Courting Life

Interlude: Musings

A/N: Really short little chapter - next one will be longer, I promise! It's a bit different however . . . hope you like it though. Next one should be up soon.

Enjoy!


"The woman that was running Fay's lesson today - her name has escaped me - what was it that she was saying about their next lesson? Something about testing?" Rabastan asked his brother with slight confusion, as they sat in Rodolphus' study in Lestrange Manor after apparating from the entrance hall of the castle directly after speaking to Fay - he was the only reason that they had gone after all.

Rodolphus paused for a moment before answering as he remembered. "She mentioned discovering a way to test for creature inheritances and ancestry I believe," he finally replied thoughtfully. "Also, that they would discuss it in more detail the next lesson. I cannot remember exactly whether she mentioned performing the testing during the next lesson however."

"I wonder how they came to wanting to discover whether they have creature blood," Rabastan said, his tone revealing his partially hidden curiosity. "Although, I have heard it rumored that many courtesans have some type of creature blood, almost always being some type of creature with great beauty, grace, and thrall - veela and vampires are common. Whether the rumors are true however, can of course be put up for debate, but if they are testing themselves to find whether they have creature blood or not, there must be some truth to it."

"It certainly wouldn't surprise me should we discover Fay to have some type of creature in his ancestry somewhere down the line. Perhaps Elvin blood; it would fit despite his ears not having the tell tale point . . . or do they? I did not get a good look - nor was I particularly paying attention to his ears - his hair is long however perhaps they were covered, purposely or no . . . ."

Rabastan nodded slowly. "I did not notice if they were pointed either," he admitted. "Although if he does not have Elvin blood, what other types of creatures would fit him? Faerie maybe; he does have that draw that faeries are said to have. Or possibly a pixie? If he were female I would suggest the possibility of his being partial nymph, however everyone knows that nymphs are strictly female beings . . . although if a nymph had mated with a wizard somewhere down the line it could be possible I suppose," he said, rambling slightly before trailing off into thought.

"Yes, I've heard that males can carry the traits for nymph heritage, yet never fully come into the inheritance while females, when everything is correct, can come into their inheritance as full-fledged nymphs and join their sisters, leaving the wizarding world behind," Rodolphus said. "I don't see that as likely to be honest. Fay has a certain something about him, something that makes him seem just so irresistible, that makes me ache for the day that we can make him ours at last - I want him to be ours' brother. It's got to be something, and with the pull that he's ensnared the two of us in, my bets are on either Elvin or Fae ancestry, he's too beautiful and captivating to be anything else," he added confidently as he sat back in his chair and taking a sip from one of the glasses that had been left by a servant on the table between the two when they had settled in the room.

"Well," Rabastan said, "we could do one of two things here. The first choice is, we can wait for Fay to be tested during his next lesson with Madame . . . Madame - Grey! That was her name! Or, we could have someone look into the Potter family's history - as well as his mother's just to be certain - to find for ourselves whether he has any type of creature ancestry or not and what it is, as well as when it came into the Potter line. What are your thoughts brother?"

"Honestly?" Rodolphus asked, receiving a nod in reply. "I would like to put someone onto looking into the Potter family and their history, as far back as it takes - be it with James, or his twenty-times great grandfather. There were a number of things that puzzled me to begin with about them, but now that I have reason I'd like to look into the family." He paused for a moment before cautiously continuing speaking a bit slower than he had been, "When Dumbledore was still alive, before things exploded as they inevitably did, do you remember anything about James or Lily Potter nee Evans?"

Rabastan shook his head negatively. "Not really," he replied. "I remember receiving orders, fighting, trying to keep calm and just stay alive; I can't say that I paid too much attention to anyone outside of our limited family," he admitted.

Rodolphus nodded, having expected that response. "I understand," he said. "However, I do remember. Early on, before the Potters and so many other members of the Order went off into hiding it was said that Lily Potter had some type of incurable disease brought on by years of meddling in things - mostly old and forbidden magics - that she should not have, a disease unknown to the best mediwitches, wizards, and healers of that time or even now. The disease, or curse I suppose it might have actually been, had supposedly left her barren - unable to carry children. This was a good few years before Fay would be born, before he was even thought of. So the question is, if the stories were true - and my sources were incredibly reliable even then - how could Fay possibly exist?" he asked, looking intently at his brother who stared at with completely out of character wide eyes and slightly agape mouth. "That," Rodolphus went on, "is what I would like to find the answer to."

For a while both brothers were silent, the only noise the slight whistling of wind outside the manor and the crackle and pop of the fire, before Rodolphus spoke again.

"I think," he said slowly, staring into the fire as the flames reflected in his eyes, giving them a very unreal appearance, "that Fay may not be the son of Lily and James Potter at all, it just doesn't fit."