The morning had come and gone in a rather quick rush as he tended to his new duties and spent the entire day putting the final touches on furnishing his new countryside home. The farm was starting to come together and he was starting to truly love the little lives that surrounded his peaceful retreat from Hogwarts. However, the Professor found himself in the midst of Hogsmeade after a rather long night of sitting up with his one and only goat--Petunia.

The farm hand down the road warned him of her cranky state, but he didn't seem to realize that perhaps the goat was just unwell. He knew that his new neighbors thought him strange, but even he couldn't put the thoughts behind him that they gave him a sick goat in attempts to start a war. The old maid that he spoke to before seemed as lovely as the spring meadow, but now Gale had to wonder if perhaps she wasn't just up to something. A rather suspicious person he left for town as quick as he could for a bite to eat and a bit of shopping. He knew he would have to buy a car soon, and almost begged Maiko's brother to come with him to help pick it out. However, he had opted to go alone and just pick up a few fliers.

"I'm actually hoping to find someone who knows a thing or two about livestock of any sort," He spoke to the coffee shop owner to whom he had befriended, and her sweet little smiles always eased the pain of being here without Chester.

"I'm sorry, Gale…" She started with his drink, "I'm not the one to ask. Always been a bit of a city girl myself. But I'll ask around? Perhaps you can look in the muggle directory for one." She motioned for the large book on one of the tables and he took a deep breath.

"I'd really hoped to avoid that," He took up his cup and thanked her doing his best to get out of shop as quickly as he could before memories started to sink in and that void found it's way to his chest to cause the ache to rise again, and in doing so shouldered a man from his blind side. The curses of only having one eye was that he often relied too heavily on the other one, and despite being covered by the leather patch the white orb beneath strained until that ache could defeat an entire kingdom of heartbreaks.

"Oh my goodness…I'm so sorry. I…" He stopped as he got a good look at who he attempted to knock over this day and smiled, "Max?" Too many years had passed since they shared the halls of Hogwarts, and Gale was certain that the last time he saw his fellow housemate was when he went back to finish his marks. He certainly grew up…and Gale was rather thankful that for the first time this entire weekend he wasn't a complete mess. He even managed to tie his hair back and everything.

"It's been a long time."

Most of the morning had been spent unpacking the last of the boxes from the move. Although it had been a month since moving in, work at the MP remained the centre of his attention. He hadn't forgotten the whole reason for the move; in fact, today was meant to be the start of fulfilling his promise to his little girl. They had finished unpacking family mementos with the incentive of a Hogsmeade visit that afternoon.

Upon arriving in the village, the chill of the Scotland air made the Wizarding Naturalist smile. Maxwell had missed his home more than he'd let on. Although living on the farm in Texas had been nice, his preference for the cold had been constantly smothered. Even now, with the MP being based in Australia, his outdoor work was often done in humidity.

"It's cold," Melody said, tugging on her father's hand. Max looked down at his daughter, grinning at her bundled up form. She still wasn't adjusted to the colder weather, and insisted on wearing her big coats. Max would probably be sweating in such attire.

"How about some hot chocolate? You can carry it around while we visit the shops," he suggested. Melody nodded, prompting Max to move toward the closest place that sold hot drinks. The village had certainly changed some, but not by much. He opened the door to the shop and allowed Melody to go through first. Watching her as she started ahead of him led to a minor shoulder collision with a passing individual.

"Pardon me.." he began as his eyes turned to take in the appearance of the man apologizing. Recognition crossed Max's expression; one would be hard-pressed to forget a man with such a striking appearance. The Naturalist was impressed, or perhaps just surprised, that Gale remembered him of all people.

"Gale," Max acknowledged with a smile of his own. "It definitely has," Max agreed. It had been over ten years. Gale had graduated a few years before Max. Max felt Melody move back to his side and lean against his leg, so he gently placed his hand on her head. "Ah, this is my daughter Melody," he introduced, glancing down at his girl. "Melody, Gale was one of my friends from Hogwarts."

"Hi," she said to the white-haired man, her bright eyes filled with curiosity. Mainly, she was looking at his eyepatch and questioning what it was for. Max ran his hand fondly through her curls before resting the hand on her tiny shoulder.

"So, what's brought you here this afternoon?" Max asked, lifting his gaze. "Or is Hogsmeade a place you frequent these days?" he asked, a chagrined smile appearing. He had no clue as to what his old friends had been up to in recent years. He hadn't really bothered to keep in contact with his school mates. It was sure to be something he regret while trying to reintegrate himself into the community.

