RP: Caught in the Middle

[shh_orla]

Date: 5 December 2007
Characters: Orla Quirke, Ron Weasley, Rabastan Lestrange
Location: Quirky Thoughts
Status: Private
Summary: The day of the promised mediation arrives, and with it, some anxieties.
Completion: INComplete

Orla had spent the remainder of the week cleaning up, fielding owls about the women's group, and generally trying to avoid worrying

Comments

[shh_rabastan]

Rabastan preceded Ron into the room, once again conscious of the fact that the young man would likely be uncomfortable showing Rabastan his back. "Thank you for your time, Miss Quirke." Rabastan un-shouldered his messenger bag and sat it on the sofa by Orla then deliberately crossed to the chair furthest away from his bag before he removed his muggle overcoat and sat.

"I thought that perhaps Ron would feel more comfortable if I was unarmed. Yin and Ya... my wands are in my bag. If you will be so good as to be in charge of the bag for me, Miss Quirke?" Rabastan grinned at her, "If I feel you are being biased, I have no difficulty simply telling you so. I do not, however, believe that would be any reason to stop as long as Ron is willing to continue. It is rare that I meet with someone free of preconceived opinions or the willingness to allow that things may not be what they appear." Rabastan cocked his head and regarded her curiously as she said he was valued as a friend. He had honestly had no idea she did more than tolerate him. "Agreed."

[shh_ron]

Lestrange suddenly showed up, in a flash of Apparition, on the pavement in front of Orla's porch. Ron scowled; the man had a flair for the dramatic, for sure. Acknowledging Lestrange's presence with a jut of his chin, he followed the others into the house. Orla led them into her front room, where they sat down in chairs arranged in a triangle.

"My wand's in my coat pocket," he said, "and I'll keep my hands visible." When she said to keep thing civil, Ron pursed his lips. "I'll try."

His stomach was flopping up and down nervously. This was probably going to be the longest hour (or two -- he hoped not more) of his life.

[shh_orla]

"Alright." She took a deep breath. "Ron, if you can try and detail what your grievance is with Rabastan as calmly as possible, we can go from there. Go as far back as you need. Rabastan and I will listen quietly." She gave Rabastan a look. Quiet wasn't always his forte. Still, he'd not taken her initial ignorance so seriously as to never speak to her again, or make her life difficult, so she figured his newsworthy self she'd read about was closer to his real self than the person most wizards assumed him to be.

[shh_ron]

"My grievance with Rabastan?" Ron was afraid he would boil over if he looked at Lestrange, so he glared into the space between his and Orla's chairs. "My grievance is that he's a Death Eater and he was in on torturing Neville Longbottom's parents. Because of him and his brother and sister-in-law" -- Ron almost spat when he thought of Bellatrix Lestrange -- "Frank and Alice Longbottom went insane and Neville basically lost his parents when he was a baby. Yeah, he got caught, and he went to Azkaban, and then he escaped about 10 years ago. So he's a Death Eater and a torturer and who know, he might be a murderer too. Dunno what else he did before he tossed those Crucios at the Longbottoms."

Finally taking a breath, Ron looked at Orla. "That's basically it in a nutshell."

[shh_rabastan]

Rabastan fixed him with a stare. "I was a Death Eater, yes. Not that I was given any other choice if I wanted to keep my brother alive. However it was my choice to sacrifice my personal principles for the life of my sole remaining family member after Bella murdered my parents for refusing to join her master and attempting to get Rodolphus away."

He sighed, "You are right. It is because of me that Frank and Alice Longbottom were driven insane instead of being killed outright. However the only person who can tell me that I was wrong to keep them from being killed so that they at least had a chance of being healed is Neville Longbottom. I am done hearing holier-than-thou arguments about how it would have been better to let them die, therefore I suggest you do not attempt it." Rabastan's tattoo on his ankle flared when the young man accused him of being a torturer and murderer. "I have never tortured anyone on either side and I have never taken another life." He looked at Ron coldly, "I doubt you can say the same." He took a deep breath, "That was unfair of me. Deliberating bringing harm to another human being is my own choice. Whatever you have decided for yourself, it is not my place to question, especially as I believe it is to you and your friends that I owe my freedom from that meglomanical madman and my demented sister-in-law."

