You're So Golden | Malia Snaps

Saturday, March 26, 1921
5:30 PM
Hogwarts Paddock
<3

Her walk was casual as she wandered down the familiar path from the castle to the barn, her sweater pulled tightly around her to fight off the light chill of early spring. She'd just come from Hogsmeade, having met Edith there to drop off Kate with her for the week. Her daughter seemed a little more hesitant than usual to go with her aunt, still a little clingier after the night Julia had spent away a couple weeks ago.

Classes had resumed, students had settled, and it seemed everyone was trying to find their new normal.

Nothing had changed in regards to her friendship with Maddox. They kept the same easy dynamic, their same sarcastic banter, the same willingness to help one another in almost any way. Maddox avoided library work as much as was humanly possible, but she still managed to wrangle him for the jobs that required heavier lifting.

It was a relief, if she were being honest with herself. Despite how easy and relaxed they had been the morning after they'd lost control, Julia had harbored worries that somehow it would change things between them.

If anything, it had only added a little layer of fun to their normal day-to-day interactions. Cheeky smiles before now felt a little more flirtatious, teasing words felt a little more knowing.

She heard Evander's bubbly laugh as she came upon the barn doors, smiling as she watched the toddler fling himself into a pile of hay, face-first. Maddox was knelt down nearby, working on some barn-contraption Julia had no name for. He was muttering under his breath like the machine had personally offended him, while he reached into his toolbox for a different-sized wrench.

Evander sat up, pieces of straw sticking out from his hair and clothes, dirt smudged on his cheeks. Big eyes brightened as he caught sight of Julia, and jumped from the hay with a squeal to run to her. "Hello poppet," she said softly, scooping the boy into her arms and planting a small kiss on the side of his head. "Wearing your daddy out today, are you?"

She glanced back at Maddox, a smile curling at the corner of her lips. "I just dropped off Kate if you and Evander want to go grab dinner in Hogsmeade with me." She wrinkled her nose slightly. "Not really interested in the castle offerings. It's sandwich night again."

What the hell was in that hay?

Maddox worked with it for a good portion of the day, and he fed it to his animals. Sometimes, his students sat on it while he delivered brief lectures. It was unremarkable in every way he could imagine, yet the students--including his son--seemed to have the time of their lives romping in it. One of the many great mysteries at Hogwarts, he supposed. In this case, it kept Evander busy enough for him to continue his repairs.

While the toddler threw himself into the hay over and over, coming out more covered in straws, Maddox worked on the busted self-feeding mechanism. Useful for nocturnal and dangerous creatures, useless when it suddenly gave out. A valve had become misaligned. He couldn't be sure whether it was a result of some agitation brewing with that particular creature and any subsequent ramming or something else. All he knew was that the valves of the clockwork system had woken up choosing violence, and he was growing close to delivering.

The soft sound of footsteps crunching in the dirt caught his attention, but only for a second. The man was used to the magnified sounds of the world, the murmurs, the chatter. His senses filtered them all. A passing student. Less convenient, one who came to see him. Either way, he continued to work the wrench against the valve of the finicky machine that didn't tolerate magic well. If he looked busy enough, they might decide they didn't need him that badly after all. At the very least, they'd think twice about lingering.

The scent of vanilla and orange preceded her, floating along with the gentle spring breeze. Maddox gave a few more yanks of the wrench before lifting his gaze to find Evander already wiggling excitedly in her arms.

He fell back into the dirt, sitting as he looked up at her.

"I'm afraid you've caught me at a bad time, love." Cutting her off at the pass. Just the day before, his best friend had dragged him back to the library, insisting she needed help with some delivered donations as well as those in need of sending off for their own donation. 'No more than 10 minutes' she'd said, no sooner than two hours later did he leave.

"I've got--"

"I just dropped off Kate if you and Evander want to go grab dinner in Hogsmeade with me."

Nevermind.

"I suppose a break wouldn't hurt." The creature in question had already been fed for the afternoon, and some time away from the aggravating machinery might do him some good. "Sandwiches," he repeated with a grimace. The man was certain he'd had his fill of those.

"I've got a place in mind unless you've already decided."

"I'm afraid you've caught me at a bad time, love."

Didn't she always? There was hardly a time Julia went in search of the man and he didn't tout that it was a bad time, even if he were just lounging about. He was thoroughly allergic to library work, and avoided it if at all possible. Usually she had to corner him when he was already there. Searching him out in his barn rarely yielded the results she wanted.

She smiled at him when he suddenly agreed when he realized she only meant dinner and not a section rearrangement. "See?" she said to Evander, sharing the little joke with him, "He always thinks I'm trying to put him to work. But lure him out with food and suddenly he's available." Evander nodded, as though he completely understood, and she couldn't help the small laugh that escaped her.

"I've got a place in mind unless you've already decided."

She raised her eyebrows at the toddler, as he wiggled in her arms, eager to get down. She released the little gremlin, watching as he ran and launched himself right back into the hay, disappearing beneath its straw. "Haven't you always?" she teased, glancing down at the machine it seemed he was happy to give up on for the time being. Maddox seemed to have a place for everything.

Not that she was complaining.

"Let's go then." Evander popped back up again, squealing as he threw two fistfuls of straw in various directions. "You'll need to scourgify that one, less you want the village folk thinking we've procured ourselves a boy of the wilds." She grinned and nodded him out the barn door. "Come on then, sunshine. Bellies are growling."

"He always thinks I'm trying to put him to work."

"Aren't you?" Maddox challenged, his words light and languid as they fell from his mouth. Julia could gossip about him to his son all she wanted. They'd been friends--the best of friends--long enough for him to know better. Sometimes, he got the feeling that the woman wasn't as interested in having the work done as she was in having him get the work done. Something about seeing him at rest triggered a deep desire inside her to see him back in action. The appeal was lost on him, as was much of his desire to humour her.

Julia was like a dog with a bone. The moment she got him into working, she always managed to convince herself that he should stay in action.

Couldn't very well have that.

"Haven't you always?"

His lips quirked upward in a lazy grin. "Don't think I've gotten complaints before." From where he was standing, knowing places had worked out brilliantly for them. It was true that the man got around. Whether for work or favours, Maddox had run into all sorts of people and had been introduced to many useful places. Connections made a world of difference, and he'd always been careful not to neglect them.

