Chapter 2
His fingers gripped tightly around the back of her neck as she was yanked backwards forcefully. She knew it would bruise.
Hallie had tripped just as she had crossed the threshold into his study. The tea set she held in her hands crashing to the floor and shattered into tiny porcelain shards across the floor. For a split-second she stared in silent horror at the mess she had made. Then she had made to turn and bolt from the room, but Charles was far quicker than her.
He had always been quicker, stronger, bigger, than her. The ten-year age gap between the two siblings giving him an incredibly unfair advantage over her. It felt like being balanced on a set of scales that she could never seem to tip in her direction. There was no weight on her side, no advantage, and worst of all no escape.
Her feet stumbled backwards as he flung her back into the room. She felt her lower back collide with the heavy wooden writing desk in the center of the room and gripped the edges of the desk in an attempt to hold her footing. Adrenaline coursed through her veins, but there was nowhere to go. The door was slammed shut and locked. And he loomed over her in the space between herself and the door. She closed her eyes and braced herself, desperate not to see the cold, empty, darkness in his eyes.
He had always been cruel and mean. Even when they were children he had been violent and cold. She was well familiar with the way his eyes would on occasion turn into dark voids and he would become something inhuman. There was no reasoning with him when it happened. It was always her cue to run. It took only a moment for him to close the distance between them, but to her it felt like an eternity as she stood there on shaking knees.
Knuckles collided with her cheek and jaw on the right side. Her head snapped to the left and she stumbled sideways. She could taste the iron-like flavor of blood.
He was yelling at her. She knew he was calling her a "stupid, useless, bitch," but the ringing in her ears made most of his words sound fuzzy in her head. She tried to crawl to the left, using the momentum left over from the impact of his punch.
A hand seized her again and she stumbled backwards again. She let out a strangled cry just as she glanced in the direction he was flinging her this time. She barely had time to raise her left arm to shield her face as she was thrown head first into a large glass display case. The glass giving way to her as it shattered and showered the room in shards, ripping through her skin as it did so.
Her feet were off the ground now. Charles had lifted her by the throat and turned her to face him as he clenched his fingers tightly around the center of her neck. Her back was against the wall and her legs flung uselessly as she struggled in his grip. She couldn't breath. She couldn't breath at all and she could see it in those cold, dead eyes; This time he wasn't going to let go.
Her lungs burned like fire. Her vision was going black. No one was going to miss her.
Suddenly Charles's grip was gone. She crumpled to the floor, glass cutting into her hands and knees as she gasped and sputtered for air. A hand grasped her shoulder, wrenching her upright on her knees as she sat there coughing and shaking. She flinched, prepared for another impact, but when her vision cleared it wasn't her brother's face she saw. It was Professor Fig.
On the opposite side of the room Charles stumbled upwards onto his feet. His steps crunching on broken glass and wood from a shelf that had previously hung on the wall behind him. There was a deadly look on his face as he lurched forward.
Hallie flinched again but Professor Fig stood between them, his wand raised, "LEVIOSO!"
Charles was flung upwards into the air with a shocked grunt.
"Incarcerous!"
Thick ropes shot from his wand and Charles was bound tightly and gagged. He crashed to the floor with a loud thud and lay wriggling on the floor.
Professor Fig was facing her again. He had a determined and hard look in his eyes, but his face was etched with concern. He gripped both of her shoulders firmly, "Can you stand?"
Too in shock to speak, she nodded weakly and stumbled to her feet with his help. Her legs and arms rattling as if they were only bare bone and no muscle. His hand gripped her arm firmly as he pulled her out of the room, "Your room; where is it?"
He allowed her to take the lead as she stumbled up the stairs. His hand still gently gripping her arm as they made their way to the room.
"Do you have a trunk to put your things in," he asked.
Nodding, she knelt beside the bed and pulled her small trunk from below it.
Professor Fig pointed his wand at the trunk, "Capacious extremis."
She stared at the trunk, gripping the sides of it with bloodied hands. She felt too numbed to act, although a small part of her knew she should. It was like her mind and body had shut down.
