A/N: so... we're about to make a little time skip and jump to Christmas of their first year. Last chapter, I completely forgot to shortly name the important characteres in there year, so I'll do it after this chapter. After this, I think we know most of the more important characters to go on with the story. Everyone else that will come into the story from this point on, will either be unimportant, or a canon character I guess... Well, there will be one exception, that is Rodolphus godfather Hyperion, who's mentioned in this chapter, as well as a Cousin of Lucius, who'll appear later on.
Have fun!
Brothers!
Christmas / 25th December 1966
He uncomfortably fussed over his black hair. The house elf had cut and combed his wild locks, turning him into someone who didn't look remotely like himself. Now, he tried to fix it with his own fingers, so that he might at least recognize himself in his reflection on the marble tiles.
Fairly satisfied, he turned away from the wall. The great salon was really marvelous. Sure, most of the old families lived in rather opulent houses or mansions but the Malfoys were something else entirely, he had to admit. Nothing like the Lestranges, even though they surely were just as honorable. The house Rodolphus had grown up in was at least appropriately described with the word 'house'. The Lestrange's family seat was a fairly old townhouse in the city of Bath, hidden from muggle eyes. It might have been as big as two muggle row houses, he guessed, easily spacious enough for their family, but nothing special. Malfoy Manor on the other hand...
Malfoy Manor was a majestic, multistoried estate, with a private park in place of a front yard – not to mention their back yard. His father had already taken him to ceremonies or meet-and-greets to some of the other pureblood estates and there surely were some rather impressive places among them but still, the sheer sight of Malfoy Manor dwarfed them all. Maybe it was to a degree the state in which the manor was. Many of the old estates – and he'd just assumed that was how it was meant to be – had a dark air about them, dirty corners, spider webs, the distinct smell of century old dust. Malfoy Manor also looked old. Armaments in the hallways, magical artifacts, many from the Dark Arts, in old wooden vitrines, old portraits, and paintings of family members or landscapes on the walls, the obligatory family tree, carpets, fireplaces, marble and old walls which withstood the centuries brought the same old and honorable charm to the manor... But still, though most of it was certainly antique, it didn't really look that way. The armaments weren't rusty, the artifacts and the glass of the vitrines sparkled speckless, the paintings weren't dusty and the fireplaces didn't look as if the manor nearly burned down at least ten times in its past. The glass in the windows was so clean it was nearly invisible and the carpets carried the visitors softly around the manor. The gardens looked as if the elves had been ordered to cut them manually. House elves, of course, he knew that they would have done all the work. But those creatures weren't cheap and they'd need a lot of them to take care of such a big estate – plus they had to keep them on their toes all the time. His family had two elves as well and his home was a great deal smaller but it still was always dusty and full of spiderwebs, sometimes they even had a boggart. The Lestrange had always thought these things were just part of a magic household like the owl, the fireplace or the cauldron in the cellar. For the Malfoys, this obviously wasn't the case. Instead, they displayed how Pomp and Circumstance were due to a pureblood family that could hold its power over the centuries unlike any other.
That was it, wasn't it? These were the treasures and the power a pureblood deserved. This was what was taken from his own family due to the upsurge of the Mudbloods.
He looked at his reflection on the tiles over the fireplace for the last time. Above the tiles that were of an odd color somewhere between shimmering silver and deep blue-black, only defined by the light falling on it, the gigantic crest of the Malfoy family was displayed. He stared at it when suddenly another person was reflected next to him. He turned around. His father stood tall behind him, staring motionlessly at the reflections on the blank tiles.
"Father," Rodolphus started, feeling embarrassed, though he didn't know why.
"Are you enjoying yourself, Rodolphus?" came his father's lazy drawl.
"Yes, father." It was a lie, he felt rather bored but the question wasn't really meant anyway.
"I'm glad, you are..." He finally turned to look at his son. The two were unmistakably father and son. They shared the same thick black locks, the same dark eyes, the same eyebrows. Rodolphus always thought he had his mother's lips and nose but aside from that he was sure, should he grow up, he'd even get his father's strong jawline and distinctive facial features. His father, however, always had a tight lineament about his thin lips, that was not on Rodolphus' reflection, and that told of unspoken cruelty, nameless hate, and suppressed anger.
