Ministry Ball Welcoming Fall ~August 29, 2025 ~

((lol! nice pun!))

Darien snarled, also drawing his wand.

"I only wanted to protect her." He half-whispered.

"Oh please," Nicolas scoffed. "I've heard that one before. But why you left her isn't any of my business really, and honestly, I just don't give a damn. The bottom-line is: She's mine now, and I have you to thank for it."

If his heart was not numb or frozen, Darien knew it would have splintered.

The coldness ebbed away at his rage, but he simply raised his wand to point it between Nick's eyes.

He did not trust himself to reply. His head was too confused.

Damn, he was so sure Vaight would attack him with that. It seemed as if Darien was waiting for him to make the first move. However his promise to Diana kept him from actually hexing him first. Oh well, he would make him angrier then. It was obvious to Nicolas by the punch he threw earlier that Darien was as over Diana as she was of him. Worked for Nicolas, made egging him on easier.

"And I suppose I have you to thank for our baby as well..."

Nicolas smiled cruelly knowing that Darien didn't know the truth.

Darien felt the ground shake beneath his feet.

He had been wrong. His heart still had enough humanity left to tear...again.

Anger grew, and he desperatly tried to transform the pain to anger to fuel his rage.

He squeezed his eyes shut, and opened them again, the pupils now glowing with anger.

Celina thought about getting involved but decided against it. A bit dangerous...

Darien glowered at Nick with all the anger and hatred he could muster. Then the rage compelled him to channel that anger into a spell.

Eyes blured and smudged by unshed tears, he took a breath. "CRUCIO!" He hissed, still with his wand aimed at Nick.

Celina's jaw dropped. An unforgivable...She backed away.

What was taking Nick so long? Diana thought angrily. The longer she was here the more she felt him... his presence. It unnerved Diana to the core.

"Should we go see what's keeping him?" Diana asked her belly. She'd picked up the tendency to talk to her unborn child. She'd already been to the healer, and she told Diana what she already felt to be true. It was a boy. News Nicolas found oddly appealing. They'd agreed that Nicolas would pretend that he was the father. With Darien leaving her and Nicolas marrying her, it was the simplest thing to do. Simple yes, easy? Not one bit. She wanted to tell Darien right from the start, however with him refusing her owls, not to mention, him refusing to physically seeing her, there was really no way she could.

So she was left to face it alone... well Nicolas was more than willing to help her anyway he could. She suspected it was because he felt guilty about not being able to help Amy that he wanted to make sure she was well. He wanted an active part in helping care for the baby. But unknowns' to Nicolas, she'd already decided a name for him. Darius.

Once she found the name, she couldn't refer to the baby as anything else. He was Darius. She could feel it. And right now, Darius kicked inside her womb. A sign she took as yes. Taking a deep breath she opened the car door and headed back inside to look for Nicolas.

Stepping inside the entrance hall, she saw it was pretty much empty except for three figures near the coat rack. One of them was a female, sinking into the background, the other two... Her heart froze as she could guess who the two males where pointing at each other with their wands.

Diana broke into a run...

__________


Nicolas' eyes widened in surprise, he was ready for anything Darien would have thrown at him; if he attacked in his animagus form or any offensive spell or even if he sucker punched him, Nicolas could have countered it.

But an Unforgivable... Nicolas never in a million years would have thought that Darien had it in him. Well what do you know? He is a Slytherin, was Nicolas' last thoughts before he was eloped in excruciating pain...

_________

"Darien stop! Stop it Darien!"

Darien broke the spell by force of habit at Diana's command.
His eyes slid closed of their own accord, hiding the pain that still burned through him from a torn heart.
Then he remembered why.

Nick's baby.

He did not look at Diana.
He couldn't.

All he wanted at that moment was to sink down into nothing. Darkness. To hide in it. To fall in it. To die in it.

A single tear fell from his right eye, and he didn't notice.

His heart was splintered.
Broken.
Shattered.

Any tiny pathetic wisps of hope, the wisps that had kept him going, faded into nothingness.
Into his new dark heart.
Cold. Dead.

It was the only way he could stop the pain. By freezing it. Separating himself from it. From everything. From everyone.
It stopped it tearing him apart.
It stopped it breaking his mind into pieces.

The pain subsided to a dull ache. A tired ache.

You don't understand. You can never hope to understand...You don't have to live with that pain every single day...Every single second of every single minute...You don't know what it's like. You don't know how hard it is to tell what you feel. What hope is. What fear is. What pain and anger feel like. They all feel the same. They all hurt the same.

