Shall Never See So Much (Invite only)

Subject: Shall Never See So Much (Invite only) Fri May 21, 2021 7:59 pm

It was D Day.

With the small chit of paper a day they were limited to in terms of communication, Azalea hadn't managed to say nearly as much as she had wanted to. The small handwriting being sent back and forth had included dates, times, locations, habits, number of people that she could see or guess and the emphasis on getting Mimosa out safe.

Never once had the witch discussed her own safety.

And despite Jake's first message reassuring her that they would get both of them out, no more mention of Azalea's well being had been made. All parties understood what was important.

And. It. Was. Not. Her.

It was also how she wanted it. Everyone involved knew she would have to lead Josh away, she would have to distract him while their daughter was rescued from this hellish prison. You couldn't rescue bait.

And Azalea was the bait in this situation.

As they walked out the heavy oak front door, the witch slipped a slender hand into Josh's arm, trying not to shudder as she did so. It was all on her now.

Ethan, while insisting he wanted to go with them, had chosen to walk along beside them. Independent even at this age, he did not like being carried anymore than he absolutely had to be and today, it was no problem for the adults to shorten their strides for his little legs to keep up. The almost three year old was having fun, pointing out random thing and then making them levitate to see underneath them. His control on magic was remarkable for his age.

As they cleared the front porch and turned towards the extensive gardens to the east, Azalea finally spoke up.

"We will be married soon." It wasn't a question, rather a sad statement she could not undo. As she spoke, her grip on Josh's arm tightened the slightest bit, leading to the illusion that she was hanging on to him for support. The blonde on his part remained silent, merely acknowledging her statement with a small nod of his head.

"What are your plans after that?" she asked softly, trying to feign interest but unable to quite bring actual sincerity across. She hoped he knew any time forcibly spent with him would result in her less than enthusiastic attitude. "Do I stay locked up in here forever or will I be allowed to go outside?" Her grip became a tad more firm as they entered a shady path strewn with azaleas. How the gardeners had managed to make such a plain flower look so pretty, she would never understand.

"Will Ethan always see me as a prisoner in this house?"

The young heir in question had skipped some paces ahead now, well out of earshot and distracted at a bee humming nearby.

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Shall Never See So Much (Invite only) Rsz_gr10

Shall Never See So Much (Invite only) Rsz_az10

Shall Never See So Much (Invite only) Rsz_li10

Subject: Re: Shall Never See So Much (Invite only) Tue May 25, 2021 6:19 pm

The option for a walk in the gardens that day had come as a change to their usually quiet days. Since coming back to Murray Manor, his Azalea had not opted to spend time with him outside of their room, or meetings with various wedding planners. It had, therefore, been a welcome change, one that the man had agreed to almost all too quickly.

Her arm had slipped in to his effortlessly, and the blond couldn't help but feel good about the situation as they stepped out in to the grounds, their son walking just in front of them as he tried to keep up with Darr's lengthy stride.

"We will be married soon."

"We will," the reply came with the cold glee of a man finally getting his own way. It wasn't the excitement of a man marrying the woman of his dreams, though, just the possessive tone that followed the man around when speaking of the witch at his side.

"What are your plans after that?"

Josh didn't reply to that much, knowing his Azalea was not finished with her questions.

"Do I stay locked up in here forever or will I be allowed to go outside?"

Again, the man did not reply to the question instantly, instead watching Ethan move off further away from them.

"Will Ethan always see me as a prisoner in this house?"

"You're not a prisoner in this house." Josh replied simply. "Nor would Ethan see you as such. You're his mother, and that is how he sees you now, and how he will always see you." The statement left no room for argument in that moment, it was fact, whether the witch beside him would see that or not.

"And you'll be allowed to go outside, when I'm with you." Josh continued, not missing a beat on that sentence. It was almost said as if this was a completely normal request of a man to his future wife. "There are too many distractions in the world, I wouldn't want for you to be mislead again." As always, Josh's tone was even, for it had not been his Azalea's fault that she had strayed from him, the blame laid with the man who had steered her away from him.

