(no subject)
Title: Watch the World Burn
Author: Vickie
Summary: He saved her from her own fate and sealed his own.
Warnings: Lemons, Violence, Minor Character Death
Rating: NC17
No sounds could be heard coming from the hallways, which surprised Rabastan. By now Death Eaters would have been torturing and killing everyone within in the hotel and their screams would have been echoing off the walls and through the halls.
Rabastan tightened his hold on his wand as he saw the hotel room door thrown open. He flung a hex at the first person who entered the room, not caring who it was. He saw the person go down and fired another hex towards the door. Rabastan was firing blind; he had no idea how many there were or what skills they possessed but he knew he was outnumbered and caged in. Still he cast hex after hex towards the door, each one becoming more vicious.
Hermione crouched down behind Rabastan and watched the fight. Part of her was screaming for her to get up and fight but the smarter part of her told her to stay down. She knew that, without a wand, she was useless in a Wizarding battle - she wouldn’t use the word duel because what she was witnessing could never be described as a duel. It was a fight, plain and simple.
Hermione saw Rabastan block a stunner and throw a hex back of his own. She wondered when the Death Eaters started using stunners. From her position Hermione saw two dark haired wizards throw curses at Rabastan, he blocked the first one, but the second one hit him. He cried out in pain as the bone-breaking curse connected with his arm. Hermione saw the wizard who had sent it aim his wand at Rabastan again. Recognizing him, she jumped to her feet and cried out, "Sirius, no!"
The sound of Hermione’s voice stopped Sirius from sending his second curse at the injured wizard. He ran his eyes over the young witch checking her for any sign of injury, "Are you okay Hermione?" he asked.
"I’m fine, Sirius. He didn’t hurt me," she answered.
"I’m fine too, Black, in case you were wondering. I just seem to have a broken arm," Rabastan said.
"You’re lucky that’s all you’ve got, you Death Eater scum," Ron said as he came busting through the door and he made his way over to Hermione.
"You wound me, Mr. Weasley. Insulting a man while he’s down is such a Slytherin thing to do."
"Rabastan, stop it," Hermione told him.
"As you wish, my dear," he replied smirking at Ron, trying to rattle the red head.
"Hermione, are you sure you’re okay?" Sirius asked looking her over carefully, unsure of what to make of the familiarity between her and Rabastan.
"Yeah, Hermione, you should see a healer. We can take you to St Mungo’s," Ron added.
"I’m fine, Ron; I don’t need to go to St Mungo’s. I’m sure Madam Pomfrey will be waiting at headquarters to check me over, in any case," Hermione said. "She should look at Rabastan's arm, too; it will need to be properly healed."
"You can’t be serious."
"Sirius, don’t," Hermione said as she pointed a finger at him stopping him from answering with his usual joke. Sirius winked at her and bit his lip playfully. "And yes, Ron, I was being serious."
"But he’s a Death Eater," Ron argued.
"That doesn’t change the fact that he needs medical attention," Hermione replied. "What would you suggest we do then?"
"Turn him over to the Ministry," Ron answered. "They can fix his arm then send him back to Azkaban where he belongs."
"Really, Ronald. Voldemort is in control of the Ministry. Do you believe for one second that he would leave Rabastan to rot in Azkaban?" Hermione asked.
"He kidnapped you Hermione. He belongs in Azkaban."
"He didn’t kidnap me. Rodolphus was the one who attacked me. Rabastan actually saved me," Hermione explained shocking them. "He attacked the other Death Eaters. He never touched me and he hasn’t harmed me in any way. For the last few days, he has been taking care of me. If you turn him over to the Ministry, Voldemort will torture him before killing him"
"Maybe that’s what he deserves," Ron mumbled.
"Maybe but are you the one to decide that? Are any of us?" Hermione asked, "If we turn him over to the Ministry knowing full well he will be killed, then we are no better than them."
