nate, if pressed for honesty, wouldn’t claim to be the neatest guy around. he was presentable enough; but he felt like he practically gleamed next to rabastan. he raised a brow at the boy and flipped an easy grin his way, a shrug following the expression like they came as a set. “ if I were a betting man, I’d say the smart money’s on … binn’s room. do I get a prize? “
❛ — just wanted to make sure i was missing it, ❜ he replied carelessly, shoving his hands into his pockets and hunching his shoulders up to his ears. ❛ — a PRIZE ? thought you said you weren’t a betting man. ❜
‘ you’d think after all these years, they’d have the elves whipped into shape. ‘ a look of disgust is displayed openly as she tosses an oddly shaped pastry to the side. ‘ – i mean, really. it isn’t as if they’ve got anything better to do than perfect their muffin making skills. ‘ she finally deems one of the muffins satisfactory, daintily grabbing it to place upon her plate.
he plucked up her discarded pastry and popped it into his mouth, watching her pick through the muffins delicately. ❛ — dunno, tastes fine to me. ❜
a familiar thorn in her side yet someone she’s almost rarely seen without , within a second her facade drops . “ i do have a permission slip from slughorn , if that’s what you’re really getting at . ” mal rolls her eyes at his words , arms instinctively cross against her chest . “ why use a book when i’m sure madam pince would love one-on-one lecture time to drone on about them ? ” she scoffs before turning back towards the ropes of the restricted section . “ perhaps it would even allow you to get another absurd rumor about what you do with staff members during alone time . you know how ignorant the student body is to believe you , ” malvolia all but hisses out , although there is no real venom behind her words . her sarcasm , however , is more than apparent . “ i would ask if you’d wish to help , but i couldn’t be so cruel enough to take you away from learning about your precious rules . ”
his eyes glinted with amusement at how quickly her facade fell, and how easily he could seemingly irritate her. ❛ — ABSURD ? you mean you don’t believe them ? ❜ he shoved his hands in his pockets and loped after her, a strange sight compared to one of merely a few years ago, when their interactions were rather more hostile. ❛ — wait, are you actually following the rules ? boring. i was only asking so i could break them. ❜ he ducked under the rope into the restricted section, glancing around aimlessly. ❛ — what are we looking for ? ❜
an undone tie, a rumpled shirt collar, under-eye shadows, and a gangly frame made up rabastan lestrange as he leaned in through the doorway, dark eyes skittering across the room and landing on the sole person within, his gaze devoid of any interest. ❛ — this where binns’s detention is ? ❜
while she can simply ask madam pince to get the book in question , it’s more fun to sneak into the restricted section herself ; she’s done it before while pince was distracted with another student . the note from slughorn tucked away in her robes just in case she really needs it , however malvolia makes it a priority to get in and out . there’s one dark arts book in particular , a copy she doesn’t have hidden within her textbooks , because apparently her father has some rules of his own when comes to his collection . lame . but before she can make it past the ropes subtly without pince realizing , she notices another lingering around . with a quiet sigh , mal straightens her posture before addressing the other . “ so , ” she begins with a silent whistle , low enough that the librarian didn’t hear her . “ what book are you looking for ? ” it’s pointless making small talk , and she doesn’t particularly care as long as it doesn’t interfere with her plan . regardless , she’s smiling , a faux sheepish grin that’s uncharacteristic at best .
rabastan lifted a shoulder in a crooked shrug, trailing his finger idly along the spines of the nearest bookshelf. he could recognize her faux innocent look a mile away. he’d seen it used on professors often enough. ❛ — now you MENTION it, i was actually looking for a book on the rules of the hogwarts library. ❜ he glanced over at her, indolent mischief sparking in his eyes as he met her gaze. ❛ — d’you know where i could learn about the rules ? specifically about the restricted section ? ❜
* ╰ benjamin wadsworth ; 17 ; he/him —— wow, rabastan lestrange sure has changed. i guess he is feeling isolated from the other ravenclaw members. guess you can’t really blame them. i still remember them being so analytical & independent, now they just seem apathetic & dishonest. guess being a pureblood isn’t helping matters much either. i’m hopeful though. they’ll be just fine.
okay so rabastan was born the second son, two months premature, scrawny and sickly. he had a whole host of different illnesses when he was a baby and was constantly ill all through his childhood
when he started hogwarts, he was considerably smaller than the other kids, and was sorted into ravenclaw instead of slytherin, separated from his brother and all his friends.
i’ll plot this out once we get a rodolphus, but i’d like to say that at least when they were little, the two brothers were close, and rodolphus was protective over rabastan. because rabastan was a runty lil quiet kid alone in a different house, rodolphus was worried he’d get picked on, and so he took it upon himself to protect his little brother. ( if this isn’t rodolphus, then it would’ve been an older cousin or friend. )
rodolphus beat up some muggleborn first year, badly enough to send him to the hospital wing with a broken nose, and spread the rumour it had been rabastan. and that was the beginning of his reputation.
there are a lot of rumours about rabastan and badass shit he gets up to, and he lets the rumours spread. it means people stay away from him, just the way he likes it.
really, the worst thing he’s ever done is skip classes to get high behind the greenhouse. but depending on who you’ve asked, he snuck into the hog’s head and drank all their firewhiskey. he fought a werewolf with his bare hands in the forbidden forest. he went to muggle prison over the summer. he’s used the crucio curse before. he hooked up with the astronomy professor in the shrieking shack.
the rumours range from scandalous to ludicrous, but rabastan doesn’t confirm or deny anything.
he also just kind of. constantly lies. mostly just small lies with no relevance at all, like telling someone he’s allergic to walnuts ( he’s not ) or that his middle name is josiah ( it’s not ). it just kinda amuses him
hates any real responsibility or hard work and avoids it like the plague. he enjoys being useless, enjoys the low expectations people put on him and his reputation of being a bit of a dirtbag
he’s actually rly fuckin smart, and loves learning, but you’d never guess it from his grades. he just does not try in class but he’s secretly a real nerd shhh. he knows multiple languages including mermish
he especially enjoys herbology ( and no not just cause he’s a pothead ). he can easily walk through the forbidden forest and point out the different species of plants, although that’s not really a talent he shows off.
if you’re close with him he’s an animated guy with a quick wit and a free spirited attitude. but if you’re not, he’s taciturn and standoffish – a good way to cover up awkwardness. spoiler alert: rab is really bad at interacting with people he doesn’t know well. small talk is not his forte
life goals ? use his family’s fortune to just fuck around, get high and travel to places where nobody knows a thing about him. he isn’t the ambitious type
introvert boi, needs his alone time
he doesn’t really care about the whole blood controversy but he also steers clear of interacting with muggleborns and blood traitors and etc. he doesn’t need that kinda drama in his life. so most people probably assume he’s prejudiced, which he doesn’t mind cause again, it means that people leave him alone
and honestly, that’s the most dangerous part of him – his apathy. he’s not actively helping the death eaters at this point but he’s also definitely not lifting a finger to help the other side. his concern about the missing people extends to mildly morbid curiosity as to what happened.
this was ridiculously rambly cause i’m tired as fuck sry please plot with me
