Eccedentesiast

Rodolphus Lestrange was born on February 14th, 1956, to Lord Corvus Lestrange and his wife Lady Ingrid Lestrange née Rosier. His birth brought an unspeakable amount of pride, and of joy, to the Lestrange family. The couple had been having trouble conceiving for many years, trying everything they could, from potions, all the way to rituals. He was the center of his parents' world until he was five. 

On March 14th, 1961, the Lestranges were blessed with yet another son. Rodolphus’ parents were very nervous about his reaction to having another child in his life. The attention that used to be all his, would now have to be shared with a younger sibling, who would most likely take up a larger chunk of it. To their surprise, Rodolphus was more than willing to share the attention. As soon as the five year old saw his younger brother for the first time, he knew that he was going to protect him with his life. His little brother, his responsibility. That protectiveness that the eldest child held never faded. In fact, it only grew as they both grew older. 

The brothers were inseparable for years, and were truly each other's best friend. Therefore, when the time came around for Rodolphus to start at Hogwarts when he turned eleven, it was definitely a struggle for both of the boys. The eldest was excited to start school, but not at all to leave his six year old brother behind. Who was supposed to protect him while he was gone? Who would scare away all the monsters that hid under his little brother’s bed, or comfort him after he had nightmares during the night? 

Rodolphus’ father and mother had eventually convinced him that his younger brother would be perfectly fine while he was gone, and the boy was off to Hogwarts. When he arrived he was sorted into Slytherin, just as the rest of his family had. Rodolphus was a loner during his begging years at Hogwarts. He would make polite conversation with other Pureblood heirs and heiresses, but that was where it ended. He had no desire to be friends with them, because they were not his brother. 

Rodolphus was like this until his fourth year. A week after the first term of the year began, he was headed to the library to work on homework when something, or rather someone, literally ran into him. The collision caused him to waver a smidge, but left him standing, unlike the first year that had caused the collision. The older of the two looked down at the boy on the ground and quickly took notice of the red that was prominent on the robes he was wearing. 

The boy looked up at him with wide eyes, which caused Rodolphus to simply raise a brow at him, his face still stoic. The young Gryffindor scrambled to get on his feet, a blush covering his cheeks. “I’m very sorry for bumping into you, Heir Lestrange.  I sincerely apologize.” The Lestrange boy was slightly stunned at the manners that this Gryffindor had. “Do not dwell on it…” He trailed off, not knowing the name of the lad in front of him. “Heir James Charlus Potter.” Rodolphus simply nodded his head slightly. “Heir Potter then. Was there anything in particular that you were running from?” Potter ducked his head slightly in embarrassment before answering. “I was searching for the library and got lost. Filch's cat found me, and I apparently wasn’t supposed to be where I was and started chasing me.”     

Rodolphus tried hard to smother a laugh at the boy’s situation, but it did not work out as he hoped and a laugh did end up escaping his lips. Potter looked up at him with wide eyes, mistaking Rodolphus’ innocent amusement with teasing and was ready to say something about it when the elder of the two spoke. “I was just on my way to the library myself, Heir Potter, would you like to accompany me so you should not get lost again?” He got an eager nod in return and gestured for the Heir to follow him. 

This was the first of many interactions between Rodolphus Lestrange and James Potter. The two became very close in a short amount of time and the Lestrange and Potter ended up forming a sibling bond, and a magical one at that. When the bond first snapped into place, Rodolphus had been shocked beyond belief while James had not a clue what had happened, only feeling an odd warm sensation in his chest. Rodolphus took the time to explain what had happened to James. He did not expect the young eleven year old to understand how to identify a sibling bond. Both of the Heirs ended up writing home to their families explaining the situation. They received similar letters back, both being extremely supportive of the bond itself. 

Despite the two boys being close and being brothers in everything but blood, their interactions were extremely private. It was James’ idea to keep it this way, wanting to have Rodolphus all to himself and not have to share with his friends. He was not very good at sharing things to begin with, but this was one of the more important things. Rodolphus was content with this, as he did not want the first year to get backlash from his own house from hanging out with a Slytherin. 

The interactions between the two always consisted of Rodolphus helping James with his homework and listening to the younger of the two talk about his dorm mates and the friendships that he was building with them. The boys in question were Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, and Sirius Black. He knew a fair share about the Black Heir. He knew that he was the first from the Black family to ever be sorted anywhere but Slytherin, and that he highly hated everything pureblood and Slytherin. He only encountered him once in the corridor, the younger of the two glared at him with so much intensity he would have been six feet under if looks could kill. He had a suspicion it was because there was a betrothal contract for Rodolphus and Heir Black’s oldest cousin, Bellatrix Black, in the making. 

