I've been looking sad in all the nicest places (Jake)

The Quidditch match had been a much welcome change amidst all the exam stress her students had been facing, and thanks to Annika's usual lackluster attitude about being involved in student life, it had fallen to Azalea to go over and encourage the Slytherin team that morning at breakfast. She had somehow managed to navigate through the giggling girls waiting impatiently for Jacques Clement to make an appearance and managed to greet the team in her usual manner, perhaps reserving an extra smile for Mimosa but one that would not be overly noticed. The decision to not go back to Wales yesterday was directly linked to her daughter playing today and for the first time, Azalea was going to watch her in action.

On that day, Azalea had done something she only reserved for special occasions and doomed a dark green dress denoting house loyalty. Impartial to a fault on most days, today she felt ti was appropriate especially given that Annika would not be attending the game. By the time she was ready to head down tot he game, the object of all the older girls' excitement had arrived, greeting his numerous admirers in the Great Hall. The Potions Assistant watched amused as he spoke to everyone, not letting on that he understood what was going on for fear of embarrassing the students. Had she been this silly at their age? Azalea really hoped not. A few minutes later, the French male politely excused himself from his fan base and made his way to Azalea, greeting her with the amount of respect she was used to getting from him by now.

Together, the two made polite conversation as they walked down to the pitch, Azalea confessing she knew only a bit of the game and in turn asking if he thought the odds were good for their House. Jacques in turn assured her that winning and losing didn't matter as long s the children had fun, a sentiment she completely agreed with. They chatted a while longer from their seats in the stands before Jake walked onto the pitch and signaled the start of the match.

The next two and a half hours were spent almost at the edge of her seat as she watched her daughter fly. Mimosa was... amazing. She was clearly a natural on a broomstick and despite not being helped by Nikolai, she was zipping around the pitch effortlessly, targeting the other teams player with a kind of grace and deficiency that belied her tiny frame. Azalea wasn't even sure how the little girl was lifting erh Beater's bat let alone using it to knock players down. Her size and agility worked in her favour, allowing erh to avoid bludgers left and right though perhaps not quite as many were being aimed at ehr as they were at the Headmaster's son who was on Lyra's tail throughout the match.

Slytherin's resounding victory sent the audience to their feet, wildly roaring and cheering as the teams descended. Azalea herself was flushed with excitement and happiness as she witnessed her firstborn descend, the only player who looked unruffled by the game. No sweat marred her child's brow, no blood smeared her uniform and she landed just as springy on her step as she had taken off, not a single hair out of place.

Her daughter was perfect in every way imaginable.

And all Azalea really wanted was to hold her close and tell her that.

But as she watched everyone swarm the pitch, the witch held herself back. What reason would she give for wanting to hold Mimosa close and never letting go? How could she explain to the child that when weighed against all the splendors of the entire universe, the little girl would still win, no contest. And most importantly, how could she make the child understand what it all meant? Azalea had taken this job because she was sure she could be around Mimosa without disrupting the child's life, and doing as she wished right now would be the very definition of disruption.

Sp the witch stayed back, letting Jacques take the lead as he moved towards the pitch, gathering the little girl in his arms and giving her the praise and devotion she deserved. A small prickling at the corner of her eyes warned the brunette that she wouldn't be able to stand here too long without being noticed so when everyone was busy storming the pitch, she took the chance to make her escape.

Azalea hadn't intended to head to the Forest, it was just somewhere her feet lead her as her vision blurred steadily step by step. By the time she had cleared the darkened treeline, her cheeks were wet and her narrow frame shuddering with silent sobs. As grateful as she was to be near her daughter every day, it only served to remind her of all the things she would never get to do.

Including hearing Mimosa call her "Mom".

Her knees finally gave out from under her as the realization hit her harder than any physical blow ever could have. Falling to the ground with her back against an old, gnarled tree, the witch curled in on herself, burying her head in her knees and crying freely for the first time since her arrival at Hogwarts.

