A Job For You (Char and Daddy)

Charlotte knew she had to do it. She knew this was the only way that she was going to be rid of him, to stop the hurt and to stop the tyranny over her life, when she had sought out an assassin before she had been laughed out of the room, but now she wasn't backing down.

Knocking on Professor Smiths door Charlotte gulped, she didn't want him to hurt her too and she was so nervous, he would probably be able to tell that she was, after all he was the best of the best so...

Silent she waited to be allowed into his office ensuring the vanity charms were still working.

Cobalt knew someone had been approaching his office because the proximity charms went off when they walked down the hall. He'd seen that it was Charlotte through another charm so opened his door with merely a wave of his wand,

"Charlotte." he greeted her with a thin smile, "This is a nice surprise."

He stood up and moved over to a boiling kettle,

"I just boiled a pot... do you want some tea?"

Charlotte smiled softly, she knew that this would go well she could sense it or maybe that was just her hoping that she was going to be able to persuade him to do this for her, something she seemed to have a problem doing.

"Hello Professor Smith."

Stepping into the classroom Charlotte looked at the hot kettle cautiously a flash of memory about her father hurting her mother with the kettle at home quickly fledged through her mind. Shaking this off she smiled and nodded.

"I-if you wouldn't mind sir..."

Taking a seat at his desk Charlotte waited politely.

Having learnt to read body language as part of his profession, Cobalt noticed several things that were off about Charlotte's behaviour right off the bat. For starters she'd flinched when she'd seen the boiling kettle. And she'd flinched a little when she sat down, as if she was sore. He smiled his thin smile and poured two cups of tea and handed her one as he sat down,

"Now Charlotte..." he smiled a little more, "What can I help you with?"

Charlotte took the cup of tea and began to feel kind of sick, her nerves were getting the better of her, but as she sipped at the hot tea she relaxed and gripped the cup harder as if for some sort of support.

"I want you to kill someone for me." biting her lip again she continued "I want you to kill my father."

Biting her lip she put the cup back down and reached into her pocket pulling out a large bag of galleons that she had manage to save up over time.

"If this isn't enough, please I'll get you more..."

Cobalt paused as he brought his tea up to his mouth. For a second he didn't move before he completed the action and sipped calmly at his tea,

"You want me to kill your father..." he glanced up at her firmly, "This isn't just a teenage thing is it?"

He tapped his temple and muttered a charm. Immediately Charlotte appeared to shimmer in his eyes and her charms were unable to fool him. He blinked a few times,

"Tell me Charlotte..." he paused here and dismissed the charm, "Does he hit you a lot?"

Charlotte bit her lip and shook her head rapidly, she looked into Cobalts eyes and made sure that he saw the conviction in her eyes. That he knew she was serious, there were things that she had never told anyone that her father had done.

Charlotte didn't know if he could tell that she wasn't as pure as a girl her age should be.

"S-sir? You can see them?"

Tapping her wrist, the charms deactivate and Cobalt and her could see the yellow green bruises all over her skin, her cracked lip, her cut forearms and her burns dotted over her arms also.

"Yes...but Im used to it sir...it doesn't hurt so much anymore."

Cobalt looked Charlotte up and down for a few seconds before pushing the money back across the table to her,

"Go to diagon alley. Go to the potion supply shop. They should have some pre-made potions for sale." he held up a finger, "Tell the woman that Cobie sent you. She'll give you a potion to heal internal injuries to the point of making everything as it should be for a girl your age. All of your insides will match what an average girl your age should be. She'll also give you some burn cream and paste for the bruises. The cuts will heal on their own."

He smiled a little more,

"I'll take the job." he told her softly, "And I'll kill your father. Do you have any... requirements?"

Charlotte gasped and she gulped softly the thought of what her father had done to her on those occasions making her heart best faster, making her frightened more than she should have been. Glancing into Cobalts eyes she whispered:

"How did you know?"

Eyes softened as she spoke and she almost covered her womb with her hands but she just crossed her legs instead.

"Are you sure Sir? Im sure they will heal on their own in time, you shouldn't do this for nothing."

Charlotte grinned happily and had to stifle the need to hug Cobalt, instead she just sat there and smiled and smiled to herself more than anyone else.

"Thank you, thank you so much.."

Cobalt raised an eyebrow,

"You came to me, presumably, because you know I'm the best." he shrugged, "To be the best killer you must be able to wear your target's skin. You must become them. Long story short is I can read people's bodies like a book."

He glanced away,

"I don't profess to be a good man Charlotte." he commented vaguely, "But somethings are sacred even to me. I hate people like your father. Easy to kill someone for free if you hate them."

