Disclaimer: I do not own these spells, places, or characters except for Astrid Marvell! Everything else belongs to J.K. Rowling!

A/N: QL Round #1! Enjoy! Please R&R

Word Count: 1,342

FALMOUTH FALCONS: CHASER 2

Prompt-

Write about your chosen Death Eater being at work

Optional Prompts-

8- (quote) "People in their right minds never take pride in their talents." -Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird

15- (dialogue) "I should warn you..."

Augustus Rookwood nodded to the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, as he accepted his Unspeakable ranking. He was to work in the Death A Chamber- on his request-and study about death. His lips curled into a smirk as his glare raked through the ranks of Unspeakables; several looked away in fear or didn't even look at him at all. They were weak and unworthy of their status; only the strongest should be allowed to be Unspeakables!

"Welcome to the ranks, Augustus Rookwood." Minister Fudge nodded to him subtly. "And may you help expand our knowledge of death while being safe doing so."

"Thank you, Minister Fudge," Rookwood answered. He carefully disguised the pride and contempt in his voice before he stepped off the stage and into the ranks of his fellow, mysterious Unspeakables. There was little to discuss once Fudge dismissed them, and the Ministry workers began to mingle with each other.

"Welcome, Rookwood," a woman next to him said as she brushed a lock of long, chocolate-brown hair out of her face before continuing with a polite smile. "You're working at the Death Chamber, aren't you? We need new blood, and you seem like a fit."

"Let me guess, Astrid Marvell, right?" Rookwood met her silvery stare with his cold, brown eyes. "The leader of the Death Chamber Unspeakables?"

"You got that right." Astrid tilted her head slightly, looking at him up and down before she said, "I will be overseeing your progress in the chambers. See you soon, Rookwood, and take care."

With that, she turned and disappeared into the crowd of the Ministry workers and Unspeakables. As she left, Rookwood smiled inwardly and muttered, "I will, Marvell, I am the best out there. That is a fact."

The next day, Rookwood walked through the stone-lined tunnels of the Department of Mysteries. He came to the Death Chamber door and yanked it open. It led to a cavernous room. Rookwood blinked as he let his eyes adjust to the darkness and glanced around, taking it all in. Stone benches lined the walls like Wizengamots, large boulders jutted from the ground near an arch, and pillars of black stone surrounded the boulders. Today was his one-on-one with Astrid, simple training before he was to join everyone else.

"Rookwood, welcome to the Death Chamber," Astrid called to him when he walked in. Her irises were a silvery blue-reflecting the cyan light like a cat's eyes-in the semi-darkness as she stood up by the glowing, veiled archway. "Come on, you should see what you're working with-especially the portal."

"Portal?" Rookwood asked with a slight sneer as he stood at the entrance. "The archway is a portal?"

"Yes, the portal connects the world of the dead to the world of the living," Astrid answered, unfazed by the harsh tone of his voice. "And I should warn you that to touch it would mean instant death."

Rookwood raised an eyebrow at her words and walked closer to the portal; he could hear a low hum as he moved to Astrid's side and looked at her. "What is that?"

"The voices of your deceased. They are supposedly calling to you to join them in death. My advice is to ignore them; we have lost several to it by touching the portal and dying or going insane with grief from hearing their loved ones," Astrid replied in a whisper. Her eyes closed for a brief second before she tilted her head to the side and looked back at him.

"And is it suppose to draw me into death? If so, that is pitiful, only fools would fall for that," Rookwood said as he sneered down at her.

Astrid sniffed and moved her eyes to the undulating surface of the portal. "Like I said, several inexperienced Unspeakables have heard the cries and went mad with anger and longing; very few are safe from the portal. Including you, Rookwood."

"Me?" Rookwood growled. "I am not inexperienced! I have better skills than almost anyone here!"

"People in their right minds never take pride in their talents," Astrid said softly. "Don't be an arrogant fool, Rookwood. Here, it will mean your death."

"How ironic," Rookwood retorted, his voice cold. "And here I thought you all are supposed to be immune to such things."

Astrid shook her head and sighed; she pressed her hands to the stone sides of the archway before saying, "Anyone can be affected, including you, Rookwood; no one is superior."

Rookwood gave a low growl before asking. "So, what are we going to do?"

"Activate some runestones," Astrid answered. Her eyes sparkled as she twirled her willow wood wand in her fingers. "And try not to die while doing so."

~o~

Rookwood hissed the incantation under his breath and pointed his wand at one of the many runestones; there was a crack before the dull white stone started glowing a deep scarlet. He stepped back and looked over to Astrid, who was sitting cross-legged on a boulder with her runestones, quickly enchanting them with precise flicks of her wand.

"Easy," Rookwood said under his breath. "I'm done, you?"

"Yep." Astrid nodded, casting a spell on the last runestone, and slid off the boulder. "Look, I know it is easy to activate runestones for someone like you, but just bear with it."

"Can't we do something harder?" Rookwood grumbled. "Like actually opening up a non-killing portal or stabilizing it?"

"No," Astrid said firmly. "We have to do runestones. These are our first steps to stabilizing the portal so we don't die when we touch it, no matter how small. Hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard."

"You are full of words of wisdom, aren't you?" Rookwood smirked slightly while casting a spell on another runestone.

Astrid only smiled as she hopped up onto her boulder again and sat down, her legs hanging over the side. "I am full of many things, Rookwood."

They had enchanted several more runestones when Astrid looked up and unexpectedly blurted, "Rookwood, why are you so arrogant? I know the question is a bit out of the blue, but I know you can't be like this all the time."

"What?" Rookwood looked up, surprised by the sudden question. His eyes met hers, and he said, "What do you mean?"

"You act so superior and so full of yourself!" Astrid answered, dropping her gaze as she crossed her legs and ducked her head. "I feel there is something else you aren't showing."

"And?" Rookwood pressed, trying to find her eyes. "I act superior, and you think there is something I'm hiding, what else?"

"I just feel you could be a different person if you just drop the attitude! A better person, at least." Astrid fiddled with her fingers, a slow blush creeping up her cheeks, though it was hard to see in the dark room.

"Really?" Rookwood asked before he realised he was hanging onto her words, wanting to know what she thought. He knew he acted arrogantly. It was what he had grown up with; his parents acted like that so he followed them.

"Yes!" Astrid looked up, her eyes glimmering in the half-light. "You seem like a nice person beneath the attitude!"

There was a silence after that as the words sank in. Rookwood couldn't bring him to say something back; people had told him about his arrogance but never like how Astrid was telling him right now. He forced himself to lower his eyes to the runestones and ignore her eyes.

When he left for the night, Rookwood reviewed what Astrid had told him running it over and over in his mind. Did he really care what she said about him? He had never had second thoughts on his actions even when someone brought it up but Astrid's opinion was different.

She was not like anyone he had ever met, unfazed- for the most part-by his attitude and meeting it with a fire of her own. Her quick tongue matched his own, Rookwood seemed lost in a haze of thought as he whispered to himself. "Maybe I do like her, just maybe."

He stepped into the fireplace and in a flash of emerald flames disappeared unknowing that Astrid herself had heard his words. From the shadows, she smiled to herself, "You know you do, Rookwood. Just admit it."