed annoying the living hell out of her all those years ago. And she hated it, like she used to hate it all those years ago.

"Indeed. Are you Head of your office?" Amélie kept her smile...but it was bitter.

"No, I am not. I'm second in command, nevertheless." Theseus raised his eyebrows.

"Oh." Élie nodded.

"Congratulations in any way." Leta told her softly as she attempted to ease and diffuse the tension that was palpable in the air.

"Merci." Said Rosier.

"And who's number one in charge?" Asked Scamander. "I'd like to have good relations with the other members of the Ministries."

"That would be-"

"Je suis tellement désolé, mon amour. Tu connais Antonie, il n'arrête jamais de parler." Said a male voice that came from Amélie's left, the other two wizards' right. Amélie and Leta laughed while Thes simply sighed through his nose silently and smiled. He needs to learn French.

"Him." Rosier completed her sentence when the man arrived at her side. "This is Jean-Alexandre Blanchett, Head Auror of the French Office." Jean was a tall man, brown hair and brown eyes. He had a nice smile and he radiated this extremely kind vibe that, for some reason, annoyed Theseus.

"Pleasure." He said, extending his hand and shaking the British man and woman's hands.

"Andre, this is Leta Lestrange and he's Theseus Scamander. They work at the British Ministry."

"Oh, right. You're Head Auror as well, aren't you?" He asked Theseus.

"Yes, I am." That's when it hit him. "I know you from somewhere else. Were you...at that medical outpost in France or is that me hallucinating stuff?"

"I was. You must be one of the soldiers that arrived from London." Andre narrowed his eyes to remember Theseus' features. "Yes, I carried you all the way to the hospital wing."

"Well, isn't this a very small world?" Said Amélie before taking another sip from her glass. The three of them chuckled.

"It is, indeed, ma chérie." Andre wrapped his arm around her waist and kissed the top of her head. She smiled lovingly as her left hand was placed over his chest. Theseus frowned. Despite everything, despite moving on and being happy now, he wasn't used to see Amélie with anyone else that wasn't and hadn't been him.

"Are you two...a thing?" Asked Leta with an amused smile. Rosier chuckled and Jean looked at the ground with a smile before looking at her again.

"She's my fiancée." He answered.

"Fiancée?" Theseus asked and smiled and grabbed grass of Firewhiskey when another waiter walked by, taking a large sip as well. He was surprised. The couple nodded in an assertive manner. That's when Scamander had a look at the beautiful engagement ring, it was made out of gold and had an emerald on it. The green gem matched her eyes.

"That's lovely! Congratulations."

"Thank you, Leta." Said Élie.

"Yeah...congrats." Said Theseus slightly coldly. For everyone else it was as if he was shocked, but Amélie knew he was annoyed. That's when music started playing in the background, a new piano waltz.

"Oh, magnifique." Said Andre. "Well, back in my hometown, it is tradition to ask a new friend to dance at these kind of events." He looked at Leta. "Would you dance with me?" He asked. Leta looked at Thes and he nodded with a kind smile.

"I'd be delighted." Jean nodded and he offered his hand, which Leta took, before walking to the dance floor, leaving the other two alone.

  They didn't say a word for a while, instead, they looked around the room. They watched people talking, laughing, dancing and drinking. She sighed and he breathed in.

"You sounded surprised." She said.

"I am. Surprised anyone would date you, let alone marry you." She scoffed. It shocked her how he apparently didn't remember what he had said about her in France and was so hostile with her now.

"Perhaps you need a reminder, you kind of dated me." His turn to scoff.

"Did I really?" They never made anything official and shit had hit the fan the day they could've made it official. Still, his comment hurt.

"Asshole."

"Oh! Quite aggressive, aren't we?"

"Well, I wanted you to understand that very well." He sighed and silence fell upon them again. "I suppose I am just as surprised anyone would date you, too." Another silence fell upon them.

"I suppose I have to ask you to dance now?" He asked her.

"I don't know, do you?" She said. They looked at each other and finished their drinks before leaving the empty glasses on the trades of a pair of waiters who were walking by. Theseus offered a hand.

  Élie sighed as she stepped close to him, fixed his bowtie that was slightly moved to the left and finally took his hand. After each of them gulped and rolled their eyes, they walked onto the dance floor. Not sharing a word for a while, not even exchanging glances. They'd look at each other when the other one wasn't looking.

  Theseus realised her hair wasn't tied with an up-do, she had cut it. It fell above her shoulders with the natural wave of it. She looked good. He knew Amélie has never liked to do much with her hair. And she was slightly taller, but not much; she was thinner and her factions seemed different. The dark red lipstick made her skin look paler. And...she looked beautiful. That sparkly grey-fading-to-pink dress with stripes across her back, shone very nicely whenever he made her twirl. A little part of himself wondered why would she be wearing that to walk out of his life at any given moment. Because most of himself knew she would, most definitely, leave for good this time.

  And she'd look at him knowing very well that she'd never see him again like this, so she studied him. His face seemed more mature than it did before, even during the war. They assumed that event had changed them, because it had. His hair was longer and he was definitely taller than ever before. His fingertips felt warm against the skin of her back and he looked just as handsome as he once looked with that white waistcoat.

"When's the wedding?" He asked out of the blue. She looked away for a second when he finally decided to look at her. After a couple seconds, her green eyes met his blue orbs and it was like time hadn't passed at all.

"We don't know." She answered and he frowned.

"What do you mean you don't know?"

"Just that. We don't know." He scoffed. "We only know we'd like it to be in December. We don't know if this year, or the next one, or the next one, or the next one, or the-"

"Alright, I get it." She smiled amused at the fact that she finally annoyed him like he had been annoying her. "So it's not planned? He simply asked?" Theseus asked after a while. She nodded. "So it's an impulse." She frowned.