There was no one here to judge, and the Forest would keep her secret. It felt good to have her back against something solid, soemthing wooden and dependable with good dirt beneath her. It finally felt okay to let all the pent up emotion out.

Azalea would never be able to have the kind of relationship with Mimosa she craved. And the young mother would just have to learn to accept that. Mimosa might be almost within reach but in reality, she was as far away from the witch as her lost son.

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I've been looking sad in all the nicest places (Jake) Rsz_gr10

I've been looking sad in all the nicest places (Jake) Rsz_az10

I've been looking sad in all the nicest places (Jake) Rsz_li10

It was difficult. Being impartial in the Quidditch matches when your daughter played on the team of the house you were not Head of. Not that Jake really had any loyalty in any of the houses, he'd never attended Hogwarts, but he'd been chosen to be the Head of Gryffindor house. Whether this was because he had been a Belladonna back at Salem and that had been a fitting match, or whether this was just chosen on a whim, the man didn't know. Had he of had the choice, he would have picked Gryffindor, too, but only because his daughter hadn't been at the school at that time.

Watching her play for the Slytherin team without cheering on was difficult. The rivalry between Gryffindor and Slytherin went back centuries, and though Jake didn't want to divide the students, he knew it wouldn't help house pride to be openly cheering on Mimosa.

And, besides that, he was supposed to be the impartial referee at each match.

A job that became increasingly more difficult when he saw Bludgers hurtling towards his daughter. He'd learned from his two other children, though, that even though you wanted to wrap them up in cotton wool and keep them safe from the world, it wouldn't help them in the long run. A small fall and a scraped knee might be a million miles away from getting hit with a Bludger, but you really couldn't protect them from everything. It had become easier, with time, to be on the Quidditch field with Mimosa, but it had not dimmed the grimaces each time his daughter was narrowly missed by a Bludger because the Headmaster's son was not playing the teamwork card.

Today, though, Jake's worry was for nothing as their daughter left the pitch completely untouched and unharmed by the hazardous sport. Victorious in her pursuits and sitting top of the Quidditch table that day, Slytherin were in prime position to win the Quidditch Cup this year. An exciting prospect for his daughter, and the school, as the reigning champions were being pushed to their limits to defend their title. It left for an interesting match, Jake concluded as he dismounted from his broom, not quite managing to make it to Mimosa before she was flooded with others hurrying to congratulate her. Sending the witch a smile, and giving her a small thumbs up instead, Jake turned his attention to the other Slytherins who were slowly dismounting, checking them over for injuries and offering the basic help he could before sending them on up to the Hospital Wing with another student to get checked out.

It was just as the professor ruffled Nikolai's hair and told him he'd played well that Jake spotted the retreating back of Azalea. The witch had barely made it to the field before she'd hurried off, and... that just didn't settle well with Jake. With one last check over the students, Jake hurried after his fellow professor, broom still in hand as he pushed the flying goggles off his head and down in to his pocket. For a moment, the Gryffindor Head thought about calling after her, but he opted against that as he pulled off his gloves and put them in his other pocket.

The destination was the Forest, and as Azalea slumped down behind a tree, Jake's feet faltered. He was intruding. Probably the last person Azalea wanted around right now...

Pausing between the witch and the Quidditch Pitch, Jake looked back to see the crowds starting to amble out of the stadium back up to the castle where, undoubtedly, large parties would be going on well in to the night. Both of them should have been heading back up to the castle, but they weren't going to be joining the celebrations.

Slowly Jake moved forth, noticing how Azalea's shoulders moved up and down with tears he could not see. Awkwardness swelled inside the man, but he didn't stop in his movements. Instead, he moved gently to the same tree, and sat down to Azalea's left, resting his own back against the tree.

"Difficult, isn't it?" Jake asked gently, letting Azalea know that he was here. His tone was very gentle, denoting he wasn't judging her. It was only a guess, why Azalea had retreated here, but after seeing their daughter win, and the fact neither one of them could truly show the young witch how proud of her they were, it tied up.

"I'd like to tell you it gets easier... but it doesn't." The man continued, knowing fully that that wasn't helpful but it was the truth. A softly spoken truth, because Merlin knew it hurt enough without the realisation he'd just offered.

