Bad Ideas Come In Twos || Julia

"You'll look away like the gentleman we both know you aren't."

Another laugh. Another stab of pain and deep regret at remaining in the company of someone as hilarious as Julia Laurence often chose to be.

"Come now, love," he muttered, still fussing at the edge of the sheet. "Wounded as I am, I'm glad we can agree. Had I left you thinking I was a gentleman, then I wouldn't have done right by you." There would be nothing else for it; they'd have to fix it immediately. His fingers walked their way across her stubborn arm, onto her chest, and up to her collarbone. They brushed lightly against the dark bruise there, the shallow ridges reminding him of where his teeth had sunken in.

How soon could he have her again?

Before they'd left the castle, Julia had informed him of the cancellation of lessons for the remainder of the week. He didn't have anywhere to be, necessarily, and there were enough volunteers to ensure the creatures would be fed in the paddocks. Did she have somewhere to be? Her baubles were thrice the workers her own volunteers were, and the delicate skin at her was again calling to him.

"We should go."

He groaned into her mouth, reluctant to be reminded that despite his best attempts at rationalising, they really...and truly...did have somewhere else to be. Maddox stubbornly kept her lips captive, pretending not to hear the reminder that Rosie had already awoken to find herself still on babysitting duty. They should. They really should go, yet those soft lips kept drawing him in every time he thought to pull away. With each second that they remained locked in that stolen moment, he felt his willpower waning.

Low embers flickered to life, sparking new thoughts that had only one place to go.

He tugged.

She nudged.

They would return to the castle, he told himself again, even as his other hand slipped beneath the covers where they bunched on his lap, trailing up delicate skin that she insisted on keeping from him. Soon. The responsibilities of the day beckoned, but Maddox was deaf to all but the faint way her body hummed to life against his touch. It was remarkable how in tune with her he'd become after one night, but the truth was far less praiseworthy. They'd been in tune with each other far longer than the night before. Now, he was locked into a new frequency, one that betrayed her mild protests, letting him into the real beats of her slight frame.

Maddox eased himself off her lap then pulled the covers tight, removing the excess that had fallen between them to create that thin barrier.

"We'll go," he said, drawing her to him.

"After."

She’d always loved his laugh. Maddox had one of those infectious laughs that started from his eyes, brightening his whole face before the sound broke free. In the clarity of the morning and in the aftermath of all that had transpired, she couldn't help but notice how warm it was, and how reassuring it was to hear it. Things could have gone a dozen different ways when they'd woken, and yet here they were.

"Wounded as I am, I'm glad we can agree. Had I left you thinking I was a gentleman, then I wouldn't have done right by you."

The man wasn't wounded in the slightest. Maddox was a Gryffindor through and through, embodying the traits that made his house famous in an almost comedic way. She hummed lightly, nudging his fingers away again, enjoying the light-hearted cat and mouse game they were now playing with the sheet. "Is that so?" she smiled, her eyebrows raising slightly as she mused on the idea. "All the better for the both of us then."

Truly. How disappointing it would have been to leave here unsatisfied after all the mess they'd made.

He knew as well as she did that the kids would be wondering where they were. Kathryn was surely beside herself by now, her schedule and routine completely thrown off without Julia there to be a part of it. Evander was always happy as a clam and enthusiastically soaked up all the love and attention Rosalie was surely showering on him. As for the girl herself - well, she needed to be kept out of trouble.

Merlin knew she and the Ravenclaw boy found enough of it.

He groaned against her lips, and she smiled against his in return. It was strange how comfortable and easy all of this felt, as though this was how it had always been. And as his fingers crept beneath the sheets and across her delicate skin, there was a new need gnawing in the space left between them. Her breath hitched at the back of her throat, soft and unguarded, betraying just how easily he could undo her with a single touch.

For a fleeting moment, she wondered when exactly he’d become the man who could draw her back to him with nothing more than a brush of his hand. Whatever the answer, it hardly mattered now. The morning was already shifting around them. Heat was blooming, restraint was dissolving, and a newly-familiar gravity was pulling her closer to him than she had intended. Her eyes followed him as he sat up, pulling the sheets taut around them.