"You will come to be more understanding of the situation in time, I know it's a lot to take in. Pre-wedding nerves are normal, I've been told." What would normally be considered a helpful anecdote to a bride to be came less than human from Josh's lips.

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Subject: Re: Shall Never See So Much (Invite only) Fri May 28, 2021 1:00 pm

As they walked deeper into the gardens, it was Azalea's turn to remain quiet as Joshua spoke. Without realizing it, the witch had somehow been expecting him to display... if not guilt than at least some level of regret for what he had done. Even if it was a misplaced sense hidden behind facades of duty or affection or anything of the sort. But as they walked and he talked, Azalea began to realize that it was nothing to him.

He genuinely believed he had nothing to apologize for.

"There are too many distractions in the world, I wouldn't want for you to be mislead again."

Mislead? It was the closest he had ever come to calling her out for what she had done. What she had willingly, consequentially, willfully and with premeditation had done. And he was dismissing it like the impulsive acts of a child.

And instead of being thankful, it fanned the flames of her anger even more.

The wolf loped on ahead, keeping stride with Ethan as the couple walked at a more leisurely pace. if Joshua had noticed the grip on his arm tighten, he hand't sown only signs of it.

"You've known me a long time, haven't you?" she changed the subject, speaking with measured words to let him know she wasn't talking about the last two years. "You were one of the best students in my Herbology class." The brunette waited a few moments to see if he would deny it. When he didn't, she continued.

"How did you find me after all these years. I was... being Held somewhere, even Dad and Clara couldn't find me for a long time. How did you locate me so quickly after they found me?" Most of this conversation was to buy time, to gather her strength. Leafy was going to e put to the test in a way she had not maiden until now but there was more to it.

She was now also curious. If Joshua Murray was finally going to be truthful, she wanted to hear what he had to say.

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Subject: Re: Shall Never See So Much (Invite only) Fri May 28, 2021 1:29 pm

His words were left without a reply from the witch beside him. She understood, Josh assumed as he watched their son walking ahead of them, Darr gently padding beside Ethan with the usual sense of protection that surrounded his being. The blond added nothing more to his explanations, his Azalea understood, and for that he was grateful.

"You've known me a long time, haven't you?"

The man did not choose to reply to that question. He had never discussed the fact he'd known his Azalea for longer than she knew, and he didn't see that he needed to in that moment, either. Her question was not finished, though, as she continued on with the point of him being one of her best students in Herbology over the years. If she had found this knowledge from her time at the school, then he wouldn't deny it. It wouldn't have any benefit to their relationship now.

"How did you find me after all these years. I was... being Held somewhere, even Dad and Clara couldn't find me for a long time. How did you locate me so quickly after they found me?"

Amusement left the man's lips in that moment, but not the kind that found something truly funny. No, the sound of a man who knew more than the question asked of him. The kind that would leave a cold shiver running down the witch's spine because it signified that she hadn't quite understood everything she thought she had.

They were going to be married, though.

He could tell her.

"My A-Azalea, I was the one who saved you." Josh stated simply. "I saved you from the house you were being kept in all those years ago. Your father and Clara had given up, just like everyone else had." The man paused in his tracks, turning to face the witch before him. "I was the only one who didn't stop looking for you, and I was rewarded for not doing so."

The man's right hand moved up to the witch's cheek, gently caressing the skin as his eyes watched hers.

"But you don't need to worry, the man who had held you captive for six hundred and eighty five days won't bother us ever again, I made sure of that for us." Joshua explained, his tone was soft despite the words he was speaking. "I took care of you from there, Harold had left you in quite the mess with what he'd done, but I fixed you." The words continued on the same manner, the manner of a man who truly believed his actions had been right.