His gaze fell to his son, who found himself once again buried in hay.

"A warm bath will serve him better, if you don't mind waiting a little," he said, scooping the toddler up and making for the exit. "With any luck, he'll be asleep halfway through dinner."

---

Thursday, April 14, 1921
Julia's Office
An hour before dinner

THWACK!

One minute, he was adrift at sea, floating beneath a fuchsia sky with fish flying and birds swimming; the next, he was being accosted by a broom of his approximate size. Maddox startled awake, black fur bristling as he scrambled from his spot on the sinfully comfortable couch.

Thwack thwack.

He barely managed to scramble to his feet before the broom came down another pair of times before he escaped the unrelenting pursuit that Satan's spawn had launched on him.

Kathryn.

She'd been gone in the week before they all went off for Easter break, and the man had allowed himself to get complacent. As had become the case whenever she was absent, he'd lost his caution. Maddox had been able, for seven glorious days, to sprawl as he liked, wherever he liked, without needing to constantly keep one blue eye open for the little menace who remained incorrigible. How brilliant his sleep had become without the constant threat requiring him to look over his shoulder. How brilliant the things he'd gotten to do to her mother.

Now she was back and no happier to see him at peace.

THWACK!

The little girl followed him back to the desk, turning when he sprinted in the opposite direction. Her pace was slow, deliberate and filled with a level of determination all her own. Her mother was no help in the matter. A part of him was certain she was always amused when her daughter took matters into her own hands.

Back on the couch, he was doing himself no favours. It only made her more upset and more determined to bring down her brand of retribution.

Kathryn lifted the broom above her head, set to strike again. Finally, his body caught up to his demands. Magic flooded through him, warmth prickling across every inch of his skin. The black cat stretched, disappearing to leave behind the exasperated man who'd, for far too many seconds, found himself having difficulty changing back.

One strong hand caught the broom as it came down, keeping it firmly in place. His lips parted, his rebuke hot on his tongue, when a piercing shriek broke through the relative silence of the room.

He blinked as the little girl dropped the broom and scurried over to her mother, climbing right over the woman's desk to settle herself in Julia's lap.

"...Huh." He rubbed at the sore spot by his forehead. "So she does make sounds"

Go figure.

He was on the couch. Again.

Kathryn approached the sleeping creature, her jaw tight and her nerves entirely exasperated. It was always the same song and dance with this one. Always the same spot, leaving behind the occasional long, black hair against her mother's otherwise pristine, white couch. It was for people, people who didn't shed, and only if they came in not already tracking dirt. Where Julia had insisted she didn't mind and that the cat be allowed to sleep, it was a directive that Kate couldn't reconcile.

The fur would get all over her mother's dresses. It would get all over her dresses. Scourgify was all good and well, but it shouldn't have been needed in the first place, and the little girl wasn't convinced that it would remove it all.

When she'd first gotten back to the castle, she'd been sure to get down on her knees before the couch and give it a thorough check to ensure it remained as she'd left it. She'd run a velvet-gloved hand along the surface, checking to see if anything came off on the fabric. Now the cat was back to its antics, and she had just the remedy. Wordlessly, while her mother graded essays at her desk, Kathryn grabbed the broom from the far corner of the room. Her grip was tight, her swings sure. The little girl didn't hold back, wanting to get the point across for the millionth time.

The cat screeched as it jostled away, hissing and mewling its protest as she hit it another pair of times.

Her brows crinkled. She wasn't afraid and wouldn't be intimidated by the creature a fraction of her size and stubborn besides.

As the cat bolted, she turned to follow, wanting to ensure--even in silence--that it understood once and for all, the couch was not for him.

Back and forth they went, the girl oblivious to her mother's mutters that she leave the cat be. The pursuit led back to the couch where the feline cowered, seeming to want to disappear into the cushion with the way it pressed him. Back. On. The. Couch. It was mocking her, surely. Kathryn lifted the broom again, but it snagged on the way down. It took a moment for her mind to catch up to the transformation, the 9-year-old stunned to find Mr. Maddox where the cat had been. There was no time to process this unnatural reality.

A scream bubbled up her throat before she could stop it, adrenaline flooding her small frame and forcing her into motion.

Kate spun on her heels without a second's thought, scrambling right over her mother's desk and parchments in her attempt to get to her.

The cat was a man.

The man was a cat.

Neither of those made sense.

THWACK!

"Kate, for Merlin's sake," Julia sighed, dropping her quill onto her parchment with exasperation. How many times now had she told that girl to leave the cat alone? Kate was the type who was stuck in her ways - like an eighty-something year old - and wouldn't listen to reason when she had her mind set. Maddox hardly shed in cat form, and what he did shed was easily scourgified away.

Julia had explained to Kate several times that the cat was welcome to lie about wherever he liked and getting smacked with a broom was not an appropriate way to communicate her displeasure.

THWACK!

Maddox hissed and yowled, bolting back and forth across the room as Kate swung purposefully, again and again. "Kathryn," she tried warning her, but it was too late. As the black feline sprung back up onto the couch, her daughter went for him a final time. She watched with tepid amusement as Maddox took on his human form, catching the broom mid-swing.

The scream startled her, before she covered her mouth to keep from laughing, watching as Kate scrambled over the desk, sending her parchment flying in every direction. "I told you to leave him alone," she laughed, as the girl climbed into her lap, clinging to her as she stared with wide eyes at the man who rubbed gingerly at his forehead.

"So she does make sounds."

Julia smirked, narrowing her eyes at Maddox for a moment, before forcing a more serious expression, and hoisting the girl off her lap. She stood, taking her daughter by the shoulders and steering her towards the door. "We don't hit creatures - including Mr. Maddox - with brooms or any other object. He is welcome to sleep wherever he wants in this office and you, Little," she stooped down to make sure she was eye-level with Kate, "will leave him be from now on." She stood, opening the door, and beckoning Kate out.

"Go find Benji. He should be heading down for dinner. You can eat with him, since you insist on not listening." She ignored the way her heart tugged when her daughter looked up at her with sorrowful blue eyes, giving her a gentle nudge out the door and closing it firmly behind her.

