Indifferent though he was to the outcome of some of his other cousins, Theodore couldn’t quite place why he felt so responsible for this one who was, ultimately, going to run amuck and get himself in trouble. Theodore had seen it from a mile off. In truth, he should have perhaps considered it before he went and challenged Bridget. However, what was done was done and Theodore was determined to make good on it in some manner or another, certainly before the children were born. Keiran had all the cards to play if he wanted to actually get on and do it. Then again, he wasn’t as skilled in playing this kind of game as Theodore was. He said it himself: he didn’t know the way Pureblood families worked on the inside. Pureblood families were one thing; then there were the Rookwoods and their many confusing lines.
“While it might shock you that your little angelic blonde can look after herself, I am glad you’re beginning to let the information drip through that thick skull of yours,” Theodore drawled, rubbing his fingers across his brow. “And no, for the record, I’m not telling you to go and join up. It’ll save us a lot of trouble but I’ve already got to watch over Athena so I’m not going to worry after what Kat-Car will do to your skinny little arse, either. You’d have to fend for yourself if you did something as stupid as that.”
Theodore did wonder acutely if he’d said too much, if two names was more information than Keiran would ever need. Ultimately though, they’d be names he’d become familiar with. The catalogue of Death Eaters past and present was like one big family reunion but things were certainly changing in the Rookwood ranks. Watched over by Augustus, they were protected but his increasing absence had left Theodore to fill the man’s shoes but unlike Augustus, Theodore could not control Kendall and the young man had recently gathered it in his mind that he was going to take his wife back – though thankfully, he hadn’t acted on that thought, yet. It seemed as though the Italian witches he was courting were diverting enough in the meantime – suiting Theodore down to the ground.
“They’re going to try and coerce you into it anyway,” Theodore explained, reaching into his jacket pocket for his cigarette case. “I don’t think we’re going to get very far by saving them the trouble.” Theodore’s eyebrow arched curiously as he brought the cigarette between his teeth. “I’m not trying to manipulate you, Keiran. I am less patient than our extended family. I would’ve just used the Imperius.” The man smirked a little as he brought his wand to the end of the cigarette and he packed the paraphernalia away once the thing was lit, letting him relax and listen a touch more closely to what Keiran was actually saying.
Theodore sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. He brought the cigarette back to his lips briefly before flicking some of the ash out into the plant pot beside his chair.
“Your family is already involved, Keiran. Just because my father isn’t here trying to blow the house down doesn’t mean that you’re safe and still anonymous.” Theodore licked his lips, trying to figure out what he was going to say next without rocking the boat too much. He was beginning to form the opinion that, indeed, Gryffindor Keiran was not but, also, he didn’t think that the Hat had made the best choice in putting him in Slytherin, either. The Rookwoods brought out those traits in each other. That was quite possibly why all of them had gone to Slytherin and, most definitely, why Katarina had not dealt with the family very well by being in Ravenclaw, despite all of her smarts. It was about survival, ultimately. That’s what you had to do from day one. Welcome to the world, son, now start worrying about competition.
He needed to treat Keiran lightly, though. If anything, the hot-headed gene had filtered its way down and Theodore knew he’d get nothing out of the man by rising to his rebuttals and winding him up himself. He needed to get Keiran to trust him because Merlin knew that he wouldn’t accept any of Theodore’s help if he didn’t.
“You can pretend by all means but cautiously I would say he can see through that. He’s a smart old codger – and even if he wasn’t, he’s been around the block a few times. What’s important is the fact that you and he have no reason to be at odds. Aside from the fact that you are being dragged kicking and screaming into this family, Raghnall is not your enemy. If anything, he’s the strongest ally you could ever have because of who you are.”
Theodore brought the cigarette back to his lips and he registered out of the corner of his eye that Keiran, if the pacing was indicative of anything, was beginning to panic just a little bit. The sight brought a wry, half-smile to Theodore’s mouth as he looked at the older man and a part of him wondered after what it must’ve been like to have a rather idyllic childhood. Sligo was a lovely place to grow up but the house had always been dark and brooding, no place for children no matter their number. This place was light and bright and welcoming. What a contrast. What on earth had he done by bringing them into this?
