Brother, my Brother [RJ]

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The students had gathered in the Great Hall, where triage sections for those less injured had been set up, with the worse injuries in the Hospital Wing. So much damage had been done. He hadn't seen Ethan's body, but he'd heard enough from those who had to know he didn't want to. Students had fought back, resisted ,and the invaders had been vicious in their response. Not as vicious as the headmaster...Carcer had been there to see Alice's father wipe out everyone who was trying to flee from the castle. It was one thing to have your father warn you that Headmaster Longbottom was always to be trusted and never to be crossed, but it was another to actually see what happened when his mercy and kindness ran out. It was exhilarating and terrifying in equal measure: something Carcer never wanted to do himself, but just knowing that someone else would go to such lengths if pushed, regardless of desire, calmed the blood in him somewhat.

But right now, he was looking for a particular student. His baby brother, in fact. RJ wasn't quite as big and strong as Carcer, though he was a lot more dextrous than normal: Carcer had inherited his father's ability to physically handle almost any animal, but RJ had inherited his mother's delicate touch with food. Frankly, Carcer only had the faintest idea of what a 'pinch' of salt should be. RJ was still a half-giant though, still the second-strongest in the entire school after Carcer, and just as resilient to magic. But...RJ was not a figher. He'd never lashed out at bullies, despite the fact that he could already beat up both them and their parents when he was seven years old. He just wasn't confrontational. Carcer wasn't under normal circumstances, but he could be provoked, his blood could boil. Sometimes, he wondered if his brother didn't have the giant's rage at all. Not that that would be a bad thing...if he brother went berserk and hurt someone, it might actually traumatize him when he came back to himself.

There. A head above the rest. Carcer swooped across the room, people moving out of his way, and approached his brother. “RJ! Are you okay?!”

@rj

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RJ stared at a wall in the Great Hall, his eyes not really seeing anything. He felt numb. He had watched Cassidy be swept away by those masked, and he had been helpless to stop them; he had just cowered behind a statue until they went away. He wasn't sure what happened to Lily or Adrian. They could be gone, too. Or worse, dead. He should have done something; of all the people in the school, he could have done the most. He was practically impervious to most spells. But he had hidden. Like a coward. Carcer wouldn't have hidden. His father, who was his namesake, wouldn't have hidden. But RJ did.

He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't see his brother approaching until Carcer spoke. He turned slowly, as if in a trance, to face the elder Hagrid. A wave of relief washed over him. At the top of his concerns were Carcer and Adrian. He now knew at least one of them was safe and relatively unharmed. He opened his mouth a few times, trying to speak, but he merely looked like a gasping fish. When he was finally able to find words, his voice was hollow and ashamed. "They took her away. They took her away, and I didn't even try to stop them. They took her..." He was distinctly aware that his words probably sounded like incoherent babbling to his older brother, but his shame was so deep. All he could think about was Cassidy, and how he had been too afraid to try to save her. Whatever happened to her would be on his hands.

@carcerronaldhagrid

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Carcer always worried about his brother. RJ was a true pacifist; despite his size and strength, the younger brother seemed to be sickened by the very idea of violence. He had allowed himself to be bullied whenever Carcer wasn't around to stick up for him, rather than lash out, even in self-defense. And that had been on Carcer's mind ever since he'd assured himself that Alice was safe. If they wanted to capture Carcer, they didn't bring the people...but if they decided to capture RJ, or try to kill him, would he even fight back? Now, looking at his brother, Carcer knew the masked people hadn't harmed him....physically or magically, at least. But the look in his eyes...the way he tried to speak but failed...something bad had happened.

“They took her away. They took her away, and I didn't even try to stop them. They took her...”

Oh, no. Someone had been kidnapped in front of him, and RJ had frozen up. Carcer didn't blame his brother one bit. RJ hated schoolyard bullying, it wasn't a surprise to think he had frozen up the first time he'd experienced true violence. The problem was, RJ would blame himself. And whoever 'she' was, her family would probably blame RJ too, because they would look at him and see their father, and nevermind who he was as a person.

Carcer enveloped his brother in a hug that would have turned anyone else at the school into jelly. “It's okay, RJ. It's okay to not be a fighter, and it's okay to freeze up when you're put in a situation like that. Everyone knows you hate fights of any kind.” He resolved to send an owl out to France tonight. RJ would be missing their mother terribly for awhile, and Carcer wasn't sure how much he could console his brother. He, after all, had acted, though he had also been used to bullies and defusing situations for a long time, and his skills were more suited for confrontation than his brother's. The only problem was, it would sound too silly to point out that he would freeze up in a kitchen where his brother wouldn't. Lives had been on the line here. “You are you, little brother. You can't change in an instant, especially not in the middle of what happened.”

@rj (ermergerd I have no idea how to comfort someone in this situation. How do you make Superman feel better about not stepping in front of a bullet Dx)

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RJ let himself be hugged, but he continued to stare blankly at the wall. Normally, he would have appreciated such a display of affection. But at the moment, all he could see was Cassidy being dragged away, kicking and screaming until she was stunned into submission. How would he ever rid himself of that mental image? If something happened to her, he would never forgive himself, despite all of the empty condolences he would likely receive.

The blond allowed himself to look away from the wall to bury his face in his brother's shoulder. "You wouldn't have frozen up," he heard himself mutter against Carcer's shirt, his voice slightly muffled by the fabric. He wiggled his way out of his brother's embrace and stared at him with a deadpan expression and sad, hopeless eyes. "Why can't I just be more like you?" he asked flatly. It wasn't fair to himself or Carcer to compare the two of them, but right then, he wanted nothing more than to share his brother's fearlessness. He could only imagine their father's shame. He wouldn't outright say it, but Hagrid was a gryffindor. Bravery came easily to them. And RJ was far from brave.

Slamming his fist on the triage table closest to him, sending supplies flying and startling the few patients that were standing nearby,RJ turned away from his brother and scowled. "Why am I so damn afraid?" He glared at the crack he had made in the table. He was strong, nearly invincible, and yet, his whole life, he had been practically afraid of his own shadow. Now his cowardice had likely cost someone their life. Now, for the first time in his life, he was angry. And the unfortunate victim was himself. "Why, Carcer? Why?"

@carcerronaldhagrid