Lucinda is in the business of trading babies. (socialight) wrote in blurred_lines, @ 2009-06-25 19:08:00 |
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Entry tags: | ! [1980-06] june, lucinda greengrass (née yaxley), rabastan lestrange |
Who: Lucinda Greengrass and Rabastan Lestrange (and baby Daphne)
What: Rabbit comes by for a visit, tea and pictures, and ends up in the garden
When: 25 June, 1980
Where: Greengrass Manor, Lancaster
Status: Complete.
Rating: PG.
In the time that she had received these photo albums, Lucinda must have looked over them at least once daily, if not more. These books told the Yaxley family history in ways Lucinda knew she could hardly dictate. She could remember looking through them with awe as a child, wasting days pouring over albums, asking her Aunt Felicia questions about relatives she did not know she had; she could hardly believe that she had been included, and now these moments in Yaxley history belonged to her. Of course, such a gift had come with a great price, Ben's death, but she could not help but be grateful for them nonetheless. He had always known how much she adored these albums, probably recalled her glee when she had made the most recent one with Aunt Felicia, pasting pictures of her and Ben at school into the pages. They may not be worth anything close to the amount he left Daphne, but emotionally, they were worth more than any amount of galleons could provide. It had seemed somewhat wrong to be giving pictures away, but Lucinda had to imagine that Rabastan did not posses albums like these, and if he'd ever had pictures of him and Ben, they were likely lost or buried under something; it was what men did. Lucinda was quite certain that had Ben not been bequeathed these albums when Aunt Felicia passed, he might very well not had any pictures at all. Something inside of her told her that Ben would want Rabastan to have some tangible memories of their childhood, and so she compromised and duplicated the pictures she thought Rabastan might like, placing them neatly in a separate pile. He had been so kind to her, after all; this was the least she could do. After arranging the albums on the table in the drawing room, Lucinda walked to the bassinet in the corner of the room where Daphne was peacefully playing with her mobile. She smiled. These were the times she actually enjoyed her daughter's presence. When she could admire Daphne in peace and quiet, she was truly a lovely thing. A house elf popped in to announce Rabastan's arrival, and with no more direction than "send him in", he popped away again, leaving Lucinda to rock the bassinet until he made his presence known. "Good afternoon, Rabastan." Lucinda gave a brief, subdued smile, "It's lovely to see you again." And truthfully, it was. Rabastan was unsure of how to proceed in this situation. Of course, it was very becoming of Mrs. Greengrass's hospitality to invite him over, but he was not a stupid man. For he had his own fair share of interactions with women, and this was Ben's cousin so it was fundamentally different. Only, Rabastan couldn't quite figure out why Lucinda happened to be different. Perhaps because she was Ben's blood, or perhaps because she had a daughter and that somehow made her somewhat more vulnerable and that is what he was feeling. Perhaps. He apparated to her home, announcing his arrival to the house-elf and waited patiently to be allowed in. Rabastan made his way to Lucinda at a slow, confident pace. There was no need to seem too eager, no none at all. He greeted the sight of mother and daughter with a fleeting, but genuine smile. "Good afternoon, Lucinda. Miss Daphne. I hope I find you both well." "You do." Lucinda replied, looking back down to little Daphne, "It seems you have arrived in the aftermath of a rather long nap." This, of course, was good news, for the longer Daphne slept, the less irritable she would be, which in turn made her less likely to sob to the point where Lucinda wanted to kill her. Her frustrations with raising her daughter were not something to be seen by anyone, save perhaps her husband, and only him because he lived here. Daphne made a sort of happy gurgle as though agreeing with Lucinda's statement, and she smiled; her daughter could be loud and incredibly trying, but she was quite bright. Alerted of Mr. Lestrange's arrival, the house elves had popped into the drawing room with tea, arranging it upon the table where the albums sat, causing Lucinda to look away from her daughter and towards the noise. "Can I offer you some tea?" She gestured to the table fluidly. Rabastan nodded and peered into the bassinet and reached in to shake Daphne's tiny hand before taking the seat next to where Lucinda had been. "Tea would be nice, thanks," he said politely, eying the photo books. "I hope you haven't spent the whole day inside, looking at those. Memories are nice and I am sure the little miss will enjoy learning of her godfather, but," It couldn't be healthy, "it is such a nice day out." Pouring the tea artfully, Lucinda looked over at Rabastan with a somewhat fumbled expression. Since Ben's death she had hardly noticed the weather, let alone considered taking Daphne on a walk outside