Marmoris | Rabastan Lestrange [1] ✔︎

10| SHUT UP

"He stepped down, trying not to look at her,
as if she were the sun, yet he saw her,
like the sun, even without looking."

★

SEEING PHOENIX BLACK and Rabastan Lestrange together wasn't an unusual sight, considering he was her brother's best friend, but catching a glimpse of them as they strolled down between the shelves of the library while chatting lightly must have been unexpected to most people. Phoenix had always been so annoyed of Rabastan's constant teasing that she had looked like she was not very fond of him in general. However, when he had waited for her in the Common Room that morning and had walked her to the library whilst talking to her like he usually talked to her brother, she slowly started to wonder if she might enjoy his company.

Stopping suddenly, Phoenix pulled a book out of one of the shelves, brushing her fingers over its red cover. 'Angelic Runes' was indicated on it in golden writing and underneath the title there was a drawing of a symbol, which didn't look all that much different from the birthmark on her shoulder.

"I'll look through this one. Do you mind if I'll already go search for a table?" she informed Rabastan and showed the book to him. It wasn't until she stretched it out to him that she realised how heavy it actually was – just like most of the books which she had already looked through were.

"Go ahead," he replied and added with a smirk, "Angelic? So you think you're heaven-sent?"

Phoenix nudged him against his chest, forgetting for a moment who she was with and acted as if she was talking to one of her brothers instead of a boy she didn't know all that well. "Shut up."

A chuckle escaped the blonde's chest and a sparkle, which she had hardly ever seen in his blue eyes, made them twinkle as he whispered, "Never."

Phoenix rolled her eyes, but couldn't prevent herself from smiling at his comment. She felt a warm feeling flood her veins, equal to the feeling of excitement when she found a good book in a book shop. "I'll search for a table."

She headed straight for the table that she had occupied two days prior, when the whole Rabastan-problem had begun to unfold with an ink pot floating in the air.

Strangely, she didn't find herself too unhappy about his presence when he arrived only a few minutes later with a huge stack of books placed between his hands and his chin. She had only looked up for a second, but she lifted her gaze once more as the information reached her brain. She hadn't been mistaken; there were at least five books of different sizes that he casually placed onto the wooden table.

Placing her finger in the line that she was currently reading, she furrowed her eyebrows at him. "What are you up to with all these books?"

"Read them, obviously," Rabastan stated matter-of-factly and slouched into a chair, pulling a book into his lap.

"All of them?"

"Yes."

"We have about two hours left before our Care of Magical Creatures lesson starts. You'll never finish all of them."

Rabastan gave her a confident grin. "I'm a fast reader, love."

"Sure you are," Phoenix murmured, resuming her reading.

While he flicked the pages and scribbled things onto a piece of parchment, she had to reread a few paragraphs over and over again. At times she felt his gaze linger on her, which made her concentration falter, and when she didn't, she would often steal quick glances at him. Somehow it fascinated her how the boy that she had always believed to be an arrogant person, who did nothing but hex people and screw with girls' hearts, sat across from her in the library – which was already odd enough – and had his eyebrows furrowed as he concentrated on the text in front of him. Occasionally he would run a hand through his hair or play with the quill in his left hand.

Of course he had to catch her staring at him.

However, he didn't laugh about her when he did, but simply gave her a small smile before he resumed his lecture. Perhaps there was really a different person behind a mask, but why would he decide to show it to her of all people?

Phoenix audibly let the air out of her lungs, which made him look up again, before she asked, "Why are you doing this?"

"Doing what?"

"Helping me. I mean we have hardly ever had a normal conversation in the past five years and now you suddenly want to be my knight in shining armour. How does that benefit you? Where's the catch?" she questioned after placing her quill in her ink pot.

Rabastan placed his book on the table. "There is no catch. I just want to help out a friend."

"A friend? No offence, but all we share is my brother," Phoenix pointed out, suspicious about the boy's reasoning.

He adverted his eyes toward the table, his long lashed seeming to touch his tanned cheeks. "Perhaps." He placed the book he had been looking through back on the surface of the table. "However, I'm a curious person and as just that I want to figure out the riddle of your powers."

"But for what? So you can spread through the castle that I have abilities that I shouldn't have? There is no other personal benefit for you. Why should I trust you?"

"I would never to that." He repeated his previous action after quickly looking up at her. He spoke in a low voice when he answered, "Let's just say I know what it's like to feel like you don't belong."

Phoenix took in his features. A small tense went through his face at his words, but then there was no trace of it anymore. He simply looked uninterested and bored, but there wasn't a trace that he was lying either. Somehow she sensed that she could trust his words, although she had no clue how she came to that conclusion. "Would you consider me a friend, if I let you help me?"

He looked back up at her with his usual smirk. "I would consider it."

"Then maybe – but just maybe – I might consider letting you stick your nose into my business," the dark-haired girl answered with a grin.

"My non-existing heart might consider finding that a reason to be happy about."

Phoenix couldn't hold back a small laugh. "Why are you not more often like this?"

"Like what?" Rabastan answered, obviously knowing exactly what she was talking about.

She rolled her eyes. "Could you also consider to take me seriously?"

"I might consider that, if we're going to be library-partners."

"I don't think the term library-partners actually exists."

"I didn't know you had a sense of humour as entertaining as the one you obviously have, love." Rabastan chuckled. "Study group then?"

Phoenix shook her head with a silent laugh. "Let's just get back to work."