She sighed, turning back to Maddox, her smirk returning to the corners of her lips. "She got you good," she said lightly, taking the broom from him and nestling it back in its corner. Julia brushed her fingers over the bump on his forehead, her smirk turning into a grin that revealed her dimples. "Should I take you to the nurse? Have Rose give you a good once-over?"

It had worked out so well for him last time.

The jaws of life wouldn't be able to pry Kathryn Elise Laurence off her mother--in theory, anyway. Reality was much more grim. Kate did cling to her mother, her heart racing and its thundering beats drowning out the majority of sounds within the room. The little girl shook, and her chest rattled, desperately, heaving in each breath until it made her dizzy. Her entire world spun, logic crumbling beneath her feet to make way for this new impossibility.

Kathryn had never heard of an animal that was really a person or vice versa, and if she had, it wouldn't have taken much for the little girl to file it away as nonsensical fairytales told to children to frighten them.

She was frightened. At least, she felt certain she was. Nothing else could explain the way she'd grown so stonily rigid in her mother's lap or her inability to remove her gaze from Mr. Maddox. He spoke. It cemented in her mind the reality of the situation. Not a trick, not some fancy sleight of hand. It wasn't an illusion--maybe.

Try as she did to train her mind back from the frenzy that disrupted the balance she typically maintained, her fracturing thoughts kept flooding her with more questions.

Had he always been a cat? If so, why did Mr. Maddox spend so much time with them in her mother's office? Did he have nowhere else to be? Why did her mother watch Evander so often when he was evidently not far away? Her mother knew. She must've. Why else would she have insisted she leave the cat alone? Was he also the moth that returned every night? The bird that sometimes sang outside her window? Was he one of the horses in their stables?

Before she could ponder any of these, the 9-year-old found herself being ousted from her mother's lap. Even then, she clung, suddenly afraid to go by the man in case he should turn into something more terrifying next. What if he became a dragon and ate her for whacking him? Her stomach dropped at the thought, the blood in her veins turning to ice. Her little face drained of colour as Julia took her by the shoulders and led her past him.

"We don't hit creatures - including Mr. Maddox - with brooms or any other object. He is welcome to sleep wherever he wants in this office and you, Little, will leave him be from now on."

That certainly seemed rational if he was one transformation away from making them into dinner.

"Go find Benji. He should be heading down for dinner. You can eat with him, since you insist on not listening."

Benny?

Kathryn blinked, realising for the first time that they were now at the door. The nudging, the prompting, the scolding, they all came together to paint a harrowing picture for the little girl whose very existence hinged on her ability to be good. Kate understood all at once that she was being sent away, cast from her mother's side, and it brought a panic to sorrowful blue eyes. She didn't want to eat dinner with her brother. His friends were loud, disruptive, and sometimes they threw the food. They didn't display etiquette when they ate, choosing to consume the meal like barbarians. Sometimes, they got scraps onto her dresses, and her brother only ever grinned, assuring her he knew a spell to get it right out.

That wasn't the point.

Why did no one understand?

There shouldn't be need for a spell. There shouldn't be a stain to begin with.

Kathryn fretted over the state of her dinner prospects, already reeling from the rejection she internalised at being made to leave. It left her petrified at the door, her feet moving at her mother's nudge, but her mind still back on the other side, clinging to her.

Click.

The door closed.

One of these days, he was going to wake up dead. Maddox was certain of it as he watched the petrified little girl be led from her mother's office. Shocked as she was now, the man had every confidence that she would recover; then the seed spawned in Hades under the coldest flames would find a way to silently stalk him and put an end to his comfortable lounging once and for all.

"We don't hit creatures - including Mr. Maddox - with brooms or any other object."

May as well start counting his days now that Julia had made him a target.

A matter for him to worry about another day. Maddox tugged her down into his lap when she was close enough, watching the broom return itself to the corner. "Laugh all you'd like," he teased, dropping a light kiss at the base of her neck. "You'll be singing a different tune when I turn up missing, and her bedroom has a new rug." He'd like to think his friend would notice long before her child could skin him, but he'd watched that girl sneak dead birds in--sneak...being used loosely as the little girl lacked the shame to realise it wasn't the sort of thing...done.

"Should I take you to the nurse? Have Rose give you a good once-over?"

He laughed, finally nudging her hand away.

"Why you insist on sneaking me medical care, I'll never understand. I'll pass, even on beautiful redheads with bad decision-making." He kissed her neck again, nibbling lightly at the delicate skin this time. "What you should be worried about is a quidditch programme good enough for a little girl with a swing like that. She's going places; Azkaban might be one of them." But that was neither here nor there.

Little Katie would make an excellent beater.

"And what about me? Will I be eating dinner with the students tonight? Sounds like you just got yourself a babysitter, even if he'll have to come get her."

He could hear her waiting on the other side of the door.

Evander was still back with his grandparents until the end of the week, his mother having complained she didn't see nearly enough of him. Not yet off at Hogwarts and the little boy was already as rare a sight as his sister. It was just as well. While the school found its new normal, he preferred to have one less child to worry about. The boy had done enough screaming during the last crisis.

"No place this time, just my hut and whatever we convince the elves to have brought over."

He'd say it was his treat, but he wouldn't be the one doing any of the work. Not until after dinner anyway.

"You'll be singing a different tune when I turn up missing, and her bedroom has a new rug."

For a man so unenthused about the day-to-day monotony of life, he was certainly no stranger to the dramatics. She let him pull her into his lap, humming slightly as he placed a kiss at the base of her neck. "Don't be silly," she said, running a hand casually through his hair to put it back into place, "You'll only be big enough for a stuffie. Pride of place on her pillows."

Julia knew Kathryn was...different when it came to dead things. Not in the way that the woman found creepy or disturbing. Rather she was just curious about them, and sometimes brought in little creature corpses from outside. Typically, Julia made her throw them right back out - dead things carried diseases and rot, and they weren't barbarians, thank you - but maybe some private lessons in Necromancy would do her girl some good.

If nothing else panned out, the girl had a future in taxidermy, she supposed.

"Why you insist on sneaking me medical care, I'll never understand. I'll pass, even on beautiful redheads with bad decision-making."

"Your loss," the woman said with faux resignation and a light shrug of her shoulders. "Die of a concussion then." She leaned in to kiss the spot on his forehead. She hadn't thought of Quidditch for her daughter - especially since Hogwarts had done away with the sport temporarily, but she supposed she could get her involved in the same private club Rosalie used to play for. She doubted Kate would enjoy it much. She seemed to like the quieter, more delicate activities.

