HELL'S HEIR

If he’s annoyed to have his hair mussed, he doesn’t show it other than attempting to smooth it back out as he falls in step with his brother. He’s quiet, trying to remember if he’d been allowed to sit with Rodolphus at the Welcome Feast before. 

He is also content to walk in silence, remembering. It had been four years now, nearly to the hour, that an eleven-year-old Rabastan had tugged at his sleeve, looking for his place at the Slytherin table. Rodolphus remembers the sheer pride he’d felt when Rab had been Sorted — that’s my brother! he’s my brother!— and wonders where that was in the subsequent years. Nostalgia’s a funny thing. 

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“Seize and Pull, Accio, Impedimenta…Cat to Cauldron.” Rodolphus lists more possible solutions as if she hadn’t said anything. As he sees it, if the spells are cast well, the cat will be fine — but if not, well, it’s just a cat. “ Leglocker Curse, Slowing Charm, Impediment Hex, Immobulus, Jelly-Legs—” He looks up from his book to glance after the cat, “—although you might want to cast a Tracking spell before it gets much further away.”

Lily was certain that Rodolphus’ intentions hadn’t been to help her, she knew that by reeling off a list of potential spells he was trying to ridicule her, but this time she wasn’t going to bite. “No need for a tracking spell, I think we’re just about done here, so…” And without really waiting for a response, she left him to it. She was grouchy about the fact she had no better comeback, and she spared him one final glance over her shoulder to see he wasn’t looking, and as she rounded the corner after her cat she pulled her wand from her back pocket.

Althea knew it was best to bite her tongue. The Lestrange family was close with the Blacks. They all ran in the same circles. But her disappointment and bitterness about not being chosen as a prefect was far too strong to keep inside of herself, and if she couldn’t say something crude to Rodolphus, she wasn’t sure who she could say it to. “Yes, well… I’m curious why they chose to reward Andromeda over their other choices. It just seems peculiar, to me, that’s all. But thank you for trying to appease me, anyway.”

He isn't quite sure that she grasped the full warning behind his expression, but he is willing to forgive her today. It’s the start of term, and he trusts there is no outright impetulance in her bitterness. “You shouldn’t worry about the title — I’ve done well enough without it, and you’ve got potential.” He means it, too. He has been watching the snakes of her year, especially the last few terms. He knows Bella would hand her invisible crown to her sister, but he is of the opinion that the unspoken monarchs should be able to work around the rules when needed. 

“The skin of my teeth, feels like,” She replied, voice equally lowered. She didn’t see Bella hanging about, but that didn’t mean that her elder sister didn’t have ears hanging about. “She kept saying that she had more important things to worry about, but Merlin knows what those could be. So, you know, the summer was much chillier than it would have been otherwise.”

Rodolphus nods, having also felt the chill of Bella’s cold shoulder over the summer. “I’m reluctant to find out how she’s feeling about me now, I doubt I’ve been fully forgiven.” Voice returning to it’s normal decibel, “I missed you, Andie, I look forward to fully catching up after the Feast.”

Trying not to show how pleased he was to finally have Rodolphus’ attention, Rabastan replies nonchalantly, “Eh. I usually get the Slytherins right at least.” Whether that was true or not, he primarily said it to impress his brother. 

“I should bloody hope so,” he laughs, tousling Rabastan’s hair as he brushes past, walking toward the castle. The brotherly invitation is also a sudden reminder that Rodolphus won’t be the taller brother much longer. 

Lily acknowledged the dig at her aim—not that she thought subtlety was his goal—and she rolled her eyes, she wouldn’t cast either the full body bind or a stunning spell on her cat because it was cruel, and she wasn’t bothered what he had to say on the matter. “My reluctance has nothing to do with thinking I’m incapable, and everything to do with the fact I’m not going to risk hurting her.”

“Seize and Pull, Accio, Impedimenta...Cat to Cauldron.” Rodolphus lists more possible solutions as if she hadn’t said anything. As he sees it, if the spells are cast well, the cat will be fine — but if not, well, it’s just a cat. “ Leglocker Curse, Slowing Charm, Impediment Hex, Immobulus, Jelly-Legs—” He looks up from his book to glance after the cat, “—although you might want to cast a Tracking spell before it gets much further away.”

