Closed a lawless land

[Mikael Nightray]

It was rare for Mikael to venture out onto the Grounds on his own. It was rare for him to venture out really. But that was also because there hadn't been a need for him to get out of the castle until this semester. With Tiziano now in the school, even with his attention mostly focused on ensuring Eurydice's safety, he could feel that his brother was there as well to keep an eye on him. While he had given up on maintaining a low image for his grades considering Theodore's presence and his prefect status, he would have still liked to continue practicing his dueling within the school while he could. With Tiziano's presence however, he hadn't been able to actually duel with his friends or with Hinata as much as he would have liked if his brother hadn't found himself here. And so there hadn't really been any outlet for Mikael's frustration and so all he could do at the moment to organize his thoughts was to hang out about the Cliffs on his own. Or at least until Elio got out of class. He was sure he'd told his boyfriend where he would be just in case his class ended early as it sometimes happened since they were getting close to the end of the year.​

 

[Elio Boneheart]

Elio was finding it hard to believe that he would soon be leaving the school. Even though he hadn’t been in the school for as long as some people, Mikael for example, and even if he hadn’t felt like some of the things the school did were good, or even right, that didn’t change the fact that it had been a major part of his life for two good years - and he wouldn’t have Mikael without it. He’d enjoyed the short year he’d had with Rhys, and it was fun to get to know the people in the school too - Anisha, Zerrin, Miranda, Teddy - there were others, like Bailey who’d somehow managed to become his best friend. He shook his head and sighed as he looked for Mikael, surprised he wasn’t waiting outside of his class today. The cliffs, he’d said, and though it was out of bounds normally, he was sure it was fine if he was with a prefect. He saw him quickly and moved up behind him to wrap his arms around him, because he liked using his height to his advantage sometimes. “Hey.”​

 

[Mikael Nightray]

Mikael could hear someone coming up the Cliffs, which is why he had his wand held loosely in his hand. None of the other heirs were here except his siblings, but you never knew. Julian was here after all, and after the conversation he'd had with the child's father, Mikael wasn't inclined to trust him at all. The arms wrapped around him had released the pent-up tension however, and the voice had him putting away his wand in quick order. He frowned. "Your class end early?" he said as he turned his head to look at his boyfriend, his hand coming up to caress his cheek lightly with his fingers in greeting before putting his hand back down. He hadn't noticed how long he'd been standing there, there was just so much to think about. Julian. Laurent. Tiziano. Eurydice. One thing at a time Mikael. One thing at a time.​

 

[Elio Boneheart]

“They’re all just review classes,” he said, shrugging, “most of the time I’m not sure the professors even know we’re there or not.” he shrugged, clocking the wand Mikael subtley put away. He was jumpy today, though Elio could sort of understand, especially since they’d started dating Mikael had never really been touchy feely, not like Elio. He was warming up to it though, Elio could tell. He leaned around and kissed Mikael on the nose before he released him. “What’re you doing up here then?”​

 

[Mikael Nightray]

"Thinking," Mikael said quietly before taking Elio's hand in his when his boyfriend decided to release him. He wasn't the most affectionate, but here, at least without other people around and watching, he could initiate. "It's been harder to practice dueling with Tiziano around but he's at least handling Eurydice," he admitted. In the years since coming to Hogwarts, Mikael liked to utilize the Dueling Chambers as much as he could, practicing his spellwork and occasionally dueling with the other Slytherins. With Tiziano around, he was more hesitant to show what he'd learned from Felicita, the skills he'd been building up to this point and hid from his family. Which brought his mind back to other matters. "I need to deal with what's going on with Eurydice," he said as he ran a hand down his face before shoving it back into his pocket. He was almost pretty sure he knew who dared target his sister, but he didn't want to be wrong. One more talk with her perhaps to tell her his suspicions. And of course, there was that other matter. He looked at Elio intently, as if trying to see and understand. He didn't tell anyone about Laurent asking to meet with him. Hadn't wanted to be stopped since he wanted to know what the man was up to. Didn't want Elio or Eurydice anywhere near the man either. He couldn't keep it from Elio forever, however. Especially since it was Julian feeding his father information. Julian who was adamantly Rhys best friend apparently. What information Julian gave Laurent exactly, he didn't know. "I met with Julian's father." So many things to think about and plan for.​

 

[Elio Boneheart]

Elio knew Mikael was stressed, and he wasn’t surprised honestly given how things in the school often went. The amount of times he’d thought about writing a more harshly critical view in the Monthly were ridiculous, but he also knew he did have to toe a line, at least for now. He squeezed Mikael’s hands as he talked about having to deal with Eury and the whole Tiziano thing. Elio had been really surprised when he’d seen Kael’s older brother randomly show up at school one day, but he was pretty sure that had something to do with Eury too. He knew Mikael didn’t trust his older brother, and he wasn’t sure Tiziano trusted Mikael either. They were a very strange family, not full of love like his, he couldn’t imagine not trusting one of his siblings, he trusted all of them, Beau included. He frowned though when Mikael mentioned meeting with Julian’s father and it took him a minute to piece it together. There were a lot of family members in Mikael’s life, the ones with the last name Nightray and not all of them were tolerant or kind in any manner. He hadn’t known specifically with cousin Julian was until later, or that his father was Laurent. Realising that made Elio frown even more and he dropped Mikael’s hand in shock. “Why would you do that?” It couldn’t have been a good meeting judging my Mikael’s rapidly souring mood.​

