photoelectric;

Jake Zabini. 26. Blood Traitor. In love with one Rose Weasley.

[jakezabini]

point me • jake&rose

rosenymphadora

Rose felt like he had stuck a hot poker between her ribs. They had always fought dirty–that was who they were; but him laying out all of her insecurities and scrutinizing them each in turn was the worst it had ever been. For the first time in her life she felt like giving everything up and just saying “fuck it, let’s see what happens” which was entirely uncharacteristic of her. She wondered distantly if this was going to become a pattern; if they would fight and fuck and makeup forever. That scared her, that was the pattern her parents had laid out years before she was born.

There was so much she wanted to say, she just couldn’t find the words to do so. It was like being verbally constipated. Pulling her wand on him crossed her mind multiple times before she shoved it angrily in her pocket, her father’s “you’ll charm your ass off” ringing dully in her ears. Suddenly, she felt like she was going to explode if she held in her words a minute longer. “You think I don’t know that I’m not special?” She wished she had something to throw at him. “Do you honestly think that I don’t know I wasted years of my life trying to prove something that is ultimately false? I just act like I’m better than everyone else! I’m not a fucking idiot. You treat me like a child but I’m not.”

“I may have a problem with attitude but at least I don’t have a problem with being mean. You want to be honest with me? Fine. You don’t think I’m honest with myself? I fucking wasted my life, WASTED it on school to pull through and hate myself. NO MATTER HOW MUCH YOU HATE ME I’LL ALWAYS HATE MYSELF MORE!” She couldn’t stand looking at him, she couldn’t stand being near him. The idea of marrying him, when he acted like this, made her want to vomit. She took the chain from around her neck and threw it at him. “Take this. I don’t want it if you’re going to act like this.”

“And I hope the fuck that you do talk to Harry. Talk to him about how you fucked his niece right under his nose. Get yourself kicked out of the department. If you go to him about me he’ll know. Harry always knows. I’m done with you. God, I’m so fucking tired of this.”

Jake stared, dumfounded, at the chain. The light was glinting off of the gold cheerily, a stark contrast to the electrically charged mood. “No,” he said, suddenly quiet. “It’s yours. I’m not taking it back.” The fight hadn’t gone out of him, but his mood was different now. He was as reluctant as ever to give even an inch of ground, but he knew yelling Rose into submission wasn’t going to end well. His nerves were less raw now that he had aired his annoyances; he was more prepared to argue in a way he might actually win.

“And shit, Rose, if you feel like you’ve wasted your entire life then do something about it instead of wallowing in self-pity! You’re eighteen fucking years old, your life is not over. Do what you’re always telling me to do and change it!” Jake yelled, fighting to keep his volume something akin to normal. “Ask for help instead of internalizing everything until you explode! It’s what I’m here for, it’s what your family here’s for! I mean fuck, if anyone knows anything about family pressure it’s that girl you call your best friend. You don’t have to do everything on your own, you know,” he said, voice growing sarcastic.

“Because really, I know a few things about acting like you’re the best when you feel like you’re the worst. I lived like that for ten years, something you are quite aware of. So don’t act like this is your own burden to bear.” Jake sighed, sitting down against the trunk of a tree. Fighting like this with Rose was always exhausting. There had been more than one occasion where he had almost been too tired for make-up sex.

Key word almost.

There was just only so much he could do when she was like this. Rose was independent to a fault, something anyone who knew her was well aware of. She insisted on doing things her way, learning things at her own speed. This was just one more thing she had to learn. And no matter how much she shoved him away, he wasn’t going anywhere. He’d wait as long as it took, but when she finally figured everything out, he’d still be there.

[jakezabini]

point me • jake&rose

[jakezabini]

rosenymphadora:

Her hands had started shaking and she knew that she needed another cigarette, but she wouldn’t give him the satisfaction. Honestly, she didn’t know what to say. Of course she was furious, but she was afraid if they started fighting she would say something that she would end up regretting down the line. They had come far enough for her to know when to shut up. Now was one of those times.