"You should spend the time with your peers," father suggested but it sounded more like an order.
Rodolphus gaze drifted to the other guests. He couldn't detect his 'peers' though. But of course, they had to be here somewhere. He guessed Malfoy had led the younger guests to a separate area. There were still a few teenager in this room, most of them several years older than him. He could see Bellatrix Black from FifthYear, speaking to a blonde boy about her age, who Rodolphus thought was Yaxley. Rodolphus didn't want to intrude there. Walden McNair from Seventh Year was talking to some of the adults but Rodolphus didn't really want to talk to this one either. McNair had something brutal and uncontrolled about him and during a Quidditch game against Hufflepuff, Rod had seen the boy crushing an opponent's shoulder with the bat instead of the bludger. He saw Crabbe and Goyle, too, but didn't really know them... Most obviously, they'd relieved the Malfoys of a good Whiskey, though. Apart from those older Slytherin students, he could see the Black brothers standing next to their parents. Rabastan as well was not that far away from Rod.
"Take Rabastan with you," his father demanded, looking at the younger son. "And Rodolphus, behave yourselves. I don't want to feel ashamed of you two. I'm glad you get along with the Malfoy boy."
For a moment he couldn't help but stare at his father. Him, getting along with Malfoy? Certainly, they got along better than Rodolphus would like to admit. Malfoy was an obnoxious human being but he was still surprised to find at least some pleasant conversations with him from time to time. But since their decision not to be friends fairly early in the year, they'd mostly ignored each other. Who had told his father that they'd get along?
Stephanus Lestrange furrowed his brows. But then he let his son go.
"Thanks, father," said Rodolphus and felt incredibly bad for not telling the truth.
Who had...? But really, he already knew the answer. There was only one person, who could have made his father believe they were actually friends. But what did Lucius Malfoy plan with that?
While crossing the room and grabbing Rabastan's hand, wordlessly dragging his brother with him, he decided it wouldn't do to ponder about Malfoy's motives. Sometimes, he thought his housemate just liked to play with everybody else.
When they left the salon he looked around. But he couldn't find Lucius nor any other kids in the entrance hall either. His gaze drifted to the ceiling. Unlike in the salon, there was no chandelier here. Huge candle bearers were placed on chests of drawers and tables of dark mahogany. There were also torches on the walls, which drowned the hall in a red light, that was just as magical as the spiderwebs and boggarts and house elf heads in his home. He curiously peeked up the stairs.
Actually, house elf heads should be somewhere in here, too, it occurred to him.
He knew Malfoy and his friends wouldn't be up there. It was more likely they'd stayed on the ground-floor or went outside. But instead of searching for them there, he dragged Rabastan to the stairs without even thinking about it.
"Where are you going?" asked Rabastan immediately. He knew as well they wouldn't be allowed to just walk around other people's houses on their own.
"I'm searching for Malfoy," Rodolphus lied but his brother wasn't stupid.
"Well, he won't be up there," he argued and of course he was right. This wasn't a child's birthday party. Lucius would hardly bring his parents' guests into his bedroom, to play hit the pot or hide and seek. "Rodolphus!" The eight-year-old tucked at his hand, when he didn't stop. "Where are you going?"
Rod looked at his brother, as if he just saw him for the first time. Then he turned around. They already were at the top of the stairs. What did he think? If their father found out they were just about to wander off on their own in the Malfoy's house, he'd be furious. He bit his lip. It would really be better to just turn around and pretend nothing had happened, before they were caught.
He turned around and nearly jumped from surprise when there was another kid, a little younger than Rabastan.
"What are you doing here?", he asked the boy, who stared up at him with big grey eyes. He recognized Sirius Black at once.
Sirius' eyes went from Rodolphus' face down the hallway.
"I thought you explored the house," he admitted casually, "or what are you doing up here?"