"She's really good at Quidditch, though." Jake offered in lieu of conversation. Pride was quite clear in that sentence. "And Defence Against the Dark Arts. She's beautiful, kind and popular like we both were. Spoiled rotten by the Clement boy who comes to see her frequently."

That much was said with a small laugh that perhaps betrayed Jake's true feelings about that, but he couldn't help it. Money of that magnitude had always been alien to him, and seeing his daughter raised that way was not something he enjoyed.

"But, she's happy. That's what I always remember when I feel sad about all of this. Mimosa is very happy, and I wouldn't want anything to change that." He finalised, glancing across at Azalea to see if any of that had helped. Perhaps it wouldn't, perhaps it would, but even if it hadn't, he hoped that his presence would be somewhat soothing. Even if the witch just took that she wasn't alone in this matter, that would be enough.

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~ Auror ~ Profile ~ DADA Professor ~
~ In a Relationship ~ 36 ~ Father ~ 6' ~ American Accent ~

She felt him approach almost subconsciously, as if a part of her mind would forever be reserved for his footsteps on the ground, for his breathing growing near. The thought had angered her a while ago, made ehr work even harder to prove to herself more than anyone that he no longer had any control over her. Yet the sleep potion placed permanently on her night stand told a different story. He had altered her in at least one major way, and barring the nights at Murray Manor where she finally slept in peace, Azalea could not change it back.

"I'd like to tell you it gets easier... but it doesn't."

She had felt him sit somewhere, the dirt beneath had risen at least. Yes, it was good to focus on the earth and the trees and the forest. That would make his words less hurtful. The brunette was almost certain he wasn't trying to hrut her. He might have been trying to hep. But the idea that he was right, that it would never get better... It made the witch want to curl up and die.

As Jake spoke, she could hear the agony in his own voice. How easy it would be to lift her head, to match his gaze with her own tear streaked one. It would be easy to convince him that they were going about it all wrong, that Mimosa was stronger than they gave her credit for. He wanted to tell his daughter the truth just as much as she wanted to. And in vulnerable moments like this, it would be the easiest thing in the world to lie to themselves and each other.

But at what cost?

He was right, Mimosa was happy. She had an entire, rich, fulfilling life and absolutely no doubt in who she was and where she belonged. At that age, Azalea had been riddled with a crisis of identity, struggling to deal with who she was and where she belonged, unable to accept Kit and Clara as they amazing parents they had been. Jake hadn't been much better off, drowning his guilt over Victoria's accident in booze and girls. Their daughter was so well adjusted it was almost impossible to believe she came from such conflicted stock. And Azalea refused to be the one to ruin it for her.

"Jacques isn't so bad," she finally managed, her voice coming out muffed from her still burred face. The tears were still flowing but at least the sobs had subsided, probably an involuntary reaction to having company. "He truly cares for her, even at university he speaks of her constantly."

If there was anyone in Mimosa's life more constant than her guardians, it was Jacques Clement. Mimosa's attachment to the young man was painfully obvious, and he in turn wasn't merely humoring her. With what Azalea now knew of the young heir's life and schedule, it was nothing short of wondrous how he made time for their daughter's needs.

"It just... Constantly feels like something's missing," she admitted, still not raising her head for fear that she would not be able to admit these things out loud if she was actually looking at Jake. "It's strange. It... doesn't happen all he time. But when it does, its like a kick in the stomach. The realization that this soemthing will always, always be misdoing..."

The only other feeling Azalea could compare it to was the loss of her second child. But at least he had been taken from her. However cruel, fate had at least provided an explanation for his separation from his mother. With Mimosa, they were both stuck in limbo, not being able to tell her yet wanting to do nothing but every time they saw her.

"Do you think.. when she's older..?" The witch didn't dare finish that question, unsure if she even wanted what she was on the brink of suggesting.

