lost and found.

[MARCUS LENNOX]

Marcus didn't exactly enjoy spying on his children, but he also struggled knowing what was going on with any of them, let alone his youngest. His eldest had pretty much shoved him off without giving any chance for the two of them to make nice, and Marcus had been somewhat unsure of what to do with his middle child. But he had been tracking Kate's normal routine for the last few days, finding that she often came to practice in the early morning hours before she had classes to consider.

The deputy headmaster himself had a tendency to work out early in the mornings so that he could prepare himself for his own classes, knowing very well that his classes were active in nature. If he were to go into Auror Studies without preparing his body just as he prepared his mind, he would find himself dragging toward the end of the day, and that was something he could not have. Especially with the amount of paperwork he often found himself buried under.

The slight chill that came with October weather meant that it was jacket weather. Even then, the man's jacket hung open, his steps following a pre-determined path as he jogged the school grounds. His lungs burned, but Marcus had come to love the feeling whenever he started to think about what could have happened to him had he not taken the steps he needed to drag himself from his own heartache and shame.

Marcus found himself counting his steps in sets of ten. His mind was racing, calculating each and every step, including the distance to the next step, and the next, and the next. There was no real end to it. It was an easy, practical way to focus his mind and keep his thoughts from wandering too far in one direction or the other. His arms pumping casually at his sides, Marcus let his gaze trail the path ahead of him. It was the path he often took that would lead him toward the Quidditch Pitch. If his timing was correct, this was exactly where Katherine would be at this time of the morning.

Letting himself trail into the large field of the pitch, his gaze flitted up to the sky, looking for the familiar form of his daughter atop her broom. The first time he had watched her play in a game, Marcus had been absolutely terrified. But now that he had realized that she could handle herself and was in no real danger so long as she practiced and truly knew what she was doing, the man had calmed considerably on the topic of quidditch.

Watching Silva hadn't been any easier, either.

Pleased to see her flying high in the sky, Marcus slowed his jog to a stop. Breathing hard and keeping his gaze to the sky, he put both of his hands to his hips as he focused on catching his breath. When he found it, Marcus called up to his daughter. "Katie!" he mused lightly, "Want someone to join you?" he offered her with a kind smile.

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Words: 516
Tagged: KATHERINE LENNOX
Notes: <3

[KATHERINE LENNOX]

The idea wasn’t really to put in the extra training outside of what the team already demanded. It had all started because Katherine had found herself unable to sleep. The nightmares that she had begun to experience over the summer hadn’t yet released their hold on her, and the voices continued to taunt her when her eyes were closed. But there were too many other people in the same room as her now. Someone was sure to be woken by her shouts and want to know what the trouble was, even if Kate wasn’t able to explain it.

The images were always garbled, as if they were caught in the ripples of the water and waiting for it to still before they could truly be visible. But the voices were unmistakable. There were a few that sounded like people she knew...a few that taunted her with all of the harsh words and thoughts that she experienced in her waking hours. The voice that called the most....the one that beckoned her forward...to join her…

Gripping her broomstick firmly in her hands, Katherine closed her eyes tightly and shook her head before she kicked off from the ground as hard as she could. No! She wasn’t going to listen. She couldn’t!

She blinked to try and rid her eyes of the forming tears as she leaned over the handle of her broom, taking off for the opposite side of the pitch at top speed. It didn’t matter how many times she had heard that voice before, it never seemed to get any easier when she realized that it was all in her head. She would never turn around to see that woman waiting for her again. More than seven years had passed since Kate had last been able to do that. Since she had felt her mother hug her tightly and whisper that she loved her daughter. Had she known what was going to happen...was there something that Kate could have done to stop her?

She’d only been nine years old. It had all happened just shy of her tenth birthday, the very reason that Katherine could no longer bear to mark the day at all. It always made her feel sick to her stomach when she thought about it.

Yanking her broom to the left, Katherine zoomed around the outer perimeter of the pitch with reckless speed, almost uncaring if she were to crash head first into one of the many pillars around the edge. There was no one out there to see her. If she were to hit at the right angle, either the impact or the fall would-...