Curious, the boy strolled past Rodolphus and placidly wandered down the darkened corridor. The simple fact that the torches didn't burn up here should be evidence enough that they weren't welcome, he thought, watching the boy as he halted and then entered one of the many rooms, disappearing from his sight.
Rodolphus stared at Rabastan, then grabbed his hand again and followed to the open door. He exhaled relieved when it turned out to be just a guest room and not – Merlin, help him – Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy's bedroom. They hadn't invaded any private rooms yet, he told himself. But Black didn't seem particularly happy about that. Black looked from the four-poster bed to the bookshelf, bored. Then his gaze wandered to the portrait of a young blonde Lady, undoubtedly a Malfoy, even if her hair wasn't quite as fair as Lucius' or his father's was. She looked surprised over the edge of her book.
"Hmpf," made Sirius, strolling onto the balcony. Rodolphus followed after him.
"We should go back," he said firmly. "We've no right to be here."
"You're boring," Sirius complained, without even looking at him.
"Just let him be," urged Rabastan.
But Rodolphus ignored him. He was the oldest here. It was forbidden to explore the house, he was fairly sure of that. That was absolutely out of place. They'd get themselves into trouble and as the oldest, it was his duty to get the children back to where they belonged...
"Playing babysitter?" snickered an all too well-known voice. Rodolphus spun around, but he already knew, who was standing there.
Lucius Malfoy was leaning against the doorframe of the guest room. With only a few long strides he crossed the room towards the door to the balcony.
"Lucius!" the Lady in the portrait finally spoke, "would you please take those children out of my room?"
"Of course, Malice," he promised, though he seemed to restrain himself from rolling his eyes. "You and your brother, out. Black, come back."
Rodolphus followed his demands. Normally he wouldn't just do what Malfoy said but this was his house after all.
"Sirius?" he heard Lucius, several seconds later when the young Black apparently didn't follow his orders. "Would you please be so kind as to come from this balcony, so I can bring you back to your parents?"
Following Malfoy's mocking words, the youngest among them turned towards him.
"You're Malfoy," he noted disrespectfully. He curiously looked at a second glass door from the balcony, that would most likely lead into another room. "Are there no more exciting rooms in your house?" he demanded to know of a visibly annoyed Malfoy.
"Do you want me to show you the kennels? I'm sure our dogs will be perfectly capable of getting rid of your boredom," Malfoy sneered.
For a moment, something like excitement flashed in the Black's grey eyes. He seemed to search for adventure. But then his excitement ebbed away and was replaced by a scowl.
"Don't mock me!" he suddenly barked at Malfoy. Too young to understand irony, Rodolphus thought mildly amused, but old enough to realize when someone was making fun of him. Lucius laughed loudly. Amused but still annoyed – a rather impossible combination –, he surveyed the boy.
"Will you come willingly, or do I have to make you follow us back to the ground-floor?" he sounded blatantly threatening, but the Black boy just craned his head very untypically for a child of his age and upbringing, Rodolphus thought, seeing the defiance evidently on the boy's face. "Well, I don't feel like taking care of annoying little brats myself," Malfoy explained with his normal confident smile. He snapped his fingers and a split second later, a house elf appeared.
"Bring young Mr. Black back to his parents," Malfoy ordered. Before the elf even nodded, Malfoy had turned away from him and finally ushered the Lestrange brothers out of the room. Just when they closed the door, they heard the sound of the elf's apparition.
"Funny kid," Rodolphus thought frowning. He remembered that Sirius had always been kind of adventurous but the last time he'd seen him was already nearly one and a half years ago, and he'd just expected that he'd grow out of that. And it had never been this blatant.
"Yes," Lucius agreed, "did he really just wish to explore the house?"
"What did he think?" Rodolphus asked nearly automatically.
Rabastan made a snide snorting sound but he didn't say anything. Rodolphus felt rather grateful he didn't mention how Rodolphus had just wanted to do the same thing.
