28th June, 1895 — Public Ball, Assembly Rooms

It was a blisteringly hot June night and even Tamsin was beginning to feel the strain of making idle conversation with loose acquaintances while all around people drank champagne and became increasingly red in the face. Even the dancing had tailed off earlier than usual and instead people were spilling out through the doors into the cool night air.

Tamsin made her excuses, refilled her soda water from the softer end of the refreshment table, and slipped past a couple having an argument about one of the Ministery's newer policies on muggle relations. She rolled her eyes as she passed - it was boring enough when men talked of such things but that woman must be dullness itself to give a fig.

And then she saw him. A man destined to brighten her mood whenever she saw him, though it had been how many years now? Four? Since her endless mourning had kept her confined at least and was just as handsome as he had been at school. Probably more so now he had money of his own, she thought.

"Mr Humphrey-Mavis," she said formally, a smile growing on her lips. "Whatever brings you here of all places?" Because the other reason she had not seen him for so long, though she was reluctant to admit it, even to herself, was that away from the strange melting pot of Hogwarts there really was no reason for a man like him to seek out a girl like her, was there?

Jack Humphrey-Mavis | Tycho Dodonus

  

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MJ made me sexy <3

The public ball was not an event Jack tended to frequent, if he attended at all. He wasn't above it though and had agreed easily enough when his usual grouping of cohorts had suggested attending to see what it was like and who they might meet there. They were all teetering on the edge of still being considered youthful men out to have fun and truly eligible gentlemen. He had been considered the latter for a while now which still took some getting used to.

He smiled at the familiar voice though the face it came from had certainly grown into a more mature beauty than she had been during their teens. He remembered fondly the sort of thrill it had been to vie for her teenage affections despite Zelda's animosity towards Miss Skeeter. It seemed all so innocently childish now through the lens of a years having passed since then and Jack having had deeper romantic woes.

"My night was much too empty and in need of your company, clearly," Jack said with a chuckle. "How have you been, Miss Skeeter? It has been altogether way too long."

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Tamsin, grown woman that she now was, still felt a flutter in her chest; the same one she had felt as a teenager when Mr Humphrey-Mavis had been the greatest of her crushes and she had gotten, however chastely, to kiss him. Since their schooling she had tried to put herself in his way, but it had been to no avail – apparently she was too bloody obvious and making an embarrassment of herself.

Not one for self-recrimination most of the time Tamsin had been surprised to discover the feeling of shame for the first time. Fortunately, that feeling had abated. Smiling gaily she chose not to talk of the gloomy things that had dogged her life – instead filing them away for later when she could seem ever-so-brave in the face of her misfortunates.

“Oh, it’s been going quite well,” she said vaguely, highly aware that she only had a job by the skin of her teeth. But she shouldn’t have one at all! It had been a means to expanding her connections and maybe, finally, it was paying off. “I mean, I’m not the head of any Ministry department or the Captain of anything, but I’m not idle,” she grinned, showing how much more she thought of his position than the former. “I’ve seen you play, you’re as good as ever.”

  

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MJ made me sexy <3

"You are being too modest for the young woman destined to become the next Fidellia Spinner," Jack said teasingly. Not that he knew much about the reporter except that she was the main writer for the society column of the Daily Prophet. He personally thought it suited Miss Skeeter quite fine. He had noted her name now and then when reading the Prophet and it had always brought a smile to his face.

"Thank you for your support. I was quite glad to be named Captain after Mister Lestrange left to begin his family," Jack said. That was seemingly the reason anyway and Jack had no reason to think differently. "Are you planning to attend our next match?"

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If Tamsin had her way she would be destined to appear in the marriages section of Witch Weekly as someone who had risen above her station in life to marry a man of substance. The Prophet and modesty could both go to hell at the same time, as far as she was concerned, but it would not do to say so.

Especially not to him. Age had not changed his nature, she was pleased to note, though it had leant his boyish good looks a certain edge. She decided immediately that she liked it.

“Of course,” Tamsin lied effortlessly. “I never miss them.”

Perhaps he would spot her in the stands and fly to her side like an old knight? She would tie a favour to his broomstick and everybody would see him single her out and oh, she was getting excited at the very thought!

“Will you look for me next time?”

  

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MJ made me sexy <3

Jack was not sure if she was being truthful. He liked to think he would have noticed her in the crowd but that was unrealistic. After all, he was intent on the game once on the pitch and had goal posts to guard on top of the large crowds. He smiled as she asked if he would search her out.

"I'll do you one better, I'll send you and yours tickets to the next match." Being captain now came with its own brand of perks, being able to invite a handful of friends to quality seats was certainly one of them.

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Tamsin felt a thrill at the gesture and was quite sure her cheeks had begun to blush. She didn’t give a flying fig about Quidditch, but that was hardly the point. Her job meant she got to rub shoulders with high society regularly but she never got to feel as though she was one of them – strolling into a Quidditch stadium with tickets personally put aside by the captain was far more like it!

“You’re too good to me,” she replied with a bright smile. “Especially when I have nothing to offer in return but an invitation to parties you are far more welcome at than I am.”

  

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MJ made me sexy <3

Jack felt like it had been entirely too long since he'd had a fun encounter such as this. A very mean part of him also hoped he would have a chance to actually one day single her out in a crowd and have it reach Jemimas ears. Would she burn with jealousy as Jack had when he had been told she was to wed? And had followed through? He had offered himself entirely and she had still chosen to marry that Greengrass bloke.

"Your mere presence is more than enough for me," he assured with a bright smile of his own. "Why, I fear you might even prove too distracting among the stands."

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Tamsin felt giddy with glee. She was a long practitioner of being precisely the person who someone wanted her to be (with admittedly middling results) but she never felt it a chore to be the bright, bubbly girl that she had been at school, who had been fond of Mr Humphrey-Mavis and wanted nothing more than to hang on his every word. Oddly, it didn’t even feel much like pretending.

“I’ll try my very best to blend into the crowd,” she teased, having no intention whatsoever of doing so. She hated to be bland, wearing black for the last few years had been as much a chore as burying her parents had been – at least the deaths had not cramped her style quite so much!

  

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MJ made me sexy <3

"It would be quite the feat for you to pull off the impossible," Jack said with a chuckle. She was a beautiful woman, he had always thought so. Even in Hogwarts during their awkward teen years, he had found her fetching enough to flirt with despite Zeldas negative opinion of Miss Skeeter. It had been a delight and a half to have been able to steal a kiss with her thanks to Peeves. An action he would not mind repeating.

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