Crying Out (Charlotte and Cobalt)

Charlotte Matthews was little over 11 years old, and she had made up her mind about an issue that adults believe even they can't make their minds up about and they were more than twice her age. That was how it always went when they lectured her about other decisions anyway, why would it be any different for this one?

Weren't adults always like that, until you were old enough you could tell them where they could get off for talking to you like that?

Anyway, Charlotte was currently walking towards the office of Cobalt Smith, one of the Professors at Hogwarts that she had for Infiltration extra classes. She had something to ask him and although she couldn't know if he would believe her or take her seriously she knew that she had to try. Without his help she would be a gonner for sure.

Cobalt was a little bit scary, the way that he spoke in classes was different from many of the teachers she had in muggle education but she needed to face him today. Only he could give her the help that she needed, she was sure that he would too! Well...maybe she wasn't sure, but she hoped he would.

Sighing softly, Charlotte tried to keep her face straight, her throat clear of frogs as she thought about what she was going to say for what seemed like the hundredth time this morning. There was no way that she was going to be leaving this office thinking that she hadn't tried her best otherwise she wouldn't be able to face herself in the morning.

"I hope this works." she stated with a small sigh, before knocking on Mr. Smith's door and waiting for him to open it, and for her to step inside.

Cobalt was bored to be honest.

He had taken this position at Hogwarts because... because... honestly he didn't know WHY he had ever decided to take the position. Groaning a little bit in annoyance, he turned his attention back to the house of cards he was building. Of course he was so bored that this wasn't merely a house of cards but rather the leaning tower of Pisa, made entirely out of playing cards.

And it was currently about four foot tall.

When the knock at his door came he glanced at his sneakascope and frowned slightly before waving at the door, causing it to open even as he went back to playing cards on top of each other,

"Miss Matthews." he greeted her, "And to what do I owe this pleasure? An older student giving you trouble?"

God he wished it was. Then maybe he could amuse himself by putting the fear of god into some snot nosed punk kid.

He could only hope.

When the door opened and Charlotte saw what the Professor was doing, she couldn't help but smile brightly, it seemed as if he was having a little bit of a boring night. Making towers of cards was something people did when they needed to fill time and that must mean that Cobalt had literally nothing else to do...that was good it would mean that he had time to speak to her about what she had come to ask him about.

Biting her lip softly she stepped inside his office and shut the door quietly after her. She didn't want to end up disrupting his card tower and making it fall.

"I like your tower professor." Charlotte commented with a small smile on her lips, she was clearly nervous in the way that she smiled, the hunched over manner of her shoulders and the quiet tone of her voice "The Leaning Tower of Piza right?"

As soon as he asked her what she was here for, Charlotte took a deep breath and she looked at the Professor, her eyes steeling and she drew up her resolve so that she could actually say what she needed to say and be strong enough to take anything that came afterwards. It wasn't a normal request for an eleven year old to make.

"Uhm...I wanted to ask you to do something for me." she admitted, her voice wobbling slightly "I was h-hoping that you might..."

Gulping softly, Charlotte drew in another breath before saying, a little too quickly for her liking, the rest of her sentence; "Accept a contract from me."

Cobalt looked up from his placement of another card and looked Charlotte up and down a few times. His eyes narrowed in a barely noticeable way as he assessed her body language in less than a second. She was nervous. But anyone with working eyes would be able to tell you that. He could tell that she was nervous because of something important. Something she believed would change her life. It was all there.

He placed a card on top of the tower,

"You are correct Miss Matthews. 3, 7, 49 and 13." he spoke quietly so as not to disturb the tower of cards he had going on, "3 - Eyes widened. 7 - stance is light, ready to run. 49 - you're balling your fists tightly without realising it. 13 - you haven't eaten recently, do not feel hungry, but your body is aware you haven't eaten since breakfast. What, I wonder, has you so nervous Miss Matthews?"

She wanted something from him? Well he was a teacher so he would see about accommodating her just as soon as he placed this last card.

She wanted to make a contract with him.

In his surprise he nudged the tower and it came crashing down in a flurry of cards. He paused for a moment before letting the card he held join them. Looking at Charlotte seriously for a few moments, he raised an eyebrow,

"You are aware of what it is I do. You are aware of what a contract with me mean. You are an intelligent young lady after all." he paused, "You would also not come here, so nervous, with mere curiosity. Whom do you wish to see removed?"

Charlotte felt a little bit uneasy when the Professor just rattled off the many things that he had seen in the way that she was standing, of course she knew that he should know these things - he was supposed to be the Infiltration professor and therefore would have to know how to read people's body actions, to see what they were feeling, where they would move, how they would attack.

