The Sin of Neglect (Rich and Seni)

Richard sat down in the waiting room was a plastic cup of coffee in his hands, trying to drink it. Sipping at the hot liquid, it took him a few moments to actually swallow it. He felt... disconnected. He'd been in one of the labs with Sean over the course of last night. They'd performed an autopsy on a 'plague' victim, one who had not survived it. And it had been sickening. The damage caused to both the body and the magical core was tremendous. But... needs must.

So the two of them had ploughed on through the night, working on several more deceased victims to try and find out how to protect the living by examining the dead. All of them had volunteered for their remains to be used for science and healing so he didn't feel as bad about that aspect. What really made him upset was the fact that with every corpse, he was seeing the end results of the disease that had already taken hold in his little girl.

That's why he was in the waiting room right now actually. Sean had forbidden him from entering until he felt that the German was mentally strong enough to cope with seeing every dead victim of the plague turning into his daughter before his eyes. So here he was, staring into space as he attempted to swallow coffee.

Senium wandered out of one of the higher offices for magical diseases, she had been sent there because her disease was so far gone that normal healers didn't know how to treat her, and she needed one of the higher healers to look at her and repair her tissue, which seemed to be degenerating even faster now because of the cold and of the worsening of her condition.

Smiling happily to the nice lady who had spent over two hours pumping her full of magic, Senium waved to her and walked slowly out of the office, making sure not to strain herself too much like the woman had told her to avoid, it would only make her worse.

Then she saw someone she hadn't seen for a long time, she didn;t know why Professor Romain had stopped talking to her, maybe she had done something wrong? Maybe he knew he couldn't help her any more and didn't want to talk to her? She didn't know, but it upset her whenever she thought about it long enough. Now was becoming one of those times.

Giving him a small wave she wandered over to him.

"Hi there Professor Romain." she greeted not using their old affectionate nickname, it had been too long between them for her to still use it "What are you doing here?"

Richard was too far out of it to really noticed when Senium waved at him, the motions of the people around him were starting to blur as he unfocused. It was when she spoke that he actually blinked. Taking a few moments to reorientate himself, he blinked a few more times before looking up at Senium. It was still a dull ache in his heart that he'd failed this young girl,

"Hello Senium..." he replied quietly, his voice scratchy and weak from over-use the night before, "I'm... I've been trying to work on a counter to the disease and er... well..."

He trailed off and looked away. Richard tried to say it but he just couldn't bring himself to do it. Swallowing, he looked up at her,

"Why are you here Senium?" he asked her quietly, "Has it... progressed?"

Senium blinked a little bit and she felt as if she was being punched in the heart, so it was true, he hadn't been working on finding a cure for her disease had he? Did that mean there was no hope? Or did it mean that he simply didn't care about her any more and he had someone more important to focus on.

"You forgot...didn't you?" she asked quietly, her head dropping down slightly as he hair obscured her face she had hoped she would have made a bigger impact on Richard, the man she had once thought of as a father but apparently not.

"I asked you why you were here Professor?" she asked quietly, keeping her head tilted down as she tried to stop her lip from wobbling with the sadness that she was being wracked with, the warming sensation from just being healed was leaving rather rapidly and she almost wanted to ask the healer for more.

"Yes...it has. I move next week, if I'm strong enough." she stated.

When she asked if he had forgotten he looked up at her for a moment, his eyes a little bit hard. Of course he hadn't forgotten. The very idea that he'd forgotten was vaguely annoying. What was more annoying was that she seemed to have forgotten that he offered her a way out,

"Of course I haven't forgotten Senium." he told her simply, looking away slightly with a small sigh, "I offered to make you a new body if you remember. Free from the disease, so there'd be no need to cure it. But no, I haven't forgotten at all. I'm still working on it."

He sighed a little bit. Richard had almost forgotten just how insistant Senium could be,

"I'm here trying to cure the plague." he told her sadly, "Because... because my daughter is dying two rooms over and there's nothing anyone else can do and only one other man really trying to help."

When she confirmed that the disease had spread even more, he winced slightly. The cure had been put to one side when Raven and others got sick with the plague. It wasn't right but it was what had unfortunately happened,

"Can I interest you in that new body now?" he asked her quietly, "Or do you still wish to work on a puppet body?"

Senium tilted her head to one side, so he hadn't forgotten then, he was ignoring her with full intent to what he was doing? Somehow that only seemed to make it worse in her eyes, she didnt want to think about her being replaced in Professor Romain's eyes, but then again, what was she to him any more?

Just another student, she supposed.

