A long overdue meeting

Jess chuckled and looked at Mari for a few seconds before nodding. "I agree, I think that we'll be able to pull some strings somewhere, surely they'll make room for husband and wife to stick together," he said with a wink. "Otherwise we'll just have to sneak around at night, make an adventure of it," he said with a loud laugh.

He then nodded and drained the rest of his drink before gesturing to the waiter, looking at the bill before paying around 20 pounds too much for their meal, plus a tip... muggle money often got the worst of him, he just wasn't used to it sometimes.

"Come on," he said, gesturing for them to leave, rising in his chair and walking out with Mari, taking care to murmur a quick water repelling spell before the left, protecting them from the storm. "Lets not dawdle," He said, grabbing her hand and starting to walk briskly in the direction of Mari's place.

"It's really coming down now, isn't it?" He shouted above the howl of the wind, his brow furrowed in frustration

Mariana considered this for a few seconds. "Both ideas seem very attractive. It is going to be rather complicated. I don;t remember having married professors ever.." she said thinking out loud. Talking about unique she laughed for herself.

She watched Jess struggle with the money, Maybe he needed private muggle lessons, not that she had an objection for it. "Would you like some muggle lessons? They would sure be of use to you." she chuckled as she stood up. Suddenly the storm didn't look as attractive as the moment before.

"Are you crazy? Turn off that spell. Some muggle might notice." she said loud enough for him to hear her when she made sure no one was in their hearing range. She sped up to keep pace with him. Fortunately working in a hospital made one learn how to rush at any time of the day or night. A few minutes later they arrived to Mari's flat entrance. She took her own wand and made the no longer needed spell off before she started to look for her keys,

Even though spell protected them from water, it was still too freezing outside. "I think a fire is what we need." she said turning her wand towards the fireplace. It was a relief to be inside again. "So what's best to drink? Tea, coffee, firewhiskey?" she asked looking around the shelf to find something good.

Jess chuckled and gave a small shrug. "Well, you know me, bit of a split personality huh," he replied before they left. The spell worked well, though he couldn't help but roll his eyes a little as Mari stressed over its appearance to the muggles. She always did care a little bit too much, he'd felt, about what muggles thought. They were quite talented, he'd always found, in ignoring what was blatantly obvious. Not to say that he underestimated them, but he did know what they would and would not notice.

When they arrived at Mari's apartment Jess quickly lifted his charm, approaching the fireplace as she set it alight, basking in its warmth and glow for a minute before looking up at her. "This is nice," he commented with a smile.
"Tea will do, if you don't mind. I can help, if you prefer?" He asked, knowing that she'd probably prefer not to have him interfering.

Mariana looked at the lighting fire for a second without a comment. She was determined to enjoy herself tonight so she prefered to keep to her tea. After excatly three seconds which took her to fly a tea pot to the oven, she came and sat down next to Jess and in front of the warmth which radiated from it. "Help with what? Lifting my wand?" she asked smiling.

Another strange shiver, that was twice in 2 days. It took her no time to erase the thought. "When was the last time we did this?" she asked as she snuggled to his chest. They were equally half frozen that she barely noticed his body temperature. "Did we ever stay at home for the evening? Home is naturally a figure of speech." she asked determined to keep him talking. That was her only proof he was real.

Jess gave laughed a little and shrugged. "I dunno, it's the thought that counts though, is it not?" He asked as she sat down with him. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close, sharing the warmth of the fire.

"I don't know actually... maybe that's where it fell apart. We were both just too busy, wouldn't you agree. Me with the Order, you with Hogwarts.. I think maybe it all just got to be a bit too much, don't you?" He asked, staring into the flames as he spoke.

Mariana did not see Jess laugh though she heard him being so close to him. "Yeah I guess so." she replied shrugging her shoulders. It was actually hard to give it a good thought considering where she was.

"I knew that when you finished school one year before me, it could possibly mean the death of us considering how i would see you once every few months. It's a good thing we passed that obstacle isn't it?" she replied wondering why did they start discussing this unpleasant topic tonight of all nights. She turned to sit in his lap. It was hard to say if she was as light as when she was 15. "Am i heavy?" she asked smiling.

((Sorry, was busy with school last week, then away on holidays all weekend ))

Jess looked at her, his expression set in one of horror "That's a trick question, you're trying to get me to tell you you're fat!" He shouted, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her closer. "If you are heavy, it's a nice type of heavy," he said, his voice back to normal now.

"It was challenging, I'm glad we're over it," he added, almost as an afterthought as he tried to avoid the topic of their separation. "Now," he said, "Where is that tea?"

Mariana didn't know how to react. Was he serious? The shout didn't at all relieve her doubts, but the physical touch did so she relaxed a little deciding to keep it light. " I am not fat. I am just not as light as i was at 15." she snorted trying to keep a serious voice though not entierly successful in that attempt.

At the mention of the tea, she stood up quickly remembering there was a teapot boiling on the oven. "Oops." she said grabbing the pot. It was hot though not enough to drop it. "Ouch." she muttered and poured the hot water into the cups. She brought the cups to the table aswell as sugar and milk. Personally she didn't combine milk with tea. "Are you intrested in trying my cookies with cherries and honey?" she asked putting a full plate on the table without waiting for an answer.

Jess chuckled as she spoke, shaking his head as he replied "Nah, i suppose you're not... but you were tiny back then, at least you've grown a bit now."

She then rose to get their tea, so he allowed himself to relax a bit, before he heard an exclamation from the kitchen. "You ok?" He called out, waiting a secon for a reply before standing up and walking over to her, just in time for the cookies to come out.

"You had my at cookies," he replied, instantly reaching out and grabbing one and eating it in little more than a few seconds.

"Yeah maybe in height though it's hard to notice when i see myself in the mirror every day." she replied wondering how did they ever catch this topic, but considered it better not to think about it.

Jess was standing right next by her the next second. She must have ouched louder then she thought. "I'm fine the teapot was just a little hotter then i expected." she replied just in time to see him swallow one of the cookies keeping her unsurprised face. "So what's the verdict?" she asked carefully keeping her most serious face though she died to laugh.

She considered sitting down on the couch again, but decided to let Jess enjoy himself first.