✧REUNITED✧

♕♕♕

◊━━━━━✥━━━━━◊

***

━━━━━▼━━━━━

━━━━━▲━━━━━

***

The Afternoon Of

It was currently 2 in the afternoon. He was late—Missing.

The clock ticked and ticked, causing an anxious sense of dread and suspicion to fill her system. Lucius mentioned that the release method is a long process and completely barbaric, but he was meant to be released at twelve and it closer to three than two now.

She fell further into the armchair that the elves pitied in bringing her, as well as a cup of tea and a book. Just as she was about to send the owl, she heard a demanding pop outside, thus having her body grow numb as he was indeed here.

This was it...

This was the moment of reuniting with her soul mate.

She burned the note in an instant and returned to her original position, flattening her dress as she wanted to attempt to look like she did back then—Back before years worth of work slowly took it out of her.

A second pop had sounded, leaving her to assume he was escorted properly, and before Aurora could really think further in terms of that possibility...The front door opened.

And the man that opened it had shut it quickly with a slam. Almost like he was hiding against it from whatever was outside, Aurora only assumed this is because there was a small peephole etched into the door.

But then he leaned his head against the wooden interior.

Sirens erupted in the back of her head, and though the man was utterly cautious and probably wanted to get away from the damned sun casting down onto him. He hadn't rightly struck Aurora with any knowledge to his surroundings just yet, Rabastan was still focused on what was outside.

"Rabastan...?" His wife whispered, but the man didn't move. Not even a flinch, and so she tried again. Only to be fired a shot at, and she groaned as it was a quick wave to direct it elsewhere, yet it still caused her to fall down rather sloppily to the floor.

This earned him a groan.

"A 'go away' would've worked just as well Lestrange, Merlin have me. Did you really bloody just fire a shot at me?!" She shouted, attempting to get back to her feet and remedy the situation. It wasn't the killing curse, she knew that, but that didn't mean she could identify it as she was too busy dodging the damn thing.

Rabastan, however, had stood in shock seeing his beautiful wife right then and there. He forgot his previous thought and rushed to her side, dropping his wand but still not daring to touch her.

If he did he was sure that she would disappear like all his dreams teased him with.

He looked deep into her eyes, looking at the purity, the silver iris' that he had grown to love. It hurt her that she was his calming factor during his time in that terrible tower, so it was her turn to be just that, she reached out to his sunken and boney ridden face.

It was a simple caressing of his cheek that caused a soft hum to escape him. "It's me love, you're back...It's over." She whispered, the only issue is that's how all the dreams would start with. But the warmth that came from her hand was burning him, yet not in a painful way. 


It brought him to a confused state as he still tried to decipher if this was a dream or reality.

He watched her eyes wander to see what was left of him. A shattered and broken man.

His clothes that were once fitter, were indeed baggy. His eyes were dark and shallow, blinking due to the fact that he wasn't acclimated to the brightness all around.

Her hands trailed down from his cheek to his neck, and smirked to see a few Alchemy symbols. Making them out to be proper reminders of his family, of her.

"Why don't we get you washed up, dressed...a-and get something to eat, yes?" She had been the breaking voice in this staring match.

His eyes had fluttered in hearing her angelic voice, as though he had almost forgotten how beautiful she sounded and appeared to be. All that she had said had completely gone over his head, not having someone to converse with who wasn't insane or hate-filled was strange. 


This distraction caused him to remain silent, and only one word had filled his head in that moment.

"R...Ror—" It was a very breathy response, scratchy, and so she aided him even further. Part of her was worried that he weighed less than she did and she grimaced as she counted down for him to know when she was going pop them into the bathroom.

She was on autopilot in attempting to get him comfortable as the man had been far too quiet. He just watched as she was waiting for the tub to soak the bubbles just a tad more before helping him strip.

There was so much he wanted to say, but the words were lost in the years that he was incarcerated. So she patiently waited for him to start with the questions.

 But seeing the entirety of his rib case caused her to flinch, she personally wished she waited for the bath until after he had gotten some food in him. But it was too late to deviate from the plan, instead she offered the tub and he hurried in, sighing in relief as the warmth was sloshing against his body at his unharmonious entrance.

His breathing was vocal in the air and it caused her to smile, though she had gotten another peek to see the tattoos that littered his body. One in specific might've been a copy of hers, minus the moon.

She continued to add oils and scrub his skin with a small cloth, yet it was the combination of what she crafted before. A potion that she slipped in the tub that would aid in making him comfortable and aid in his returning health.

It was obvious that his eyes were starting to soften, and at times he would open his mouth to speak, yet nothing came out. So it was an offered smile that encourages him to try again.

She washed his hair, offering a cut of it and the facial hair that he grew. That is when she offered up another potion, softly explaining that it would help with what he was going to be eating in a few minutes, and the mere thought of food sent his stomach in a frenzy, as well as visibly make his mouth water.