"Why haven't you talked to me? If you haven't forgotten, why haven't you come to see me, Ive only seen you in classes and...well...I always thought you were busy, too busy to see me." Senium asked quietly, her lip wobbling again under her blonde hair.

Blinking again Senium bit her lip, so, that was why he was here, she had heard but didn't want to assume that the rumours were correct, it would be rude if nothing else.

"Oh I see..." she whispered, thinking about how once she was like his daughter, and here she was dying, but, she assumed that she wasn't as important, because she probably was right "I am so sorry to hear that Professor Romain, I wont ask you any more about it."

Shaking her head Senium smiled lightly;

"It's too late Professor, if it's not finished, and you're already so busy, it wont be done in time."

Richard sighed a little bit and rubbed at the bridge of his nose. Was he too busy to work with Senium? The answer was no. There was time he could have made for Senium. However he hadn't thought about it for a long time. As shameful as that was, he just hadn't thought about her, working with her. He'd thought about saving Briony from her darker self. He'd thought about how to continue to be a good father. A thousand worthy causes crowded his time but that was no excuse to have pushed Senium to one side,

"Because... well I guess I was waiting for you to come to me." he said with a small sigh, "I kept telling myself that if you needed me that you'd come see me about it... I'm not saying it's right by any stretch Senium. One of my bigger mistakes."

Richard nodded a little bit, grateful. If only everyone else could be so tactful. Everyone else wanted to know what he was thinking at every moment of every day after all. It sickened him how the media thought the damage to his family was the sweetest of dramas,

"Thank you Senium, I'd appreciate that. It's... a raw topic."

He looked at her sideways and, for a small moment, saw the younger Senium, when he had initially taken her on. Richard smiled faintly,

"That's right... you never did see that trick of mine did you?" he whispered, "It takes me five minutes to make a human body. Throw in another ten for sculpting it. About five hours to do the soul transfer array. Another three to use it. You could be in a new, healthy, body in less than nine hours."

Senium sighed a little bit and she raised her head to look at Richard, tears were streaming down her face and she couldn't care enough to wipe them away, she was hurt by that excuse but knew that he wasn't lying, and that was the reason in all honesty she had been expecting, he was too busy for her, was what he was really saying.

"I see, silly me, I guess that makes it my fault then doesn't it?" she laughed sadly, as if she didn't even notice that the tears were there, she just didn't care any more, she only had Humphrey to care for her now, she was so alone...and she was so because of her own mistakes?

Biting her lip Senium realised she was going to have to be honest with Professor Romain if he was to understand why she didn't want his help, she sighed lightly and swallowed the lump in her throat she wanted to be able to speak to the professor clearly, and not make him feel worse than he already did.

"I don't want you to help me Professor." she stated clearly "I don't want to inconvenience you, and my Grandpapa has put so much work into the puppet I don't want to upset him."

Wiping her tears away she looked towards the door to the waiting room and sniffled lightly;

"I guess, I should leave you to...whatever it is youre doing then Professor."

Richard sighed, now both in sadness at his failure and exasperation. When did he ever say that this was in anyway her fault? He owned the mistake and he freely admitted that and he didn't want her feeling that it was her fault when it was quite obvious that it was entirely his fault,

"It isn't your fault and it never has been Senium." he told her firmly, hoping that it would get through to her, "It was my mistake and my fault alone. I made up excuses and put other things ahead of you when I shouldn't have. It is in no way your fault."

When she told him that she didn't want his help he blinked a few times. She didn't want the chance to live in a completely cured body? And what was this crap about being an inconvenience? He frowned slightly,

"What inconvenience Senium? It'll take less than nine hours and I can have you the picture of health. Or give me an hour and I can refresh your body parts to slow the condition." he urged her before frowning lightly, "I understand that but... surely your grandfather would rather have you human than puppet? Surely he'd understand?"

Richard shook his head,

"No don't leave Senium... I don't want you to leave..." he told her in a whisper, "If you want to be around me any longer that is. Wouldn't blame you if you hated me."

Senium took in what Richard was saying but she seemed to be disconnected from everything, she didn't think that she really mattered to Richard, if she did, he would have made time for her, he wouldn't have forgotten her, but he had done, although he wouldn't say it that was what it was. He had forgotten her over other more important and pressing things.

"I see." she whispered softly "I guess, now that Raven's here and Briony needed help...I'm not as important as your real family, I understand why you didn't spend time with me that much...but a few letters or a meeting once in a while..." Senium continued, her voice crackling lightly.

Shaking her head she squeezed her eyes tightly together;

"What inconvenience? Professor I'm just another student to you now surely? You can't say that we're still what we were, or even still friends after all this time, you have your real family to take care of..."