“You’re male. You’re Bridget’s son. She’s absolved because in a roundabout sort of way she still did what Raghnall always wanted her to do and that was to marry and have a son. Equally, you’re married. You’re clearly fertile which is quite a lot more than what,” Theodore coughed awkwardly, “some of us can say.” He pursed his lips and shook his head briefly before continuing. “Two children and fairly decent odds of having a son. Forgive me for this but you married a Half-Blood and not just any old Half-Blood but one from a line of Blood-Traitors, too. This will make him wince a bit but understand that it’s because he’s from a different cut of cloth, not because of any genuine misgivings. You’re forgiven for it because, first of all, it wasn’t initially your choice, either, but second of all, because you’re having two children. All of your leverage stems from the fact that you did two things: you were born, congrats, and you decided to get married over sitting in Azkaban for six months. So, we just need to use it, alright? Let him commend you for it. That’s how he gets you on side and vice versa. It’s crude but ultimately he’s still a grandparent and though this is what’s going on up top, he’ll be sweet on them like any other normal family member would be. The difference in this is that he’s … well, Raghnall Rookwood.”
Theodore shoved his cigarette into the plant pot and stood up when Keiran sat down. He took a swig from the lemonade to clear his throat and then dragged one of the spare chairs over so he could sit closer to the desk. He drew a piece of paper across the table and found, with a chuckle, that the tree had already been pencilled on. He smoothed it out and picked up one of the pens lying on the desk and looked up at Keiran briefly when the man spoke last. Theodore smiled a little bit and idly doodled out a rook chess piece in the corner of the page, drawing a shield around it before adding in the birds.
“I am protecting you because…” Theodore looked down at the pen as he rolled it between his fingers, feeling the familiar flex of the skin where appendages should have moved. He rubbed the side of his left hand and sat back a little, trying to find a good enough reason, or one enough to placate Keiran. It must have seemed strange to have someone who was essentially a stranger inserting themselves into his life as a family member and then trying to be of some use whilst still technically being a stranger.
“Because I wish that I could have had someone helping me learn how to play when I was younger. Because I wish I had someone to take the heat for me when I made a mistake. And… because no one seems to give a toss about each other in this family and I… I do. So I’m going to protect Millie and you, if you don’t mind.”
Theodore cleared his throat and returned his gaze back to the paper. He drew a circle of ink around his name, then Keiran’s. Then, he underline the date of birth of his father and the date of birth of Cedric, the last legitimate son. Then he drew a square around Augustus’s line before directing an arrow up to his mother, Kaeleigh.
“The men are the most important to their fathers. It’s archaic and kind of a given thing. The women, in turn, are the broodmares and the girls born are cash cows for other families. Rookwood dowries are always huge and that’s one of the many reasons why we’re very particular about who goes to who … you don’t want to give away your eldest daughter and six-hundred thousand galleons to a Yaxley, for example. It’s just a waste. It was one of the reasons why your mum ran, I suppose. There’s not a lot of room for love when there’s a lot of money at stake. Okay, but importantly, you can see from my father and Augustus that we’ve, uh, got the habit of running our wives ragged for the heir and the all-important spare. Some Purebloods are happy with girls, most aren’t. They’re really not worth a lot because you want to bring women in by having sons… more money that way. Kind of softens the loss you make on whatever odd girl you do have. But you advertise through the balls, the Pureblood Season, if you will. It goes on from March to August and crops up again in December and the New Year. That’s where you find your wife. I mean, you’ve got yours but it’s important to bear in mind because it’s also where all of the business is done and that’s, ultimately, why you need your girls because you want to barter with something, don’t you? If you marry them off through business then you lose less. It’s awful but it’s the way it is. Especially in this family.”
Theodore paused to take a sip of the lemonade again and he tapped his pen over his own name.
