Jenna had spent most of the afternoon wiping down any object or piece of furniture she could get her hands on. It wasn't that it was unclean in the pub but she had to find something to occupy herself with, there had only been a handful of customers come in that day and they'd hardly caused any need for Jenna to run around after them. It was peaceful, but for a Friday it wasn't very busy so it felt different to usual. As far as Jenna knew there wasn't any major events happening that evening that would account for the lack of customers, but then perhaps people just weren't in the right mood for going out today. Santana will be in later, she thought to herself afterwards. It might pick up then when the entertainment comes around.

Luckily there was enough around the place to keep her busy before it started getting busy; if it starts getting busy she amended. Taking a quick glance around the room to make sure everyone was still alright and behaving themselves accordingly, Jenna made a speedy dash into the back room to collect some more cleaning supplies should she run out of the stuff she'd picked up earlier. Upon return, one of the men sat around a table with a friend had stumbled up to the bar to fill up on their drinks. Knowing that these two had spent an awful lot of time in there already, Jenna made a note to keep an eye on their consumption and slow them down if need be. The last thing she'd want would be a pair of drunken idiots when she was the only one out on the floor. 

While pouring the glasses of Ale out, she heard the door creak open and Jenna looked up to see someone coming in. Sam, was it? She thought as she saw the head of blond hair duck out of the street and into the pub. This was the Wanderer's keeper she had spoken to the other evening at the Dragon ball. Jenna hadn't spoken to him much before that and apart from the rare times he popped in to grab a drink, she hadn't seen much of him either. He seemed friendly enough though and called out a "be with you in a moment!" Before handing the glasses over the top of the bar to the other gentleman and taking his money in return. 

Blaine was a bit shocked to receive the owl that congratulations, he was chosen to be Teen Witch's hottest male quidditch player for the next month. He knew that they did this, but he was kind of expecting to be the last one of the guys chosen for it. He had to accept, there was really no other option, and it said that the photoshoot he had to do with the "hottest female" would be that Sunday, the thirtieth, and would most likely go all afternoon. It wasn't much of a warning in advance, but Blaine didn't have any other plans anyways. He wasn't exactly sure of what to expect from this photoshoot, but he was hoping for the best. 

She was annoyed when early Sunday morning she received a notice via owl post that in order to legally be able to own a Piranha, she would need to obtain a license within the next week or risk her fish getting picked up by a government official. How they even found out, she had no idea. Well, she did happily parade the fact that she was now a proud owner of the fish that was named after the infamous Voldemort, but still, that gave the government no authority to look into her personal life. Maybe it was the name; she should have listened to Sarah when she expressed some concern over the name and people thinking she was a death eater, but it was all Chris's fault for suggesting it in the first place. Whatever, she would get the damn license and get this over with.

Harmony had tried to get out of doing the article. Oh, she had tried like she had never tried to get out of anything before, but alas. Her mom insisted. "It's not even politics!" she had argued, knowing that her mother wouldn't care in the end and she'd be left with the difficult task of writing an article... about Rachel Berry's success. Ugh.

Harmony had met Rachel at Hogwarts and they hadn't exactly gotten along.  In fact, they had always seemed to be in a sort of competition based on talent... even though everyone knew that Harmony was obviously superior. The only reason that Rachel got so many solos back at Hogwarts was because Jesse obviously had a major crush on her or something and played favorites. Which had led to years of favoritism and encouragement for Rachel that Harmony really didn't get. In all actuality, it could have easily been Harmony who was having an article written about her big break, if she had chosen to go down that road. Actually, Harmony probably would have had her break sooner, her obvious talent shining through and allowing her to be cast in something major at a younger age. Rachel had surely taken her sweet time working her way up. But anyway... that was in the past and those were thoughts of a present that wasn't real. None of that mattered. Harmony just needed to do her job and get it all over with, so she could go back to her serious writing. About things that actually mattered.

So, that's how she found herself in her office that day, waiting patiently for Rachel Berry to arrive so she could ask her a few questions, observe how she answered them ("her eyes glimmering with excitement at the promise of all that her future holds"), and get the article knocked out in record time. It wouldn't be published for a week, but who cared? She needed to get it out of the way as soon as possible.