When he mentioned her Grandfather, Senium smiled softly, and she thought about what he had sacrificed for her, what he was promising her and the consquences it would have for him, given his present condition it was a big ask. She appreciated it immensely.

"My grandfather doesn't like you Professor, and he certainly doesn't trust you, he doesn't want you to work on me, he would rather do it himself." she explained.

A small sad smile appeared on her lops and she shook her head; "I never hated you Professor, I wished I could, I just kept waiting for you to say something to me...but...you never did."

Richard sighed a little bit. Was she determined to make him into even more of an asshole than he already had been to her? She was doing a bloody good job of it at the moment. She was basically asking him if she came before his wife and his child. It wasn't a competition as far as he was concerned but if he was forced to choose, then yes. Yes he cared more about the love of his life and his precious daughter than his star pupil and friend. Was it so wrong of him to love his family with his whole being when he still loved Senium as only a friend could? He looked squarely at her,

"Let me answer your question with another question." he told her quietly, "At the height of our friendship... did you care more about me or your granfather? You're making it sound like some kind of competition Senium..."

He closed his eyes tiredly. Richard sighed a little bit,

"I can't say that we are what we were to each other. Maybe we're not even friends anymore." he admitted before opening his eyes and looking at her, "But I still care for you Senium, this would be an honour for me to help you. Even if I didn't care for you anymore... it's less than half a day Senium. It'll never be an inconvenience to help you."

He snorted a little bit,

"Yes I got that from when I visited that time." he admitted in a weak attempt at humour before looking at her, "But at the end of the day it's about whether or not you trust me."

Richard sighed a little bit and looked away,

"I made a grave mistake in ignoring you like I did Senium." he said sorrowfully, "I made the mistake of just assuming that we could start up again and still be where we'd left off. Let it never be said that I'm not a fool."

Senium's eyes widened and she felt them swim with tears again, why did he have to be so mean to her? She hadn't made it sound like a competition at all, she was saying that she honestly understood that she came beneath his real family, she understood that they came first, but he had made no time for her whatsoever!

"I'm telling you I genuinely understand Professor." she stated calmly "I understand that I come underneath your family. But when you were my father. You were as precious to me as my grandfather. But it seems I'm the only person in this equation who felt like that."

Gritting her teeth, Senium felt herself having another wave of sadness, how could he say that they were merely friends? He had said...he had said she was part of his family, a daughter...a sister, now he obviously hadn't meant what he had said to her. Blinking more tears down her cheeks, Senium shook her head and a few fell to the tile floor.

"I don't want your help Professor." she stated "I don't want help from someone who can hurt me like this! How could you even say something like that, don't you know how much I care about you? I placed my love in you Professor!"

With that Senium wiped frantically at her eyes and she shook her head again, she couldn't believe this, she really didn't want to be around the professor any more. Squeezing her eyes tight shut again Senium took in a deep breath.

"For what it's worth professor, I hope you find the cure for this virus." she stated in a rather deadpan tone before she looked towards the door again "Like I said, I'm moving next week, if you don't see me in school, you'll know it failed."

Richard saw what his words had done to Senium and he sagged a little bit. He honestly didn't want to hurt this little girl and he honestly did still care for her. He just didn't see why she still cared at all about him. She was like a sister to her, someone to protect and care for and he had failed her. Was it too much of a stretch to assume she would hate him for failing her like that? He didn't think so. What kind of father had he been?

For the first time he saw the pain he had caused her was caused by the fact that she still, somehow, cared for him like he cared for her. But had been too blind to see. Tears started to fall from his eyes as he stood up in front of her,

"Oh Senium..." he whispered helplessly, "What have I done to you? What have I become to hurt you so badly?"

Casting a pain-relieving spell almost on instinct, something he'd learnt off by heart from when they had seen more of each other, he moved closer,

"What kind of a brother have I been to you? I've certainly not been a father to you..." he whispered, crying freely now before hugging her lightly, "Oh Senium I'm so sorry... I'm so sorry tochter... Your vater has been terrible to you... please forgive your vater, tochter!"

He cried more openly as he held her, the spell keeping him from hurting her,

"I placed my love in you also tochter but I was so eternally stupid as to let you go..." he whispered, "Vergib mir meine Tochter... forgive me..."

Senium sobbed freely into Richard's chest she had been so alone with only Humphrey and her dying Grandpapa to be there with her, and she didn't want to burden either of them, they all had their own problems and so did Richard so she had kept to herself and hoped that one day she would be able to finally be with them all again...without all of these complications.

"I...I was so alone Papa I didn't know what to do...I felt so replaced, like you didn't care about me now you had a real daughter to look after." Senium explained letting tears plip onto Richard.

