Catch The Snitch

Moving through the streets he sighed heavily, how long had it been now? Seven years if his memory served him correctly since he’d stepped foot in Diagon Alley. Hell since he’d really bothered to step foot in Europe at all, ever since he’d basically been told his blood made him a bigger target than he was worth as a helping hand. Shaking his head V snorted, pushing those thoughts away, their loss all he really cared about anymore was that obviously they’d beat the bastard and according to Harm the shop was doing well.

That made him smile as he made his way towards the address she’d told him, this was going to be entertaining. Far as she knew he was still across the pond in Chicago which was exactly how he’d planned it once he’d agreed to be a ‘partner’ in her tattoo shop. Sure he had plenty of them and piercings too but doing the work, nah he didn’t have artistic talent to save his soul but he knew how to run a good business. Best part though was he’d sent her a letter that should have arrived just a few minutes ago which meant she was probably nose deep in it which made him smile.

Pausing to double check and make sure his hair was pulled up relatively neatly, he smoothed a hand over his beard before he pushed the shop door open and stepped inside. The chime of the door made him smile before his gaze moved around the space, even if she’d shared pictures it was different to be there in person for the first time. He’d spent enough time as of late in tattoo parlors that at least he could say she’d certainly made sure it had the right vibe.

"Welcome to The Quill, be with you in a moment..."

The sound of the voice drew his attention immediately and he bit down on the inside of his cheek to keep from smiling too widely. Yup just like he thought, nose in his letter and he quietly wandered over making it seem as if he was just taking in the various framed examples of tattoos possible along with photos of finished pieces on clients. There was nothing keeping the amusement out of those gray-blue eyes though as he finally got near enough to her that he hoped she was reaching the end of the letter.

Shoving his hands into the pockets of the very well worn and holey jeans he’d thrown on he just stood there quietly waiting for her to realize what was going on. V was pretty sure he was probably gonna get punched in the arm, maybe the chest but it would totally be worth it and at least now he would actually have to pretend it hurt. After all there was no way for her to misunderstand the last line, 'That's why I finally decided to take the leap and move back, so when your finished reading this could you maybe look up and greet an old friend properly... -V'

Harmony had been busy all day today. She had just finished up a client and was wrapping up their tattoo when the back door chimed letting her know there was mail delivery, which was odd because she didn't normally get anything this late in the day. "Keep it wrapped for at least the day, you'll see some leakage, it's normal. Wash it with antibacterial soap, non-scented." She tapped their shoulder and waved her hand to the way out and the client left through the front doors. Harmony made her way to the back door and grabbed the letter from the owl and tossed it a treat before it flew off.

She opened the letter and started reading, her eyes dancing across the page. She heard the door chime, but she was in the middle of reading and only called out to the client. "Welcome to The Quill, be with you in a moment..." She finished reading the letter and her eyes fluttered up to the man standing in her...no, their shop. Her eyes fell upon him and a huge smile spread across her lips. Before she could even process what was happening her jaw dropped to the floor. Her best friend was standing in their shop. She practically threw herself over the counter and threw her arms around her best friend. "V!!!" She hugged him close, but he was a lot smaller than she remembered. That wasn't what was on her mind right now though. The fact that he had just shown up, and played a game with his little owl.

She backed up and hauled off punching him in the arm. "V! You're....here?!" She scrunched her nose at him and let out a huge groan of protest. "You....shit!" Then she backed up and took in his new look. Her eyes drank in his new look, his new physic and she swallowed hard. "You moved back? I have freaking missed you, and...you look different." She said before walking over and flipping the sign to closed. It wasn't a bad different, it wasn't a good different it was just different. He was still the same V she knew when they were in school, but there was so much to tell him now.

He grinned wide when she practically screamed his nickname and was over the counter, hugging him the next second. Hugging her back he chuckled, “Nice to see you too, Nini.” V was still that he was fairly sure he was the only one who ever used that variable nickname for her and he was rather proud of that. And of course as soon as the happy hug was over with promptly came the punch to the arm and he laughed leaning with it as if it had actually moved him even rubbing a hand over his arm a bit.

It had barely phased him honestly though, the amount of muscle he’d put on over the years made sure of that. “Yeah. In the flesh, well half of it anyway. Rest of it kind of went the way of the dodo.” Watching her walk over and flip the sign closed he shook his head absently and smiled, folding his hands in front of him as he watched her go through the motions of closing up before her attention shifted back to him. “Well when you asked me to join in on this…” he lifted a hand motioning around them and smiled.