“Second son. He doesn’t get any money. Alright? That’s the rule. Raghnall’s money will go to my father. Emelia’s own miniscule personal wealth will go to your mother. That’s the way they shake the tree. So, Eamon and Cedric have to make their own way. This is usually done by laundering money out of the accounts and everyone does it so it’s half-expected but if you want to go down a decent route then you get into business with dear old Dad, get yourself a wife with a pretty price tag and invest. That’s the way you go about making your own fortune. But the second son tends to get all of the inherited jobs – so I was a member of the Wizengamot before I married Hallie and that was an inherited position, right? So, you’d probably be owed…” Theodore looked at the line for a few moments before clucking his tongue against the roof of his mother. “A seat on a board of directors in a company somewhere. I can’t think which one but it comes with Merlin knows how many of those Muggle shares and you cash them … make your fortune, whatever you do with them. So for me, I either went into Government or I had to get into business somehow. It used to be the first son inherited everything, the second went into the army and then the third joined the Church but that’s fairly archaic now, believe it or not.”
Theodore chuckled before directing his wand to Eamon and Cedric’s names on the tree.
“Heirs and spares are necessary but also dangerous. Augustus had something to prove so he needed sons. Thaddeus had even more to prove because he was the first son and he needed his own. Eamon and Cedric didn’t have a lot of trouble, notably. They could challenge if they had a mind for it. If Eamon woke up one morning, murdered Thaddeus, Lionel and me then it would be him and James – they’d be the most important. So, I’m not going to beat around the bush, I hate my brother and I fully intend on inheriting everything so when the time comes, he’ll be dispatched neatly and nicely. That’ll be the way it’ll go and that’s the way it generally tends to go if your second son has designs on the first. That’s why you get them a wife and some cash and a nice house somewhere warm. Like, you need to distract them otherwise you can have no one left quite quickly. That’s why they’re sitting pretty somewhere with their wives and their sons because Raghnall knows that for them to do that … it’d be a disaster. Right, so… bastard line.”
Theodore took a swig of his lemonade again and flexed his fingers briefly before tapping the pen against Augustus’s name.
“Everyone’s got one. I’ve got one we won’t talk about. Lionel has dozens. Thaddeus has more than his fair share and we will go on and on from there. This one is the one that matters because it is this one that will watch out for us. Augustus has been on the back foot forever and the power shifting from Thaddeus to, well, you, I suppose, is a movement that he’ll want to put money into. The difference between normal Rookwood wives and yours and mine is that the likes of my mother, Augustus’s late wife, our grandmother… they’re cowed and broken and they will put up with it. Whilst my …” Theodore rolled his lips together, “little… deviations came prior … Hallie’s not going to put up with it and I do believe that there won’t be much left to find of you if you do it so we’re going to skip this portion of the wonderful Pureblood family explanation and use the Krums as an example. They’ve got a whole branch of their tree which came from the wrong side of the sheet and they hate them. It’s cruel, the way they treat them because no one is ever meant to get caught in that family. In ours, we like to have our mistresses live with us. We’ll take them on holidays and leave the wives behind… the wife is the duty and the mistress is the playtime. That’s the philosophy and the children born to these mistresses are, of course, the most doted upon outside of the first born legitimate son. You’ll find it in every family. We’re just a touch more blasé about it and, crucially, no one really knows about Augustus’ line because even though we’re open about our romantic walk-abouts we all still want to save face.”
Theodore tried to think what else was particularly important to know to begin with.
“You’ve just really got to keep your wits about you and don’t trust anyone who’s not giving you a reason to do so. Everyone has something to gain. So I’ll get something out of helping you. My main motivation is protecting you but I know that loyalty to you will also get me in Raghnall’s good books. It’s not what’s mainly on my mind but I’m aware of it. You don’t want that to be the primary on someone else’s mind and your welfare the secondary concern. D’you know what I mean? So, you need to be aware of that. What you’ve got on your side apart from anything else is the fact that you’re detached. I think, really, you’ll be left alone if you want it but that all depends on how you and Raghnall get along. He has all the weight, I can only do so much, that’s why I really need you to get along with him. He’s the key to all of this. We’re the neck and the neck is the thing that moves the head, isn’t it?”
by Theodore Rookwood Sat Apr 26, 2014 10:50 am
