The Dreaded Dinner of Doom

Yes, days after Nick and Ana move in together, Ana's wonderful father decide to give his daughter and her apparent new husband a dinner. Isn't that nice? NOT!

Here is what happens in that Dreaded Dinner of DOOM!

Reginald's smile was ice cold as he entered the room.
"Ana..." He appraised his daughter, who stood with arms folded, feeling awkward and looking confident. "I presume this is your...husband..." He made no effort to disguise the displeasure in his voice, or the sneer on his face.
"Yes Father. This is Nick. Nick, this is my Dad-"
"Mr. Vaight to you." Reginald interrupted.
Ana closed her eyes briefly. Since her mother's death, he'd been worse than ever. More plain-dealing...and more pissed off. At least he had at least a vague civility...sort of.
She glanced at Nick, waiting for him to say something.
Reginald beat him to it. "So I hear you have three children...only one of which is actually yours..."
"Dad..." Ana began.
"What? Can't I find out what sort of man you've married so suddenly?" Reginald awaited Nick's reply.

"I prefer Mr. Casillas, Mr. Vaight." Nicolas said pronouncing his name nice and clear so that Mr. Vaight would get reminded just who Ana was married to.

"And yes, I am." Nicolas said.

Reginald's smile was betrayed by the loathing in his eyes.
"And might I ask how exactly that boy is yours...as he must have been coneived whilst my son was still married to your cousin...the mother of the child in question?"
Ana slapped a hand to her forehead, hiding her eyes. She didn't like this new mad Reginald.

Nicolas smiled, it was a pleasant, society smile.

"Yes but didn't your son leave my dear cousin?"

"Yes he did, and now I am hardly wondering why..." Reginald sneered.

"Nice weather isn't it? Nice and...overcast." Ana almost shouted.

Reginald raised an eyebrow. "Ana, you just killed our conversation."

"What? Tearing each other's heads off? That does not constitute a conversation."

"You over-exagerrate." Reginald waved a hand dismissivly. "But since you seem so desperate to be involved...why did you marry Mr. Casillas so suddenly? Were you that desperate to escape the Vaight family name?"

"Of course not!"

"Then why?" Ana scowled and ignored the question. Reginald turned back to Nick. "Why did you two marry so suddenly? I must admit I'm intrigued..."

"Leave it Dad." Ana muttered.

"So soon after the death of your wife...and cousin..." Reginald raised an eyebrow. "I would've thought it prudent to wait more than about half an hour to remarry..."

He wanted to defend Diana's honour - what Reginald was implying was the furtherest away from her character. She would never be unfaithful, she would never hurt someone she loved. But to do that, he'd have to reveal who Darius' real 'father' was and Nicolas couldn't take that gamble. 'I'm sorry Diana...' He prayed in his head briefly before he replied.

Nicolas sighed and looked at his fingernails. "Well Mr. Vaight, if you must know, I will tell you about how I conceived a child with your son's wife."

"I'd rather keep it a secret as you know... it's quite shameful... but since you insist." Nicolas paused to really build the set up. "I am sorry I'm going to be the one to tell you this but... your son couldn't perform in bed."

"And I happen to be quite the opposite... and that is also why, your daughter here decided to marry me."

Ana smacked her head into the table. It connected with a sharp thud.

Reginald raised an eyebrow in her direction, then decided to just pretend she wasn't trying to smash her head open.
He scowled openly at Nick. "So only minutes after your wife died giving birth to your son, you slept with another woman?" He shook his head. "You Casillases never fail to amaze me. No wonder my son left your whorish cousin."

Ana raised her head. Had her father just called Diana a whore?! Her head flicked across to Nick, and out of the corner of her eye she noticed Reginald grasp his wand under the table.

Annoyance and embarassment turned to confusion. Who should she support?!
She sighed and realised she didn't have a clue. She allowed her head to slap back down onto the hard wood of the table. The jolt forced her mind into overdrive and her head snapped up, waiting for Nick's response.

Nicolas' jaw tensed. It took all of Nicolas' will power not to curse the man in front of him. A part of him wanted to get Darius the hell down here just to show just how 'whorish' Darien's wife was to him, how she died of heartache just because Darien the cowardly fool had left. Another part of him wanted to put the killing curse on Mr. Vaight, no other substitutes, just plain old killing. No one insulted his family like that no one.

'For Darius, for Darius, for Darius.' He chanted in his head. He grasped his wand with his right hand in his pocket. With his other hand, he simply blew his nails.

"Mr. Vaight," Nicolas said in a mock concern. "I'd like to talk about you know. It's touching really that you would take such an interest in my life... and me? Oh were are my manners... How is your wife...?

Ana breathed a sigh of relief as Nick remained calm...ish.
Reginald was standing in a split second. His wand was in his hand in the same split second.
"Father..."

He ignored her. Unsurprisingly.
Ana cursed under her breath. She'd had just about enough of this.