“...I figured it was as good a reason as any to finally come back, wasn’t like I had anything Stateside anyway. Just working myself into the ground and dodging traps.” He knew she’d laugh about that phrase, which he used often enough though he doubted she’d ever believed it in his letters. For him traps were those super pretty girls without a lick of sense who were just looking to attach themselves to a good looking guy they thought would support them by getting knocked up or however they could honestly.

Obviously now though it made sense why he’d said it so often now, but V wasn’t dumb they wouldn’t have given him the time of day before so no way he was buying what they were selling now. Shrugging his shoulders absently he smiled at her before holding out his hands and doing a little turn, “So… what’d ya think? Took a while but I finally grew up..” He knew he’d more than grown up. It had taken a lot of hard work, lifestyle changes, surgery and money but for V it had been completely worth it. Especially given the shock on her face when it had dawned her after the initial realization of who she was looking at.

She narrowed her eyes at him and wrinkled her nose. "You should have told me you were coming! I could have a cake or something..." She watched as he reeled back from her punch and she smiled. "I can't believe you're here!" Harmony had missed her best friend. She hadn't many friends and he had been the only one to really stick around after her boyfriend at the time started to pull her away from everything she knew.

After the shock of seeing him wore off, she took a step and took him in. "Yeah, I'd say so." She had no idea he had lost so much weight. He made light of whenever they spoke through mail. He actually barely even mentioned it at all. "You look...different. Not good different, not bad different. Just different." She smiled and stepped back in front of him after closing and locking the door. "Yes, but when I asked I figured you, I don't know...tell me you were coming!" She laughed and turned off the main outside lights.

She laughed and shook her head. "Yeah, you don't need that in your life. Besides, you deserve so much better than that anyway." She smiled at him and looked back at the shop. "Do you want the tour?" He hadn't even seen the shop even when he agreed to co-own it with her. He just trusted her to run it without question. "So....no real life in the states then?" She felt bad that he had been pushed from his home and she missed him on the daily.

Harmony laughed and nibbled on her lip as he did his turn. "You look good, then again, you were always devilishly handsome." She didn't know if he would believe her but she was being honest with him. He was someone she never lied to. "Grow up? Oh, come on V, you were always more mature than I was. You didn't let some joker ruin your life." She laughed nervously. She adored her friend, even she knew it was more than in a friend way, but he deserved better. Someone that didn't have the baggage that she did. "Come on, I'll show you around the shop." She smiled and took his hand leading him through the half door to the back.

He laughed at her statement about telling her he was coming, “Defeats the whole purpose of a surprise Nini.” When she asked if he wanted the tour he gave a nod and watched her go around doing what he assumed, closing up the shop at least to the public before she returned to him. “Hey you didn’t let him ruin your life, you’re still here aren’t you? And your life looks like it’s thriving to me, so it doesn't look like he ruined anything.”

Oh he really hoped her ex was dumb enough to show up now that he was back, V wanted to have a conversation with him. Of course by conversation he meant beat the hell out of him hopefully to the point that the he caught a clue in leaving Harmony alone and fucking off forever out of her life. Following along as she lead him through the door by the hand making him smile softly, “I wouldn’t say I was more mature, I just had more time on my hands to think things through thoroughly…so that’s just to say when I did something stupid I’d fully thought about it first.”

Besides that it wasn’t as if he didn’t get into it like any other kid, it was just more often than not he got a slap on the wrist because the Professors always seemed to take pity on him. Letting her show him around a bit he hadn’t fully let the subject of the joker who’d ruined her life slip from his mind though, V wasn’t gonna forget about him now that he was back. When there was a lull in her explaining and pointing out various things he continued, “While I don’t wanna ruin a good mood you did mention it so speaking of stupid things… has the joker kept away?” He’d wisely gotten ahead of it in some ways and reached out to a connection or two he had left here in a professional sense and gotten some info on her ex.

Current photo, last known address and place of employment; the important things he might need should the idiot try anything stupid. V still planned to find out specific current info like his schedule as well, that way he knew precisely when the asshole had free time to cause problems. He wasn’t gonna give him any kind of breathing room there, this was both their money he would be screwing with not to mention V’s closest friend. He’d been unable to do anything about it before, he wasn’t gonna sit on the sidelines this time twiddling his thumbs.

"Yes, well, I look a mess. I would have rather had a heads up so I could at least be a little more put together, V." She grinned at him. Nevertheless, she was so happy to see her best friend. He was really a sight for sore eyes. She missed him every day that he spent in America. Life without him in it, physically, was difficult for Harmony. Though she would never let on that it was. She didn't want to impede his growth and healing by telling him that she needed him here.

