It was one of those Saturday's where Jake was unusually not working. It meant that he would take Azalea to the university - though she'd never asked him to, Jake found it something of a comfort to know she got places safely these days - and then head back home. The young man had decided to head to Salem that afternoon, he had grading to do and Victoria had sent him an owl telling him she wanted to see him. He'd been lax with his little sister since the news of never being able to have children of his own with the girl he loved, and he owed a couple of hours to her.
It was also a very good reason to get out of the flat that he was quickly coming to hate.
Each day didn't seem to get any better, each day that passed merely seemed to be Jake was sealing his emotions away more as he did his best to remedy Azalea's pain. But no amount of words or hugs were going to change the witch's mind that she was broken. Jake would always envy her the notion of simply being able to break down, let out the anger, the pain, the frustration. At least then she could feel the pain of the situation, rather than actively blocking it out. But never once through the weeks did Jake make an outward sign that anything was wrong, because he had to keep the faith that everything was going to be okay.
It was around eleven a.m. that Jake finally reached his desks, pulling the pile of work that had mounted up from the last couple of weeks towards him and beginning to scan the writing. Most normal people would be out having fun on their day off, but Jake had fast learnt the downside of trying to juggle so many things at once. Merlin knew he needed to go and see his parents too, and Kit...
Running his free hand through his hair as he wrote notes on the essays he'd received, Jake tried to clear his head. Tried to go back to being a twenty year old man instead of feeling in his mid thirties. Slowly the topics of essays washed over him, marking most people as Exceeds Expectations whilst a few peeked in to Outstanding or lowered to a mere Pass. His class was doing well, and he couldn't have asked for anything more from them.
"Good morning, Jake!" The sound of a voice sifting through the air brought Jake back from his own little world, looking up to meet the beautific smile of his younger sister. "How's the best professor at Salem today?" She asked, smiling in a manner that said she didn't think badly of the rest, but her brother would always be her favourite.
"I'm good thank you." Jake replied, getting up from his desk and moving around the desk to lift her in to a hug after kissing her cheek. "And the little princess of Salem better be great or I'll be going after the students who change that opinion!" He added, earning a soft giggle from Victoria as they held the embrace. Quite honestly, Jake had needed it, the feel of a hug that was natural. Not a clinging hug where the other party thought he was going to leave, or the tentative hug on his behalf as he tried so very hard not to force Azalea in to anything she didn't want. This... was relaxing.
Once Jake had let go, he took out his wand, summoning a chair for Victoria at his desk before taking his own again. "So how's school? Your friends? Quidditch?" Jake asked, looking to his sister for a moment before looking back at his paperwork and going back to marking so that he could get two things done at once.
"School is fantastic as always, we're learning some pretty amazing things! I liked your lesson a lot last time by the way, Jake. It was difficult, but you taught it well. I managed to use Stupefy the other day too, first time!" The words were spoken and Jake smiled slightly, it was a big achievement for Victoria, and he was proud of her. "We also did some other offensive magic in duelling, but I reversed the effects afterwards so I don't feel so bad about that. And we did a presentation on dragons in Care of Magical Creatures. All my friends are doing great, though one boy really needs to learn to respect his parents a little bit more, he wasn't talking about them nicely to me, and it was sad... Quidditch is going okay... We lost heavily to Belladonna the other week, but I caught the Snitch first!"
It didn't surprise Jake that Belladonna had trashed Wormwood, the Wormwoods tried, they always had, but being a house of students who preferred books to sports, it wasn't overly surprising. But, he was proud of his little sister for catching the Snitch. "Well, you have one positive from the game right there, don't you?" Jake pointed out, though his little sister didn't need such encouragements.
"I did! Mary was very proud of me! Even though she was upset with the loss, she was very proud of my catch! Though... I think I am supposed to watch the score more, but I just wanted to catch it..." Victoria explained, getting a slight frown which Jake couldn't help but smile about. "What about my big brother? You've been doing well on the Quidditch front, and a lot of the girls have said you've been in Quality Quidditch supplies again! How's Hogwarts, and home life?"
"Hogwarts went really well, Azalea and I did a survival test in the forest recently that went really well!" Jake explained, though he wouldn't go in to details and ruin it for Victoria for next year - if they decided to do it again. That was the easy question though, the hardest part came with the home life part....
And perhaps it showed in his face, or in the hesitation as Victoria looked at him uncertainly.
"Vic, if I tell you something, can you keep it a secret?" Jake asked, because as far as the professor was aware, it was only Azalea, Healer Derwent and him that knew about the whole thing. A small nod from Victoria was all Jake needed, and slowly he formulated an explanation in his head of what he was going to say to his sister.
"When you love someone very much, and you go on to get married... Mom probably told you that that is when married couples decide they want to have children." Jake explained cautiously, swallowing slightly as Victoria nodded her understanding, curious but not saying a word. "Azalea and I... We..."
"You're getting married?" Victoria asked, her eyes going big and smile blossoming. If Jake had been his normal self, he might even have allowed his sister a small smile in that moment, but he couldn't.
"No, Vic." Jake replied softly, looking down at his hands that were trembling slightly from built up emotion. "We found out that it won't be possible for us to have children."
"Because you're not married yet?"
"Even if we married, we couldn't have children, Vic." Jake replied, tears forming in his eyes. He closed them instinctively, too used to shutting down from the world. "Azalea... isn't happy, and I... worry. A lot." Jake explained in a whisper. He couldn't tell Victoria everything, because she was too young to understand, too happy with the world to believe such things existed.
The professor hadn't heard the witch stand up and move around the desk, pulling him in to a hug as the tears ran down his cheeks. For the first time since the night Azalea had told him she'd rather die than put him through this pain, Jake let the tears slide down his cheeks. The soft dabbing of a tissue on his cheek was the only sign Victoria wanted the tears to go as she held on to him tightly, capturing his tears before they could fall down his cheeks.
"But you still love her, right, Jake?"
The Quidditch star nodded. "With all my heart." He whispered between sobs. He'd long since stopped believing that saying those words mattered to Azalea. The self-loathing had taken over her body, despite everything he told her.
"Don't give up on that then, Jake. Azalea needs that, just as much as you need hers." The witch supplied, as if she believed Azalea told him those words. He didn't need Azalea to tell him, he'd realised that a long time ago. "It'll be okay, time heals." Victoria added, resting her head on his shoulder and holding him like he held her.
Jake didn't know how long they sat together, Victoria dabbing his cheeks as he let every emotion he'd been holding in go. It was a relief, and a welcome perspective check he'd needed for a long time. Even if his little sister was far too wise on subjects he didn't believe her to be capable of, Jake was thankful for the advice.
Time heals.
Jake could only hope to Merlin that this time she wasn't wrong.
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