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The defence of the Clement boy fell on deaf ears in that moment. Nothing in the world could sway Jake from the dislike of the French man. It was the envy talking, more than anything else. Jacques could be open and honest with his daughter in a manner that Jake was not allowed to be, and that didn't settle well. It wasn't anything personal, the boy hadn't done anything wrong, really, but Jake was not about to let those who had the world off so easily.

"It just... Constantly feels like something's missing,"

Jake understood that. Of course he did. Perhaps not as hard as Azalea did, he knew well enough that mother's tended to grow closer to their children than the father's did. Not to mention Azalea had not only been forced out of Mimosa's life, but also had her second child taken from her, he could not imagine for a moment what that could feel like, but he understood what she was saying. Especially when the child in question was so, so close to them, and they could do nothing but hide their feelings to the best of their abilities.

In front of Mimosa, at least.

"It's harder when you want to go to her because she's done something so well, or when you want to offer advice, or... just be there." Jake offered, showing he understood that much. There was an invisible wall between them at the moment, one that had been taken out of their hands for when the wall was allowed to be removed.

"Do you think.. when she's older..?"

The question had been one that Jake had never worked out the answer to. Would Kit ever allow them to tell Mimosa the truth? Would Clara? The Palace? Was it really the decision of those people when Mimosa was their child? Wasn't it up to them to decide what was best for their daughter? Or, was it down to Mimosa to ask the question, to seek the truth, and then they could step up to the role of parents like they should have nearly thirteen years ago?

The last thought was unfair, of course, neither one of them could have anticipated what had happened all that time ago.

"I don't know," Jake replied honestly because he hadn't worked it out himself. "I know that if I had had the choice, I wouldn't have waited to tell her the truth. She's my daughter, our daughter, and even if I can't offer her the luxuries the Clements can, or your dad can, I would like to think she would still be happy to know I'm here. But, I always ask myself if she needs to know. She's happy, her life isn't complicated by the idea of a dad who hasn't been around for most of her life just turning up out of the blue.

"And then I always ask myself if it's fair that she is kept in the dark, with all of us tip toeing around us. What if she wants to know about us and she is too scared to ask? In case she upsets Kit, Clara or the Clements?" He mused aloud, resting his head back on the tree with a soft sigh. "I always wondered why your dad didn't complete the paternity test. You know, with the timing of everything it would have made sense... but I guess... that's complicated."

Jake paused, a frown in place. He hadn't answered the question really, he'd rambled about how he felt about all of this and his confusion.

"I wish I knew how Mimosa would react upon knowing, so that I could make a decision based on that. I just want her to be happy, and if finding out we're her parents wouldn't make her happy, then I wouldn't speak a word to her. But we can't know, and that's scary. I just hope, that when and if the time comes, that Mimosa won't hate us for not telling her sooner." Jake finalised his answer. It wasn't a commitment to telling her at a certain time, but it was the underlying promise that they would tell her.

He just didn't know when.

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~ Auror ~ Profile ~ DADA Professor ~
~ In a Relationship ~ 36 ~ Father ~ 6' ~ American Accent ~

"It's harder when you want to go to her because she's done something so well, or when you want to offer advice, or... just be there."

The witch understood this more than she could ever express. The small moments when Mimosa came to her for a lip gloss, or to ask help with a hairstyle, or just request Azalea take her to Hogsmeade. All those little things only served as a reminder that she would only ever be able to function at a teacher's capacity in her daughter's life. The brunette treasured those moments because she knew those would be the only moments she would ever have.

In the beginning, and very selfishly, the witch had listened for any unhappiness on Mimosa's part. She herself had always longed for a proper family and if her daughter felt the same... If Mimosa felt the need to locate a biological connection, then her mother and father would be right there. It had been conflicting to say the least, both wanting her daughter to be happy and wanting her to be sad so she could swoop in and make her happy. But in the end, there had been nothing in Mimosa's words or lifestyle to suggest the child was lacking in any way.

The young Slytherin was perfectly happy without any parents. And that was the truth they were both going to have to live with.

"What if she wants to know about us and she is too scared to ask? In case she upsets Kit, Clara or the Clements?"

