The Arrangement
Mar. 20th, 2009 10:56 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
maja_liTitle: The Arrangement
Author:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
maja_li
Betas: The Right Hons.la_dissonance, nonconcurrence, and weasleywench. You guys make the weird work :)
Pairing: Rabastan/Regulus
Rating: R
Warnings: Crossover with Good Omens. AU, character death, mild sex and violence, and general obscurity.
Disclaimer: Rabastan&co. belong to JKR. Not me. Aziraphale and Crowley belong to Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett (Long May They Live).
Summary: What if things had been tweaked, just a little? And who wold have cared, anyway?
A/N: Happy belated Birthday,andrea__88! This has been sitting not-quite-finished on my desktop for literally a month *sweatdrop* But I hope you enjoy it anyway!
The Arrangement
“Come on, angel. One couple. You know you want to see what happens—”
“I do not! And I’m certainly not going to wager on it.”
“It’s not wagering, it’s…making it matter more. Besides, I’ll still tempt them whether you play with me or not. You know that, too.”
“…”
“Angel?”
“Fine. One couple. But you let me decide at the end.”
“Done and done.”
-- -- --
The First Round
Rabastan Lestrange loved women. Really, he did—he’d been quite thrilled to learn he and Rodolphus would marry the Black sisters. Granted, he hadn’t been all that chuffed when Cissy'd decided she’d rather have Lucius Malfoy than some poufter who fooled around with men on the side—but he reasoned that that was because he knew all along that Roddy’s Bella was the pick of the litter. She was powerful and brilliant and completely, utterly devoted to the cause. Perhaps a little too devoted…but how could that be? No, it must be that Rodolphus wasn’t devoted enough, to her or to—
“Hey.” A none-too-gentle nip to the inside of his thigh started Rabastan out of his gloomy thoughts. “Drifting off in the middle of all my hard work, Stan? Call that rude, I do.”
“Don’t call me Stan. Please.”
“The hell else am I supposed to call you?” Regulus bit him again, drawing a sharp—though not entirely displeased—gasp from his lover.
“How about you don’t call me anything and get back to nnnnngh!” He cut off with a groan as Regulus licked a long, wet stripe along the sensitive inner crease of his hip joint, just skirting the place Rabastan wanted him the most. Regulus chuckled breathily.
“That’s better,” he murmured. “Now, pay attention, because there will be a quiz afterwards.”
-- -- --
The Second Round
Regulus stared at the brimming cup, trying to peer through the glowing potion to the…locket at the bottom. It was better to think of it that way. He wondered, briefly: what if he had paid more attention to Bella, his once-darling cousin Bella? Or, conversely, to Rabastan, if he’d bound him closer, dared to spirit him away? What if he had never had the second locket made, or dared to wear its twin so openly? What if Rodolphus had never recognized it for what it truly was…whose it once had been?
Enough. It would be over soon, anyway. Rabastan had never been strong against Legilimency; it was only a matter of time before what little he knew of Regulus’ plan was pried from his mind. Oh, he would try, he would buy Regulus as much time to flee as he could; he would think that both of them need not die today. How could he know that Regulus was thinking the same thing? Once he saw his precious…locket safe, the Dark Lo—Voldemort, gods damn it, Voldemort would be satisfied to see one of them dead and the other broken. Hopefully.
“Drink to me only with thine eyes,” Regulus murmured wryly, the words of the forbidden work swimming up out of dim, strawberry-summer memory. The duplicate locket, slipped secretly from Rabastan’s neck while he slept, dug sharply into his clenching fist.
He drank.
-- -- --
The Third Round
The storm wind lashed at the hidden cave, shooting stinging droplets through its gaping mouth to spatter on the boy’s skin. Rabastan stared at them, the boy and the old man, blocking their path as best he could with his emaciated body.
“You must believe me,” he croaked, for what seemed the thousandth time. The murky, stone walls swam before his eyes, but he could not fall. Not yet. “I will take an Unbreakable Vow, if you wish. You may put me under Imperius, Crucio…I have procured Veritaserum—”
“That will not be necessary,” the old man said gently. He held out his hand, which was all but enveloped in the sleeve of his robe. “Give me the locket, Rabastan.”
Rabastan edged forward, his eyes darting between the outstretched sleeve and the hard, unreadable gaze of the boy. He licked his lips.
“And then?” He clutched the locket he had found in their room at Grimmauld Place all those years ago, the locket with the etched silver snake that had never been there on his. His hands trembled in the dark. “Will you swear it?”
