Chapter 3, I'm Like A Bird
Of course Rabastan Lestrange was frightened that he'd be next! He, Bella and Rod did most things together after all, save for the shagging. Rabastan wasn't trying to shag Bella or Rod. That was nasty! But at least dwelling on the nastiness of things he preferred not to participate in was a sure fire way to keep the bloody Dementors away. Still it had a price. Thinking of not happy things kept one's soul in tact, but it got too depressing. When that happened you either got too quiet and scared the shit out of everyone, (Rod) or you screamed like you were losing your mind while your soul was being torn out, (Bellatrix). Rabastan didn't like wondering which way he would go when the depression finally got to him. He didn't like wondering, but he did wonder, mostly because he had too much time on his hands. They all tended to pass a lot of it by sleeping too much, because there was only so much to talk about or think about when one could do nothing else for the bloody unforeseeable future!
Sleeping got weird too after a while, though. He kept having dreams about a hot Ravenclaw with long black hair and a crystal ball. The dreams were too good, all full of incredibly insanely hot sex. The prospect of waking from a happy dream with a damned Dementor looming over him was far too likely if that shit kept happening. Then there were the other dreams about the same bird. In those other dreams she looked frightened. He saw her frightened face, and he assured her that they had it under control. Bella and Rod stood behind him as he faced her and her family in their home. It wasn't particularly fancy, but it was large enough. Somehow the dreams set his mind on edge, like he shouldn't be having them or something. Like it might be dangerous to remember these people in their home. The danger of Dementors was bad enough, and he didn't need to add more to it, whatever the hell all that was about.
Whoever the bird was, he didn't remember her name or what had happened to her, and he had a feeling it was better that way. Sometimes he thought it may have started with Mar... something, but he couldn't be certain. The only problem, was as he frequently saw her in his dreams, sleeping the days away no longer felt like a viable option. No sleeping, no thinking happy thoughts, and no losing his mind, so what? It was then that it hit him.
He'd try shifting into his Animagus raven form! Perhaps if he stayed in it long enough, he would feel more like a raven. Perhaps a raven wouldn't worry about Dementors ,and perhaps the soul of a raven would not interest them. His food would certainly stretch further with a raven eating it instead of a man. Perhaps that was benefit enough. Unfortunately, they had been informed upon incarceration that just because their cells were open to the sky, it didn't mean any of them could escape if their Animagus form could fly or climb a wall. The charm that kept the temperature regulated so that they did not freeze in the winter, also evidently served as a shield that they could not pass through. Of course when he shifted into his raven form, he smacked into the invisible shield, it sent a literal shock through his wings that drew a pained squawk from his angry throat.
"What the hell," Rodolphus asked. "What you doing, Rabastan?"
"Flying," Rabastan croaked in his harsh raven voice. At least he could still converse in this form, as ravens had the capacity and mouth structure for human speech. Indeed he'd found himself the best of both worlds, he decided happily, before reminding himself silently not to get too god damned happy, lest he test his theory that Dementors would not be interested in a raven sooner than he liked. He landed on the ground, glaring accusingly up at the sky. It was when his gaze dropped that he noticed it. The opening under the door.
The small opening that he could probably slip through. He could perhaps get the hell out of here~! His heart began to pound frantically away in his little bird chest at the prospect and also at the conflict. If he made a fly for it, what if the Dementors noticed and got him? They could fly too, sort of. They never touched the ground at any rate. Who knew how high those creepy fuckers could drift if they tried? He certainly didn't. So little was known about the fuckers in general. It wasn't worth the risk. If he did manage to get away, what if the Dementors retaliated by punishing Rod and Bella for his escape with their kisses? He'd never forgive himself! Ever.
Not only that, but he couldn't just leave them here. If he could escape and somehow get them rescued, it might be another matter, but there was no getting anyone out of Azkaban, else someone would've gotten them out by now. Their families were powerful with connections, after all. They were still here, though, so if Rabastan escaped, that meant Rod and Bella would be here on their own. He couldn't do that. The Lestranges stuck together, god damn it!
Sighing, he dropped his raven head, burying his beak in the feathers on his now gleaming black chest. For several hours he just hunched there on the ground openly and blatantly feeling sorry for himself. Eventually he grew bored with feeling sorry for himself. It wasn't all that interesting, really. When their daily trays of food came dropping through the open top of their cells, Rabastan discovered that he was indeed correct. He now had three meals instead of one. He could eat at pleasure three times a day and at least have that much normality in this drab new existence. When he happily shared this discovery with his brother and sister-in-law, suggesting that they take their Animagus forms as well, both assured him darkly and pissily that they'd tried but weren't able to focus for long enough to manage it. The Dementors had that effect, he supposed, but he'd still managed to take his raven form anyway. That made him feel rather proud of himself, but he hastily switched trains of thought before that felt too much like happiness to the Dementors.
Over the next months, Rabastan remained in his raven form. For some reason, it did make the emotions easier to stand in this hell place. With his senses even changed, he could focus on other things. The sound of the wind, the buzz of insects. Not so much the sound of other birds, for none of them wanted to be near the dreariness exuded as a constant by the Dementors. Birds were smart, after all. Sleeping as a raven was far more comfortable. He could simply perch on a rock and tuck his head under one wing. That was far better than his human body sleeping on the cold hard ground. He spent the days preening his feathers or flying or when he got really bored, trying to hunt about in the ground for interesting rocks. When he asked Bella and Rod to help dig for any natural pretty shinies, Bella told him to fuck off.
"If we dig in the dirt, we get no bath, Brat," she reminded darkly. "I feel disgusting enough without adding to it. Besides. We aren't in a bloody pirate ship. There are no treasures here."
"Never know," Rabastan croaked back in his raven voice. "This place is ancient, after all. Who knows what has gone on here in the past. So if I find anything good, I'm not sharing."
"We share a bank vault, Asshole," Bellatrix pointed out. The laughter in her voice would've made Rabastan smile if birds could. As they could not, he simply gave a rasping chuckle instead. She was right. She and Rod would end up benefiting if, when The Dark Lord returned, Rabastan deposited any spoils he found in Gringotts. From time to time, he couldn't help thinking about when they got out. It kept him going and he was sure the same went for Bella and Rod as it only stood to reason.
Thinking of it too much could make one happy, though, so it had to be rationed like the food, in small doses. When they got out, he planned to have a drink, some good food, and a long hot bath, then a good sound sleep away from all Dementors. Upon waking from that first good night's sleep, he'd enjoy a walk in the fresh air. Then he would visit his father. He did allow himself to think of Corvus, because that made him sad and sad was safe. His father was alone now because they'd somehow fucked up the Longbottoms thing and gotten locked up here. Rabastan felt a mix of guilty for that and frustrated. The damned sorry Aurors could track down their own in a blink, far faster than the Lestranges had expected, but when Rabastan and Rod's Mum had gotten killed in a supposed home robbery, no trace of the killer could be found by those same Aurors. Ask him, they all deserved to get what happened to the Longbottoms.
