DISCLAIMER. None of the characters used are a creation of mine. They belong solely to JK Rowling.
Rab's ears rang of the blood curdling scream.
'You filthy swine!' Bellatrix yelled, 'You know what I'm going to do to you next? Yes, you little mudblood?'
The petite woman whimpered as she fell to the floor, her clothes torn and shredded. Yaxley howled with laughter as he saw her push herself away from his feet, trembling. Her back pressed against the cream walls, the linen curtains decked in red and green.
Silent night, holy night.
'You disgusting wench!' Bellatrix struck the woman across her face. 'Diluting the purelines with Muggle filth. I will pluck off each of your nails one by one and feed them to my dog and then, my darling, I will break your flimsy little bones. Every last one of them. I will crush them. After that, dear, I'm going to heal your pansy little arse and,' she smirked, ' I will break your limbs all over again.'
Rab pressed his lips together, his fingers itching to wrap around his wand and strike the dark haired bitch of his sister in law down.
'You're going to scream and scream. Oh, how thoroughly I shall enjoy myself,' Yaxley sneered. 'You will beg me for mercy, little one.' He kicked her side, sending her frail body flying across the room, crashing into the majestic Christmas tree marked by holly and thyme.
All is calm. All is bright.
Bellatrix loomed over the woman, her dark curls teasing her skin. She laughed and struck the woman. Rounding her foot, she stomped onto her chest.
'No!,' the woman begged, her arms wrapping around her broken ribs, a jarring edge poking out her bare chest.
Bellatrix shook her head. She prowled, prancing on the soles of her feet as she crushed the woman's fingers.
Another scream pierced through the air as Bellatrix stomped onto her lungs, the woman's throat pinned under her boot.
Yaxley spat into her face.
Rab saw Reggie flinch as Yaxley fingered his knife making the woman choke out a sob.
Yaxley bent down and clutched onto the blond locks of the woman, trailing the tip of his knife against her cheek. Her arms flailed around as she cried out in pain, her blood, as red as any other being in the room, trickling down.
'Maybe I ought to have a little more fun with you first,' Yaxley whispered in her ear. 'It's such a pity,' he turned towards Rab, 'that you won't take her. She's all warm and slick, Lestrange. A perfect docile little bitch.'
Rab tightened his jaw, his gut protesting at the viciousness spilling off of his lips, and sneered, 'I don't fancy muddying myself with Muggle filth such as herself.'
'She may be a pathetic excuse for a witch but not for a woman,' Yaxley snickered, tenderly brushing away her hair, revelling in the fear he spiked into her eyes.
Round yon virgin. Mother and Child.
Bellatrix flicked her wrist, sending the woman crying out in pain as her body was laced with the ache of the Cruciatus.
Reggie gulped and looked away as Yaxley once again pushed himself onto her tiny body, holding down her arms as she begged for mercy, thrashing and jerking.
Holy Infant so tender and mild.
Rab hadn't the slightest idea how he could shelter the child in their midst. He could feel the waves of grief rolling off of him. This was his first true assignment. To bear witness to the whims of a deranged beast as he brutally raped a helpless woman.
Sleep in heavenly peace.
Yaxley ripped apart the shred of dignity she still had left and sliced deeper, each dig harsher than the last, eliciting howls so inhumans it made the hair on Reggie's neck stand up.
The woman's eyes fell upon Rab's, each pair of dark orbs as lifeless as the other's.
Sleep in heavenly peace.
Detachment.
He could see it resonating in the brewing storm in her eyes.
Yaxley thrust into her, expecting a scream to lull his sadistic desires but it almost seemed like the fight had suddenly drained out of her being. Rab saw her limbs fall still, her mouth drawn into a line as her eyes shut close, her head rolling onto the side.
The silence was unnerving.
Silent night. Holy night.
The radio kept cackling on as Bellatrix leaned against the doorframe, urging her cousin to assist in the carnage of this hopeless life.
Dissonance.
Her limp form lay motionless, her wounds still bleeding as Yaxley pounded into her, his fingers putting pressure against her windpipe. Her pulse slowed as she gasped for air.
Silent night. Holy night.
Another beat of her heart. Another. And another. And another. And no more..
And no more.
He could see her no more. He could fight no more.
No more.
No more.
But the war.. his sister. Harry. They needed him. The war.. the war needed to be won.
No more.
Bellatrix patted Reggie's back, purring, his face drained of all colour and his eyes haunted. She Apparated him away.
No more.
Yaxley threw his head back, laughing, dizzied with his euphoria.
No more.
Rab spun on his feet, the familiar pull tugging at his seams.
No more.
The skies rumbled. His feet, laden with lead, carried him to the hearth and into the cottage. Hushed conversation followed in the parlour ahead.
'Everyone must play a role, Mi,' he heard Harry mumbled. 'War spares none.'
Hermione replied, 'We're doing more damage than helping the needy. It feels so pointless.. all this pain.'
No more.
Rab slid down, his knees giving out. His wand clattered away as the numbness in his heart clouded in on his cold and clammy fingers.
Onyx eyes and gold locks.
No more.
'Rab?,' he heard his sister call out in concern. His sister. Oh, his beautiful little girl.
'I never knew love had casualties.'
No more.
The strings holding onto the seams of his heart crumbled as a silent sob overtook his being.
No more.
Was is the stench of death that still lay around him or was it the Christmas scents enticing him into false safety?
No more.
He felt a soft palm rest against his cheek, wiping away the tears he hadn't realised had spilled. He looked up to find swirls of chocolate crunch up in worry.
'How easy it is to fall into the pools of darkness,' he whispered.
'Easiest thing in the world,' Harry remarked ruefully, his cane resting limp in his gloved hand.
Hermione reached out a hand to her brother, holding him steady. 'We feel the most real when we're suffering, Rab.'
'No more,' he croaked out. 'I feel something.. strangling me.. it's so overwhelming. It's.. holding me captive and I cant.. I can't.. no more, please.'
'Guilt has a funny way of making you feel insignificant,' Harry mumbled, nodding absently, his own mind conjuring up the many faces of friends he had led to the doors of Death.
'The unknown is no less cruel,' Hermione commented.
'The things they make me see,' Rab felt the ice in veins. 'All the.. destruction. If I'd been human I'd never have been a part of this atrocity.'
'Humans are capable of a lot more. You are fortunate in your ignorance,' Hermione muttered as she climbed into his lap, threading her fingers with hers and leaning her head into his chest. 'You can't breathe free before the war is won. You can't save everyone.'
Rab looked away, struck by the evil beast living underneath him. How cold and empty could he become? How much farther could he go?
'Some people are born to fight. They're no different than the others but they're picked by the Universe. They're tested for their mettle. You were born to fight, brother.'
He smiled sadly, his hope for a better world now dashed and divided, 'How do you do it?'
Hermione looked at Harry, her eyes begging.
Harry sighed, grim and morose, his true age showing, 'You accept the ghost of the person you used to be.'
AN: Longer chapters begin again soon. Just need to get past the seventh year and the full fledged war will begin.
I may not be able to update for a week or so, though. I'm going for a roadtrip with my family to some really remote areas. I won't have reception over there but I'm going to try and dish out another chapter before I leave tomorrow. I'm terribly sorry for the long wait but thank you to each one of you guys!