"Whatever we decide to do, here is not the place to decide it," Kingsley Shacklebolt said, speaking for the first time, "we will take him with us to headquarters, have Poppy fix his arm and we can talk with Dumbledore about it."
"Headquarters is under the Fidelius Charm. We can’t just take him there," Ron argued.
"I am aware of that, Mr. Weasley," Kingsley said. "I will get in touch with the secret keeper. I think we will be having an Order meeting tonight." He took a deep breath and continued, "Sirius, please escort Mr. Lestrange. I will follow behind. Hermione, are you okay to travel by yourself?"
"I don’t have my wand, Kingsley," she answered, "and I’m not really dressed for Muggle transportation."
"I will take you by Side-Along."
"Thank you."
"Tonks and Remus are taking care of the Muggles and will meet us back at headquarters," he informed them, "Sirius, you and Mr. Lestrange first."
Hermione watched as Rabastan and Sirius disappeared with a pop, then took Kingsley’s right arm and smiled at him. Seeing that she was ready, Kingsley Apparated both of them out of the hotel. They landed on the stoop of Grimmauld Place and Kingsley opened the door for Hermione, allowing her to enter first. She was barely through the front door before she was encased in a bone-crushing hug, courtesy of Molly Weasley.
"Hermione dear, are you okay?" she asked, "Did that awful man hurt you? He deserves to be locked up in Azkaban."
"Not according to Hermione," Ron told his mother as he came through the front door.
Hermione glared at Ron, "I am fine, Mrs. Weasley. Rabastan didn’t hurt me in the slightest. In fact it was he who saved me but I am sure we will be discussing all this at the Order Meeting."
"Are you sure you’re up to attending an Order meeting dear?" Molly asked, "I’m sure Albus wouldn’t mind if you miss it, especially after everything that’s happened."
"I’m sure, Mrs. Weasley. I believe I will be needed at the meeting to inform everyone what happened to me," Hermione told her. "Now if you will excuse me I would like to go and get dressed and maybe get something to eat."
"Of course, dear. I will fix you something to eat," Molly told her before heading towards the kitchen.
Hermione headed up the stairs to her room where she planned to take a shower and get dressed after four days of wearing nothing but a Transfigured pillowcase and a Death Eater's robe she was looking forward to wearing her own clothes again.
*~*~*
It was a tense Order of the Phoenix meeting that night; to say that the members were unhappy to have Rabastan in the house was an understatement. After Madam Pomfrey had mended his broken arm, he had been subjected to an intense interrogation, though he had refused to answer any question concerning Hermione and what had happened to her without her present, stating that it was up to her to decide if she wanted them to know what had happened.
After talking to both Hermione and Rabastan, Dumbledore had decided that the best course of action would be to allow Rabastan to attend that night’s Order meeting. He had let all the members know and had advised some of the members to stay away; until he was sure of Rabastan’s intentions, he was not going to allow him full knowledge of the Order and its members, especially his Death Eater spy, Severus Snape. As long as Voldemort believed Snape was loyal to him, he had excellent inside information; Rabastan's presence could jeopardise the spy. Alternately, Dumbledore wondered if Death Eater was playing the role of spy in the Order's midst for Voldemort.
With only the well-known members of the Order present, Dumbledore called the meeting to order and he, like everyone else, wondered what they were about to witness.