"That charm should allow you space to fit everything you need inside. Grab everything that's important. I won't be leaving you here," he said firmly.
His words shook her from her stupor. In the back of her mind she knew he was right, she couldn't stay here. Hallie rose shakily and began darting around the room to grab what she could. Each drawer she would open, Professor Fig would raise his wand and wave it and before she could react, it's contents would rapidly soar across the room and into the open trunk. Even the books that sat along her small bookshelf bounded smoothly in a row and stacked neatly inside at a wave of his wand. In what seemed no time at all, her books, her clothes, and even her sketch book, lay neatly in the trunk.
Hallie watched apprehensively as the trunk shut and locked itself at the command of Professor Fig's wand. He stepped foreward and picked it up. Turning to her, he stretched his other arm out.
"Grab my arm tightly and don't let go," he said.
Hallie reached out and gripped his arm firmly.
In and instant, it felt as though she was being pressed in from all sides and she could not see. Panic filled her chest; She couldn't breathe again. A great weight was pressing on her so hard, she thought her head might pop. And then, just as quickly as it had come, it was gone.
Hallie opened her eyes to find herself standing, not in her bedroom, but on a short stretch of path in front of a beautiful little house in the countryside. Little bushes and wilted flowers lined the path to the door.
She lurched forward and vomiting right into one of those cute little bushes to her side.
****
Eleazar materialized by the gate of his home with Hallie still gripping his arm with a loud crack. He lept forward and caught her as she stumbled to their side, steadying her, as she vomited into his bushes.
He conjured a handkerchief and handed it to her with his free hand. "My apologies, its not uncommon for most people to get sick their first time apparating," he said.
When she was done and had regained her balance, he guided her wordlessly into the house and down the hallway towards the kitchen.
He pulled a chair out from the table and indicated for her to sit in it as he quickly made his way over to his cauldron by the fire and got to work starting a batch of wiggenweld potion. He glanced over his shoulder at her worriedly.
She was sitting in the chair in complete silence, her eyes downcast. Her skin had turned from the frightful shade it had been earlier to a pale white, but bruising had already begun to color the right side of her face and across her neck. Blood had soaked the length of her tattered left sleave and dripped steadily from each of her shaking hands.
He felt sick to his stomach. He should have known something wasn't right.
He grabbed a cloth and conjured ice. Pulling up the next chair to face her's and reached to place it against her swelling cheek - she flinched. He hesitated. "I'm so sorry," he said.
She didn't respond. It hadn't escaped his notice that she had not spoken a word since he found her. Tears had begun to silently roll down her cheeks and she continued to stare hard at the floor.
"May I see your hands?"
She turned her palms and held them out to him. With a wave of his wand, the iced cloth took over holding itself to her check and he began plucking shards of glass from her hands, or trying to anyway. She was trembling so much he could hardly achieve much.
"Perhaps a calming draught too," he muttered, more to himself than to her. He waved his wand and a second cauldron took its place beside the first, ingredients following suit.
"I-I-I'm s-sorry," Hallie's voice shook and rasped out.
He looked up at her in suprise. "You have nothing to be sorry for," he emphasized.
She still wouldn't meet his eyes, "y-yes I do. You j-just took me from the h-house o-of a madman." She paused and took a shaky breath, " i-im sure you d-didn't want to be inv-volved in this and I-I can't- I can't- control it when its t-this bad!" She finished speaking with a note of frustration in her voice. He got the impression she was referring to the shaking limbs and voice. She could hardly speak in this state.
He had finished with her hands and had moved on to look at the damage to her arm. Deep cuts lined her skin here. There was glass here too. Had the man thrown her through a window?!
"Its alright. Its alright," he said soothingly. He hoped his words would calm her. "That is not anything to be sorry for and there is no way I would have left you there like that," he finished firmly.
Silence fell over them both as he finished clearing her wounds of glass. He debated with himself in silence on how to broach the subject of the graphorn in the room.
"Has he done this before?"
For a moment, sad green eyes met his own before casting back down at their feet. He could see her grappling with what to say, it was written across her face.
"He's always been cruel," she answered in a small voice, "he's done plenty before."
