Breaking the Habit [Reese]

[Gage Mason]

This was just ... unusual. To see every single kid walk into this room, sit down in a desk, and know that he wasn't a part of it. He was no longer in class--and yet he was here. Gage was here in the potions classroom after he'd graduated. Stupid internship. He'd never felt older than he did now.

And watching some of the girls walk in--girls he'd most certainly fcuked over the years--that was slightly awkward. At least he wasn't a professor. Just an intern. He just helped with shit. Vera taught the class--Vera being the only professor in this entire God damned school that he wanted to bend over a fcuking desk and go the fcuk at it.

Was that weird?

Of course not--he wasn't a student anymore. He smirked at the thought but was basically whining inside. While she scared the hell out of him, he really really wanted that ass.

He rolled his eyes and hopped up to sit on her desk (as she wasn't in here right now and couldn't make him get down). Gage was having a problem with something. Being a potions intern was fcuking boring. No friends to talk to if the room was empty, no random kids to pick on (no matter how awful that was), no one to fcuk certainly (since Vera really seemed hellbent on denying him in that area).

Boring.

But it was about to get less boring--at least, that's what he told himself. He'd heard rumors. Rumors about one of his favorites returning to Hogwarts. A girl he actually thought more of a friend than a fcuk buddy--though he wouldn't deny he certainly missed those days too.

Reese Mackenzie.

He hadn't heard directly from her as he'd never written her (because come on--write a letter...no thanks), but he'd definitely heard the buzz around the school today. Her friends were estatic, the guys were having a little fun in their imaginations--the entire day everyone had just been distracted it seemed. Whatever.

Stretching a bit, he leaned backwards and all but sprawled across Vera's desk, smirking at the mess he was making. Well he'd have fun with that later--her confronting him that is. Well, he'd try like hell anyways. Closing his eyes for a minute, he thought about it. Reese was coming back (or so he'd heard--it could've all been a rumor). That could make things interesting. Possibly.

[Reese Mackenzie]

Hogwarts. It looked like shit. Seriously, it did…which was also something sad really. The last time she had been here, walking through the corridors with her brothers/friends or certain hot slytherins it had looked so amazing. Hogwarts was unlike any other magical school and now it was all…dark? It wasn’t the exact way to describe it but it certainly did covered a big chunk of it.

One and a half years it had been –including the summer- that Reese had not been here, at Hogwarts. Everything with Jake and then baby Nathan had been hard on her, then the whole Hogwarts going to hell thing also happened somewhere in between. Talk about one big messed up pile of…well shit? Disaster? Pain? Darkness? Everything seemed to fit at some point in those one and half years. And probably not just for herself either.

Anyway, that was behind her, behind everyone now. What use was it to hold on to the past? It had come, it had passed and now it was behind you. Nothing you could change about that right? Although Reese knew she was a hypocrite considering letting go of Jake was something she still had not managed to do, although that was besides the point right now.

Right now it was Nathan and her against life. And maybe she would be able to restore a few faded friendships along the way. Or at least that was what Reese was going to do now as she was making her way down to the potions class room. Apparently one particular snake was not able to let go of his school years just yet, or so it seemed. Out of all people she would have thought he would be as far away as he could from any sort of school, instead he decided to take an internship? What had happened to the world??

Reese had a few friends at school but apparently a lot more people were happy that she was coming down here to stay for a year. Her dorm had been stacked with girls from all the four houses once word got out she had been back. Everyone wanted to know how she was doing and all wanted to hold and cuddle Nathan. Some girls had known about Nathan, others had stared her down in disbelief first when they found out she had a son. Then when she had gone for a short walk to try and sooth Nathan to sleep in her arms people kept coming up to her for a chat.

Course they were also the people who stared her down and whispered things behind her back but Reese knew better than to pay any attention to that. It was not like it had not happened in New Zealand when she had been pregnant up and till the moment she had left that place. People talked, they always did and always would. It was human nature.

With Nathan in her arms Reese finally reached the place she had been looking for. Cause she was able to get some dispensation on a few subjects/classes it usually gave her a half of each day off. Sometimes the mornings, sometimes the afternoons. Which was great, cause that way she could spend lots of time with her baby boy. Walking into the potions classroom it was as good as empty although Reese might have hoped to find a certain Gage Mason wandering around.

“Mase?” she called out from the back of the room, her eyes wandering over the place to see if he was around. He would in for some scare though considering she had never told him about being pregnant or later...having a son.