She absolutely hated when he called her Weasley. The name ground on her nerves worse than anything else he said. They would have to trek incredibly far to get out of the hell he had gotten them in to–and she wasn’t sure she would be able to stay silent for much longer. That wasn’t something she had ever been good at. Holding her tongue was worse than a death sentence for most of the Weasley family. It was another unfortunate thing she had inherited from her father. Damn him, damn this fucking ‘mission’ and fucking damn the man standing next to her.

“When no one’s around you don’t have to call me Weasley.” It came out more vehemently than she had meant it to, but alas, she was thirsty and her feet were starting to hurt. Not that she would voice any of that to him, she was sure that he would mock her. She simply took out her water bottle and cast a nonverbal aguamenti. The water tasted good, but the sour taste in her mouth remained. She’d hoped that it would have helped flush out her emotions.

They followed his fucking wand for a couple more ‘point me’s’ before the fucking words started grating on her nearly as much as ‘Weasley’ did and she couldn’t contain herself. “You didn’t think of bringing spare batteries? You didn’t test them yourself?” This was dangerous waters and she knew it. The whole ‘I’m worthless’ debate was like to come up and she couldn’t handle a round of pity parties. Not right now.

“You’re supposed to be training me, not wasting time with this bullshite.” It was hard to train someone you were dating, obviously. It was harder when it was her, she was sure. Rose hadn’t ever been a good listener, on top of being a self-proclaimed know-it-all.

Jake whirled on Rose, blocking the narrow path they’d been on for the past few minutes. “Yeah, I do have to call you Weasley. Because right now it’s the only thing keeping me from yelling at you as your fiancé instead of your CO. And I’m pretty sure you’d prefer that I stick to the latter.” He turned back around, taking off down the path in a manner that could only be described as “storming,” doing his best to ignore Rose’s angry rantings. Which lasted all of about ninety seconds.

“No,” Jake said forcefully, whipping around to face her. “You do not get to turn this around on me. You are one who wandered off, ignoring both our entire training exercise and a direct order from another trainee. You are the reason we are lost in the first place. You, Rose Nymphadora Weasley, are at fault here. Not. Me.” Jake finished, walking another ten feet or so. Sure, he should have checked the batteries himself. But there was no reason to have needed a backup to a device that they weren’t supposed to be using in the first place, that was designated for emergencies where a trainee and their CO got separated from the group.

Because apparently, if you’re Rose Weasley, having a cigarette in the middle of an exercise constitutes an emergency. Jake stopped again. “And another thing.” Oh no, this was not going to be good. He could feel every single little annoyance that had built up over the past few weeks bubbling up inside of him, threatening to burst out. “I am so fucking tired of your entitled, hypocritical, self-righteousness.” Yep, there he went. “You go on and on about how you want to be recognized for your own merit, not for your parents. Which yeah, I get it, parental legacies stuck. Good for you to make it on your own. Except you don’t. Because you seem pretty keen to use and abuse any special treatment you might be afforded. If you were any other trainee, you’d have been put on probation weeks ago for your attitude and blatant disrespect for rules, other trainees, commanding officers—hell, basically the entire training program. But you weren’t, because no one wanted to be the one to break it to Ron Weasley that his daughter wasn’t perfect, and was, in fact, a gigantic pain in all of our asses.”

 “You think you’re above it all, that you’re so much better than everyone else. And Rose, hate to break it to you, but you’re not. You’re just not.” Jake paused, out of breath. “And I will personally be having a chat about your many shortcomings with your uncle the minute we get back to London.” This time, when Jake continued walking, he didn’t look back. There was nothing left to say—it was all out in the open now. Now all that was left was for Rose to respond.

[jakezabini]

point me • jake&rose

Like most nightmares, this one started with a fairly innocuous realization. The GPS would not turn on. While not ideal in the best of times, this was far from the best of times. They were in the middle of absolute nowhere, out on field training, first off. Second, there was a 10 mile radius anti-apparition jinx. To top it all off, they had gotten separated from the group when someone had decided that she absolutely could not fucking wait for a cigarette. If she’d been any of his other trainees, he’d be pissed. Since it was Rose who a) should know better, b) had a personal interest in not actively making his job harder, he was seeing red. 

