And although I know it's a long road back
I promise you
I'll be home for Christmas
You can count on me

After 11pm, December 25th, 1890 — Bartonburg

The spirit of Christmas had been entirely lost upon Fallon as the month of December crept past without much in the way of progress. Weeks of grunt work saw her slowly gaining the ring leader's trust, but, despite her every attempt otherwise, she still wasn't granted the information required to arrest the bastards. She sent Gabe what tips she could, intervened on the few trafficked girls she had any leeway with, but, mostly, Fallon had been forced to stand idly by as the sales relentlessly continued. She swore they would track them down once the investigation closed, that they would rescue them from their sad fates, but who knew what damage would be done by then? The girls were muggles, after all. With the amount of obliviation required to mend their minds they likely wouldn't have much of their former selves left.

The trend continued until late last night. With it being the holiday (truthfully, Fallon had lost all track of what the date was in her efforts to compartmentalize her work) the few people above her had been granted leave from the latest sale to spend time with their families. (The fact that criminals like these cared to spend time with relatives continued to astonish Fallon.) She'd been called in to protect the leader as the sale was made. Then, as soon as the money exchanged hands, she had rained the full power of the auror's office down upon them with an activated charm in her pocket. From there, it was hours of interrogations, reports, and, thankfully arrests.

She was granted leave around nine that night from the office, and from there it was a flurry of exhausted activity. Fallon stopped into her flat to both reassure Malou that she was, in fact, alive and well and to bathe the six weeks worth of grime off her body. Then, at long last, she floo'ed to Jesse's.

They hadn't parted on good terms, and, had she not spent the last six weeks in another version of hell, she might've reconsidered her late night visit. She might have thought to sleep and recover some before seeing him. Except, Fallon knew without a doubt that were the situation reversed, were she the one forced to wait on him for more than a month, a petty fight wouldn't stop her from wanting to see him. No, if anything, the fight would leave her wanting to see him all the more, if for no other reason than to have the chance to make up.

She moved through his flat as quiet as a mouse, tapping once on his bedroom door before letting herself inside. Tybalt had a lady friend, too, so she didn't wish to disturb whatever Christmas festivities he was presently engaged in. Closing the distance between the door and the bed, Fallon knelt besides his sleeping form and tapped his arm lightly. "Merry Christmas," she murmured, her wand held tight in her hand to deflect any surprised spells he might issue. Fallon had never snuck up on him like this, so anything was possible, really.

  

Christmas with the family had come and gone, a typical Hatchitt affair of loud talking, drinking, kids running around and nearly knocking over the tree, nothing at all out of the ordinary. Everything Jesse looked forward to and expected. It still left him exhausted and he was still a little grumpy that he hadn't heard anything from Fallon. Gabe had been mysteriously absent most of the day as well, only turning up to collect Molly and the sleeping gremlins from his mother's house shortly before Jess had left himself. He hadn't even had the energy to try and ask his brother any information about it. A few whiskeys in and lots of running around after his nieces and nephews had Jess every kind of tired there was.

So, he'd gone home and crashed hard. He was oblivious to any company Kirke might have, though knew she existed, but it was none of his business. They had an unspoken agreement just to let things exist as they were and leave it at that. They were all far over the line of propriety, so it wasn't like they would willingly say anything anyway.

The whiskey-induced sleep left him out cold, so he didn't hear the knock at the door or the whispered greeting. Belatedly he registered the voice, but thought he was dreaming. It wasn't unusual for him to dream of Fallon, though it ranged from some very vivid, incredibly frustrating visions to downright nightmares of whatever it was she'd gotten herself entangled in. He certainly wasn't lucid enough to do much more than grunt in response and roll over.

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The temptation to simply climb into bed and allow him to discover her in the morning was all too real as he grunted. She wasn't sure what she expected, but a drunk (if the scent of whiskey was anything to go by) knocked out Jesse wasn't anywhere near the top of her list. And, perhaps if it wasn't Christmas she might've done just that. But, it was, and seeing as she had no other gifts to give but the gift of her presence, Fallon was now determined.

She tapped, then shook his arm, each movement getting slightly more aggressive. Then, when that didn't work, she stood and leant over his pillow to sniff his breath, her long hair likely tickling his nose. It was definitely a whiskey induced sleep, and, if this situation wasn't so comical, she might've used magic to spur him awake. She certainly didn't have the patience to manage gentle wake up long term. A pitcher of cold water could do the trick, even. Merlin knew Jess could use it.