[Gage Mason]

Gage's eyes opened a bit when he heard a familiar voice calling out. Interesting. He hadn't expected to see her for a few days. And how had she known he was in here? Of course, it wasn't exactly a secret. There were more than a few girls who could've told her that. God that sounded so wrong. He slept with students--and he was no longer a student himself. Pedophile? Well he didn't think so.

Sitting up and sliding off the desk, he grinned when he saw her. "Miss Mackenzie," he smiled, mockingly using his "staff" position. He did that a lot (and God did it annoy the shit out of some people). For a minute he didn't even notice the boy in her arms. He was more concentrating on her face--a face he hadn't seen in...what a year and a half? More?

"Mack," he muttered, now standing mere feet away from her. Shaking his head, a permanent grin stuck to his lips. "What the fcuk are you back here for?" Not that he minded of course. Still--why was she coming back to Hogwarts? She'd graduated the same year he had hadn't she? And he didn't see her as the type to take up a stupid fcuking internship like he and Damien had done. Bad idea.

His eyes traveled over her for a second and then filled with curiosity when they finally landed on the child in her arms. Since when did Reese Mackenzie lug a baby around? "Who's the kid?"

Nodding to the front of the room, he walked back over to Vera's desk and hopped back onto it, though not laying down and making even more of a mess this time. "Have a seat Mack."

[Reese Mackenzie]

Reese usually knew pretty much what was going on in everyone’s life, there was always someone who kept her posted. So she had known that both Damien and Gage decided to stick around the school a bit longer. Which was a good thing, cause that meant she had at least two good/close friends walking around in this school. Hopefully Allena was still around as well, Reese had always been good friends with her over the years.

“I don’t think he is here Nate…” she whispered softly to her boy while looking down on him for a moment. She was wrong. Her head jerked up when she heard his voice, a smirk appearing on her face when he decided to go for Miss Mackenzie. “And here I was thinking you would be jumping from joy that I decided to come to annoy your for another year.” She said with a soft laugh in her voice. Gage, still hot as ever, still as cocky as ever and still having a loving for the f word or so it seemed.

Her eyes studied him for a moment before she made her way over to him. “What? I’m not getting a hug? Not even from you?” she knew he wasn’t one to cuddle but she demanded her hug she had missed out on for so long! Holding Nate against her Reese pressed a soft kiss on Gage’s cheek. It was good to see him again, really good.

Pulling back again she smiled, looking down at Nate for a moment before she looked back up to Gage. “This is Nathan, he’s my son Mase.” For a split second she could feel her heartbeat quicken its pace, hoping he would be alright with it. A few of her friends had not approved of her having Nathan which was their loss not hers, but Reese wanted Gage to be alright with his. She couldn’t imagine he would freak out on her or not wanting to know her anymore. But still, his opinions mattered to her.

Settling down on a desk across from him she let Nate lean back in her arms. With his thumb in his mouth he just looked up at his mother. He was a quiet baby and actually not all that difficult, just like his father had been. One amazing guy.

[Gage Mason]

Gage laughed a bit when Reese mentioned him jumping for joy. Now that was a sight no one would ever see. He'd make damn sure of that. Gage Mason jumping for joy? The words didn't even sound right together much less an action that he would ever consider doing. He shrugged and almost wanted to indulge her and jump around a bit--but the odds of someone walking in were entirely too great for him to risk. He couldn't have someone else see him doing something so insanely stupid.

A hug? She wanted a hug from him? He smirked and rolled his eyes but he couldn't contain the smile on his face when she went in for the kill and kissed him sweetly on the cheek. "Guess I could give you that much," he said, pretending like it was some great feat he needed to accomplish. Before she pulled away from him, he wrapped his arms around her and the kid in her arms and hugged her to him, kissing the top of her head softly.

She was so damn short. Another thing that just made him grin.

For a long second--what seemed like so much more than just a second--Gage felt his stomach do a kind of flip-flop when Reese explained just who this kid was. Nathan. Her son. Well holy fcuking hell. She had a God damn kid now?

"Well damn woman why didn't you tell me that?" He took a long look at the kid in her arms and smiled. He could see a bit of her in him, now that he took a closer look. Cute kid.

He watched her take a seat across from him and smiled a bit at Nathan in her arms. She seemed like a decent mother at least. That was good. "So where's his dad then?" It seemed odd that she'd be coming to Hogwarts with her son but not her boyfriend/husband/fiance, whatever the fcuk he was. He didn't really know.