Ballet, cutting open dead things, combing her hair.

"And what about me? Will I be eating dinner with the students tonight? Sounds like you just got yourself a babysitter, even if he'll have to come get her. No place this time, just my hut and whatever we convince the elves to have brought over."

She studied him a moment before brushing her thumb over his bottom lip. This little dance between them had been going on for the better part of a month now, and while neither of them seemed eager to put a label on it or even really question what it was they were doing, there were brief instances where she hesitated, worrying that the longer they carried on, the more likely it was someone was bound to get hurt.

"Alright," she agreed, peeling herself from his lap and wandering back over to her desk to straighten up the parchment Kathryn had sent in every direction. "I don't have any other plans," she glanced up, her honey-brown eyes having a new sort of shine in them, "I suppose the hut will do."

---

Saturday, May 7, 1921
7:45 PM
Maddox's Hut

A frantic knock sounded on the wooden door to the groundskeeper's hut as Julia waited impatiently outside of it.

Her brother had sent a message earlier in the day, stressing the importance of a Ministry connection he needed to secure. In the past year and a half, Julia hadn't been the sultrier face of her brother's politicking, being left to her own devices while she navigated things with Todd. After her divorce, he'd never asked her to "date" for him again, but it seemed things were moving back in that direction.

The man was a member of Merrow's direct cabinet and for reasons Julia didn't want to know, her brother needed her to wine and dine him, sweet talk him a bit, and get him to agree to have dinner with her family in the coming weeks. Usually this meant James either wanted the man in his pocket, or he wanted information from the man that would be useful in tucking others into his pocket. Either way, Julia didn't care to ask.

"You've been divorced over a year and a half. Time to start helping out the family again."

Julia knew better than to argue, and besides he was right. Everyone had to pull their weight, and this was one of the ways she'd always pulled hers.

The problem came in that she had children now, one that needed consistent supervision. Rosalie was busying studying for her final exams, and Benji was nowhere to be found. That left her with Maddox, and while the two were still warming up to one another, she didn't trust anyone else to watch Kate on such short notice.

She straightened her figure-hugging cocktail dress - red with black fringe and beading, and knocked quickly on the door a second time. "Maddox?" she called through the door, her voice a little more urgent than usual. Her dinner was at 8:30 in Manchester, and if she were to make it on time, she'd need to know he could help her out now.

When the door finally opened, she barely gave him a second before she began explaining at neck-break speeds. "I have a sort of date, and I'm late already, it's a last minute thing. And I need someone to watch Kate for me. I promise it won't be long, maybe a couple hours at most, but I have to leave now. She's just over here...I'm not sure what she's doing."

Julia craned her neck to see Kate crouching near a bush, probably having found something that caught her interest. With any luck it would still be breathing.

"You've got it? Right? I'll...I'll watch Evander for you tomorrow night as a thank you?" She waited - impatiently - for his agreeance. Tomorrow morning, she'd send James a message thanking him for not setting her up on last minute honeytraps without warning, going forward.

"Maddox?"

"Mama!" Evander enthused, pointing toward the door.

They were in the middle of a certain little chaos gremlin's bedtime and the last thing he needed was the boy growing excitable again when he'd just gotten him to settle. It was too late for that, now. Whether for a quick chat or for something more pressing--as the knocks seemed to suggest--Evander Harrison Barlowe had found his second wind. The little boy threw off the covers before his father could grab him and bounded off the bed in the direction of the knocking door.

At the door, his son hung off the handle, impatiently waiting for his father to open it. It was going to be a long night, the writing was already on the wall.

The door swung open and the sight struck him. It took an extra second for his brain to catch up to what he was looking at. Julia was dressed to the nines, her dress hugging her in all the right places, her hair done just right.

"I have a sort of date, and I'm late already, it's a last minute thing. And I need someone to watch Kate for me. I promise it won't be long, maybe a couple hours at most, but I have to leave now. She's just over here...I'm not sure what she's doing."

How long had it been since he'd seen her dressed that way? Before Todd, if his memory served. The man hadn't exactly been the sort to wine and dine her or take her to fancy places. Much too busy before a royal asshole with a superiority complex. After that, Julia still went out of course, family matters mostly, and she'd always looked gorgeous. Tonight, she was a vixen and she had...a date?

Something about Kathryn, another about Evander who had escorted himself by the woman and out of the hut to get a better look at whatever had caught Kate's attention.

He barely noticed.

She had...a date?

"You've got it? Right? I'll...I'll watch Evander for you tomorrow night as a thank you?"

Hm?

"Of course," he heard himself say, still not sure he was fully cognisant of what was being agreed to. The man blinked. A second later he nodded. "Go. I think you said you were running late." But he couldn't be sure. It was all a jumbled mess in his head that he was trying to sift through and reconcile with any sort of logical meaning. Maddox shook himself back to the present, a subtle gesture that involved no more than another hard blink before he draw for a lazy grin.

"Bring me something back and I'll consider it paid. You already know I'm a man of expensive tastes." And apparently a complicated swirl of emotions he couldn't begin to parse.

Huh.

Maddox moved by her, deciding he was suddenly more interested in whatever lay in the bush than any details Julia might have wanted to offer. Bending by the two, Maddox found them staring at a baby squirrel. Alone. Injured. In need of the creature professor's attention.

"Still here?" he called over his shoulder, deciding he would be the one to scoop it up, lest his overzealous toddler love the poor thing too hard.

"Come along, you two. It appears we have a busy night ahead."

She didn't mean to look at him with such impatience, but she wasn't typically late to these sorts of things, and she really didn't want to have to spend the first fifteen minutes of the dinner having to explain herself, her children and her babysitting situation. It was always easier to cut right to the chase. The sooner the man was infatuated, the sooner she could make the follow-up date with her family and leave.

"Of course. Go. I think you said you were running late."

"Thank you," she breathed in relief, as Evander snuck right past her and made a beeline for whatever it was Kate was studying in the bushes. "Of course I'll bring you something. Chocolate or - "

He too moved past her, but in a way that made Julia blink in surprise. Her lips moved to try and continue asking him what he'd like but her head turned instead, following him as he moved over to the bushes, busying himself as well. Whatever it was must have been riveting.