The year finished up quicker than the younger wished, and decided to ask Rodolphus a very important question. “Will I be able to see you at all over the summer? I’m going to miss you very much.” The elder of the two almost did not catch what the younger said, his voice being muffled from the fabric covering Rodolphus’ stomach where James had his face pressed against. “If you wish. I am sure that our families would jump at the opportunity to meet.” Rodolphus was not lying either. His father had sent him dozens of letters mentioning his want to meet Lord and Lady Potter. 

The two families did, in fact, end up spending time together during the summer. Their first meeting was very… chaotic so to speak. To everyone’s surprise, James and Rabastan had also ended up forming a sibling bond, just like Rodolphus and James had. It was quite a relief for the Lestrange Heir. He was afraid that his youngest brother would be jealous of the bond between him and James, but it went in his favor. The two younger boys ended up getting along like a house on fire. The amount of chaos the two were capable of creating in a short amount of time was quite impressive.  

The parents of the three boys had enlightening conversations about what these bonds meant for the future of both the House of Lestrange, and the House of Potter. The Lestrange family was a Dark family and they had no intention of switching their alliance either. Their magical cores were dark, and they would spend the rest of time fighting for the right to practice the magic they had an affinity for. 

The Potters on the other hand, were a known Light family. Though in recent years, they had more children born into the family with neutral cores. Charlus Potter was only the third child to be born with a neutral core, and he went on to marry Dorea Black, a witch from a dark family. They had given birth to their son, James, and were more than elated to find out that the child was in fact, a wizard with a dark core. After the bond between the Lestrange boys and their son had happened, the two were more than willing to move their alliance to the neutral faction, not wanting to completely commit to the dark quite yet. 

The summer had ended quite quickly after, and all three boys found themselves on their way to Hogwarts. Rabastan was sorted into Slytherin, which was expected, but James was disappointed that he would now owe his older brother five galleons for betting that their little brother would be sorted into Ravenclaw. The three boys had become practically inseparable during the summer, and the distance that they had to keep while at school was proving itself to be fairly difficult. They did not want to keep their bonds a secret, but they were heavily advised by their parents that they should. 

Eventually the time came for Rodolphus to begin his final year, and he was to be married to Bellatrix Lestrange at the end of it. He was not happy about it in the slightest, but the Heir decided to marry Bellatrix under one condition. The condition being that James and Rabastan were able to marry whomever they pleased. He did that mostly for James. He knew that the boy fancied a muggleborn that was in his year, and Rodolphus did not mind in the slightest that she was a muggleborn because he could feel the dark magic that came from her. He had caught the girl in the library once, reading a book over dark magic that could only be found in one shop, which was in Diagon Alley. 

The girl had panicked at first, scared that he was going to turn her in for reading an illegal book, but to her surprise, he simply struck up a conversation about what she learned from the book. As it turned out, she was fascinated with the dark arts and wizarding holidays and traditions. This is how the friendship between fourteen year old Lily Evans and Seventeen year old Rodolphus Lestrange began. After his graduation, they made sure to keep in touch. She found out of the bond between the Potters and Lestranges the year after Rodolphus had graduated, having found James and Rabastan crying together in the library, both missing their brother very much. 

The three became very close to one another, James going as far as acting on his feelings for the girl and asking her to accompany him on the next Hogsmead trip. Much to the surprise of everyone but Rabastan and Rodolphus, the latter having found out through three letters he received. The first from his youngest brother who was complaining that he was losing both of his brothers due to them being in relationships, to which Rodolphus replied and teased him about his crush on a certain member of the Black family that was in his year. The second being from James, who was asking dozens of questions about what he was supposed to wear, and how he was supposed to style his hair. Rodolphus found this one amusing and sent his little brother a hair taming potion in response.

The final one however, was his favorite. Lily Evans had written to him asking him what James’ favorite things were, wanting to have a gift for him, letting him know that she accepted his offer of courtship. Rodolphus found the dedication that Lily had to learning about the customs and traditions admirable. He wrote out a list, and sent her a book that explained the courtship process and the expectation and boundaries that were expected during. By the end of the year, both James and Rabastan were courting people that would end up becoming the ones they married.

Rodolphus hated his marriage at first. He could barely stand being in the same room as Bellatrix for more than five minutes. The hatred for the woman he was forced to marry only grew when she manipulated him into getting the dark mark. The two had been getting along well together, finally, after two years of being married. They had started sharing a bed, trying for an heir, at the wishes of both their families, and secretly Rodolphus’. Then, one evening Bellatrix announced to Rodolphus that she was pregnant. To say that he was happy was an understatement. He was overjoyed, and had even started thinking of names as soon and he processed the words.