She straightened her own in turn, so that the prefect badge stood out proudly. Just as proudly as she beamed, grateful that all her hard work had paid off. “Why thank you, Rod. It was the highlight of the summer for mum and dad. The first Black sister prefect.”

He had a point, though Althea was left to question whether or not her own glare would give the same terrifying feeling to first-years as Rodolphus’s would. He was intimidating in ways that Althea was not… in ways that she couldn’t quite imagine herself being. “Maybe you’re right. Speaking of, though… did you hear? About who made prefect for Slytherin? It’s shocking, really. I couldn’t imagine her with any kind of respected authority, even with her last name being what it is. Sad, really. It’s almost a waste.”

His eyes narrow as he starts to glare at her, but Rodolphus remembers he likes Althea and softens his expression. Rodolphus himself had never wanted to be prefect, having loftier goals to spend his time on. Yet he couldn’t fully blame her for being jealous — every Slytherin knows the sting of an ambition failed. “It must be a hard decision, with as many excellent candidates as our House always has. Andromeda worked hard, but she wasn’t the only one. I’m sure it was narrow margins.” 

“There’s a million and a half ways you could live your life, and you choose to be a dick.” Lily quipped, her irritation rising when she caught sight of Rodolphus’ raised eyebrow. In hindsight, if she had realised it was him at the end of the corridor she wouldn’t have bothered asking for help in the first place, she knew better than that, but alas she had been too far away. “I’m not about to start throwing spells and risk spooking her.”

Rodolphus assumes she wants a reaction from him so he is careful not to provide one, simply turning the page in his book nonchalantly. “If you think you couldn’t hit her with Full Body Bind or a Stunning spell on the first try then I suppose you’ve made the right decision,” he hums, the words oddly sounding natural — it must be the underhandedness of the statement — despite who they were for. 

Thank Merlin it was impossible to Andromeda’s eyes to get stuck, because she could not have rolled her eyes any harder. Still, she had missed Rodolphus. It was nice to be able to talk to him without their entire families hanging about. “Of course, how could I be so daft? A burden such as yours must be so horrid to bear.”

But what else was there to enjoy, other than watching the youngest students be sorted into their houses and finding out their fates? The Sorting Hat’s poetry was hardly exciting. The food wasn’t out when the sorting happened, either. “And what’s everything else, then? Give me a reason to be excited, Rodolphus. Please. I need it.”

"There's plenty of entertainment to be had during the Sorting, even when the hat is droning on. The little ones are so nervous, even a little glare has them shaking in their boots if you catch their eye." Rodolphus chuckles at the thought. “It’s never too early to induce a healthy respect for one’s superiors.”

Lily snorted out a derisive laugh, throwing him one more glance over her shoulder, though she didn’t stop, “If that’s the best that you can do, I’d say your own sense of humour needs a little work. At least be a bit creative.” His words admittedly had hit a bit of a sore spot; everything that had unfolded between her and Sev towards the end of her fifth year was still very fresh. But she wasn’t about to let him know as much. She turned away again, rolling her eyes, “You’re not funny, you’re cruel. And the sad thing is you’re probably proud of being so.”

Perhaps willing to let her think she’s had the last word, he mutters, “I forgot how easily you get your knickers in a knot,” although not quite so under his breath that it would be impossible for her to hear. He doesn’t want to appear interested in continuing the conversation, and since she had already taken the ‘walk away’ option, he would remain where he was until she was far enough away or someone he liked came along. 

Andromeda felt a buzz in the air as she stepped down from another carriage. She was excited to be back at Hogwarts for her sixth year, especially after being made prefect. Not even Rodolphus being his usual self could get her mood down.

Still, with an eye roll, she looked at him and said, “We’ve just got here, Rod. Can’t you save being a dick for next week?”

“And some people frankly don’t give a damn where others think their place ought to be.” Lily shot back as she turned away from him, her arms folding over her chest as she walked. “They’re eleven year old kids, you wally. Not everybody was stripped of human emotion at birth.”