Maxwell Macduff wasn't someone you forgot easy, and perhaps he was surprised that Gale remembered him; but as a young student Gale kept close tabs on his house, despite how much Arthur[1] hated the fact that he was a Hufflepuff. It's one of your many flaws, Nightingale. That and your blood is as dirty as Hagrid's backside. But he couldn't have helped it. As a young Romany son, Gale had sat under the hat only long enough to have it spit out a few leaves he got from the gypsy's hair and hand him his house. Those first few years he'd lived in happy halls with the company of great friends, but as shadows started to fall and voices filled his tender ears--Nightingale learned very quickly that status was everything, and he had to stay alive.

"Is that so, a daughter you say…" Gale smiled down to the child after Max introduced her and came to meet her eye by bending to one knee, "Hello there. I like your scarf." Upon first glance at Melody he already hated Maxwell, and suffered through his demons once more. His biological clock was sounding in his ears as clear as bell, and he knew well enough that it shouldn't be something he could fault Max on.

"She is beautiful," He grinned up at his old friend before straightening to rejoin her father.  With his good eye he looked between the two of the other man, wondering what it was that had prevented them from running into one another.

"I do spend a great deal of time here," Gale couldn't help but study Melody and find little traits of a younger Macduff in her, "I am a Professor, Charms actually." And every time he admitted it, Gale wished he could take a shot of whiskey just to forget, "But I'm not here today because of my students. I'm…" He blushed a little running a bit of his hair behind his ears with nimble fingers, "I have a sick goat and a leaking roof. Wouldn't…um," He laughed lightly, "Know how to fix either?"

Gale wanted to ask much more about Max, most of all where he has been all this time, but he didn't want to seem forward. He truly was trying to work on his social skills.

1.	Slytherin student who Gale was involved with and kept him close.

"Thank you," Melody said quietly, becoming a bit more shy now being face-to-face with him. She didn't look away, though; she'd caught sight of the shiny colour of his eye, and it made her even more curious than before. He had only one eye, and that eye was a colour she'd never seen on a person before.

Her attention was torn when he looked away, up at her father. She tilted her head back until her father's face was in view, and she subconsciously smiled a little hearing the compliment. At the same time, though, she became further withdrawn.

Maxwell smiled too, albeit dimly, when Gale complimented Melody's beauty. Of course he agreed wholeheartedly; the young girl took after her mother in more ways than she did him. The light hair, the curls, the bright smile. Only the light brown eyes, opposed to her mother's dark blue, reminded Max of himself. "Thank you," he said, echoing his daughter's words and, unbeknown to him, making her smile just a little bit more. Max's eyes refocused on the present when he noticed Gale's eye flickered between them.

Did his face ever give away when he was thinking of the past..? Max certainly hoped not. He nodded hearing Gale's answer that he did come here quite a bit. His expression stalled taking in that Gale was now a professor. A lot really had changed... the thought sunk in for a beat. Yes, Max was the one with a daughter of six years, and he hadn't expected anyone else's life to stop rolling when he left. But he just didn't have any clue what to expect. Gale being a professor? It really wasn't that far-fetched, for he was brilliant at Charms. Even Max recalled that much. But it just didn't seem like the path Gale had seemed most likely to pursue.

Still, he would've offered a congratulations if Gale hadn't kept speaking.

"A sick goat?" he repeated, that part of Gale's problem sticking more than the rest. He blinked a few times more than considered reflex in that moment, clearing his head of an instinctive thought of Amelia and her expertise with livestock, before feeling a tug on his hand. He looked down at Melody, who was suddenly beaming and excited for no apparent reason. "You can help it, Daddy," she said, her accent more pronounced and her tone quite strong. "I'd like to see the goat, can we?" The latter comment was admitted a bit more shyly, but her eyes stayed on her father rather than the owner of the goat.

His eyes returned to the older, but shorter man in front of him, his expression a bit iffy before he smoothed it out. How could he deny an old friend and his daughter? He wasn't confident Gale had been inviting him to see the goat rather than just talk about it, though. "I am a Naturalist now," he admitted, with a small smile. "And I've been shown quite a bit about farm animals, so I can probably help... at least with the first part," he explained to Nightingale, chuckling a bit.

It amazed him how the odds were constantly in his favor, and that his old Romani grandmother had been right that he had been born with luck. Gale never used it to his advantage, but he certainly was thankful when his shoulder bumped into just the right person at the right time. Despite how much he missed Chester, much of the same had happened with him. He had run into the young man at a party, spilled his drink all over the both of them, and the relationship only went up from there. Gale knew that his young scholar was busy half way around the world, but it didn't make him miss him any less. Moving on was hard, and seeing Max with Melody made his chest ache for the children he so desperately wanted.

"I would be honored to have you come for dinner, but I couldn't ask you…" He bit his lip, despite how much he wanted to just carry them both home now. Maxwell seemed rather tired and Melody, despite her youth--made him wonder if perhaps she had to grow up a bit fast too. She was rather dressed like his students more so than the rags his father put him in at this age.


"But I would be honored to have you. And could pay…"