"It's soft foods, but you can eat everything in sight." She offered her hand, and he hesitatingly took it as she gave her support in stepping out of the tub into the cool air around him. Though it was soon interrupted when he felt a towel wrap around his form.

"Ah, I thought that's what I saw earlier." She smiled, and it caused him to offer a crooked one in return. Almost as though he forgot how to.

She caught one of the many tattoos that lingered on his body, but her eyes lingered to just under his ribs where a Triquetra was featured, just not in the same design or pattern.

Having allowed him to dry himself off, she went off to retrieve a pair of sweat pants and a long-sleeved shirt. It would surely be more comfortable than the get up he was in now.

And she was surely going to burn those clothes, as those were the ones he wore during the trial.

As he finally found himself dressed and in warm clothes, he stood still—almost waiting for the next order. Though Rory came closer and ran a hand through his shortened locks, she hadn't said anything then, only stepped away with her hand extended.

Of course she could've popped downstairs, but looking through the house was meant to give him some form of comfort. So she offered him the seat and waved him to go ahead and eat, but he was just staring down at his utensils in confusion.

A habit he had forgotten.

"Rabastan." The name caught his attention as he looked to his right, she started with a soft smile but then nodded down to his sole focus. "I don't care if you eat with your hands, just eat." She offered, leaving just a knife and a single fork if he so chooses. However when she offered a drumstick from the roasted chicken, he dug right in.

━━━━━▼━━━━━

━━━━━▲━━━━━

She bit on her lip as he was chewing far too quickly for him to actually taste any of the food, but she encouraged it as she continued to fill his plate up higher and higher. He needed to eat, and with the potion, it wouldn't be that much of a consequence to his body.

But when he couldn't eat another thing, she offered up the post-meal potion which he downed instantly.

He felt...Rather refreshed, especially when he gulped a warm cup of tea that was placed in front of him. Yet he shivered as his body wasn't used to all these nutrients pilling onto him.

This wasn't just stale or rotten bread and dirty water, he was eating like a king now.

However he stopped drinking the second Rory rose to her feet and gestured her wand upwards. "Nothing to worry yourself over, you focus on eating." She cooed, catching the blanket and wrapping it around his figure.

Thinking that a jumper and sweats would be enough was foolish.

"We can sit near the fire in the gazebo, get some fresh air..." His eyes danced between her and the back door that leads to the porch. It was strange for him, not being chained to the wall and given freedom of movement, or the fact that he was finally seeing colors, feeling the warmth from both the fresh air as well as his wife.

And Merlin was she still a sight, and for his sore eyes...?
It was already the first few steps of the healing process.

He blamed himself for years, he begged the guards to know if his wife was in one of these cells. And after the first two years of thinking she was, a sympathetic bastard had claimed that she was never imprisoned. 


Even then he had no clue what happened to his wife, his children. Nothing.

Everything that happened after the trial is a blank timeline.

At one point he was sectioned off in the same cell as her brother, and there were nights either of the two were contemplating on killing the other.

But for Sirius it was easier to taunt to Rabastan...Hell if there wasn't the looming dementor lurking about then they would've been at each others neck more than normal.

Her body inhaled his arm into a firm grip, it caused him to physically melt at her affection, and he hummed in delight.
"The garden has definitely seen some better days, but I've only just returned these last few days. I haven't had the time to tend to it." He hummed again, and it was getting closer to the given verbal response. So she set up the fire and opened her arms for him to lean into.

The man was scared to close his eyes for too long, to be transported back into that wretched place. But hearing her hum a song, a song that he knew all to well was a favorite among the children.

It had him suddenly jump away from his wife, causing her to shift in panic.

"C-children?" He croaked out the questioned, and she so easily put her hands onto his cheeks and explained that they're alright. That they're safe. 
But his voice still sounded scratchy, and so she ordered Daisy to make a kettle of calming tea, which would hopefully allow him to have a proper rest tonight.

Or the both of them for that matter, as she too needed a dose of that brew. 


"Ronan's here...He's with the Malfoy's at the moment. The rest are in America, they're safe." He let out a smile, a breathless and thankful expression as he nodded.

Thus extending the tears as he whispered out the single word that he could manage. "America?" She nodded, getting the long curly strings out of his face.

"It was truly a mess here Raba, everything...I—I didn't know what else to do, I had to leave...It was better for them—Us." He continued to let the tears start to track down his face, he understood.

Of course he would!

However Rabastan turned rather startled once again at the sound of an elf popping into their proximity, and she calmly rested her hand to his chest in a sense to calm down.

"Mistress...Ministry sends mail. Very important for mistress and master." The little elf seemed to be struggling with the task, which caused Aurora to come over and bend down to the floor in worry to what the mystery could possibly send at a moment like this?

Pulling the strains was she met with the most saddening thing of this evening.

Unsteady hands had picked up one of the hundreds, and it confirmed her suspicions.

