Why have a ballroom with no balls? (Jazalea)

Subject: Why have a ballroom with no balls? (Jazalea) Thu Mar 14, 2019 8:28 pm

The scenario with which Jake had found himself in was not ideal. There were no two ways of looking at it, but it was to be. The Auror hadn't been best pleased when he'd found out that he would be paired with Azalea to bring the Valentine's Day Ball to life, but with time, the blow became... less painful. He would be spending Valentine's Day at the castle, he would be spending Valentine's Day with Azalea, and he had come to terms with that. Accepted that.

But it didn't meant that it didn't still hurt.

The man's original plan had been to spend the day with the children. It was a Saturday after all, and teach them not about the romantic aspect of love, but the familial side. They would go as a family to Veronika's grave, and spend some time there, talking to her, putting down some flowers to show their love and affection for the woman. From there, the three of them would return home, they would bake, they would make Valentine's Day cards for their grandparents, and they would simply enjoy the day together. He would tuck them in, tell both of the children how much both he and their mom loved them, and he would watch them fall asleep before going to spend the final moments of Valentine's Day by himself, with a couple of shots of Firewhiskey.

It hadn't been a perfect plan, of course, but it had been a plan. Headmaster Kessler had merely thrown a spanner in to the works. It wasn't Azalea's fault, Jake had come to terms with that much after a couple of brief meetings with the witch with suggestions for the event and then the offer to come to his. He needed to leave to have the children straight after last period, Jake had explained, because his mom had committed to something back in the US that day. Whilst the children would be picked up and dropped off by a friend of his at the school, Jake still needed to be back early. He'd offered Azalea the option of having dinner with the children and him that evening -- though he'd quickly added it probably wouldn't be too flamboyant because he still hadn't mastered much in the way of cooking. The admittance had come with an awkward smile, but Azalea had agreed.

Which was why they were both exiting Hogwarts shortly before four that afternoon, waiting only long enough to get out of the gates before Jake offered her his hand. The pull of apparition pulled at his navel, transporting them both to his home hundreds of miles away.

"The children should be here any minute," Jake had explained as he showed her in to his home, motioning for her to go through to the kitchen. "Can I get you anything to eat or drink in the meantime?" He asked politely, already moving towards the kettle because he wanted a drink himself anyway.

"Also, I'm going to apologise now, but the children are... very excited to see you again." Jake explained, giving the witch an apologetic smile. "Especially because we're arranging a party. And... well, just let me know if they get too much, and I'll... find a distraction for them" He explained, hoping that was going to be okay as he moved to get cups down.

Just as the doorbell sounded, announcing Mrs Robinson's arrival with the children. "Would you mind getting that?" Jake asked, still busy in the kitchen with their drinks.

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~ In a Relationship ~ 36 ~ Father ~ 6' ~ American Accent ~

Annika Blackwood still hand't returned and the knot of worry growing inside Azalea's stomach felt more pronounced every day. The witch tried to tell herself that she was doing everything in her power. She had spoken to HR outlining her concern, she had written to the Potion Mistress's emergency contact, she had even gone through some of Annika's personal files trying to see if she could find notes on what the younger witch had been working on to figure out a location. She had also sent repeated owls and texts to the silver haired witch but to no avail.

And every time she reassured herself that she had done everything she could, the knot inside her twisted painfully, reminding her that people who hadn't bothered looking for her when she'd gone missing had probably consoled themselves in a similar fashion. And if she did the same, she was no better off.

Josh had noticed her worries, of course he had. Last weekend the blonde had asked over dinner what was bothering her and seeing no point in hiding the truth, Azalea had admitted the strange case of the missing Potions Mistress. The brunette hadn't told him why she felt personally responsible for finding her. That would have meant revealing that she herself had been missing all this time... That she had not been worth finding... That those closes to her had given up on her too. But somehow, she didn't have to explain, Josh simply understood that it was important to Azalea that Annika be found, no explanations needed.

But of course, personal crisis never took into consideration life when they happened along. So while the young witch remained missing, the planning for the upcoming Valentines Day event was going ahead full steam. Unable to find anything too unique to brand the occasion as, Jake and Azalea had simply settled on "Winter Valentine", sticking to the theme discussed in the first meeting and adding in details as they went along.