It just unnerved her that he could see through her so much.

"I guess I was just worried about coming to you with my problem Professor, but I know that you're the only person who might be able to help me." she confessed, her gaze locked onto her shoes, not wanting to look up at Cobalt to see the look that he might be giving her in turn.

When the tower was knocked down, Charlotte's eyes snapped up and her mouth popped open she sure hoped that he wasn't angry at her. It was probably her fault that the tower had fallen down by saying what she had and surprising him. Biting her lip Charlotte hid her eyes underneath her fringe as she ducked her head down;

"I'm...I'm sorry Professor I didn't mean to surprise you like that, I'm sorry that your tower fell over." she whispered softly.

The fact that he was treating her, almost like an adult made Charlotte feel...uneasy as well. She knew that this was wrong, it felt so wrong, yet she needed to have it done otherwise she wouldn't be able to live life for herself without this shadow over her head.

"M-my mother. Renee Matthews...I have money to pay you, I guessed that's how it would work." Charlotte whispered softly, reaching into her pocket she took out the money she had been saving up "I know that its probably not enough but...I really need your help."

Cobalt could tell that she had spent a lot of time thinking about whatever it was that she wanted. It was only going to be a handful of requests though. Things that she could come and ask him to do that no other professor, no other adult, would do for her. The list was short and none of the things on the list were pretty in the slightest,

"If it's a problem you can only see myself handling then I'm quite sure it is a cause for great unease." he agreed with a small smirk, the only kind of expression he really indulged in, "Since you would be asking for my expertise and my expertise is not very nice now is it?"

He raised an eyebrow before holding up a hand,

"Enough." he intoned firmly, frowning slightly, "It was not your fault and the tower was of no consequence... you needn't feel bad about it. If I get bored enough I'll just make another."

He hummed a little bit. So Charlotte Matthews was willing to pay him to kill her mother was she? Well now that was very Slytherin of her he had to admit. Get someone else to do the killing for you until you were able to stomach it yourself and not get caught. He hummed a little bit when he saw the amount she had saved up,

"As a rule I don't ask why my clients want people dead." he told her honestly, before tilting his head to the side, "But considering the request comes with barely a tenth of my going rate, from a child and is assisted matricide... I think I will bend my rule. Why?"

Charlotte blinked a little bit in surprise, jumping a little when he spoke to her so firmly. Biting her lip tightly she merely nodded her head and clenched her fists together even tighter, she wanted to be able to get through this little meeting without unloading everything onto Professor Smith, she didn't want to burden anyone else with what had happened she merely wanted to get his help.

It was hard when he was so scary however!

"Ah...okay. S-sorry." she stuttered out, her hands going up to hug her arms to herself, a way of making herself feel more reassured and more secure - Charlotte didn't know why it worked but it felt like she was folding in on herself slightly making herself smaller somehow.

Oh no. No no no no...he was going to ask her why and then she was going to have to tell him in order to get him to agree to do the job! As soon as she told Professor Smith he was going to run straight to someone else and tell them, maybe even Headmaster and then where would she be? In some Ministry Court Room with her mother right there beside her?

Seeing there was no way around it, Charlotte, unfolded an arm and let it slip into her back jeans pocket. Pulling out a collection of around 8 letters, she handed them to Professor Smith before explaining;

"My mother was responsible for the death of my father and the disappearance of my brother Hannibal...she keeps sending letters like these to the school, saying that she's going to make me disappear next. I...I just don't know what to do any more, I can't keep thinking she's going to be around every corner waiting for me...I can't sleep at night I'm so worried." Charlotte admitted, looking up at Cobalt with her eyes wide with fear, and a hope, that her reason might be good enough "There's no way I'm going to be strong enough now to deal with it myself, so...I really need you to help me.

Sniffling lightly, Charlotte wiped at her eyes, trying to stop herself from crying and erase the few tears that had ebbed out while she was remembering and reliving some of the events of the past few weeks in Hogwarts.

"Please professor..."

Cobalt groaned a little bit and put his head in his hands. Jesus Christ! Children, especially the females, would be the death of him! All he had done was tell her to stop apologising for something that didn't matter and now she was all but a blubbering mess in his office! Not to mention the inter turmoil he could feel brewing inside of her. He reached into his desk and withdrew a phial,

"Miss Matthews... Miss Matthews..." she wasn't responding, "Charlotte. Take this potion... it's a calming draught, it will help you with your nerves."