Rabastan looked at him, "What do you want to know about Frank and Alice?"

[shh_ron]

Ron pursed his lips as Lestrange launched into a justification of his actions. So Bellatrix had murdered her own in-laws; given what Ron knew of the witch, this bit of news didn't surprise him. When Lestrange accused him of being 'holier than thou' Ron gritted his teeth. Rabastan Lestrange knew nothing about what Ron had had to do to help Harry find the Horcruxes and rid the world of Voldemort, and Ron didn't like being accused of anything like that.

"So let me get a few things straight," he began. "You joined the Death Eaters because Bellatrix had killed your parents and threatened to kill your brother if you didn't join. So she threatened to kill her own husband..." Ron shook his head; this sounded too insane even for Bella, who'd been a madwoman. "You're mental if you think I think the Longbottoms should have been killed. That's disgusting. But whether they're dead or 'just' pushed to madness, Neville's still had no parents the past 24 years. As for what I've done, I did what I had to do to stay alive. I never tortured anyone. I did kill someone, near the end of the war, but he was one of Voldemort's henchmen and it was in self-defence, in battle."

Ron stared at the other man for a moment. "What do I want to know? I want to know why they were tortured, and why you let it happen. You're saying you didn't torture them yourself. Could you have stopped it? Why didn't you?"

[shh_rabastan]

"Yes, you have it straight. My sister-in-law had not always been that... evil but the Dark Mark is not a benign piece of magic. I believe it pushed her over the edge of sanity long before Azkaban completed the job." Rabastan nodded, "Thank you for that. You are the first Gryffindor I have encountered that agrees with me that allowing them to die would have been wrong." Rabastan held up a hand, "Please, I am not asking you to justify yourself or your choices. Many people made decisions based on what they felt was best at the time. I am willing to accept that you were one."

Rabastan considered where to start. "Why is because Bellatrix was insanely intent on trying to learn where her master was, as she firmly believed Voldemort was not dead. Of course she was right, but I didn't believe her. She thought that Frank Longbottom and possibly Alice Longbottom knew where he might be. I am not sure if she saw the wife as having information herself or merely as being a source to get information from husband. I cannot even say for sure if it mattered to Bellatrix. That is the answer to your question regarding why she went after them."

"Why I let it happen is more complicated. When I failed to stop her from leaving to go after the Longbottoms, I decided that it would be best to go along to see to my brother's safety and to hopefully find a way to prevent their deaths. Bellatrix was not known for leaving her victims alive." Rabastan scrubbed along his scar. It did not hurt, but it had become so much habit over the years for it to hurt when discussing Voldemort that he did not notice the motion. "It seemed rather better at the time to try to save the Longbottoms' lives in the hope that they could be healed than allow Bellatrix to follow her typical pattern which would have been a spot of torture followed by killing them both." He looked at him, "Could I have stopped it? If I had not have been there, they would have been killed. If I had not been there though, it is doubtful that they would have suffered as much as they did before being killed. I have pondered the question of what I could have done differently more times than you can possibly imagine but I have no better answer than that I did what I felt was best to keep everyone alive and to get Frank and Alice Longbottom medical attention as quickly as possible."

