Jess nodded, standing up and shifting his own coat so it sat comfortably on his shoulders, before beginning a casual stride in the direction Amelia had indicated, his heartbeat calming as he came to terms with what he was about to do. After all, this was his job, and the worst that could happen was she said no... perhaps, quite possibly, he'd end up jobless, if it swung completely in the other direction, but he'd already resigned himself to the possibility that the outcome could be exactly that.
"Amelia," he said, pausing where he stood and turning to face her, "you and I both know that as lovely as the black lake is, it is not the object of our meeting tonight, forgive me if you were led to believe that it was," he began, bowing a little in the direction of the lake before resuming their walk, albeit at a much slower pace.
"We're at war," he began, "You know this, surely. A false Minister sits at the head of our Government and walks all over everything we, as a nation, should be holding dear to us in times like this... the peace that many of us fought for last year has been shattered, and rather than restoring our country to the status it deserves to hold, our actions here... out there," he said, pointing out towards the grounds, "were in fact the ones which paved the way for Grindelwald to walk in and denounce us, and our country," he told her, glad he'd found slightly more confident footing... he had never been good with small talk, at least having a goal would keep him focused and less prone to bumbling and tripping on his words.
"Of course, you probably know this," he added with an apologetic smile he doubted she would see through the darkness, "and you probably also know that I've not brought you here for a history lesson... I apologise for that, I have a bad habit of getting off topic," he told her with a small chuckle, "It all ties in though, don't worry about that," he said in what he hoped was a reassuring tone.
Jess allowed a small pause to settle between to two of them as he gathered his thoughts and decided on just how he was planning on getting his point across. "Amelia," he said abruptly, "whose side are you on?" he asked