Brittany could see when Sadie played with the other children that they thought she was a little strange but she was happy that she could have friends that had nothing to do with magic. She wanted to give her the best of both worlds. Time away from magic and then time with it. After all she was a half-blood so it was important to try and under both cultures. It was around lunch time and Sadie and Brittany were just playing a little number game as they ate their lunch. Brittany was getting Sadie to count the different things that they had with them in their picnic basket. Marley was out on a jog after last night’s debacle. Ladies night hadn’t gone as great as she had wanted and then everything had gone downhill with Rachel and Jesse so she was in for a real treat when it came to the two of them. Then there was the whole subject of Kitty and Jules and—ugh, her blood was boiling just thinking about it. Shaking her head, Marley jogged down to the park that was near her flat and began to cut through it, intent on heading to the forest behind it to jog by the creek. Just as she was passing through, she saw a familiar blonde and—Brittany and her daughter. The sight made her chest tighten, she really really missed her mum. Maybe she could sneak past them if she broke into a sprint.

“Good girl.” Brittany praised Sadie when she reached the number five. Brittany couldn’t believe how fast she was growing and much like Sam she didn’t want Sadie to grow up. She wished she could be this little forever. Brittany was reaching into the picnic basket when she spotted when she thought was Marley from the distance. Their ladies night hadn’t exactly gone as planned but Brittany had still had fun seeing her friends and she had even kind of bonded with Rachel. When she focused her eyes on the person, Marley. She saw that is was her and called out, “Marley.”

Marley sighed and stopped her jog when she realized that Brittany had called out to her. Walking over to Brittany and her daughter, Marley bit her lip as she towered over the two blondes that were sitting down on the blanket. She’d managed to get out of the house and away from Rachel, thank Merlin, but now that she was here she couldn’t help but feel trapped once more. Not in the typical sense but the fact that she was most likely going to have to stick around and watch them interact—it would hurt like a bitch. Finally deciding to play nice, Marley sat down next to Brittany and smiled at the little blonde girl. “Hi Sadie. I’m Marley. You look very pretty today.”

Sadie looked at the older female. She wasn’t scared though and she just smiled brightly as said “thank you.” in way that was just really cute. Sadie was still dressed in her wanderer’s Jersey. Since she’d gotten it from Sam it had been hard for Brittany to get her wear anything else. Brittany didn’t mind though. She’d learned a couple of spells that she used to clean the shirt so that Sadie would be able to wear it again the next day if she wanted to. “Daddy gave me this.” She said to Marley.

Marley smiled softly down at the blonde girl as she showed off her shirt. “It’s super cute, Sadie. I really like it. You having fun with your mama?” Marley looked over at Brittany and grabbed her hand, squeezing it softly. “She looks just like you, Britty.” Marley smiled once again, turning away from the blonde just in time to mask the sadness that was written on her face. She missed the mother/daughter bonding time that most families had but lucky for Sadie, she didn’t think Brittany or Sam would be going anywhere anytime soon. Brittany squeezed Marley’s hand when she had hold of it. Everyone always told her than she and Sadie looked a like. Brittany couldn’t really see it though. She always thought that Sadie more like Sam. “I don’t really see it.” Brittany told her as she looked at her daughter who was now eating trying to peal a banana but not really having much luck with it. She loved these little moments she could have with daughter. It made her feel so lucky that she was here since the road to delivery had been a bumpy one. Mostly just because of her parents wanting her to abort and her near constant nausea and weird good cravings. Marley bit her lip when Brittany said she didn’t see it. How could she not? Sadie began to peal a banana, a grin coming up on Marley’s face as she managed to contain herself from trying to help. She assumed that if anyone was going to help the girl, it would have to be her mama. “Sorry for leaving girl’s night so quickly yesterday. With everything Rachel is going through and then with Kitty and Jules there… It was kind of hectic and I really ended up wanting to crawl into a hole. I am going to ki—” Marley’s eyes widened when she remembered she was in front of a small child and smiled sweetly, looking over at Brittany. “I am going to k-i-l-l Jesse for what he did to Rachel.” The girl spelled out the word, proud of herself for remembering. Brittany could see how her daughter was struggling so she reached over and took the banana from Sadie and pealed it for her “There you go sweetie.” Brittany said as she passed the now completely pealed banana back to her daughter. She turned back to Marley, “It’s alright. We’ll just have to give it a go again some other time.” She smiled when Sadie had said thank you to her. “I know what you mean. I can’t believe it he just walked out of her but then again as I told Rachel everyone needs time to process information like this. It’s hard news hear.”