The weather had kept up it's picturesque chill, freezing the lake solid to several dozen feet and providing an ample dance floor. The Grecian CoMC Professor had not only managed to secure winter themed animals for the event but had also arranged for sleigh rides pulled by actual remainders for the younger children. games had been organized for all years ranging from snow structure building to a Winter Mermaid Fashion Show and the music list for the occasion had been finalized.

The only thing left now was to work out the itinerary for the evening and finalize who would be judging what. The opening ceremony also needed to be deiced and the catering list double checked. All these matters required sitting together with Jake and working on it simultaneously instead of the memo-ing back and forth they had been doing these past few weeks and Jake had suggested they work on the last details at his home. Azalea having already agreed to the condition prior to working together had said yes. She didn't have any classes that day so the witch had spent most fo her day holed up in her quarters grading essays.

At three fifteen, the witch finally rose from her couch, stacking the graded essays neatly to one side. A quick shower and change of clothes later, she was sleeping into her heels to make her way out of the dungeons. No longer restrained by her professional dress sense when teaching, the witch sported a simple pair of blue jeans teamed with a black long sleeved shirt. Her casual ensemble didn't draw to much attention, or least the brunette hoped as much as she made her way to the school gates where Jake was already waiting.

The pull of apparition didn't help the queasy feeling in her stomach, but needs must she supposed. thankfully, the Auror walked into the house ahead of her, leaving her to discretely seek the support of a wall for a few minutes to steady herself. He'd probably forgotten she couldn't handle apperating well. And she supposed she couldn't blame him, it had been many years and he was't obligated to remember such trivial facts.

Azalea followed him into the kitchen at her own pace, doing ehr best to hie the feeling of unease clouding every bit of her emotions right now. It was as if the place repelled her, all to aware that she didn't belong here and had been caught intruding. "N-no thanks," she called out as he moved to turn on the kettle. Instead she focused on the sole lifeline this place provided - the children.

"Don't worry,' she reassured him over her should as she moved to open he door. "I got this." Plastering a smile the children deserved on her face, Azalea opened the door, only to be barreled into immediately amidst a chorus of "Zalea!!!!!!". Picking Adrienne up off the ground and settling the child on her hip, the witch gave her free hand to Ivan, which the boy latched on to protectively before she bent down to give him a kiss on the cheek. Saying a quick thanks to the woman who had driven them over and superficially inviting her in for tea only to be equally superficially turned down, the teaching assistant took both the kids in and closed the door.

"Look what I found outside," the witch announced, bringing the children into the kitchen where fresh squeals of "Daddy' rang through the air as the kids rushed to greet their father.

Yes, she breathed in deeply, watching the kids taking off their bag and piling them up on the kitchen counter, Adrienne talking a mile a minute of all the things she intended show Azalea now that the older witch was here, yes, she could do this. If not for herself, then for the kids.

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Why have a ballroom with no balls? (Jazalea) Rsz_gr10

Why have a ballroom with no balls? (Jazalea) Rsz_az10

Why have a ballroom with no balls? (Jazalea) Rsz_li10

The positive reply from Azalea about getting the door gave Jake enough time to pour out a cup of tea, add the milk and stir the tea bag around for a short while, before carefully extracting it from the water, and placing it on the small pile of tea bags waiting to be thrown in to the food waste bin from that morning. By the time he'd managed that, he could hear the children and Azalea approaching them, and he turned just in time for the chorus of 'daddy' to fill the room, sinking to his knees to scoop both children up in his arms and ask how their day had been.

They replied with various stories of their day, before Adrienne started to get distracted with what she wanted to show Azalea. Before that, though, Jake intervened before they could get caught up.

"Go get yourselves changed, both of you, then we can show Azalea everything you've been up to." Jake told them, earning a small groan from Adrienne because he'd put a pause on her excitement. Ivan, though, much to the boy's credit, assured his sister they wouldn't be long, and took her hand, tugging her up to their rooms to get changed.

Returning the milk to the fridge, Jake's eyes were caught on the pre-made lasagne in the fridge, and a smile touched his lips as he read the note from his mom denoting that just because she wasn't here, didn't mean she wouldn't forget to help him out. "Lasagne for dinner, I hope that's okay. I can find you some salad, if you'd prefer that..." He offered, knowing that Azalea's diet had never been exactly normal, but in honesty, he didn't know what she did and didn't eat anymore.