Not the red she’d be seeing when she found out what the problem was. “Weasley?” He said, fighting to keep his voice neutral. Remain in CO-mode, don’t allow this to become personal at any cost, do not confront her as to why she’s been avoiding you. And, above all, don’t ask her why she’s staying with Katie. “The GPS seems to be malfunctioning.” Yes, vague was the way to go. Not ‘my piece of shit partner told me the batteries were new and they are obviously not because the damn thing won’t turn on.’ Not ‘you got us lost and now we can’t get un-lost because the back-up device isn’t working.’ And certainly not ‘so now that it’s just me, you, and the trees, what the fuck is up with you?’

He’d just thought they were over this. He’d thought that after all this time–almost two years, after all–that they might finally have a chance at being happy. Without all the complications and the fighting and the stress and- He should have known better. They didn’t feel any closer to telling anyone, she was as volatile as ever, and Jake? Jake didn’t know how he felt. “Anyways, looks like we’re back to basics,” he sighed, opening his hand, palm facing the sky. “Point me.”

He could use a little direction right about now.

[iridesvntia]

“You would too if you couldn’t reach anything.”

[jakezabini]

“That might be. But, lucky day, I’m up here, able to get whatever I please. Was this what you needed?” he asked, plucking an item from the top shelf and holding it out towards her.

[little--potter]

Lily is made up of carefully controlled emotions and sickly sweet smiles. The gesture, as infuriating as it was, is met only with a chin jutted outwards and straightened shoulders. “You say that as if it’s the worse thing there is to want. You’re going to have to remark on one of my other traits someday, you know.” God, she’s going to have him gelded one of these days.

[jakezabini]

“Me? Judge? I’m hurt. No, I just heartily enjoy stating the obvious. I might also mention that you have red hair, that you’re absolutely hobbit-eque in stature, that you have expensive taste in high heels–shall I go on, or are you satisfied?” He asked, faux-sincerity oozing from him like slime. Maybe he shouldn’t wind her up, but Merlin above was it fun.

[little--potter]

Evidently there is someone out there who wants her to suffer, so of all people to witness her brief clumsiness, it’s the person she’d like to the absolute least. “Well, you know me, I do so enjoy making a scene.” She snaps, voice sharp and countenance etched into a sneer.

[jakezabini]

Jake smirks down at the redhead, placing a hand on the upper shelf to accentuate his height. He had long ago stopped bothering to play nice with Lily–it wouldn’t make her like him any more, and it was incredibly boring. “You do always have to be the center of attention.”

[iridesvntia]

“You would too if you couldn’t reach anything.”

[jakezabini]

“Luckily, that has never been a problem of mine. Was it this one?”

[jakezabini]

Jake had been reaching for an item on the top shelf when he heard the crash of a toppling display behind him. "Causing a commotion, are we?” he drawled, turning slowly on his heel.

[rosenymphadora]

Rose Weasley and the Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day | Jake and Rose

[rosenymphadora]

“Take a deep breath?” Rose rounded on him like a bull readying to charge. Her eyes flared dangerously as she hovered over his desk. “A deep breath? Are you mental? You think this can be solved with me taking a deep breath?” She slammed her hand down on his desk. “Do you think my dad will ‘take a deep breath’ when he figures out what we’ve done on this desk? You think he’ll ‘take a deep breath’ when he realizes how many ways you’ve fucked his baby girl? Really?” 

But it wasn’t his fault, really, and she shouldn’t be taking it out on him. Ron Weasley wasn’t a man of reason, and neither was she. Now, though, her career was at stake. A sex scandal between her and her boss could lead to bad roads. It could cost her her chances at ever being Head of the Auror Department. “This could be really, really bad.” Suddenly she was exhausted. The day crashed down on her all at once–the reality of everything. She pulled her ring from it’s position under her shirt and slid it off the chain and on her her finger. 

“I can’t ask to be transferred, that would raise suspicion. Being near you and not being able to even…speak to you normally is going to drive me insane. I don’t know how I’m going to be able to see you but not see you.” A pained expression crossed her face, making her look angry and constipated at the same time. She lit a cigarette, deciding that they had broken the rules enough in one day to break a few more, which was quite unlike her. 

“Tell me what to do. I need you to tell me what to do. I can’t just… I can’t just sit here without a plan.”

