Recent Posts

The idea of Jacob’s flat being hers to share was not necessarily exciting. They needed to get through the wedding before there was any time to find a proper home as a married couple, but Amy was sure to be taking charge of the decorating when it came to it. Jacob had been left to his own devices as a bachelor and it showed. The flat was rather bland, the walls sparse except for the occasional poster of a quidditch player or some framed memorabilia that, had Amy any interest in sports, might have been half interesting if incorporated into a design scheme. It seemed as though her fiancée, however, cared for interior design about as much as he cared for conversation; he participated but only the bare minimum. In truth, the main reason Amelia agreed to go ahead with the arrangement was that it seemed Jacob would interfere very little in her life, and she could in turn focus on her actual interests while making her parents happy and securing herself some measure of comfort down the road. The fact that Jacob was attractive and good in bed were nice perks.

Amy heard Jacob call for Soopy, his house elf (another perk of the arrangement, as Amelia did not currently have her own elf) and so when the doorbell rang, she didn’t bother to call for anyone else to answer it. Bouncing over to the door and pulling it open with a smile, Amelia greeted her friend. “Ugh, you look lovely. Don’t you know you’re not supposed to look better than me when we’re discussing my wedding?” She didn’t but Amelia offered the compliment anyway. “Come in, come in. Apologies for the décor, I’ll have it all sorted out after the wedding,” she added in a hushed voice as she stepped aside to allow Jovi into the flat.

Amy smiled into her menu as Jacob took up her suggestion of pumpernickel bread. It was a small thing, but if he was open to listening to her ramble on at the museum earlier and now was taking into consideration her suggestions, he was clearly amenable to input meaning he hopefully wouldn’t be one of those prats who thought a witch’s best feature was her silence. It was one of the things she most detested about high society, though she would never have admitted such a thing to anyone in her family’s social circle, but there were far too many women perfectly contented to stay at home and raise children, letting their husbands make all the decisions in their lives for them. That most certainly would not be Amelia and she hoped that she could believe what she was seeing in Jacob was truly himself, that he wouldn’t want her from little more than a trophy.

Their food came out quickly enough, as sandwiches rarely took long at all, but Amy filled their wait with conversation of future travel plans and suggestions for locations Jacob might find of interest based on the little she knew of him thus far. She spoke more than he did, but when he did speak his thoughts were perfectly in tune with Amelia’s. It almost seemed too good to be true but as they left the café Amy surprised even herself by accepting his offer of another date. Her parents would be pleased at least, and if she was seriously going to entertain this arranged marriage thing, then she was most certainly going to get to know her soon-to-be-fiancée before making anything official.

Jacob’s enthusiasm for other cultures was enough to draw Amelia out of her own thoughts about whether Jacob’s hair was going to thin and if she was going to end up with a bald husband or worse; someone who wore a toupee. Even magical hairpieces were easily identifiable, and she couldn’t play wife to someone wearing a rug. Thankfully for Jacob, she brought fully back into the conversation and any concern over his thinning hairline would be left to be inspected at a later time. “I completely agree. Books are wonderful tools, but they’re no substitution for hands-on experiences. Who would choose to look at pictures of, say, the pyramids over visiting them in person?” Amelia shook her head, knowing it was absurd that anyone would choose not to have real-world cultural exposure. The hostess placed a pair of menus on the table between them and explained that their water would be by shortly. Amy passed the top menu to Jacob and pulled the other closer to her, opening it and scanning the assorted treats on offer.

She supposed traveling around the country was fine, for now, but she frowned internally at the idea that even if Jacob earned his desired promotion their future plans would be scheduled around some sports itinerary. She certainly wasn’t in any position herself to go off galivanting around the world whenever she so pleased, but she had hopes to move up to something with a little more allowance for travel. It would be improper to travel as a married woman without her husband, or perhaps she was thinking too much like her parents and not of societal standards of the day. Her parents, as progressive as they were, had instilled traditional values in their children – save perhaps Triss, but the world progressed forward and so would she. “Not lately, no. Sadly.” They reached the café and Amy paused to allow Jacob to open the door for her, though she continued their conversation. “I was thinking about taking a trip later this year, possibly Lima, though that’s not really solidified yet. The museums there are supposed to be lovely and the nightlife is... well, I’ve heard stories I definitely wouldn’t want repeated in front of my parents.” Amy gave a small laugh.

Amy disagreed. She could look at such fascinating artwork for hours still but she was growing hungry and her feet were beginning to hurt from all the walking. She ought to have worn a more sensible heel but she wanted to make a nice impression an her mother had said Jacob would be tall, so a higher heel was to be expected. A nice rest in a chair would revive her for whatever else their date may or may not entail, though it was too early in the day for anything much more adventurous than lunch and cuppa. She appreciated that Jake was open to letting her choose their next destination. He really was a gentleman. "Are you hungry? There's a cafe down the way that makes the most delicious breads."

Pleased that they had finally found some common ground, Amy carried on chatting about the artwork, trying to focus more on the sculptures than the paintings. “Oh, you’ll like this one, I think.” They had come to stand in front of a twisted mass of metal that resembled something along the lines of a giant tumbleweed. She stood in silence in front of the metallic statue for a moment, admiring the beauty in it’s unorthodox shape before finally speaking again. “It’s the first quidditch match,” she commented, as if it were obvious. “That thin bit there, that’s the snitch’s course. And those two, they’re the bludgers.” Amy really enjoyed the whimsy of this piece, and hoped that, as a sports fan, Jacob could enjoy it as well.

Voices erupted almost immediately as Triss began to fight back against her parents. She was loud but by no means was she a match for their father, in volume. Triss picked up her plate and slammed it onto the table, shattering it right next to Amy, who jumped in her seat. Daddy followed Triss out of the room, his booming voice fading as he scolded Triss down the hallway, and Mummy began to cry. Amy didn’t know how to react. She simply sat in stunned silence for a moment while her mother began to clear the table, still weeping. Abigail, the youngest Greengrass and a full decade younger than Amy, began to whimper. “Come on, weirdo. Let’s go play in your room.” Amelia took Abby by the hand and gave her a reassuring smile as the sisters left the room. She’d let her brother and sister help their mum out.