March 9th, 1891 — Diagon Alley
@"Juliana Binns"

The problem with unplanned trips abroad was the unexpected stress over the final preparations. Her funds were limited and her stores of supplies (both magical and not) were depleted. Most ingredients for potions could be found abroad with little difficulty, but she hated leaving any country without her emergency bag being well stocked. It was the one task she forced herself to always follow through on, the one part of prepping for departure that she knew might one day save her.

In this case, Jo's emergency supplies were mostly stocked but her everyday ones were not. Her slippers, hair brush and a spare dress had all been abandoned in Zach's flat. She couldn't go back to retrieve them, not after ignoring every letter received and every indication that he was looking for her. For all she knew, he had closed his shop for the week and was sitting besides the floo waiting. Well, Zach could wait forever but it wouldn't change the facts: she betrayed him and their relationship, and he would be better off without her.

The dress would be replaced in Georgia, as she hadn't any time to wait for a tailor to put one together for her. The brush and slippers, though, were easier to replace, which was where Jo was heading towards when she was spotted by Juliana Binns.

Fuck.

Determined to ignore her lover's sister (especially when convinced that she looked as terrible as she felt, all hungover and the likes) Jo attempted to continue on past Juliana without a single hello.

  

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beautiful set by mj

To be perfectly honest, Zach's love life was not at the top of her priority list that week. She had a dozen other things on her mind. At home on her desk was a half-written scandal letter about Ellory Lestrange and Reuben Crouch, which she wasn't sure yet that she would even finish, much less send in to the hungry editors at Witch Weekly. More pressingly, she still had not responded to the letter she'd received signed Kieran Abernathy, and she knew that if she didn't manage to write something soon it would start to look strange. He'd ended his last letter with a question, as he often did; he clearly wanted a response. And besides those things, there was Lachlan MacFusty, and besides that, there was still her research and her work and her mother's bemoaning her recent scandal and her whole life, really. So when Zach said that something had happened with Jo, her first thought had been what inconvenient timing.

But she loved her brother, so she'd offered a sympathetic ear, at least. She could not offer much in the way of advice, because she was already operating at capacity and could not take on any more problems to fix — at least not until she had cleared some of her own. And, really, she didn't know what to say. She had expected... maybe not this, but something like this, since she'd discovered them in his flat prior to Christmas. The way that Jo had announced she was going to be leaving the country and her brother apparently hadn't heard about it yet had never settled with her into something that felt right. She knew Zach well, and it was obvious to her how much he cared about Jo Smith. She knew people well, too, and much as she tried to hide it, it had seemed apparent to her then that Miss Smith was... restless, perhaps. But saying well, it was going to happen sooner or later would not have comforted Zach, so she did not say anything at all, beyond nodding and making vague remarks of sympathy.

Then she spotted her, in Diagon Alley, and much as she would have preferred to have kept walking Juliana knew Zach would have wanted her to at least try. So: "Miss Smith," she called, overly cheerful. "Fancy running into you again."

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   Kieran Abernathy

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Prof. Marlowe Forfang

Jules

Jo ought to have pressed on, feigned ignorance and continued about her errands. There was less than taelve hours until her ship left (less than eight really) and she didn't really have much time to waste. If she had any hope of finishing her tasks, saying a proper goodbye to each of her siblings (accompanied by a false promise to write) then she really couldn't even spare five minutes. However, she knew Juliana to be persistent, if nothing else. And, given how close her and Zach were, it was plausible Jo's lover had already reached out to his sister.

Biting her tongue at Juliana's cheerfulness, Jo offered a tightlipped smile in return. "Morning, Miss Binns," she greeted, her tone clipped. "I take it you're on your way to work?"

  

"I take Tuesday mornings off, actually," she said brightly. It wasn't even a lie; she had a habit of trekking down to the Hogsmeade Market for fresh jams and baked goods, so unless there was something in the works at the House of Lytton that needed extra planning input, she handed the front desk off to one of the seamstresses every Tuesday. Of course, since the event with Lachlan MacFusty she wasn't at leisure to go strolling through markets on her own, anymore. She probably wouldn't be able to regain as much freedom as she'd had prior to that incident for several months, at least, and maybe for the better part of a year — even if her scheme worked and society forgot all about her, her mother wouldn't forget any time soon. So for now, there were no market trips in her future — just walking to her post box and back. She always checked it on Tuesdays, and more frequently if she was expecting anything of note, so this was a familiar habit as well.

