Jake Newbury
Head of Gryffindor
Posts : 1248
Birthday : 1992-08-13
Join date : 2014-11-29
Location : London, England
Job/hobbies : Auror & DADA Professor
 | | Subject: I could make you happy, Make your dreams come true (One Shot) Mon Nov 02, 2020 7:03 pm | |
| "How're things going with the accountants, darling?"
"Fine, mom, they're getting closer to finalising within the coming days." Jake replied in to the phone as he once again deposited a hanging Adrienne on to the sofa as she tried to steal the phone from his grasp once more. "Just a few final things to sort out with the legal side."
"Legal side?"
"Yeah, fraud is a legal battle, too." Jake pointed out gently to the older witch. "Ow! Adrienne stop it!"
"Give her the phone, sweetie."
"Nanny!" Adrienne shrilled as soon as he passed her the device, relieving the clawing grip from Jake's neck as she bounced down on to the sofa. "Are you coming to see us yet?" The answer on the other side was not to Adrienne's taste as the souring frown on her features took over. "That's not faiiii-"
The witch's features changed again very quickly, and then a grin developed on the younger Newbury looked up to her father with a look that would definitely mean Jake was paying for something or other from the grandparents' kindness. "Nanny says you're taking us for ice cream, because she can't be here to take us." There was no saying no to that much, Jake knew. "We'll take Zay-lea too!" Adrienne finalised as the person in question came in to view from the kitchen. "Gotta go!" Adrienne added, hurrying off to find what they would later know to be her shoes, depositing the phone on the sofa.
"Sorry, mom." Jake told the older witch the moment he picked up the phone. "You've excited her too much now."
"Azalea's there again?"
"Yeah, she's helping me out with the children around my work schedule. She's been great that way." Jake replied, the fond smile on his lips following Azalea as she hurried out after Adrienne to make sure the child wasn't up to too much good. "Anyway, better go, I have an ice cream to buy the children, apparently. Love you, mom! Bye!"
***
The Christmas that had been brought forward had gone off without a problem. Azalea and he had prepared the Christmas dinner as well as they could before work, and then left it on to slowly cook throughout the day. Azalea's anxiety had been met with his reassurances it would be fine as he pressed a kiss to her lips on his way off to work that morning, and a mouthed good luck because -- unlike usual -- both children were fired up with excitement.
By the time Jake had arrived home that evening, Azalea had gotten the children changed in to their Christmas jumpers, and the smell of Christmas dinner was permeating every room in the house. Jake had shrugged out of his work jacket and made a beeline straight to the kitchen where Azalea and the children were making cookies.
"Hey everyoneeeee, happy Christmas!" Jake greeted, pressing kisses to the top of each of the children's heads as they continued on their decorating skills before he pressed a kiss to Azalea's cheek and greeted her softly in much the same manner. "What's my role?" He asked next, only to be pointed to the mountain of washing up in the sink. With a laugh, Jake had pulled out his wand and set the dishes to work cleaning themselves before helping with the final meal preparations. By six, the four of them had sat down at the table together, pulled the crackers as a quartet -- with both children managing to win both their respective pulls leaving the adults playfully looking sad until they got their own party hats.
The food had been divine, and Jake had heartily appreciated every single dish that had been put before them on the table. Adrienne had tried to avoid all the veggies, instead picking the pigs in blankets and stuffing balls when she could, and grudgingly trying the carrots when she was asked to. Ivan had filled his plate a little more methodically, taking enough of each dish to try it, but not so much as he would get full, and when he'd finished his almost mountainous plate, he'd reached for seconds with the help of Azalea. The whole dinner had been filling, and yet somehow they'd all managed to find some additional space for dessert, the children's cookies doing almost enough to put them all in a food coma.
"Now that we're finished, we're allowed to open our presents. Azalea said it's food first, the presents, then we can watch the Christmas cartoons that are on until bed time, because we still have school tomorrow, so we can't stay up too late." Ivan had recounted to them all, and Jake smiled fondly at his son.
