Contact (Erik/Open)

[natalia]

Nat drew her hood tightly around her head, despising the very sweater she wore, although she had no money for other clothes. Ducking her head, she quickly descended the stairs avoiding those in the common room, although they often didn't bother with her. She could feel the mirror shard in the sweater pouch as she glanced around the corridors, before running for the towers. Her head throbbed and her throat was burning with tears.

Entering the empty tower, Nat threw back the hood, running a hand over the swollen bruise on her eyes. She didn't dare brave a glance in a mirror. Not for fear of the ugliness it brought, but for the fear it may have been an improvement. Of course, Raug had shown her countless charms on how to repair such injuries, but Erik had said to go to him. She bit her lip, glancing around to make sure no one was near the tower. Her stomach knotted, as she briefly considered not telling Erik. She could only imagine the stress this would bring on him, and that as her thank-you for all his help?

With a sigh of resignation, and a final glance over her shoulder, she pulled the mirror shard from her sweatshirt as she held it up. She didn't flinch at the reflection, secretly wishing, as she always did when she glanced into a mirror, she could be pretty, but that was unimportant. She blinked and her reflection was no longer there, but the black confines of Erik's pocket.

"Erik," she said hoarsely, hoping he couldn't hear the tears in her voice. The humiliation was the last thing she needed.

[erikoliver]

Erik was sitting at his kitchen table, Muggle Court book oen, glass of wine in his hand. He was mentally thanking Elliot for giving him a new form of alcohol to drink constantly. The raspberry-flavored wine was a form of addiction for him, and he was drinking to his heart's content. However, he didn't drink enough to even gget buzzed, seeing as he needed to stay focused. Erik had figured out a way for no one to go to court over a custody battle, but it was a fairly shady procedure and might not work in the first place.

Erik flipped to another page, taking a sip of his wine, when he heard his name, wimpered from his pocket. In one rather clumsy and rushed movement, he'd stood and retrieved the shard from his pocket. "Jesus Christ," he gasped, hand covering his mouth as he shook his head. Nat looked terribly beaten, and shooken up beyond belief. "Where are you?" he asked, removing his hand from over his mouth. Erik only hoped Nat would be okay for the short amount of time it would take him to grab a few things before he Apparated to her location.

[natalia]

Erik's reaction did nothing to calm Nat. She chewed her lip, glancing at the stairs once more, fearing someone would stumble in and find her like this. She brought her gaze back to the now worried Erik, who she realized she must have brought down greatly. She sighed quietly. "The South Tower," she said, finally sure she could raise her voice. She touched her eyes tenderly, wincing at the raw pain. With all the elixirs and wand at the ready, she had almost forgotten the pain.

"Should I..." she gestured vaguely to her face. She didn't know what she should do. As far as she was concerned, she was in the dark. She knew Erik preferred it that way, but she was left lost on a lot of things. She just wished that she could be with him already. The hope of escaping was like a tomorrow that felt like there was a chance it might not come.

[erikoliver]

Erik pondered what to do. Finally, he came up with something. "Listen to me carefully," he said, talking quietly. "I need you to get yourself to the Gamekeeper's hut. Persephone already knows what I'm doing, and your exams are over with anyway. I will meet you there, we're going to have to Apparate to your house and have a little... meeting with your parents," he explained, knowing that's the last thing Nat probably wanted. "Cover your face but don't fix it just yet. We'll show your parents, I'll take a picture, and we'll get proof."

Erik shot one last comforting smile before shoving the glass shard back into his jeans pocket. He rushed into his room, grabbing a brown jacket, slipping it onto his body and over his dark brown v-neck. Slipping his wand, the glass shard, and a tape recorder into a magically enlarged pocket on the inside, he ran a hand anxiously through his hair. "I'm coming, Nat," Erik whispered to himself before Apparating just outside Hogwarts. He quickly made his way to the Gamekeeper's hut, desperately hoping he'd timed his arrival well.

[natalia]

Nat listened, and wanted to scream when he spoke of her parents. She hadn't seen them since they had left her on the train station. Giovanni had gone home every vacation of course, but she had wandered the halls alone, feeling much more home there than she could have ever at her supposed "home". Of course he had "hung up" the mirror before Nat could beg him otherwise, and her only hope was catching him at the Gamekeeper's Hut.

Not bothering with the hood, she held the glass in one hand as she sprinted down the steps, leaping through the halls as everyone stared at her, stunned. She had always been the quiet one, but now she did not want Erik to see what she came from. She couldn't lose his respect, or his love. Skipping the last few steps, the slopes down to the hut carried her hurried feet as she burst in to find Erik already there.

