Noyade | Rabastan Lestrange [2] ✔︎

55 | TALES OF HAPPINESS

"How could they not tell me? For weeks I've been trying to get minimal results in my search for them in order to protect them and they don't even have the dignity to tell me that they got married and had a baby?" Phoenix exclaimed loudly, as Rabastan and her entered the drawing-room of the Lestrange Manor.

With a sceptical look, Rabastan flung himself onto one of the sofas. "Who said something about marriage?"

"Did you listen to anything they said? Anyway, that's beside the point." Phoenix glared at him.

"Now what did I do?"

Rabastan threw his hands into the air dramatically. Had the circumstances been different, Phoenix might have laughed at his antics but she was too shaken up by the news to even smile. It was like Sirius and Dawn had completely erased her from their lives. Well, at least Dawn had. She had been ready to throw a dagger at her if Sirius hadn't stopped her.

Apparently there really was no sympathising with both sides of a war.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't take this out on you." Sitting down next to him on the couch, Phoenix fixed her eyes on the coffee table. "I just wish they had told me."

Softly, Rabastan drew his arms around her torso, hugging himself to her back. "I know."

"Do you think Maureen knew? She's been closer with Dawn recently than I've been," Phoenix asked, turning to face him.

Maybe they had always been closer. The thought made her chest tighten but it was impossible to shake it as soon as it had popped up in her mind.

Rabastan simply shrugged. "I guess she might have." Seeing that Phoenix was already on the verge of getting up, he added, "But you can't go storming over to her house shaken up as you are. You won't be able to control your feelings."

"But I need to know what happened while I wasn't there," Phoenix admitted, casting her eyes downwards.

With a gentle smile, Rabastan placed a hand on her cheek and ran a finger over it. "And I won't stop you but let me prepare you a relaxing bath first. You need to calm down in order to have a proper conversation, especially if you might not like what Maureen is going to tell you."

"Okay."

Contrary to Rabastan's beliefs, taking a bath only turned Phoenix' feelings into a whirlwind of emotions. As she arrived at the Zabini's small cottage in the Scottish countryside, she was basically shaking without really being able to fix on a reason why. Since she had already been at their home countless times, Mrs Zabini didn't fuss about her sudden appearance and had told Phoenix that Maureen was up in her room. Clutching the sleeves of her blouse with her hands, Phoenix dragged herself through the corridor towards the last door which stood ajar. All the versions of how their conversation would turn out seemed to blur into one another, leaving her with no idea as to what she wanted to say.

She was losing her mind.

Hearing voices from inside Maureen's room, Phoenix decided to knock but as her fist opened the door slightly wider, her mouth fell open. She had caught a quick glimpse of a brunette boy pecking Maureen's lips. Of course, they had stepped apart when they heard her knock but that made Phoenix' shock only bigger. The young man was no other than Damian Greengrass.

Without thinking, Phoenix turned on her heel, storming down the hallway and down the stairs. She heard her friends calling after her but didn't stop. The whirlwind that was her thoughts made it impossible for her to figure out if she wanted to wait and have them explain or if she simply wanted to go home and wallow in self-pity.