Are we last-call kissing or will we be reminiscing with each other for the next forty years?
_{Are we written in the stars, baby, or are we written in the sand?}

Sunday’s were his lazy day. He didn’t have much to do other than grade some papers and get the douche’s ready for their projects for the end of the semester. He wasn’t really looking forward to it this term, but his head was full of so much other shit that he didn’t really want to deal with them. He had two classes in the morning and then he could go home and nap or grade papers. he could, theoretically, grade those papers tonight, but he was procrastinating. He didn’t feel like dealing with the idiocy that some of them only seemed capable of spitting out. It wasn’t his fault that some of them couldn’t tell the difference between a vector and a valance? He understood that the maths was a large part of all of it, but if they could not do the work, they needed to drop their classes because he did not take pity on them. He refused to give into things that he didn’t need to do and, frankly, it was so much more fun to give them hell than to let them have their way.

Maybe it was a lot of his bitterness when it came to Gracie that was sort of coming through, but he didn’t know. There had been so much time in between when they had been together, for five years, and now. Two years apart and he had not changed, he did not change the ideals of what he wanted or the goals for his life. He wanted marriage, he wanted kids, the whole semi-happy ending that his family mostly had. He wanted to wake to a face that he loved, and play with kids in a home that he built, a home full of love, laughter, and light. He wanted the dream, and maybe it was too much. Maybe he was wishing for things that he had no right to wish for, but the fact that after two years she had let him hope for a moment that things might go his way, that maybe she had changed her mind. Merlin, he hated her now.

But, he tried to not focus on her, or on the past. She was no longer worth the love that he had once carried for her. She was, sadly, not someone that was worth the love that he was trying to give her and even as time passed, he feared this would not change. So, he had told her that he wasn’t going to try again. If he had to try and convince her that he was worth loving, then it wasn’t worth it. He got a trolly and began doing his usual shopping but stopped as he put a box of cereal in his basket when someone beside him dropped something.

It sounded like keys, bending down he picked them up and held them out for the blonde woman with a small smile. ”Ye know, one of these days I’m no’ gonna be here to pick things up when ye drop them.” He joked to the blonde. He had seen her around a few times before, held the door for her at Flourish and Blotts, handed her a scarf and a bag she had dropped in Godric’s. ”Maybe now, I can learn yer name?” His smile was small but there was a warmth in his eyes, and dare he think it, but was that….. a skip in his heart?

tag: @sophia // words: 573 // OUTFIT

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Sophia never imagined her life would turn out the way it had. She was so grateful to have Audrey but she knew she struggled some days to keep together. She was human and some days her emotions overtook her. Audrey was too young to understand what her mother was going through. No one would blame the little girl if she was confused about why her mum would sometimes stare out the kitchen window or would sit on the couch and watch Garfield sleep at times. It had been Tiwaz who had brought the cat home. She couldn’t bring herself to give him away when Tiwaz had been killed. She knew that was never the answer. Plus it had appeared that he got along well with her daughter. Audrey had already lost her father, she would never want to upset her further by taking the cat away too.

Sophia had grown up without a father for the first ten years of her life and since Erik had married her mum, she had considered him to be pretty much her father even if they didn’t share any genes. He had never treated her any different from Penny and she appreciated that. He had supported just as much as her own mother and with everything she had ever done. Even when she had lived in France a few years ago. Sophia had considered moving back to France when she had lost her fiancé but she knew she would miss her family too much and it wasn’t going to be fair on Audrey to take her away from all the people who cared about her. She knew that Jeremy would miss her to even if he was younger than her and wouldn’t be able to understand his best friend had moved to another country.

She loved to watch the two kids together. They got along but they also had their disagreements. The blond witch marvelled at how patient Audrey was when it came to her daughter. She saw so much of her father in her and it warmed her heart while making it ache at times too. She knew he would be so proud of their daughter. Sophia liked to think he was looking down on Audrey and grinning from ear to ear.