[Reese Mackenzie]

So they had been close friends and even benefited a lot actually before she had met Jake. Reese had told Gage about Jake, after that she and Gage had been close friends without the hole benefits thing. She knew him, or at least what it was that made Gage Mason the way he was. They both had secrets and Reese always wondered if he would ever just be himself around her. She knew there was another Gage inside of him, a sweeter and gentle one but of course he was bad ass. He had to keep his ego up, his imagine that projected himself as a tough and arrogant guy.

She had never tried to make him open up or to change him, hell it would be a waste of time. Gage was way too stubborn for that to happen. But the gentle hug and the soft kiss to the top of her head proved her that there was more to Gage Mason than he let the world see. Course, she never said anything and just secretly enjoyed these moments. “Lucky me…” she whispered softly, but with a warm voice. For a second she snuggled closer into him but pulled away before things would get awkward.

For some reason she always felt so safe when he held her. Reese just still had not managed to figure out why that was.

Conjuring a small dark blue and white striped hat Reese pulled it over Nate’s head. It was still warm outside but down in the classrooms she still found it to be chilly at times. Letting her son catch a cold was something Reese desperately wanted to avoid. “For the same reason you never told me you have an internship thing going on here?” a smirk tugging at her lips when she glanced up at him. Sure, she could have written him but what was the fun in that if he was not going to write her back anyway? He never had before when she had send him a few letters in the past.

Reese had expected him to say something about her being to young and stuff, or to just shrug and be okay with it. Instead he decided to ask her what everyone else was trying to get out of her, who was Nathan’s father and where was he? Her eyes left Gage again and wandered down to Nate. She shook her head and stayed quiet for a moment. “He’s gone…” she finally said softly. Even after a year Reese still found it hard to talk about him. Jake had been the love of her life, she couldn’t just forget about him and move on.

[Gage Mason]

There were so many different sides of Reese he'd witnessed over the years. The quiet one--that happened before they'd become friends. The horny one--which happened when they'd first become friends and had some marvelous benefits. The sad or scared one--which he didn't see often, but once in awhile, after they'd become closer friends. And now he was seeing her as just a friend. No promises of fooling around--though he wouldn't deny he still thought about it if that was brought up. No promise of future sexual encounters of any kind.

Funny--he would've thought that would've upset him.

He smirked a bit, though it was something different from his regular, cocky smirk. Lucky her? Where he'd usually insert something like of course lucky you, this time he just shrugged a bit. He was an ass, sure, but he could tell this wasn't the time nor the place for that.

So sue him, he'd grown up some.

When she pulled away and pulled out a hat, pulling it over her son's head, Gage simply watched bemused. He could never actually see himself as a father. Did he want a family someday? Well--sure, didn't everyone eventually? But could he actually see it? Actually imagine himself taking care of a kid? No.

The same reason he'd never told her about his internship. No, well see that was different. Graduates didn't usually go around bragging and spreading the story of sticking around the God damn school when they could've just left. Honestly he hadn't told many people about that. But he had a feeling everyone knew. Because like in any school--news like that spread like wildfire. And seeing as he'd been pretty damn sought after by all of his little fan girls last year--news of his staying in the school and their still having a chance? Well that spread pretty damn fast.

No, Gage wasn't arrogant at all.

For a minute, when she answered him, Gage was a little confused. Gone could mean so many things. Gone for awhile? Gone for the year? Gone on a mission or something? Gone to another girl? Gone was one of those words that needed elaborating. But he could almost tell exactly what she meant. He knew Reese pretty well now and with the way she was acting, the "gone" she was talking about was the worst of them all.

Jake had died. Gage had never met the kid and he'd never planned on it really but he knew who he was. Reese had told him all about her Jake and he'd had to sit there and listen when he would've rather had her in his bed screaming out obsceneties that weren't fit for a girl's mouth. Was that wrong?

Well that's too damn bad.

"I'm sorry Mack," he said simply. What else could he say, honestly. There were only a certain number of phrases that could be offered in time of death. And that was one of them. "What are you doing about him?" He nodded at Nathan. Was she raising him on her own? Because as corny and retarded as it sounded, if she needed help, he'd be there. Be like an Uncle Gage to the kid or something. Whatever.

