Princess At Your Door || Roddy and Aurora ||

Rodolphus would have killed, literally, to make this week end. Aurora had been a little terror ever since meeting “Dorfus the Aurora”. Rodolphus had heard nothing but his mistress’ mangled name since the morning after his birthday when Dorcas had run into Aurora in the halls of Lestrange Chateau wearing nothing but one of Rodolphus’ shirts. He had hoped that the little witch would have forgotten about the strange run-in within a day or so, and he had peppered her day full of activities that should have distracted her. Riding lessons. Shopping with her auntie Narcissa. Tea with her uncle Rabastan. Playdates with the Mulciber children. It should have been enough and yet Rodolphus was awoken early this morning by Aurora jumping on his chest, her tiny little fingers curling around his chest hair as she pounded on him like a drum. “Daddy! Wake up! I want to play!”

Rodolphus groaned as his eyes slowly opened, the blurry image of his daughter coming into focus. “Let daddy sleep, princess. You can play with Mopsy until I wake up.”

“But you’re up nooow,” the little girl whined, her fingers pulling at the hair on his chest as she removed her hands and crossed her arms over her chest in an impudent manner. “I don’t want to play with Mopsy. Mopsy is dull! I want Dorfus!”

This had gone too far. Rodolphus had spent more than a week attempting to dissuade the littlest Lestrange from seeking out the Auror. It had been the only time he had ever had to directly tell her no, and he was met, as expected, with Aurora full on chucking a wobbly, wailing about how mean her daddy was. If Rodolphus hadn’t been so aggravated it would have broken his heart to hear her say such a thing, but in his anger, he’d left her flailing on the floor and sent one of the servants in to deal with her. Rodolphus didn’t want another dramatic display, especially so early in the morning, but there was no way in hell he was letting those two paths ever cross again. “Dorcas is abroad, love. She’s working.” That was true, and it was the reason Rodolphus had had to find new playmates to satisfy his needs over the last week.

Grasping her around the middle and pulling her down beside him, Rodolphus pulled Aurora in for a hug and closed his eyes. As if the little princess would ever let him sleep once he’d been woken up. “Catching baddies?” she asked.

“Mhmm. Muggle-loving baddies,” he claimed, and with the senior Avery in charge of the Ministry that very well could have been true, though Rodolphus didn’t know for sure. Aurora pestered him with more questions and thoroughly squashing any plans Rodolphus had had about sleeping in past seven. At breakfast, Rodolphus tried to redirect the conversation to Aurora’s riding lessons, but that was unsuccessful. The topic of quidditch, he’d discovered several days earlier, only brought on more ‘Dorfus’ references. By noon, Rodolphus decided that going out for lunch might be more effective than hanging around the manor. He was wrong.

They’d only just gotten to Whimsic Alley when Aurora spotted a blonde witch and ran up to her crying “Dorfus!” and then pouting severely when the woman turned around and was not Dorcas.

“She’s not here,” Rodolphus said firmly, eliciting a more pronounced pout from the little girl. "Stop this!"

“We should go to her castle!”

“Aurora –”

“Pleeease! Please daddy! I want to play with Dorfus’ toys!”

“She’s not home.”

“You’re being mean!”

People were beginning to turn their heads as the child screamed, giving disappointed and disapproving looks at the single father. “Fine!” His voice was low but full of irritation as he glared at the little girl. “We’ll go to her house and you’ll see she’s not there and then you’ll put this to rest.”

Aurora’s lip instantly returned to its normal, non-pouting size, and she bounced on her feet and hugged her daddy’s leg. “Yeah!” she cheered. Rodolphus gritted his teeth as he picked her up and held her close to his chest as he turned on the spot. The pair disappeared.

They reappeared in front of a little cottage which was nothing like the castle Aurora had been picturing in her mind. “Dorfus has a playhouse!” she squealed excitedly, mistaking the quaint cottage for a playhouse similar to the one Aurora had at her own home. The moment she was free from her father’s grip, Aurora darted to the front door of the cottage and yanked it open, running inside. Rodolphus followed at a more leisurely pace.

“I told you, she’s not home, love. Now come along. It’s time to eat.” He stepped over the threshold into Dorcas’ cottage, not sure which direction Aurora had ran off to.

Aurora ran into the little house, her eyes widening as she looked at the shabby furniture surrounding her. Stairs leading up were at her right, but Aurora took the doorway to her left, ending up in the smallest dining room she had ever seen. The little brunette was not alone long. Soon she heard her name being called and the little princess twirled around, the edges of her polka dotted dress unfurling in a wide circle around her and falling just as quickly. “DORFUS!” Aurora ran full on at Dorcas, wrapping her tiny arms around the witch’s middle in a big hug. Large eyes turned up to look at the woman’s face, an excited expression on her own. “Want to play hide and seek? I hide. You count.” Releasing her firm grip on the older witch, Aurora ran off giggling in the opposite direction, heading for the lounge.