She shrugged her shoulders a bit. "I'm still here, a bit damaged goods, but yes, I'm here." She had her business, and she had another job, but what she never told V was that he never left her alone. He was always stalking her, looking for her, and trying to find her to finish the job that he had started a few years ago. She didn't want him to worry about her, but she had to leave several jobs because he had gotten close to finding her. "I suppose so..."

As she led him through the shop, she showed him the chairs of the other artists. Which at this point in time was only two others. She also showed him the stock room and private room where if someone was uncomfortable they had a place to go. "Well, I guess I acted more on impulse than you did. But I still made a lot of stupid choices in my life. I'd like to think I have more of a head on my shoulders these days though. I don't go around making dumb decisions based on pure desire."

She stopped dead in her tracks and turned to him. Her breath was caught and she tried to pull her panic back in. She made eye contact with him and shook her head. "Vinny..." Her voice was weak and almost childlike. "I...didn't want to tell you...I wanted you to be happy and not have to worry about me." She took a step towards him and chewed on her lip. "I have wards up around my caravan. I have my caravan in the middle of nowhere, I have had to leave three jobs because he has gotten dangerously close to finding me." She looked away, feeling almost ashamed that she was still dealing with this.

"He hasn't given up...and it's all I can do to stay one step ahead of him nowadays." She chewed on her lip so much it she could taste the coppery flavor of blood in her mouth. She stopped and looked back up at her best friend. "I'm sorry...I thought I could handle it. But he's...I don't know, persistent I guess?"

He knew the answer as soon as she stopped dead and turned to face him, even if it had been years he’d seen enough women running scared of abusive ex’s in the States to know that deer in headlights look. The fact she couldn’t hold his gaze as she spoke and explained just how bad it had gotten sent his blood pressure through the roof but he kept a lid on it, focusing instead on keeping himself calm. “Hey..Nini..”

He brought his hands up holding them out so she could see them, he didn’t make any movements she wouldn’t see coming a mile away as he approached and gently cradled her face in his hands, “First… stop apologizing. You haven’t done shit to deserve this. Second..” Making sure he had her gaze with his he let go of her resting his hand on her shoulders giving them a gentle squeeze, “..it’s gonna stop and you're not gonna waste a thought about him anymore, yeah?” V was dead serious, this asshole was gonna stop one way or another, but he wasn’t gonna tell her which ways those were.

She’d been through enough already, he’d suspected it was worse than she let on but he’d assumed she’d kept him out of it due to distance. The fact she didn’t only because she wanted him to be happy made him honestly unable to help the urge to pull her in and hug her tight after a moment more and sigh into the top of her head. “He ain’t your problem anymore, he’s got his own problem to deal with now…” If he’d learned anything Stateside; living and working in Chicago it had been how to make the right and wrong kind of friends.

V was going to find out everything about her ex and he was going to become the man’s worst nightmare, he was going to enjoy the hell out of it too frankly. Harmony didn’t deserve any of what the asshole had done to her and he was determined he was going to make him suffer but he wasn’t going to be stupid about it either. Friends came in handy for that and he could make a few phone calls. Releasing her after a moment he smiled down at her, “Of course that bit about the caravan doesn’t make me super happy either… so maybe I could talk you into being my roommate for a bit? Just till shit’s handled anyway…”

Shrugging his shoulders he reached up scratching behind his ear, a nervous habit he’d had when he was being cheeky, “I mean I didn’t really need a 3 bedroom townhouse, but the price was damn good…” He could easily make use of three rooms but it was more a safety thing currently and plus V just wanted to show off and take care of her for a bit. Building her back up sounded like just what the Dr ordered so that by the time it was over, she could really be free of it or he hoped so anyway. "It needs some color anyway... come on, whadya say?"

His voice was soothing and the way he said her name made her look up at him. She knew that what she had gone through was partially her fault, or that was what her brain was telling her. If she had left sooner, or if she hadn't left with him at all, if she had stood up for herself maybe it wouldn't have gotten to that point. But her efforts would have been futile. He wasn't a good person, he used the way she loved him as a tool. He used her love to manipulate her to stay, to have pity on him, to see him as someone she could love. It was all an act and he was feeding on her kindness, her independence, and her energy.

She could have had so much more, someone so much better. If she had known her self-worth and saw through his bullshit, she could have had Vinny. The person that had always cared about her, the person she cared about the most, even over Drew, who was sucking her dry of everything she had. But she was trauma bonded to someone who she thought cared about her. She didn't know how to get out once she was in so deep that it felt like she was suffocating.

