#rlintro

life story

rabastan lestrange was late even to his own birth  — those who know him now will say it’s quite on brand , he’s late for everything. however , he didn’t fail to make quite the grand entrance into the world , wailing so loudly the neighbors two houses down were made aware of the fact that he’d finally arrived — once a drama queen , always a drama queen. 

his birth had been planned , and his parents had tried for some years until they were successful , so there was a thin sense of joy in the room as curious eyes studied the rowdy baby , making sure he had all his fingers and his toes. at long last , the lestranges had their backup all swaddled up ! 

even though he was the second born , meant to be a mere shadow to his very imposing older brother , rabastan would not allow himself to be overlooked or made smaller. it was a dangerous thing , meddling in family affairs without being asked , speaking without being spoken to , but the second son was willing to endure the consequences if it meant his abilities were being noticed. the ax is always swinging , might as well take some chances until it finally falls down on your neck. sometimes it paid off.

the lestranges valued their boys much like a king values his fortune. after all , they were going to help carry the esteemed name towards its place in history where it belonged ( now we all know what’s become of their name , and rab is laughing at it from hell louder than a banshee ; what’s his father going to do , kill him again ? ) but they never loved them , not sincerely at least. 

there were pleasant smiles exchanged at parties , fixing a little boy’s buttons , pats on the top of the head , carefully rehearsed lines and gestures to make the lestranges look like a normal family. little rabastan enjoyed the theatrics , it made him feel like someone’s son for a few hours , not like a means to an end. that is until the family was back inside the thick walls of lestrange manor. in there everything went cold again and little boys turned back into marble statues. 

at home rabastan had to thread lightly — well , as lightly as his bold self would allow , but at boarding school there was nobody to be weary of. it was the perfect environment for him to grow bolder , more confident , wilder even. most kids hated the academic environment but rabastan thrived !

the older he got the more the second son realized the world was not as narrow as the corridors of his ancestral home and the people of the world were not all as rigid and as terrifying as those who crossed its threshold. some people genuinely enjoyed to laugh , to dance , to live. and people wasn’t just a term used for those of high standing , there was more to it.

his status in the household allowed the youngest son certain freedoms his brother couldn’t really indulge in. while he felt sorry for rod , always having to look impeccable , rab was also grateful for the eldest's sacrifice.  

as long as he did nothing to harm the pristine lestrange reputation among their peers , the sky was the limit — and boy did rab take advantage. parties , travelling , even mixing with people his family considered lesser — when he was sure nobody was watching. say what you will about slummers but they can throw a party to rival even the grandest of galas.

rab was expected to become a part of the death eaters when he came of the right age , and he did. for a while it was great , it gave him a sense of power that was very enjoyable. but soon rab realized that the limitations outnumbered the privileges. he was pretty much a slave to his gang's ambitions and there wasn't any space for his own , it was limiting. so he decide to up and leave. the fallout was as dezastruos as expected.

his father was furious , his mother disappointed. threats were made, curses were thrown and that's when rab decided it was time to fly the nest. he had the money to make it on his own — stolen money , but let's not get technical here — so he took a chance. for a while it was a struggle but all the hardships payed off.

rabastan now owns an apartment as far away from his family home as possible , a modest moving company that used to be a front for selling unsavory things — now it's legit-ish — and a nightclub that is the new front for selling unsavory , illegal things. he's also working on purchasing an art gallery , just for the fun of it , and a second club.

he runs all his business dealings under an alias — sebastian hawthorne— trying to stay off the radar of his old affiliation and his family. with these people you never know what you'll get.

during one of his wild nights in the ' slums ' of london ( like his mother called it ) , couple of years after graduation , rab had a brief ( and very secret ) affair with a girl his parents would never have approved of in a million years. nine months later came his son. nobody , nobody knows about the kid — it’s safer that way for both son and father. the mother isn't in the picture and rab is doing his best at being a dad— he sucks but points for trying.

personality

loud , unruly , bold , fickle , devil-may-care , charming , unpredictable , easily bored — appropriate adjectives.

there are about two people who can ever truly count on rab to show up whenever they call and one of them is his son. rab’s a rather selfish soul and if something doesn’t pique his interest enough he will not participate , no matter how important it might be. plus , what's the point if he has nothing to gain from doing a favor?

upon first glance , the second lestrange looks like a benign buffoon , a soul who lives for the frivolous things in life — nobody to be concerned about. but there’s more to him that the sycophant lifestyle. 

rabastan is far more intelligent than he lets on , he simply likes to play dumb. boring people tend to give him more space when they thing he’s ignorant and since he has little time to give to boring people it’s best that way. 

there’s always some type of scheme brewing in his overactive brain , waiting to bubble to the surface and ruin someone’s day ( hell , even his day sometimes ). 

there’s a little switch inside of rab , one that doesn’t get flipped very often but should be feared when it clicks. it’s the switch that controls his darker , more destructive impulses.