thrill_seeker (thrill_seeker) wrote in an_ill_wind, @ 2009-08-23 21:22:00 |
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Entry tags: | - 1980/08 august, alecto carrow, daniel wilkes, rabastan lestrange |
Who: Rabbit, Danny, Ally
What: The end to a friendship between the boys
Where: Danny's flat
When: Early Sunday evening, 23 August 1980
Rating: R for violence and heavy language
Status: Complete
Having slept the last two days to recuperate from the potion-filled Friday night when Florence had stopped by his place, Rabastan disapparated from his own house in Ipswich and arrived just moments later in front of Danny's flat. Glancing around to see if anyone was around, he realized it was too dark for anyone to see him wearing his leisure robes. Knocking at the door, he hoped this would go better than he thought. Danny seemed rather put-out on the journals and Rabastan could only hold his breath in anticipation that he could somehow get back in their good graces.
Danny was lounging very comfortably on the sofa with Ally. He had his arms outstretched on either side of him along the back of the sofa, slouching in his seat with his legs spread wide in front of him. "You will charm those back, yeah?" He teased, referencing his PJs that she was currently wearing that had been charmed to fit her. The fun was short lived when he heard a knock at the door. He knew Rabbit would be visiting tonight, so the sudden interruption was not a surprise. Instead it served as more of a reality check than anything else. He turned his head to look at Ally, his expression suddenly serious, his eyes growing darker. With a heavy sigh, he pushed himself up from the sofa and made his way to the door. Just to be safe, he pulled out his wand and held it tightly in his left hand. With a quick turn of the knob, he pulled open the door. It's no one, he told himself. Not saying a word, he stepped to the side and motioned with his hand for Rabbit to come in.
Alecto had spent most of the week at Danny's, recuperating from her "lesson" with Bellatrix. She didn't remember much of it, just that her mind almost broke, and after the third time she lost consciousness, she woke up in Danny's bed with him laying right beside her. She'd been at his flat ever since, slowly healing. While she wasn't 100% yet, she was well enough to see Rabbit, even though she still looked pretty rough. Her hair was pulled back in a messy ponytail, and there were dark circles under her eyes. But looking good wasn't her main concern, not with these two. She was mosly concerned about playing mediator between the two men, since Danny's anger was no secret. Of course she was angry with Rabbit herself; it was partially his fault (though mostly her own) that she was in this rough state in the first place. But for the sake of solidarity and friendship, she was willing to overlook it, especially once she heard that he had suffered as well. It made her feel better that he didn't get off scott-free. Was that petty? Sure. But she never said she was above pettiness.
A sudden knock at the door brought Alecto out of her less than friendly thoughts. Well, here we go, she thought. As Danny got up to answer the door, she also pulled out her wand. Just in case things got ugly.
Rabastan thanked Danny with a curt nod while striding through the door. He looked around the room to see if Danny had done anything with the place since he had been here last. Nothing much caught his eye so he returned to reality. Walking over to where Ally was sitting, he crouched down on the floor and asked her, “How are you faring today?” She looked better than he had hoped although maybe that was because of the amount of time since her last punishment fueled by Bellatrix's wrath. Over the last two days, his own appearance had markedly changed since his bruises had faded and all that could be seen was a slight indentation where he had lost that tooth on the bottom right. Thankfully, his last calming drought had been six hours ago.
Danny just stood there at the door, his hand clutching the knob so tight that his knuckles were turning white. His eyes followed Rabbit as he walked by him and he took a few slow and steady breaths to try and calm himself down. Without realizing it, he shoved the door violently, slamming it shut with a loud smack as the wooden door hit the wooden frame. Slowly he turned and reluctantly put his wand away as he began to make his way back into the sitting room. He watched as Rabbit crouched down beside Ally and ask how she was doing. It was then that Danny could not stand it any longer. He had waited days to see Rabbit, to tell him exactly who he was and where he could go. "You fucking bastard," he sneered through gritted teeth and suddenly charged forward. His long legs carried him swiftly and quickly over to the other man, grabbing him by the collar of his robes and lifting him from the floor. Both his anger combined with his strength got the upper hand and he thrust Rabbit back into a wall with a hard thud. "YOU FUCKED UP EVERYTHING!" He bellowed, jerking him into the wall a second time. Then without warning, Danny brought his fist back and launched it square into Rabbit's face, hitting him the jaw. "YOU FUCKED IT UP FOR ME AND FOR ALECTO!" He continued, his deep voice booming as he laid another merciless punch into Rabbit's already ailing face.