She considered for a moment, asking if she'd said something, but decided against it when he called back over his shoulder.

"Still here?"

She wasn't.

---

Later That Evening
Around 10:30 PM

Julia slumped at his round wooden table, one arm propping up her head as she took a stab with her fork at his cake - chocolate with strawberries. Kate and Evander were both asleep, their soft breaths sounding across the hut as honey-brown eyes fixed on sky blue. "It was positively mind-numbing," Julia groaned quietly, as she chewed the cake with little enthusiasm. "Politicians are the worst. I always hated going out with them. For men that are supposed to possess so much charisma, they have very little that makes them interesting."

A small smile curled at the corner of her mouth. "Sorry to have sprung this on you last minute. James sent the message and...you know how it is." She gave a small shrug as she speared off a piece of the cake for him, offering it as the fork hung lazily between her fingers.

"Not married so, back to the grind I suppose. He'll meet them for dinner next week." Luckily, she wouldn't have to be in attendance - even if the politician didn't know that yet. He would arrive, thinking it was a little rendezvous. She would be a country away in Scotland.

"Did you have a good night?" she asked, her voice lowering further, whether from exhaustion or resignation, she couldn't decipher. "Kate wasn't any trouble?"

Well, ithad been his cake.

Julia, in all her distress, had graciously offered it to him with hopes he enjoyed, before plopping herself down at the sturdy log table and deciding his enjoyment had become optional. He didn't fuss. Maddox leaned back in his chair, balancing it on the pair of back legs while he listened to her regale him with the thrilling tale of the date she'd been on.

It was one of those.

Maddox wasn't a stranger to how Julia's family had found a way to weaponise her charm. A smile here, a date there, getting them into the pockets of people who already had ample use for them. That all came with the territory, a day in the life. After her marriage, that had all--understandably--been halted, but it seemed his best friend had been put back into circulation.

If he was being honest, his mind was far from his disappearing pastry. The night had gone about as well as it could, but the man had been plagued by a strange stirring, and no matter how long the night dragged on, he still hadn't been able to name it. It blindsided him, creeping up on him so insidiously that he felt almost as if he were scrambling to keep up. It was a feeling he hadn't sat with in so long that his nervous system flagged it as 'danger'.

Logically, he knew nothing could be further from the truth, but it was worth keeping an eye on.

"Sounds like you had the night of your life," he quipped, a teasing smirk playing at the corner of his lips. It went without saying that he was amused by the retelling. There was also a dash of something he realised was...relief--relief he had no business feeling. Should he have been so smug to learn her date was an obligation rather than a choice? Probably not. Yet, he allowed himself to take comfort in that fact all the same.

She hadn't dressed up to impress someone else--not in any way that seemed to matter to him. Throughout the week, he would attempt to make sense of it. For now, he allowed his nerves to decompress with humour.

"You'll have to hurry up and land yourself another one." His eyes fell to the already half-eaten cake. "I believe you still owe me one of those."

"Did you have a good night? Kate wasn't any trouble?"

"Well," he drawled, leaning further back in his chair. "I told myself I wouldn't say anything, but since you've asked, she stared at me a little louder tonight. I've never been more disrespected. She's becoming a bad influence on Evander, too." Maddox tutted lightly. "He's starting to think this is all normal."

He rocked forward, the chair's front legs now hitting the stone floor.

"But what really got me was how she counted the time as I told her to, checking off every 15 minutes like I'd said--didn't even ask why. Never missed a 15-minute interval. I don't know how much longer I'll be able to babysit such a well-behaved child. Soon, those fancy chocolate cakes of yours won't be enough."

Apparently he didn't want the bite she offered him. More for her. She shrugged, taking the small bite for herself. Julia wasn't normally one to 'eat her feelings', but it was strange - taking on the old behaviors that she knew she had evolved far beyond in the last two years. She still did it, and she did it well, but there was something loathsome about it now.

She couldn't quite put a finger on it, but was there, coursing through her in a way it hadn't before.

"Sounds like you had the night of your life. You'll have to hurry up and land yourself another one. I believe you still owe me one of those."

She tilted her chin at him slightly, her own smirk meeting his as she narrowed her eyes. He always had a tease ready for her to lighten the mood. "Swept off my feet, can't you tell?" There she was, floating six feet above the floor. Be still her heart. She nudged the plate towards him, knowing she needed to gather her child and head back to the Ravenclaw tower. Somehow she'd wrangle a half-asleep nine-year-old up the staircases and into her bed.

She glanced over her shoulder at the two. Evander, in typical toddler form was spread out, limbs in every direction. Kathryn, true in sleep as she was conscious, was still and tidy beneath her blankets.

"I told myself I wouldn't say anything, but since you've asked, she stared at me a little louder tonight. I've never been more disrespected. She's becoming a bad influence on Evander, too. He's starting to think this is all normal."

She turned back to him as he thumped forward in his chair. Kate was often exasperated by the little boy's antics, not seeming to quite understand it was just how toddlers were - loud, messy, excitable. All the things her daughter pointedly avoided at all costs.

"But what really got me was how she counted the time as I told her to, checking off every 15 minutes like I'd said--didn't even ask why. Never missed a 15-minute interval. I don't know how much longer I'll be able to babysit such a well-behaved child. Soon, those fancy chocolate cakes of yours won't be enough."

A small puff of air escaped her lips with her quiet laugh. "She's definitely a horse of a different color," Julia said affectionately. Others may have found her daughter strange or tedious with her rituals and strict adherence to time and routines, but Maddox took it all in stride, appeasing the girl and making her life a little easier when her mother had to be away. It made Julia thankful for those in her life that took the time to understand who Kathryn was and embraced her.

"Well," she sighed sitting back in her chair, "You'll have to let me know what you'll accept in place of cakes." She quirked an eyebrow at him. "In the meantime, I should get her back to the castle. Leave you to it." She stood, wandering over to his side of the table, stopping behind him to wrap her arm lightly around his shoulders and plant a soft kiss on his cheek. "Thanks," she murmured.

