✧CHOCOLATE FROGS✧

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 Rhea had managed to sleep an hour, but even then she hadn't managed to surface from her room. Not when she had plenty to do right now, and as she busied her hands with managing through her trunk of clothes and such—Or her textbooks organized on her shelf right beside her infirmary journal.

Madam Pomfry had certainly picked up on the girl's interest and advised her to make a habit of studying different methods of healing. So in Rhea's spare time she did exactly that, and she was going to purchase the needed textbooks for the classes.

Even if she wasn't allowed to attend, there was no harm in reading through the information. It felt like a gift to herself if anything, yet upon returning from her closet—She heard the knock at the door.

She hardly wasted a moment before smiling towards her brother, her elder brother. "Rolf, it's so good to see you!" Her excitement hadn't been met with much of the same level, but he did indeed smile back.

"I thought you were going to join us for lunch, but now I'm being called and won't be able to join tonight."
"What's tonight?" She blinked at him, and the man simply smirked.

"Great news, but I must get going. The Dark Lord waits for no wizard." He said, hardly waiting another moment to say a proper goodbye, but Rhea had taken the step forward and out into the hall. "Wait...!" She hurried after him and took his arm into her hold. "Please be careful, I've heard awful things happened if you get captured by the—"

"Oh, I have no intention of being thrown into Azkaban, my sweet sister. Nothing to worry your pretty little head about." He said, but in such a condescending voice that Rhea had felt foolish for even voicing her worry.

With Rodolphus' departure, it meant one less person at the dinner table. Which wasn't that odd, but Rhea had started to feel even iller. Honestly, she regretted not just going to lunch now, perhaps then she could manage to get the inspiration and courage to ask her parents.

"Rhea! How're you feeling...Mother said you—"
"I'm alright, I think the sleepless nights in the library finally caught up on me. Promise I'm alright." Rabastan had scanned her thoroughly before sighing in relief.

The last thing he really wanted to hear was that something was wrong with his sister, out of everything else.

"What are you up to?"
"Cleaning out my trunk and organizing my—"
"Your bookshelf?" She smiled in return to his guess. Clearly he had been bored enough to ask if she wanted any help, and she hardly had the heart to say no.

"Oh! The chocolate frogs." He bustled, and hurried towards his own room to go and fetch them. Leaving Rhea's laughter to fill the hall. Even if her eldest brother was as cold and emotionless as a stone. Rabastan still had that type of childlike joy, and she relished in the remembrance of how they were the best of friends prior to attending Hogwarts.

The lad had returned a few moments later with an arm filled with Chocolate Frogs and she shook her head in amusement. "Did mother see them?"
"Oh no, I hid them pretty well. She won't look in my Quidditch things." That was completely true, she wouldn't want to look through that bag either.

The two siblings had sat down beside her bed and picked accordingly to what they had felt had their final card. And so they had opened up the first, and Rhea rolled her eyes and as she held her hand over the enchanted frog. "Dumbledore—Merlin, I could manage a fire for the entire night off his cards." She said, rather glumly as it wasn't best to start.

But Rabastan always favored the jokes against their headmaster, or her former headmaster.

"Well, add this one too it as well—Could use it to start it." Leaving Rhea to hide her laughter behind her hand as she continued to chew. Though she hadn't been prepared to see that her brother wasn't joking and thus, the card had been disintegrated to ashes just before her.

The young Lestrange daughter knew full well if she had managed to do that while being underage, her parents would surely raise hell for receiving a letter from the ministry.

Even know she felt nervous to perform magic, but she joined in as well—Though she didn't feel as joyful about it.

"I almost forgot you're of age..." He mumbled, having hacked off a piece of the chocolate before him. "It just occurred to me that I could. That'll make things much easier. Won't it?" However her brother hadn't responded as she would've thought she would.

Instead he looked rather taken back, that reminder of her age had caused another ounce of worry to continue through him.

"Rolf came by before he left, he said there was a family matter that we needed to discuss?" She asked with a small smile, one filled with hope that he'd tell her.

If he knew, but that way he shook his head only confirmed it and she sighed.

"It's not bad. I promise you that."
"So why is it that everyone knows but me? It can't be that good either." She bit back, taking a valet breath out as she couldn't let her anger out on her brother.