When the sniffing, prodding, and shaking didn't work, Fallon climbed onto the bed, straddling his bare back. If the weight of her body didn't wake him, she was definitely getting the pitcher. "Jess, wake up. I'm back." She instructed again, this time in a firmer tone than before.

  

To say Jesse slept like he was dead, especially under the influence, would be an understatement. He'd always had the ability to fall asleep anywhere and without concern for being woken up. It had been a bad trait to have in school certainly, but he'd learned to manage and bribed a house elf or two to help when he was really tired from quidditch.

The poking and the prodding was going unnoticed as he slumbered on, sleeping through her best efforts to be gentle about it. Gentle didn't often work with a sleeping Jesse. His mother had definitely slapped him more than once when he couldn't be roused. It was funny really.

Though he usually didn't dream while this out of it, he was vaguely aware of Fallon's presence subconsciously, thinking it a dream, but unable to do much about it, he continued to treat it as such. He rolled again, onto his side, knocking Fallon from her perch. He could feel the weight of her in the bed which was comforting and so he wrapped his arm around her like he would any other night and pulled her tight against him, all in his sleep.

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Bloody hell!

How many women had Jesse slept alongside that unexpectedly snuggling up to one wasn't enough to immediately rouse him?! She liked to believe that even whilst drunk people had their wits about them enough to deter such a situation, but evidently not. Fallon struggled against his grasp, her hands warm on his chest as she pushed, until she realized she wouldn't escape without the use of magic. Tightening her grip on her wand, Fallon levitated his arm off her, escaped and summoned a pitcher.

If he was going to sleep with a whole plethora of women as he had with her, then she had no regrets about dousing him in frigid water. Fallon dipped her finger in the water to ensure it was icy cold and, once satisfied that it was as cold as the Black Lake, dumped it unceremoniously over his head and back.

  

The comfort of having dream!Fallon curled up next to him knocked him completely out, no more hallucinating or pseudo-dreaming. He was out.

That was until he felt the cold water splash across him like an icy blast and suddenly he was very much awake.

"What the fuck!?" It came out in a hoarse whisper as he sat bolt upright, nearly springing off the bed altogether, far too discombobulated to even think about grabbing his wand or swinging or anything really. Goosebumps had erupted all over his body, the cold really sinking in and he tried to process what had just happened. He grabbed the a dry part of the sheets to wipe the drips running down his face for some kind of clarity. It was after he could see, his eyes adjusting to the dark, that he realized Fallon real, live, actual Fallon had been the one to douse him from his drink-fueled death sleep.

Well shit.

Instinct and longing took over as he reached out, pulling her against him once more, intentionally this time, ignoring the fact that his bed was drenched and he was too. The kiss was full of a month and half's pent up frustration as he wound one arm tightly around her, the other hand tangling tight into her hair. The feeling of her soft and warm against him felt like a balm to a wound, the missing piece to the puzzle back at last. Finally.

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The water did the trick, thank Merlin. Fallon stifled a laugh as he shot out of bed, nearly knocking her off her feet in the process. She ought to have warmed and dried him, but, truthfully, she was irked by the accusatory thoughts she'd had not even a minute prior. Fallon always knew him to not be a virgin, he was too experienced to be, but she didn't think his experience went that far. A few brothels maybe, as men were like to do. Snuggling, though, that was another realm entirely.

That was, at least, until he pulled her into his arms and kissed her as though he was a man starved. Her night shirt was soaked through from the water dripping down his chest. She returned the kiss with equal fervour, taking in every piece of him that she missed.

Once the chill became too much a distraction for the kiss to continue, Fallon pulled back, though made sure to stay within his grasp. "I tried to be nice about it. You sleep like a corpse." She chuckled. "Merry Christmas."

  

Though he knew, rationally, that he could not make up for the six weeks worth of longing in a few moment's time, he was certainly going to try. He huffed out a breath as she pulled back, refusing to let her get too far from his grasp.

"Ha, I was dreaming about you." Maybe that's why she'd subconsciously snuck into his dream, she was already in his bed and he was simply dreaming about it like an idiot. "Merry Christmas." Was it even still Christmas at this point? He'd hardly paid any attention to the clock upon unceremoniously dumping himself into bed, but he supposed it didn't quite matter. "Best present." He chuckled quietly as he kissed her more softly this time.

"The water was a little overkill though." He added as he reached for his wand to dry everything off.

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Well, that certainly reassured her a bit. A dream about her was a good a reason as any to pull her in for a snuggle like that. "A good dream, I hope?" She asked teasingly.