Marley seriously could have smacked Jesse after what he did to Rachel but apparently it wasn’t her place and by Merlin, that pissed her off more than she’d like to admit. “I would assume it would be but I wish he’d be man enough to realize that she needed him and he abandoned her because he was mad over one lie. One lie is nothing considering everything that relationship has gone through. Especially since I understand why she did it. I’m not happy she lied to him and I wish she had told him sooner but he should have…” Marley had to calm herself down before she got irrationally angry at the boy that had broke her best friend’s heart. “So, Sadie. Do you like ducks as much as your mama does?” Brittany could totally understand how scared Rachel had been to tell Jesse. She had had that same fear when she couldn’t tell her own parents about Sadie. She had ended up waiting until she was sixteen weeks to tell them. Which was almost two and half months after she found out herself. “She should have told him sooner” Brittany couldn’t help but agree with Marley on that “He should have been the first person she told. Imagine how much worse it would have been if he’d found out from someone else.” There was a huge smile across Sadie’s now banana covered face when she heard the word ducks “I love duckies. I got a huge teddy aminal that looks like a ducky. He’s really fuffy and called Wori” Really the huge duck was called Rory but Sadie for some reason had issues with saying the name. Marley sighed and nodded. The whole Rachel and Jesse debacle was going to be a topic of discussion for months to come, she had a bad feeling about it. When Sadie began to talk about ducks, Marley was taken back to the years at Hogwarts and how one time during Herbology class, Brittany had just gone off on a tangent about ducks and they had pretty much wasted the whole day because the Professor was getting so upset by it. “Your duck is named… Oh! Rory! I happen to like that name. I had a Rory once. My little Chipped Cup, actually.” Marley frowned, saddened once more by things from her past that somehow found its way to the forefront. Sadie pouted when she saw how Marley had grown upset “Don’t be sad. We can share my Wori. I gots him at a fair with uncle Wori.” Sadie reached over her little arms and hugged Marley “He winned him for me when mommy said I couldn’t have a real duck.” Brittany couldn’t help but smile at that memory. It was only a few months ago but they had gone to visit Rory in Ireland and he had ended up taking them to the fair when Sadie had seen a duck in the petting zoo. That had been the first time Brittany had ever said no her to her daughter. She had used the reasoning that they already had Lord Tubbington, Ginny and the kittens along with Archie as well. Right now they couldn’t take care of another animal. So in order to settle her down they ended up winning a stuffed duck for her instead.

Marley was just about to say something along the lines of how she wasn’t really upset and how something had gotten in her eye when the girl proceeded to hug her. Marley stiffened immediately not knowing what to do or how to react when someone so cute and innocent, someone that reminded Marley of herself when she was her age, gave her the best form of a comfort that a small child could give. Marley hesitantly wrapped her arms around Sadie and hugged her back tightly, but not too tight, before kissing the top of the child’s head. “Thank you, Sadie. I’m sure one day you might get a duck. Or who knows! Maybe your patronus will be a duck!” Brittany watched how Marley reacted to Sadie hugging her. She could see that something was bothering her but she couldn’t really ask what it was just in case it was something Sadie shouldn’t be hearing. Brittany thought that maybe she would just invite Marley to come over and they could chat better while Sadie played with her toys “Whats one of them?” Sadie asked looking up at Marley. She had crawled over and was now sat on Marley’s lap after she had pulled back from the hug. Brittany had taken a flask out of the picnic basket and quickly poured herself and Sadie a drink. She did a quick look around for anyone, which there was no one, before she transfigured a near by stone into a cup for Marley which she also filled up.