Darien opened his eyes and glared emotionlessly at Nick. You don't know pain. And I wouldn't wish my life on you. Not even on you.

Diana...he had to leave...But his feet wouldn't move...
She'd want him to leave.

He turned his back on both of them.

The two Casillases. It had always been like that. Casillas vs Vaight. But now...
He didn't care. He wouldn't let himself care.

Because it would destroy him.

Nicolas gasp for air as the Curse lifted. He didn't remember falling on to the floor. But that was were he found himself. It was so good to be able to breathe again. His head spinned slightly and he was only acutely aware of Diana kneeing before him, helping him up. "Are you alright?" Diana asked him softly. Of this he was grateful. His ears were ringing and any noise would be a horrible bother to him.

"Yeah," he said leaning on his own now, realizing he might strain her.

Diana turned her eyes, now an icy blue hue, to Darien.

"What the hell is your problem?" she yelled.

Nicolas covered his ears. That was uncool.

The anger in Diana's voice shattered the icy layer Darien had placed around his heart.

His shoulders dropped and he replaced his wand in a pocket, trying to keep his face clear.

"Ees probleem?! Wat ees your 'usband's probleem? 'E is the one 'hoo was provokeeng 'eem!" Celina shouted back, defending Darien.

Darien felt a slight gratitude for Celina. His emotions were too painful for him to express anything at that moment.

It took a second for Diana to realise that when Celina said 'husband', she was refering to Nicolas and not Darien. Diana turned to glare at Celina. "I would appreciate it if you stayed out from this." She said sternly. It wasn't a request, it was a command. She cast a non-verbal silencio on the other woman and turned back to Darien.

Diana's eyes darken with intensity. She couldn't believe that Darien would... would use - actually use an Unforgivable. She felt somewhat hurt, somewhat betrayed... betrayed yet again by Darien Vaight. Once of the things she most respected of him was his starving against the stereotypical Dark Magic associated with Purebloods, he wanted to be different from them - better - and he was! But now... Now here he was using the Crucio! He had changed. She pushed the hurt she was feeling away. She was done feeling hurt because of him. She felt anger rise within her. "Whatever Nicolas might have said did not warrant a Crucio!"

Celina fumed as she found herself silenced, and flounced off to sulk in a corner.

Darien did not turn round. "He should know better than to bait me. If I were you, I'd just hope your..." He couldn't say it. He just couldn't. "Inherits your mind, not his. Otherwise it might go around annoying dogs that sooner or later will bite back."

"Besides, what else do you expect? I am a Vaight after all. Evil and to blame for all things wrong with the world." He snarled sarcastically. "Why don't you both go join the Purgers and destroy all Slytherins. Or maybe you already have."

His voice was cold and sharp, tinted with anger, hiding a layer of hurt that ran deep into Darien's soul.

"The Purgers," Diana said clearly, "Are an abomination." It was blasphemy to say it, and dangerous to do so aloud but she felt that Darien needed reminding.

Diana was astounded that Darien would even consider, let alone accuse that she join the Purgers. But there was another thing... so that's what Nicolas had said. The wheels in Diana's head clicked as she realised what might have caused Darien to go out of control. Nicolas probably dangled the baby. Diana glared at Nicolas who was seated, still on the floor. Later... she'd deal with him later. For now, there was Darien. Her glare at him faltered slightly as she figured that Darien thought that the baby was Nicolas'. As twisted as it seemed, the thought made her stomach flutter. It meant he still cared for her... well enough to Crucio someone he'd thought impregnated her. It brought an enormous sense of relive. She'd thought that he'd already moved on. She wanted to tell him then and there just who really the father was but then.... But then... Nick... he'd helped her so much... how many nights would she have survived if he'd not been there? And he was willing, willing to accept the child as his own! Considering it was Darien's, someone she knew he spared no love for, it was saying a lot. She owed it to him not to reveal it to Darien, just yet. Then she remembered the exact reason why Darien didn't know the child was his. Because he'd left. He'd left before she could tell him and he'd dodged and avoided her like the effing plague! It was all his effing fault that she was even in this effing position! And her anger rose again. What was this roller-coaster of emotions?

She didn't even notice herself talking. It seemed like a different person. It was cold and very much dispassionate. "I could have you arrested, for what you did... an unforgivable... that's a sentense to Azkaban."

Darien shrugged. "Then do it."

He hid the fact the coldness of her voice hurt him again, and turned back to look her straight in the eyes.