The woman was just out to get a few groceries with Audrey at the Copelands for lunch with Jeremy. She knew that she shouldn’t be rushing around when she had no need to do so. She was in safe hands after all with Samuel and Calli. The best part was that her daughter now had a new cat to play with since they had Allan now. The woman turned the aisle of the grocer and stopped and cursed when she heard her keys fall from her hand. She was just carrying them and her purse today. Turning she saw a somewhat familiar face picking them up for her. ”Maybe I should have you around to pick stuff for me or open doors for me” The blonde laughed as she held out her hand. ”I’m Sophia”

Are we last-call kissing or will we be reminiscing with each other for the next forty years?
_{Are we written in the stars, baby, or are we written in the sand?}

It had been two years since his uncle died already and he was still shocked over it. It was a loss that he was not sure that he would ever get over and not one that he had ever thought that his cousin Attia had expected. Though, truthfully he doubted that any of them had. Sudden death was always one that would be felt the deepest and his uncle Murtaugh was the best of men. He was the kind of man that you could always rely on. After all, he had pretty much worked himself to death to make sure that Attia could go to Stanford and where had it gotten any of them? His uncle was now dead, Attia was home and even with all of the brilliant minds in the WIzarding world they still had no answers for why they had all had lost their magic. It was a bit maddening, it wasn't like he used his magic all day every day like some people, and he was lucky that a lot of what he did in the day to lecturing, but when he had been working out in the field it had been his maths and Arithmancy.

Nowadays he spent most of his time at a chalkboard or behind his desk, grading papers. He didn't usually make the time for much else. He had been lost in the disappointment caused by Gracie. He did not think that he had been rushing things or that they had been in a bad place when he had told her that he wanted more and that he wanted a life with her. The fault lay with her and he had been aware of it. He had been fully prepared to marry her, to settle down, but instead, he had packed his things and moved back home. Not looking back had been a mistake and he wished he could change things but it was better this way. He was better off without her, especially knowing that she could show all the emotions of someone who was in love but not actually be. It cut him deep and it had taken him a long time to get over, but he was finally through with hating himself over it.

His mother was proud that he was ready to get back into the dating scene, getting back to the life that he had once had. Of course, it wasn't like he was a horrible person or anything like that previously, but he had really pulled himself back in, he had withdrawn and he didn't like that. He wasn't like that. None of the Arbuckle clan were, really. Taking her small hand in his own he could not stop the smile that formed on his face as he raised her hand to lips to kiss it. "Barclay Arbuckle, but I go by Clay." He gave her another smile before leaning against his trolly and giving her a quick once over. Running a hand into his hair he thought for a moment and then shrugged. "Ah would happy tah offer mah services, Sophia, should ye have need of them. Though with as much as we seem to run into each other, maybe we could start with me pulling out yer chair for dinner?" Okay, he was being bold, but if nothing else, he was learning he needed to take more chances in his life.

tag: @sophia // words: 569 // OUTFIT

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Sophia was managing well when it came to balancing her work with getting her errands done. Sometimes she had Audrey with her and other times she would leave her with a friend. Today was one of those days. She was planning on getting her errands done as quickly as possible before she went and picked up Audrey from her godparents and took her home. But she knew her daughter would want to play with Jeremy more. The two toddlers were definitely two peas in a pod. As much as they fought with each other over a toy or a book, they also had their moments. Sophia would always make sure to praise her daughter if she was well behaved with Jem. He was glad that she had a close friend who was close in age to her. She foresaw a lot of close moments between the two of them. She knew that Samuel joked that the two of them would end up dating when they were older but Sophia laughed about it, she knew how Tiwaz would react to that.

The two of them had been as close as a father and her baby girl could get and she had had him wrapped around her finger. He had been such a hands-on parent with her and Sophia was so thankful for that but she had expected nothing less when she was pregnant. Sophia knew that for her, it would be hard for any man to compare to him. It was something she couldn’t do. But some part of her still loved him. That feeling would never go away. Any many she dated would have to accept that and Audrey knew her father was and what she looked like. She liked to look at the photos of him with her mum and Sophia would share many stories with her about what he had been like.

