May 25th, 1894 - Grimstone Residence

Now that they had been home for near a month and the flower show was over, Daff could finally find the time to focus on her own new garden. Elias had put up a small greenhouse for her in the back corner and she was already in love with everything about it. Their pumpkin plants were beginning to come up, little leaves curling through the dirt and now Daff was tasked with figuring out what to do with the rest of the space. It was a challenge she was looking forward to and ready for. Outside she knew how to take up space, how to take what she envisioned and make it a reality. Inside she was struggling to find her place and she hoped it didn't show too much.

Today she needed the familiar comfort of the sunshine and fresh air. She'd woken this morning feeling a little grumpy and achy and hoped it was just the fatigue from figuring out a new routine. Fortunately she did not have to go into the shop and had dressed in an old, comfortable cotton dress and snuck out into the garden to see if she couldn't start figuring out what she wanted to do. Elias had taken to keeping the pumpkins and the few other things she had foisted upon him early in their acquaintance and she was pleased that everything was thriving still. The honeysuckle bush would bloom soon and Daff envisioned putting in some more in along that section of the fence. Maybe some garden roses to accompany in bright color. She wanted a little arbor in the corner opposite the greenhouse that she could put some trumpet vines along, or maybe some wisteria; maybe she could put a little bench there to read. She also wanted a little section of wildflowers and perhaps a little space for a cut flower garden. It was all coming together in her head at any rate. Oh! And her saplings, she needed space for those as well.

Sitting square in the middle of the space, Daff had a piece of parchment and a quill, scribbling down the things she would need to get from either hers or her mother's shop to get it all to work. First she wanted rows upon rows of tulips and daffodils like she and Elias had seen in the Netherlands while away. A whole bunch of color and everything coming up at different times so something was always in bloom. Her hair hung in a loose braid over her shoulder as she sketched out a rough estimate of what she was planning, which was of course how Jack found her as he came through the gate. Hearing it close behind him was the cue she finally caught on to as she looked up at him. "Jack!" She squealed as she jumped up to greet him.

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Jack Dorset

  

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Jack hadn't seen her since the wedding. He knew it was only a month ago but it felt much longer. And if it weren't for Mrs. Potts he wouldn’t be there today, standing sheepishly at another man's garden wall. He never knew all the rules but he knew enough to know that things were very different now.

Past the wall he found her exactly where he would've expected to find her if he thought to expect anything. And it was lucky he did too. Finding her outside in the garden saved him from having to knock on Mr. Grimstone's door potentially needing to tell Mr. Grimstone that he was here looking for his wife. The grimace on his face at that thought was short lived when she greeted him so enthusiastically.

He smiled and held out the small box he'd been carrying. "Your mum asked me to bring this 'round. I guess some if your post still goes there."

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The offered box was in her way, so she took it in one hand before flinging herself at him in a tight hug. It felt like a lifetime since she'd seen him and that was strange. They used to spend so much of their free time together, but a lot had changed in the last few months. They'd been adults for a while now, but it felt like they'd actually bothered to grow up now and she wasn't sure how she felt about it.

Still, she could enjoy his company now, hopefully he'd stay for a few minutes. "Thank you for bringing it by, I didn't realize things were still going there." She expected things to go to London, but she was at the shop anyway, that wasn't a big deal. It would take a bit for people to get used to sending things here instead, she suppose. Sometimes she forgot she lived here now too.

Daff was glad her mum was still taking good care of Jack, which of course she could do now too. Being back in Hogsmeade meant he could come by for dinner or pick up treats from any of them that lived there. "I'm happy to see you, I've missed you." Daff sighed as she stepped back, looking down at the box in hand before looking back up at him. "Can you stay for tea?"

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The 'oof' she squeezed from him was partly from surprise partly from the force of it. He thought everything had changed, that it had to now that she was married, but she didn't make it seem like it. He didn't know what to do with the sense of relief he felt other than hug her right back.

He could only nod along when she talked about missing him. He had missed her too but was only now realizing how much. And it had only been a month. What was that to the rest of their lives?

Then the invite for tea came. He looked at the front door that was neither the Potts family home nor her London shop and hesitated. He had no reason to say no and normally he wouldn't want to but he had trouble shaking the feeling that he didnt belong there.

"If you think its alright."

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   Daffodil Grimstone

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"Don't be silly, of course it's alright." Daff said as she tugged him toward the back door of the house, leaving her sketches and notes in the middle of the garden for her to come back to later. As far as she knew Elias was in the workshop, but she didn't want to bother him and she wanted Jack's company all to herself for now. "It's my house too, you know." It was, even if she was still figuring that out for herself. It was a strange thing, to go from visiting somewhere in varying stages of frequency, to living there full time and she certainly hadn't mastered it yet, but she would figure it out. It would feel like home eventually.

She ushered him straight into the kitchen and set the package down before putting the kettle on. Admittedly, she didn't spend a lot of time in here, they had a housekeeper-of-all-trades and a regular maid, but Daff had lived on her own for a bit and was fairly competent in the kitchen. Not needing to was a gift however. The little kitchen was bright and homey, flowers tucked in various places, a vase of tulips on the kitchen table where she gestured for Jack to take a seat. Daff pulled cups and bisquits from the cabinets and set them on the table before joining him. "Tell me all about what you've been doing." She felt a little disconnected and she desperately wanted to change that. Daff folded herself comfortably into the chair, taking a deep breath to ward off a little nausea, trying to give Jack her full attention.

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It being her house didn't do anything for the nagging feeling that maybe he shouldn't be there but he couldn't think reason not to go in. And he didn't want to. Jack let himself be ushered in and sat at the table, taking in the kitchen while she went about making tea. From the outside the house looked like any other unremarkable house in Hogsmeade. If he were on patrol he might not give it a second glance, but now that he was looking for it... he could see little touches he guessed she added.