The man only had enough time to collect his cup and motion for Azalea to follow him through to the lounge before the children came hammering back down the stairs, Adrienne just behind as she hurried to sit next to Azalea, her t-shirt on backwards, but not a care was given to that. "Zay-lea!" She greeted again, burying herself in to the witch's side without a care in the world as she made herself comfy. "You haven't been to see me- usssssss, in ages! Did you forget where we lived? That might be it, it's hard to find our house. Daddy says so. It's a biiiiiiig secret where we live, to stop the baddies finding us." Adrienne explained, and Jake's lips twitched up in a fond smile at that, the explanation had been paraphrased, of course, but it wasn't incorrect.

"And, Daddy says you're making a big dance at the magic school! We don't have magic at our school, but Daddy says when we're older we'll get to go to the magic school."

"Hogwarts, Adrienne," Ivan interrupted her, clearly not happy with the term 'magic school' as he watched his sister and the witch curiously.

"Hoggarts," Adrienne mimicked, turning her attention back to Azalea. "Will you be teaching us at Hoggarts? Like Daddy?" She asked, before remembering the important bit. "Can I come to the dance? Not to dance, Daddy says there's going to be lots of aminals!" Adrienne continued on, looking to Azalea for confirmation of her dad's words.

Jake let her continue on, not having the heart to change the subject just yet.

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~ In a Relationship ~ 36 ~ Father ~ 6' ~ American Accent ~

"Lasagne for dinner, I hope that's okay. I can find you some salad, if you'd prefer that..."

"Why wouldn't it be okay?' the witch asked puzzled, her mind still on the children who had disappeared out the kitchen door in a trice to change just so they could return in time to catch Azalea up to what they'd been doing all this while. Her brief stay st the Newbury estate last year resulted in very skewed memories. Some things were a painfully sharp reminder while others dulled into the background. Food choices fell into the latter.

Collecting his beverage, the wizard motioned for her to follow him through to the living room where they were once again met with the force of nature otherwise known as the Newbury children. As Adrienne all but tackled her side, squealing her name loudly, Azalea enticed the girl had her shirt on backwards and wondered if she should point it out. in the end, she merely smiled fondly at the child. Her shirt style was probably cutting edge back home in the US.

"No, I didn't forget where you lived," Azalea reassured the youngest Newbury. "I've just been really busy with my job, and your Auntie Victoria keeps sending me all your pictures to help me out when I miss you guys big much!" Of course, having uttered the admission out loud, the brunette glanced hastily Jake's way, unsure if he knew what his sister was up to and how Victoria went out of her way to keep Azalea and the children connected. The brunette wasn't sure if it was done with Jake's consent or not and hoped she and't gotten her best friend in trouble.

"Well, you still have plenty of years to go before you can attend Hogwarts," Azalea reassured the child. "Who knows, I might be too old to teach you by then. but I can always teach you anything you want outside of school, like how to give the best tickles!" And with that, she reached the tickle the little girl's side, sending her into a volley of fresh giggles.

As to the question of whether they could go to the ball, the witch pretended to consider the question seriously. It had already been decided that the invitations would be extended not just to the student population but to parents, prospective students, family members of staff and so on. Of course Jake was welcome to bring the whole brood if he so wished, but that was a decision better left to the father of the children. Azalea was in no position to make promises he would not approve of.

That didn't mean however that she couldn't entertain the children. "Well, that depends, your dad and I still need lots of helping planning the event. So if you guys give us lots of ideas..." She trailed off with a knowing smile, sending Adrienne into another fit of excitement and Ivan into a thoughtful pose, his intellectual curiosity immediately peaked.

"What kind of of ideas?" Ivan asked at the same time as Adrienne squealed "Snowball fighttttttt"

"Hang on, let's do this right," Azalea halted the kid's progress, puling to her binder from her bag. "I have a file full of things. How about I read them out to you guys and then you guys tell us where to go from here?" Both children nodded enthusiastically and Azalea began to summarize hat they had so far.

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The returned question of why lasagne wouldn't be okay caught Jake off guard a little in that moment, and he floundered around for an answer for a moment before deciding that he didn't have to answer. "Lasagne is fine, then." He replied, giving a small smile that showed it wasn't a problem.

