Morning Tea, Perhaps? (Vi)

[Matt Harper]

Matt Harper packed the last of his things into the back of his car, intending to make a trip home that night to go through the large amount of unneeded materials that he had cleaned out of his desk. To the average cop coming into the 409 Precinct in London, England, it would look like Matt was getting booted out of the squad. The complete opposite was actually happening, truth be told. After lunch, Captain Kragen had asked to see Matt in his office, to give him his new Homicide badge and introduce him to his new partner. Harper was clueless as to who it could be, but it wasn’t something he needed to worry about at the moment. The issue at hand was in his mind already. As he closed the trunk of his car in the back of the Precinct, he walked around to the driver’s side and pulled out the case file, eyeing the contents and figuring out the best approach. Viola Hudson, he thought to himself. She was a bit of a ways down into the city, so he would need to drive to her place to get her statement. She had apparently called the non-emergency line after a man had stolen some personal items from her home. He quickly scanned the file again. No picture. Hmm, he thought. If she’s attractive, was it a love thief? Guess I’ll find out. Can’t wait to be done with these simplistic cases and moved up to Homicide where I belong. Kragen knows that’s where I’ll work best and the hardest.

Matt started up the car and drove at a relaxed pace through the fairly empty streets of London, making sure he had the address of the woman correct. She was about his age, or so he thought. He couldn’t take any chances, if she was a muggle she couldn’t see his wand. He tucked it deep into his jacket pocket, and looked in the rear mirror, scruffing his hair up a bit. It was just the way he wore it, really. It didn’t have anything to do with looking cool or looking tough, it was just what he did. The weather was usually rainy in London, especially during this time of year, so he occasionally wore a hat or a heavier jacket than he was wearing now. But the current day was nicer than usual, so he had the windows down. The case file was sitting on the passenger seat, so he opened the glove box and slid it in there, making sure it was easily able to be grabbed later, yet secure enough that it wouldn’t fly out the open window. He saw the block where the woman apparently resided, and pulled over into the closest parking spot. His car wasn’t clearly marked, so he pulled out his blue squad car light and put it on the top of the car. It was regular protocol, and while it was his last day as a normal officer/detective, he would still abide by the rules of the force.

Matt walked up the steps and looked at the ringers on the wall, found Hudson, and rang the bell three solid times. Surprisingly, the door just buzzed open. No intercom voice asking who was at the door. Maybe there was a camera and she could see he was a police officer? But he wasn’t in uniform. But his badge and gun were at his side. Oh well, he thought. Matt pushed the door open, and Viola Hudson’s apartment wasn’t too far down the narrow hallway. His boots tapped along the hardwood floor as he walked to the door, and he arrived at number 32. This was it. He knocked on the door three times, pulling his badge off of its buckle so he could prove to her who he was. The door opened slowly, revealing a gorgeous and attractive woman, one he couldn’t help but eye up and down immediately. Matt caught himself before his jaw dropped open, and attempted to speak. “G-Good morning, ma’am. Detective Matthew Harper, from the nearby 409 Precinct. Ms. Viola Hudson, is it? I received your report today and came over to get a statement from you, and assess any missing items from the recent robbery. Mind if I come in, or is this a bad time?” Matt did his best to regain his composure, but it was definitely hard with such an attractive woman standing in front of him.

[Viola Hudson]

Ugh. That idiot. Viola had trusted him. Well, in truth the alcohol streaming through her system had trusted him…but that was beside the point! Never before had something like this happened to Viola. “Wouldn’t happen at home…” She couldn’t help but mutter to herself in a light sing-song voice as she stood in the centre of her rented flat. It was actually her friends flat. Cath was on her honeymoon though. That made Viola snort in disbelief. It was the week for parties. The week of parties. Every year about ten fairly well-known figures in London got together and spent a ton of money on five parties. The parties were on the weekdays apart from the final one- that was switched to Saturday, giving people Friday off to recharge before the last big bang. It was brilliant. Viola always had an amazing time during her week in London, despite her dislike of some of the people there. Like that man. It was actually difficult for Viola to think of a name… so far he had just been ‘that man’, or ‘that idiot’. He was attractive, obviously. Tall, dark haired with pale skin. Too pale really. His eyes had been blue – no, green. Pupils permanently out of shape, as was default for that crazy week in London. But what about a name? Vi had spent that morning scanning through her mind. Finally, after almost an hour of sitting at Cathy’s kitchen table sipping tea, she found something. T-something. Terrence? Trevor? Terry? The last one seemed to ring a bell. Who on earth was called Terrence anyway. She was pretty sure that was not his name.