She slowed as she heard someone calling out to her, mentally cursing. Of all people to find her today…

Forcing herself to take a breath, Kate slowed down and turned her broom into the pitch itself. Her father didn’t need to know. He didn’t need to see anything more than the small smile that she forced onto her lips as her feet touched the ground once more. ”Shouldn’t you be preparing for class, Professor?” she asked him, teasing weakly with the use of his formal title. ”The Headmistress won’t thank you for slacking so early into the school year. You have to be able to keep up with your students.” He as the Auror Studies Professor after all. The last thing he would want is to be beaten out by a bunch of kids who were less than half his age, though Kate knew those days were not too far ahead of him now.

WORD COUNT: 608
TAGGED: MARCUS LENNOX
NOTES: --

[MARCUS LENNOX]

Ever since the death of Alicia, Katherine had been so hard to read. Marcus was constantly stuck between that question of whether Katherine was okay or whether she was struggling. His daughter was a closed book, and while he couldn't blame her, he also couldn't deny how badly it hurt to have her push him away. But Marcus supposed he had done that first. To everyone he loved. His sister had read him the riot act when he'd finally gone into rehab.

His own grief had driven this wedge between him and his children, and while things were generally okay between himself and Katherine, the same couldn't be said between him and his two sons. They really hadn't given him much of a chance, but Katherine had really had no escape from Marcus' presence.

In the back of his mind, he wondered if she just did it so that he would ultimately leave her alone. He clamped down on that thought, pretty sure he'd rather be lied to than know the actual truth of it. After having spent so many years alone, Alicia had been a breath of fresh air. A freedom he had needed to keep going. His children had been that other step forward he had taken without realizing it had been something he had desperately wanted. And then Alicia's death had ruined him. Ruined all of them.

Marcus would never stop feeling guilty for all of the pain and heartbreak he had caused with his choices.

Watching Kate streak above on her broom had initially made him anxious, simply because she had gotten so close to that pillar. But now that she had turned back to him and was actually smiling as she flew down to meet him, he couldn't help but feel relieved. "Luckily for me, I'm always at least a few weeks ahead in my lesson plans," Marcus excused himself, giving a small shrug as she approached. "I was just finishing my morning jog and I saw you out here," he added then, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his jacket.

He looked mock offended whens he mentioned keeping up with his students, snorting a little. "I'm sure I can still keep up with them even if I do take a few minutes out my day to talk to my daughter," Marcus pointed out, lifting an eyebrow at Katherine. "Soon enough you'll move onto bigger and better things and I won't get these same chances," Marcus admitted. "What were you working on? Just flying? Or were you intending to throw a ball around?"

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Words: 429
Tagged: KATHERINE LENNOX
Notes: <3

[KATHERINE LENNOX]

Things between herself and her father were certainly better than they had once been. But Katherine found that she didn’t really know how to act around him anymore, especially now that he was a professor attending the very same school that she was. Her hands held tightly to the handle of her broomstick. Was a hug appropriate in this moment? Would it be frowned upon for him to have that kind of contact with a student, even if she was his daughter? Did...did Kate even want to be hugged?

No...because her father noticed things…

Katherine reached up, nervously tucking a stray lock of dark hair behind her ear. ”I doubt that I’m going too far, Dad. London isn’t exactly far. And that’s only if I get accepted to the Healer program, you know that.” The program was intense though. Most of the people who had applied within the last five years had been rejected because they hadn’t had the grades to qualify or been able to get through the initial training stages. Most of them either changed careers entirely or resorted to working in their local apothecary, working on potions of an easier and more common nature.

And she wanted to working with the creature induced injuries department. That was her goal. Ever since she moment she had met her boyfriend, she had been fascinated with the idea that a body could exist halfway between the human and magical worlds. That it could be affected by situations in both and almost never properly feel comfortable with the elements. He was half-vampire...but there were so many other creatures that could be utilized for healing properties, even if the creature itself was known for their more violent tendencies!

Feeling her cheeks flush, Kate quickly looked down at the ground and shuffled her feet. ”Anyway...the rest of the team isn’t practicing today. Ravenclaw has the pitch later tonight. I just...needed to do something with my time. That’s all.”