"Erik, you don't want to talk to my parents," she hugged him tightly. "There has to be another way. They're not...nice," there was no other word to describe them. Actually, Nat knew a few, but that was perhaps the most simple of all. Lazy, rude, arrogant, unintelligent, pompous, ignorant...Nat had a list that kept building. She couldn't believe they had been her birth givers, and that she was them. Erik couldn't see her as that.

[erikoliver]

Erik didn't have to wait long for Nat to launch herself into his arms. He hugged her and patiently listened to her beg. Holding her at an arms length, he smiled sadly. "Darling, I've dealt with so many terrible Muggles. They won't be among the worse, trust me," he replied softly, examining her face. She genuinely looked awful, both her eyes blackened and puffy. "Oh my, I think he might have broken your nose..." he mused, eyes going dark with momentary anger. Erik quickly shook it off, knowing that it wasn't smart to get angry at something like this.

Erik held Nat close, then walked with her to the edge of the Hogwarts grounds, Apparating to an alleyway behind her home. He'd made sure he knew where he was going and what he was doing beforehand. Everything had to be absolutely perfect, otherwise his plans wouldn't work and Nat would be stuck with Giovanni forever. That was the absolute last thing Erik wanted. "Come on, let's get this done. Don't worry, dear, I've got you," he whispered, holding her close as he made his way to her home and to her parents.

((OOC: Question. Do you think the Castel's would succumb to blackmail and a tiny threat from a wizard? ;D))

[natalia]

Nat was too distracted to even throw up as she normally did while apparating. She knew the alleyway. She had hidden here since their move to Dublin almost everyday after school until it grew dark out, and then longer. She swallowed the burning lump in her throat, trying not to cry. She didn't want to lose Erik. She couldn't afford to lose Erik. She rubbed her arms, wincing as she crossed the angry black and blue bruises lining them.

The knock on the door terrified her, her heart momentarily stopping as the door swung open. She was stunned. They appeared normal. It had been so long, she had forgotten that they could create a nice facade. Her mom was in her usual revealing dress and she could smell wine from within the house. The television was blaring as usual, and Nat wondered how they could actually function normally with such a low IQ.

The grin on her mom's face faded as her gaze fell from Erik, to Nat, who stepped closer to Erik, refusing to say the first word.

"Did she get kicked out?" Her voice was as cold as ice. Goosebumps trailed Nat's arms and back as she stepped even closer to Erik.

[erikoliver]

Mrs. Castel would have been a very pretty woman, had she not fried her hair, wore such a ridiculous dress, and wore the pounds of makeup she had plastered onto her face. Erik, however, smiled back, though it almost pained him to do so. Suddenly, the pleasant smile on the older woman's face disappeared as she caught glimpse of her only daughter, and Erik had to bite back a cruel remark at the icy woman. Maintaining a smile, he only held Nat close and kept his gaze on the woman. "No, not at all. She's a bright student. No, Mrs. Castel, I'm here to talk about your son."

At the mention of Giovanni, the woman's grin returned and Erik held back a grimace. It was sick, how proud this woman was of her only son. The woman took one more, icy glance at Nat, then escorted the pair inside. Truthfully, the house was lovely. It was perfectly clean, down to the very last inch. The television was blaring, and it was almost a normal house, save for the disgusting way the family treated their daughter. "Coffee, tea?" Mrs. Castel asked, smiling brightly. "Coffee is fine," he replied.

[natalia]

Nat bit her lip as they entered the house, not wanting to cross the threshold. She feared they may never let her re-emerge. Hogwarts had been her escape, and they knew that.

"Get him coffee," her mom said, sitting across from Erik at the table. Nat obediently stood, crossing to the cupboards and starting the coffee. She listened, back turned as her mom addressed Erik.

"How is he?" She asked, taking a sip from her wine glass. Nat set the cup in front of Erik, hovering behind him as she shifted her weight anxiously. She knew what was coming next. She bit her lip, unsure of how her parents would react, and which she would have rather had. Weather the explosion, or the flat out denial, both struck fear deep in her core.

[erikoliver]

Erik looked up and smiled at Nat, taking the coffee. "Thank you," he said, then turned his attention back towards Mrs. Castel. He reached into his pocket hand brushing across the tape recorder in his pocket. He pretended to adjust something inside his jacket, and the woman across from him shifted, anticipating for him to pull something good about Giovanni from within. When his hand came out, empty, she frowned, but carefully replaced it with a chipper grin. "So, my Giovanni, how is he?" she repeated. Erik smiled softly, leaning back and crossing one leg over the other casually, sipping his coffee.