Curling her fingers in Richard's shirt Senium buried her head in his chest, she knew that she had made him feel horrible and she truly hadn't wanted to, she had wanted to make him feel the best that she could make him feel...but she knew that this had to get out of the way first.

"Please don't cry vater...I don't want you to cry." she whispered "I didn't mean to tell you all of this, I didn't want to upset you more than you already were..."

Slowing down in her sobs, Senium wiped at her eyes and she tried to calm herself down; "I'm so sorry..."

With Senium sobbing freely into his chest and his own tears streaking down his face, Richard ran his fingers through her hair gently to try and calm her down a little bit. How could he have been so stupid as to ignore the love he had shared with Senium? She was his daughter, he had accepted her into his heart unconditionally,

"You're never alone Senium... never again! Your vater is here for you tochter... and he won't ever let you go again!" he assured her as they both cried, "You are as real a daughter to me as Raven is. You're meine tochter Seni..."

They had both wronged and hurt each other, not even a few moments ago with the most recent barbs. But right now that didn't matter. Right now all he wanted to do was open his heart to her love again and to love his little tochter as she deserved to be loved all along,

"I'm sorry tochter, vater is a bit of a sap sometimes..." he whispered with a small smile, "No you needed to tell me these things... it's shown your vater the error of his ways tochter... You've made me even prouder of you."

He kissed her lightly on the forehead, "I'm sorry too meine tochter... from now on I'll treat you right. Like a vater should."

Senium calmed down a little bit when she felt Richard running his fingers through her hair, she wanted to be able to finally spend some time with him although she knew that he was going to have to leave her again soon in order to go and help Raven, however, she selfishly didn't want him to, she wanted him to stay with her.

"Do...do you promise me papa?" she asked softly "Do you promise me that you wont leave me again...? I don't know what I would do if you did...I love you so much Vater!"

Reaching up, she rubbed her thumb along Richard's skin, rubbing off the tears and she felt her bandages getting wetter underneath the vanity charm that she always wore. Wondering what Richard would do, if he saw her now, Senium thought it best not to mention it. Not now, when they were being so happy.

"You're still p-proud of me?" she asked, bewildered before smiling lightly, she hadn't done much to be proud of, she was failing all of her classes because her magic was being used to make her puppet..."But I'm not doing well in school any more...n-not even in Transfiguration."

When Richard kissed her on the forehead, Senium smiled softly and stood on tiptoes to kiss his forehead too, except as she reached up, something snapped and she felt her eyes widen for a moment in pain, before she sunk back down after she had kissed him.

"T-that...that makes me so happy Vater...thank you." she cried happily.

Richard could tell that she was enjoying his attention to her hair as she always had done. It was nice to know that he still knew how to help calm her down even after all this time that had ellapsed between the two of them. He nodded,

"Yes I promise you little one." he told her honestly with a small smile, "I love you too Senium and I won't ever leave you again. I'll make sure of it don't you worry."

Richard could feel the bandages stroking his cheeks, not the smooth skin that he remembered her being blessed with before. It saddened him, knowing that she was decaying worse than ever. But it was a discussion for later,

"Of course I'm still proud of you!" he told her without a hint of hesitation. He smiled a little bit wider, "It's the fact that you still put an extraordinary level of practice and willpower despite your handicap Senium. And even with the handicap you're still in the top five of the top pupils in your years. Easily."

When she moved up to kiss him on the forehead he heard the unmistakable sound of something meaty snapping. His eyes widdened when she tried not to let out any noise of pain. Wrapping his arms around her, to support her, he looked into her eyes, concerned,

"What happened my daughter?" he asked her urgently, "I heard a snap... are you alright?"

Senium smiled softly when Richard told her that he would never leave her again she didn't want him to, she wanted him to stay with her and make sure that she was alright, so that she would never try to have to learn healing spells in the middle of the night when something went wrong with her...so that she'd never have to suffer alone again.

When he held her up for support she was glad he was doing so, Senium whimpered a little and she felt her left left give when she put pressure on it, making her knee's buckle lightly. Oh great, one of her muscles had decided to snap.

"I...I'm okay." she whispered "I just...just need to sit down papa." Senium smiled shakily, and she paled, it hurt like hell but she was trying not to show it, she felt sick she was in so much pain and felt like she was going to vomit any moment.

Clinging onto Richard's neck Senium smiled lightly trying to reassure him, this had happened before, more and more recently but never this soon after treatment, she knew now, that things really were coming to an end for her, and she needed to move sooner rather than later.

"I..I just need one of my muscles re-healing, it...it's no big deal." she laughed softly, trying not to dwell on the pain and nausea too much.