She could have the cake, truly. It had only been a cheeky request when she'd suddenly sprung the babysitting job on him, and while he did appreciate she'd brought it back for him anyway, Maddox didn't think the cake would do for him what it was evidently doing for her. So, he'd rocked back, ignoring her offer entirely. Whoever she'd met for dinner had done enough of a number on her that she deserved a treat in better company.

"Swept off my feet, can't you tell?"

"You're practically glowing," he answered with an easy grin. "It looks like I'm back to having stiff competition. Suppose I'll have to brush up on my politics, see if I can't learn a thing or two about business. Get you groaning, then I'll know I'm back on the right track."

She'd eaten her fill, or had finally remembered who the pastry belonged to. Either way, Julia nudged the saucer back toward him, setting down her fork with new resolve.

"She's definitely a horse of a different color."

He laughed, being careful to contain it so as not to rouse either child. While Evander had dropped like a fly an hour after Julia left, Kathryn had been difficult to convince. "That's a lovely way to describe my someday executioner." The little girl seemed utterly certain that if she closed her eyes, it would be morning and her mother wouldn't return. Julia had mentioned that, following their night out, Kate had become harder to settle unless she was there with her when she was falling asleep. It had taken some clever work around, an illusion charm, and a cup of tea that might or might not have had a mild sleeping draught--but she was asleep!

That was all that mattered.

She sighed, and just like that, their short night was coming to an end. The man remained slumped in his chair, blue eyes watching her as she made her way around the table to him.

"Thanks."

The kiss warmed him, igniting little flames he immediately sought to temper. She'd already had a long night.

He caught hold of her as she pulled away. "Now that you mention it, there is something I think could compare to the night's chocolatey offering." Evander could have the rest of the cake when he awoke.

A rogish glint lit his eyes. "But you'll need to find yourself another babysitter, first."

Competition? Her eyes brightened and softened at the same time, her foot giving his leg a light nudge beneath the table. "Don't you dare," she answered, amusement rising in her voice at the idea of it. She liked Maddox for how grounded and down-to-Earth he was. His sarcasm and quick wit had ingratiated her to him immediately, the two finding a comfort in the similar humors and ways of approaching things. And while they were different in numerous ways, she'd always appreciated the ease with which they navigated it.

"You don't have to talk politics to get me groaning. You already receive plenty of my eyerolls and exasperated sighs." In fact she was fairly certain he got the lion's share of what she dolled out. Something in her stirred at his words, though. Whether he was just teasing or not - was there grounds for competition? Julia had tried not to think too deeply into what they were doing, less it somehow become more complicated than either of them were trying to make it.

"Don't worry, after I teach her necromancy, she'll bring you right back to life." His cheek was warm against her lips, his scent of evergreen and vetiver crept up on her, reminding her of the less quiet moments when they managed to find privacy they were so rarely afforded.

Maddox caught her as she began to pull away, but she didn't resist, letting herself get lost in that glint in his eyes.

"Now that you mention it, there is something I think could compare to the night's chocolatey offering. But you'll need to find yourself another babysitter, first."

Oh really? Her eyes dipped to his lips, heat filling her chest at the insinuation. She glanced quickly to the bed where their children slept soundly. They wouldn't be waking any time soon.

With only a devilish smile spreading across her lips, Julia tugged him from his chair, and led him towards the front door. "Guess I better make good on that then."

A chore, truly.

---

Wednesday, June 15, 1921
12:30 PM
11 Eldercrest Downs, Norfolk Broads

She felt like she was moments from falling apart.

She'd held it together since Saturday, navigating the chaos her family had spiraled into since then with quiet temperance. It wasn't like her. Normally Julia was a key player whenever something serious was taking place, but the woman felt as though any motivation she had to be a part of any of it had been beaten out of her.

Benji was gone, having left with the Burkes for America for the month. She'd learned only after, that he'd been made to the Unbreakable Vow, without her consent, without her buy-in. He was off with a family that she barely knew, relying on them to keep him safe. And while she had every faith that her son could look out for and protect himself if need be, he was still just a kid - one who was a continent away from her.

And then there was Rosalie.

Julia's heart hadn't ached this badly in years. There hadn't been a time since the day Rosalie was born that Julia had been apart from her - aside from the summer facility - for more than a week at a time. They were cousins, separated by eighteen years, but they'd always been close and Julia was feeling her absence harder than she'd anticipated.

Leo had grown quiet. With five days now having passed and - thank the gods - Cassian and Rosalie still having not been found, he'd turned his anger and rage inward as he normally did, sitting and stewing over the money they had taken and the words left on Gretchen's mirror. His sources were turning up nothing, the two managing to have not triggered the magic trace - likely due to the friend they had had with them.

Julia didn't know where they were, and even if she did, she'd never tell them.

That night replayed in her mind over and over again. She knew that she had done the right thing by letting them go; by not forcing them to stay in a place that held nothing for them. It didn't change the fact that all she did was search her mind for something that could have made them want to stay. To finish out their childhoods, to remain among those that loved them and wanted to be in their lives.

Cassian's parents - Julian and Kari - had shown up to the castle, understandably panicked and sick with worry over their son. James had invited them in, in the effort to be gracious and show that they were doing all they could to find the pair. He and Julia had both tried reassuring them that Cassian wasn't somewhere in the castle, and that MLE was also out looking for Rosalie.

The opportunity for the two families to finally come together and find some common ground had all been burned to ash the moment Leo had heard they were there and had come exploding into the room in and uncharacteristic fury. He'd demanded to know what the McCormicks knew, what their son had done with his daughter, and when the discussion had understandably gone sour - Julian and Kari not appreciating the accusations when they were hurting over their missing child and trying to find answers - Leo had lost his mind and thrown out insults of 'mudbloods' and 'halfbreeds' while James forcibly threw him out of the room.

Needless to say, there was no common ground to be had. No shared mourning or grief at the loss of their children. Only greater distrust and anger had been sewn.

She needed him. Maddox was the one she knew she could talk to about all of this without being judged, without someone in her ear telling her to straighten up and get it together. He was her sounding board, and she knew she could fall apart with him - having done it before.

Pop.

Castle walls gave way to a front garden she'd sat in many times. Maddox's house rose up in front of her, her best friend sitting on the porch as Evander ran and played in the grass and flowers.

"Mama!"

