"I go walking seaside, hear the music of the ocean
Swimming through the wreckage of my mind in the deepest of emotions"

From Fool by Børns.

"I'm bloody bored," Rodolphus said, his legs thrown up over the edge of the couch in the common room.

"Go make out with your future wife, that ought to distract you," Rabastan responded, chuckling to himself.

"Fuck you."

"No honestly, I'm sure she'd love a surprise visit. You can charm your way under her skirt."

"Again, fuck you."

"Shouldn't you be studying for your N.E. ?"

"You go from Bellatrix to studying? Do you have a death wish for me?"

"You can't die from boredom."

"I'm getting damn close," Rodolphus said, shooting sparks up into the air with his wand and watching them explode, like fireworks. The common room was nearly empty, save for a few first years off to the side scribbling on parchment frantically. Eleanor was in the library (though Rabastan would never admit he was beginning to memorize her schedule), and Augustus was serving a rather deserved detention after being caught with a Ravenclaw in the broom cupboard.

"Well, if you have any ideas, I'm game," Rabastan finally said, growing weary of watching the rain fall outside. He half considered finding Eleanor and dragging her into an empty classroom for some extra "tutoring," but they'd made an agreement to keep whatever-this-was (a half-relationship, as he thought of it) a secret. It was safer this way and also granted them far more privacy than if they announced to the world they were snogging and groping every Wednesday evening in Bastian's classroom. Alecto was peeved at him, he knew that much, but he'd let her down gently with the 'it's me, not you' line that he'd learned from Augustus. Unfortunately, Alecto was currently in the library with Eleanor, so even if he'd wanted to snag his sort-of-girlfriend from the stacks, it'd be public knowledge by morning. Leaving only his brother for company.

"I do, c'mon," Rodolphus said suddenly, snapping to an upright position.

"What is it?" Rabastan asked warily, watching as his brother stood and straightened his school uniform. Rodolphus didn't answer, he simply glared and walked toward the common room exit. It didn't take him long to follow.

"I knew you were bored," Rodolphus said in a whisper, glancing back at him as they walked down the empty corridor. It was nearly curfew, which meant a few students here or there were trudging back to their dormitories, red-eyed and half-blind after reading tiny font by candlelight. The Lestrange brothers greeted a few individuals, but ignored most, and after a few hallways, they turned away from the main staircase.

"Where the hell are you leading us?" Rabastan asked.

"You'll see."

"I don't want to see, I want to know."

"What, thinking about skipping out on me to see your girlfriend, are you?"

"Excuse me?"

Rodolphus paused at that, spinning around to look at his brother straight-on. "Don't think I didn't notice the minute you dumped Alecto for Eleanor Fairfax. I'm not an idiot and you two are the worst at keeping a secret. It's a bloody miracle that the rest of the school doesn't know of your little love-affair. What are you playing at Rabastan?"

"I'm not playing at anything."

"Then stop fucking around with her."

"You know what, fuck you Rodolphus."

"Oh what, you like her? Is that it? Do you pine for her? Does your heart flutter when you see her, do you think about her smile every night as you fall asleep, do you imagine what it'd be like to marry her?" Despite the placid expression on Rodolphus' face, his voice was escalating with each word and each one was steeped in sarcasm. "Get that nonsense out of your head right now, brother. Snog her if you want to, shag her if you must, but you're a bloody Lestrange. It's about time you start acting like you understand your position in the world and the responsibilities that come along with it."

At some point or another over the course of the last sixteen-years, Rabastan had heard this lecture before, just never from Rodolphus. Since childhood, he'd looked up to his brother with an almost unconditional admiration. Watching him now, shadowed by the lamplight, somehow taller than he had been before Christmas, with a narrowed glint in his eye, he looked precisely like their father. It wasn't the first time he'd thought it, this was just the first time Rodolphus had acted like it. Rabastan wanted to defend himself, defend Eleanor, yet when he opened his mouth, barely a squeak came out. He felt betrayed, above all else. This wasn't his brother, it was some distorted shadow of him.

Betrayal soon turned to something more bitter tasting. Rabastan clenched his fists, trying to ignore the acid burning his stomach and the pulses of adrenaline that shook his arms. What drove the last sane thought from his mind, though, was the fact that none of his anger was about Eleanor. Rodolphus was right, they weren't meant to be together, he'd thought the very same thing himself. She was beneath him.

With that awful reminder. Rabastan rushed toward Rodolphus, slamming his right fist into his brother's face, which sent him stumbling backward into the stone wall. He continued forward, punching him once more, this time sending his brother to the floor with a thud. Rodolphus didn't stay down for long, kneeling upward and standing within a blink of an eye. He lunged himself at Rabastan, throwing his arms around his waist until they were both on the cobble stone floor. Rodolphus had the upper angle and threw a rough punch straight into Rabastan's nose, which crunched painfully. The second punch was into Rabastan's cheek, followed quickly by a third and fourth.

"Fuck you," Rabastan half-shouted, blood dripping down from his nose. Lifting his arm, he attempted to shove a knee into his brother's stomach to gain leverage, but Rodolphus was too heavy and he was unable to flip them over. He did manage, however, to slam a left-hook into his brother's jaw, which sent arching backward.