Rabastan sat at the table in the kitchen of Grimmauld Place and surveyed the other occupants of the room. He could sense their unease, fear, and hatred; they feared that his presence was just a ploy, a plan the Dark Lord had concocted to infiltrate the Order. Rabastan scoffed at the idea; the Dark Lord was many things but stupid was not one of them. He would never send someone like Rabastan as a spy for the simple reason that no one would believe it. His crimes were well known throughout the Wizarding world and no one in their right mind would implicitly believe that he would betray his master and switch sides, something he himself was having trouble believing. Then there was the underlying fear that he was telling the truth, that he really had changed sides because of Hermione Granger. They feared what it would mean for her. None of them knew the promise he had made to her in that hotel room, the promise that he would not harm her in anyway, and he had no intention of telling them. He couldn't care less about what the others thought of him. His only concern was her. He would play by their rules up until the point where Hermione was at risk, and then he would follow his own. Their hatred of him was no surprise; he knew quite a lot of them had been friends with the Longbottoms and that some of the others had attended Hogwarts with their son. He knew he would not be winning any popularity contests and that was fine by him. The only person whose opinion Rabastan cared about was sitting next to him. He looked at the young Muggleborn witch at his side; his need for her shocked even him. He had never felt what he felt for her before. He would not call the feeling love, as he had no idea what that emotion felt like.
Harry had seen Rabastan watching Hermione and he took the chance to look the man over. He, like everyone else, had heard the stories of what the Lestranges had done in the first war and, like the rest, he was disgusted. He considered Neville a good friend and to sit across from one of the people responsible for the young man's heartache left him with a foul taste in his mouth. His first thought had been to turn him over the Ministry and let them, or more accurately, let Voldemort deal with him. All that stopped him from voicing that opinion were Hermione’s pleas not to.
Harry had been beside himself when he realised that Hermione was missing and, although he'd tried not to, he had imagined the worse. He had pictured her lying on the floor, her poor body bleeding and broken as life slowly faded from her eyes. Even worse were the dreams about the horrors he was sure they were inflicting on her. One night he had woken up with the taste of bile in his mouth and Hermione’s screams ringing in his ears as she cried out for him while they raped and tortured her. When he heard that they'd located her, Harry had been the first one in line to go and get her but some of the others had objected to him being part of the rescue party. They had argued that it was likely a trap just to lure Harry out. Since it was common knowledge that he and Hermione were close, it was not beyond the realms of possibility that You-Know-Who was using Hermione simply as bait. After much fighting, Harry had finally, grudgingly agreed not to accompany them, the decision made easier when Sirius had informed everyone that he was going on the mission and anyone who objected to that could take said objection and stick it up Buckbeak's arse.
Harry remembered the shock he felt when Sirius had returned to Grimmauld Place with Rabastan Lestrange. His first thought had been that this was one of the men who hurt Hermione, his sister in all but blood, and he'd wanted to curse him - he could still feel the itch, the longing to pick up his wand and repay his friend's pain. The only thing that stopped him was Sirius’ quick explanation that Hermione was safe, Kingsley was bringing her home and she had claimed that Lestrange had actually helped her. Harry hadn’t believed his godfather at first, thinking that Sirius must have been mistaken or that Hermione was the victim of some kind of a spell that had forced her to defend him. After she'd returned, and had a chance to shower, dress and eat, Harry had spoken with her and she told Harry everything that had happened, all that she'd been through and how Rabastan had saved her.
As he'd listened to her talk, Harry came to realise that his friend had developed a crush on her dark knight and he hoped she knew what she was doing. Any relationship she might want or have with Rabastan would not be received well; while he could already hear Molly screaming about the filthy Death Eater taking advantage of Hermione, Harry would support Hermione in anything she did, like she always supported him. He knew that Molly’s dream of one big happy family was just that - a dream. He loved Luna and had no interest in Ginny and Harry knew that if Ron was honest with himself he would realise that he didn’t really love Hermione, at least not in the way he claimed he did; it was just his pride and mother making him think he did.
Watching Rabastan look at Hermione, he was at a loss about what to think. A large part wanted to keep Rabastan far away from Hermione as possible; he didn’t trust the man, and he doubted that he ever would, but he trusted her. Then there was the fact that, as much as he would like to, Harry knew he couldn’t deny that Rabastan had saved her and, looking at him, he could see that the older man was enamoured with her. He didn’t know where the attraction would take the unlikely pair but, for Hermione’s sake, Harry decided to give Rabastan the benefit of the doubt and hear him out.