"Just coming back from the post office," she said with a smile. "Can I walk with you?"

  

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Prof. Marlowe Forfang

Jules

Perfect! Jo all but growled in her head. Unlike Alfred, Juliana held no loyalties to her. Nothing shared could be trusted to remain between them, which meant mentioning that she was rather pressed for time wasn't going to work. Not if she had any hopes of escaping on her ship without some grand confrontation with Zach. Fucking hell.

"Oh how convenient," Jo muttered. It wasn't, at all. Damn it all, she really ought to have kept walking. "I'd hate to bore you, I'm just running some errands this morning." She continued, this time her tone lighter, almost touching on pleasant.

  

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beautiful set by mj

"You could never bore me," Juliana said, and although she did not really intend it as a compliment at the moment, the sentiment beneath it was not quite so vitriolic as it might have been. She did think Jupiter Smith was an interesting person, and had been quite delighted to get to know her over the past summer. Being inherently interesting could only get her so far, though, and Juliana's patience did not extend to cover her brother's heartbreak.

"What sorts of errands? I could use a few things myself," she continued; this was a lie, but Miss Smith didn't need to know that.

  

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Prof. Marlowe Forfang

Jules

Of course, Juliana would be perfectly pleasant and amiable. Should Jo explode with obscenities and excuses as she was dreaming to do she would be branded rude or crazy. But, Merlin! What was she to do? Spend the morning with Zach's sister when she was meant to be elsewhere? In that moment, Jo would've chosen confronting him than being kind to his sister.

"Just replenishing some supplies. Nothing major. Where were you heading to?" With that information, Jo could design an exit strategy to take her in the opposite direction.

  

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beautiful set by mj

She was being evasive, but two could play at that game. "Nowhere in particular," she said, voice practically buzzing with all of the false positivity she was shoving into it. She moved her hands to the pockets of her coat and swung her arms just slightly, as though she was enthused about this impromptu shopping trip.

"Zach's birthday is coming up," she said abruptly. It wasn't; it was in November. This was said mostly to provoke a response, and as a method of turning the conversation towards Zach in a way that anyone who overheard might not find particularly strange. "Do you have any plans?"

  

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Prof. Marlowe Forfang

Jules

"Do you mean Hugo's? Or one of your nieces or nephews?" Jo asked with some annoyance. Zach's birthday was in November, something Jo was acutely aware of as she ensured they spent the night wrapped in one another's arms. They hadn't been intimate, of course, her injury was too fresh then. But the facts remained that Juliana was lying.

"Is there something you'd like to say?" She asked in a low voice, accutely aware of their surroundings for the first time throughout the conversation.

  

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beautiful set by mj

Well, it had gotten a reaction, which was what she'd wanted. She tried not to focus too much on Miss Smith's audacity in suggesting she'd confused the birthdays of her own family. What would she know of Juliana's nieces and nephew? She clearly had no desire to know any of them, as evidenced by her reaction at Christmas to the very idea of ever meeting their mother. The reticence to make things more official could not have originated with Zach, Juliana was certain. Zach was too sentimental to have had ill intentions. Miss Smith, on the other hand, had only been dallying with his heart.

"Would you?" she asked, matching Miss Smith's volume. The veneer of amicability in her tone had disappeared, and she fixed an icy stare on the other woman.

  

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Prof. Marlowe Forfang

Jules

"Not a word." Jo spat venomously, her voice still low but above a whisper. Juliana's icy glare didn't affect Jo at all, for the spinster could hardly detest her more than she did herself. Breaking Zach's heart wasn't enjoyable; Jo hadn't sat around wondering how she might go about stringing him along and setting him up for this. Had she known what a random encounter in Virginia would bring she wouldn't have agreed to speak with him at all. Jo was wrecked over this decision, ruined even. She had even forced herself to abandon her best friend over it. No, she had nothing she wished to say to Juliana.

