#physicalabuse

.❤️.

"𝕯𝖆𝖉?" 𝕴 𝖈𝖆𝖑𝖑𝖊𝖉 as I walked inside the house. There was no answer. He must still be out. Full moon had been last night and he usually traveled so that he was far away from Muggles and other human beings. I rushed upstairs so that I could change and have dinner ready before he came home.

I'd gotten the job at the snack bar a few days ago and I was full of excitement. Of course, Dad didn't know but that was alright. I could slip the money into the money jar every so often and he wouldn't notice. Well, hopefully he didn't notice. There were a lot of holes in my plan.

I got into Muggle shorts and a tank top. I quickly checked Dad's room to see if he'd possibly fallen asleep. He wasn't in there- but I hadn't ever really thought he was. Then I leaped back down the stairs and went into the kitchen.

We didn't have much left in the cupboards. I was going to have to go grocery shopping tomorrow before work. No wait, after work because if I bought meat, eggs, and milk that would go bad waiting in the sun while I was working. Yes, I'd go after work was over.

I threw something together, not really paying attention. Dad still wasn't home when I was finished and I started to get worried. He was usually home by now. I looked out all the windows. It was starting to get dark and there was no sign of him. He was usually back before the sun set and it was nearly down.

I put lids over the pots so the heat would stay in and keep the food warm, and went out the front door. I walked a little ways towards Trang's house and then walked back the opposite direction. There was no sign of him.

The uneasy feeling in my stomach grew more profound. Had a ministry Wizard or Witch seen him last night? He wasn't a registered Werewolf, almost no one registered themselves voluntarily. It wasn't mandatory for him to be registered either, so he wasn't breaking any laws. . .but still. . .why was he taking forever to come home?

There had never been a problem before, he was always home before it got dark out so that I was never worried. He knew I would be worrying.

I went back to the house and called out for him again. There was no answer- he hadn't come home while I was out. It was nearly dark, the sun had almost completely set. Then the door opened some minutes later and I rushed to it before skidding to a stop. It wasn't dad.

The man was tall and pale with blue eyes. His hair was curly and long, perhaps a bit past his ears. He had stubble under his jaw and chin. He was wearing a black buttoned down shirt, looking a bit like the type of guy in a movie that's good looking but the villain. He looked slightly surprised to see me and quickly covered it up with a scowl.

"Who are you?" I demanded angrily, though in reality I was scared.

"Alright look, I have no need to hurt a little girl like you. Sit down and we won't have any problems" He sneered. He wasn't British, he had a thick Scandinavian accent. Why the heck was he here?

Robber, I thought. Lovely. He strode towards me. I took a step back. He lunged at me and instinctively, I raised my knee towards his groin. He grunted in pain and his arm came down across my face.

I yelled and fell to the floor. I had never been hit before and though I had always expected it to hurt, the pain still came as a shock. My cheek was throbbing.

"Stupid kid." He muttered, standing back. There was something funky about his movements. "You weren't supposed to be home."

"It's not like my dad has anything valuable." I snapped, standing up quickly. "So get out." I could feel my cheek throbbing. It was going to need ice quickly or it was going to swell up and leave a mark.

He laughed, brushing me aside. "Old houses like these always have something valuable. Something passed down through families generation by generation. Something that, even though they live in a crappy house, don't want to sell for a couple thousand bucks because its a family heirloom. You know what an heirloom is little girl?"

"Of course I do." I snapped. "I'm not stupid." God I sounded childish. We didn't have valuables. We didn't have heirlooms.

He attempted to grab my wrist and I punched him in the gut. Since I was in the corner, I took the advantage to dart under his arm and run for the door.

"I don't think so." I felt pain shoot through my scalp and fell backwards. I gritted my teeth so I didn't scream.

He grabbed my arm and yanked me off the floor and threw me onto the couch. "Now just stay there. No funny business."

I gritted my teeth, waiting for him to turn around so I could make a run for it. If I could get into my dad's bedroom and get the door closed, I could lock it and climb out the window onto the roof. The door was made of solid oak. He wouldn't be able to get through it very easily unless he had a chainsaw.

Did he have any weapons? That would make escaping much harder if he had a gun. He seemed clumsy though. He could miss his shot. Was I willing to take the chance? I tried to think through escape routes and different possible scenarios logically. Or, as logically as a ten year old could think through it anyways.

If only I had a wand I could stun him. Of course, I didn't know the stunning spell or the killing spell or really any spells at all. Dad rarely used magic around the house, letting me do chores by hand.

He turned around, scanning the shelves, but kept glancing over his shoulder every millisecond to see if I was still there. I settled into the couch, it was going to be a long night. Or, I could speed this up. I sat forward. I really didn't learn from my mistakes. I was a very stubborn child.

"Like I said, my dad doesn't have anything, so clear out." I said, standing up. I crossed my arms.

He crossed the room and towered over me. He was extremely annoyed. He also must've been about six feet. He took my by the shoulders and shook me. "Damn it kid. You don't know what you're talking about."

Stupidly, I kicked him in the knees and he threw me to the floor. I felt my glasses fall off and heard them break. Oh, bloody hell.

My left eye was a little blurry but my right eye was still clear and I looked around for my glasses. They were underneath the couch. I didn't need them to see, only to read. I glared up at him. "Stupid robber." I mimed him under my breath. Apparently, he heard me.

His face turned purple with anger. He took two steps towards me, his fist raised, and then I heard, "GET THE HELL AWAY FROM MY DAUGHTER."