Alecto smiled when Rabbit approached her, and she put her wand down on the couch so she could grab his hand. He looked better than she had imagined too. "I'm alright. And how are-- AHHH!" was all she managed to get out before Danny launched himself at Rabbit. The swiftness of the attack startled her, causing her whole body to jerk more violently than normal and knock her wand to the ground. Her nerves were still frayed and even the tiniest bit of excitement was enough to cause the shakes to return. Before she knew it Danny was shouting and punching Rabbit in the face. "OI!" she shouted, her hoarse voice cracking. "STOP THIS! WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?" As it became painfully clear that shouting would do nothing to stop Danny, she scrambled to the ground, trying to get a hold of her wand.
Rabastan gave her a slight smile as she began to explain. When he felt the door impact the wall, he unsteadily stood to his feet and lifted an eyebrow at Danny as Wilkes rushed towards him. Before he could move out of the way, Danny lifted him to his feet and slammed him into the wall. At this point, Rabastan’s nearly healed frame screamed at him under duress and he smashed Danny in the chest with a sharp jab of his foot. “FUCKING BASTARD, YOU THINK YOU’RE THE ONLY ONE WHO LOST EVERYTHING?!” He shrieked at his mate, whose temper he knew rivaled his own. Danny had always been more violent. Rabastan’s temper tended to be more cutting than anything and he never had been the brawling type. Maybe it was all that time spent with his Mum. He sure as hell was not dainty but he did not seek out fights either.
Lestrange felt the punch just barely graze his jaw and his teeth ached with the impact. It felt like the clot had come loose from the gaping hole where he had lost his tooth and felt blood begin to fill his mouth. Too worried about his bloody mouth, he received the next punch on his right cheek and it sent his mind reeling. When he came to enough to attack Danny, he swung a right hook at his face and then jabbed sharply at his jaw. Let the jackass feel the pain of potentially losing teeth…it was not pleasant. “I LOST MY FUCKING INNER CIRCLE STATUS, YOU SON OF A BITCH! I DO NOT FUCKING CARE WHAT YOU ARE MOANING ABOUT. SALAZAR, YOU FOOL! YOU HAD RESERVATIONS ABOUT THIS FROM THE START. NEXT TIME, GO TO MY BROTHER AND STOP ME YOURSELF. BESIDES HOW IS ALL OF THIS MY FAULT? I NEVER ASKED YOU TO MOUTH OFF TO PEOPLE LIKE BELLATRIX AND RODOLPHUS! YOU SHOULD KNOW BY NOW HOW MUCH OF A BAD IDEA THAT IS.” As a parting shot, he threw a left hook at Danny’s ribs.
Danny's head jerked violently to the right when Rabastan's fist made contact with his jaw. A rush of pain suddenly pulsated through the side of his face, but he paid no attention to it. Despite the sudden blow to his face, he held the younger Lestrange firmly back against the wall. His fists clutched the man's robes even tighter as the rage pulsated through him and masking the pain he felt; he grit his teeth and glared menacingly at his once best mate. That was until Rabbit had punched him in the ribs. He let out a grunt as he finally let go and took several steps back, doubling over from the throbbing pain that began to radiate along his side. Swallowing hard, he slowly lifted his head and peered his darkened eyes up at the other man. His breathing hissed angrily through his tightly clenched teeth as he looked daggers at his fellow Death Eater. He could hear Ally's voice shouting in the background, but he ignored her, Rabastan's words ringing loudly in his head now. "You deserve to lose more than fucking Inner Circle, you piece of shit..." he trailed off, his tone suddenly dropping dangerously low. "You put myself and Alecto in a very bad position because you insisted on having lunch with some fucking prick who you knew would do something... That's why you had to come ask me and Alecto to cover your dumb arse... And look what that got you... But I don't care about you." His tone was too calm, too soft, too smooth to be regarded as anything but trouble.