The children saved the awkwardness from developing, though, with their reemergence from their rooms in their ordinary clothing, they quickly took up all of Azalea's attention with their questions and stories alike. Jake sat quietly, watching them as they spoke excitedly to Azalea and feeling... guilty for not having asked Azalea over before now. He'd promised Victoria, but it wasn't his sister that he was thinking of in that moment, but the two children who were quite clearly fond of Azalea. Was it fair to deprive his children of the company of another person just because he didn't know how to act around her?

The answer was not one Jake thought about for too long, not wishing to admit to the fact he was wrong.

His attention was caught by the knowledge that Victoria had been sending Azalea photos of the children. Jake had not been aware of this, and though the slightest of frowns had touched his features in the moment it had been admitted, he pushed that away. He trusted Victoria enough to know she wouldn't share the pictures with people she shouldn't, and Azalea wouldn't hurt the children. But it was good to know that the pictures he sent over to Victoria were being distributed further afield. As Azalea's eyes moved to him, Jake gave her a small smile that he hoped would convey that she didn't need to worry, lifting his mug to his lips to take a sip of the tea as the children continued on with their questions.

The talk quickly moved to ideas, though, and as the three Newburys listened on to Azalea's list, the various reactions from the children were to be expected as Azalea explained the three ideas they had come with as a side part to the ball. The reindeer racing had Adrienne in awe, whilst Ivan agreed that the idea was really cool, too! The snow sculptures was Ivan's favourite idea, whilst Adrienne tried to come up with all the possible ideas for the snow sculptures that could be made before Jake and Azalea corrected her understanding that the students -- and anyone else -- would be making them on the night. The elongated 'oh' that came from Adrienne's lips as she finally understood had made Ivan laugh softly before Adrienne grumped at him to stamp her authority on the point she had known that and was just testing.

The final idea of the princess show had been horrible in the view of the Newbury children on the whole, but Ivan had at least been a little more tactful and pointed out that most girls would probably like that idea. Adrienne had added 'not meeee' to which her brother re-emphasised the 'most girls' part.

The children had been vastly helpful in adding things that would appeal to the younger audiences, though, making the whole event seem much more promising as the hours ticked by. Jake had only excused himself to put the dinner on to cook through and get everyone a drink in the whole process, but by the time dinner was ready, he was quite sure the children had exhausted their own arsenal of ideas.

Having rounded everyone up to the table, Jake had served the four plates, denoting there was more in the kitchen, before sitting down to eat. The four of them tucking in happily. Adrienne was still doing her best with a knife and fork, had her concentration face on for the most part, before she spoke again.

"Daddy, can Azalea come to tea more often?" Adrienne asked, managing to successfully push a forkful of food in to her mouth without getting it everywhere. "Peaase." She added around her mouthful.

"Don't talk with your mouthful, Adrienne, please." Jake replied almost instantly, on auto-pilot because Adrienne was always the one who struggled with that. "And, Azalea can come to tea if she would like to, but she might not have t-"

"Azalea will!" Adrienne insisted, having swallowed her mouthful and looking to the older witch. "Won't you? You'll come all the time? So that you don't have to miss us, right?" The youngest Newbury insisted, and Jake looked to Azalea for her answer. It was difficult, telling the children no, but he was not under any illusion Azalea would want to come for dinner more often, so he would leave the reply to her.

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

Time flew as the children either praised or critique idea after idea, their input certainly factoring in when it came to the final decision. While they worked, Azalea couldn't help but notice how both children worked through their thought processes differently. Little Adrienne mostly spoke to declare a yes or no without any details over her decision making process while Ivan took longer and preferred pointing out pros and cons instead of just shouting out a verdict like his sister. The witch found herself smiling softly as she studied both of them, they had a bit of Jake in them from every angle. She had once known a hot headed school boy who reacted very much like Adrienne, who had now turned into an adult and reassessed his thoughts like Ivan did.

"Well, that just leaves the opening dance,' she finally exclaimed, reaching the last page of her binder which was an unimpressively blank save the heavy stationary from Wales. "Usually the people who organize the thing open it with the first dance but your dad and I find it super yucky. So any suggestions?"

"Don't do a dance!" Adrienne chorused, nodding her head with pure conviction. The ponytail she had tried to tie her hair in clumsily had been loosening slightly this whole time with the band now riding almost to the edge of her tips. "Do sock slides instead! Sock slides are funnnn, aren't hey daddy?"

Ivan considered the question longer before proposing an alternative. "how about letting the Head person dance first? Or whoever the ball is for?"