They descended the stairs. In the entrance hall, they could already see a small group gathering. He recognized Walburga and Orion Black, who were bent over someone, who had to be Sirius. Little Regulus Black was standing a little bit away from the rest of the group. Rod felt sudden remorse. He froze on the steps, guiltily looking at Malfoy, who didn't seem to care. Rod looked back at the crowd.
Stephanus Lestrange stood not too far from the stairs. He slightly moved his head, looking away from the group around Sirius and directly at them. His dark eyes first surveyed his elder son, then Rabastan, lastly Lucius. He strode towards them.
"Where have you been?", he asked eying his sons.
He couldn't lie. He couldn't lie to his father, not really. He was never good at lying, not to him. It was quite shameful for a Slytherin really. He could confirm somebody else's lie, that much he could do, but tell it himself...? He helplessly glanced at Malfoy.
"We were...–," Malfoy started unperturbed. His face didn't show a lie, though he obviously planned to tell one. The truth wouldn't start with 'we'.
"Rodolphus did go upstairs," Rabastan blurted meekly. He looked at their father with huge round eyes.
Fury boiled in his insides. Lucius could have lied for them. Lucius, the host's son, would have told their father whichever tale he needed to hear and it would have been okay because Lucius would have given them an excuse their father would have to accept. Because even if Stephanus Lestrange might have smelled the lie, if a Malfoy took somebody else to the upper floors of Malfoy Manor, that was his right. Something he might have to explain to his own father, but surely not to Rodolphus'.
But Rabastan had given in too soon... and Rodolphus hated him for that, even though he couldn't really blame him. He might have done the same, had he been Rabastan's age. He was three years older and hadn't managed a word, so who was he to blame Rabastan?
Stephanus straightened looking down on them. If looks could kill... He wanted to run away, hide in one of the thousand rooms of the Manor. But that would make everything even worse. He'd shame his father... Up until now the other guests at least didn't know and that had to stay that way.
Rodolphus tried to look away from his father. Instead, he looked to Malfoy. He was pale as always but he didn't smile, though his eyes still carried the same confident arrogance. But there was something else. His brows slightly furrowed as he glared back at Mr. Lestrange. He looked furious. Lucius hadn't cared when he had delivered Sirius, who he hardly knew, to his parent's wrath but now...
If looks could kill.
Even Rodolphus' father seemed to see it now. A strange expression came over the old Lestrange's face. Rodolphus had never seen this expression on his father's face. An irritated frown, curiosity, and then something that came oddly close to a respectful smile.
Rodolphus stared from one to the other. Malfoy's expression didn't change, even when Stephanus Lestrange's smile died away and he turned back to Rodolphus. The atmosphere between those two was tense and Rod nearly flinched when Malfoy walked away. His housemate didn't look at him, nor did he say anything, but Rod could practically hear him grind his teeth.
He left him to his father like he'd left Black to his parents but this time, he obviously hated it.
And suddenly the anger was back. This time, it was even greater than his fury towards his father or his brother. What did Malfoy want from him!? They weren't even friends, so why did he care? Why was it that he didn't care one bit for Sirius but then he suddenly cared for Rodolphus?
We're Slytherins – We stick together.
He didn't care what his father had to say. Most likely he didn't have to say anything at all. Most likely he wanted Rodolphus to just act as if nothing happened, to avoid a fuss. Most likely he'd make him feel the consequences of his behavior only at home. But he didn't even wait to find that out. He hurried after Malfoy because he had to know. He didn't understand the other boy. He caught up to the blonde at the double door leading to the lounge.
"So, what are we?" he panted.
Lucius seemed surprised. The confusion was plain on his face. "Wizards?" he tried.
"Where do we stand?" the Lestrange went on. "We're not friends. We talked about that, right?"
Lucius nodded, startled. "I recall you can't stand me," he sneered a bit spiteful.
"And still you're always there when I need help," Rod countered though it was a bit embarrassing to admit, "or you try to, at least."
"Do you want me to stop?" Malfoy sneered.
"That's not what I meant... No... But we're no friends, so what is it? Why are you helping me?" he asked as directly as possible.