"I had to take you back to your Father, though, to help with your recovery. The familiarity he and Clara provided brought you back to being my A-Azalea, and when I knew that that was the case, I was able to come back to you again." Josh finished, still tenderly caressing her cheek as if he'd just provided her with the most romantic statement in the world. "I have given you everything, and I will continue to give you everything. You're my most precious flower, and I won't ever let you go."

The promise was provided with his icy blue eyes staring straight in to her brown eyes looking up to him.

A promise that he would never break.

Because he was hers, whether she said yes, or whether she said no.

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Subject: Re: Shall Never See So Much (Invite only) Fri May 28, 2021 2:08 pm

Joshua stopped in his tracks, turning to her instead. For a moment, the witch packed. They had to go further, they had to be as far away from the manor as it was possible.

But panic didn't stay with Azalea for long, quickly replaced with another overwhelming emotion as he began to speak.

"My A-Azalea, I was the one who saved you."

A cold chill ran up her spine as he continued, the forefront of her mind engrossed in understanding the details while a quieter voice at the back still cling to the plan. It was a mark of how important the plan was that this new information did nothing to deter her from it.

"I was the only one who didn't stop looking for you..."

"... I made sure of that for us."

"... I fixed you."

"... I won't ever let you go."

"Stop," the witch pleaded, her words so quiete, they were mere trembling of her lips. It wasn't true. It can't be true. And yet...

Flashes and memories of this place, the odd sensation that she had seen the manor before... The fact that she had shown up at Kit and Clara's with a medical file.

She had shown up pregnant.

"My baby... I was with... Where's my son?"

But she flinched as she spoke the words, a sick feeling clawing insider her. The dread was a clear indicate that she knew the answer.

But she needed to hear him say it.

She needed him to admit what he had done to let go of any lingering affection she had ever felt for this monster.

And if he did, she needed to change the plans. Azalea needed to get both children out of here.

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Subject: Re: Shall Never See So Much (Invite only) Fri May 28, 2021 2:20 pm

"Stop,"

The man was already finished with his explanation, but the barely spoken request was one that he had heard regardless. The man's hand had not moved from her cheek in that moment, still caressing the soft skin. "I know, it's a lot to comprehend, but everything I did was for you." He assured her, his head dipping down slightly to press a kiss to her lips. As if that would take away the worry that had caused her lips to tremble in the moment.

The witch had moved back in the moment he'd done that, though. Her eyes wide as she processed the information he'd provided.

"My baby... I was with... Where's my son?"

"Ethan has been here the whole time." Josh replied as their eyes both moved to the little boy that was walking just ahead of them. "This is why you need never leave the manor, our son is here. Your daughter will stay with us, too. What else could you need that I have not already provided you with, A-Azalea?" Josh asked, genuinely assured that he had covered everything that the couple would ever need.

And, as if it had all been a perfectly normal conversation, Josh had set off again with the witch in tow, following their son deeper in to the garden.

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Subject: Re: Shall Never See So Much (Invite only) Fri May 28, 2021 2:42 pm

He was insane.

It was the only explanation.

Azalea had gone numb since the retaliation it, her eyes focused only on the young boy disappearing ahead of them, followed by the large wolf who moved protectively by the heir's side. The witch had never treated Ethan as someone else's, finding his warm brown gaze evoked in her the same feelings as Adrienne and Ivan did.

The brown gaze that was eerily similar to her own.

As they began walking once more her firm grip now aiding her more than anything else, her mind scrambled. She had to hold Joshua somehow until she could get Ethan out too. It had to be done now because... because once they returned, he would know. He would know and the chances of him ever making such a lapse in judgement and security ever again were slim to non.

The brunette had to imagine the plan to rescue Mimosa had seceded. That the child would be blissfully gone when they returned.

But now circumstances had changed.

The American witch remained quiet as they walked, entering deeper into the heart of the gardens that resembled more woods than a carefully curated garden. Good, the environment would be her ally.