"We'll go. After."

"After," she agreed softly as their skin became reacquainted in the warm late-morning sun. The scent of evergreen washed around her while his strong arms pulled her close. Her eyes found his again, and she leaned in to bite gently at his lower lip. "Send you back to the paddock with something to remember me by."

Another sweet smile, and she pulled him beneath the covers with her.

Tuesday, March 15, 1921
Privte quarters of Julia Laurence
1:13 PM

"Daaaaaadddyyyy!"

They'd made the right choice, stopping by an apothecary on the way back to the castle. Watching Evander tear across the room, screeching with the volume and delight only a toddler could muster, Maddox knew he wouldn't have survived the day without a potion for the headache. Had they not gotten themselves something to drink before leaving Irene's, the man shuddered to think of the sensory assault he would've faced at the hands of the little boy who hadn't seen him since bedtime on Saturday night.

The potion took the edge off, giving him just enough peace despite the dull ache that remained, taunting him for trying to get rid of it in the first place.

He scooped the 2-year-old up into his arms when he got to him, strong arms doing what they could to hold him still. Maddox couldn't think of anything he wanted more than a nap, but they were back to the real world now, and his son was very awake. Evander aside, the creatures would need checking, and there were a few small tasks scattered here and there along the grounds that the man had had every intention of completing on the Sunday following the carnival before everything went to shit as abysmally as they had.

Back to work then.

Sigh.

"Did you have a good time with Rosie?"

"Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!" Evander threw himself back, trusting his father to hang onto him while he hung upside down, grinning at the young blonde who'd kept a watch on him. Maddox held him, of course, wondering where the girl had found the energy to keep up with his son the entire time. Already, he could feel the headache trying to return, doing everything it could to defy the potion he'd swallowed. It would be a long day, that much was clear. Longer still, with new thoughts flooding his mind that he could no longer do anything about.

It had been just as good sober. Better.

Now, it was back to a million children bleeding out of the stone walls, nosy portraits, creatures that couldn't help but need his care...the list seemed never-ending.

Maddox thanked the 6th year for her prolonged care of his rambunctious child, belatedly catching the look the girl sported. He didn't know what the smiles she tried to conceal were about, but he had learned--at least when it came to his students--that he probably didn't want to know.

He turned to Julia, expecting her to dismiss the look as Rosie being Rosie, but the woman was already fussing over Satan's spawn. Things really were back to normal. The man flipped his wiggling toddler right side up. "I'll be by the paddocks for the next few hours, in case anything comes up." He would find something to tire Evander while he was at it. "Will you be alright? Need anything before I go?"

It wasn't too late. She could blink twice if she needed help. Maddox was nearly certain it was the day Kathryn murdered someone in their sleep.

Where Evander crowed his happiness, large silent blue eyes conveyed Kate's displeasure.

Her daughter wasn't the type to take changes in her routine on the chin, even less the type to appreciate when her mother didn't come home at night. It wasn't something Julia had ever done before - spontaneously leaving Kathryn behind, and it seemed she'd get all the sorrowful looks for her troubles.

"You're alright, Little?" she asked as soon as she'd deposited her purse on its hook near the door. She stooped down as Maddox busied himself with his toddler, smoothing Kate's hair back from her face and letting her hand linger on the side of her face for a moment. "I'm so sorry. The hospital took much longer than I thought it would."

A soft sound came from Rosie's throat, and Julia glanced up to meet her cousin's amused gaze. Julia's face immediately dropped in exasperation as she tilted her head at the girl. "Thank you, Rosalie. Hope they weren't too much trouble for you?" Rosie shook her head, trying to hide her smile as she glanced back and forth between Maddox and Julia.

"Nope. Easy as always. We had a great time. Kate hasn't slept of course but this one..." She smiled widely, tickling Evander's chin as he hung upside down, before planting a tiny kiss on his nose. "Slept like a rock and ate everything in sight. He's ready and raring to go."

Unlike the two adults in the room appeared to be.

Julia looked over her shoulder at Rosie. "In my purse, Dove. I'll take it from here." The teenager nodded, taking her galleons from Julia's purse before practically running out the door. Julia mused she must have hit her babysitting limit and was eager to be free.