Just as he had before, without any warning, he suddenly lunged forward, grabbed Rabastan by his robes, flung him violently down onto the floor then pulled out his wand and pointed it directly at the man's face. It all happened in one swift motion and within seconds. "I trusted you! I went against my better judgement and didn't say a fucking word about your ridiculous tea party with Prewett... PREWETT! WHAT THE FUCK WERE YOU THINKING?!" His anger dangerously shifted back and forth from mild to intense and he was unable to control it. "I did it to help you and now I've been fucked every which way because of you..." He trailed off. He tilted his head to the side, cracking his neck then looked back down to Rabbit again. Even with all his extreme anger, his hand remained perfectly still as held his wand pointed at Lestrange.
"DAMMIT, THIS IS NUTS!" Alecto screamed at the two men, each word cracking from the strain on her vocal chords. Everything was happening so fast, the punches thrown, the shouting. Her hands were shaking as she desperately made a grab for her wand, but wound up pushing it under the couch instead. Cursing, she abandoned the search and returned her attention to the men. She was moving slower than she wanted to, half from exhaustion, half from being distracted by the words they flung at each other. It was when Danny threw Rabbit to the ground and held him at wandpoint did Alecto charge forward, literally shoving herself in the middle of the two men. In one fluid motion, she pushed Danny backwards out of the way and then swung around to backhand Rabbit in the face. She was not going to tolerate them fighting, not now, not after everything they had all been through. Trouble was, running across a room to get between her two best friends drained her of all her energy. The room spun and she collapsed to her knees, panting. Alecto blinked a number of times then slammed her hand down into the ground, angry at herself for still being so weakened. "FUCK!" she shouted, at both of them and at herself.
When Danny finally backed away, Rabbit lunged for his wand and pointed it towards Wilkes. He never would have dreamed their friendship would end like this at the end of a wand but sometimes life threw nasty surprises and this counted as a few all bundled together. “What do you suggest? Maybe I should leave the fucking Cause. Can you actually see me having my service terminated? Alternatively, do you hope that the Dark Lord kills me? I’m pretty sure if he was planning on killing me that it would have already happened.”
After Danny leapt at Rabastan, the latter hit the floor but surprisingly kept his wand in his right arm and placed it against Danny’s neck. “One curse and you’re dead, mate. Oh and by the way, if you are so fucking interested in why I did what I did, I would suggest you owl Fabian Prewett and ask him for the notes of our conversations. He could fill your ear with information you have never considered.” All of a sudden, Ally shoved them apart and he received a stunning slap to his face, nearly enough to make him drop his wand. When he saw her drop to her knees, he snapped back to reality, “We should get her to Uncle Roman. I’m sure he could help her better than these fucking potions and draughts she has been taking.”
Danny was not afraid of death. If Rabastan wanted to utter the words, then so be it. He never flinched when Lestrange pointed the wand at his neck and threatened him, but instead he dropped his was and simply muttered, "do it." Just as he was about to ensure that Rabbit could speak no more, Alecto had put herself, quite literally, in between them. Her weak push did nothing to move him, it was the shock of her sudden outburst that did. His eyes were fixated on the other man until Ally suddenly fell to her knees. Without hesitation, he dropped down next to her and wrapped an arm around her waist. "You need to sit down," he told her calmly and helped her up and brought her back over to the sofa.
"NO!" Danny suddenly blurted out as he spun around to face Rabastan again. "We will do nothing of the sort. You are going to leave! She was fine before you got here! Hell, we all were..." He trailed off then turned to check on Alecto again, noting her shaking had returned. His concern for her swelled into a deeper hatred for the man next to him. He suddenly reached out and grabbed Lestrange by the robes again and tugged him closer. "You listen to me... I am not so stupid to contact Prewett for such petty shit. Why you met with him is not of my concern anymore," he growled. "But you will do well to remember this, Lestrange," he went on, Rabastan's name dripping with venom as he spoke it. "If you are going to threaten my life, you had better follow through because I will not be so kind in return. Now get the fuck out..." With that, he shoved Rabastan away from him and immediately returned to Alecto, kneeling down in front of her.