I looked over to my left and saw Dad standing there with his wand pointed at the man. His face was red and his hair was windswept as though he'd run fast to get here. I'd never seen him so angry.

The man laughed at him, "And what are you going to do with that twig, mister." He bent over me, grabbing my hair and pulling me to my feet. I threw my hands up instinctively to grab my own hair and yelled out in pain, squeezing my eye shut. What a knee jerk reaction. Squeezing your eyes shut didn't stop you from feeling pain. I could feel a motion from his body as though he was reaching into his jacket pocket.

He's going to pull a knife, isn't he, I thought. He didn't have time.

"STUPEFY." Dad yelled. The man let go of me and fell to the floor, stunned. Dad stormed over, pointing his wand at the man, hesitating.

Then he turned to me, taking a few steps forward, "Are you alright? How did he get in the house?"

I got to my feet uneasily, shaking. I fell into him and his arms wrapped around me securely. I'd never felt more safe in my entire life than right now which was funny because I was shaking from fright. "I left the door open, I went looking for you. I didn't know if you were hurt or not. I must've left the door unlocked. I'm so sorry." I sobbed, openly crying now. I'd never been so scared in my entire life which was funny because I felt safe.

"It's alright." He murmured, smoothing my hair and I hiccupped and did my best to stop my tears. "Everything's fine."

I pulled away gently, sitting down on the couch. I wiped my cheeks, embarrassed. My knees were still shaking. "Can I have some ice?" I asked. "For my cheek?"

Lupin went into the kitchen and brought me back ice. I put it on my cheek. Lupin looked at my cheek, observing the bruising. "It'll be fine. It'll probably clear up in a day or two if you keep the ice on your face. Remember you have to alternate it every twenty minutes."

I nodded, closing my eyes. I was suddenly very tired. "Dinners on the stove." I murmured. Then I drifted to sleep.

.❤️.

𝕴 𝖜𝖔𝖐𝖊 𝖚𝖕 in my bedroom a little disoriented. Bless dad, he must've carried me up here. He shouldn't have. He was going to end up hurting his back. I sat up slowly in bed, squinting at the alarm clock. 10:01. Crap, if I didn't get a move on I was going to be late for work.

I threw aside my covers and quickly got dressed in denim jeans and a T-shirt. I slipped my feet into my flip-flops. Turning around, I quickly made my bed.

Rushing downstairs, I found my dad in the kitchen. Well crap, I hadn't thought about him being home today.

He looked up over his tea. "Oh good, you're awake."

I didn't respond to his smile. "I am so, so sorry about last night. I was such an idiot. I was thinking of other things and I just left the door unlocked and I'm so sorry." Tears rose up in my eyes again and I turned away quickly. How immature of me. I was ten for Merlin's sake. I shouldn't be crying anymore.

I heard dad get up from his chair and his arms went around me. Slowly, he settled back in the chair and I was sitting on his lap like I was five. But suddenly the bothersome idea of immaturity disappeared. I was safe.

"You don't need to apologize." He said. "Everyone makes mistakes, and everyone learns from them. I don't want there to be any tension between us so I need to talk to you about something else as well."

I nodded. I moved my face so that my chin rested on his shoulder.

He sighed and then said, "When were you going to tell me that you had gotten a job at the pool?"

I cringed. "Never." I answered truthfully.

"Why?" He sounded almost amused and I took this to be a good sign.

"Well. . . you didn't want me to get a job." I said. "But I was worried because you had lost your job and I wanted to bring in a little money, at least until you got a job. I know you're worried about my studies but I'm keeping up with them, I swear. Plus, once I get my Hogwarts letter and my booklist and I get the books I'll start studying those too. I promise that I will. I just wanted to help and I'm sorry I did it behind you're back."

Dad openly laughed. "Well at least you're being honest now. But Elizabeth, no more secrets alright."

I scowled but he didn't see it. "Okay then, where were you last night?"

He sighed, the good humor gone. "The pool manager stopped me on the way home last night. Wanted to talk all about the good work you're doing in the snack bar."

I looked at him, "Now tell me the real reason."

"I'm being dead serious." He said, even though I knew he wasn't. Even with this lecture about honesty he wasn't going to tell me.

"Dad!" I half laughed, pulling at his shirt.

He stood up and swung me around, setting my feet back down on the floor and bopping me on the nose. "I am being serious. Now then, you have work today, correct?"

"Yes."

"Alright, hurry up and get to work then. Connections are important and references are even more important in the future." Dad sipped his tea, "I should know."

I grinned at him, glad this conversation had gone in a good direction, though I was curious about what he was hiding. I hurried into the kitchen and helped myself to the eggs and bacon that was still on the stove. I poured steaming hot water into a cup and added a tea bag. Looking in cupboards for sugar and honey I asked, "Hey dad, what did you do with the man last night?"

"Nothing that he didn't deserve." There was that hard note of anger was in his voice again. And yet, there was something thoughtful on his face.

I refrained from asking anymore questions about the man. I looked at myself in the mirror while setting the plate down. The bruise on my face looked weeks old. Dad probably did some healing spells or put some medicine on it while I had slept.

I scarfed down the food and put the dishes in the sink. "I'm going grocery shopping after I get off work, okay?" I asked, bending down and kissing him on the forehead.

"Sure, but be safe, okay?" He asked, his brow furrowing. "Maybe take Trang or Kat along with you."

"Right!" I said, and I hurried out the door. I looked up at the bright yellow sun. Today was going to be an amazing day.

If only dad would tell me what was going on.