Adrienne's streaking off to the lounge had been all they needed to get moving, Jake perhaps the slowest as he nursed a pretty hefty food baby on the way to the lounge. Adrienne had already started sorting the presents out with the names upon them, trying to find all of her presents. Azalea had moved to help her with the mammoth task, as Ivan took up a position halfway between his dad and the girls in the uncertain fashion of a pre-teen still believing in Christmas.
The children had been spoiled thoroughly. Not only did they have presents from their grandparents and Victoria this year, but they had multiple presents from Azalea, and also from Clara. The extent of chocolate had not gone amiss as both adults made sure to put Adrienne's stash aside safely, but the witch had been more interested in the various presents that she'd gotten from Azalea that weren't... strictly for girls. The presents from her Aunt had been almost instantly discarded because they bore too much pink for Adrienne's taste.
Ivan was a little slower in his opening of presents, but no less excited when he did. New books for him to devour (and not to be read right this instant, as he'd been reminded gently by Jake), and some science experiments from Victoria that would further encourage his learning had made him beam from ear to ear.
Jake's presents from his family had been the usual. Socks, pants, aftershave, wash sets. Things he needed, but that never really made him too excited.
"Oh, we got this for you, Zay-Lea!" Adrienne announced, putting a package in Azalea's lap once more. "You'll like it, it-"
"Adrienne!" Jake cut across before his daughter could get lost in her excitement.
"Oh yeah!" Adrienne managed, looking expectantly at Azalea as she opened it. Inside was a book on different types of magical plants that inhabited the UK.
"We thought that you might like to get back in to your Herbology a little bit." Jake explained when Azalea looked up with curiosity.
"And this one is also for that!" Adrienne continued, grabbing Azalea's next present which turned out to be a good range of Herbology tools -- a small hand held rake, a little trowel, a pair of gloves for dealing with less than nice plants, and other various little things that helped. Whether Azalea knew he'd noticed her taking to the greenhouses more frequently, or whether Jake had just opted to try to bring that memory back would be left up to her own mind, but the man had thought it was a good idea in the end.
"And this one is from us too." Adrienne finalised, putting another present in the older witch's lap before she had time to process. A fancy bath set had finalised the gift, because Jake had run out of original ideas to get the witch from the kids.
It had been as the presents were nearly finished that Jake's present from Azalea had been found hidden at the back of the tree. Adrienne had crawled underneath the tree to retrieve it, and looked a little put out that it wasn't hers. To make herself feel better, Adrienne had brought it to him, and explained that she would 'help' him open it. Help in this case meaning that she would open it. Jake had barely been able to keep her from opening all the paper before it had happened, and the small witch looked at the red and gold scarf in her hands more than a little bit confused.
"It's a Gryffindor scarf," Jake explained to the witch, showing her the crest that had been stitched in to the knitted scarf. "Because that's daddy's house at Hogwarts."
"It has letters on it." Ivan pointed out, his finger showing to the other end of the scarf which showed Jake's initials in red and gold too.
"And my initials on it, so everyone knows it's mine." Jake added, as Ivan studied closer. Whatever he found, he did not speak aloud, and Adrienne was quick to announce it was time to play with all the new toys. A reminder they were supposed to be watching a movie seemed to placate the younger witch as Ivan took up the controller and skipped through to Netflix and then picked a Christmas movie before the four of them cuddled up on the sofa together to watch, Azalea at one end, Jake at the other, cuddling both the children.
Jake's eyes had moved from the screen in between though, looking at the scarf Azalea had made, and moving it around until he found what had stumped Ivan. In the bottom right of the N, in emerald green were two letters, two letters that made Jake smile to himself as he ran his thumb across the delicate stitching. 'AH' was there, not big enough to change the theme of the scarf, but there no less. Jake's hand moved over the back of the sofa to the witch's neck, his fingers reaching out to caress the soft skin enough to get Azalea's attention before he mouthed his thank you, the soft smile on Azalea's lips was all he needed to know as they both turned their attention back to the television.
Another hour, and both children had lost their battle with the over eating, both deeply asleep on the sofa. Jake and Azalea had put both of them to bed together, Jake meeting Azalea as she watched Adrienne sleeping from the doorway.