Her words seemed to squeeze around his heart painfully. She looked as if she might fold in on herself. This poor child. What had she been through?
"You're safe here," he said softly.
Determination flooded into him. He stood, laddeling a flask full of both of the finished potions and handing them both to her to take. As her wounds began to heal shut and her trembling fade, he busied himself writing an urgent letter to the Ministry.
When he had finished writing his letter and posted it, he had made them tea and they had moved to his sitting room.
He handed her a cup as they sat down in comfy armchairs by the fireplace. She took it from him wordlessly, staring into the fire.
He was content to allow them to sit in silence for the moment. He would rather wait for her to speak when she felt ready. He needed to think things over anyway. In the moment there had been no time to think and he had acted on instinct, but now was the time to consider the events of the morning and decide what to do next.
He knew one thing for certain and it was that there was no way he would be allowing her to go back to that place. She clearly had not been safe or cared for there and even before she had admitted it, it was clear it had not been an isolated incident. He only hoped the Ministry would see it that way as well.
After a while, she broke their silence.
"Thank you," she muttered softly.
He looked over at her. She looked much better now. Her palor was back to normal and the cuts had healed shut, only a small amount of bruising remained. She had also stopped trembling, although her eyes spoke of troubled thoughts.
"There's no need to thank me," he replied.
She was quiet for a moment before she spoke again. Her voice was strained, "what happens now? What will happen to me?"
He paused for a moment, thoughtfully; What was the best way to word it?
"You can't go back there again, you wouldn't be safe, and I cannot in good conscience send you back," he said gently.
He couldn't tell if she was relieved or troubled by his reply. He continued, "you have options, of course. There is a spare room here and you are welcome to stay for the time being. Admittedly convenient as far as your tutorage goes." He spoke the last sentence with hint of humor in it, hoping it would lighten the mood. "Or, if you would be more comfortable, other arrangements can be made elsewhere. I expect the Ministry will be involved shortly and you will be placed with another relative. Wherever it may be, you will undoubtedly be safer for it," he said.
"Professor, I have no other family," she replied in a low voice, looking at the floor.
"I'm sorry to hear that," he said gently. He felt a bit taken aback. After a moment he said, "my offer still stands."
"I can't ask you to-"
He interrupted her, "you are not asking, I am offering."
Finally, after a moment she met his eyes, "thank you."
They sat quietly for a while before he broke their silence again, "how about a small tour then? I can show you to your-"
He was interrupted by a knock at the door. Hallie tensed immediately and shot out of her chair with a look of terror. He was sure he knew where her mind had gone, but also knew it to be impossible.
He raised his hands to her direction, " its alright. He has no idea where you are and he cannot find you here, I promise."
She nodded tensely as he walked out of the room and to the door. He was not suprised by the knock. He'd been expecting it.
He opened the door and before he could greet his visitor, the ministry official darted through the door, already ranting.
"FIG what in blazes were you thinking!? Attacking a muggle man! Bah, I do hope you realize what a mess you have caused for the Ministry to deal with-"
Eleazar was trying to direct them into his study as the man continued his tirade. He did not want Hallie to hear this and get upset.
"-found the man tied-up on the floor of his own home, very upset. Had to obliviate him, of course-"
He knew, of course, that the ministry would have a fit over his actions today. Using magic against muggles was strictly forbidden. He had also not bothered to untie the man or obliviate him, opting instead, to get Hallie out of there as quickly as possible. It wasn't like the Ministry couldn't clean this up anyway.
"-you'll have to answer for this to the Ministry, of course, we cannot allow people to go around doing this sort of thing Fig."
They were still in the hall and he was still trying to direct the man into his study as he opened his mouth to respond-
Hallie's voice rang out softly from behind them, "It wasn't his fault."
Both men whipped around in suprise to look at her.
****
"It wasn't his fault. He had to do it," she repeated.
She hadn't meant to intrude, at least not initially. It was fear that had driven her to peek into the hall towards the door after Professor Fig had left the sitting room. She had to see for herself to know that it wasn't her brother standing at that doorway, ready to finish what he had started. She couldn't convince herself otherwise if she didn't look to see. Its not that she didn't believe her professor, per se, but a lifetime of Charles had convinced her that nothing could stop him from tormenting her. Her nerves had gotten the better of her.