Malfoy stared at him as if he wanted to hit him in the face. As if he couldn't believe Rodolphus actually had to ask and didn't understand on his own. He chuckled mockingly.
"No wonder the hat took so long...," he scoffed, "if you don't know even that."
"Don't give me that shit!" Rod snarled. "Just say it."
"Brothers...," Malfoy snarled back. He actually sounded as if he felt offended.
Rodolphus stared at him.
Slytherin. Brothers. Family...
Lucius swatted Rod's hand away with which he had grabbed onto his robes.
"Well, what did you think?" Malfoy still sounded oddly hurt. "Or what did you think the 'fraternity' part among the Slytherin virtues meant?"
"Sirius...," Rodolphus stammered.
"Is just a kid – and a stupid one, if you ask me," Lucius finished his sentence.
"You said I was only in Slytherin because I was too craven to follow my own path."
"Well, look at that. You're actually listening to what I say," Malfoy said flatly, then he shrugged. "Well, it doesn't really make a difference anyway. You chose Slytherin and the hat put you there. Somewhere in that head of your's, there should be a Slytherin. And even if not, every family has a black sheep, right? Ask your uncle Hyperion."
Rodolphus flinched at the name. His godfather – his mother's brother – Hyperion Greengrass was a blood traitor. There was no denying that. Father said he was even friends with Dumbledore. Even if he wasn't, his pro-muggle policies were a disgrace for the whole family.
"And you surely wouldn't be the only one... Just ask the halfbloods," Malfoy mused. But when Rod scowled at him, he added, "well you'd sooner be a grey sheep, I guess."
A/N:
so as promised:
these are the most important characters in Lucius and Rodolphus' year. Most of them are my own:
I guess I just give you a complete list of the year and mark the more important, so you're not confused if you find some new names in the chapters to come: (plus while I know that blood state isn't really important, as this story is mostly written from Rod's point of view, blood state in fact is very important^^)
Hufflepuff:
Logan Abbott is a pureblood, blonde and a rather crafty young man, and he has an unhealthy rivalry with Lucius
Serene Blackthorn is Halfblood
Alfred Dingle is Muggleborn
Samuel Dunn is Muggleborn and a friend of Logan
Martinius Ivory is Pureblood and very bright, but quiet
Jennifer Miles is Muggleborn, bright and sympethatic and a friend of Logan and Samuel.
Udine Schiffer is halfblood
Andres Schwarz is halfblood he's friends with Jennifer, Samuel and Logan
Purple Taylor is pureblood of a rather poor and unimportant family
Gregoria Vince is presumably halfblood and a good friend of Udine.
Gryffindor:
Henrietta Evan is halfblood
Jonathan Fletcher is not related to Mundungus Fletcher, muggleborn and the strongest rival/enemy of Rodolphus in school, he's friends with the Prewett twins.
Dorian Handelmer is halfblood, he's not a particularly good student but he's a nice and pleasant boy and gets along with everybody and is thus very popular in his house and with the teacher, despite his mediocre grades.
Elisabeth Lorenz is halfblood
Lucas Miller is muggleborn and a good friend of Dorian.
Gideon and Fabian Prewett are pureblood and a lot like their nephews Fred and George. They are friends with Jonathan and while they don't like Rodolphus they absolutely hate Lucius.
Katelyn Queen is also muggleborn and friends with Dorian and Lucas
Michelle Salamander is halfblood
Evelyn Scar is pureblood and will later have some problems with Diana and some other Slytherins.
Ravenclaw:
Ricarda Green is halfblood
Bertha Jorkins is halfblood (Canon)
Lisa Macmillan is pureblood
Amanda Ollivander is pureblood and niece to Garrick Ollivander
Quirinius Quirrel is halfblood (Canon)
Marin Rain is pureblood and a friend of Lucius'
Charles Slewyn is pureblood and comes from a dark family, he's also friends with both Rodolphus and Lucius
Amita Shafiq is pureblood
Tobias Smith is halfblood
Yami Balthasar is pureblood