"Well, the ball is supposed to be for the students," Azalea responded thoughtfully, looking across to Jake. Getting students to open the ball wasn't a bad idea but she doubted it would go over well unless... "How about we pick a student each to open it with us, make it a more collaborative effort?" The next ten minutes were spent deciding on which students and then finally dinner was announced.

As Jake went to get the food warmed up, Azalea walked the children through to the sink, helping them wash up before trotting them back to the table where their father was passing out heaping plates of lasagna. Conversation was easy, the lasagna smelled great, hinting that it had not been made by Jake. Azalea found herself digging in despite ehr reservations as the children continued to ensure nothing awkward or untoward took place in their presence.

"Daddy, can Azalea come to tea more often?"

Jake's affirmation made the witch look up from her fork, unsure how to respond. Was he genuinely okay with her coming in more often or was this another half a truth to pacify the children? The addition of whether she may not have time seemed like it was bordering on the latter but Adrienne was not one to take no for an answer.

"Or you guys could come over to mine if I have too much time and don't have a ride to your place?" she suggested lightly, giving Jake the out he needed. If he wanted his children to see her, he could happily drop them off at Furz Croft. And if not, then he could forgoer about the half promise he'd just made. "I have to go get my license before I can get a car, you see. or at least I think I do." Despite Josh reassuring her she could rive any of his vehicles and no one would stop her to check for a permit, the brunette still didn't feel right doing so.

"You can just apperate to us, Azalea," Ivan pointed out helpfully, his plate now completely clean. His enthusiasm was not as apparent as his sister but from the months she'd known him, the witch understood that Ivan's quiet declarations meant just as much as his sisters boisterous ones.

"I'm afraid I don't know how, sweetheart," the witch confessed, embarrassed at admitting so. "And anyway, it makes me feel all weird so I do it the good old fashioned American way and drive."

Dinner was followed by a simple dessert of ice cream, witch was followed by more plans for the ball and refining of the program while the movie "Frozen" played in the background, supposedly for research purposes. Adrienne was already yawning halfway through while Ivan remained quietly rapt and attentive until it was time to put the children to bed.

"Zay-Lea luck us innnn, pwease daddy, pweaseeeee!" Adrienne squealed, hanging on to the older witch's sleeve tightly for feat the brunette would disappear. Azalea merely looked at Jake, silently seeking permission as his daughter clung to her.

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The counter offer given by Azalea that the children could go there was one that was given to the children with a quiet, unspoken question to him in the way Azalea looked to him. For a moment, the man hesitated. How could you not when you were faced with both the happiness and safety of your children being weighed out against your wariness of the witch in question? But, after a moment of thought, Jake gave a subtle nod to Azalea to show he was okay with the idea. If she truly wanted to spend time with the children, she could, but that didn't mean he didn't still have his reservations about the whole system.

It would make the children happy, though, that had been what had made Jake give in.

Ivan's point about apparating was the one that stuck out though, or perhaps Azalea's response to his son. Hard and fast the realisation hit that his own option of apparating home this evening had gone without a second thought to Azalea's preferences, and after a moment he caught up. The way he'd just apparated and then left Azalea to her own devices as he opened the door and moved in to the house. He'd forgotten, after all these years, how Azalea hadn't liked to apparate, but now she'd pointed it out...

Jake's eyes moved away from the conversation for a moment, stabbing at his lasagne slightly as he noted that he owed the witch an apology for... well, he wasn't sure exactly what he had to apologise for, was it the assumption apparation was okay, or the fact he'd forgotten after all this time? Either way... Shaking the thought away for now, Jake came back in to the conversation in time to see everyone was finished with their dinner. The offer of ice cream had excited the children, of course, and both Azalea and he joined them in that.

From there, it was back to work in the lounge. Frozen had been put on by Ivan for the continued research of the winter theme, and Adrienne was slowly growing more tired as she leaned more and more in to Azalea's side, trying to keep her eyes open. The final details had been summarised, though, with perhaps only a few minor points to be concluded a little closer to the time, and as Jake checked his watch, he noted it was more than a little past the children's bedtime.

"Zay-Lea luck us innnn, pwease daddy, pweaseeeee!"