or whatever it was that the nanny did with her. Her eyes shot to the window to find, however, that he was right; it was a lovely day, and Daphne had been quite good, it might be nice to go outside with her for a short while. Looking down to the filled tea cup, she bit her lip momentarily before lightly proposing, "Well it is quite nice out. The garden has been quite beautiful these last few days. Would you like to see?" Rabastan shifted on the couch to look outside as well, but then glanced back at Lucinda. "I would like that, we could walk through the garden. I am sure that the Little Miss would enjoy that as well." And it made him feel more normal to be included in some sort of a family deal, even though this was beyond normal. He probably shouldn't be here, especially when her husband was not. "I do not have a garden at my home. Just some plants that my mother has sent me and the house-elves attend to." "Daphne does enjoy lying in the grass, the change in texture and surprise appearance of flowers and butterflies tend to send her into giggles." Lucinda mused with the briefest of smile to Rabastan before taking the few steps to lift her child from the bassinet. Most thankfully, Daphne chose not to cry when she was removed from her toy, but instead smiled at her momma, as though she was aware that she was going to be taken somewhere far more exciting than the Greengrass drawing room. "Ben did not have a garden either," She looked to Rabastan fondly, yet tinged with sadness, "my Aunt Felicia seemed to imply it was something that came when a man acquired a wife." Momentarily, she paused, still adjusting to speaking in Ben in the past tense, before smiling, "If you'll follow me." Bouncing Daphne lightly as she walked, Lucinda led Rabastan through the house and outside to the garden. Not incredibly large, but certainly not minuscule either, Lucinda was incredibly fond of her garden. It added colour to a place that was filled with so much darkness and despair; it was an asylum away from Stewart, who loathed plants possibly more than anyone she knew. "And so, here we are." "It must be fascinating for her. Learning all this new stuff I am younger than my nephew and Corbina is not too much younger than me, so I never got to experience any of that baby stuff, but it seems everyone has one now. I will be a great uncle in a matter of months and there is young master Theodore in my brother's home," Rabastan knew he was rambling, but what did one talk about with someone like Lucinda. If Ben were here there would be someone to help mediate the conversation, or even if he were alive there would be something to talk about. "I have nephews and nieces with Chloris, but," that family situation was not something he thought was proper to talk about. But who would Lucinda tell? "The girls are only five months old and the boys are pretty amazing to deal with but my sister does not believe I am a good influence on the boys." The fact that Rabastan seemed to be likening babies to the latest fashion trend made Lucinda smile, in fact the majority of his rambling had her amused. It was a bit awkward, but Lucinda had never had a problem making conversation with anyone. She tried to think of times during her adolescence when she had spent time with Ben and Rabastan together, but most that she could recall were brief. Ben and Rabastan had always seemed to be off doing...whatever it was that they did; training she supposed...or something. Thankfully, Rabastan stumbled upon a subject that posed some interest to her, so as Lucinda ventured into her garden, she looked at him somewhat skeptically. "I find that hard to believe. You are so good with Daphne and young Theodore, why would anyone think you a poor influence, especially your own sister?" It was true, he was rambling, but it was only out of a lack of anything else to say added with Chloris' antics that were weighing on his mind truly. In true fashion, Rabastan's smirk at Lucinda's response was there but vanished just as quickly. He had long mastered the mask he wore daily before he was given his Master's mask. He tried to emulate his brother in that way, but Rabastan knew it was futile trying to repress every emotion he had. "Holding sleeping or calm infants is not difficult though my gender may believe it to be, but the boys are bigger now and well, I'm not sure how to explain it without breaking my sister's confidence, but what I think she is worried about is her sons becoming soldiers for the Dark Lord," Rabastan said, trying to choose his words carefully. He knew he wasn't the most eloquent person, but he tried. "I do not see how this should be a worry, for that is why we are fighting now, so that the children of this world can grow up properly and without fear." "If you do not mind me saying so, you have more than the ability to hold an infant, Rabastan. Children have an excellent sense for safety and desire. I have seen the calmest infants, in the deepest of sleeps, be awoken into fits of tears from gently being handed from one person to another." Merlin knew it had happened to Lucinda with Daphne on more than one occasion. "You have a way with children; even Minister Nott's older girls seem