Rabastan could feel the weight of a scrutinizing gaze upon him and looked up to meet the green eyes of the Boy-Who-Lived; he raised an eyebrow as they engaged in a staring contest. After spending fourteen years locked up in Azkaban, having the most evilly psychotic witch of her age for a sister-in-law, and having been tortured by the Dark Lord himself, the Death Eater wasn’t going to let some eighteen year-old boy intimate him, even if said boy was the person who had defeated the Dark Lord when he was only an infant.
Rabastan sized Harry up. Although, he'd heard the Malfoy brat rage about Harry "bloody" Potter on more than one occasion and, despite the fact that they'd fought in numerous battles on opposing sides, they had never engaged each other in combat, so this was Rabastan's first good look at him. He was probably one of the few people in the Wizarding world who hadn’t even seen a picture of the wonder child. Of course, Azkaban wasn't the best place to catch up on gossip and keep on top of the news of the day, then after his escape he had been too busy fighting the Order and being tortured by the Dark Lord to read the papers. As Rabastan stared at Harry, he had trouble understanding why the Dark Lord feared - well, feared as much he would allow himself to - the boy, not to mention why the rest of the Wizarding world idolized him. He was just a kid. Rabastan hoped that looks were deceiving and that Harry was more than just a teenaged boy because, whether it was his choice or not, Rabastan, like so many others, was placing his life in Harry's hands. There would be no way he could return to the Dark Lord and the Death Eaters; even if he wanted too, he would have be tortured and killed as a traitor. But it was not his life he was concerned about; he needed Potter to win, so Hermione could live.
Their staring contest was broken up by Dumbledore calling the meeting to order. He explained everything that had happened and why Rabastan was there, he repeated what Hermione had told him, not wanting her to have to go through the trauma of reliving her ordeal again, overlooking the fact that she was sitting in the kitchen with the rest of them. Murmurs and gasps of shock broke out when Dumbledore informed them about what Rodolphus had done, and was planning on doing to, Hermione.
Rabastan heard Sirius mutter, "I’ll kill the bastard." However, no one else did as it was drowned out by Molly’s cry of, "Oh that poor girl!"
Everyone was shocked when Hermione took over the tale as she explained how Rabastan had saved her. Rabastan couldn’t do anything but smirk at the looks of shock on their faces as Hermione told them everything he had done for her. She wrapped up the tale by explaining their time at the hotel and how he had been a perfect gentleman and never laid a finger on her.
Rabastan was happy that she didn’t know Legilimency as his thoughts regarding her were anything but gentlemanly. By the time she had finished telling the story of her rescue, most of her listeners had looks of shock on their faces. Many of them had already heard Hermione state that Rabastan had saved her but none of them had actually believed it, except for Harry. Her fellow Order members had all assumed that she was under his control somehow and he was forcing her to say that he'd treated her well. However, considering that Madam Pomfrey had examined Hermione and she'd then been questioned by Dumbledore, it was all too apparent the girl was still in control of her faculties.
"You really attacked your comrades and saved Hermione?" Remus asked, having recovering first.
"I did," Rabastan replied.
"He probably used Unforgivables on them," Ron muttered.
"Would it matter if I did?" Rabastan queried. "What they were planning to do to Hermione would have been far worse. And I would think that if anyone deserved to be hit with Unforgivable curses it would be them."
"You got that right," Sirius agreed.
"Unforgivables are not acceptable in any circumstances," Molly said.
"What would you have had me do, Mrs. Weasley? Ask them nicely not to rape Hermione," Rabastan asked, "I did what I had to do to save her. For that I am not sorry and I will not apologise."
"Give those bastards a taste of their own medicine," Sirius added.
"But, if you start using Unforgivables then you are no better than them," Molly argued.
"You forget, Mrs. Weasley, that I am one of them. Or at least I was," Rabastan countered, "I do not regret what I did. It came down between Hermione and them, and I chose Hermione."
"I think we all know what you are," Ron said snidely.