Sophia just took each day for what it was and tried to make the most of it. She wanted to enjoy her time with Audrey. Did she want to make up for her father being robbed from her? Of course, she did, but she had every right to do that. After all, that was exactly what had happened.

But she had to focus on raising Audrey now and making sure she had everything in she would ever want or need. She had gotten a new job a few months ago and she was happy there and looked forward to being able to spoil her daughter. She knew that right now her daughter would be having fun with Jem and she was excited to for Cali and Samuel who were going to welcome their second child soon. She couldn't even imagine herself having another baby right now. She was trying to balance being both mum and dad to Audrey.

Her friends told her that Tiwaz would want her to be happy and she knew that too but there was just resistance in her, one she couldn’t explain. However, Sophia knew it was time, she didn’t have to stop herself anymore. She would forever love the father of her daughter but that didn’t mean she was incapable of forming a bond with someone else too. Not that she wanted to do that but she was aware of what could happen if she was to start dating

She had to remind herself to keep an open mind about everything. Sophia smiled politely at the man as he introduced himself. ”Nice to meet you, Clay” She thought Barclay was a nice name but she wasn’t sure, she wanted to tell him that yet. She hadn’t missed him looking her over, she didn’t mind but he was hardly being subtle about it. Had she heard right? ”Dinner, with me?” She asked, feeling her jaw dropping. She had to admire how bold he was being.

Are we last-call kissing or will we be reminiscing with each other for the next forty years?
_{Are we written in the stars, baby, or are we written in the sand?}

Loss and pain were not something that he had a lot of experience with loss and pain before his Uncle had died. His mother had gotten sick once, but she had gotten better. He had walked away from Grace when she had told him that she did not want to marry him, that she did not want his children or to spend her life with him. It had cut him deep and it had been hard to let that go, but he was finding that at long last, he was moving on. He was not going to let this beat him. He would conquer this, and get his life together, keep his shit together. It was the least that he could do. His uncle wanted him to be happy, and to carry on things, like the family name. He felt some sort of... obligation to protect his mother and father now.

He had Giles, Stephen and Attia to protect too, but he knew that Attia was more than capable of taking care of herself, even if at times he wanted to be the one to do so, he knew that a fist was waiting on the other end of it. He didn't want to be alone forever so he knew that the blind date had been a warm up for him. It had been a way for him to get used to dating and talking to someone who was not family or a student. It had worked rather well. He had found his guts again, he had found the will to want to do this, and after seeing the beauty again and again he had decided that this was the time.

He could not help the smile as he looked at the woman and ran a hand through his natural red curls. She asked him a question and he beamed at her before laughing. "Unless yer shadow can disconnect and have dinner with me, then yes, lass. I meant you." She really was adorable, and something about her just looked like she needed to be hugged or something.

tag: @sophia // words: 349 // OUTFIT

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Sophia tried to manage her time as best she could do but even she had her days when things got the better of her and she was frazzled. But the woman knew that was part of being a mother. That was one title she would not give up for anything. Of all the things she had created, Audrey was the best thing ever to happen to her. Losing Tiwaz had been terrible and her heart broke for her daughter. She wanted her little one to have her father in her life unlike herself. But she was past even searching for her father. She had better priorities in her life now. She tried to make ends meet. At least working at Bangor now meant she would be earning more and she still had time up her sleeve to work on her photography.

Being a freelancer meant she could dictate her own timing. She just to fit it around her day job. Audrey was big enough now that she could accompany her mum wherever she went. Being without magic meant that Sophia had to travel with her via floor unless they could use muggle transport to so place in London or on the outskirts. She didn’t mind muggle transport and she wanted to get Audrey used to travelling by it. She only hoped that while they were on the train or bus that her daughter didn’t pipe up and ask why didn’t the bus wasn’t magic like brooms.