Nothing kind, anyway.

  

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beautiful set by mj

Oh, so that was the tone she intended to use with her? Juliana felt her metaphorical hackles raise. If they were going to just up and fight, she was perfectly capable of destroying Miss Smith, she thought. Her eyes lit up with anger, but she stopped herself from saying anything immediately. She remembered where she was: in the middle of Diagon Alley. She remembered when she was, which was more important: only a week out from having her scandalous story published in a magazine. She could not be seen bickering with a woman in the middle of the street; she could not afford to have those sorts of rumors compounding the ones she was already dealing with.

"And none for Zach, either?" she asked, fighting to keep her voice low. "You don't think he deserves a goodbye, before you run off into the sunset? Well, I hope whatever you're leaving for is worth it," she said tersely.

  

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Prof. Marlowe Forfang

Jules

Juliana might as well have slapped her, for it wouldn't have hurt any less. She was right, of course. Jo was acting the part of a coward in her fleeing the country, but what else was there to do? Too much had happened, too much was both said and unsaid, for her to be able to return to Zach with any optimism for a future. More than that, Jo didn't want a future. She wouldn't be a mother or a bride or anything other than the adventurer she was. Asking her to sacrifice that piece of herself — however mildly — might as well have been a mortal sin.

"I think that's between he and I." She retorted heatedly. "Unless you've been eavesdropping where you weren't invited again you really shouldn't speak on subjects you nothing of."

  

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beautiful set by mj

If she thought that the mention of eavesdropping was going to shame Juliana into being more reserved in what she said, Miss Smith was sorely mistaken. Yes, Juliana had listened in on a conversation between Jo Smith and her brother, but she would have done it again in a heartbeat. People couldn't really be trusted to be objective, when it came to matters of the heart, and Jules needed to have enough information to draw her own conclusions — particularly with someone as important to her as her brother was. So, yes, she was going to get information wherever she could, and she wasn't going to be embarrassed about it.

"If you say so," she said curtly. "But if you leave like this, you'd best not be back." It was as much a threat as anything coming from a such a small woman could be; Jules eyes were cold and her mouth drawn tight. "He's too good for this," she insisted. Zach was too good for most things in the world, she thought, so getting hurt was inevitable, but she could shield him from, she intended to. "I won't let you hurt him twice."

  

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Prof. Marlowe Forfang

Jules

"He is," Jo agreed in a heartbeat, her vulnerability shining through for a split second. It wasn't that she wished to hurt him or didn't want to ever speak to him again, Jo just couldn't see a path where this pain could be avoided. Even Alfred had given up, had all but told her to go. Even Alfred couldn't see a way through the mess she made. Jo turned her attention from Juliana, staring at the nearest shop awning. There was no one left aside from Zach who could pull her back, and Jo was too afraid to confront him. "I've always known that." She added defeatedly.

Sighing, Jo shifted on her feet. "I'll be gone by tomorrow. Hurting him twice isn't an option."

  

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beautiful set by mj

If it hadn't been Juliana's brother on the other end of this, the shift in tone might have made her feelings on the matter soften somewhat. If it had come earlier in the conversation, too, it might have had some effect — not enough for her to have forgiven the other woman for walking out on her brother, but maybe enough for her to have treated the remark with some sympathy. If she had seemed obviously regretful from the first, it might have made some difference. As it was, this was too little, too late; Juliana had not a shred of compassion left for Miss Smith.

"No, it isn't," she said sharply. And if you change your mind about it later, I'll know how to find you.

She took a step back and raised her voice back to its normal level, again brimming with feigned cheer. "Well, I wouldn't want to keep you," she said with a bright smile. This much was true; she rather wished the girl was already gone. Zach was too sentimental for this; he wouldn't get over her while there was still a chance of repairing things, so in order for him to move on the break really needed to be as clean as possible. If Miss Smith had no intention of repairing things — which she clearly did not — the only place for her was gone. "Happy travels, Miss Smith!"

  

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Prof. Marlowe Forfang

Jules