Terry – Viola decided to call him that now, whether it was correct or otherwise – had been the perfect gentleman. Vi knew he had been having fun last night and that he seemed like a nice, safe guy; otherwise she wouldn’t have offered him back to Cathy’s flat. Even through her drunken haze Viola knew which people to never take home and Terry had not seemed like one of those. He had been polite, at least as polite as the alcohol allowed him to be. He had paid for most of her drinks and she was more than happy to let him do so. At the beginning of the party she had watched the drinks as they came up to her; you never knew, after all. But they were drinks without additives for the first couple of hours. So she eventually put her trust in Terry then and focused on the music, the dancing, the atmosphere… it had been a great night really, if you didn’t include the bit where he stole from her.

It wasn’t much really. Some muggle money, a couple of bracelets she’d been given last year and a ring, a few things of Cathy’s lying around that Viola would replace if possible. Obviously Terry hadn’t had anything in particular he wanted – he even took a few Galleons from Viola’s bag, although it was impossible that he could have known what they were. And then… Viola had really thought for a moment that he had taken her wand. The thing she always had on her, whether in a pocket, bag, lining of a jumper – always. But she couldn’t exactly keep it on her when she wasn’t wearing anything, right? And if she was quite drunk… that idiot! During this moment of paranoia when Viola thought her wand had gone missing she had phoned the muggle police, explaining the situation with as much detail as she could. But she couldn’t exactly tell them that the idiot had taken her magical stick could she? They’d have thought her to be completely nuts. Most people did anyway. So she had, through her pounding headache, told them about the money, jewellery, and ornamental bits from the flat. That was it. They had assured her someone would be round to check up on the case before hanging up – leaving the dial tone to drill into her head. Afterwards, typically, Vi found her wand in a pretty easy-to-find place. Brilliant.

Viola should have known not to be so hasty in calling the police. Even if she had lost her wand, what on earth could they do? And yet she had done so – and now, at a ridiculously early (for Vi) hour, they were buzzing the door. Great. She wished she hadn’t called – the money and jewellery weren’t exactly great losses to her. Now she’d probably get a snooty police woman looking down her nose at the little Hufflepuff graduate. Most of the muggle police would definitely know about the five-day party that week and it wouldn’t have taken much interrogation to find out that Vi was involved.
Bracing herself for the policewoman she suddenly realised that it might have been a nice idea to get dressed first. Because it was the Friday between parties she was taking it easy; she was wearing a shift nightdress she’d stolen from Julie the month before. It was too short for Julie and just a tiny bit too long for Vi – but she liked it like that. Because it was not hers the colours weren’t too eccentric or wild, just a subtle array of lilacs and soft blues. Hm. It was cute. She tugged one of Cathy’s silk dressing gowns around her shoulders, stuffing her small feet into a pair of slippers, before approaching the door slowly. When she did open it the person on the other side surprised her… not that she hadn’t expected someone to be there of course. Generally when someone rang your doorbell they were normally inclined to wait there until you opened it. But… the cop was obviously not a snooty police officer. He was handsome in a gruff manner that Viola really liked. Interesting. Instantly, she wished that she had dressed up a little instead of staying in the nightdress – and some make-up would not have gone amiss. Pulling the dressing gown tighter around her frame she looked up at him with a small smile. The attracted she had felt was not unrequited; it rarely was.