He listened silently as she explained why she wanted the woman killed and he had to admit that the woman did sound like the worst kind of scum. Reaching across the table as she told him that she was not strong enough to deal with it herself, he took the coin purse and judged it's weight, it's worth, while still listening.

She was done it seemed.

"Catch."

He gently tossed her back the money as he stood up from his chair,

"Charlotte... you have not got enough money for the hit." he told her honestly, his voice soft, "However. I will take the contract."

He walked around to the front of the desk and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder,

"That is an option for you." he told her before kneeling slightly so that he was at eye level with her, "The other option is that I take you in and I teach you. I train you. You say you are not strong enough to do this yourself... I will make you strong enough to do it yourself or strong enough to do it but choose to let me do it anyway. Either way..."

Cobalt was feeling a bit awkward now but he kind of hand to offer it now,

"Either way I'll help you... is that acceptable?"

Charlotte blinked softly when she heard Cobalt telling her to take a calming draft, she wanted to be able to calm down for the longest time however she hadn't had the guts to go to the potions teacher for a vial to help her get to sleep in case they had asked her what was wrong. She had been nervous enough to come to Cobalt and she had been thinking that he was the Professor least likely to tell anyone about what she had come to him for.

"T-thank you very much." she whispered, uncorking the vial and sipping at the potion until it was all gone, hopefully within a few seconds she would begin to feel calmer and would be able to stay in a normal conversation with Cobalt instead of freezing up all the time "It's already starting to help a little bit..."

Allowing her arms to come back down to her sides, she was gently trying to unfurl herself and stop the nerves from pushing her down. However when he threw the money she had given him back, Charlotte felt a cold stone plummet into her stomach - he wasn't going to take the deal! OH no what was she going to...oh. Blinking up at Cobalt in shock, Charlotte dared a hesistant smile.

The gentle hand on her shoulder made Charlotte completely crumble, she was just so relieved! Gently she hugged her arms around Professor Smith's waist and hugged him softly;

"Oh thank you, thank you so much Professor. Whatever I can do to make it up to you, just let me know I'll do it in a heartbeat." she promised, looking up at him from leaning against his chest, gently letting herself slip free she had to admit that the latter offer was the most appealing and yet, still made her nervous "I would...I would like the second option, I would like to get stronger, so others can't push me around like she does, but, what if she comes for me and I'm not ready?"

Cobalt had to admit it had been a good move to stock up on calming draughts for when students came to his office. He was well aware that he was a dangerous man and even the dullest of students could see it too. So it made sense for him to stock up on the potions since otherwise they would be completely unable to function in his office. He waved it off,

"It's nothing, always have some on hand."

He could see that his initial reaction had shocked her quite a bit and that amused him to be honest. Cobalt liked to be able to see how her face went from near terrified to that strange little hesitantly-happy face. It was a cute look for her and he could see that she probably did it a lot. With a face like that she probably did it and didn't even know.

When she hugged him softly around the waist though it was his face that changed. So unused to being hugged, Cobalt was momentarily at a loss as to where to put his hands. In the end he managed to awkwardly hug her back around the shoulders,

"Yeah... yeah no it's fine Charlotte. And call me Cobalt if we're going to be doing something like this alright?" he instructed her before humming. That was a bit of an issue but he would find a work-around, "Leave that to me aright? I'll arrange for alternate accommodation over your holidays and if she tries to come for you before you're ready... would you still be satisfied if she was minus an arm or leg when you killed her?"

Charlotte smiled brightly when she heard that she was now going to be able to call him Cobalt, it was such a small thing but it automatically brought her closer to him in her own eyes. Calling a Professor by their first name was a big deal and she was really very happy that she had the chance to be able to get to know Cobalt better through training with him.

Oh it would be hard, but in the end it would be worth it when she could be without fear in her life. She would be able to beat back anyone and everyone who wanted to mess with her after this was done, and it would be amazing.

"Thank you very much Cobalt." Charlotte stated with her bright smile, "It sounds strange to be calling you by your first name, I keep thinking that I might get in trouble for it any minute now." she admitted with a shy smile on her lips.

When Cobalt asked her to leave the situation with her mother to him, she felt so much safer knowing that she was going to be protected by Cobalt when she wasn't in Hogwarts and when she was! The alternate accommodation would be a god send, her mother knew every nook and cranny of Silent Close after all, she could easily get in.

"No I wouldn't mind at all." Charlotte stated, hesitating a small laugh "You have no idea how happy this makes me, I can't wrap my mind around it! Thank you, again. Shall I meet you tomorrow sometime so we can start my first lesson in training? I don't have any more lessons after 3pm..."