Azalea shook her head, inadvertently wiping some tears off ehr face. Taking a few deep breaths to steady herself, she finally raised her face to the world. The world looked quiet, even the swishing of leaves muted in the distance. They were probably only the humans around at this time of day and the forest seem to respect that.

Still, the young mother did not turn her head to look at him. They could speak honestly like this, sitting back to back with a tree stump between them. There were now rules about being vulnerable with each other, and these rules dictated they remain separated, at least for now.

"I can't imagine her being afraid to ask anything," she managed half confidently. Azalea may not know much about her daughter but she liked to think she understood Mimosa a little. The child wasn't one for showing restraint or limiting herself due to other people's feelings. Not that she would even have to given the kind of care she was receiving. "I like to think... if she really wanted to know, she would ask. And... I want to believe the people looking after her would tell her." After all, her father had never shied away from telling Azalea the truth about her adoption, but only because she had asked.

Which meant that Mimosa had never cared to ask. She had enough in her life to make her happy without ever wondering... Her daughter truly did not need her in the same way she needed her family. It was both uniquely satisfying and unbearably painful to realize that ehr daughter was so happy without her. And she was going to have to get used to that feeling.

"We're going to miss so much of her growing up... It will be her thirteenth birthday soon, and then she'll be eighteen, and then she'll be off into the world, and before we get a chance to blink, she would have gone away forever...." Because they wouldn't have an excuse to stay in her life. Hogwarts was just that, an excuse, one that came with an expiration date.

"I just hope, that when and if the time comes, that Mimosa won't hate us for not telling her sooner."

Azalea listened to the sentiment quietly, but she wasn't entirely sure she agreed.

"I'm not sure if that's something we don't deserve... For abandoning her as long as she did. Even if she hated us... at least she would know. I would take any punishment, even if she refused to ever see me..." Another tear formed at the corner of ehr eye, sliding down her face at the notion of never seeing ehr daughter again. Yes, she would willingly take any punishment, go through any ordeal or atonement their child felt necessary.

Azalea would give up anything except Mimosa's happiness. And that was exactly what was at risk here.

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"I can't imagine her being afraid to ask anything,"

Despite saying it aloud, Jake knew even before Azalea corrected him that Mimosa was not scared of asking. Their daughter had never, ever shown signs of being afraid of asking for anything that she wanted to know, or needed, so why would this be any difference? But, it was a hopeful idea that that was all that was holding Mimosa back from asking.

The alternative reason for why the child had not asked hurt more than Jake wished to express, it hurt too much and therefore he didn't want to believe that their daughter simply didn't miss the fact she didn't have parents, whilst the rest of her friends did.

Azalea was right, though, all they could hope for was that, at the point Mimosa did raise the question, whoever it was that she asked would be honest. Or, if they did not wish to present the truth, that they would ask one -- if not both of them -- to sit down to have the conversation with Mimosa. The possibilities, though, were ones that Jake didn't know whether it was right to hope for anymore. Everything was so blurred it was impossible to know what should and shouldn't happen anymore.

So he waited.

The notion that they were going to miss so much, though, drove home the reality that there was a limit, to the time they had with Mimosa, before she would become an adult. Then it would be too late. They would miss everything they had left with the child, and... for what? The man's features creased as he thought, before he looked across to Azalea, a question on his lips that died in the moment his eyes met Azalea's.

"I'm not sure if that's something we don't deserve... For abandoning her as long as she did."

Jake turned in that moment, ensuring he was facing Azalea fully before he spoke again. "We didn't abandon her." He told the witch firmly, because that much they definitely hadn't done. Nobody in the world could believe they had done that, either. "You... were presumed dead, and we're being held somewhere else against your will. How could you call that abandoning her when you did everything to keep her alive?" Jake asked, trying to ensure that Azalea understood that this was not her fault.

