Author's Notes: Written for Round One of the Hunger Games Competition on the HPFC forum, with the prompts "fantastic", "angst", "despair", "what are we going to do now?" and a word count of 625.

)O(

Rabastan didn't have words to express how it hurt him to see Bellatrix and Rodolphus together.

He had always known that, eventually, his brother was going to have to get married, and he had known for a long time that it would be to Bellatrix Black, but the knowledge didn't help him when he saw them sitting so close together, heard them discussing their upcoming wedding in quiet, loving tones, thought of how, before very long, the two of them would be sharing a bed and there was nothing that Rabastan could do to stop them.

On the night before their wedding, Rabastan broke down in tears in front of his brother.

"I can't stand it," he sobbed. "I can't let you marry her! I can't stand you leaving me!"

Rodolphus seemed openly horrified by the display of emotion from his brother. He caught Rabastan in his arms and pulled him close, letting him collapse against his chest.

"It's all right, Rab," he whispered, as soothingly as he could manage. "We're going to be all right. No one's going to stop us from seeing each other. I'm just going to be living with Bellatrix – that's the only thing that's going to change."

"Don't lie, Rod!" Rabastan told him shrilly. "Don't try to pretend that nothing's going to change – everything's going to change!" He lifted a hand to strike his brother across his face and Rodolphus caught it, digging his fingers into Rabastan's wrist.

"What are you going to do now? You think you're going to hit me?" Rodolphus hissed, gritting his teeth.

Fresh tears came to Rabastan's eyes. "Rod, you're hurting me–"

"You think that you're going to be able to change anything by having a fit at me, Rab?" Rodolphus's voice was full of derision, and that cut Rabastan to the core. He couldn't stand having his brother mock him. All he wanted was a little bit of comfort, a little bit of sympathy – maybe for Rodolphus to say that he understood and that he'd think of Rabastan whenever they were apart, that whatever love he felt for Bellatrix was nothing in comparison to what he felt for Rabastan.

But Rodolphus would never say any of those things.

"You really don't understand anything at all, do you?" Rodolphus demanded. He pressed Rabastan back against a wall, his nose inches from his, and he glared him directly in the eyes. "You think that everything is just fantastic for me and Bellatrix, don't you? You think I'm just so happy with her…"

"What am I supposed to think? You're always with her!"

"I have to be!" Rodolphus's voice cracked and he looked away from Rabastan, breathing heavily. "Do you think that I can just- just avoid her? What do you think Mother and Father would say about that? Do you think I have any choice in the whole matter?"

Rabastan didn't answer.

"I don't want to marry her," Rodolphus whispered at last. "If I could get out of it, I would – I would gladly break the engagement in a second! But I can't! And here you are, blaming me for this…" He dropped Rabastan's hand and buried his face in his hands, stepping back. "When I don't want anything to do with it."

Rabastan felt sick with guilt. His brother looked so hurt, so frustrated, and now it was Rabastan's turn to reach out and embrace him.

"You promise that we'll still be able to see each other… and do all- all the same things we always did?" he asked quietly.

Rodolphus nodded, clutching his brother tightly. "I promise."

Rabastan put his hand on Rodolphus's cheek and pressed his lips firmly against his.

"I just don't want to lose you, Rod," he whispered. "That's all."

)O(

Fin