Noyade | Rabastan Lestrange [2] ✔︎

54 | BETRAYED

It takes time to adjust to new situations. For some it's a new school or work situation, for others it's life without a loved one. It depends on the personality of a person and the severity of the change to determine how long it will take to adjust. Sometimes it's a few hours or days and at other times it's months or years even.

Getting used to her duties as a Death Eater had taken Phoenix quite a while but she had felt how she had slowly started to enjoy the little things. She liked the admiration others held for her powers and the importance her words carried as nobody wanted to lose the girl with the special abilities from within their ranks. Finally, she wasn't the one being despised as a monster or a helpless girl anymore. With Rabastan's help, she had learned more about her powers and eventually she had started to feel proud when using them.

Still, there remained the issue of having to hunt down her brother. This she wasn't quite comfortable with just yet.

The end of August was nearing when she found herself crouching in a dark alley near the spot where she had last seen Dawn. It felt like just yesterday when Phoenix had stood in front of her best friend at the border of the Thames and asked her how her brother was. Of course, she knew where their flat had been but when she had ventured there one afternoon a few weeks before she had found Muggles living in it. Their enemies had done a good job of hiding themselves.

"Best beer in London," she heard a man's voice shout.

Every five or so minutes that same man announced specialities of his pub. Half an hour earlier he had mentioned fish and chips and Phoenix' stomach had growled loudly. Yet she still hid in the same spot. She knew Lord Voldemort was slowly getting impatient since she hadn't found out much about the order just yet and she had to show results or he'd ask somebody like Bellatrix to find them.

Suddenly somebody in dark clothing and with a dark hood over their head appeared at the end of the alley. Phoenix knew she was almost invisible in the shadows but as the person drew closer she was already about to conceal herself with her powers when she realised that she knew the person's way of moving.

"What are you doing here?" she hissed as soon as he was close enough to hear her.

If she hadn't recognised him before, Phoenix would have known it was Rabastan as he pushed back the hood of his black hoodie. His light hair appeared from underneath it along with his signature smirk. "I'm here to rescue the lady from boredom."

"I'm not bored." Phoenix stood up straight, allowing her hurting knees some rest from crouching all day. "I've been very busy until you showed up."

Rabastan's grin didn't waver as he turned around with his arms outstretched. "Oh, I can definitely see that. How many tourists have asked you for directions today?"

She knew exactly what he was playing at. A few days earlier she had complained to him how the only thing she seemed to accomplish was tourists finding their sightseeing attractions rather than finding any trace of their enemy.

When she didn't answer, Rabastan tilted his head. "I have a proposition for you. How about you continue this little spiel tomorrow and we-"

"Shh, get over here," Phoenix exclaimed, cutting him off in the middle of his sentence.

With a yank on his sleeve, she pulled him into the shadows next to her. Without having to ask, Rabastan seemed to know that she had detected movement behind him and stared intently in the same direction as she did. Three figures appeared at the end of the alley and walked towards them. One of them was rather short and plump, the one in the middle was the tallest and the last one turned out to carry something bound to her chest. It almost seemed like she was carrying a baby. Although she was sure those people couldn't be members of the order, if they allowed a baby to go on a mission with them, Phoenix cast an invisibility charm over her and Rabastan.