May 4th, 1894 - Flower Show
Podmore Zoological Gardens

Jack hadn't been to the zoo in quite some time, but he and Emerson had always enjoyed it when they had come in the past. It was a pity that the first years were not included in the Hogsmeade visits, because he thought his son would have been enthralled by the day's events, but he supposed they could always come back during the summer. There always seemed to be some new exhibit or baby creatures to see whenever they came.

The late afternoon sun was warm and as Jack ventured through the magical section of the zoo, he kept pausing to read the signs that accompanied the arches of flowers and plants from each habitat. He was currently planted at the thunderbird's enclosure, looking closely at the different cacti and desert flowers arranged near the enclosure. His travels hadn't included much of the United States, but he was thinking perhaps that was a bit of a shame. The thunderbird, though it was obvious one of her wings was malformed, was quite the sight to behold. That she had a hippogriff companion was amusing though, the two very different in appearance but somewhat similar in background.

He was reading the plaque with the information about both the flora and fauna before him, humming along as he absorbed the interesting information. Ever the scholar, Jack enjoyed learning about the creatures and their habitats, especially when he hadn't seen one in person before. Quite a few he had personal experience with, some good, some bad, but from the safe distance and a solid fence between them, he was relaxed about the whole thing. As he turned to admire the shimmering feathers of the thunderbird, Jack was surprised to see Mrs. Rowle at the next exhibition down. He hadn't seen her since removing Elliott's stitches, so rather thought, at the very least, he should check in to see how the boy was doing. "Mrs. Rowle," he greeted with a deep nod of his head. "Enjoying the festivities?" He asked, looking around to see if she was accompanied by her children or not. "I do not believe the zoo has any clabberts on display today, thankfully." He chuckled.

---

Evangeline Rowle

  

---

Evangeline thought the zoo at this time was probably the best compromise for family time--she had wanted to see the flowers. Her children had wanted to see the creatures. Of course, it was hardly their first trip to the zoo--Eva was nothing if not encouraging of her children's interests, and to be honest, she enjoyed viewing the exhibits herself.

She was standing at one of the plaques, keeping one eye on the twins who were leaning against the barrier for a better view. They weren't in any immediate danger, but obviously she was being appropriately vigilant.

Turning at the sound of her name, Evangeline smiled when she recognized the source. "Mr. Collins. Thankfully the festivities are plenty exciting without incurring any injuries this time."

---

  

---

Set by Bee <3

"We should endeavor to keep it that way, I haven't any supplies with me." Jack jested lightly. His wand was often enough for any small situation, but most things creature-related were rarely small. Even his wild foray at the post office a couple months ago had proved that he should simply carry an emergency kit around with him.

He spotted Elliott nearby, with whom Jack assumed was his twin, eagerly looking at the nearby exhibit. "I trust there's been no issues with the healing, then?" The bite had looked good, minimal scarring when Jack had removed the sutures but one never knew. He hadn't heard from Mrs. Rowle between then and now either, which was a good indicator, but he felt the need to check.

---

  

---

"Even our hardest working healers need a day off," Evangeline said with a smile. She looked back at her children--who, thankfully, had not gotten into mischief in the time she'd turned away to speak to Mr. Collins. She wouldn't have put it past them. "Thankfully, no. The real struggle has been avoiding new and exciting injuries." She laughed. "But, as I'm sure you know, such is the nature of raising children."

---

  

---

Set by Bee <3

"I would be out of a job if there weren't new and exciting injuries, but I know what you mean indeed." Emerson was an active child and had his fair share of normal bumps and bruises, thankfully no major injuries. Or at least nothing Jack couldn't take care of himself. That was certainly a perk of being a healer as a parent.

"And yourself?" Jack ventured, equally as interested in how Mrs. Rowle was doing. "No Mr. Rowle today?" Jack couldn't remember if they'd spoken of her husband in their hospital visit, but he realized he probably should. Jack tended to forget that he probably shouldn't be chit chatting with married women, but since he sort of knew her, it was fine, right?

---

  

---

"Oh. Ah..." There was, of course, no easy way to bring up a dead husband in conversation. "No, I'm afraid. Mr. Rowle passed some years ago." She looked away, towards the habit. The move was mostly so she didn't have to school her expression into something appropriate. Evangeline, of course, had never bothered to make it a secret that she had hated her husband. But still, and good riddance to him was the not the sort of thing one just said.

She cleared her throat. "And you? Is Mrs. Collins with you?" He wasn't obviously with anyone, of course, but perhaps she had lingered behind, or gone on ahead. Surely changing the subject was the least awkward option here.

---

  

---

Set by Bee <3

Jack knew that pause very intimately. And he regretted asking. He should have known better. It was always such a strange thing to have to explain the loss of a spouse. "My condolences on your loss." It was a phrase that had been said to him far too many times to count and it still felt hollow, being on the giving end, but it didn't change the sentiment. Looking away himself for a moment, he missed any expression that may have crossed Mrs. Rowle's face as she shared the news.

"I'm afraid that is something we have in common," it was not something Jack thought should bring people together, but here they were. "My wife passed away with our daughter almost nine years ago now." In the wake of losing Lena, Jack sometimes forgot to mourn for the child that was lost in the miscarriage as well. Sometimes he wondered how she would have grown up, if she'd have had Lena's courage or his eyes. It came in waves, but it always brought that same dry feeling to his mouth.

Clearing his throat, trying to push past the inevitable awkwardness, he continued, "And unfortunately Emerson is still at school, but I thought it would be interesting to venture out. I used to travel quite a bit, so anything international always piques my interest." It was a much safer topic and Jack had grown accustomed to doing things by himself these days. No sense in missing out simply because he did not have company.