[jakezabini]

Jake sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. “Ro, I didn’t mean ‘take a breath and that’s the plan,’ I meant ‘take a breath and then we’ll figure out the plan.’ You’re not going to be any use as is. As your CO, you need to be able to keep your head on straight when you’re panicking.” He said the last bit with a drawl, hoping that the provocation would be enough to shake her out of her spiral.

“Unfortunately, there’s not really anything to do. Neither of us can get out of it without looking shady as hell. So we’ll just have to do what we do best,” he trailed, gently shaking his empty glass so that the ice clinked. “Pretend.” The whole thing reeked. He was so sick and tired of the hiding. 

But Rose was worth it. So worth it. Worth all the sneaking around and dishonesty and future consequences. So yes, it sucked. Yes, it was going to be awful, seeing her and having to act like he barely knew her. He said as much to Rose, languidly getting out of his chair and crossing the room towards her. “But,” he continued, a smirk on his lips and a sparkle of mischief in his eye, “at the end of the day, I get to take you home to my flat. I get to leave your uniform strewn across my living room.” He slid an arm around her waist, pulling her close to him. “I get to make you scream at the top of your lungs. I get to fuck you so good that you can’t walk the next morning. I get to make you come so hard that you forget your own name.” 

He paused, pressing himself against her. “I get the privilege of knowing that your academic achievements are only one of the reasons you made Head Girl.”

[rosenymphadora]

Rose Weasley and the Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day | Jake and Rose

Rose Weasley had previously thought she had encountered the Worst Day Ever. Honestly, she’d had her fair share of “bad days.” Or so she had thought.

Because that day, when she got to work two hours early (so she could see Jake) he had looked like he’d seen a ghost. The words “I’m to be your C.O.” fell from his mouth like rocks. She had stood there frozen, unsure of what the fuck to say until she had burst into frantic, uncontrollable laughter. Because hell, life had a good sense of humor didn’t it? Even if it was dark, twisted, and fucked up.

And Merlin, was this ever fucked up.

There they stood, now–a couple hours later–in front of her father who had a proud grin on his face. She was doing her absolute best to stay eleven and a half feet away from Jake at all times, and every time he spoke to her she forced herself to snap at him. Ron was of course, oblivious to the whole thing. He laughed it off as “nerves” and asked her not to hex his best trainer.

It was only later, when they were up in his office that she allowed herself to fully come to terms with the situation. And it was some situation, wasn’t it?

“We are fucking screwed. I might as well just deliver your balls to my dad now. We are royally fucked. FUCKED.” She stood and stomped her foot like a petulant child. “No good can come of this. None. Whatsoever. You are dead and hell, I probably am too.”

[jakezabini]

The universe had always been a bit perverse when it came to Jake and Rose. He had resigned himself to that fact ages ago, but it never ceased to surprise him when one more cruel joke popped up in their faces. As if falling in love with your boss’s daughter wasn’t enough on the sick irony front. No, she had to be a) inappropriate in age, b) noble, and c) pursuing the same line of work as himself and her father. And her uncle. In the same building as her mother and other uncle. And cousin (though he was pretty sure Molly would be on their side if it came down to that). Shit, even then he might be leaving out a relative...

Not the point. No, the point was that Jake had been promoted. Which is not, in and of itself, a bad thing. In fact, most people would put promotions firmly in the “good” category. Jake would have, too, if it weren’t that the promotion he had been given was to a junior officer in the Training Division. Actually, that’s not quite fair. He was actually quite thrilled about the job itself. It was the fact that one of his sixteen incoming students was his fianceé.

Ron had hand delivered the news in person, actually, just that morning. Of course. So Jake hadn’t even been able to panic in private like he’d have preferred. No, he’d had to grin and say “thank you, sir, I really appreciate, it sir. Sir.” Sure, no amount of arse-kissing was going to help when the truth came out, but Jake wasn’t going to give Ron any reason to dislike him. 

Well. Besides the obvious.

So after a day of ignoring Rose without actually ignoring her (the shit storm that was their personal lives was no excuse for shoddy teaching), Jake was exhausted. He’d gone back to his office, shut the door, conjured a drink, and waited for the inevitable visit from Rose.