“Hi Matt.” She smiled lightly, taking it upon herself to shorten his name, not caring if he thought it disrespectful or anything similar. “Uh…” His formal words made her hesitate for just a moment as she became even more aware of her earlier mistake. Beckoning him inside and in the direction of the kitchen she bit her lip, wondering what to say – and what not to say. “Morning tea, Matt?” She didn’t wait for an answer before pouring. “Yes… well, what do you want to know? Basically I had a… friend over last night. He took a few things. Some money, bracelets… Galleons.” She muttered this final bit. If he knew what Galleons were then he would respond ; if not the mutter had almost been incoherent and he may have just let the word slide. Harmless really. She handed him a mug of hot tea and leant against the counter, not looking at him deliberately. She felt stupid, truly. And police always made her uncomfortable. Especially when she was wearing something not so appropriate for the occasion.

[Matt Harper]

Matt walked slowly into the woman’s apartment, as she immediately cut the last few letters off his name, shortening it to a manageable and simplistic friendly feel. She was slightly over friendly already, and Matt had to honestly wonder if the man Viola had had over the night before was just a friend or a bit more than that. He guessed that would have to come out later. After closing the door behind him, Matt walked into the open area of the apartment with the woman, fully noticing her striking features barely hidden underneath a beautiful dark nightdress that pressed sharply against her body. Matt had to shake his mind off a few times, to keep himself from staring too long. He looked up as Viola asked if he wanted morning tea. “Y-Yes, of course. Quite the tea drinker, myself. We are in London, after all, aren’t we?” He chuckled, as he picked up the mug from her soft, small hand, feeling her hand linger along his. He took a quick sip, but not much, as it was still hot. “Delicious tea, thank you.” He knew how to be courteous, and this was one woman he did not want to disrespect.

He held the mug, and Viola asked him what he needed to know. Before he got a chance to describe the usual things he had to go over, she explained the very basics of what she had told the police before. The man had taken a few things. He pulled out his small notepad, jotting down quickly that he took some money, bracelets, galleons, wait. She had said galleons, hadn’t she? Viola was testing him. She apparently had some idea that there were wizard police mixed in with the muggle police, and she was obviously right. After all, Matt was one of the wizards. It seemed that if she was willing to say that some galleons had been stolen to someone like him, he could reveal himself to her and it wouldn’t really be a problem. “Galleons, you say? So you’re a witch? Was this man a wizard?” As he said the words, he realized he was likely being too formal with the woman. She had been taken advantage of the night before, it seemed, and here he was just doing his job. What she needed was someone to talk to, to care for her, tell her she was worth more than that. “You know what?” he said quickly, after he finished his previous statement. He put his mug down and pulled the two chairs over from the table. “Sit down, Viola. We’re going to handle this a bit differently.” He knew this was definitely not according to protocol, but it was his last day on regular duty, and then he would be on Homicide, so he was going to go all out.

“So first off, why was this guy over, really? Tell me all about him.” He knew she would likely want to know why he was acting this way, an officer of the law, but then again, she didn’t seem like the very formal type anyway. “I’m a wizard too, if you couldn’t tell by the fact that I knew exactly what you meant by Galleons. So let me,” he pulled his wand out and pointed it at her stomach, raising the ties of the nightgown Viola was wearing and tightening them around her waist, so they wouldn’t be falling over anywhere any time soon, “help you out with that.” Satisfied, he put his wand away, back where it belonged. She was quite attractive, and he knew that if things were any different, he would turn on his charm a bit more and try to work things out a bit more in his favor at the moment. But he was still on the job, and the job came first. “So do you get guys to come over here to your apartment often? And this is the first time one of them has stolen from you? Particularly stolen Galleons? Or did they steal something more important? Your wand perhaps?” He was sure he was pushing buttons, but he was having a bit of fun with this, and couldn’t wait to hear the woman’s response. He picked up his mug of tea, sipping deeply waiting for her next response.

[Viola Hudson]

As the guy commented on the tea Vi handed him she smiled lightly, but her eyes weren’t connected to the expression. They were looking into his carefully and without wavering. She had a few options from here… she could usher the guy from her apartment and claim that she was merely a paranoid little lady and there was no problem, and no reason for him to be here. She could pretend to be casually unaware of any danger and just wait until he decided to do what most police did, (i.e nothing) and left… or she could keep filling up his mug of tea. She liked the last one the most admittedly – it barely took much thought or effort. Plus she liked the way he chuckled, as if there was always something to chuckle about. This was normally Viola’s view but when she had a pounding headache it was nicer to hear someone laugh for her. There was also the blatant fact that he was good looking, and courteous to match. His confident words made her think about one of man in her life that she actually cared for properly – Ben. As this thought crossed her mind she frowned involuntarily. To two weren’t even remotely alike from what she could see so far. This man seemed quite self-assured, while Ben was hesitant in some situations. There was the obvious difference in their appearance too. Matt was more rugged, Ben softer and in a sense more vulnerable.