"You pulled off an amazing Christmas," Jake whispered in her ear as he cuddled her close to him. They didn't move from their spot as Jake just waited for Azalea to be finished with her nightly ritual. "Are you sure you can't stay here for Christmas..?" He asked softly, already knowing the answer he was going to get before Azalea's head shook ever so slightly, a single word reminding him what was keeping them apart.
"Ethan."
Jake had softly agreed with the statement, pushing any worry from the witch's mind that she had to choose before it could manifest further. They had both retired to bed shortly after, too tired from the day to think about much else.
Almost, at least.
"I got you something else." Jake managed, reaching over to his bedside drawer to pull out the small cardboard box that had been wrapped. Azalea had opened it tentatively, and then looked up from the box with confusion. "I know, you already have a key." Jake replied to the unspoken question, lifting the key from the box for the witch, and showing her the keyring instead. "But I thought this might make it feel more..."
Whatever Jake had been trying to say, though, would never materialise as he trailed off. His eyes instead watching Azalea take in the object. The worry was in her eyes when she looked back to him, though, and Jake was ready.
"Only the people in the picture can see the keyring's true form. Cool bit of magic, Trey showed me." Jake explained, looking back at the keyring that boasted a picture from the Valentine's Day Ball almost two years ago now. It was the only picture he had of the five of them, but his worry that it wouldn't be enough had been quietened by the kiss that followed.
A kiss that forgot the earlier exhaustion they'd both felt.
***
"Hi Jake! How are you, how was France?"
"Exhausting!" Jake replied honestly as he sat back on the sofa. "I never thought Adrienne could have more energy, but clearly I had been wrong!"
"Disneyland does that to you!"
"How are you and dad? Did you have a good Christmas with Victoria?"
"Of course, we had a lovely time in Milwaukee. I'm not supposed to tell anyone, but you're family, so I don't think that counts. Victoria has a boyfriend now, he's so lovely, fits right in to the family without a fuss. I don't know if you remember him? Jackson Blake?"
"Blake... You mean, her boss?" Jake asked, already on the defensive. "I don't know if you should be encouragin-"
"Nonsense, he's a sweetheart! The couple of days we spent in Milwaukee were amazing. Victoria's really happy, too, so that's all that matters! The children sound like they're in good spirits, you chose right with taking them to Disneyland at this uncertain time. Take their minds off of everything.
"Well, that was Azalea's doing. She thought it would be good for them."
"Oh."
A silence broke out between the two Newburys.
A silence that stretched a little longer than it needed to.
"Mom,"
"I think you should go careful, Jake. The children have lost one mother figure already in their young lives, and Azalea... well, she's not known for staying put when things get serious. I don't want them to get hurt by the same mistake."
"They're not going to get hurt, mom."
"How do you know that?"
"Because I trust Azalea, and she doesn't leave children behind."
"She did over the summer."
"Mom."
"I'm just saying, you need to remember your children's feelings, Jake, not just your own."
Jake didn't have a reply to that.
"You'll thank me for this piece of advice one day. Now, I better not keep you, it's getting late over there. I'll call again tomorrow to speak to the children. Night, Jake!"
"Night, mom." Jake replied with little and less enthusiasm as he hung up. A sigh escaped his lips as he moved back through the house, collecting a glass of water as he made his way upstairs to the bed that would only be empty for one more night.
Just one more night.
***
"I don't understand..."
"The money in the account seems to come from various sources. There is an investment portfolio that is performing... well, it's performing okay, there are significant changes I would suggest you bring in to gain a higher yield each year, it would include some high risk investments, but if you invest correctly, and mitigate the risk with various exposures, you would earn much more than you are now." Alexander Quinn explained, not unkindly, but without giving much time for those who wouldn't, or couldn't, keep up. Jake had learned pretty early on that he was a no nonsense kind of man, and getting directly to the point was his forte.
"Okay, so that money would have come from the salary that I was earning in excess of what I needed at the time?" Jake asked.
"Precisely, your agent did well by you to ensure that your salary wasn't put to waste, and it was a good idea to do so." Alex continued, moving his finger down to point two. "This part here, is your current income, very little of which -- if any -- moves in to your investment portfolio, and instead sits in a savings account waiting for you to require the additional funds for the mundane household 'disasters' such as appliances going wrong, wanting a new car, a holiday, whatever purpose it serves."