But it was bloody hard to be your own training partner and throw around a Quaffle. Even if she had someone else with her, they would be entirely dependent on one another to try and get something done. Her father didn’t feel comfortable on a broom though, which made training a little harder. ”I wasn’t feeling great. I thought this might help.”

WORD COUNT: 401
TAGGED: MARCUS LENNOX
NOTES: --

[MARCUS LENNOX]

Marcus couldn't deny that he enjoyed his job. Even with the disconnect that it brought between him and his daughter, he still enjoyed his job. Hogwarts had been his escape when he was at his lowest point, and the fact that he had even been offered a position to teach was wild in and of itself. There had been a point when he was sitting at rock bottom when he truly wondered whether he was actually going to be able to get a job anywhere after how massively he had screwed up when it came to caring for his daughter.

The fact that he was here was simply a testament to the fact that people were able to give second chances. He had certainly been given a second chance here, even when it came to his daughter. At least, that was what it had felt like the last few years. Things were not so tense between them that they could not be good to one another, though Marcus truly had more to make up for. And he was trying, desperately. These moments alone were what he had needed to try. The fact that Katherine gave him the time of day at all was an absolute blessing.

"You say that, but you could go further than London if you chose," Marcus said lightly, "And it's not like this job affords me the ability to just leave on a whim to come see you whenever I like. I'm just... trying to take as much time as I can before you're too busy for your old dad," he admitted calmly, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his jacket. And it was true. He just wanted as much time with Katherine as he could before she really grew up. Before she really and truly could be free of him. Would she choose not to keep in contact with him?

He hoped not, but Marcus couldn't help feeling like she just might cut him off if there was no need to see each other every day.

"Its incredibly early," Marcus then pointed out, wondering why she hadn't stayed in bed until she pointed out that she hadn't felt well. Frowning, he rocked back and forth on the balls of his feet, "Did you think of seeing the matron if you were feeling ill?" Marcus asked carefully, not overstepping so far to force her to go, but leaving the very blatant option open for her to choose.

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Words: 412
Tagged: KATHERINE LENNOX
Notes: <3

[KATHERINE LENNOX]

...damn it.

The instant the words were out of her mouth, Katherine knew she was going to regret it. Especially since she knew that her father spent a great deal of time talking to the two people who would know her health better than most...the school matron and her Medicinal Magic Professor, who happened to be a former Healer. It was why she was always so careful when she was dealing with them. Because they were quite literally trained to spot the subtle differences in a person’s attitude, body weight or colouring. And she just didn’t have the time to deal with people poking and prodding at her.

”I’m not feeling great, but I’m not dead yet,” Katherine retorted with a soft roll of her eyes. ”I figure that the Bludgers haven’t taken me out yet.”

Her eyes quickly moved as she began to fiddle with the glove on her hand, a means of avoiding her father’s gaze. Things were better than they had once been. During his drunken episodes they wouldn’t have been able to carry on a conversation like this at all, even if it was strained and awkward. He simply would have gotten frustrated and yelled at her to go do whatever she wanted...to stop pestering him with questions. He wasn’t able to handle the questions at that point. Almost like he couldn’t handle the voices at all.

As she pulled the glove a little higher on her wrist, she moved to do the same with the other and resecured the velcro strap around her wrist. They had been his Christmas gift to her a few years back, and the gloves had spared her hands from a lot of cuts and bruises from catching Quaffles in the middle of matches. But the signs of wear were beginning to show, and Katherine quietly prayed that they would get her through one more season before she had to retire them. Somehow it just wouldn’t feel right if she had to try and break in a new pair before she graduated.

When at last her eyes did look back up toward her father, Kate cleared her throat, running fingers back through her hair and above her ear. ”Are you sure you’re okay? You look like you’ve got something on your mind…” A look she had seen quite a number of times since he had become sober and started working at the school. And it only seemed to appear when he was around her. It never seemed to appear when he was talking to another student or even a professor. Only her...and only when there was no one else around.

Sighing softly, Kate moved her broom off to the one side, holding firmly to the handle as her dark brown eyes focused on the lines in his face that were beginning to denote his age. He seemed older now. Far more weary than ever before. ”Dad...what is it?”

WORD COUNT: 503
TAGGED: MARCUS LENNOX
NOTES: --