Team: Appleby Arrows
Position: Sekeer
Prompt: Happiness (goal) OR punishment (fear)
Beta'd by Bex (DobbyRocksSocks) from the Harpies. Thank you!
Warning: brief implication of a cruel parent, possibly implied abusive nature
When he was seven, Rodolphus watched as his brother climbed onto the kitchen counter, chubby cheeks puffed out as he grinned mischievously.
"Rabastan!" Rodolphus hissed, stamping his foot to get the younger boy's attention. "Get down from there!"
But Rabastan didn't even look up. Aside from the faintest flinch at the sudden disruption, he didn't acknowledge that Rodolphus was there at all. Instead, he shoved his pudgy fists into the chocolate that was meant for their parents' party guests.
Rodolphus rushed over, pulling Rabastan down. The dessert crashed to the floor, icing splattering the side of the counter. There was no hope for it. After weeks of planning and trying to find the perfect recipe for it, their mother's cake was ruined beyond any hope of fixing it. She would be furious, and Rodolphus knew that her anger was dangerous.
The sound of approaching footsteps made him feel sick. Thinking quickly, he pushed his brother. "Go!"
Rabastan must have sensed the urgency because he didn't bother to argue. With a sniffle, he nodded and hurried off, leaving Rodolphus alone with the mess. Rodolphus dug his hands into the cake, grabbing a fistful and shoving it into his mouth. He rubbed his hands on his shirt, leaving deliberate smears of chocolate against the crisp, white cotton.
The kitchen door opened. His mother stood there, nostrils flared as the color drained from her face. An angry, heated red crept through her cheeks as she took in the scene before her.
Rodolphus smiled sweetly at her, like nothing was wrong, like this was just a perfectly normal day. "I was hungry."
She stormed closer. Rodolphus wanted to run, but he stood his ground. He would do anything if it meant keeping Rabastan out of trouble. "We will see how hungry you are after you're locked in your room for the rest of the night!" she yelled, gripping his arm roughly. "You are an embarrassment!"
She continued to scold him, insulting him and making threats. He took every bit of it in silence. Rodolphus would endure every punishment imaginable for Rabastan.
X
When Rodolphus was seventeen, he was certain Rabastan would get expelled. He watched, eyes wide as his little brother let a hex fly, the corridor lighting up with a flash of teal. It struck the retreating Ravenclaw right between the shoulder blades, dropping him to the stone floor.
"What the hell were you thinking?" Rodolphus demanded, trembling. He wanted nothing more than to wring his brother's neck, but that wasn't an option. He took a deep breath, then another, and another, trying to clear his head and think.
It wouldn't matter if he got expelled. Rodolphus was set to leave in four months. As far as he was concerned, he was joining the Dark Lord. There was no need to learn anything more.
"Cast another spell," he instructed. "Any other."
Rabastan sputtered a confused, unintelligible response, but Rodolphus silenced him with a withering glare. "Orchideous!"
Rodolphus cast the hex his brother had aimed at the other student, though it had no target this time. "Go get Slughorn," he said. "Tell him I intervened and hexed the bastard."
"You don't have to do this," Rabastan insisted.
"I do."
The Ravenclaw would find someone as soon as he woke up. He would tell the truth, and Rabastan would have to pay the price. By doing it this way, Rodolphus took away any risk from his brother.
Rodolphus would get in trouble. At best, he would have detention every day until school ended. At worst, he would be thrown out, and his name would be tarnished. Neither outcome mattered. Rabastan meant the world to him. No punishment could shake him.
He stood straight and held his head high. He was ready.
X
"It was me!" Rodolphus moved in front of his brother without a second thought. How many times had he defended Rabastan before and taken the blame? He never cared what it would mean for him before, and he didn't plan to start worrying about it now, even if it meant facing the Dark Lord's wrath.
His master turned to him with an amused smirk. "You, Rodolphus?" he asked in a chilling whisper that made Rodolphus want to run. "You are the reason the mission failed? The reason Rosier is no longer with us?"
Rodolphus knew what it meant to anger his master. The Dark Lord was without mercy. Still, Rodolphus would risk it.
"Yes, my lord."
"How very disappointing." The Dark Lord raised his wand. "Crucio!"
As pain exploded through his body, Rodolphus dropped to the floor, screaming. His eyes found his brother. Guilt was written all over Rabastan's face as Rodolphus took the punishment that was meant for him. Rodolphus didn't care. Even as the curse was repeated again and again, and the pain intensified nearly to the point of numbness, he knew his brother was safe for a while longer.
X
The Aurors found them. Rodolphus stood with his wife, brother, and friend, disarmed and utterly without hope. They wouldn't break him. He would hold his head high and face this head-on.
Beside him, his brother tensed, quivering as the Aurors approached. Rodolphus felt his heart break. "I'm scared," Rabastan admitted, his confession eliciting an amused laugh from Bellatrix.
Rodolphus glared at his wife before returning his attention to his brother. "I'm sorry."
For so long, he was able to keep Rabastan safe. He took his brother's place countless times; he withstood any and every punishment that came his way without complaint. All he ever cared about was Rabastan.
What did it matter now? If he was smarter, he would have stopped Rabastan from ever following in his footsteps. He would have taught him a different way, even if it made him a hypocrite. Instead, he let things continue as they were, assuming he could always step in, keep his brother from pain, and call it love.
This was the result. In the end, when it mattered the most, he could not stop Rabastan from being held accountable. They had to answer for their crimes and face the punishment.
"I'm sorry," he said again.
If only it could be enough.