Rabastan Lestrange never, not once, received a letter from his wife.

The sound of her crying caused a flare to erupt in Rabastan's heart as he turned from the sofa to look at the sight before him. He crept carefully to her side and bend down, trying to determine what it was that was making his kitten cry.

Then he understood, dozens of parcels held his name on it—His prison number.

His kitten hadn't forgotten about him. He was simply denied the letters.

"You don't know a thing, a bloody thing because the Ministry is a fucking mess. Gods, Poppy I need a piece of parchment." He watched in awe how she handled the situation, scribbling in a haste to owl her lawyer to sue for this unfairness.

"Usually I would ask you for the legal side—But my team of lawyers seemingly love an issue to bust." It was meant to uplift the mood, yet he still was caught up on the hundreds of letters that had never met his hands properly.

"It's pointless Rabastan, to the read them I mean. They were all in the moment and at that time." She mumbled, all her time and effort in giving him a summary of the children was a damned waste.

"All the children will be attending Salem—A-and the twins are going to Hogwarts in the fall." She sniffled as she broke down further, gods Rabastan didn't even know about Lorelei!

"I...I-I'm...Sorry." He croaked, and she nodded all the knowingly. The man was holding the guilt ever since he stepped foot in that courtroom to see her chained.

"I know...I know love.' She squeezed him further, rocking him a bit as she would with the children. But there was so much he still didn't know.

So she remained silent about their youngest daughter for the time being, the two were mindlessly talking, or more so her than him. He would agree, mumble incoherent words and so on.

Not long after did she put him into bed, a new pair of comfortable clothes and attempted to make everything perfect for his first night...And then it hit her, that she didn't want to leave him by his lonesome.

Thus she looked for one of her old Ravenclaw night pants and a light top before joining him, careful of the distance, but still ensuring that she was near. Yet Rabastan wanted her closer, and after a while he pulled her closer, filling in the gap as he wrapped himself around her in a protective shell.

One thing was for certain, Rory would have to up the dosage of the calming potion as the night terrors were definitely an addition to his stay in Azkaban. Yet waking up to his wife was defiantly a grand reason to return to sleep.

It confused him every time he woke up in the night that she was still beside him, that he was still in the manor.

"Raba...Darling shh, it's alright." She'd whispered, and it would settle his panic for the time being, the simple combination of her voice and touch made him find a given calmness that he hadn't felt in years. Yet it was this time throughout it that Rory was getting tired herself.

Her mind was just slipping back into her unconscious state, allowing Rabastan's attention to turn to her neck. Nuzzling her gentle before bringing his lips to her skin, gods did she smell perfect.

After years of sitting in his own filth and the filth of others, the cleanliness of the manor was a beautiful gesture. Yet right now he was thinking about something else entirely.

"Rabastan. Stop." She rolled her shoulder to stop his advancements, but she already called a celibate relationship until he saw improvement and an explanation of everything.

That and Rory wasn't on any sort of birth control.

"Apologize...Let me." His words were jumbled and hoarse, like a man who desperately needed water. But she stood her ground as she turned to see the gaunt man that was smothering himself in her back.

"That is not the type of apology I am looking for. If you want to say you're sorry I want words and improvement. I am not playing any games here Rabastan, if you continue I'll go sleep in the guest bedroom." He flinched at the tone he received, yet he couldn't hold back any longer as he placed his forehead to the spot as he began to sob.

Aurora hadn't said a word as she moved away and replaced herself so that Rabastan could cry properly into her chest. His cries were a loud mixture of words that didn't make sense, but she still gifted him a small kiss to his temple when he did manage a proper sentence.

He was sorry for all of it, for not telling her, for being away, for being distant and distracted.

"I'll admit, I hated you for a while—For leaving me with close to nothing left here but a tainted name. But I found my place in America...But there was a part of me that needed to see that you're alright." His fear had been correct, she moved on.

"I didn't—didn't know I was—being—being released." He coughed, and she sighed once again.

"And my lawyer will be hearing about that as well." Wiping his eyes did he continue on the endless path of claiming his faults, and although Rory felt her own sense of guilt, she decided that tomorrow she would try and tell him the truth of it all.

◇──◇────◇────◇──◇

Date Posted: 02-21-2020

Time: 11:00

Words: 3328

Author's Note:

Rabastan Lestrange has returned home!

I'm sorry for dragging this out for so long, but school this semester has been so stressful and I haven't been able to put as much time as I'd like into creative writing.

But I've got my favorite sweater on, my Niffler stuffie for company and a surge of creativity, so maybe I'll get somewhere tonight:)

__

QUESTIONS:

What do you think about the chapter and their reunion? 

Is Rory being fair considering all that's happened?

What do you think Rabastan's reaction will be for Lorelei...Or better yet, what do you think his reaction will be when he learns about Aidan?

😉😊

See you Monday!!💕