The cheery little voice squealed as tiny legs carried Evander across the yard and into her waiting arms where she scooped him up. "Hello poppet," she murmured, cradling him for a moment before her face crumpled, unable to hold in the tears a moment longer. The toddler laid his head on her shoulder, patting her, oblivious to her tears, but seeming to know she needed the extra love.

She glanced up to the porch where Maddox stood from his chair. She kissed Evander's head, before setting him back down, giving him a little pat to run off and play again.

"I'm sorry," she said, wiping quickly at her cheeks as she climbed the few steps to meet him. "I had to get away. I should have sent an owl first."

Merlin, he was grateful for the summer.

Just over a month since the school year ended, and Maddox was already firmly in vacation mode—as were his children. Neither Morgan nor Evander seemed to struggle with the transition home after entire terms away at school. He suspected his daughter was happy to be back in her own space, and Evander...Evander was Evander. The boy was content anywhere, a bit like the wild horses in that sense. Provide him with open space to roam, a few meals a day, and the occasional 'good job, son,' and the little boy was right as rain.

Even now, they had put lunch behind them, and the 2-year-old had found his second wind. He tore across the front yard, attacking everything he could with the stick he'd found when they went for their walk through the meadow earlier. Left and right, he swung, trampling and pouncing on old dry leaves he hadn't gotten around to clearing yet, swatting at bushes and roaring like he truly intended to keep his father from napping for as long as he himself held no interest in the activity.

Maddox slumped in his swinging porch chair, eyes pouring over columns in the newspaper. He was resigned to his fate. Until the little boy wore himself out, there would be no rest for either of them.

He used the squeals to confirm his son's location, his attempt at keeping an eye on him without constantly looking. The logic was simple. If he could still hear him, then he was still close enough to the yard to not be a concern.

"Mama!"

...Huh?

Maddox lowered the paper to find Julia scooping Evander off his feet. Curious. She hadn't said she was stopping by. Had he known, he'd have postponed lunch by the half hour. Evander wouldn't have noticed, let alone minded, and he didn't think it would've made much difference to Morgan either. He was about to say as much when he caught the look in her eyes. Maddox rose without thinking, placing the newspaper in the seat as she climbed the steps.

"I'm sorry. I had to get away. I should have sent an owl first."

His stomach fell when he saw her tears. Hurrying forward, he pulled her close. "Don't be ridiculous," he said, dismissing her unnecessary deprecation. Julia was always welcome at his home.

She knew that.

Blue eyes searched her. "Did something else happen?"

The summer was already off to a...busy start. Rosalie and Cassian had run off in the night. He'd watched her try to hold it together despite her distress and didn't imagine she needed more happening when things were already so tense.

"Did something else happen?"

She didn't speak as he pulled her to him, grateful that he wasn't bothered by her unexpected drop-in. In truth, she knew that it wouldn't be a problem, but she was a woman with manners who valued propriety and decorum. When all else failed, Julia had her raising to fall back on, something to grasp onto that made sense. She'd straighten her back, drop her shoulders, reach for stoicism and walk with a confidence that hid the emotions she wouldn't show.

Yet, standing on his porch, she felt completely disarmed. As hard as she pulled for her mask, as much as she tried to claw for dignity, Julia only felt herself falling further as Maddox's blue eyes searched her brown. Her shoulders rose and fell as she searched for the words to convey the ache she was feeling, but she was at a loss.

"Cassian's parents showed up at the castle," she said softly with a slight shake of her head. She wanted to tell him all that had happened, but she knew there wasn't anything to say about the matter that the man couldn't gather for himself. They wanted their son back, and Julia had been the one to let him go. They didn't know that, of course, but there was guilt lingering in her for the devastation in Cassian's mother's eyes. A devastation that she couldn't fix or offer any real solace for.

She wasn't their mother, but she felt that devastation all the same.

"I know it's selfish, and letting her go was the right thing." Tears welled in her eyes again, a mix of sorrow and anger for the situation they had all found themselves in. "But I just want her back." Julia felt her heart tighten again as she lost the last of her composure.

"I tried so hard to keep them safe. I tried everything, Maddox." Tears streamed down her face, but she didn't move to wipe them away. "She's never coming back." She took a deep breath, giving a slight shake of her head.

"And then there's Benji..."

If the world was on one these days, it was showing her all the ways she was complete shit at being a mother.

"Cassian's parents showed up at the castle."

That...couldn't have gone well. The Laurences weren't handling the loss well—understandably—and he couldn't imagine that the McCormicks were any happier about the sudden disappearance of their son. Emotions were high all around; everyone was worried. Both Cassian and Rosalie were competent for their age and hovered around differing levels of...responsible. Neither was of age, but it wouldn't be much longer until they were.

A year or two; Maddox wasn't sure it would've made all that much more of a difference outside of giving everyone else a chance to say their goodbyes. Even then, the man couldn't see the outcome being too far out from where it currently was. Julia would still be heartbroken watching her cousin leave home with no intention of returning, and her parents would still be livid about the choice the girl was making—they might even try to stop her.

McCormick? Well, Maddox didn't imagine his parents would've been any more thrilled to have their son disappear into the world next year instead of this one.

It was reckless, and he wasn't all the way convinced either had given it the thought and planning necessary to ensure a smooth landing, but...he couldn't say he didn't understand.

He'd run, too, albeit after he'd graduated, but he didn't reckon he'd had much more of a plan than they did. Just a backpack slung over his shoulder and the idea that he needed to be far away. It didn't make him incapable of understanding the grief of those the pair had left behind. On the contrary, when he'd returned to England, he'd been able to see firsthand what his sudden vanishing had done to those who had remained. Without a doubt, neither child was thinking that far ahead; he hadn't either. The unknown was calling with a promise that whatever waited had to be better than whatever they were leaving behind.

"I tried so hard to keep them safe. I tried everything, Maddox. She's never coming back. And then there's Benji..."

"Shhh."

She thought it was her fault. He knew how untrue that was.

"It's not your fault. Close isn't always safe, and sometimes..." He eased away so he could look at her, wiping at her tears with his thumbs. "Sometimes nothing will do but running. You can't sit around thinking the worst. They're," reasonably, "smart kids. I'm sure both were getting top marks in your class, and when I took Bourne's office, I saw her records. Good across the board. You've seen McCormicks. They've got each other, and the fact your family's still seething means they've gotten away. For every day you don't see them, they're safe."