"And, I believe that is the real problem. The issue here is not how Hermione was saved or the curses used, but who it was using them. You can’t handle the fact that it wasn’t you or one of your own who rescued her. Tell me, how long did it take before you realised she was missing?"
"I don’t see what that has got to do with anything," Ron replied.
"Just answer the question."
When it became obvious that Ron was not going to answer, Molly answered instead, "We noticed right away that she hadn't returned."
"So, you started to look for her right away?"
"No we did not," Dumbledore replied. "We did notice that Miss Granger had not returned, but we believed that with the emotion of dealing with her parents that she simply needed a bit of time on her own."
"Let me see if I understand this correctly. First, you sent a Muggleborn witch out alone, and not just any Muggleborn but Hermione Granger, well-known best friend of Harry Potter, the one Lord Voldemort would most love to get his hands on. Now, you knew what she was planning on doing and how upsetting it was going to be for her, yet you still allowed her to go on her own. Now, I understand that Hermione wished to see her parents on her own and did not wish to be accompanied by some of you," Rabastan paused and glanced significantly at Ron, "but, surely it wouldn’t have been too much trouble for one of the other members to join her. Or did you not think of that? Never mind all that, however. So, when she failed to return home, you lot did nothing. You did nothing to try locating her. So while she was tied naked to a table and fearing imminent rape, you were all here playing chess and eating. It is a good thing she did not have to wait for you lot to rescue her, otherwise she would most likely still be a prisoner of the Dark Lord and wishing for death."
The harsh picture Rabastan had painted with his words silenced them all. They could not deny what they had done, or rather what they had not done. The only people who had wanted to search for Hermione right away had been Harry and Sirius, the others had foolishly believed that she had just need time to herself.
"You can condemn me for my actions if you like, but can any of you truthfully say you would have acted differently if you had walked into that room and seen your friend tied naked to that table surrounded by different men who were laughing and joking about what they were going to do to her? So, yes I used the Cruciatus Curse on more than one of them, including my own kin. In my mind, they still got off lightly."
"I don’t have a problem with what you did to them," Sirius said.
"Sirius Black, how can you say that?" Molly screeched. "Unforgivables are forbidden for a reason. There is no justification for ever using them!"
"So, you’re saying he should have let them rape me, Mrs. Weasley," Hermione asked.
"Of course not dear," Molly answered quickly. "But there are others curses he could have used."
"Maybe I should have used Sectumsempra instead." Rabastan smirked, "That’s not classed as an Unforgivable."
"You should have used a stunner," Molly informed him.
"There were five of them. By time I would have hit some of them with a stunner, one of the others would have revived the others. Given the odds and the seriousness of the situation, stunners would not have worked," Rabastan countered.
"He’s right Molly," Kingsley said. "I don’t like it either but he was outnumbered and using stunners would not have been an effective measure. The main thing is that Hermione is safe. Arguing over the measures taken to insure her safety is counterproductive."
"I have to agree with Kingsley. We cannot change what has happened and Miss Granger is now with us, and that is what is important. But I do have a question for you, Mr. Lestrange," Dumbledore said as he looked at Rabastan. "It is clear to us all that you have no problem using Unforgivables, so I must ask, do you still intend to use them?"
"That depends," Rabastan smirked, "on what you mean. If you are asking if I intend to use them randomly on strangers in the streets, then no I do not. I do not believe Hermione would approve of it," he paused and smiled at her before continuing. "However, if you are asking me whether I intend to use them to keep her safe, then the answer is yes I will."
"She doesn’t need you to protect her," Ron spat.
"Maybe not; I am sure that Hermione is more than capable of protecting herself. But, it never hurts to have someone else watching over you, just in case you are in need of help," Rabastan replied.
"And, you think you’re the person to watch over her?" Harry spoke for the first time during the meeting.
"It is why I am here," Rabastan answered truthfully. "Hermione’s wellbeing is all I care about, I place her life above my own."