Jake couldn't help but give his daughter a small smile. "We'll both put you to bed," Jake replied, knowing Azalea was looking to him in that moment for permission. Once again, it was the children pushing them forward, and Jake found it easier to just allow the children what they wanted, for the time being. Lifting Ivan up from the sofa -- the poor boy was dead on his feet, but trying to pretend otherwise -- whilst Azalea did the same with Adrienne, the two adults climbed up the stairs to the children's rooms and gently helped them in to their pyjamas. Baths would have to be completed in the morning, Jake reflected, as he tucked Ivan in to bed, kissing his son's head and wishing him good night.

Jake then moved across to Adrienne's room, standing in the doorway for a moment and just watching.

Azalea's tenderness with the children could never be questioned, the way she was playful with them, but firm enough to not let them walk all over her spoke testament to the- Jake caught himself, shaking the thought from his head. What might have happened if they'd stayed together with Mimosa... it was all if, buts and maybes. He couldn't assume that they'd have done well together, could he? No, that was not going to help anything.

Instead, the man moved across to the bed, sinking down on his knees beside both of the witch's and listening fondly to Adrienne's final sleepy musings.

"... but don't make daddy" a yawn interrupted. "Dance too much, he's not very good." She told Azalea, conspiring with that thought. "But he tries."

"I do," Jake said softly, leaning over to press a kiss to Adrienne's forehead as he eyes finally fell closed, giving in to the tiredness that Jake was no doubt going to have to pay for tomorrow. For a few minutes, neither Azalea or he moved, until they were sure that Adrienne was fast asleep. Quietly, the two adults would leave the room, pulling the door up quietly behind him. Jake would wait for Azalea to check in on Ivan, before they moved downstairs, back to the lounge where their notes were gathered.

Jake moved to tidy up the lounge from the mess of children's toys that had been pulled out by the children, leaving Azalea to collect their notes. Another quiet moment elapsed, and Jake knew that it was best not to let it drag on for longer than was necessary.

"Azalea," he said, making sure he had her attention before he continued. "I just... wanted to apologise. For apparating here. I didn't think... I'd forgotten how you didn't like it. I'm sorry. It's been a long time since we... well, you know. I am sorry." He told her, trying to explain but still finding it all so... difficult to be normal with one another. Perhaps with time? Perhaps it would never be normal, but, at least he'd apologised.

"How would you like me to get you back to Hogwarts?" Jake asked, because he didn't wish to impose his preferences upon the witch again.

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~ In a Relationship ~ 36 ~ Father ~ 6' ~ American Accent ~

With Jake's muted consent, they both picked up a kid each, the Auror taking Ivan while Azalea lifted Adrienne from her side to adjust the child more securely in her lap before standing up. The little girl pushed her face directly into the space between Azalea's neck and shoulder, snuggling her warmly as the witch carried her to her room. The children were clearly exhausted and while Ivan focused on trying to keep his eyes open, Adrienne concentrated her energies on talking while her own eyes remained closed.

Adrienne kept up her sleepy commentary all the way through the tuck in process, telling Azalea she didn't like balls but she wanted to go to this one to see the cool games and to see her Daddy. Abruptly the topic switched to the kinds of candy they would have to if they would have to go to school the next day and then back to dancing. At her insistence to not let ehr father overdo it, Azalea smiled, kissing the girl's forehead before placing two more kisses on each of Adrienne's cheek. "I'll try but you know how it is once we have our dancing shoes on."

"I do,"

The little girl felt out a sleepy giggle before reaching out to give her another cuddle. 'Wuv you Daddy, Zay-Lea, big, big much." And promptly, the youngest Newbury was out like a light. Jake and Azalea still waited a good two minutes to make sure but the child had clearly exhausted herself at this point and would not be waking up anytime soon. Letting themselves out quested, they parted ways once more, the brunette heading to Ivan's room to find him fast asleep as well. Leaning over him to cover one of his arms that had poked out back into the blanket, Azalea watched him sleep, memorizing his face because she still wasn't sure when she would say it again.

It was as she was about to leave when it happened, Ivan's hand automatically latched on to her sleeve, his body far more expressive in slumber than he allowed it to be in waking hours. His tiny fingers curled into the fabric and the witch's slight tug did nothing to dislodge it.