When she had looked through the doorway, she had been relieved to see a stranger instead. A tall, burly looking man in fine dark robes was conversing in the hall by the door with Professor Fig. At that point it had been hard not to notice that the stranger was on a tirade of some sort.
She quickly deduced that the man must be from the Ministry and that he was upset with Professor Fig about what he had done to her brother earlier that morning. Professor Fig had explained to her in their first week of studies what the Ministry was and what they do. She wasn't sure exactly what laws he had broken to protect her, but it was clear he was in trouble for doing so. Her heart had sank.
The man had just saved her life. He had taken her from a nightmare and patched her up and then he had offered his own home for her to stay in. She couldn't let him get into trouble on her account. Before she knew it, her feet had carried her into the hall and she had spoken.
Now she stood in the hall with both men staring at her with shocked expressions on their faces.
Maybe it was that potion Professor Fig had given her to calm her nerves that was making her feel so steely and brave.
"The ... muggle man, he's my brother, and this morning he was going to kill me. Professor Fig saved my life. He intervened to save me. It wasn't his fault," she finished firmly.
Both men considered her for a minute. Then the Ministry man spoke, "Be that, as it may, use of magic against a muggle is against the law. Its strictly forbidden. He should have taken a minute to consider that before he acted today."
"With all due respect, sir, there was no time. A minute is all it would have taken for my brother to finish strangling me to death. I'd be dead if he had not acted when he did. It was the only way to stop him."
The man's eyes drifted momentarily to her neck. It was still slighly tender. She assumed there must still be some bruising remaining there. He turned to Professor Fig, "Is this true?"
"It is. As you can see, her position wasn't one I could gamble on time. I had sent a letter, but it seems the Ministry sent you before it had arrived," he replied.
"Well, I suppose that could change things... Regardless, i'll need to report back to the Ministry and inform them of this. They will still want to look into this Eleazar, I make no promises."
The man made to head for the door, but Professor Fig held up a hand, "Actually, there is one more thing i'd like to discuss if you don't mind."
"Well alright, I suppose I have the time."
Professor Fig turned to Hallie, "Hallie, perhaps you'll want to head up to the spare room and acquaint yourself with it. Up the stairs. Second door on the left. Your trunk is already there. I'll be along shortly."
She could tell that was her cue to leave so she nodded and turned to walk up the stairs.
She hoped she had not done any harm by inserting herself in the conversation. As she made her way down the upstairs hall and opened the door to the spare bedroom, she felt like her mind was reeling. It wasn't even mid-day and she felt like so much had happened today that she couldn't even begin to process it all.
Just as Professor Fig had said, her trunk sat at the end of the bed in the spare bedroom. Aside from the bed, the room was rather plain and empty. There was a small nightstand to the side of the bed with a lamp on it, a wardrobe against the right wall, next to a window, and what appeared to be a door to an adjacent bathroom on the left wall.
She made her way over to the bed and opened her trunk. Pulling out a different dress, she changed into it and laid the tattered dress she had been wearing on top of the trunk. Unsure of what to do next, she sat down on the bed and waited.
****
Eleazar watched as the Ministry Official bade him goodbye and shut the door behind him.
He felt rather relieved that all of that had gone over better than he had expected. He hadn't been intending on involving Hallie directly. What had happened that morning had clearly been hard on her and he did not want to do anything that might make it more difficult for her. He'd been suprised when she had come into the hall and spoke up on behalf of him, but he had to admit that he felt it helped his case. It was hard for his guest to dispute that he had acted in the best interest of the child as he stared down the bruised girl, the sleeve of her dress still shredded by glass.
He made his way up the stairs and knocked on the door to the spare room. When she didn't reply after a few minutes, he slowly opened the door, a bit worried.
She was curled up on the bed, fast asleep. Its hardly noon, but he supposed between the rush of adrenaline and fear this morning and the calming draught, she must be exhausted.
He shut the door softly and left her to rest.