However, his joy was short lived when Bellatrix stated that if he did not take the dark mark alongside her and serve the Dark Lord, she would terminate the pregnancy. The blood in his veins rushed cold as soon as the words left her mouth. She gave him a day to think about it. Rodolphus had apparated to his parents manor and had broken down in sobs for the first time since he was eleven. Nothing Corvus or Ingrid tried would soothe their son, so they contacted the Potters, who were housing Rabastan and James, along with Lily, for the summer. The five came over as soon as the summons reached them only to have their hearts shatter at the sounds that were coming from someone so close to them. 

Lily was the first to approach Rodolphus. She said nothing as she sat down beside him and hugged him, allowing him to cling onto her and sob into her shoulder. James and Rabastan followed her actions, hugging their brother, trying to give him as much comfort as possible. No one in the manor knew why Rodolphus was acting in such a way, but they knew that it was terrible. It took an hour for Rodolphus to finally speak. “She’s pregnant. Bellatrix is pregnant and she is going to terminate the pregnancy unless I take the mark.” He did not have to explain what the mark was. 

Lily clung onto her brother even tighter than before, her eyes welling up with tears that made her vision blur. James froze, same as Rabastan, and the parents were all speechless. James was the next to speak after his brother's announcement. “If you take the mark, then so will I. I am not going to let you do this alone.” He knew how unstable the Dark Lord had become. The appeal of joining him was tempting at first when he was going about bringing back the traditions of their world through politics, but something changed in the man. He had gone insane, terrorizing anyone who dare disagree with him, torturing and killing muggles and Muggleborns. “So will I. I will not let that horrid woman drag you down with her alone, nor will I let her kill my future niece or nephew.” 

At both Rabastan and James’ words, Rodolphus’ head snapped up to glare at them with bloodshot eyes. “You most certainly will not. I will not be responsible for the two of you being marked just because of me. I will be doing this on my own.” His tone left no room for argument. Well, at least not for the boys. Lily, however, had something to say. “You will not do this alone Rodolphus. No one here will let you.” Rodolphus turned his head towards her as she spoke. “Regulus came to me and Rabastan a few weeks ago saying that his mother was forcing him to get the mark and serve the Dark Lord. He is getting marked in three days, at the same time as you I imagine.” Rabastan looked down as she said that, not wanting his boyfriend to have to go through with it. “I don’t care what you say Dolphus, I’m getting marked with you. If Regulus is being forced I want to be by his side, as well as yours.” 

“Your brother is right, Dolphus.” 

Everyone’s head snapped over to Dorea Potter. She clearly was not happy about her future grandchild being threatened, but she knew that Rodolphus could not proceed on his own. “You are going to need all the help you can get when that baby is born, and who better than your brother?”

Three days later, Rodolphus, Rabastan, and Regulus were initiated into the Dark Lord’s inner circle. 

Time flew by for the Lestrange Heir after getting marked. Bellatrix kept her word, seeing the pregnancy to the end, giving birth to a beautiful baby boy. She wanted nothing to do with the child, having been extremely clear that it was not worthy of her time due to the fact that it was not her Lord’s child. Rodolphus did not care in the slightest. He named his son Anakin Rigel Lestrange. Anakin, meaning warrior, and Rigel out of respect for the Black family tradition of naming their children after constellations. Lily was made his son’s Godmother, along with Rabastan being named his Godfather. James planned on making Rodolphus his future child’s godfather, while Rabastan planned on doing the same, only with James instead. 

James and Lily were married two years after their graduation, shortly beforeDorea and Charlus both passed from Dragon Pox, and welcomed their son Hadrian James Potter into the world a short amount of time after. The family of three went into hiding soon after the birth of their son, due to a prophecy. Rabastan and Rodolphus vowed to protect their family as best as they could, but their best was not enough. Lily and James Potter died on October 31st, 1981, the night of Samhain. Rodolphus arrived at the house too late, only finding the bodies of his brother and sister lying in the rubble of their destroyed house. Hadrian was nowhere to be found, and would not be found for ten years. 

He apparated away after hearing Aurors arrive at the house. Arriving at his home, he found Bellatrix gone, and his four year old son crying in a corner of the parlor. He picked his son up and held him close before apparating to Rabastan and Regulus. They all three cried that night, Rabastan and Rodolphus for the loss of their brother, sister, and nephew, and Regulus for the loss of his brother Sirius, who was taken to Azkaban hours after the Potters death. It was revealed that Bellatrix joined her cousin in the same prison only days later, having tortured the Longbottom family to insanity.

Rodolphus never stopped looking for Hadrian. His son made him promise. Anakin practically drug his father to his Aunt and Uncle’s graves and made him promise to find their son, his brother, and bring him home. Rodolphus never stopped looking, and his effort would soon pay off ten years later when he received a summons from Gringotts stating urgent business, only for it to lead to him bringing his Godson home.