[shh_ron]

Leaning back in his chair, arms crossed over his chest, one foot crossed over the other knee, Ron listened to Rabastan Lestrange's lengthy explanation of what happened the night Frank and Alice Longbottom were tortured into insanity. Ron had spent years associating the name Lestrange with pure evil; he'd dealt with Bellatrix herself so he knew how completely evil she was, and he'd assumed that her husband and brother-in-law, both sent with her to Azkaban, were equally responsible and equally bad to the core. Now, years later, one of actors in that ugly scene was telling him that much of what he'd believed about that night was wrong. When Rabastan talked about Bellatrix, he rubbed one hand down a long scar that started on his face and ran down his neck; Ron had a few battle scars himself and wondered how Rabastan had got this particular scar. Considering the company the other man had kept, Ron assumed it had come at a hefty price. Still, Ron wondered if there was more Rabastan could have done.

"That's quite an explanation," he said finally. "Your lovely sister-in-law is very dead, so I reckon she can't back you up on it. What about your brother? Any chance he could verify your story?"

[shh_rabastan]

"Trust me, you would not wish to ask Bellatrix anything if you could avoid it." Rabastan looked at Ron, "My brother is very ill, Ron, and even if he was not, would you take his word for it? If you will not take mine, somehow I doubt you would accept him any better. Although Rodolphus does have the added credibility of giving the Aurors information after his capture and his wife's attempt at murdering him in prison under Voldemort's orders."

Rabastan sighed, "It does not signify much whether you believe me or not. There are any number of things I was present for that I wish I had not been. I have stunned, immobilized and incarcerated more than my share on both sides of the conflict to prevent bloodshed. And I have also failed on occasion to be fast enough, clever enough, or ruthless enough to prevent lives from being lost, but I never gave up trying. The only thing I can say is that if there had been a way to spare the Longbottoms that would not have resulted in anyone being killed except myself, I would not have hesitated to take it."

He sat quietly for a moment, "I was willing to send my own brother to Azkaban and risk being sent there myself to help them. I am the one that alerted the Aurors, Ron. It was the best idea I had at the time. If you can think of any other way I could have gotten everyone out of that alive, I would love to hear it because believe me, the question has kept me up more nights than I can count."

[shh_ron]

The fact that Rodolphus Lestrange gave information to the Aurors took Ron by surprise. He knew some people would say anything to try to avoid Azkaban, but knowing what he knew about Bellatrix, he didn't think the Aurors would have been surprised either about her attempt on her husband's life. As for Rabastan, he seemed to have a fair amount of remorse for the way things had played out, especially regarding the Longbottoms. Of course, it might just be an act. Apparently he was a friend of Orla's too; maybe she could weigh his statements and tease out the truth from the lies.

"Actually, I'm not much on bright ideas, for myself or anyone else," Ron admitted. "I was sort of wondering what Orla thinks about all this." He turned toward Orla. "You've been my friend for a couple of months. Then I found out last week, you're his friend too. You've heard this story from him before, I take it. What did you think?"

[shh_orla]

Orla had been following the conversation, relieved beyond words that they were able to stay calm, and just talk things out. When Ron turned to her, she was fairly ready to answer.

"Well, when I first heard from Rabastan at the beginning of summer, I was really wary of him, from what I had read, sporadically, in the papers, and what others had said of him. We talked a bit, in fact." She gave Rabastan a cautious look. "About a concern he had for a third party, and how he wanted to try and speak to Neville, set things right. I've wanted to talk to Neville myself, see how he's been since learning all this, but he's out of town as often as he's in it."

She sighed. "I think that if anything the war should teach us, is everyone needs a chance to start over. Since coming to Stoatshead, I know I got a fresh start. And you did too, Ron, with Lavender." She looked at Rabastan. "I don't see any reason why he couldn't do the same."

[shh_ron]

So Rabastan had come to talk with Orla months ago about Neville's parents, and Orla had said nothing to Ron about it. For a few seconds Ron was angry, until he remembered that Orla's work required her to keep secrets; she wasn't allowed to talk about what anyone told her in confidence without their permission. He figured it wasn't something like the Alogios spell that he and Harry and Hermione used on the Order members when they were debriefed about the trio's travels. It was probably just Orla being conscientious about her clients' privacy; if he'd thought she was going to blab about his nightmares he wouldn't have come to talk with her to begin with. Now Ron could see that Orla had kept Rabastan's confidence just as she'd kept his own. But he still needed to know a few things, and he had a few things to tell Rabastan too.