Once dried, Fallon retracted herself from his grasp and sat on the edge of the bed. After nearly forty-eight hours of activity, she was exhausted and too weary to continue standing. Now, the only thing keeping her awake was the minor adrenaline rush waking Jesse had provided. "The water was entirely necessary," she laughed, feeling not the least bit guilty about it. "I even climbed onto your back and you did not wake. Just curled into me like I was a warm pillow."

  

"Always," She didn't need to know about the spectrum of dreams he'd had about her over the last few weeks. They'd ended with her leaving on somewhat poor terms and he felt guilty about it, which probably didn't help, but he also knew she was going into some mysterious, dangerous situation so his psyche was playing tricks on him. It was a slow drowning.

Jess laughed, "Yeah, I've always had the problem. Asleep anywhere at any time through anything. Especially when drunk." He'd sobered up a little before bed, but not enough to prevent him from practically dying in his sleep. "I mean that is where I'd prefer you were." He chuckled again, settling himself on the bed next to her, refusing to be any further apart that touching her in some way now that she was indeed back.

"You alright?" He asked, albeit a little hesitantly. He'd given her a once over after she'd sat down, but couldn't see anything other than the fatigue on her features in the dim light of his room.

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"Duly noted." It was rare that Fallon drank enough to fall into a dreamless sleep, and became even more of a rarity since becoming a full fledged auror. She didn't enjoy not having her wits about her, nor did she have any desire to resemble her parents.

She leant her head down on his shoulder, needing a limited distance between them just as much as he. It'd been a long six weeks, and there was much of it that she had yet to fully process. "Yeah, I'm fine. No injuries or anything." There wasn't much about the case she could tell him, not yet anyway. Once the trial was done she would be able to be more open about the happenings. "I got the information we needed last night, it's just been a long day, is all." His brother had been there, too, so she was surprised Jesse didn't know much about it. "Very happy to be back, though." Home, she was very happy to be home.

  

Jess chuckled, surprised she hadn't noticed his coma-like state on the occasions she'd spent the night. He wound an arm around her running his fingers absentmindedly up and down her arm. The relief that she was alright and that her assignment seemed to be at and end was overwhelming, but what, until the next one? It still didn't sit right with him, but now was not the time to bring it up. Their argument before she left still rang in his ears and caused a bit of panic. To have her here, right next to him was all he needed at the moment.

"I can imagine." He hadn't any idea what she'd been through, nor would he likely ever know the extent of it, just like the arctic. Good thing he was a pro at burying any and all unwanted feelings for as long as necessary. "Happy to have you back." Happy didn't quite cover it. Elated. Thrilled. Relieved all were more accurate. "I'm sorry everything was messy before you left." Jess didn't really know how to describe it outside of that and it felt like so long ago at this point, but he wanted her to know he was sorry for it.

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Messy didn't quite cover the way they left things. The tension that rippled beneath the surface during her birthday celebrations came to an ugly head just two days before she was set to leave. Her job was dangerous, there was no denying that fact, but it was who she was. It was all she had worked for, all she wanted. To ask her to reconsider it all was a grave insult.

What was worst was that Fallon knew his opinion remained unchanged. Jesse still, like so many others, doubted her capabilities. He saw the danger, the criminals, the dark side of it all, and not all the training she had undergone to withstand it. Out of all those who applied her year, only her and one other had finished the training. Two. That was it. Surely, that had to speak to her skills in some degree?

Fallon didn't want to get into it again now. Not when she was as exhausted as she was. "I'm sorry too, but we can talk about it tomorrow." Or the next day, or the week after that. Fallon didn't particularly want to revisit it anytime soon. "Would it be alright if we slept? I want to talk to you, catch up and everything. I'm just ... so bloody tired."

  

He wasn't in the mood to have the discussion-likely-to-turn argument right now again either. Jess was meticulous in what he said to Fallon where her job was concerned and things had still blown up in his face. "Of course." He was far from sleep now, thanks to water and the fact that she was here next to him, but she looked exhausted and that was enough for him to drop the subject until another time.

Scooting back on the bed, he rearranged the pillows so she had one for herself and eased himself back on his side, leaving her room to get comfortable. At least he could relax with the knowledge she was safe in bed with him. Staring at the ceiling for the next few hours wouldn't be so bad.

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Fallon wasted no time in climbing into bed alongside him. She laid facing him, her face buried into his chest, arm wrapped tight around his middle. The position wasn't as comfortable as sleeping facing away from him might've been, but she was just as desperate as him for the physical reminder that she was home.

Home. Jesse was her home. And with that thought drifting through her head, Fallon immediately fell asleep.