Noyade | Rabastan Lestrange [2] ✔︎

22 | A HAND TO HOLD

It took the twins a matter of minutes to agree silently that they couldn't let Rabastan stay at the party at his current level of intoxication. Phoenix had no idea what he had been drinking, but the way he was slurring and stumbling while repeating half-hearted insults, interrupted by cold laughs, towards his parents, the way they were forced to live their lives and sometimes even the Dark Lord was rather alarming.

With a nod in her direction, Regulus grabbed his best friend's arm and leaned towards Phoenix to whisper, "Go find Jack, he'll know what to do. I'll take him up to my room."

He didn't even wait for her answer before pulling Rabastan, who heavily protested, towards the stairs. Phoenix watched them for a split second, frowning at the sight of the blonde boy leaning against her brother. This wasn't like him. He had once told her that control mattered a great deal to him, but now he was letting go of every single string in his hand. What was going on with him?

She started to squeeze herself through the spaces between groups of people, of whom only very few had watched the scene, but locating Jack was rather hard, as she couldn't see far due to being rather short – even with the heels her mother had made her wear. When she finally found him he wasn't talking to Rodolphus anymore. Not having to explain to the older Lestrange what was going on with his little brother gave her one less thing to worry about. However, he was talking to Phoenix' cousin Narzissa and her husband Lucius, which meant that she couldn't just openly tell Jack what needed his help with.

After a moment of consideration Phoenix took a deep breath and walked over to them, offering the couple a sweet smile and slipping her hand into Jack's. It obviously startled him, as he turned to her in the middle of his sentence and forgot to finish it. She didn't pay it too much attention and instead asked Narzissa and Lucius, "I'm sorry, but may I borrow him for a little while?"

"Of course," Lucius, a young man about Jack's age, agreed instantly, while Narzissa simply nodded with a smile. "It was great meeting you again, Jack."

"Likewise, I'm sure we'll see each other again before the evening is over," Jack, who seemed to have found his voice again, answered.

Phoenix thanked them politely and led her fiancé through the crowd, her smile turning into a grimace as they drew closer to the stairs. When they reached it and Phoenix stepped onto the first step, Jack suddenly pulled her to a stop, "Phoenix, what in Merlin's name is going on?"

"I need your help. Please, just trust me," Phoenix pleaded and took another step, gesturing him to follow.

He gave her a weird look, but followed her wishes, remarking, "You're acting strange."

"I know, but there's something going on with Rabastan and Reg and I don't really know how to handle it," she informed him.

She pushed the door to her brother's room open and heard Jack mumble behind her, "What did he do now?"

The room was empty, but they soon located them to be in the bathroom, as they heard something break. Phoenix' eyes met Jack's and he instantly walked over and pulled the door open, disappearing inside. Reluctantly she followed. She was met with the sight of Rabastan sitting in the shower, his legs pulled towards his chest with bloody hands and water soaking his clothes. Regulus was kneeling in front of him, but out of reach of the water, his head buried in his hands.

"What happened?" Jack asked, taking off his shoes and socks.

Regulus looked up and repeated what he had told Phoenix, finishing by, "When I got him here he got totally mad, repeating that he wanted to talk to my sister and when I wouldn't let him, he started to throw things at me and hit the walls. Then he just collapsed down the wall."