"And.. I didn't know about Mimosa at all. I couldn't have known. If I'd known..." The man trailed off, he didn't need to insist upon something as important as their daughter. If he'd of known all those years ago about Mimosa, everything would have been very different. Perhaps the child might have stayed with Kit and Clara, perhaps she would still have the weird arrangement with the Clements that Jake still did not understand, but he would have been a part of Mimosa's life in whatever capacity he would have been allowed, because he was her father.

"We're definitely not the perfect parents, but we wouldn't ever abandon our children knowingly." Jake assured the witch, reaching up very carefully to wipe the tear from Azalea's cheek. The movement was ever so gentle, under Jake remembered himself, and drew his hand back away very quickly and looked away from her once more.

For a time, Jake just sat watching the school, before he cleared his throat and turned his attention back to Azalea, the question that had died on his lips before, coming back to the foreground.

"We could ask Kit again." Jake stated, uncertainty clear but he pressed on. "Together, this time, if we could tell Mimosa..."

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~ Auror ~ Profile ~ DADA Professor ~
~ In a Relationship ~ 36 ~ Father ~ 6' ~ American Accent ~

"We didn't abandon her."

His voice was firm with exactly the kind of strength she needed at that moment to stop her progress down the dark path her mind would inevitably take her. Of course they hand't abandoned the child, they would never have been capable such a thing. And yet here Mimosa was, almost thirteen years of age without her parents by her side. It hadn't been their chose to remain away from Mimosa yet it had happened. And Azalea would never stop questioning if she could have done something to prevent it.

If she could only remember where she had been all those years, then she would understand why she hadn't escaped. But every time she actively tried to recall that period of darkness, all she experienced was her entire body shuddering, something cold prickling the base of her spine.

In the periphery of it all, the witch knew her daughter was very fortunate. Kit and Clara were amazing parents, any girl would be lucky to have them as such. And from what she knew of the Clements, they weren't too bad either. A brief memory flickered in her mind of a tall French man in a trench coat, drinking from a plastic cup in a cafeteria of sorts, transporting Azalea back to another lifetime. But the witch couldn't focus on that now, right now... she had to hang on to Jake's conviction that they were not in the wrong.

"You know, I get so scared sometimes... I want to go sit outside her dorm room to make sure she's okay. And I have to knock myself out with sleep potion before the urge becomes too insistent..." It was okay to tell Jake this, he had been witness to her own recovery. He knew perfectly well how she had behaved her first week at Newbury House, constantly turning up in the middle of the night to curl up outside Adrienne and Ivan's room for fear that they too would disappear.

What he didn't need to know was that Azalea still did that when his children stayed over at Furz Croft. That she especially timed her dosage to wake herself up every few hours to check on the children. No, Jake did not know this, nor was he ever going to.

The witch was about to turn away, to reaffirm the barriers they had created around themselves when Jake moved a few inches towards her, freezing her in place with his gaze. Slowly, slowly, his hand moved forwards,brushing the remaining tears off her face and for just a few moments, rendering the walls around them null.

They were back up a minute later though, as he gathered himself and moved further away, looking anywhere but at her so she could have time to compose herself. There was nothing to compose though, he'd probably made a mistake. He was allowed to make mistakes.

"We could ask Kit again." Jake stated, uncertainty clear but he pressed on. "Together, this time, if we could tell Mimosa..."

Azalea didn't shake her head, nor did she nod. Instead her entire frame deflated back into itself as she released a deep sigh. "I know exactly what Dad is going to say," she admitted, this time focusing her gaze on her hands which had found each other to wring nervously.

"He's going to throw the question back at us, and ask if we think its fair for Mimosa to know. And we're going to think about it, really really think about it, and then say no," the frustration was clear in ehr voice as she predicted the outcome of the conversation with Kit.

"So unless we're completely sure we want to tell her, talking to Dad won't do any good. He's always been very..." The witch cast about for a word, unable to find it in her current state before leaving the sentence incomplete. "He believes that people make their own decisions, even children. He doesn't even tell Mimosa what to do, merely asks her to consider the consequences of ehr action.. Just like he used to do with me."