“That, too, will not—”
“You must!” His shriek was wild, riding along the uneven sobbing of the wind and rain as it swept over one cave mouth and then another. Perhaps it was wild enough that they would think him mad.
“I’ll do it, Professor.” The boy stepped forward, and his eyes were green. He addressed Rabastan. “You want to be with him, don’t you? I understand.”
“Be with him?” Rabastan began to laugh, a rough and mirthless sound like two stones grinding together. “I betrayed him in the end. I’ll betray you as well. But before he died he did at least this much; so I, too, will do this much” He reached forward, uncaring now that he had the boy’s assurance, and pressed the locket into the purple folds of that all-concealing sleeve. The old man drew back.
Rabastan closed his eyes, but he saw it coming nonetheless.
-- -- --
The Payout
“Well? What do you think, angel?”
“What are you talking about? He was clearly—”
“But I turned them gay. That ought to count for something.”
“Oh, come now! Certain people were thinking for years that I was…what was that delightful phrase? Gayer than a tree full of monkeys on nitrous oxide, I believe. That ought to tell you something, my dear.”
“But—but who won?”
“I believe…they did.”
-fin-
Author:
maja_liBetas: The Right Hons.
la_dissonance, nonconcurrence, and weasleywench. You guys make the weird work :)Pairing: Rabastan/Regulus
Rating: R
Warnings: Crossover with Good Omens. AU, character death, mild sex and violence, and general obscurity.
Disclaimer: Rabastan&co. belong to JKR. Not me. Aziraphale and Crowley belong to Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett (Long May They Live).
Summary: What if things had been tweaked, just a little? And who wold have cared, anyway?
A/N: Happy belated Birthday,
andrea__88! This has been sitting not-quite-finished on my desktop for literally a month *sweatdrop* But I hope you enjoy it anyway!The Arrangement
“Come on, angel. One couple. You know you want to see what happens—”
“I do not! And I’m certainly not going to wager on it.”
“It’s not wagering, it’s…making it matter more. Besides, I’ll still tempt them whether you play with me or not. You know that, too.”
“…”
“Angel?”
“Fine. One couple. But you let me decide at the end.”
“Done and done.”
-- -- --
The First Round
Rabastan Lestrange loved women. Really, he did—he’d been quite thrilled to learn he and Rodolphus would marry the Black sisters. Granted, he hadn’t been all that chuffed when Cissy'd decided she’d rather have Lucius Malfoy than some poufter who fooled around with men on the side—but he reasoned that that was because he knew all along that Roddy’s Bella was the pick of the litter. She was powerful and brilliant and completely, utterly devoted to the cause. Perhaps a little too devoted…but how could that be? No, it must be that Rodolphus wasn’t devoted enough, to her or to—
“Hey.” A none-too-gentle nip to the inside of his thigh started Rabastan out of his gloomy thoughts. “Drifting off in the middle of all my hard work, Stan? Call that rude, I do.”
“Don’t call me Stan. Please.”
“The hell else am I supposed to call you?” Regulus bit him again, drawing a sharp—though not entirely displeased—gasp from his lover.
“How about you don’t call me anything and get back to nnnnngh!” He cut off with a groan as Regulus licked a long, wet stripe along the sensitive inner crease of his hip joint, just skirting the place Rabastan wanted him the most. Regulus chuckled breathily.
“That’s better,” he murmured. “Now, pay attention, because there will be a quiz afterwards.”
-- -- --
The Second Round
Regulus stared at the brimming cup, trying to peer through the glowing potion to the…locket at the bottom. It was better to think of it that way. He wondered, briefly: what if he had paid more attention to Bella, his once-darling cousin Bella? Or, conversely, to Rabastan, if he’d bound him closer, dared to spirit him away? What if he had never had the second locket made, or dared to wear its twin so openly? What if Rodolphus had never recognized it for what it truly was…whose it once had been?
Enough. It would be over soon, anyway. Rabastan had never been strong against Legilimency; it was only a matter of time before what little he knew of Regulus’ plan was pried from his mind. Oh, he would try, he would buy Regulus as much time to flee as he could; he would think that both of them need not die today. How could he know that Regulus was thinking the same thing? Once he saw his precious…locket safe, the Dark Lo—Voldemort, gods damn it, Voldemort would be satisfied to see one of them dead and the other broken. Hopefully.