quite taken with you, and while I do not personally agree with your sister's sentiments, I can not say they are unfamiliar to me; my husband and his family share many of those types of viewpoints." It was no secret the Greengrasses were not soldiers to the Dark Lord, financial supporters, yes, but actual soldiers, never. Lucinda and Stewart had lost many a ceramic or glass decoration on that very subject. "Regardless of your sister's fears, however, I still do not believe you would be a bad influence on her children, or anyone's for that matter. Influence upon on a child is judged, in my opinion, by the amount you care for them, not by how you spend your time away from them. Should we still be fighting this war when her sons are old enough to join the devoted ranks of soldiers to our cause, it would be a decision for them to make, and no one else. If they wanted to fight, whether they had interactions with you or not, I doubt your sister could truly stop them; a mother has trouble denying her children." Lucinda bounced Daphne a bit, picking a flower that she had been staring at throughout this conversation and tickling her nose with it instead. She returned her gaze to Rabastan as Daphne grabbed for the flower, occasionally giggling, "I apologise if that was incredibly forward of me. I simply do not want you to limit your interactions with children because of one person's feelings." Rabastan was definitely shocked, but not offended by Lucinda's forthrightness. What she was saying, at least about the parts of his nephews choosing their own fates when the time came, Rabastan fully agreed with. He was sure that his nephews would choose right by their family, even if he wholeheartedly did not want this war to last that long. Who knew who was going to die? And Rabastan had the good grace to duck his head at the compliment - he himself didn't think he was that great with children, the littler they were the easier they were to interact with. He smiled at Daphne's silly happiness with the flower. "She perhaps will take after her aunt and be great with flowers." "If you can believe it, my brother is better with children. I think it comes from raising Marius on his own, but he adores your cousins very much so, even if he would like to pretend otherwise." That got a slight smirk, because Rabastan loved teasing his brother, even if the man wasn't present. Of course, that was as far as he would take it in the presence of someone who was not one of his sisters or Rodolphus himself. "All of this has gotten way out of control. The needless deaths happening as if they are points to be won. I do not understand why some cannot just give in and live with what is being offered. I know it is not the life they would choose to live, but do they have to hurt others who have chosen to embrace it? It is not as if they are acting for the whole of the wizarding world, only for themselves because they cannot deal with being the losers. I truly believe that they are definitely the most selfish people ever. The rest of the world, excluding them, have fallen in line whether they like it or not." "I certainly hope so. Most unfortunately, I was not blessed with my sister-in-law's talent." It was one of the very few things, Lucinda hoped Daphne inherited from the Greengrass bloodline, but then if Daphne had to inherit anything from the Greengrass side of her family, Lucinda sincerely hoped they were all traits from Hortense. She had always thought Hortense was far more Burke than Greengrass, but truly, what was that saying anyway? If what Rabastan was saying about his sister was true, what did the Burkes hold over the Greengrasses besides a longer bloodline? After speaking so forwardly moments ago, Lucinda caught her tongue again. She had to continually remind herself that Rabastan was not Ben, and she could not be so open with her opinions, whether he agreed with them or not. Despite his close friendship with her cousin, Lucinda had never known Rabastan all too well. It seemed peculiar that it took something as awful as Ben's death to start a friendship (was that what this was?) between them, but she was never one to questions the Gods of Fate. His speech concluded, Lucinda took her time to formulate words before replying, "I could not agree more. Although it is wrong to do so, I can't help but think of all the lives that would have been saved had they simply acquiesced. What you, your family, Ben" she added sadly "fight for is a better world for wizards and witches. I do not truly see how they can not want the same." Daphne began to squirm in Lucinda's arms as she was want to do, but this time she reached her arms out to Rabastan. Lucinda smiled weakly, "It seems Daphne desires your company. Would you like to hold her?" "I believe Daphne will have many talents, she has many brave women to look up to and emulate," Rabastan said in a complimentary tone. He believed that daughters grew up to be like their mothers and sisters, but he was definitely glad that Corbina was her own person and not really like Thubana or Chloris, as much as he loved them so, Corbina was not as tiresome in her antics. Neither was Lucinda. And Lucinda was not Chloris and Rabastan should