Aurora’s squeal could be heard from the entrance, emanating from the dining room. She was calling for Dorcas. The child was unrelenting. He sighed loudly before shouting through the house at her. “She’s not bloody here, now stop – ” Rodolphus rounded the corner into the dinning room to find none other than Dorcas Meadowes standing just a few feet from him. “What the fuck are you doing here?”

"Daddy said fuck!" Aurora shouted with glee as she wedged herself in behind the couch in the lounge.

“Dorfus, come find me!” Aurora’s sing-song voice broke through the kitchen amid the swearing and glares. “Daddy! You can hide with me. I’m right here!” Dark curls fell over her eyes as the little witch squatted close to the ground behind the couch. She laughed and clapped her hands over her mouth so as to not be found out, but whenever she felt it had been too long she would call out a reminder for Dorcas to keep looking for her. The stone floor was cool on her hands and knees, and she pressed her cheek to the floor because it felt nice. “Cooome ooooon.”

Alarms were going off inside Rodolphus’ head. Had he not been with his daughter and mistress, this would have been the point where he just started going berserk on anyone within range of his fists or his wand. Internally, Rodolphus was nothing but chaos, trying to make sense of the shit show he’d walked in on twice in as many weeks but externally he simply looked livid. Aurora was in the next room, giggling and calling her father out for his language but the real issue was the witch stood only a handful of feet from him. “No shit!” he retorted angrily as she reminded him needlessly that she lived here. “You’re supposed to be in Belgium or Germany or some fucking place I didn’t bother listening to!” His lip curled into a snarl as he spoke. This was a disaster. A spur of the moment plan to get his daughter to stop obsessing on the bloody Auror and Dorcas has to go and lie about her work trip, and having Aurora thinking they’re playing a fucking game. What the absolute fuck?! Aurora was still calling after them from the other room.

Stepping into the dining room further, intending to pass by the petite blonde and go hunt down his daughter, which would have been simple enough given Aurora’s atrocious hiding skills, Rodolphus shouted out. “We’re going, Aurora. Come along.” The little witch scowled into the stone floor as her daddy was once again being mean, but she didn’t come out. It was hide and seek, and he would have to find her before she gave up this game with her friend. “Fuck, Meadowes, you really know how to cock shit up,” he said as he approached her, angry with himself as much as he was with her and Aurora.

Peering underneath the couch toward the opening that led into the dining room, Aurora checked to make sure someone was coming to search for her. “Dorfus! Come find me!” she hollered, still keeping herself low to the ground where it was nice and cool.

Rodolphus saw the blast coming at him and moved to dodge it, the hex hitting his ear instead of his face and instantly beginning to burn and grow red. “I know you’re fucking good at your job! That’s why I recommended you!” He growled at her, bringing his hand up to his ear that was now swelling with the first of many boils to come. It stung upon contact and Rodolphus snarled. He didn’t want to speak of the Dark Lord now. He wanted to ring her neck, but he’d already done that once before and the terror it caused him was enough to cause him pause now. “I still thought the fucking tosser you’d be chasing would keep you longer! I just – ” He moved away from the lounge entrance and over toward the table, looking for something to press against his ear and dull the stinging as another boil formed on his lobe. “I didn’t know what the fuck to do! She’s been asking after you all fucking week and driving me mad!” Finding nothing of use, Rodolphus pushed past Dorcas and headed in the opposite direction from Aurora and the lounge, toward the kitchen at the other end of the cottage. A terrible bloody set up.

“Hey!” Aurora stood from her place behind the couch as she saw her father’s back disappearing into another room further away from her. “You have to find me!” She stomped her foot and folded her arms over her chest, her expression mimicking the one on her father’s face at that very moment.

Once in the kitchen, Rodolphus opened the cupboard most likely to have a solution to the boils that were slowly spreading down his jawline. He slammed the doors of the cupboard angrily, relieving none of the anger he was feeling in this moment and seriously contemplating pulling his wand on Dorcas. They’d dueled before but never with any true intent to harm one another outside of what would be considered mild foreplay – at least, mild for them. He could hear Aurora’s faint voice shouting from the other end of the cottage and he slammed his fist into the counter.

Mention of any furry animal was enough to distract the little witch, which was why she owned so many flying horses, a unicorn, and rabbit (that was non-magical but cuddly all the same), and even a dragon which was stabled out of the country as they were considered illegal in the UK. “Puppy!” she cried excitedly, all hint of anger completely wiped from her expression as she ran full on into the dining room, then the entrance hall, and finally up the stairs. She tripped over her own feet as she clambered up the steps, but she recovered without a fuss and continued upwards in search of kittens and puppies, not understanding yet the concept of a cat named Dog.

Aurora’s footsteps grew louder as she dashed across the cottage and Rodolphus snarled at no one in particular until the steps began to soften and he realized she had gone upstairs. The reason was unknown to him but at the moment he didn’t much care. One of the boils on his ear had just burst and it felt as though his whole ear had been lit on fire. More were forming on his cheek. Dorcas appeared in the doorway and he growled at her, turning his back as he opened the correct cupboard this time and began moving around bottles and vials of various sizes, looking for a boil cure. Surely someone as vain as Dorcas would have a stash of potions for pimples and the like. Rodolphus had seen her in the mornings after a particularly heavy night of fun. He knew she needed a few vanity potions every once in a while, though on average she looked just as good waking up as she did when she went to bed. Another boil had popped, taking any tiny thought he had had about Dorcas’ natural good looks and chucking them straight out the window.

