InsaneJournal

FIC: Hopelessly
Title: Hopelessly
Author: cormallen
Characters: Rodolphus Lestrange, Petunia Evans, Lily Evans
Rating: very small amount of language and vague mention of sexual activity
Length: 707 words
Summary: blackmail is Petunia's game



Petunia caught the boy outside, heading out of the driveway.

"You must be the hopelessly Muggle sister," he said in the way of greeting.

There was that word again, pronounced in a bemused and disdainful tone. "Hopelessly Muggle", as if this spindly, freakish boy dared judge her. As if she, not Lily, was the odd one, scribbling queer words on even queerer paper with an enormous goose feather. As if the entire world hadn't moved on to ballpoint ages ago!

"And you must be the - well, you aren't the boyfriend, are you?" she managed, composing herself. "I know Lily sees that revolting Potter boy," she continued more smugly, "and you certainly are nothing like him."

The boy gave a sudden sharp laugh, sticking out his tongue in obvious amusement. It was pink and glistening with moisture.

"You have the right of it there," he snorted, "on both counts."

"Do I?" Petunia inquired, pleased with herself for the cool, haughty tone, while everything inside her churned, "it seems that the both of you have a penchant for... well, for you this would be slumming."

Pursing her lips, she went on, "Potter - James - would be thrilled to discover the two of you frequent the same slum."

The boy's eyebrows shot up in apprehension.

"Potter?"

"I do believe I'll... owl... him," she pronounced, watching the colours play across his face.

"It would take a fair bit of - what is it you people use, parchment? how archaic - to explain all the details -"

A short, lacquered stick was jabbing into her neck, the point radiating such heat that she feared a burn. The boy's face was suddenly inches from hers, the thin mouth crooked, the black eyes as ready to burn as the wand.

"I'm curious," he hissed, the tongue darting out to taste the air, "what would this letter of yours say?"

He pressed the wand harder against the delicate skin of her throat, and the burning sensation spread.

"I'd start with this morning, of course," she told him, drawing a tight, uncomfortable breath, "Mum and Daddy leaving on their day trip, before I'd get to any of the juicy bits. I'd suppose that my sister'd planned for this ahead of time, and express my indignation over your correspondence."

"Go on," the boy ordered in a tone that suggested immediate obedience.

"I'd tell James about my afternoon walk. It lasts an hour; I'd wager you'd arrived as soon as I'd set out, giving you plenty of time for idle chatter before you hopped into Lily's bed. Or am I mistaken in regards to the nature of your talk?"

"You-" the boy began, but Petunia reached out, pressing a thin finger against his half-opened lips. He shuddered.

"No, you aren't in the habit of idle chatter. You waste no time. Unlike Potter, you do nothing unplanned. I do recall some whispers of a Lord between those of my sister's perfect tits and tight cunt; do you always conduct your recruiting so?"

"Filthy girl, you know not of what you speak," the boy whispered, clenching his fist tighter around the menacing wand. "I'll hex you. I'll wipe your mind of these thoughts. I'll... I can kill you right here with a simple word, I -"

"Put that away," Petunia ordered, ignoring his tirade as best as she could. "You will do nothing. My sister isn't allowed to use that at home; I doubt that freakish service to some bizarre lord absolves you of school rules. Of course, should you believe it does, your agenda will certainly suffer if I do. Lily will never join whatever nonsense it is you represent if you continue to threaten me."

Gritting his teeth, the boy withdrew the wand.

"I don't suppose we could come to some arrangement, Muggle?"

"We could," she allowed; the word still smarted, but much less so.

"I haven't got much of your sort of money on me," the boy quickly explained, "if that's what you want, you'd have to give me time to exchange more. You have my word as a Lestrange - I wouldn't -"

"No money," she breathed, watching his tongue dance through the words. "I want what Lily got, or Potter finds out everything."