"No, it's not."

"Do you even know him?"

"I do. I've known him for years and we've worked together for a long time, he has been my parter since the Academy. Not to mention that we went together to Beauxbatons." He looked away. "Why are you asking this?"

"Curiosity."

"Curiosity...or jealousy?"

"Why would I be jealous?"

"I don't know."

"Well, I'm not."

"Your tone of voice says you are."

"I am not. Why would I be? I'm with Leta now." She looked away from him. A silence fell upon them once more. "Do you love him?" He was jealous. Just a little, though. But he was.

"What are you doing?" Her eyes snapped back to meet his.

"I'm asking you."

"You're interrogating me."

"It's just a question."

"Fine, then I'll answer with another question. Do you love her?"

"I asked first."

"So what?"

"You're avoiding to answer my question."

"So are you." They stopped dancing in the middle of the room. She walked away and out of the ballroom to get to the gardens, she needed fresh air. On the way out, she grabbed a glass of water from a table that was near by. She chugged it down as her hand found the stone railing of the balcony.

"Do you love him?" He asked again and she rolled her eyes.

"Why did you follow me here? Why are you asking me this? Why are you doing this?"

"To make sure you're not making a mistake."

"Why would it be a mistake?" He remained silent. "Huh?" No answer. "Would it be a mistake because he is not you?" He looked away. "Why aren't you making a mistake? You still haven't answered my question."

"Neither have you."

"Merlin's beard, yes, I love him!" She snapped. "I love him more than I've loved anyone, more than you even. He makes me feel seen, heard, he cares and he makes sure that I know how much he loves me. He had the courage that you lacked to say those three words to me." He looked at her sadly, those words hurt. Specially because they were true.

"I did say those words to you."

"Maybe. But you said them too late, and you said it because I was leaving. Had I stayed you wouldn't have told me anything and everything would've stayed just the same." She sighed and looked at the ground, electing not to mention the last day they were together in Lille, he clearly didn't remember. "I also love him because he made sure to know that I loved him before asking me anything." People started counting inside. "Now, you answer."

"I do." He meditated for a second, words getting stuck in his throat. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and opened his mouths. "I love her." She nodded and Theseus was surprised at how naturally those words had come out when it came to Leta, yet, his mind wondered why they hadn't when it was about Élie. Specially because he —not so proudly— knew that he loved Rosier more than he loves Leta.

"Then, there's no need to fight over this. I've moved on, you've moved on. It doesn't matter. I'll get married...sometime soon and." She breathed in and out, as if she was trying not to cry. He could hear the lump in her throat. "You two are together...and you love her...It doesn't matter anymore. We shouldn't matter for each other anymore." Her hands were on her hips as she looked away. Fireworks echoed above their heads and cheers were heard from the inside all of the sudden. "Happy new year, Theseus." He looked at the ground.

"Happy new year." He said softly. "Élie, I'm-" His apologise was cut off.

  "There you are." Andre interrupted. "We missed that cliched kiss, Ange." He chuckled while she barely giggled. "Hey, are you alright? What happened?" He looked at Theseus.

"We were dancing but, um..." Scamander started to explain.

"I felt dizzy all of the sudden." Rosier lied quickly. "Theseus was kind enough to walk me out here to get some air and get me some water. I'm sorry."

"You have nothing to be sorry for." He kissed her forehead gently and Theseus felt a fire lighting up inside of him. It was jealousy and hatred. He didn't like the view but he immediately stopped himself from thinking about that. He couldn't feel anything for her, not anymore. He shouldn't. He simply tried to turn it off.

"Can we leave?" He smiled at her.

"Of course. I'll get your coat." Leta arrived moments later and stood beside Theseus while Andre went to get his and Amélie's coats. When he came back, he placed her coat over her shoulders gently. She smiled at him and when he had his jacket and hat on, they looped their arms together. "Well, it was a pleasure." He said, grabbed Leta's hand and shook it before shaking Theseus'. "Thank you for helping mon Ange." He said and sent a smile at the woman that was beside him.

"No problem. It was my pleasure." The girls kissed each other's cheeks as they boys spoke. They had liked each other quite a lot actually.

"I hope we can get to work together soon." Theseus smiled at the guy. And honestly, damn him. He's the type of fella that's so hard to hate.

"Feel better soon and congratulations again." Said Lestrange.

"Thank you, Leta." Said Amélie before stepping close to Theseus and shake his hand. He understood that said gesture marked the end of the game. "Thank you."

"No problem." He said as he took her small hand into his much larger one. "It was nice seeing you again under...different circumstances." She raised her eyebrows and smiled.

"Likewise." Their eyes locked and it was as if they wanted to hear unspoken and inexistent words. The grip around her hand tightened before letting go, this time willingly. "Goodbye, Theseus." It sounded even more definitive than the last time she had said that.

"Goodbye, Amélie." They smiled at each other and it was as if the last argument had never happened. They were closing the chapter, turning page. This time, the farewell was a mutual understanding and not a misunderstanding. He nodded and they let go of each other.

He watched the two of them walk away. A small part of him expected her to look over her shoulder but most of himself knew she wouldn't. Instead, Theseus simply looked at Leta and he smiled. He would be okay.

  While his lips collided against hers, Amélie did look, only that not behind her. She looked at the man that walked beside her and held her tightly. Their eyes met and he smiled before leaving a peck over her own red lips.

With that, one stayed and one left. Both of them had a rough closure, a bittersweet one. Their feelings sent to exile as they realised that their window was closed, but their new lovers had opened a new one. And that was more than enough for them.