There wasnβt much to do from where he was sitting, his fingers drummed against the surface of the wooden desk - oak, blackened with a cheap finish that screamed mediocrity. Rasmus turned up his nose as he continued to drum his fingers, his right hand was getting tired but heβd timed it so theyβd drum for 1.5 seconds while leaving a half a second in between. In this way he was able to keep track of how much time had passed - so far the Aurors had been holding him in this interrogation room, watching him through a two-way mirror for just over six hours.
Rasmus grinned, showing his teeth as he stared dead center, certain beyond certainties that he was holding his sisterβs gaze. She was, after all, why he was here. He wondered if she knew it was her he was waiting to speak to, if it was her idea to stretch the protocol on holding time within the interrogation room from four hours to six. He broke the stare and tskβd, looking back down to his hand - did she actually think he would crack? - But of course she knew, she knew he wouldnβt break. There had been a time when she knew him better than anyone else in the world, until she betrayed him, betrayed everyone who mattered.
His eyes flickered towards the glass again as he let down his walls just enough for her to take a peak - to hear and see only what he wished for her to see.
βDo you actually think Iβll crack?β
His eyes shifted, his walls back up - his occlumency defenses told of nothing but a loyal ministry worker, an Unspeakable whoβd served dutifully for over a decade in the Department of Mysteriesβ Thought Chamber. One loyal to the Ministry, a man who was engaged - whoβd been engaged for just about as long as heβd served in the Ministry.
She wanted him to get angry, angry like he used when they were fencing - sheβd antagonize him into making a mistake, her error was thinking that now, as a man, Rasmus was about to make the same missteps he had as a child. Years of planning had brought him here, CΓ‘diz was counting on him from where she stood at Grindelwaldβs side - a place he longed to be as well, but, for now at least, his place was here.
The chains around his wrists rattled as Rasmus brought his free hand up to scratch at the scruff that was starting to come in. It was about this time he was usually heading out the door to work - clean shaven, suit perfectly pressed, everything about his image absolutely perfect. From his home to his work space, everything had its place and the elves were far too familiar with the Rowle familiesβ code for punishment Β to dare to move anything.
βAll this trouble.β Rasmus sighed as he shook his head, βover one filthy muggle.β Heβd cast the killing curse in a bomb shelter in front of a large chunk of Godricβs Hollow, although chaos had reigned as people had begun to panic - Rasmus - agitated by the pushing and shoving reacted instinctively, aggressively and had managed to catch a muggle square in the chest. Granted it was the mayor, granted it was the father of his sisterβs partner - someone she had even looked up to possibly, but that was nothing but coincidence.
It was strange how these things seemed to work out.
He and his sister hadnβt spoken in years, not since six months after she competed her Auror training and had hauled his father off to Azkaban. The trial of Raleigh Rowle had been an expedient one indeed - involved in countless crimes from organizing illegal werewolf fights, to profiteering from the exploitation of endangered magical creatures - to the use of all three unforgivable curses.
Rasmus glanced at the white scars on the back of his non-dominant hand, the words βI can do betterβ still faintly visible even today. The former Slytherin didnβt have any love for his father, but Raleigh had gifted Rasmus a birthright and Riley - Riley did not begin the Rowle name and she would not be the end of it. Not so long as Rasmus still had breath in his body, what his sister failed to realize was there was nowhere for a blood traitor to hide - not for much longer, not when Grindelwaldβs forces were about ready to beat down Franceβs doorβ¦ After that happened, England would be alone - too late to join the fight as their Ministry imploded from within.
He was bored and would not be kept waiting anymore.
βYou really shouldnβt keep me waiting, if I donβt return home every twelve hours then Godricβs Hollow willβ¦ Wellβ¦ It will cease to exist.β Rasmus stated plainly, any trace of a smile gone as to add credence to how serious he was being. It turned his stomach to think of his sister as a blood traitor, to think of her mudblood friends and their filthy halfbreed daughter in the family manor that she could now claim as her own - even though her image had long been burned from their tapestry.
Fate was a cruel mistress.
As she stood leaning against the edge of the two-way mirrorβs frame, eyes cast upon the interrogation roomβs sole inhabitant, Riley couldnβt help but feel the heft of the truth behind the old adage. She had sensed that something wasnβt right the moment they set foot in the bunker, and the unease had only crept further and further down her spine, spreading out through each and every one of her nerve endings, until sheβd found herself having to keep her arms crossed over her chest, hands firmly under the opposite arm, all in a bid to keep them still.