Jake sat with his feet on his desk, watching Rose blow off steam. She hadn’t quite yet noticed, yet, that she was having a conversation with herself. Jake had learned ages ago to just let her keep going until she realized it–by that point, she was ready to at least contemplate the situation, usually. “Before you go anywhere near my testicles, let’s just take a deep breath,” Jake drawled, reclining even further.

[butterflycaps]

[jakezabini]

text – @rose

Jake: Can you send me, like, a spreadsheet of which cousins are "in the know"?

Jake: Because I keep seeing them around and things are starting to get complicated.

[vixtoires-deactivated20150703]

“Want one?”

[jakezabini]

“Or five. Merlin these things are miserable.”

[jakezabini]

a reckless serenade • jose

Jake had never been to the annual Victory Ball before. His family hadn’t exactly been high up on the honorees list; in the years since, he’d never had an interest. Last year, Rose had asked him not to come. Too much at stake to risk on an evening where they couldn’t even talk. 

This year was different. They were engaged. She wasn’t sixteen anymore. They would, before the next ball rolled around, be living in the open. He hoped. In less than two months, she would be working in the same department as him. And her father. And her uncle. Whether they liked it or not, were ready or not, their days in the shadows were numbered. The only thing they could control was how everybody found out. So he’d gotten himself put on the guest list, dusted off his dress robes, and was now prowling the edge of the atrium anxiously.

She should be here by now. This was a mistake. He felt eyes on him, knew that they were wondering one of several things. What he was doing here, what he was doing even using the last name Zabini, whether apples fell further from the tree when they weren’t actually related to the Death Eater in question. The general consensus was no. No matter that he was an Auror. No matter that he hadn’t earned any of it. No matter that he had spent his entire life feeling like he didn’t belong anywhere. 

He caught a glimpse of red in the general direction of the dedicated Hogwarts floo. He kept walking in the direction he had been; she had to initiate. If he hadn’t been watching for it, he wouldn’t have noticed her brush past him and deposit a small slip of parchment in his pocket. Your office. Fifteen minutes. R She was off again, making her way towards the bar. He casually head towards the lifts. They were on lockdown tonight, with the only people able to operate them being the security detail. Luckily, he had an in with the department.

He took a seat in his desk chair, playing with the logic puzzle a coworker had given him as part of a secret santa. He caught a whiff of her perfume, heard the almost imperceptible click of the door, and turned around. Rose.

[teddiestlupin-blog]

“Wow, I never thought of that. Thanks for the advice, Zabini.”

[jakezabini]

“And they said you were bright. Pity, Lupin.”

[jakezabini]

“Have you ever considered that people would like you more if you were less annoying?”

[rosenymphadora]

Easter had been crazy in the Weasley household. Rose had a certain yearning to run away to France to avoid awkward questions. She hadn’t seen Albus in hours, so she assumed he had gone and hid somewhere. The Aurors hadn’t gotten back to her yet, and he hadn’t heard from the Ministry either. The stress level in the household was astronomical. Rose decided that she wouldn’t skip the country, instead she would run to London. It was crowded as always, but she managed to find a secluded part of Flourish and Blotts to thumb through some of the ancient tomes. She was lifting a stack when she accidentally knocked one over. “Shite!” Her fumble was made worse by the arrival of another patron. “Double shite.”

[jakezabini]

Easter was not a good time for Jake. Typically falling a little over a month after Lilly’s death, memories of her were always more poignant. And then there was the other matter, the matter of proverbial blood on his hands. Well there was something to be said that he’d been reborn, in his own sick way, after they were all dead. Regardless of whatever day Easter fell that year, Jake couldn’t help but remember. He’d gone to Diagon Alley to forget himself in something not liquor–there’d been plenty of those days, of course, but he was growing weary of them. He felt an age in his bones that was unfamiliar and not entirely welcome. Fighting it would be futile (though when had that ever dissuaded him?), so he’d gone to distract himself in the crowds and the humdrum of everyday life. He’d gone into the bookshop to scout something for Rose’s birthday, though it was at least a month and a half away. Turns out he’d chosen a topic well–he’d spotted her hair, gleaming red over the top of the shelves, long before he’d heard her curse. “Is that any way to greet your fiancé?” Jake asked quietly, confident they wouldn’t be overheard. He smirked, but his heart wasn’t in it.