"So Orla, you're saying that Rabastan has told Neville about what happened to his parents?" he asked. "And how did Neville take it? I hardly ever seen him myself, and I sure as hell didn't know he knew anything about this."

[shh_rabastan]

Rabastan fought the urge to cross his arms but could not help raising an eyebrow. "Excuse me, I am sitting right here, you know." If there was amusement in his voice he felt it was faint enough that people who were not close to him would not be able to tell he found their discussion of him as if he was not there entertaining. This was not a time for levity. "I believe that Miss Quirke has misstated my motivation. As much as I would dearly love to 'set things right' as she said, the only way to do that is to turn back time and find a way to prevent Bellatrix from ever having the idea of seeking out Frank and Alice Longbottom for information. Setting things right for him is never going to be an option, unfortunately."

Deciding he might as well explain fully, he looked at Ron and continued. "I asked Miss Quirke for her professional opinion on whether or not writing Neville Longbottom would help or hurt him. I have no idea what I would say aside from offering my sympathies, apologizing, and most probably offering him a clear shot at me if he would like to take it. However I felt there was a very real possibility that hearing from me might reopen old wounds and make things harder for the young man. That was the last thing I wanted, which is why I did not wish to attempt it without having a fairly clear idea how it might impact Mr. Longbottom emotionally. I have still not contacted him. He is your friend, Ron. What do you think? Should an apology be attempted or not?"

[shh_ron]

Rabastan's comment made Ron look in his direction. "I know you're sitting there. I want to know what Orla thinks." He paused a moment, deciding what to say next. "I've known Orla since April. I started out as one of her clients - one of her patients. She helped me work through some really bad nightmares I was having. And actually, you're the reason I started coming to see her. I didn't know who you were when I met you at Cedric's sweat. But I saw you again at Slughorn's party a couple weeks later, and I heard your full name, and that same night I had a horrible nightmare. When I came to see Orla at the end of April, she asked if he knew what had triggered my first nightmare and I told her it must've been when I found out who you were at that party." He looked at the other man carefully. "At least you weren't in any of my nightmares."

He listened as Rabastan explained how he came to meet Orla. "I've known Neville since we were 11 years old," Ron explained. "He's a Gryffindor too and we shared a dormitory room for six years. I can tell you a few things about him and maybe you can draw your own conclusions. When his parents went to St. Mungo's, his dad's mother took him in and raised him. From the way Neville used to talk, his gran went on and on about how brave his parents were and how she wished he was more like them. But I don't think she was able to give him any answers about what happened to his mum and dad. He's been through a lot, but I think it's made him stronger than most people. Like you say, you can't change what happened, but maybe he'd want to know what you told me."

[shh_orla]

"I think he's genuine in his desire to help. In all the months since we met, I've yet to see him harm anyone, or look interested in causing harm." She looked at Ron, trying to will him into a more accepting state of mind.

A bit surprised that Ron revealed his nightmares, Orla added, "I can't say for sure it was due to you in particular, Rabastan, only that you represent something to Ron that uprooted some distress. Frankly, I don't know that it wouldn't have come out eventually from this sweat lodge you're talking about anyway. Its entirely possible your presence wasn't a trigger. In any case, its my professional opinion, Ron, that those nightmares did you some good. They pushed you to address certain issues that you wouldn't have faced, and gain a sense of closure." She thought it vague enough to not indicate the nightmare's nature, or what Ron had needed to face, namely the death of his father.

She looked at Rabastan. "The restitution you would offer Neville is the only way you could make things right, Rabastan. By your own admission, you saw no other way, and given the time constraints you had in making a decision to try to spare their lives, it was the right decision. Not the easiest. And its also in the past." She looked at them both. "Which will continue to affect both of you, but there's no reason that you can't learn from it."