Verus

five

Fair warning, lots of cuts in this chapter! A few more characters are coming into play here, one of which you'll have met in a previous chapter who went unnamed. I'm trying hard not to give away too many details just yet, but I think if you've dived too deep into the fandom then you'll probably be able to make sense of what's happening!

Tried to involve a lot of the canon facts too but the timeline has been altered and a few things have been changed to better suit the story, still I hope you enjoy the update! Thank you to all of you reading!(:

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Late-Summer 1990, Wiltshire, England.

The marbled tiles, which lined the manor floors, sparkled under the afternoon's setting sun. Its light shone through the thinly veiled drapes in the parlour and hit the crystal chandelier at a precise angle, spilling an array of designs further out across the room. The sight would have almost been entrancing, if not for his ever-racing mind.

It had only been a few short weeks since they'd first arrived, but still, things were moving far too slowly for his liking. Everything needed to be set in motion, and soon, but 'patience' was a term he'd heard too much of lately. So much so, that he had come to despise the word and the many phrases it had to offer, even when it slipped from that of his Lord's lips.

"Rabastan." Called out a monotone voice.

Rabastan Lestrange turned on his heel, away from the parlour's patio doors, to acknowledge the fair haired man that strolled effortlessly into the room, his robes billowing.

"Lucius! I think I only just missed you this morning. Did you have an early start at the ministry, or were you simply hoping to avoid me?" Rabastan said by way of greeting, he grinned and walked over to perch against the back of one of the many patterned sofas Lucius Malfoy's wife, Narcissa, was so overly fond of- this one was a family heirloom of sorts, but everything with the Black's was a sodding endowment, even the cupboards in which they held their skeletons.

Lucius scowled- he'd always been such a petty thing- before he finally sniffed in contempt and continued on as though Rabastan hadn't spoken at all. "The Dark Lord has been calling for you- something about a visitor."

Rabastan blinked, but that was the only thing that gave away his sudden confusion, before he pushed himself back into a standing position and closed the distance between himself and his former classmate.

"A visitor?"

The blond hummed through pursed lips and Rabastan watched as the man swiped away a speck of imaginary dirt that lined his regal looking robes.

"It would seem as though we now have a rat within our midsts. One, I presumed was long since dead."

Rabastan narrowed his eyes, his mind reeling, then nodded once at Lucius before he headed out of the room, hands clasped tightly behind his back to keep himself from hurrying through the manor halls like a petulant child.

A rat, Lucius had called them. But there was only one rat Rabastan knew of, and if it truly was whom he believed it to be, then the rodent better have called on every and any deity this side of the hemisphere because when Rabastan caught sight of the little turncoat-

He swept into the largest room the manor had to offer, bar the library which took up the entirety of the third floor, and stilled in his step just as an almighty rage welled in his chest. He couldn't quite control the deranged smile that inched its way across his lips at the very sight that had been presented to him.

Before he even knew what was happening, Rabastan had slipped his wand from its holster and levelled it at the creature who cowered before his almighty master. A whisper coated his tongue, sweet but thick, and bypassed his lips.