Cobalt coughed lightly and stood up,

"I'm not very good at these things... but your body language suggests that you... um..." he paused awkwardly, "Want a hug... so if you'd like I could... hug you."

Charlotte looked at Cobalt with a sort of expression of wonder on her face, he was so great and one day she wanted to be like him, she wanted to be able to be as powerful as him so that she could fight her own battles.

"That's such an advantage, such a good power for you to have, you are the best of the best and you've just gone up another notch in my books."

Smiling softly she hugged her arms to her chest and she didn't realise it but she had begun to cry, she wanted to hug Cobalt so when the moment presented itself she wrapped her arms around his waist and sniffles.

"You asked if there was anything special I wanted? Could you...give him a message before he dies?"

Charlotte snuggled her head into Cobalts chest before pulling away shamefaced.

"Forgive me, your jumpers all wet."

Cobalt smiled a little more,

"Thanks Charlotte." he chuckled dryly, "I have been trying for quite awhile to get to be this good. Trying to teach some of it now though. I'm getting on in years after all."

Awkwardly, Cobalt wrapped his arms around the crying girl's shoulders and held her to him as she cried,

"A message?" he nodded slightly, "Depending on the execution that should be fine. Any particular way you want him to... expire?"

He laughed a little, the first laugh he'd given since he started at the school,

"Oh I have hundreds of these jumpers." he shrugged and held his arms out, "Carry on hugging if you want."

Charlotte listened to Cobalt and smiled shyly, she would never ask it but the person who was getting trained by Cobalt was going to be one hell of a witch or wizard when their training was finished.

"They will be a great wizard just like you then."

She whispered softly, with that same shy smile playing on her lips.

"Um...I guess that there is one thing I might ask you to do but I don't know I think it may just be best for you to do whatever you want to do, youre the expert sir...could you tell him that this isn't for what he did to me, but this is for mum, and for Rebecca, my sister and that I hope you join them soon."

Charlotte let more tears fall at the memory of her dead mother and sister, she flung her arms around Cobalt and hugged him hard, just liking the comfort from someone.

"Thank you..."

Cobalt frowned a little,

"They'll be the best killer I can make them." he sighed a little, "But neither good nor bad. We are the knife, Charlotte. A knife is not a murderer, the hand that holds it is."

He shrugged,

"I'm the knife Charlotte, you tell me what to do or I'll improvise." he smiled faintly, "I shall carry on the message. It will be the last thing he hears."

At first he felt awkward again but then he hugged her back lightly,

"You need someone to cry on sometimes Charlotte." he smiled at her, "I didn't have anyone when I cried but I'll be here for your to cry on."

Charlotte bit her lip and moved away from Cobalt, almost staggering to the wall of the room and placing her head against it, she tried not to think about it but she was going to become a murderer and she turned to Cobalt.

"Am I a bad person for doing this? Maybe I should just...maybe I should just go back to him, find a way of living with it..."

Voice cracking Charlotte wiped her eyes on her sleeve, looking at the floor so Cobalt may not see her pained expression, her loss and her confusion, and also a look of defeat.

"I'll be the hand, the murderer...I could go to Askaban for this."

Placing her head in her hands Charlotte slunk to the bottom of the wall and curled up into a small ball just trying to wrestle with her conscious, she knew that she too would die eventually if she stayed there. Maybe she deserved it?

Cobalt frowned a little and reached down to grab Charlotte lightly by her shoulders. With no effort on his part he pulled her to her feet and hugged her to him,

"You won't be a murderer Charlotte." he told her simply, "You haven't paid me for this, I'm not your knife. All you've done is express your hatred of the man and his treatment of you."

He titled her head up and wiped a tear away,

"I'm the murderer here Charlotte." he smiled sadly, "And you can go back to being an innocent little girl, like you should be."

Charlotte squeaked a little bit and looked frightened up at Cobalt for a heartbeat before relaxing and letting her arms encase him, she lay her head on his chest and stroked his arm that held her to him.

"Why do you care Cobalt...? In all these years, you've never noticed me, never spoken to me yet here you are hugging me. Am I that nice?"

She asked a little bit sarcastically on that last part and Charlotte continued to hug him softly, liking hearing his heart beat under his skin, it relaxed her beyond her belief.

"Your really nice Professor, I don't know why people dislike you, and your apprentice is very lucky, I aim to be as good as you when I'm older."

Cobalt stiffened slightly at the question before relaxing,

"You remind me of myself in some ways." he told her eventually, "Although never to this extent. No, I guess I've finally found my morals again to give you the attention you need."