Marley looked dumbfounded as Sadie sat on her lap. Marley began to braid the blonde’s hair, humming quietly as she did it. This was something that her mother had done for her when she was younger and—the brunette’s eyes began to fill up with tears but she quickly blinked them away when Brittany handed her some water for her to drink. “Thank you, sweets. And Sadie, you’re going to have the best patronus of them all when you get to Hogwarts. Mine was a falcon. It was pretty cool to be honest.” Brittany gently smiled as she let the glass leave her fingers and move into Marley’s. She hadn’t noticed the tears in her friends eyes as she had been giving Sadie hers, making sure that she didn’t spill any on herself like she did sometimes. “Your welcome.” Brittany told Marley as she came back into the sitting position. “What’s a falcon?” Sadie was in that stage of life right now where she would as questions about pretty much everything that was being said to her. Marley smirked when Sadie asked her what a falcon was, tracing slow circles on the girl’s back. “A falcon is a bird of prey, sweetie. I’m sure you’d like them. Maybe you’ll get one when you go to Hogwarts. Not everyone takes an owl.” Marley booped the girl’s nose softly, producing a giggle from Brittany’s daughter and causing a huge grin to spread across her own face. Looking over at Brittany, Marley’s blue eyes held a mirth in them that she hadn’t been used to. “I’m really glad I got to meet her.”

Brittany smiled at her friend. “I’m glad you got to meet her as well” Brittany was glad that the two of them we picking their friendship up from just where they had left off since the last time that they had seen each other. Brittany couldn’t think of the last time she had been Marley but she wasn’t going to dwell on that “She really is the best thing that’s ever happened to me.” Brittany told her honestly. Sure, Sadie was an accident, something that was never planned but Brittany wouldn’t ever change had mind about the choice she made to keep her. Marley looked back down at Sadie in time for Brittany to tell her that her daughter was the best thing to ever happen to her. Biting her lip, Marley remembered back to how she had come home from graduating Hogwarts and heard her mum say those very same words about her, how she’d hugged her and kissed her temple and told her to follow her heart no matter what the cost. Biting her lip, Marley blinked away tears once more. She watched as Sadie got up off her lap and crawled over to her mother before giving her a hug and giggling. It was in that moment that Marley realized just how truly precious life was. How she couldn’t let her feelings go. She couldn’t miss out on something like this. Brittany saw the tears in her friends eyes. “Marls..” She said softly as she wrapped her arms around Sadie when she hugged. She let her daughter go when she had Sadie pulled back and ran off to find some flowers for her new friend and her mother. Brittany made sure that Sadie was still in her few when she moved over to Marley and hugged her telling her softly, “I’m so sorry about what happened.” Brittany had heard about Marley’s mom from someone, she couldn’t remember who told but they had. “Don’t be sad.” Marley swallowed thickly when she heard Brittany say her nickname. Looking away from the blonde, Marley didn’t want her to see her when she was like this. It was then that she heard Sadie go off to do something and next she knew, Brittany had her arms wrapped around her. The brunette sniffled, trying to keep herself composed as she felt Brittany’s soft breath hitting her ear as she spoke to her. “Britt… I…” Marley had spent two years hiding from everyone, only Ryder having seen her cry over her mother’s death since he had been the one to find her after it had happened. But now, with Brittany… She was so close to breaking and—A sob escaped her throat and before she knew what was happening, Marley was hugging Brittany back tightly, tears cascading down her cheeks as she broke down. Brittany gently stroked one of her hand through Marley’s hair gently as she held onto her friend, “It’s okay to hurt.” Brittany told her softly. Brittany held tightly onto her as she let Marley just get it all out. She had been told once by someone that instead of bottling things up it was always good to let them out. From the way Marley was sobbing Brittany could tell that she had been holding this inside her for a long time. She knew that in this moment she had to be there for Marley, like she hadn’t been for all that time where they hadn’t talked to she each. She kept on holding her sobbing friend.