"I honestly couldn't care less."

He turned back quickly. It cut him up inside to look at Diana. To look at who he'd left...The ulcer of hurt inside him swelled and he swallowed.

"Send me to Azkaban. I'm sure your family would be very proud. Then you can have a big family get-together with your little Casillas can't you? No doubt you'll have a few..." He hissed. "Don't worry, I won't ruin your little Happy Family Fairytale moment. I always hated horror stories."

He closed his eyes and glanced at Celina. "I'm going home."

She nodded, and disapparated.

But something made Darien linger...

It was sad really that Darien lingered because he'd just unleashed the wrath of Diana.

A mixture of hurt... of pain... of every emotion relating to her heart constricting in an air-stopping manner all bottled up inside her make her quite literally stagger. Gone was her need to keep cool and collected, gone was the dispassionate, the one in control. All she saw were her eyes blurring as tears forced themselves out.

She did not remember closing the gap between herself and Darien. She just found herself hitting his chest repeatedly, frantically, uncontrollably.

"You"
"are"
"a"
"cold"
"heartless"
"bastard."

She screeched out between hits.

"Heartless"
"Bastard"

Darien closed his eyes. "Am I?" His voice was quiet and almost aimless.

Then his voice raised to a louder volume. "Am I?!"
His eyes flashed in brief anger...or possibly anguish.

"I didn't see you waiting very long before deciding to have a family with him!" He snarled, nearly shouting, and jabbing a finger at Nick.

Then he closed his eyes, and laughed quietly, although there was no humour in the sound. "You are a heartless hypocrite. And if I am a heartless bastard, it's not really my fault. You think you are not to blame...Think that if you want."
His eyes were as cold as ever. "After all, it's always my fault. It has always been my fault. I'm always the bad guy. So go ahead, get your little family to prosecute. Send me to Azkaban. Then I can finally fulfill your wishes and go to Hell." He spat the words as though they were poisonous.

Deciding he had revealed too much, he spun on his heel and began to walk a few paces away, black cloak billowing in his wake.

"I hate you."

LIE! Her head screamed. Lie, lie lie. It rejected the statement. That was all the emotional turmoil Diana could handle. She started to have a very sharp pain in her stomach. Then her eyes saw darkness...

"Diana!" Nicolas yelled realising that she was about to fall. But he was far behind them, he wouldn't be able to catch her in time...

Darien stopped as another dagger jabbed into his heart. Then he heard Nick's yell.

He turned, and saw Diana fall.

...She hated him.

She wouldn't want him to catch her.

She wanted Nick to save her.

She loved Nick.

Nick's baby.

Blindly, he shoved a hand in his pocket, brought out a wand and pointed it at the falling Diana.

Non-verbally, he cast a spell to stop her falling, and cushions appeared below her just in case.

Then he turned away, and spun around into the darkness of apparition...

Nicolas did two things at once. One was run to Diana to see if she was okay, the other was he cast a Summoning Charm on Darien Vaight to make him come back.

"Diana?" Nicolas said as he reached her. He checked her vital signs. Her pulse was weak and erratic. She needed a healer.

Darien felt himself come flying backwards, tugged by an invisible spell.

"What? Let me go Casillas." He snarled.

"If anything happens to her or the baby, you are responsible." Nicolas said coldly. "I hope you know that."

Nicolas tried to heal her but his knowledge in healing magic was limited. "Come on Diana." He urged her softly. She'd been weak to begin with. The healer had said to make sure she didn't over exhort herself in any activity or else...

Darien said nothing, refusing to look at Diana.

A tiny part of conscience surfaced and he muttered, "Shouldn't you just get a healer?"

"Good idea," Nicolas snapped sarcastically. "Go find one."

"Actually no," Nicolas said straightening up. He realised he didn't quite care for Darien's social skills and figured that he probably could get a healer faster than he could. "I'll go..."

Considering it was Darien's fault, Nicolas thought it be important to add, "Guard her. Don't do anything stupid."

"You know what?" Nicolas accio'd Darien's wand and put it in his pocket. "There that's better."

And with that he left to find a healer in the party... leaving Darien and Diana... quite alone.

Darien thought about protesting, but decided against it and sighed instead. "Fine."

"...Though I don't know what the bloody hell I'm meant to guard you from..." he muttered, feeling calmer...and more human. More like the Darien he had been.

She frowned and let out a moan in her unconsciousness. Why was she feeling so hazy?

Darien glanced down at her, then hastily away again.

He couldn't deal with this...