When his hands cradled her face, she closed her eyes. It was a feeling of complete and total trust. She didn't flinch when he touched her and he had made sure that she could see him coming. His words hit her ears like electricity. She perked up and nodded in his hands. She almost apologized for apologizing but stopped herself as he continued to speak. She nodded her head slowly. "Yeah...I hear you, Vinny." She gave him a weak smile.

He wrapped her up in a hug that she quickly reciprocated, wrapping her arms around him and burying he head in his chest. He was a safe place and he always had been. V had been one of the only people to know what Drew was really like. What kind of person he could be to Harmony. He had always been on a facade around other people but he didn't bother around V because he didn't see him as a person, as a threat, or anything other than a piece in his game. "I'm So-I mean...I am glad you're back and not just because, well because I missed you." Said said against his chest.

When he released her from the hug, she kept her arms around his waist for a bit longer. She raised her head to look at him as he mentioned that her caravan situation didn't make him happy either. It was the best option she had in the moment, and she loved her home but being there alone did scare her most of the time. Especially since Drew wasn't stupid and he had already found her twice since Hogwarts. "Roommate? Y-you want me to move in with you?" She was flabbergasted at the offer but wasn't about to turn it down either. She would love to live with him, not only because he was going to protect her, but because he was her best friend.

She let out a giggle as he mentioned his three-bedroom townhouse. "A three-bedroom at a good price? Now, that I have to see." She smiled up at him and hugged him around his middle again. "You never were really good at color." He smelled just as she remembered. It was a feeling she hadn't felt in a while but she honestly felt like she were...home. "Alright, for your sake, because you don't know how to decorate and you really do need more color in your life." She let out a light laugh and looked up at him. "I'm in."

V had the good sense to look offended when she said he was never really good at color, “Excuse me I will have you know the only color I ever needed was yellow, ma’am.” He gave a rather indignant snort before he smiled when she agreed hugging her tight, glad she easily agreed to moving in. But he wasn’t dumb either; he knew that was a clue as to just how scared that bastard had made her, he was gonna make Drew hurt. He wasn’t just her abuser, he’d been his too and V had some of his own score to settle with him; even more so now with everything she’d had to deal with in his absence.

Releasing her after a moment he looked down and smiled, “Just one thing… don’t go overboard. I’ve had some remodeling done and I want some things to speak for themselves… and I’ll agree to limiting yellow if you agree to the same with blue.. deal?” It wasn’t as if he had much school stuff saved, most of it was shoved in his steamer trunk and aside from a box that held the letters the two had exchanged he hadn’t so much as touched the thing. Glancing at his watch he flashed her another cheeky grin, “Well no time like the present unless of course you’ve got other plans?”

She let out a laugh and shook her head at him. "Yellow is a wonderful color, but it can't be the only color in ones life." Her body relaxed into him, glad to finally have him back in her life, physically. "I have missed you, V." Drew was forever her tormentor and even though there was a time she thought she had fallen in love with him, she knew it wasn't real. None of it was, he had manipulated her into believing it so but then used her love against her. Now, in her adult life, she feared being alone. She feared that he was lurking around every corner and he would be there one day to finish the job.

She looked up at him and nodded. "I will not step on your toes, I promise. Mild blue, mild yellow. I will use more muted colors if you'd like?" Her arms did not let go of him as she spoke. She feared if she were to let go, he would disapear in a cloud of smoke, as if he was just a figment of her imagination. "Yes, we can go. And no, the shop is closed and I have no other plans...except...We may need to make a stop at my caravan, I have no clothes...unless you don't mind me sauntering around nude." She let out a laugh fully joking.

He chuckled at her comment, “Touche.” Squeezing her absently when he felt her relax into him he smiled, “Missed you too, Nini.” V didn’t miss how despite her response that the shop was closed and they could go, she didn’t let go of him and he let her have it for a few moments before easing back at the nude comment. “I mean I’d be stupid to complain but yes we can absolutely stop by the caravan to get your stuff. You lead the way.”

While V might have done his homework he didn’t want to pry into Nini’s life too much least of all where she felt safe, so he hadn’t dug to find out where the caravan was currently. Thus he really needed her to lead the way otherwise they’d be standing around doing nothing, once they got moving though he would keep his head on a swivel just to make sure that piece of crap ex of hers wasn’t following. Truth be told though he was certain Drew already knew where the caravan was and that was precisely why he wanted to get this done quickly, his house was protected and Drew didn’t know shit about his wards.

So Harmony would be completely safe there even if the asshole knew the place existed, so long as she was inside the property lines he couldn’t touch her. V would tell her that when they got there though, feeling it was worth the surprise. “Ready whenever you are, Nini.”