Bingo. Her eyes smiled a little more as Matt spoke in terms that she understood – magical ones. She doubted he was secretly some sort of crazed witch-hunter and so nodded slowly. “He wasn’t a wizard, I’m pretty sure of that.” After she said this something in the atmosphere altered and Matt was looking at her with different expression… was that pity? Sympathy? She didn’t know, but didn’t really like it. Although her situation was possibly a tricky one and could make her upset, she wasn’t. She knew that she had been foolish this time – and every time – in inviting the guy back for… coffee. It was her fault entirely and her decision entirely. Vi knew that to be upset about something she had basically asked for was silly, and so was not remotely sad, merely a little irritated and angry. She ignored the expression on his face and, with a tiny sigh as she wondered how much mind power the conversation would need, sat down in the chair he pulled out for her. “Vi, please.” She spoke softly before taking a gulp of tea, wondering whether or not it would assist or worsen her headache.

She listened with a burnt tongue, pounding head and curious expression, as Matt’s manner changed swiftly. He fired off a few questions first – all pretty simple. At least, they sounded simple. But Viola was not a simple girl; she was different, and because of this it often required some extra thinking to see things her way, thus often making a situation complicated to those who didn’t know her well. To Matt’s first questions, Vi could not help but shrug. She was not embarrassed by the one-night-stand, nor was she proud. “Why? Because he was good-looking, and we felt like coming back here… I’m sure you know about this week.” Her eyes twinkled – she wondered if he ever wanted to join in with the events the forces often had to shut down. “The after-party… you know. As for telling you about him, I can’t say I know all that much.” Her voice was defiant at the end of her words. It was almost as though she dared Matt to challenge her foolish, immature lack of responsibility and scold her for it. His next words heightened her curiosity and she couldn’t help her eyes from widening as he charmed the ties on her gown, encasing her body in the material even tighter. This irritated her. Admittedly, it might have been wise for her to wear something a little more appropriate. But she hadn’t exactly planned all this. With one raised brow and a tiny frown, Viola rose from her chair. “Won’t be a mo’.” She spoke softly.

It took just a few minutes outside the kitchen for her to tug on some comfortable ripped jeans and a large, baggy hoody that hugged her form, warming her instantly. No doubt she looked a mess ; Vi rarely went out in jeans, let alone something baggy. But her head hurt too much for her to care about her appearance, despite the handsome officer at her table. She returned with a small smile and sat once more. Much better… there had just been something about the way Matt had used his spell so close to her that had put her off. It was not exactly rude, but she hadn’t liked it.
She switched her attentions back to his words and nodded, once more unabashed. “Sometimes. But this is not my apartment… it’s my friends. I live in Wales.” She smiled at the mention of her home. Admittedly she missed it – missed Julie and Alfie, her puppy. But she was glad to be here, where the party was. As always. “Umm… Mikey nicked my phone thinking it was his once?” She smirked at the memory. “Which was alright, since I had his… bunch of texts from her mu-” She trailed off instantly, determined not to ramble. First, because it was rude – at least some people thought so. And second, the more she spoke the heavier the drums in her head became. It increased now as she focused on Matt. “I’m not an idiot, you know.” Her chin lifted slightly and her eyes narrowed. “I would never leave my wand where some stranger could take it.” She didn’t like what the man was implying, although the implications were probably just in her head – he hadn’t seemed like the accusatory type. Drinking from her tea once more, she eyed him across the table. A strange profession really. So different from her own – or rather, so diverse from her hobby. “You can’t honestly enjoy visiting house after house, answering paranoid phone calls, can you?” Her question was bold, perhaps. But she didn’t care and her curiosity overruled the thought in her mind that told her she was procrastinating.