---

  

---

"I'm sorry," Eva said, because it was the appropriate thing to say and she sensed it was more appropriate a thing to say to him than it was to herself. It was one of the few things she was grateful for, she supposed--she could not imagine losing a spouse she had even a small amount of affection for. And she couldn't bear thinking about what it must be like to lose a child at all.

"I've always been a bit jealous of people who are well-traveled," Evangeline said, glad for the change of subject. "The farthest I have traveled is Dublin, I think. But people always have so many interesting stories when they return from travels."

---

  

---

Set by Bee <3

Passing Mrs. Rowle a wry smile, Jack had always been sort of bad at accepting condolences, even now, almost a decade later. In the beginning it felt like accepting her death, which took him a lot longer than he ever would have anticipated. Now, though he knew Mrs. Rowle was genuine, it felt too late. It was why he didn't think about it too much and was glad for the change in conversation.

"I had brief visions of being a magizoologist and I was afforded a year after graduation to travel." It had been good for him, a young gent with no sure direction and no desire to be stuck behind a desk. He'd learned more in that year than the last several at Hogwarts, but he had always been a more practical learner, had to get his hands dirty to truly grasp the concepts. "It is never to late to take a trip. I might take Emerson somewhere relatively nearby this summer." It would be a fun way to reconnect after his son's first year at school and they had talked about it before. Just a quick little jaunt to the continent or Mediterranean for a few days. Give the staff the time off too, everybody would enjoy it.

"And Dublin is lovely in the spring." He added softly with a smile.

---

  

---

"You're right," Eva said thoughtfully. "Perhaps I'll follow your lead and take the children somewhere. Especially now, when there's still time before they're off to school." She looked over at the twins, who were presently standing with their heads bent and whispering to each other, no doubt conspiring to do some mischief that Eva ought to keep an eye on. The smile that crosses her face was fond. "I do think it's important to expose children to different experiences before they go to school, if you have the option," she said.

---

  

---

Set by Bee <3

Nodding, pleased with her agreement, Jack found himself fixing a better smile to his features as he regarded Mrs. Rowle, especially as she looked at her children. "Yours will have quite the tales to tell of travels and brave encounters with creatures, no doubt." There was much to learn about oneself when traveling, simply being immersed in a different culture and its language, its food, its people. Now he was getting nostalgic for a variety of reasons.

"Perhaps we can cross paths and I will serve as a tour guide." He was mostly kidding. Though Jack liked his life well enough, and his job, he did miss that thrill of travel and sharing it with people. "Where is it you would go, if you could go anywhere?" Jack had quite a few places he would still like to explore in the world; it was so large after all and he thought it said something interesting about a person's desire to visit a particular place over another.

---

  

---

Evangeline laughed. "I'm sure we would appreciate the help," she said, matching his tone. Still, she gave his next question some actual thought before saying, "I think I'd like to go somewhere with a lot of history. Egypt comes to mind first, so I suppose there." She smiled wryly. "That, and the desert climate might be a nice change of pace."

---

  

---

Set by Bee <3

Jack was a little surprised by her answer. Somewhere with a history wasn't typically what most people traveled for, but he could appreciate the thought immensely. "I've never been." He admitted, thinking back on his travels. "Farther south in Africa to study tebos, but I bet it is fascinating." All of his travels had been for research, so he could easily get behind taking a trip purely for the history. "I hear the pyramids are especially interesting." He knew Gringotts cursebreakers did a lot of work down there, but he had only crossed paths with them in South America. Perhaps it was time he did some reading up on Egyptian history.

"I should like to go to the Pacific Northwest of the Americas, I think. I haven't seen that section of the world." It was largely unexplored, uninhabited and he preferred places where the native folk still had their lands. Plus he loved forests of any kind.

---

  

---

It probably said something about the sort of company Evangeline was used to keeping that she was so pleased to have someone appreciate her less-than-conventional answer. She smiled. "I think it must be fascinating to be in a place with such a long history," she said. "Think of all the people who have walked the same paths before you." It made her think of Hogwarts, a place she'd spent more time happy than not.

"I confess I don't know much about the Pacific Northwest," Evangeline said. "But I've heard it's beautiful there."

---

  

---

Set by Bee <3

Listening, Jack nodded along, a fond sort of smile curling his lips; he found himself enjoying her answer more than expected. He could certainly appreciate that though process. "It's wet," Jack admitted with a smile. Living here though, it was not, he supposed, all that different. "But the forests are dense and lush and there are quite a few creatures hiding in there." That was usually the draw for him, had been what he enjoyed about South America so much.

"There are Native tribes there too, I would like to hear their stories on the creatures." Creatures were fascinating to him, obviously, otherwise he wouldn't have chosen the occupation that he had, even if it didn't deal with then directly. What he also enjoyed was the culture and the myths surrounding the creatures. "Muggles have such fascinating explanations for the existence of magical creatures, not entirely unlike the Egyptians and the Sphinx." Jack was an academic beneath the adventure, but perhaps the two did not have to be mutually exclusive.

---

  

---

"They do," Evangeline agreed. It was nice, honestly, to hear such a viewpoint from someone else. She had spent more of her life than she'd have liked surrounded by people who struggled to view muggles as fully-fledged people. Eva herself was hardly an expert--she did still live in Hogsmeade, and as a result had little meaningful interaction with muggles, so perhaps she didn't really have room to judge. Still. She appreciated hearing the sentiment from someone else.

"Sometimes I think that some things are so integral to our lives that it's hard to imagine what it must be like to have never had it," Eva said thoughtfully. "I can't imagine not knowing about magic, so I don't know that ideas muggles come up with would occur to me, which makes them more fascinating."

---

  

---

Set by Bee <3