Spotting a bottle in the back that looked promising, Roddy shoved things around inside the cupboard until he was able to reach it. “Either fucking help me or leave me the fuck alone. I’m not in the mood – ah mother fucker!” A new series of boils had sprung up, causing a quarter of his face to appear as a red, swollen mess that throbbed with pain. Grabbing a tea towel off the counter, Roddy brought the potion and the cloth to the table at the center of the room, kicking one of the chairs out so he could sit down. Pulling the stopper from the bottle, Rodolphus poured the liquid onto the cloth and applied it to the opened boiled on his ear, wincing as he did so. “Fuck me, I hope that bloke you caught got at least this bad.” Moving the cloth slightly against his skin, Rodolphus glared at Dorcas. Surely the clusterfuck that was this mishap did not need the added chaos of a fucking boil hex. Overdramatic bitch.

Dorcas sung her own praises, clearly excessively pleased with herself for doing the fucking job she was paid to do. Rodolphus’ eyes narrowed on her. He didn’t want to talk of her work. She didn’t care that she was a brilliant Auror and had managed a job in a fraction of the time expected of her. Later, when his face had healed, those things might be worth noting and he was man enough to admit that he had, on occasion, been impressed by her, but right now his face was looking like the wrong end of a baboon and felt like the center of an active volcano. He wasn’t about to congratulate her or stroke her ego and if she kept doing it for herself, Roddy wasn’t sure what he would do.

Springs could be heard shifting on a mattress upstairs. Aurora had evidently decided that jumping on the bed sounded like a good idea, taking Dorcas up on the offer. A muffled squeal of “kitty!” could be heard traveling down the stairs, but the sound of a bed becoming a trampoline continued, so either the cat was being held hostage by a little bouncing witch or it had run off and Aurora decided it wasn’t worth the effort.

Pulling the tea towel away from his face, the irritation was visibly milder. The boils on his ear had shrunk and the skin around them was only a pinkish color instead of an angry red. He poured more of the potion onto the towel and then pressed it against the side of his jaw. Dorcas was trying to hurrying him along, the impatient bitch. “Oh, I’m fucking overreacting?!” he hollered, pulling the towel away from his face once more as he gestured at her. “So this,” he gestured now to the side of his face, a pale pink spot amidst an angry ring of red boils, “isn’t overreacting? I was on my fucking way out! What the fuck did you think was going to happen?” He pressed the towel back against his jaw, his motions a little sharper than he had meant to be, causing a stinging pain to shoot along the edge of his mouth. “You think I can apparate with a six-year-old when she's terrified of this shit on my face and not get her splinched? Fucking use that sodding head of yours for something other than talking, for one fucking minute!” Had Aurora seen his face broken out in blistering and bursting boils, she would have screamed and cried. He’d never have been able to hold her well enough to disapparate from the cottage safely. And that had been the plan, after all! He had been on his way to grabbing his daughter when Dorcas had to go and make everything worse tenfold.

The quick shift in Dorcas’ temper following Rodolphus’ remarks proved her to be an emotionally volatile witch – as if he didn’t already know that. How easy she thought it to be, to hex him, practically in front of his daughter, and then to go about bantering as if this were just any other day. He quite possibly could have bounced back into a better mood and teased her a bit, verbally and otherwise, but the potion he was applying to his face had not yet taken full affect. Looking like Quasimodo, Rodolphus had no plans of allowing Dorcas to feel better.

Upstairs, the strain of the mattress springs being compressed and released had stopped. Roddy took no notice of the silence as he moved the tea towel to the underside of his jaw and applied the potion to what he prayed was the last spot of boils to erupt. His ear was no a soft pink, the boils there barely more than bumpy blemishes that would be gone altogether in another few minutes. The potion was fast acting but not as fast as the hex that had caused the boils in the first place.

Grinding his teeth as he hear Dorcas shouting up the stairs to his daughter, Rodolphus’ mind began to finally sift through the chaos of thoughts brought on by Dorcas’ surprising presence in her own cottage. What was Aurora going to do now that she’d had two “visits” with Dorcas? How was he ever going to keep the six year old from driving him completely mad now? If only she could find someone else to fixate on. Someone more appropriate. Her auntie Narcissa or future-auntie Lilith, perhaps. Fuck, it didn’t even need to be a proper socialite just as long as it wasn’t the witch Rodolphus was regularly fucking. The witch who had killed Aurora’s mum, right here in this very house. Fuck, this was going to be shit. It could have been quicker shit if Dorcas hadn’t of blasted him in the face like an emotional nutter, but it was shit either way. What a sodding mess this all was. To make matters worse, unbeknownst to Rodolphus still sitting in the kitchen soothing his injury, Aurora had not answered Dorcas’ call.