He chuckled lightly,

"Perhaps because I'm harsh? I shoot the second years with plastic bullets." he reminded her before shrugging, "Well you could have some lessons with me too if you'd like. Karma shouldn't mind seeing as she'll get the fast course. You'll have to get the low course, that okay?"

Charlotte smiled, she looked Cobalt in the eye and wrapped her arms around his waist harder, she never wanted to let go, his comforting arms, his relaxing smell just the embrace he held her in was one that she had never had before.

"You shouldn't, I'm going to be all alone now, I'll have to get used to not having Anybodies help, not like I had any in the first place."

A slight giggle escaping her lips she poked Cobalt in the cheek and shook her head slowly.

"I didn't mean like that, I meant, I want to be as brave as you, and as kind, you're not the only one who can see things most people can't."

Letting a small smile play on her lips Charlotte stepped back a little.

"But I'll take you up on that."

Cobalt smiled faintly,

"Sometimes you can choose your family as well as your friends Charlotte." he nodded at her, "You're in that very rare position. Surround yourself with friends and choose a new family."

He shook his head a little and looked away,

"It's easy to be brave once you know every angle inside out. Once you know you won't be hurt." he shrugged a little, "But if you want to think I'm some knight in shining armour then go ahead. I'll start polishing it up to be a good role-model."

Cobalt raised an eyebrow,

"Are you sure?" he paused, "You will do terrible things if you join me Charlotte."

Charlotte smiled softly she didn't think that she would ever want a new family after what her father had done to her, she didn't want anyone to be able to hurt her like he had dome and the best way to do that was to stay on her own.

"Maybe I will. When I'm ready. The idea of a family just chills me right now, especially the idea of a new father, what if he turns out as bad as the last?! No way. Not yet."

She sighed and moved away from Cobalt, leaning against the wall she didn't think she liked the way this conversation had gone and she was beginning to see why some thought the Professor disagreeable.

"Very well then. Start polishing."

Charlotte muttered cooly, narrowing her eyes at Cobalt she folded her arms across her chest.

"I have been witness to many things, the murder of my mother and sister included I am sure that anything you present to me will be little emotionally challenging compared to those events."

Cobalt rolled his eyes a little,

"Well pick a nice one for god's sake!" he joked lightly, "Like... Richard! He's a nice guy. Good with kids, already has experience with a daughter and has a loving wife. Stable family right there! I mean I'm not a very good choice but there are loads of others at the school."

He smiled thinly,

"It's been awhile." he chuckled dryly, "I've not had much call for it."

Cobalt regarded her cooly for a moment,

"You don't know what I'll ask of you Charlotte." he looked away, "I will ask you to do monsterous things and then have to pull you back before you become a monster, leaving you with all of the guilt. There are depths of monsterosity that even you might have trouble understanding."

Charlotte cocked her head to one side and she looked into Cobalts eyes for a moment, before she looked at the floor, she realised then that she didn't want a family right now, she wanted her independence, Charlotte wanted, whether it be a week, a month a year she wanted a time alone.

"I wasn't thinking about anyone from this school, but now I think about it maybe I should bunk up with the Headmaster."

She giggled her cheeks turning a little red, shed always liked the Headmaster but never said anything.

"Now you do."

Charlotte shrugged her shoulders:

"Okay then, I won't do it since you don't want me, see you around Professor, or maybe not, who knows where I'll go now!"

Cobalt chuckled a little bit,

"I said family..." he poked her on the nose teasingly, "Not crush. But you go your own way Charlotte. Just know I'll be here if you need any help."

He paused for a moment before placing a hand on her shoulder,

"It's not that I don't want to teach you Charlotte..." he began before pausing, "I just don't want you to join up just because you want to feel strong. Those feelings come from inside you Charlotte and they can come from anything from working hard in defence to being the boss of your boyfriend, if you have one."

Pouting Charlotte touched her nose where she had been poked and stood there realising she had been more bold than she had been in a while simply by talking to Cobalt, giggling she shook her head.

"Hey, there's no rule right?" pulling out her Tongue Charlotte gestured to her nose "Hey, watch it! Havent I been abused enough?"

Charlotte put on the puppy dog eyes before turning to face Cobalt a sort of wry smile on her face, she threw her hands up in the air and sighed.

"You have a funny way of asking for company Professor, and if it's something only I know why do you keep asking me if this is what I really want, when I know it is? I've never been this bold I don't think...maybe it's just your aggravating personality."

She waggled her Tongue at him again.