She was dizzy, and apparently not quite as healed as she imagined. Merlin fuck she would never have guessed the cruciatus would have a cumulative effect on her. Regardless of the fact that she was in recovery, Alecto hated being so weak, and hated that she couldn't keep herself on her feet. Her cheeks flushed, from both a sudden hot flash and embarrasment. She was about to fall over onto her side, when Danny's arm wrapped around her waist and pulled her back on the couch. She weakly argued, "I'm fine," but still needed to lean her head back and try to catch her breath. This was ridiculous, she thought. She had long since stopped paying attention to their words, but she knew the level of damage that was just done. Alecto didn't want this. If she were in perfect health, she would've shouted at them till they saw sense, kicked them each in the crotch, or just hung them upside down until they calmed down. But now it was too late. They'd threated each other at wand point and Danny had just thrown Rabbit out of the house. As Danny knelt before her, she looked between the two men, and said in a whisper, "Stop this..."
When Danny released his wand and responded in the affirmative, the red mist in Rabastan’s vision evaporated and he placed it back in his robes, pushing himself away from the bloke at the same time as Ally slapped him. “Fuck, mate, I don’t want to kill you. I just wanted to turn this situation around to protect myself.” As Danny pulled him close, he shuddered at the vitriol in the man’s voice. Upon being pushed, Rabastan stepped backwards too fast and crashed into the nearest table, which he unceremoniously toppled. As he struggled to free his robes from the furniture and right it, he saw Danny leaning over Ally at the sofa. “For the record, Danny, you and Ally were the only ones I could trust with this. You are like my siblings, both of you. We grew up together and hell, I love you like the brother I always wanted and never had in Rodolphus. I am sorry if you think I betrayed you. That was not my intent.”
He finally headed to the door and covered his face with his right hand to shield the floor from the dripping blood and to stem the flow of hot tears that had sprung to his eyes. “Prewett contacted me at the outset, Danny. I had no desire to know what I learned and if I could erase this memory without tampering with my mind, I would. Maybe you would not have had the same reaction as I did but I had to know the truth. Now I do and everyone hates me for my curiosity. Living in denial is not easy to do and neither is rationalizing my future path. Maybe someday you will understand that my rationale to meet with him was not wholly for my own sake but mainly to inform the Dark Lord so He could act as He saw fit.” Opening the door, he looked back at Ally, “I am sorry. Please let me know if you need anything at all.” Stepping through the exit, he quietly closed it and apparated away.
While Rabastan stood there and spoke openly, trying to explain his actions in a way that would tug at the heart strings of any normal individual, Danny dropped his head down and rolled his eyes at the floor. "Just get out," he muttered softly and only loud enough so that Ally could hear him. As Lestange went on, he decided it would be best to just ignore the bastard and looked up at Ally once again. Absentmindedly he placed his large hand over hers and gently thumbed the back of it. When his former best mate finally left, he squeezed her hand and asked, "what can I get you?"
It was clear that the other man's words never entered Danny's head. They never entered one ear, let alone escape the other. All he heard was a familiar voice that now annoyed the fuck out of him.
And then it was all over. Alecto was stuck on the couch like a bloody invalid as Rabbit left, his apology still hanging in the air. Danny's hand was on hers, and she vaguely heard him ask if she needed anything. It was then that the shaking became more violent, and was accompanied by hot tears streaming down her face. She shook her head as the sobs continued. "Not like this... this isn't right!" They had practically grown up together, and were almost as close to her as Amycus. It couldn't end like this because of a mistake, a horrible mistake, yes, but still, a mistake nonetheless. Alecto curled her knees up to her chest like a small child, and said, "I just want to go to sleep."
Danny didn't say anything. His eyes glanced over her face and he could see the tears threatening to fall. He stood by his actions regardless of Ally's protests. "C'mon then," was all he said, saying anything more would hurt his jaw further. He scooped her into her strong arms and stood up. He winced at the pain that suddenly rocked his right side, his ribs aching under the added weight that was placed upon them. Ignoring both the throbbing jabs of soreness in his jaw and the radiating swells of pain on his ribs, he held Ally tightly in his arms and carried her upstairs into his room.