Marley wished that she didn’t have to have done this around Brittany but it was just like the blonde was destined to be here at this time. She needed this, a tipping point that would either have her go one way or the other. Seems like fate had a funny way of showing itself and today it popped up in the for of Brittany Pierce and her adorable little daughter. After several moments the sobs died and Marley pulled back, her face red and blotchy as she wiped her eyes, trying to calm herself down. “Thank you, Britty. I just… Yeah, I guess its okay to hurt. I just never wanted to deal with it. But it felt good to cry. Really, really good.”

Brittany easily let go of Marley when the brunette had pulled back from their hug “Your welcome.” She told her as she gave her a gentle smile “People do say crying helps you feel better when you’ve just go so much going on in your. It’s like a release they say.” Brittany reached into the picnic basket next to her and pulled out the packet of tissues that she had brought along with her in case either she or Sadie needed to use them at all “Here.” She said passing the tissue over to Marley “If you ever want to just get it all out. I’m here for you.” Marley smiled over at Brittany, leaning towards her and kissing her cheek gently. “Thank you so much, Britty. I’m really glad to be able call you one of my friends and as for Sadie…” Marley looked over at Sadie who was returning with flowers that she had picked. “You’re an amazing mother. Never let her go, Britty.” Marley smiled sadly before getting up off the blanket and stretching. “I better get going. I’ve got to get back to Rachel before she hexes me into the next century.” Marley picked Sadie up and hugged her, twirling her around a bit before setting the giggling girl back down. “I’ll see you later, Sadie. Bye lady.” Marley waved over her shoulder before beginning to jog in the direction that she had come from. She was tired of running away and now… Now it was time to go home.

Kurt

Kurt made a few last minute inspections in the mirror while he did a quick once over of his attire. For one of the first times in his life, he was wearing shorts, a tshirt and a hat to keep the sun off of his perfect, porcelain features. It felt wrong to be slumming it like he was - but considering the company he'd be keeping over the next couple hours, that wasn't going to be much of an issue. Truthfully Kurt couldn't stand Florence, he should like her - a Dragon Keeper was a respectable position, maybe it was her overly quirky personality, or Florence's ability to make older men trip over their wands for her. Maybe because she had eyes for his boss - even if him and Theo were only sleeping together, the young Auror was possessive and had no qualms with accidentally pushing her into a pile of dragon dung.

Kurt let out a sigh as he forced himself to disapparate to the outside of the Ranch, this was probably going to be an afternoon filled with lame fun facts about dragons, but he'd suffer through it. An assignment was still an assignment, with any luck - Florence would turn out to be using dark magic and Kurt would be fortunate enough to throw her behind bars. He'd like to see what would happen to her amongst the female population of Azkaban - Kurt was certain she'd be really popular in there.

Hunter quickly finished up with the unusually small amount of papers he had sat on the edge of his desk, genuinely excited for the appointment he'd be heading off to once he'd done. There hadn't been as many big oppertunities in the department as he'd first hoped so he was pleasantly surprised when he found himself being called into the office to pick up and assist on a rare animagus case. It was just a briefing and run down on the rules and regulations surrounding the process but nevertheless it was a job that hardly ever came around so being chosen to do it had given Hunter the hope that he could be getting further on in his position.

Pushing his chair away from the desk, Hunter stood up to go and collect the file he'd need from the main office. Up until now, he'd been kept successfully in the dark as to who he'd be having a meeting with. Of course he was curious to see who had been brave, and quite possibly mad enough to go through with the transformation but he was wondering if it would be anyone he knew of. The odds of it being a familiar face were next to none but it was a possibility that he wouldn't write off straight away.

With the file in hand, choosing not to open it right away, Hunter made his way through a ridiculous amount of corridors to get to the small room he'd be spending the next indefinite amount of time. There was enough to get through but hopefully it wouldn't take any longer than half an hour; not much stress was needed on the important things because they were drastic enough that they'd stick in the back of the mind without much reiteration. With a not so heavy push on the handle, Hunter leaned into the door to nudge it open, pausing momentarily when he saw none other than Charlie Fabray sat on one of the hard chairs in the room. Only speaking to the girl a couple of times during their time at Hogwarts and then again only a few times when they bumped into each other every now and again, there wasn't anything that resembled a friendship but it was the familiar face he didn't think he'd be seeing.