He didn't deserve it.

The two continued off and shared their second card, only adding it to the ash that they've managed to create thus far. Clearly, their luck hadn't managed.

As Rhea was attempting to pry open her last one, Rabastan had caught sight of a wrinkled piece of parchment and held up the crumple. "What is this?" He questioned, and he was met instantly with his sister's attention. Though it was in a panic, which perked his own interest.

Rhea hadn't a clue what to say, he would read it regardless and she watched with anticipation of what his reaction would be. "What the bloody hell is this?" He hissed.

Not that she was any at all surprised by that reaction.

But she was surprised how much it hurt this time around.

"I got accepted into—"
"Into Saint Mungos' healing program? Since when have you thought about—"
"Forever." She responded quite quickly, having lost sight of her brother, and went directly towards her bracelet and fiddled with the chain.

"Why would you possibly want to work at the hospital?" He ushered, clear disgust written across his face as he continued to read through the crushed ink.
"Because I love healing people, is that so wrong?" She questioned, her own thoughts starting to contradict the other.

Rabastan had a similar mind to their parents, and if she wanted to take this up with her father and mother, then perhaps it would be wise to get an inside look at how they'd think.

To prepare herself.

"Rhea...You'll be working with mudbloods and half-bloods."
"But illness doesn't take that into consideration, does it?" Her question had startled him, she could tell with the way his head shot up from the paper. Leaving her shoulders to fall.

"Why?"
"Because I want to heal people, I want to heal young witches and wizards when they're sick and worried...I want to learn more about healing." He wasn't at all taken back by her striving to learn more. It was the Ravenclaw in her for goodness sakes.

"It's not like I'm doing much now as is, I feel bored already." Rabastan had bit his cheek as he wanted to voice the answer, that in the coming days she wouldn't be bored at all.

But it wasn't his place.

"This isn't the answer."
"Because it's something I actually want to do, right? Why do you think I didn't bother asking you." She said, ripping it out of his hand and stuffing it under her mattress. Her outburst had spooked him, leaving his brows to rise.

"But you applied anyway?"
"No, Madam Pomfry and Professor Flitwick had." Now the pieces were starting to get together. He remembered, faintly, but he remembered that Rhea had been in the infirmary many times when he's taken a nasty fall off his broom.

Or he'd gotten into a brutal match with his Gryffindor rivals.

Rhea would always be there, any time of day, and managing to take over for Madam Pomfry and explaining what type of potion he would take or had already.

"You worked in the infirmary?" She had indeed, there was no denying that. Though the payment hadn't much to talk about, but it was enough to have a bit to hold her over with a few textbooks this coming summer.

At least she could cherish those.

"Father is never going to allow this." Yet that wasn't exactly new news, was it? So she went back towards her chocolate frog and finally managed to open the stubborn cardboard. "Complete and utter nonsense, the Lestrange name isn't going to be demoted as a healer. It's—"

"Stupid of me to dream. You're right." She said, her eyes darting this way and that to try and stall the onset of tears.

The words hurt more than her bracelet ever could.

"Yet you're still holding on to it." She swallowed thickly, her brother catching wind that she had been reduced to tears. And he dropped his remaining chocolate and rose to his feet.

"I don't want any part in this. No sister of mine should be working in an institution like that." With that, he had finally stormed out of the room. Yet when Rhea had turned down to see that her bracelet had finally cut through her skin, she waved her wand and allowed her skin to stitch itself up.

The mere smell used had made her feel loads better, the same type of high that she received when she helped someone.

Had she told Sirius, she knew the bloke would be happy as all heaven to hear some good news for a change. He had always been the one to uplift her spirits, and yet her brother never managed to do that when it counted.

And a harsh laugh had escaped her lips as she caught sight of the final card she needed. Rowena Ravenclaw, yet the freshly graduated student didn't want to see her head of house with tears streaming down her cheeks for wanting to hold the little bit of ambition that her parents wanted her to be.

She was only blessed with wit, creativity, and intelligence. Yet nothing about her felt any of them.

Even when Rowena was smiling at her down below.

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Date Posted: 04-08-2021

Time: 6:08

Words: 1808