Again, Jake nodded, showing he was following up to here.
"Your late wife's fathers also provided money for the children for when they become legal adults, which has been put in to this fund safely. Again, it is being safely invested, and growing in value, but well below the market rates that are possible for sums of this size. As with your personal fund, I would suggest a little more aggression in your policies here to make the amounts more sizeable for the children's futures."
"That makes sense," Jake replied, his head slowly feeling like it was going to explode with the more news he was provided with.
"Your late wife's inheritance also came in to top up the balances shown here." Alex pointed out, and Jake nodded slowly at the figure they'd found 'acceptable' to place on Veronika's death.
"The final source of income comes from universities, colleges, laboratories, medical studies, etc, every time the research that has been put in your name is used. Royalties, as it were." Alex continued, looking across the table at Jake and waiting for a sign of understanding.
"But... I..."
"This source of income originates from a patent that was produced around two thousand and ten." Alex continued on, and Jake's eyes found the other man's entirely too fast.
"Two thousand and ten?" Jake echoed.
"Yes."
The realisation of where a large proportion of the funds in the accounts were coming from made itself known in that moment. The realisation that at least half of it was not actually his money made Jake go quiet as he looked down at the figures before him.
"It was via these financial avenues that your money was exploited under the proviso of it being for additional research in this field. The reality was that it was being moved in to luxurious homes, yachts, etcetera. Not too difficult to trace, in truth, otherwise I would have had a lot more difficulty in recovering the funds, but still not done too badly." Alex continued on, not swayed by the clear look of uncertainty on the Auror's features as he looked blankly back at the numbers he was being told about.
"I've spoken with HMRC on your behalf, and they're quite happy that you had no wrong doing. Their case is going to be closed down with them in the next week or so, and you should get a letter to denote that the investigation is closed. The accountants you were using have been reported to their accounting body, who will take disciplinary action against them as a corporate body, as well as the individual who was moving the money from your account, and others, to fuel a lifestyle he could never afford." Alex continued, the smile on his lips only growing in that moment because he was clearly quite happy with everything he had achieved.
"And that, is everything I need to do for you."
"Just like that?" Jake asked, still not completely sure he'd heard correctly.
"Just like that." Alex confirmed, reaching for his file and producing a card. "I would recommend this firm to look after your accounts and finances from here on in. They're reliable, and won't just sit on those kind of sums idly waiting for you to tell them what to do. Proactive, in everything they do."
Jake took the card but didn't really look at the name upon it because his mind was still on everything else he'd been told in that moment.
"I... uhm... what do I owe you, for everything you've done?" Jake asked as the blond got up from the table.
"The Clements are paying for this one." Alex replied. "Apparently you're a friend of a friend." The man gave a shrug to show he didn't really know what he was supposed to make of that. "Anna, come on."
"Five more minutesssss!"
Jake had to look around at that, the request not coming from his daughter, but the adult who had accompanied Alex to the house.
"Please?" Adrienne chimed, looking hopefully to her dad.
Jake just looked back to Alex in return, who looked thoroughly put out, and avoided Jake's gaze.
"Anna, come on, we've got a plane to catch to Malaysia." Alex insisted, to which the strange woman -- who was just as strange in real life as she had been on the phone -- relented.
"Fine, but only because the hints of gold are coming through your beige." She replied, getting up from the floor and the painting she'd been doing with Adrienne.
As always, Jake did not make sense of the conversation, and perhaps it was for the best he didn't.
"Right, well, thank you for everything you've done, Alex, I really do appreciate it. I hope that I won't have anything crazy happen like that again, and need to trouble you."
"Oh, it's never trouble, these are the gems I live for!" The blond replied all to excitedly as they shook hands to finalise business. With that, the guests were shown out of the house, and Jake was left with the very real conundrum he'd never realised he'd had.
Azalea's money had been keeping him afloat all these years.
Not his own.________________________________________________~ Auror ~ Profile ~ DADA Professor ~ ~ In a Relationship ~ 36 ~ Father ~ 6' ~ American Accent ~  | |
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