Luck is Fickle

Many people would have called Rabastan Lestrange a lucky man. After all, he came from a rich, well-respected, Pureblood family, had been offered his choice of profession upon graduation, had found good favour with the rising Dark Lord and was one of the few Pureblood males currently eligible for marriage, giving him the pick of the females. Plus he was one of the only unmarried males in his society granted permission to live outside the family home upon graduation, despite his single status. Yes, many people considered Rabastan Lestrange to be a very lucky man indeed. All except Rabastan himself.

You see, while Rabastan had somehow escaped the clutches of his somewhat tyrannical Father and definitely overbearing Mother, he was not living on his own. No, Rabastan was required to live with his older brother Rodolphus, which by itself wasn't really a problem. The two brothers had always gotten along well. Or at least as well as two boys raised to hate can get along. No, the real problem was the other inhabitant of the London townhouse. Rodolphus' wife, Bellatrix.

Ever since they had been children, Rodolphus and Bellatrix had been paired together as future spouses, and had acted accordingly. And ever since they had been children, Bellatrix had hated Rabastan, and had acted accordingly. He didn't really know where here hatred had stemmed from, he hadn't done anything to her that he could remember, but regardless of whether it was deserved or not she dished it out liberally. As a child he had been subject to nasty pranks and vicious lies, however that had been nothing compared to what he endured after she had obtained a wand, multiple years before he himself had obtained one, leaving him defenseless.

It was he who had been the first victim of her Cruciatus curse, as well as her Imperius. He was sure that if she hadn't enjoyed torturing him so much he would have been her first Avada Kedavra victim as well. And all before either of them had graduated. But he hadn't complained, oh no, no one knew what she did to him. Because who would believe him, the weak Lestrange brother, against her, the greatest hope of the Noble House of Black? He was sure Rodolphus must know, but he too kept silent. And so there was no one to come to his aid, no way to escape his own living nightmare.

Until the Dark Lord that is. Because as cruel and unmerciful as his Lord was, there were clear-cut ways to avoid his wrath. As long as you were careful not to make mistakes – or to frame others for those you did make – you could stay out of his ill favour, and occasionally even work your way into his good ones. Not only that, but the Dark Lord loathed dissension in his ranks. "I greatly admire your hatred" he had said once. "However I require my Death Eaters to be a cohesive unit, with no weak spots our enemy can attempt to exploit. Direct your hatred to those who deserve it, the Muggles and Mudbloods and Bloodtraitors. But keep our ranks Pure both in blood and in feeling." It didn't stop Bellatrix from channeling all her hatred into him at home, but whenever they were within even ten kilometers of their Lord she was all sweetness and Pureblood niceties.

But there was an even greater benefit to working for the Dark Lord, and that was the high value he placed on sacrifice. If you sacrificed anything, even a single hair or a plate of food, for his cause, he would be favourable to you and your family for days. How much more favourable would he be if you were to sacrifice something greater? And to do it in a way that would further their cause irreversibly? It was this train of thought that Rabastan had been pursuing for weeks now, and he had finally made up his mind. At the next opportunity he would not only escape the clutches of his deranged sister-in-law for good, but also become one of the Dark Lord's most favoured servants. Even if he himself felt none of the benefits.

As luck would have it, the next opportunity was only two days after he had made his decision. They had had a tip-off that Dumbledore and some of his foolish flunkies would be setting up protective wards in a Muggle town south of London, and the Dark Lord was adamant they would not succeed. And so Rabastan found himself donning black robe and white mask and apparating to an abandoned warehouse that would be used by the Order as an apparition point.

As expected, the Order showed up and was promptly ambushed by the group of Death Eaters hiding behind the dusty crates and on the cracking beams above them. What wasn't expected though was the sheer number of them. Obviously they had been expecting company, and had planned ahead, bringing more than double the members they had expected. And so the ensuing fight wasn't the quick slaughter the Death Eaters had been counting on, but a drawn-out affair with plenty of casualties on both sides.

The Death Eaters were enraged by this new development and fought harder than ever. All except one. Because this was Rabastan's chance, his opportunity to escape. And as he dove for pretty Alice Longbottom, a long-ago playmate who had chosen her side poorly – and put them both in the line of what should have been a deadly spell, he couldn't believe his luck.

But, as Rabastan was about to find out, luck can be fickle. And so it was that three days later he found himself waking to find himself in his own bedroom with the Death Eater's personal mediwitch fussing over him. The only thing that made his day worse was a visit from Bellatrix, who cooed over him, looking like she'd just been handed the best present in the world.

"Well, who's a lucky boy? Looks like you're stuck with me, aren't you ickle Rabastan?!"

Using prompt #20 I decided as long as I'm going to hell, I might as well do it thoroughly.

Also for: Disney Character Challenge/Competition – Hades: write about someone who is stuck