not be speaking so candidly to someone outside of his family, especially the married cousin of his close, dead friend. It was perhaps odd that Rabastan felt comfortable enough with Lucinda that he could speak so with her, but perhaps it was being so near an infant that broke down his barriers, but Rabastan did not want to credit a mere child with making him feel emotion or attachment to anything. It was just an off day. "Perhaps things will even out with the compromises from both sides, though I don't feel that taking women hostage and then giving them up quite constitutes a compromise." At the question and Daphne's wiggling, Rabastan hesitated for a moment before holding his arms out for the little girl. Just because children liked him did not mean that he felt entirely comfortable holding them when they weren't asleep. "No, and most certainly not if the women returned were handless and fingerless." Every day, Lucinda thanked Merlin that she had not been one of the hostages. She knew the only reason this had come to be was Ben's death, but she was not about to be grateful for that. She would have given herself as a hostage for weeks if it only meant that Ben would be with them again. Lucinda watched Rabastan's hesitation with the tiniest of smirks. She understood his feelings. Holding children could be terribly unsettling; she had felt it on more than one occasion. In the first few weeks after giving birth, she dreaded taking the risk that she might hold the child and then it would scream inconsolably in her ear; it had happened quite a few times, but Daphne was better, less irritable, and she had taken a nap already. Gently, she handed the child to Rabastan, placing her in his arms just so. Almost immediately, Daphne squirmed to adjust to the new holder, and for a moment it seemed as though she might cry, but thankfully, the little girl sighed and looked up to Rabastan with large blue eyes. "She enjoys being bounced." Lucinda offered helpfully, "Anything that offers the slightly change in elevation has begun to send her into fits of laughter." Children were remarkable that way; the silliest little things entertained them for hours at a time. "I can hardly imagine the atrocities they would have had to endure had we not stepped in," Rabastan said, eying Daphne carefully. Of course, their stepping in had not turned out very well. It could have been worse though, what if they had taken to killing (even more of) the women? Had they not been hasty in the first place, the vigilantes would have been taken over by now. Taking Lucinda's advice, Rabastan bounced Daphne in his arms keeping a close eye on her just in case she started not to like it. "It must feel queer to her. The slight change in movement is a lot to a small thing like this. At least she is in good spirits." "Indeed. Take poor Mireille Gibbon, for example. Merlin forbid, any more of our dear sisters, mothers, and friends, shared her fate." Lucinda shook her head regrettably and returned her gaze to Rabastan and Daphne. "I think she enjoys the spontaneity of it all. Any sort of surprise greatly amuses her." She wondered momentarily if this spoke of Daphne's future, but did not speak on it, instead, Lucinda turned her eyes to the clouds which seemed to have darkened dramatically since their arrival in the gardens. "I fear it looks like rain, perhaps it would be best to return indoors before it begins." "Everyone deserves a little spontaneity every now and then, but only when it is the good kind. Surprises should always be of the good kind, that way one can look forward to them." Rabastan didn't like changes at all, and surprises of late had not been very good, but there was no reason to deny an infant the fun she should experience before reality existed. He glanced up at the darkening sky and held Daphne a little closer so as to shield her from any offending drops of rain, though there weren't any yet. "Yes, perhaps. I do believe you had some pictures to show me?" As Rabastan held Daphne closer, almost protecting her from the would-be rain, it occurred to Lucinda that Stewart had never done anything like that. He was much more likely to hand the child to Lucinda or the nanny before protecting her himself, and while Lucinda was want to do the same, that did not even register in her mind. Instead, she wondered why she had compared Rabastan and her husband in the first place, as they were clearly completely incomparable men, but she pushed the thought aside and made her way back to the house. "I do! I came across some pictures of you and Ben during school, and throughout summers spent with our family. Some are most amusing." Taking the steps that lead them back into the manor slowly, Lucinda turned to look at Rabastan with a smile, "Once inside, I will put Daphne down, and we will take a look." "I am not sure what you're talking about. I was never a child and I am certainly never amusing," Rabastan said with a stone face with only a hint of amusement that told Lucinda he was actually joking around. Rabastan was sure he knew what sorts of photos she was talking about and while he would humour her right now, he actually never wanted those pictures to see the light of day. |