When she had decided not to go to college and instead move to Canada with her high school boyfriend, Kit had asked her to consider all that she was giving up to play a sporting role in Jake's career. At the time, it had seemed worth it, and Kit hadn't stopped her. She wondered if he regretted it now.

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The admittance that Azalea wanted to go and sit outside Mimosa's dorms to make sure she was okay each evening did not surprise Jake in the slightest. He'd seen the witch do it with his own children at his home, so why would their daughter be any different? How did you say that out loud, though? What was the right response to that? Jake didn't know, so instead he just offered a small smile to the witch and a nod, to show he understood and that he didn't judge her in any way for it.

The worry was part of being a parent, it was permanent, and after all the shit Azalea had been through to get to the here and now, he doubted his own worry would ever compare to hers.

But the man sobered as Azalea denoted exactly what would happen if they were to ask Kit about talking to Mimosa. He would turn it straight back to them, and ask them if they truly believed this was the best path forward. Neither one of them would ever be able to say, with certainty, that they thought this was best for Mimosa, because neither one of them knew exactly how this would go for their daughter. The news might make her really, really happy, she might love to spend time with them outside of the classroom as her parents in the same manner she enjoyed her time with Jacques Clement.

On the other hand, Mimosa could hate the news of having them as parents. She might feel cheated that they'd been around her for so long without telling her. She might not even want parents, having been used to not having them all her life. So, their answer would come up short, and with reasonableness ensuing, they would, once again, be back in this moment, where they were waiting for Mimosa to ask.

An idea that was frightening, because it might not happen for months, years, or possibly ever.

Jake, in return, let out his own sigh. Whilst they might both be hurting continuing this way, the ultimate goal was Mimosa's happiness. The child was, and always would be, much more important than themselves, which meant everything rested with Mimosa's decisions and not their own.

"You're right," Jake conceded, bringing a hand up to his face to press out the tension in his forehead from the thoughts of all of this. "We have to wait." The conclusion came heavily, and the man's hand lowered back away from his face once more as he looked back to Azalea once more.

"You don't have to sit on your own if it gets too much, though." He offered. "If you're feeling sad, or lost, or... anything about Mimosa, you can always come find me, or text me, or call me. We're in the same predicament, and even if we can't do anything, we can help each other. If you want."

With that, Jake didn't know what else to say, so he let it be. He would sit with the witch as long as she wanted him to, or until she sent him away. If she didn't send him off, he would wait until she was ready to head back up to the school, and he would escort her back to the Entrance Hall where they would break for their own destinations within the castle.

Back to their own, separate lives.

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~ Auror ~ Profile ~ DADA Professor ~
~ In a Relationship ~ 36 ~ Father ~ 6' ~ American Accent ~

Azalea wasn't entirely sure what she had expected when she'd first sensed him approaching her. She had expected politeness, courtesy, even sincerity. They had experienced a... convivial time at the Valentine's Day Ball but afterwords, Jake had returned to maintaining his distance. Though this time he had not insisted his children do the same. He came to drop them, pick them up, he aid all the right things.

And yet there was still very much the wall of discomfort they' enacted around themselves in regards to each other. Today he'd broken through it for a brief moment in time to comfort her. And now this offer...

"I'd like that," she managed, turning her eyes fleetingly to his before looking away again. Whether he meant it or not, the man was right in saying that they were the only two who understood what the other was dealing with. They were partners in circumstance, watching their daughter grow up from afar, wishing to be closer yet not willing to risk her happiness.

They sat there for a long time, in mostly silence. Sometimes, one of the forest sounds jarred Azalea from her thoughts but not in a bad way. No one was going to miss them at the castle amidst the victory parties, and for once Azalea was glad of it.

When they finally stood up, dusted themselves off and began walking to the castle in mutual yet silent agreement, the sun was low in the sky. Bright orange and pink hues colored the vast expanse above them, reminding them that there was beauty in everything.

Even the dying sun.

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» Safe Places (Judah)
» Avoiding crowded places (Open)
» Familiar Faces in Unfamiliar Places [Mycroft]
» Around Again (Jake)
» You Kept This From Me?!? (Kit & Jake)