One look at his calm, sleeping features and Azalea knew she could never take away his source of comfort. Whatever solace he found in holding on to her shirt, the witch would allow him to. She would sit with the boy all night if that was possible, but she knew it wasn't. So Azalea did the next best thing. Working with her free hand, the witch slowly began to tear off the silk fabric of her sleeve, detaching it from the stitching so it would tear with minimal noise and fuss. In a few minutes a small chunk of the fabric on her left sleeve was missing, crumpled safely in Ivan's grasp as Azalea closed the door to his room behind her.

She found Jake in the living room, trying to clean up and moved automatically to help. The division of labor was silent, him clearing up the food leftovers and her straightening the living room. When the man raised an eye to her sleeve, she merely replied with an 'Ivan was holding on to it, I didn't want to wake him via a tug war".

A few more minutes of silence as she gathered up her bag and binders, leaving the living room almost as clean as it had been when she'd first arrived. And then he finally spoke. He'd been meaning to for a while now, and Azalea hated the fact that she had picked up on it. She didn't want to remember the way his back stiffened when he was considering something conflicting, or how his hands moved when he had made a decision. Those memories no longer had a place in her life but they were the ones that refused to go away even after all these years.

"I just... wanted to apologise. For apparating here. I didn't think... I'd forgotten how you didn't like it. I'm sorry. It's been a long time since we... well, you know. I am sorry."

"It's o-" she began automatically, only to stop halfway because it really wasn't okay. But that was what yous said in these kind of situations, wasn't it? You had to pretend that someone had done the greatest thing by apologizing so now you were obligated to forgive them, because they had gone and apologized and now if you didn't say it was okay, you were the bad guy. But it wasn't okay and just this once, Azalea refused to give in to social convention and say it was.

"It doesn't really matter,' she corrected herself quietly, shaking her head and not looking directly at him. But at least that was closer to the truth than "It's okay". Because in the end, it really didn't matter much what he'd remembered and what he'd forgotten.

When he asked her how he could get her back to Hogwarts, the witch raised her gaze to his once more, this time answering much better. "Actually, I'm probably going to head back to Dad's place, it's not to far from here." Of course she didn't have an actual idea of how far the Newbury estate was from Furze Croft but she knew both residences were in Surrey so... She could work the rest out.

"Victoria made me get Uber on my phone last time she was over," the witch added in lieu of an explanation. "So if you can point me to a place to call a driver outside all the protection wards... I'm sure I'll get to Dad's just fine." the witch doubted his home would show up on any map so she would need to call a car nearby but not exactly at their location.

"Victoria swears they're very safe," she added just in case Jake would object to her siting with a stranger in the car so late at night.

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Come Plot With Me <3

The reply that it didn't matter was enough to make Jake leave that. He'd caught that she'd corrected herself, and though he wanted to tell her that it did matter, he thought better of arguing about it. He would just remember for the next time, and show that it did matter.

Azalea was quick to point out she would get an Uber, and Jake simply nodded. Knowing of the app from Victoria who swore by the app for the safety of it, Jake had simply nodded. "If you put in my postcode," the man explained, reeling off the post code for his home before continuing on. "I'll walk you out and wait with you until the car arrives. The children will be fine for five minutes." He insisted, waiting for Azalea to pull up the information and select an Uber to take across town.

It didn't take long, the perk of the app, and after checking Azalea had picked up all her stuff, Jake had grabbed his jacket, donned his shoes and shown the witch out of the house before locking the door carefully behind him.

The two of them walked in relative silence, only talking to ensure that Azalea had collected all of her belongings, then to check that they'd covered everything as they stepped out of the wards. From there, neither one of them spoke until the lights of the car coming to pick Azalea up came in to view at the end of the road.

"Well, that's your ride. Thank you, for being accommodating this evening, I do appreciate that." Jake said, not wanting to prolong all of this too long. "And, thank you for helping with the kids. All of this hasn't been easy on them, so seeing them so happy... It was nice. And, if you do want to see them again, we... can arrange that."

As he finished that, the car pulled up, and after checking that it was the car they were expecting, Jake opened the door for Azalea, waiting for her to climb in before gently closing the door. The car moved off, and Jake gave the witch a small wave, waiting until the car had rounded the corner before he turned back towards the house and the children.

Every time he spent time with Azalea, he only grew more and more confused on how he was supposed to feel around her.

Time didn't make it any easier, that much he was sure of.

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

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» When you try your best but you don't succeed (Jazalea)
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» And the day bleeds, into nightfall (Jazalea)