"Quite frankly, your son is... an asshole," he said. The words registered with Mrs. Castel and she frowned, confused. "I beg your pardon?" Erik smiled pleasantly. "You heard me. He's been hitting your daughter, frequently. The bruises on her eyes at the moment are from his hand." The woman scoffed. "She probably deserved it." At that moment, Erik wanted to pull his wand on the woman and jinx her, something to humiliate her beyond belief, but he refrained. He'd never seen such ignorance in his life. "Yes, it's true. And I'd like pull Natalia from your custody. She's not safe around Giovanni."

[natalia]

Nat waited with baited breath, wondering what had gone wrong within his pocket. She gasped as the word asshole was so blatantly spoken. Her eyes darted to her mother, who took it much better than Nat could have imagined. Of course, the facade was wearing thin, and very quickly. She bit her lip, the thoughts briefly flashing through her mind, perhaps she DID deserve it. She brought her gaze to the cool Erik, who seemed to be the only anchor in the room filled with nightmarish memories.

There. The final statement was out. "Excuse me?" Her mom set down her wine glass. Nat clenched her eyes shut, despite the pain it brought. "This is nothing more than discipline of an unruly girl. I would have done it myself, were my son not so noble in his causes," and so it began...

"To take her from our custody would be a humiliation! My husband could not face that at work! How can I show my face at the country club? And Giovanni, realizing he failed?!" Her hand was smacked down on the counter. "If I could have rid myself of the curse, I would have done it the moment I was given that thing. But we have an image to uphold, and you, sir, will not ruin it!" Nat was shocked to feel hot tears on her cheeks.

She had known that she was hated, but was she truly not good enough?

[erikoliver]

Erik simply smiled slyly, leaning backwards and lounging on the couch innocently. She'd taken the bait, just like he'd imagined she would. Erik reached up and took Nat's hand looking up and motioning with a nod of his head for her to sit next to him. This was going to be a lengthy process of accusation, and it was going to be a large blow to Nat. Once she was seated, he didn't release her hand, not for a moment. "Mrs. Castel," he started, meeting the enraged woman's gaze. "You said you'd do the same to discipline her?"

The woman nodded vigorously, staring daggers at Nat. "Of course I would, I've done it before, as has my husband. It's a form of discipline, and the little brat deserves it anyway. She's nothing but a nuisance." Erik gently squeezed Nat's hand with each insult, a pleasant expression painted across his features. This was going very well, very well indeed. "Well, I disagree with you," he said. "I think Natalia is a very bright, beautiful young lady and should be treated as such," he finished, smiling and glancing at Nat before bringing his attention to the demon mother before him.

[natalia]

Nat squeezed his hands, eyes clenching shut, the pain worsening. She stared at him for a moment. Never had she been called beautiful. She felt like crying even more. The huge surging jumble of emotions swelling inside was too confusing, too much to understand.

"Wait," was her mother's icy response. "Trust me, sir, you're getting in far too deep," she lowered her voice, and Nat flinched again, knowing what was coming next. "She's dangerous," she whispered, not even bothering to look at Nat. "We can barely handle it. Objects fly, sir. Things shake, they fall," her mom spat, leaning back once more. "You're getting in over your head. She'll be the death of you," Nat was terrified that would bring Erik's hand to release hers. For a moment, she pictured him walking out the door, as her stomach plummeted

[erikoliver]

What came out of Erik's mouth sounded eerily out of place, but it was the only thing he could do. He laughed. It was a small, burst of laughter, and he looked at the woman before him with an amused expression on his face. "Oh, dear," he replied, grinning and laughing. The woman looked at him as though he were insane. "You don't seem to understand that means her power is potent. I'm sure objects didn't fly off the wall when Giovanni's magic was manifesting," he replied, eyes glowing with slightly malice, daring her to challenge him.

Mrs. Castel's mouth opened to reply, but no words came out. Her face grew red, and she grew almost comical in her fury. "That doesn't mean anything, what exactly are you getting at, sir?!" she asked, furious. Erik smirked slightly. "You know precisely what I'm getting at, Mrs. Castel. Natalia is better the Giovanni, in probably just about everything," he replied, eyes glittering with mischief. He was prepared for the next blow up, and it was going to be what made their case.

[natalia]

Nat was shocked, and yet, somewhat pleased. She never knew her family, if she still could consider them such, had feared her. Nor did she know that Giovanni could not do the same thing. She watched her mother turn red, which was odd. Never had she seen an Italian turn colours, but it was there. She looked between the two, still holding Erik's hand tightly, sure she must have been cutting off circulation by that point.

"You'll wish you never set foot in this house if you dare speak of this to someone," she hissed in her scary voice. Nat immediately watched Erik, waiting for his reaction to the threat.