"Do you expect us to believe that?" Ron snapped, growing angrier by the minute. "The whole thing is probably a set up. You just wanted to get close to the Order and Hermione was the easiest target for you."
"Whether you believe me or not is of little importance to me. My only concern is Hermione."
"Look, all this fighting is getting us nowhere," Remus said. "As much as pains us to admit it, Lestrange did save Hermione, for whatever reason."
"He just wants to get into her knickers," Ron muttered.
"I’m not the only person in the rooms who wants to," Rabastan smirked at the fuming red head.
"Rabastan, Ronald, that is enough," Hermione admonished. "I am not a prize for you two to fight over, and those types of comment are both insulting to me, not to mention inappropriate."
"My apologies, Hermione, I did not mean to insult you," Rabastan told her, holding her gaze.
"Maybe it would be best if we focused on the situation at hand," Remus suggested.
"A wise suggestion Remus," Dumbledore said taking charge of the meeting again. "What is done is done; it is what we do now that is important. We have all heard what happened to Miss Granger, and Mr. Lestrange’s role in her rescue. Given his actions, I think it is safe to say he has been branded a traitor and will now be classified as an enemy of Lord Voldemort. We cannot deny the fact that he did save Miss Granger, but the question on whether or not we can trust him has yet to be answered. The questions we have to ask ourselves are: Can we trust him? And, can he be an asset to us in our fight against Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters?"
The second Dumbledore had finished speaking pandemonium broke out in the kitchen as they all tried to talk over each other. Rabastan sat back and watched as they argued over him, thinking that it was a good thing he wasn’t easily offended. They couldn’t all agree, of course. Some thought he was both untrustworthy and had nothing to offer while others thought he was untrustworthy but had a lot to offer. The only person who both believed him and believed he had something to offer was Hermione. She was the only one willing to take a risk and give Rabastan a chance. Finally fed up with them all repeating the same thing over and over, Hermione stood up and captured Dumbledore’s attention.
"I believe Miss Granger has something to say," he said his eyes twinkling.
"Thank you Professor," she said falling back on his old title. She took a deep breath before she began to speak, "I know we all have reasons not to trust Rabastan. His past actions are certainly stacked against his favour. Now, I am not going to make excuses for things she has done long ago or recently and I am not going to say to forget the past. However I cannot ignore what he has done for me by saving me. At anytime he could have changed his mind and left me there, walked away and you would still sit here cursing him. Does he deserve a second chance? Probably not but it is usually the ones that don’t deserve them that need them the most."
"An excellent point, Miss Granger," Dumbledore said.
"We can’t trust him," Ron shouted losing his temper, "and what could he possibly offers us?"
"Are you so blinded by your fear, hatred and jealousy that you honestly can’t see all that Rabastan can offer us? He was a member of Voldemort’s inner circle up until four days ago when he saved me and he, unlike Professor Snape, was never even suspected as being a traitor or a spy. Rabastan knows more about Voldemort’s operations than anyone else here. Are you really going to let your fear and hatred stop you from learning all that you need to know?"
Silence descended over the room. As the truth of Hermione words soaked in there was no denying that Rabastan knew more about Voldemort’s operation then any of them and that Dumbledore was not going to pass up the chance to gather much-needed intelligence. After more debating, it was agreed that they would not turn Rabastan over to the Ministry of Magic and that he could stay at Grimmauld Place. Measures were taken to ensure both the safety of the Order of the Phoenix and its members, including having Rabastan take a Wizarding oath to that affect. Finally, until they knew for certain that they could trust him he wasn’t allowed to go on missions. He was, in effect, a prisoner of Grimmauld Place.
Rabastan accepted the conditions placed upon him, believing them a small price to pay to remain close to Hermione. Not all of the Order members were happy about the decision to allow him to stay in the house but, with Dumbledore, Sirius and Harry all in agreement, their objections fell on deaf ears.