He led her over to the swinging porch chair, gesturing for her to sit.

"Benji will be fine. Chances are, he was going to marry Ruth eventually anyway."

His hay had known about as much peace as he suspected the boy did, knowing that the girl. "Weren't you the one telling me how much he moped when he had to stay away from her?" He wasn't trying to minimise, only offer her a different...less grim outlook on the condition of her children.

While he'd been enjoying his summer, Julia was receiving a baptism by fire.

"Shhh."

There were constants between them, quiet and unspoken, the kind leaned into without naming. It was years of familiarity and a knowing that pulled the two beyond any other friendship Julia had. She swallowed hard, wrapping her arms around him as he held her, the way they always did when things were hard or terrifying. The two had been through countless ups and downs together - sicknesses in both families, deaths in hers, unexpected life changes in the form of children and so much more - that leaning into him and letting him soothe her with his quiet presence was comforting, void of any awkwardness.

"Sometimes nothing will do but running. You can't sit around thinking the worst."

His thumbs wiped gently at her tears as his eyes found hers. She knew that. Focusing on all the worries and fears she held for the two wouldn't bring them back or make them any safer. But...how did she just let them go? How did she remove them from her heart so that it wouldn't hurt anymore.

Julia knew someday, maybe, it wouldn't hurt the way it did now when the wound was so fresh. But would it ever go away completely? Would there be a day when she could think of Cassian and Rosalie and feel happy and relief for them? Or would there always be that ache that selfishly wanted them back?

"They're smart kids. I'm sure both were getting top marks in your class, and when I took Bourne's office, I saw her records. Good across the board. You've seen McCormicks. They've got each other, and the fact your family's still seething means they've gotten away. For every day you don't see them, they're safe."

He was right. As he led her to the swing, she sank down in it heavily, tugging him with her by his hand. They were safe, wherever they were. Hunted, but not found. She took solace in the idea that they had gotten away - that their new home, God-willing they had one, was keeping them warm and comfortably hidden away from the outside world. She pushed lightly on the porch with her feet, rocking the swing gently back and forth.

"Benji will be fine. Chances are, he was going to marry Ruth eventually anyway. Weren't you the one telling me how much he moped when he had to stay away from her?"

She sighed audibly, dropping her head against his shoulder, staring out into the garden where Evander ran and squealed, completely unaware of anything but the joyful freedom of his afternoon. She envied it. Warm summer days as a child, covered in grass, dirt and pollen as the sun beamed down, shielding her from any worries or fears.

A small smile played on her lips as the boy tripped over his own feet and went rolling into a patch of lavender, disappearing into the large purple bush. A babyish giggle followed as the bush shook, sending a few pigeons fluttering out with startled coos.

"He's my baby," she said softly, feeling the lump in her throat harden. He wasn't a baby, and she knew Benji would bristle at the idea of being treated like a boy clinging to apron strings. He was more a young man these days than a boy. But he was still that short, pudgy, smiling twelve-year-old she'd first met him as all those years ago. He hadn't been born of her body, but within her heart.

"Just like Evander." Not hers, but hers. The love she felt for both boys, the love for Kathryn and Rosie and Cassian - it all came from the same place. And feeling the absence of any of them, feeling what felt like grief while they still drew air, it was a pain she'd never known before.

She nuzzled deeper into his shoulder, soaking in the earthy scent of evergreen and vetiver.

Maddox fell into the chair next to her without protest when she pulled him, immediately settling an arm around her shoulder to pull her closer. He wasn't a man for many words and didn't think any would do for the moment.

It was a bitter pill to swallow, and he couldn't imagine how far out of his mind he would be if Morgan had been the one who decided to run. His half-brain-cell-bearing daughter was reckless and impulsive, a little too much like him for his liking on bad days, a treat on days where he could find the humour in it. The thought of coming home to her not being there, lost somewhere out in the world, where he couldn't be sure she was safe and eating, churned his stomach.

While Julia was neither Cassian's nor Rosalie's mother, he knew how deeply she felt for the children in her life and that, while well-meaning, fluffy words that 'everything would be alright' would barely scratch the surface. How could they ever comfort her when a girl she'd helped to raise had slipped off into an unforgiving world where things could go wrong very quickly?

They could be fine, but they could also not be. It was the gamble they'd chosen to make when they'd absconded into the night, the fate they wanted to embrace.

In the short silence he let sit with them, he watched his son barrel headfirst across the grass before losing his footing and taking a tumble that pleased him far too much. He emerged seconds after the pigeons, squealing his delight. The toddler threw his hands into the air freely, a wide grin stretching his lips wide.

"Daddy! Daddy! Birds! Did you see?" His words were coming more clearly, though they were still garbled in places. Maddox had learned to discern them and how to smile when he couldn't.

"Amazing, aren't they?" he called back, waving his son on to continue playing.

Evander nodded his agreement emphatically before clambering out of the lavenders and taking off back in the direction he'd come from. He was a boy unbothered, and, under the weight of recent events, Maddox found himself hoping he would remain that way. Life would come for them all, sooner or later, but it never seemed fair when it dragged the children into its harsher lessons. Let the boy run through the flowers until he was exhausted, then he would get him cleaned up and help him wind down for bed.

"He's my baby. Just like Evander."

He kissed the top of her head. "I know." For a while, it was all he could say.

They'd been at this for a while now, hadn't they? Taking turns watching each other's children, slipping in when the other couldn't. It had been such an effortless assimilation, easily missed, yet in moments like these, it struck him just how entangled they'd become. Evander was her baby, wasn't he? The boy couldn't tell the difference, and Julia had never tried to create one. That touched on something he'd never had to name before, something he didn't think he had words for now, just a feeling.

Warm and intrusive.

Maddox placed his head on hers when she nuzzled in closer.

"Babies are resilient. I think they've all proven that enough times, so we focus on the things we can still fix." The pair was already gone, and, for now, it was better they not return. "Well, maybe not...fix." It was an inappropriate word when an unbreakable vow had been thrown into the mix.

"You support, you help make it a little easier, as you've always done. There's no one better for it; certainly, no one more efficient." He wasn't trying to flatter her, only to remind her she was stronger than she sometimes felt or knew.

They'd get through this, like they did everything else. He'd help her.