 

[Mikael Nightray]

Mikael watched as a stream of thoughts passed through Elio's head and saw the moment his words sunk in. He took a moment to glance down at their parted hands and ignored the sharp sensation that ran through him. Let it slide over him. It was only a small moment and then he brought his gaze back to Elio as he placed both his hands in his pockets. "He requested the meeting and I responded," he said calmly. "I suppose he was trying to confirm something, and so was I." Why, Elio had asked. And something Mikael didn't want to answer. Because Laurent had something on him - the knowledge that Elio was important. He would never admit it but sending Julian had been a smart move, and one Mikael hadn't expected. In that branch of the family, only Aaren had been sent to Hogwarts New Zealand. Ever. And Aaren had not been exactly welcomed as far as history was concerned. So perhaps there had been precedent for it. Julian getting sorted into Ravenclaw with Rhys was perhaps a coincidence. Julian latching on to Rhys and therefore getting easier access to Elio was unfortunate. There was no doubt in Mikael's mind that Julian regularly reported to Laurent, how much the imp managed to accurate tell his father about Mikael and/or Elio was the question. And it was the question Mikael needed answering, so he'd shown up. The answer he got: Laurent knew a lot more about them both now than he did before this year. Mikael wouldn't be surprised if Laurent already knew a bit about his skills which he'd carefully kept under wraps. And now he knew that he was a bigger threat even discounting the existing deal he had with Mikael's mother. And why couldn't he tell Elio? He didn't want to tell him that the reason Mikael met with Julian's father was Julian himself.​

 

[Elio Boneheart]

Elio wasn’t sure why he didn’t like the answer Mikael gave him, but he didn’t. It was like he was doing whatever he could to not give Elio all the information, saying he was confirming something but not what he was confirming. Was Elio supposed to be a legilimens? He’d never considered it to be a skill he would need in life but these days he’d begun to wonder whether or not Mikael trusted him at all. Sure, Elio had made mistakes, but he’d never withheld this kind of information from Mikael, not something that could put him at risk, and if Mikael was at risk, Elio wanted to know about it. He was just supposed to quietly graduate like it was nothing and leave Mikael alone if he’s doing sh*t like this? “Do you want me to worry about you once I’ve graduated, is that it?” He asked, his tone a little more than annoyed. “Can I not trust you to clue me in on things when I’m not here?” Maybe he was being a little harsh, but Mikael was making a specific choice by only telling him after. He looked down to see Mikael’s hands in his pockets and pouted, reaching out to pull his hands out and slide them into his own hands. Lest Mikael somehow think he’s breaking up with him again. “You said we were going to talk to each other and that you’d keep me updated on your plans, that doesn’t mean you tell me after,” he said, shaking his head. “I can’t help you if I don’t know what’s going on.”​

 

[Mikael Nightray]

Worry about him? Now what would Elio worry about him? It was perhaps a bit new to Mikael to have someone worry about him that he knew of. In his opinion, there was nothing to worry about while he was in the castle. If anything, that more worrisome was Elio who would not be within the safety of the castle walls. Journalism isn't exactly the safest career either. But at least, he'd made sure that Elio was capable of at least defending himself enough to get away. Meanwhile, Mikael was stuck here for another year. He looked down as Elio pulled his hands out to hold in his and he didn't stop it - not that he would ever reject Elio's need for physical affection. He didn't know what he could say to Elio that wouldn't be a lie. He was so used to keeping secret after secret and not having anyone to consult his plans with. Felicita hadn't always been on his side, and even with as much as she'd taught him and advised him, he still didn't tell her much of what he was planning or thinking. The person who knew most about his plans was Elio in a desperate attempt to stop Elio from breaking up with him. He'd been trying to keep Elio clued in, but meeting Laurent wasn't something he wanted Elio around for, he didn't think he'd be able to play his part well enough. "Laurent knows about you," he settled with letting Elio know that. "He knows who you are to me and he's reminded me that I would do well to protect what's mine," he said with a calmness he definitely did not feel. There was so much that Mikael considered as his. At least, most of his siblings would be in the castle. His parents can handle protecting the twins and themselves. And Jai was capable enough. And Elio would be leaving the castle. "I need you to not move out from your parents' home yet," Elio could defend himself well enough, but Bryce was an Auror and that had to count for something. He wasn't going to ask Elio to stay home the whole time - he wasn't that unreasonable. But at least not having him live on his own without someone to watch out for him from time to time would be a bit of a relief.​