A/N: The Carrows return home from their first mission. Carrow sibling fic. I do not own Harry Potter.

Submission for:

Connect the Death Eaters Challenge: Alecto/Amycus

Greek Mythology Mega Prompt Challenge: Arachne - write about the Carrow twins

The Game of Life Challenge: The Carrows, (genre) hurt/comfort, 1000 words

He had searched their home from top to bottom, his steps getting more frantic with every second. The structure wasn't that big, a simple two-story home in the forest, and it was just the two of them now that their parents had passed about a year ago. It shouldn't have been so hard to find her. But as it was, as soon as they had returned for the evening, Alecto had sprinted from the fireplace and was nowhere to be found.

She had said she was ready for tonight, she had been waiting for it for months but now it was obvious it had more of an effect on her than she anticipated it would. He could understand her distress however. He clutched one hand over his mouth as he stepped onto the second floor landing, another wave of nausea washing over him from just the thought. The Muggles screams as they contorted at Bellatrix's mercy bounced around in his head and he knew they wouldn't leave for now. His eyes caught on the dark smudge on his forearm, the deep black holes of the skull's eyes staring back at him. He would have to get a thicker stomach if he hoped to survive this.

He tried the door to his immediate right. He had ignored it in his first search thinking she would have no reason to go inside but now he was getting desperate.

The hinges cried out from disuse as he let the light from the hallway trace a line through the layer of dust on the floor. The curtains were drawn, blocking what little light could be gotten from the night beyond. All the furniture was covered in large sheets of fabric, they too greyed with age and dust, except for one. A large armoire had been revealed standing against the furthest wall harbouring frilly dresses and shoes if he recalled well. Its sheet had been pulled to the floor, the stuffed animals from years past disrupted from their place overhead and a few fallen onto their faces.

This had been Alecto's room when they were younger, before she decided she needed more space to grow up, less pink in her life and had taken to wearing darker, slimmer clothing. Currently, he found the woman sitting on the pink sheets of her bed, her legs folded beneath her as she clutched a doll he had forgotten she carried everywhere as a child. Out of all her possessions, this had always been her favourite.

There was a sudden choking sound, a gasp as her red eyes finally focused on him in the doorway. Her eyebrows knitted together and her mouth fell as she said, "Leave me alone. I don't want to hear anything from you. You're going to tell me it was stupid to want this, I was living in a fantasy world and I should have known what I was getting into."

She made another sniffle as another waves of tears escaped the edges of her eyelids and that prompted Amycus' legs into motion. He stepped into the room, holding his hand out towards her. Those things may have been true, that may have been what he had wanted to say about an hour ago when they had first stepped into that Muggle town, but right now he just wanted to make her tears stop falling.

When he was within reach, she suddenly turned, falling back onto her pillow with her back to him, the dust on its surface sticking to the trails on her cheeks. She clutched the doll even tighter, trying to draw some comfort out of the inanimate object, trying to drive the fear away.

He took a seat on the bed and placed a hand on her arm. He thought she would shrug him off, tell him to leave again, but let his hand stay there. He waited for awhile, the only sound meeting his ears was her shuddering sobs, but soon she began to say, "I wanted this. I just didn't expect that. I didn't expect the heat of the flames being that hot. I didn't expect the sounds of their screams being that loud. I didn't expect the smell of the blood being that strong. I didn't expect that ..."

Amycus nodded along with her as she voiced the thoughts that ran across her mind, moving his hand up to brush across her hair. Their mum had always done that when Alecto was a girl and it usually helped her calm down.

Eventually, her sobbing at quieted and she was just talking now. "I want to do this. I want to make the world a better place. I want to do more than the others that simply talk about what's wrong with the world but do nothing. But if I can't even stomach that without running away, how can I do it?"

"This was your first time, Alecto, as was mine. I didn't expect those things tonight either. It'll definitely take some time getting used to but I know you can do it, Alecto. You've always been ambitious, always speaking your mind and doing exactly what you say you will. You won't let this stop you. And no matter what, I'll be right there next to you every step of the way, as always," he said.

And this was true. All throughout their lives, they had been close. Even though they were different genders, with different likes, dislikes and goals, they were always there for the other.

She turned slightly in the bed, twisting her body so she could meet his eyes in the dim light. She drew her hand up to brush away the wetness from her eyes and gave him a small smile. "Thank you, brother."

"Anytime," he said, bending across and placing a quick kiss on her forehead. "Now, I think I'll go downstairs and brew up a pot of tea. Will you join me?"

Alecto nodded and allowed him to pulled her onto her feet. "Yes, that would be lovely," she said, following him out of the room with her stuffed animal still held in her arm.