Thicker than Water (Marauders Era) PART II

9 January, 1996 - Breakout

By the end of the following day, Lavinia was glad she had agreed to go to Bertie's grave with Miriam, but not at all for the reasons she'd expected. Because the morning after Lavinia had comforted Miriam, the second part of the storm came with the morning post. And it was far from pleasant.

Lavinia had barely finished paying the delivery owl before she unfolded the paper to find the front page staring at her, filled with familiar faces and topped by what she later decided was the second worst headline she'd ever seen.

Mass Breakout from Azkaban.

This of course, was unquestionably bad. For a lot of reasons, most of which were rather obvious. But it wasn't the headline or its many implications for the war that knocked the breath from Lavinia's lungs. It wasn't even the accompanying article that tried so very hard to pin the blame on Sirius. No, it was one of those nine little black and white photographs that accompanied it. Because her eyes went straight to one face and locked there. Because that face was familiar. And the name beneath it was one Lavinia had known since the very moment it had been given.

William Selwyn.

It was lucky Lavinia happened to be standing right in front of the couch when she opened the paper because at the sight of that face, that name, she didn't so much as sit down as her knees gave out from under her. Either way, she ended up dropping down on the couch with no breath in her lungs and a static sort of sound in her head, staring at that little photograph.

It barely even looked like him.

Which made sense, of course, because it had been fourteen years since he'd been locked up. And fifteen since Lavinia had seen her little brother face to face. And he had been only eighteen then. Just a boy. A child, really. And they had locked him away and now... This was a man staring out of the page at her. Full grown. And angry.

And yet, beneath the layers of grime, the hair that had grown unchecked, the scowl on his face that spoke of rage that ran all too deep... Lavinia knew, or perhaps convinced herself, that would have recognized her brother without the name beneath the picture. That she would have seen through the hate that had bred there. That she could still make out the boy she'd loved. The one who had saved her, all those years ago. The little brother she had defended for as long as she could until... well until suddenly, he had been defending her and Lavinia had... left him behind. Left him to this life. This fate.

Lavinia could practically feel her throat closing, could feel the pain and fear and guilt pressing down on her, enclosing her, making it harder and harder to breathe. She dropped the paper, bringing her hands up to cover her eyes instead, her breaths short and shaky as she tried to force herself to calm down. To think. To breathe.

This wasn't her fault. She knew that. William had made choices. Bad ones. And she knew, just as everyone else did, that he was guilty of those crimes listed beside his name in the paper. He was a Death Eater. He had hurt people. Killed them. And yet... Lavinia had never been able to shake the certainty that he hadn't deserved the life sentence he'd been given. Because he'd been a child. And though he'd technically had a choice... well. The only other option was the one Regulus had taken. And it seemed to Lavinia that it was rather unreasonable to ask someone to throw away their life as he had. To leave everyone and everything behind for what? For a fool's hope that the other side could win?

And yes, it would have been the right thing to do. The noble thing to do. The brave thing to do. But Lavinia knew better than most that not everyone in the world could be brave. And William... William hadn't been brave. He hadn't done the right thing.

But just like with Peter, Lavinia didn't know how to fully condemn him for it. Because it had been a mere handful of mistakes that had spiraled out of control and the world had told him he had to pay with his life. There had been no second chances. No mercy. And the rage she could see in those eyes staring at her out of the paper... that was the result. That was what the world's lack of kindness had made