"I'll be by the paddocks for the next few hours, in case anything comes up."

The woman nodded, placing a kiss on Kate's head before standing upright again. "Alright. I'll probably take this one for ice cream. Smooth things over a bit before making her sleep." She ran her hand over Evander's head, smoothing his fine baby hair. "Don't give your daddy too much trouble," she said, smiling at the toddler before returning her gaze to Maddox.

Fat chance. That little boy could run a wampus cat ragged. "We'll be fine." She patted his arm lightly. "Get some rest. Bring Evander back later if you can't get him to sleep."

Ready and raring were two words he never liked to hear in regard to his son--at least not while he was navigating his way through the discomfort of a hangover he thought he'd braced well enough for when the two had embarked on their night of drinking. A glass, maybe two, less, and he might have fared better. Instead, he had a toddler who thought hanging upside down was as good as flying and whose voice was hitting octaves that made him cringe.

This too would pass, or so he would keep telling himself until it no longer hurt to think. He'd be fine by sundown; it was the hours before then that he had to worry about.

The man wasn't the only one with much to contend with before it became a respectable hour to crawl into bed. For all her soothing, Kathryn only kept staring in that stubborn little way as if refusing to be consoled. Or maybe she was consoled. Julia had often assured him that sometimes "she just looked like that", making it a little hard to tell with that one. Merlin knew how Jules was able to keep up.

Rosie wasn't so hard to read. The girl looked between the two of them as if she were in on her own little secret before being dismissed by her cousin.

Later, when he was in a better mood to be bothered, he might ask Julia what had amused the girl so much.

Later.

"Alright. I'll probably take this one for ice cream. Smooth things over a bit before making her sleep."

He gave a mocking gasp. "Ice cream? But it's not even--" His words were cut off by the look Julia shot him, the one that silently insisted henot encourage the inflexible little girl she was currently trying to console. "A fine idea, ice cream. You'll enjoy that, Kathryn." Maddox reached his hand out as if he meant to pat her head, but he'd caught the way she fussed at the few loose strands after her mother had tried to brush them away.

Nevermind.

"No rest," he corrected. "At least not right away."

He encouraged Evander to give her a departing hug, and ended up being captured by the warm scent of vanilla when he leaned in enough for the boy to do so. When his son let her go, Maddox placed a hand over those giant blue orbs that stared up at him, then leaned in for a parting kiss that ended when Kate tugged against his hand to remove it from her eyes. He tipped the little girl's chin up, teasing for a brief moment, stepping by them both and heading for the door.

"See you at dinner," he called over his shoulder.

He had a day to get started.

If there was one thing she didn't need Maddox's help with it was riling up Kathryn more than she already was. The look she shot him, nearly pleading with him not to make this worse. Her daughter was a stickler for routines and rules that she created within her own head, giving her a sense of control over a world she'd always felt helpless in. Julia understood, and did her best to indulge the girl, while gently encouraging her out of her comfort zones from time to time.

"A fine idea, ice cream. You'll enjoy that, Kathryn."

Doubtful, but they would try.

"No rest. At least not right away."

"You know where I am," she said easily. Or at least where she would be once she'd gotten her daughter to settle and not look like she was about to explode into a ball of anxiety. Julia held her hands out, accepting Evander's sweet little hug. Tiny fingers clasped around her neck as he nuzzled in, and she wondered if there was ever a little boy as darling as him. She wished she could have seen Benji this young, with his big hazel eyes and a smile that could melt glaciers.

The kiss surprised her. Despite where they had just been less than an hour ago, Julia was of the mind that they would keep things as normal as possible back at the castle, especially when the kids were around. But Maddox had solved that concern with a simple hand over Kate's eyes. It was a soft reminder of all that had transpired, and all that Maddox didn't seem ready to let fall by the wayside just yet. She smiled against his lips, returning the quick kiss before he headed for the door.

"Dinner then," she agreed as the door closed behind him. She smiled slightly to herself before turning her attention back to Kate. She tilted her head, a soft smile appearing on her lips. "Don't look at me like that. Go get your shoes, darling. We'll head out in a minute."