He shrugged. "Just working." He couldn't remember the last time they'd really talked but there wasn't a lot going on anyways. "Did I tell you I got a new flatmate? That's still work though - the old one got arrested."

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With the kettle on the stove for a few minutes, Daff eased into a comfortable position, elbows on the table, chin in her hands as she looked him over. It felt weird to say, but he looked different somehow, she just couldn't put her finger on it. She wasn't too worried about it either. Daff just wanted to settle into their typical comfortable conversation and soak it up.

"Arrested?" Daff half-laughed, half-gasped. "You most certainly did not tell me that." How ironic that the roommate of a constable got arrested? That must have been something awkward indeed. "Did you have to arrest him?" The question was out of her mouth before she could stop it and she just looked at him with wide eyes and raised brows.

He was saved for a moment by the kettle and she moved to pour the hot water into an actual teapot for the table, resuming her very interested position and line of inquiry.

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"No, thank Merlin." he said pushing back in his chair dramatically. "Bit awkward getting questioned in my own constabulary..." he blew out a breath, puffing his cheeks for a moment, before letting the seat fall back to all four legs. "But I was cleared."
  
"Turns out he was fencing mooncalf dung." He couldn't help a slight grin. "I just thought he was a bit smelly."

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Daff grimaced appropriately at the part about being questioned. She remembered that experience after the break in at the shop and she knew that Jack's had probably been far less dire, but it was nerve-wracking nevertheless. "Of all the things." She shook her head, giving the tea more time to steep before she poured them both a cup. "How unfortunate though, will you find another roommate?" She wasn't sure if Jack needed one to stay where he was or not, and unfortunately she couldn't let the flat above the shop to him at the moment, but she hoped he would be able to figure it out.

"Hopefully one who smells a little better." She added with a chuckle, adding a little honey to her tea before taking a tentative sip.

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"Ah, yep. Moved in a few days ago." he said with a wave of his hand. Bachelors with some money (but not too much) and in need of a place to live were easy to come by. Just not so easy to keep around for long. "I'll tell you his name when I remember it." he added with a grin. Jack didn't tend to make friends with his flatmates, in fact it felt like he rarely saw them more than in passing. That was fine by him.

"And what of you, then?" the simple conversation had put him at ease enough to put on his good manners to ask. "All settled in?" His eyes swept the kitchen again, trying to see it as hers. To see her at home there.

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"Well that was quick." She chuckled. As long as he wasn't too put out about it and things were covered, she supposed that was all that mattered. Daff hadn't had to look too hard to find a flatmate when she was living above the shop, so she was glad that it was the same for Jack.

Fixing her tea, she leaned forward with the cup in both hands. "No, not really." She answered honestly. It had only been a couple of months, but she still hadn't been able to figure out how to find her footing in the house. "Moving into a place someone else has already lived is sort of weird. I don't really know what to do with myself." The honestly came easily with Jack, he was her best friend, and she hadn't said as much to anyone else. "I'm sure I'll figure it out though." Hopefully it would get easier with time.

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Her 'no' made him stop short in his tea-making activities.  He didn't even noticed the water that was missing his cup in favor of the saucer and table.  He shot her a concerned questioning look before setting the teapot down.  He was allowed to be unsure but it never occurred to him that she could be anything but confident and certain. 

"You're good though, right?" he asked seriously, hand still wrapped around the handle of the teapot.  "You're still glad you - did it?"

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Apparently she had been a little too blunt. Daff cleaned up his mess with a wave of her wand. "Don't burn yourself." She chided gently.

"Of course," she said emphatically. Daff was extremely happy to be where she was. "I think I just got used to living in my own space, it's strange to share again." There was however, nothing better than getting to fall asleep next to Elias each night. He had lived in this house for a while though, and she just wasn't sure where she fit in, exactly. Daff had hoped it would be a little easier, she supposed, but it had only been a couple of months since they'd come home from their honeymoon and that had gone splendidly, so they just needed to adjust. "It's more like I don't know where to put my things, than anything else." Her books, her jewelry box, other little keepsakes, they were all tucked in the bottom of her wardrobe for lack of a better place to put them at the moment.

Shrugging, she took a sip of her tea before continuing, "I think it's normal. I'm just being me and overthinking it." Wasn't that the truth.

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Jack looked down as his cup clinked about, only then registering that he'd spilled.  He lifted his hands out of the way of the cleaning process but it turned into an open palmed-shrug.  He couldn't help it; he'd had to ask.

"Maybe its the same for him?" he hedged, going back to fixing his tea with all the determination of student returning to their studies after being caught off task.  He didn't know Mr. Grimstone past the times he'd run into him at Potts gatherings, but Jack could find peace for her.  "When you - when we might've -"  he huffed a laugh.  Finding words for the arrangement she'd suggested once was harder than it should've been. "I tried to work out what it'd be like if you moved in."

He lifted his cup, looking at her over the rim with amusement.  "My flat's much smaller than this."

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   Daffodil Grimstone

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Daff hadn't asked, but maybe Jack had a point. It was a strange sort of dance she was tiptoeing around, but she would find the rhythm soon enough. She had to remind herself that it would take time, nothing was instant or perfect, even if she wanted it to be.

Her smile softened at his mention of their little agreement. She hadn't thought about it in a while, had always been somewhat relieved that it was only half a joke, if they wound up needing it. "I think we would have found something small for the two of us." Her flat had been small too, though a little larger than his, and more private, but they would have made it work. There was a difference there though. They had grown up together, moved in sync better, Daff knew how to move around him and with him. She would get there with Elias, it would get easier, it would just take some more time.

"But now you do not have to deal with my things all over the place, lucky you." She teased lightly, picking up her tea.

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