"Father, sit down. Now." He looked at her incredulously. Was his daughter ordering him to sit down?!

"I said sit down." Ana glared right back at her father, meeting his gaze and returning it easily.

Reginald frowned slightly and raised his wand to chest height.

"Sit down and put your wand away." Ana snarled through gritted teeth.
Reginald didn't move.

Ana stood up, using her glaring abilities to their full extent. It also helped that she was wearing heels, making her the same height as her father. "Father...You forget yourself. I would appreciate it if you would sit down and act like a normal civilised person."

Reginald raised an eyebrow. "So it's not normal to deal with pest problems? Pest control is suddenly so strange?"

Ana closed her eyes briefly and rested her hands on the table. "Do not refer to my husband in that manner." She muttered, just loud enough for him to hear.

"What?!" Reginald was incredulous.

"You heard me." Ana raised her head, eyes blazing. "I expect you to treat my husband at least with civility. Do not forget he is your son-in-law. And never forget that I expect him to be treated as such. Nick is my husband, and I am telling you to stop attempting to provoke him. Now sit down and treat my husband as you would were his last name not Casillas..."

She glared at Reginald, as he slowly returned his wand to his pocket and sat down. He had already lost one heir, he was not going to lose another... Especially not Ana, his favourite child. He gathered his composure and turned to Nick, face blank.

"I...apologise. My behavior was innappropriate. Severly inappropriate. I have not been myself lately." He attempted a smile. "What can I say? Some old habits are...hard...to break."

He held out a hand for Nick to shake.

"May I start again? You may call me Reginald."

Nicolas sort of stood there stunned. He was rather shocked to find that Ana stood up for him. He sort of thought that he and Reginald would have... well a Wizards Duel in another second.

"I'm sorry..." Nicolas started. He was proud, he was a Casillas, he was a Gryffindor, no one insulted his family like that. He was going to refuse the hand shake. But suddenly there was a loud snap. Nicolas barely looked up when the chandelier hanging right above them fell from its place... right at Reginald's out stretched hand.

Reginald yelped and threw himself backwards as a large spike of glass stabbed into ...and through...his hand. Swearing, he staggered upright and clicked his other fingers...the non-impaled fingers. Bob appeared.

Ana gagged inwardly. "Oh Merlin..."

"Sincere aplogies, I must-owch-cut this visit short. Farewell." Reginald disappeared as Bob clapped his hands. Bob loitered for a split second long enough to bow once to Ana, once to Nick, and once to the small boy hiding in the stairwell.

Then he too vanished.

Ana waved her wand and restored the chandelier to it's previous position, before turning to face the child in the stairwell, deliberately not meeting Nick's eyes.

Fitzwilliam sat there for several seconds, immobilized on what had happened. Then he shortly burst into tears.

Immediately, Nicolas' scowl, brought about by Mr. Vaight, softened. "Will... don't cry."

Nicolas went up to him. "I... I... didn't mean too...." Will sobbed. And has Nicolas held him he started to cry louder.

"Bebé, no llora." (Baby don't cry) Nicolas cooed as he scooped Will up. Will hugged on to Nicolas tightly as he continued to cry.

Ana stood awkwardly near the hugging, wondering what to do...and pondering why her father'd given in so easily...
Heck, why had she goen against him in the first place?!
She sighed. Her mind was a mess.
"Well...He did kinda deserve the whole spiking thing..." Ana smiled slightly at Will. "Just don't do it to anyone we actually like..."

Will was now slightly calmer in Nicolas' hands. "Let's get you to bed..."

Will nodded in his arms. Nicolas and Will went up the stairs.

Ana watched them go, then sank down onto the penultimate step.
She sighed and pushed her hair back from her face.
Her mind was such a mess...

It was quite a while when Nicolas came back down. Will needed some more comforting.

Nicolas slowed his pace once he got nearer to Ana. He didn't really want to face her after all that had happened...

Ana deliberatly turned slightly away from Nick, still trying to decipher her crazy actions.

"Is Will okay?" She asked, still not looking at him.

"Yeah," Nicolas said sitting by her. "He's going to be alright."

He avoided her gaze too. "I don't think your father and I should see each other anymore."

Ana snorted. "You make it sound like you two were dating...Which I think would be illegal. Very illegal."
She sighed. "But I would have to agree...on both counts. You two should neither date nor talk to each other...or even see each other in passing. Ever."

"Because I am going to kill him the next time I see him," Nicolas said seriously.

"I'd appreciate it if you didn't. He is my father...and your father-in-law."

"I don't care," Nicolas said, his tone rising slightly. "He called my cousin a whore."

"I am aware. I was the one hitting my head on the table."

"He called her a whore Ana," Nicolas repeated angrily. "It was Darien who was the one who left her, who left her while she was pregnant with his baby. She f**king died for him for Merlin's sake! And he, he dare call her a whore!"