“Drink to me only with thine eyes,” Regulus murmured wryly, the words of the forbidden work swimming up out of dim, strawberry-summer memory. The duplicate locket, slipped secretly from Rabastan’s neck while he slept, dug sharply into his clenching fist.
He drank.
-- -- --
The Third Round
The storm wind lashed at the hidden cave, shooting stinging droplets through its gaping mouth to spatter on the boy’s skin. Rabastan stared at them, the boy and the old man, blocking their path as best he could with his emaciated body.
“You must believe me,” he croaked, for what seemed the thousandth time. The murky, stone walls swam before his eyes, but he could not fall. Not yet. “I will take an Unbreakable Vow, if you wish. You may put me under Imperius, Crucio…I have procured Veritaserum—”
“That will not be necessary,” the old man said gently. He held out his hand, which was all but enveloped in the sleeve of his robe. “Give me the locket, Rabastan.”
Rabastan edged forward, his eyes darting between the outstretched sleeve and the hard, unreadable gaze of the boy. He licked his lips.
“And then?” He clutched the locket he had found in their room at Grimmauld Place all those years ago, the locket with the etched silver snake that had never been there on his. His hands trembled in the dark. “Will you swear it?”
“That, too, will not—”
“You must!” His shriek was wild, riding along the uneven sobbing of the wind and rain as it swept over one cave mouth and then another. Perhaps it was wild enough that they would think him mad.
“I’ll do it, Professor.” The boy stepped forward, and his eyes were green. He addressed Rabastan. “You want to be with him, don’t you? I understand.”
“Be with him?” Rabastan began to laugh, a rough and mirthless sound like two stones grinding together. “I betrayed him in the end. I’ll betray you as well. But before he died he did at least this much; so I, too, will do this much” He reached forward, uncaring now that he had the boy’s assurance, and pressed the locket into the purple folds of that all-concealing sleeve. The old man drew back.
Rabastan closed his eyes, but he saw it coming nonetheless.
-- -- --
The Payout
“Well? What do you think, angel?”
“What are you talking about? He was clearly—”
“But I turned them gay. That ought to count for something.”
“Oh, come now! Certain people were thinking for years that I was…what was that delightful phrase? Gayer than a tree full of monkeys on nitrous oxide, I believe. That ought to tell you something, my dear.”
“But—but who won?”
“I believe…they did.”
-fin-
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2009-03-20 03:22 pm (UTC)It's a sorta angsty love story though. I liked it, even though the pairing is definately not one that I normally peruse.
no subject
Date: 2009-03-21 12:54 am (UTC)Thanks so much for taking a chance on it, hon! *beams* I'm so glad you enjoyed ♥
no subject
Date: 2009-03-20 10:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-21 12:54 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-21 01:33 am (UTC)*cuddles you back*
no subject
Date: 2009-03-21 01:44 am (UTC)Seriously, yes! IMO, the most important part of writing is audience communication--if your audience isn't getting what you're trying to convey, you screwed up somewhere. And a good beta reader is the first line of defense: they tell you where the obscurity is, and then it's your job to decide whether and how much to add clarity, and how to integrate plot, tone, style, construction, etc. so that they act as a seamless whole rather than working against or confusing each other.
/soapbox :p
no subject
Date: 2009-03-21 01:47 am (UTC)and fix typos*g*no subject
Date: 2009-03-21 01:52 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-21 01:55 am (UTC)bug you to write stuff for mecheck in on your writing progress. (Seriously, if you ever need material to spork you eyes out over, ping me. I'll have plenty.)no subject
Date: 2009-03-21 02:15 am (UTC)*facepalm*
The UST is in the works, I promise, though it'll probably be a few days late :) I hope you had a great day!
no subject
Date: 2009-03-21 02:18 am (UTC)Take all the time you need, waiting for stuff just spreads out the fun. :D
*snogs you*
no subject
Date: 2009-03-22 09:54 pm (UTC)Knowing LJ I'll probably get the notification next week
Regulus/Rabastan and Aziraphale & Crowley - I'm in Heaven ;o)
*Drops everything and reads*
no subject
Date: 2009-03-22 10:05 pm (UTC)And I just love Aziraphale and Crowley making a bet - they so would do that
Thank you so much!
I lovelovelovelovelove it!
:o)
no subject
Date: 2009-03-25 06:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-25 07:38 pm (UTC)Linnpuzzle did the art and I made the icons
Some of my A/C icons can be found here
http://andy-slayde.livejournal.com/profile
in the user pic section
I have more somewhere on my PC
I love Linnpuzzle's art