βIf one cannot even yield control over oneβs own appendages, how is one to be expected to hold any form of control over something as powerful as magic itself, dear?β
The taunting words echoed in her mind on a regular basis, almost as if the woman whoβd spoken them to her as a child was still firmly at her side ... and not miles away in a different country, having completely turned her back on the Ministry she worked for, the beliefs she swore to uphold, the sister she swore to protect.
βWhy does he keep staring at the same spot on the mirror?β
The sound of the hit-wizardβs voice shook her out of her thoughts. βCome again,β she said glancing back at them.
βYour brother,β they emphasized each syllable; practically spitting them, βhe keeps tapping his fingers and staring at the same spot on the mirror. Why?β
Riley bit back on the urge to claim she had no brother, instead shifting her gaze back to the man in the room. She dropped her eyes back to the arms once again crossed against her chest, thinking about the habit they both shared. The habit theyβd both developed as children during their long tutoring sessions. βHe might be trying to find a way to keep track of time while heβs in the room,β she said, her tone implying it was a lucky guess at most -though she had garnered quite the reputation for her accuracy with those. βAs for the staring, he probably thinks thereβs someone right on the other side of that spot who he can make uncomfortable,β she added offhandedly. She felt no guilt at the unnerved look that swept the hit-wizardβs face. Their antagonizing would not go unanswered.Β
It would surprise absolutely no one to find that she was not the most trusted member of the Ministry at this moment. Not that she ever had been. The name Rowle inspired many things in people, but trust was hardly ever one of them. Some even used the fact that sheβd arrested the family patriarch as reason to doubt her intentions,Β βWhat kind of daughter turns in their own father?β they had said. She was damned when she did and damned if she hadnβt. Her older sister, once an Auror herself, had defected and joined Grindelwald without anything that so much as resembled hesitation.
βDo you actually think Iβll crack?β
Riley snapped her focus back to Rasmus so fast she didnβt even become aware of the fact sheβd moved closer to the mirror until the reflection of her own eyes blurred her sight. It was a useless trap. Raleigh was never the best father, though his methods were harsh -to put it mildly- he was damn good teacher; Rasmus excelled in his position as an Unspeakable in the Thoughtβs Chamber for a reason. But the older Rowle often forgot that though their views on the subject differed now, they both still had to sit through the same lessons.
It was his actual vocalization that her instinctively clenching her fists, but the auror relied on her experience to keep from biting. Diana often said she hadΒ βtoo much of a talentβ for compartmentalizing, and if ever there was a time to use it, now would be it. Riley could not afford to think to the events of the bunker, to the sight of her best mateβs face when ... no. Not now.
βThose arenβt particularly kind words your brother has for your mateβs dad now are they?β
Riley continued to look forward.
βItβs useless bait.β
She turned to face the hit-wizard.Β βHeβs grown tired of doing nothing, so now heβs attempting to instigate a confrontation hoping to get something, anything, going. He knows Iβm on the other side of this mirror and he wants to be the one to make me jump. He doesnβt realize that in the process, heβs already done so himself.β
Riley arches an eyebrow and directs their attention to Rasmus.Β βYou see his hands?β she asks turning to point them out,Β βHe has stopped keeping track of time. The more he talks, the more track he loses. The more he lo-β
She stops mid-sentence at the former Unspeakableβs last words. Noting the look on her colleagueβs face, she states,Β βThe only thing that will cease if doesnβt make a trip to the manor every twelve-hours is his internal clock and deep-seeded sense of perfection.β The hit-wizard seems only partially convinced, and she canβt blame them. She isnβt even quite sure she believes that herself.
βIf he wants the interrogation to begin, then so be it,β she declares.
βH.A. Savage stated that you shouldnβt have any direct contact with the suspect until he arrived,β mouthed off her apparent baby-sitter.
Offering a small smile, Riley simply stated,Β βIβm aware, which is why youβll be going in my stead.β
As the door closed behind her work-mate, she again felt little guilt at the fact that she was essentially using them as her own form of bait. He may not be her brother now, but Rasmus was so once. He took after their father when it came to the strong sense of self-importance. In his mind, he was Rasmus Rowle, the heir to Rowle estate and everything that came with it.
He was expecting to be addressed by an auror.Β βLetβs see how your disposition fares thinking you merit no better than what you once calledΒ βover-glorified Auror errand runnersβ, brother.β