"You don't understand what you did at all, do you?" She finally spoke softly, her fingers digging into the skin above his elbow, hopefully distracting him from what was about to happen.

"You took a child from his mother... you... you impregnated me against my will... You're..." She paused, raising her shimmering chocolate eyes up to his stone blue ones. "You're irredeemable."

Just a she spoke, two vines shot up from the ground where they stood, both encircling his ankles and tightening their grip to the point of pain. The hand clutching at him merely a second ago was replaced by a third one, this time painfully twisting his arm back behind him as Azalea stepped away unscathed.

And lastly, a fourth vine appeared, the one that Azalea had been working on the hardest. Leveraging from a nearby tree, it would attempt to wrap itself around Joshua's waist, dragging him to the tree and tying him firmly to the trunk if successful.

"And I want nothing to do with you, ever again."

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Subject: Re: Shall Never See So Much (Invite only) Fri May 28, 2021 3:03 pm

"You don't understand what you did at all, do you?"

"I did what I had to, to keep you safe." Josh replied as her fingers dug in to his arm. No pain registered in his body as she did so, more of an annoyance at his elbow than anything else.

"You're irredeemable."

Josh's features schooled in to that of incomprehension in that moment as he looked back at the witch beside him, her chocolate eyes staring right in to his own with conviction in the words she'd just managed. Words that still did not make sense to him. He had never taken Ethan from his mother, Ethan had always seen Azalea as his mother. He'd never impregnated her without her permission, she had been an active partner the whole time.

From nowhere, though, the man found himself bound. Not once, not twice, thrice. A look of bewilderment might have touched his features had he not known that the witch had found the vines at Hogwarts. The vines he'd ensured were kept safe in the school, feeding off the magic that lived there, in a place where his Azalea would naturally find them with her curiosity for plants. Even as the tendrils dug deeply in to his skin, and drew him back towards the tree, Josh's lips turned in to an amused smile.

"You worked faster than I thought you would." He commented, before looking back to the witch.

"And I want nothing to do with you, ever again."

The man shook his head at that statement, a glint of delight playing in the usually icy orbs of his eyes. "I don't think you quite comprehend, my A-Azalea, but you can't leave." Josh told her, his sentence cutting off slightly with the hiss of pain that escaped his lips as the vines dug in more deeply to his skin. "Not without my approval, anyway." He added, only to have the vines grow tighter in their hold against him.

"You see, legally, you're already my wife. Legally... you're personal safety has been assigned to me because you were deemed... unwell." Josh continued, the smile on his lips growing in that moment. "And if you kill me, you'll never see Ethan again."

"Mother... is father okay?" Ethan interrupted, his eyes drinking in the scene all too hungrily in that moment, confusion written upon his small features.

"Now, why don't you let me down, and we can head back to the Manor, I think you need a lie down, A-Azalea." The man instructed simply, waiting for her to comply with his wishes.

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Subject: Re: Shall Never See So Much (Invite only) Fri May 28, 2021 4:17 pm

Miraculously, it had worked.

The vines had manged to drag Joshua away from her and bind him to the tree, keeping him there for the time being. Azalea didn't spare him much thought as he spoke of legality, thinking only of one thing.

She had to get Ethan out of here.

"Mother... is father okay?"

"He's fine, sweetie," she assured him halfheartedly as his brown eyes swung to the man once more. "We're just... playing a game. Of hide and seek," she invented desperately, reaching out to her son.

If she picked him up and ran, would she have enough time? How far in range would the witch have to be for the vines to still hold the blond wizard? If the rescue operation was still ongoing, she could escape with Ethan but if it had concluded... Could she make it to the gate and escape through that? Could she hand Ethan over to a stray operative with a note? The plan spun crazily around her thoughts, trying to find a route to keep the boy safe from his psychopath father.

"Come on, darling, let's go," she insisted, holding out her arms for Ethan who had now turned to look at his mother with the same cold expression his father had worn only moments ago.

"No," the boy declared simply.