"There you go, brother, there you go," Rodolphus said, laughing hysterically as he wiped away the blood from his mouth. Rabastan was ready to wipe the smile away from his brother's face when Rodolphus' head snapped to the left, his eyes narrowing almost ferally. Before Rabastan could spit out the blood pooling in his mouth, Rodolphus' wand was out and he'd cast a spell around the nearest corner. There was a thud followed closely by a dragging sound, as Rodolphus used a spell to half-levitate a body toward them.

When the dragging stopped, Rodolphus stood up and looked down at the body, his grin terrifying, particularly since his teeth were covered in blood. "Look what we have here," he said, his food nudging the person's face. Rabastan sat upward, ignoring the spinning sensation, to see who it was.

"Who the hell is that?" Rabastan asked, looking at his brother with confusion. It was a young man, perhaps a second-year, but no older. His hair was a putrid red-color, though not nearly vibrant enough to be a bothersome Weasley. Combined with the Hufflepuff colors on his tie, he was a rather unfortunate looking boy and Rabastan only felt pity for him, especially as he realized he was still half-conscious.

"No bloody clue. But this evening is far more exciting than it was thirty minutes ago."

"What are you -"

His brother didn't even hesitate before sending another spell at the young boy. Rodolphus' face was so impassive, though, Rabastan thought he was simply trying to levitate the body again, until he heard a muffled "Crucio" and the boy began to scream.

It was a shrill, high-pitched scream that quickly echoed down the hall. Rabastan didn't have a second to consider options before sending out a silencing charm, which wrapped around them like a blanket. Rodolphus didn't stop for over a minute, the screams intensifying with each second, the boy writhing at their feet. Rabastan simply watched, entranced by the way his limbs seemed disconnected from his body. Eventually Rodolphus ended his cruciatus curse, though he seemed disappointed when the sound of the boy's shrieks died and he rolled into the fetal position.

Despite the risk that a professor could be headed their direction, both of them simply stood there, side by side, watching the boy twitch with residual shudders of pain. Rabastan was particularly keen on watching the boy's face, which still held the shadows of his screams.

"Your turn," Rodolphus said, his whispered voice grating after the screams.

Rabastan didn't respond, he did however remove his wand from his pocket. Twirling it in his hand, he ran his fingers up and down the wood, studying the familiar bumps along the edge. Blood was still dripping down his face, though the source was unclear. He didn't feel any of the pain, even as his face swelled from the punches. All he could concentrate on were the tears rolling down the young boy's face, soaking into the collar of his shirt.

"Brother -"

Rabastan didn't immediately react to Rodolphus' prodding. This wasn't something that could be rushed, it was a curse that needed to mean something. Straightening his back, he tightened his grip on his wand, ignoring his sweaty palms. He began to catalog in his mind every incident, every degrading comment his father made, every time he felt less than worthy to be Lestrange, every moment he hated Eleanor for being beneath him, every moment he loved her for the same thing, every word his brother said just a few minutes ago. Licking his lips, he tasted blood and it was with that last thought he said, "Crucio."

He didn't even hear the screams this time, too concentrated on the thin, invisible line between his wand and the boy's chest. Any concern he had of not being able to cast the curse, of failing his legacy as a Lestrange, was cast out in a wave of relief. Unfortunately for this young Hufflepuff, the relief went straight back into his curse. It continued for what felt like hours, until he felt a hand on his arm.

"Stop - Stop," Rodolphus said while grabbing Rabastan's arm and forcing his wand up, ending the curse. The boy was whimpering now. He'd sweated through his uniform and there were scratches along his cheeks from where his face rubbed against the stone floor. Down the hallway, Rabastan could hear hurried footsteps, clearly racing to the assistance of the injured student. Rodolphus didn't bother to say anything, he simply grabbed Rabastan by the arm and dragged him down the corridor, toward the common room. For a fleeting moment, the footsteps seemed to follow them, but it seemed the young-boy's saviors were more concerned with assisting him to the hospital wing than chasing down the culprits.

"What if he saw us?" Rabastan breathed, heart thudding as they skidded to a halt in front of the entrance.

"He didn't. I'm not an idiot," Rodolphus said, looking at him with an intensity he wasn't accustomed to. "I graduate in one month, Rabastan. And then the legacy is up to you, the responsibilities up to you, the recruiting is up to you. It's time for you to live up to the Lestrange name, do you understand?"

Rabastan only stared at him, eyes narrowed, as the portrait swung open to reveal the common room. He wanted to deny his brother the satisfaction of hearing his answer; he wanted to deny any responsibility for upholding the family name. But this was his brother, his truest friend. "Yes, I understand," he said, voice barely audible. He turned immediately and walked into the common room, heading straight for the stairs to his dormitory. With his mind distracted, he didn't notice Eleanor sitting on the couch, not until she cleared her throat. He paused at the sound, turning to look at her. It didn't take him long to remember his bruised face, the dried blood, his almost crazed expression. He didn't say anything to her, he simply turned and continued up the stairs, completely uncaring.