Call her a bad mother but she didn’t see herself as such by making sure her daughter was occupied by a toy or book while they were travelling so she didn’t ask embarrassing questions out loud. She didn’t people need strangers looking at her. She already got enough looks being a single mother. Sophia tried to not let those looks get to her.

She tried to imagine what kind of look this bloke would give her if she had Audrey with her. Each time they had run into each other she had been without Audrey. But he was asking her out. It wasn't the best time to mention she had a daughter. Sophia likely looked silly a she looked behind at her shadow after he joked about it before looking up at him. ”I…I mean sure…..we can go out” she replied slowly as she closed her mouth having been surprised by how bold he was. ”Do you have a phone?”

There wasn't much that Clay wanted out of life. He was a simple man who had simple needs and wanted an easy and simple future. Of course, he knew all too well that life was what happened when you were busy making other plans, and for a long time he had been living simply, not trying to test or push things. He wasn't trying to make things harder on himself or others around him. He had wanted a wife, and kids by now. He wanted the things that his family members had, he wanted to be able to look at his home and those around him and think about how lucky he was to have what he had, but right now he had nothing. He had no one. It was better like that sometimes and he wanted to think that it would be okay to let things go that way, that he could just live his life and be alone and it would be fine. But that was not true. It killed him that it wasn't, but that was the way that life was you had to move on, and accept things sometimes.

He could change one thing though, and that was his dating life. He didn't have to just sit around and wait for things to change or happen. He could change that he didn' have himself a lassie. All he had to do was ask someone out. He didn't have the guts or the time to do it, because he didn't let himself do it, but he had to make time for it. He had to make time for himself and the life that he wanted to have. So what was he doing? He was going to ask this gorgeous lass out, and once he had he felt better and bold. Which was not always so common for him, but he smiled at her and hoped that she said yes, but tried to look confident all the while.

He grinned at her and winked before pulling out his phone and opened the app for her before handing it over. "How does Wednesday sound for you?" He already had a plan and he hoped that she said that she was good, this was new for him, and fun. But he had to move on from Gracie, this woman was not her, and he didn't have to devote himself to the memory of a woman who likely had never loved him.

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Sophia had enjoyed partying in her younger days but now she being a mother didn't leave her with much time to go out. She really didn’t mind though, she loved spending time with Audrey, even if her little girl had those many terrible twos moments. Sophia didn’t have to read a book to know what was involved with those. Being much older than her half-sister, she saw what her parents had been through with Penny at that age. But thankfully at stage, Sophia had been at Hogwarts for most of the year. She would just bear with them when it came to her own daughter. Her mother had teased her when she was expecting that she was getting what was coming to her because she had been a very active toddler. But Audrey was often just a quiet little girl. Sure she was talkative at times but Sophia was helping her form words and sentences. She was sure her father was looking down at her and laughing each time she tried to read a book to Garfield or to one of her stuffed toys.

Kneazles were not’ known for being gentle creatures but she was pleasantly surprised to see that he would sit and listen to Audrey try to read to him. He had definitely calmed down from when Tiwaz had first brought him home. Naturally she had first been reluctant in having the feline in their home with a baby but she had seen how much he had cared for the kneazle and she couldn’t ask him to give him up.

But the life they had planned out for themselves had been taken from them. She tried to make each day a good one for her and daughter. She had to adapt to do everything on her own. It was a task each day but she took it all in her stride. Sophia didn’t have much or an alternative. She had to do everything for her daughter now. She had family and friends that could help but she felt bad for relying on them, even if they didn’t have any problem with taking care of Audrey.

That was where Audrey was now, she was probably having a lot of fun with Jem and he was likely annoying (unintentionally) in refuting. Sophia expected to pick her up with her daughter complaining about Jem. What was unexpected was running into the guy she had run into a lot and being asked out by her. She was flattered by his gesture. Sophia had a small smile on her features as she entered her details into his phone before handing it back. ”Wednesday….should be fine. I would just need to find a babysitter.” She knew that Calli would have a field day when she told her that she had a date and would jump at the chance to take Audrey for the night.