[Reese Mackenzie]

Life was good. Life was hard. Life could be funny or sad. It could kick you when you would be already down or help you get the things you dreamed off. And then take it all away again. Or at least part of it which did leave its marks on the good things you still had. It was hard, dealing with Jake’s death but having Nathan around and seeing Jake in her son was even harder at some days. Course Reese loved her son with her entire heart but sometimes it was just hard to be his mother.

Reese brushed Nathan’s cheek softly with her thumb where the little one suddenly yawned and pulled up his legs. For some reason Nathan relaxed when she did that, often falling asleep in his mothers arms somewhere along the way. She had been having the same effect on Jake, he easily fell asleep when they would cuddle in bed and she would brush his cheek with her thumb. Although with babies it was so much more cuter.

She nodded, slowly, Reese knew she had to let go of Jake eventually but it was just so hard. That she could not stay this stubborn about not letting him go was something she was very well aware off but it was easier this way. “He’s still with us, everyday. At first I thought that was bunch of bull but I see him in my son every single day.” She said, her eyes staying on her son for another moment.

But what now?

Her eyes travelled back to Gage, a small smile making it onto her lips. “I guess it’s just Nate and me now. Both my brothers have their own life, they should not be carrying the responsibility of a baby on their shoulders.” Although Reese knew Dane and Tyson did not agree with that. She knew they would want to help out but Reese knew Dane needed to focus on his dream and Tyson should try to find out what his dream was.

It wasn’t like she didn’t wanted or needed any help. Reese just didn’t want people to feel obligated to help out. Nathan was her responsibility, not anyone else. “We manage, don’t we honey?” her voice turning softer and warmer when she looked down at Nathan again.

Babies were cute but Nathan was by far the cutest one ever. Every mother said that about her child but this was just the plain truth. And there was no room for discussion either. Period.

[Gage Mason]

Reese was good with her son. Gage found that watching her with him was actually really sort of nice. It was kind of weird, being that he'd thought of her more as an object of desire and less as a mother not entirely too long ago--but what could he do. No longer was that an option for him, unfortunately. He figured Reese, while single now, was still in love with John or Jim or Jake that was it--whatever his name was. And that meant that he no longer had that 'fun time with Reese Mackenzie'.

Which sucked.

He smiled a bit when she mentioned that it was just her and Nathan. Her brothers had their own lives or whatever, he could understand that. Shrugging, he smirked. "Just let me know if you need a day off. I'll take him off your hands and teach him how to be a man." He winked, knowing very well that Reese would probably rather not have him teaching her son the ways of life. Not the ways of his life anyways.

"Mack--I don't get it. Why'd you come back. I mean, I'm not complaining but look at the place. Hogwarts has pretty much gone to shit and you came back here? With your son?" Did she just need to get away from New Zealand or did she actually want to be back here? He didn't understand.

[Reese Mackenzie]

Life was hard, it was hard onher. After all she was a mother and had lost her fiancée at the age of 18. But never, did Reese complain about it. What use did it have anyway? Jake wasn’t coming back and Nathan was her son and her own son. People could offer her a shoulder to cry on, listen to her when she needed to get some stuff of her chest but that would be about it. Tears had no use.

So instead Reese just smiled, hiding the broken girl inside of her while showing the outside world the Reese that was always happy. It was easier that way, for everyone else. She looked up, laughing softly when Gage offered to help her out and turn her little boy into a man. “You do realize that includes changing diapers, facing the chance he will start crying for no reason at all and him spitting all over you? Babies are not just cute you know.” Not that she doubted Gage would take good care of Nate, but she doubted it Nate would take care of Gage. Even though Nate was a sweet and quiet baby most of the time he did have his tantrums every now and then.

Glancing down at Nathan again the little guy had drifted off to sleep in his mothers arms. Holding him close against her Reese couldn’t picture her life without him, even though he was just a couple of months old. She loved him so damn much it wasn’t even funny anymore, but apparently that was normal for a mother to do. Or so she had heard.

“Hogwarts was the only school that wanted to have us.” she softly replied. It hadn’t been easy to get accepted and perhaps Hogwarts was not the best school but she needed to graduate to get herself a job. “I couldn’t stay in New Zealand anymore after Jake died. And well, Tyson is now here in the school…and you were here. And Damien.” Looking back up at Gage she shrugged. “Hogwarts is not the best school there is right now but I need to graduate someplace. If not I can’t get a proper job to make sure Nathan can have everything he needs. Like a home.”