The brunette tried to object but just then, Darr flew from the bushes, heading her way. For a wild moment, she thought the wolf was going to attack her but he leapt clear over her head.

And pinned down someone coming up behind them.

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Subject: Re: Shall Never See So Much (Invite only) Fri May 28, 2021 4:47 pm

"I've found her."

"Safe?" Jake had responded automatically via their communication line without a second thought. He didn't know Jacques Clement well enough to know what he said was enough, so he needed confirmation in that moment that his daughter was safe.

"Yes. Everyone get out, I'll follow shortly."

"Confirm extraction." The Lord Clement's voice sounded, and the others were pulling out their Portkeys without a second thought. Jake's hand did not reach to his belt for his own. His eyes turning to the window, and the grounds outside. Azalea was still here, and thought their mission had been solely to retrieve their child... he couldn't leave her with the man who was holding her against her will.

He couldn't leave her on her own again.

"Come on, monsieur."

"Go, I'm not leaving Azalea." Jake replied, shrugging away from the man who had pressed his own Portkey in the next second and vanished on the spot. Before anyone else could try to stop him, the Auror had slipped out of the room, and back down the stairs they had climbed before. His feet hurried through the hall as fast as he could without causing too much noise, and the first doorway out of the house had been the man's priority.

From there, he'd looked around aimlessly. Azalea had said she would take Joshua out in to the gardens, but she had not said where they would be heading. The man had little choice in his decision, heading off away from the main gates towards what he hoped would be the gardens.

"Come on..." Jake muttered to himself as he ran across the lawn at the back of the house, eyes scouting every direction possible. There wasn't anything though as he climbed up to the next tier of the garden to give himself a vantage point. Nothing. The man just pushed on forward, putting as much distance between himself and the house in the assumption Azalea would have done the same.

The minutes churned past, the man's breath coming more frantic as he tried his best to keep level headed about everything going on. To not worry that the witch had been found out. To hope Joshua Murray had not realised what they had been doing and-

The man cut off such thoughts as he paused to catch his breath for a second, turning on the spot to try to find something... anything... just a sign-

He found it through the trees, and his legs pushed forth towards the figure slightly obscured by the trees. His wand was at the ready as he drew closer, finding... Joshua Murray tied up in quite the predicament.

"Aza-"

The man was cut off as something hit him, sending him sprawling backwards. Pain registered deeply around the man's right elbow as he hit the floor, bringing forth a cry of pain from the Auror's lips as he was jostled left and right by... the animal atop of him was massive, and the snarling jaws were trying their best to dislodge themselves from his flesh. The pain seared through his arm as he was pulled about, but Jake brought his left hand up towards the beast, wand pointed to the muzzle.

"Stupefy!"

The whine of pain from the beast came before it went limb, falling sideways from the man and dislodging the jaws from his arm. For a moment, Jake closed his eyes, trying to nullify the pain as he mumbled a quick healing charm that would temporarily numb the pain. His eyes turned to Azalea in that moment, and the man pushed himself to his feet with his good arm.

"Come on, we've got to go!" He insisted, looking to Josh to ensure he was...

"She's not going anywhere." The blond insisted, stepping away from the tree, free of the bonds that had been there only a moment before. How the man had freed himself from the bonds, Jake wouldn't know, but his wand had turned to the man. He could hold him at bay long enough for Azalea to get away, Jake was almost sure of that much...

"That's not your decision to make." Jake replied, tightening his grip on his wand as he waited for some sign of a fight that might be coming.

"Oh, but it is, isn't it A-Azalea?"

Jake glanced sideways to the witch, confusion on his features.

"Go home to your children, whilst you still have a chance."

The threat did not make the Auror move, instead shifting closer to Azalea. "Mimosa is safe, come with me." Jake insisted, his eyes never leaving Josh's face. The blond remained calm, his pose collected and not even looking ready to attack. But his eyes remained on Azalea, waiting almost... expectantly for her to return to his side.

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