An Ill Wind - Mod Journal (illwindmod) wrote in an_ill_wind, @ 2009-06-07 23:52:00 |
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Entry tags: | !! group: death eaters, !! group: ootp, - 1980/06 june, bellatrix lestrange, james potter, leoben yaxley, lily potter, rabastan lestrange, sirius black |
AOM - Part Eight!
Who: Order VERSUS the Death Eaters
What: IT'S A TRAP
When: 7 June, evening
Where: Hogsmeade
Rating: R-ish
Status: Completed log, multiple posts!
Sirius & James VERSUS Bellatrix
Bellatrix's wide, predatory smile broadened even further beneath her mask at the sight of her newest prey. Yet another one delivered so nicely to her feet. She did not even need to go looking for opponents when they kept landing in front of her like this. Trading one blood traitor cousin for another, she trained her wand on Sirius and gave a slight flick to drag him back to his feet. She wanted to have fun with this and that wasn't nearly as easy to do when he was lying in a heap on the ground. "You have quite the knack for finding yourself in trouble, Sirius," she purred, not caring if he recognised her voice. She wanted her cousin to know that she was the one who would kill him and if she could, she would take off her mask right then and there.
Sirius landed with a bone jarring thud, the force of it reverberating through his body; he felt a bit like he was made entirely of funny bones, the way the way his bones were ringing. He was furious at the way he was suddenly dragged back to his feet - he'd had more than enough of being manhandled, especially now that he had control of his body back - but all of that flew out the proverbial window when the masked Death Eater spoke, realisation crashing as hard into him as he'd crashed into the pavement. He'd know that voice anywhere. "I fucking knew it!" he all but snarled, and even as he spoke he hurled an incendio and a reducto. His body hurt, but that came second to the rush of adrenaline that'd taken over when he realised he was facing Bellatrix. He could be missing limbs at this point, and he'd still be alert and ready to fight. No one could infuriate him, bait him, drive him as mad as she did, and he very much wanted to stop her when he had the chance.
Bellatrix just laughed as Sirius snarled at her, tossing her head back and easily deflecting his curses as if it was child's play. "You cannot say you are surprised. And you are going to have to do far better than that, cousin. Not that it matters. You will not live long enough to tell any of your little friends." Oh yes, she was quiet definitely going to kill him tonight. But first she was going to toy with him and she sent a silent, almost lazy blasting curse flying right back at him. It seemed that whoever he had been fighting with previously had already done quite a number on him but that did not mean she would not enjoy tossing him around a bit herself.
Sirius threw a hasty shield up, and a split second later the blasting curse slammed into it. Good timing. She wanted to be a pain in the fucking arse? Fine, two could play at that game. He sent a silent gouging hex at her, followed quickly by a stinging hex and another gouger. She was starting off smaller, so he would too; he'd need his strength for when he wiped what he knew was a smug smirk off her fucking face. "Go fuck yourself," he said with a sneer.
"Language, Sirius," she chided mockingly. "I am quite certain your mother taught you better than that." And oh yes, she was certainly smirking behind her mask as yet another round of his attacks were casually batted aside. "Come now, you are hardly even trying," she sneered as she gave a slight flick of her wand and sent a bone shattering hex at him and followed it with a hurling hex as she found herself consumed by the sudden desire to see him fly.
"The only thing she ever taught me was that the Black women are cunts," Sirius snapped, wanting nothing more than to blow her fucking head off (and laugh about it afterwards.) He deflected the bone shattering hex, and it ricocheted off somewhere to his right, shattering a nearby chunk of concrete. His shield caught the hurling hex, though it sent him stumbling backwards a few steps, and he ground his teeth in anger - the absolute last thing he intended to do tonight was get hurled anywhere else. He hurled a sectumsempra at her, wanting it to hit home. "I hope I take your fucking head off," he added, cause sharing was caring, really.
"Now that's the spirit," she replied with another laugh as she threw up a shield of her own to block his attack. She did, admittedly, underestimate the strength behind the spell and as it crashed into her defences, she was forced back in a few quick steps. But her reflexes were good and she caught herself, keeping her balance and starting right back for him again. "I would hate to tell people you did not even put up a fight," she taunted as another flick of her wand sent a stream of black fire flying towards Sirius; a dark curse intended to curl around his chest and squeeze.
How was it that she always knew exactly what to say to get to him? Sirius felt himself tighten up in anger, temporarily seeing red he was so furious. His friends were injured all around them, the Death Eaters were burning down the fucking village, everything was going to hell and he was behaving? Forced to play by the Ministry's rules, while the Death Eaters conjured up any dark magic they could possibly get their hands on? It wasn't fucking fair - how could they win a war against this kind of magic? The dark curse the bitch had just sent at him crashed into his shield, and fuck but it was strong, a perfect example of what they could get away with. He could feel it pushing through the shield, curling tendrils around his chest, beginning to squeeze. It was hard to pull in a breath, but Sirius' anger exploded and the shield burst apart as he blasted away the last of the curse that was fighting to get to him. She wanted him to try? He'd try. He clenched his fists as he focused on how much he hated her, how much he wanted to hurt her, how must he wanted her to suffer, to scream, to fall at his feet. He couldn't remember ever being so angry, caught up in the heat of the moment, and the word was coming out of his mouth on instinct. "Crucio," he snarled, and the curse burst out from inside of him; he could feel it tearing through his skin, dizzying in the effort it took, but it was followed by a rush of adrenline so intense he felt like he could do anything in the world right now.
It was a mistake on Bellatrix's part to have underestimated her cousin. To believe that he would never in a million years be capable of casting that curse. The cruciatus required one to tap into the darkest part of their soul, to be filled with anger, hatred and pure sadism to a degree that she had not believed Sirius capable of possessing. It was a mistake, she realised, to forget that all family trees aside, he was still a Black. She did not even bother attempting to block the curse as she assumed it would simply fizzle out, or at worst, knock her back and then she would show him how it was truly done. At least that had been her intention before the spell crashed into her. Bellatrix was sent flying through the air, crashing to the ground as her body spasmed with pain. Oh, she had experienced far worse in her life. She had experienced the cruciatus at the hand of the Dark Lord himself and in comparison the strength of Sirius's curse was nothing. But that was like saying that being submerged in a pot of boiling water was nothing compared to a volcano. She ground her teeth together, refusing to scream for him as she fought against the pain tearing through her body and pushed herself onto her hands and knees. With some considerable effort, she managed to raise her wand and fired back with a growled "Crucio" of her own.
Sirius was partly in awe, and partly, well... giddy. Seeing the curse not only crash into her, but take her off her fucking feet, throw her to the ground spasming, made him feel so vindictively good that he couldn't believe it. Still caught up in the adrenaline rush, with the battle surrounding them on all sides, he couldn't help but feel elated, knowing he'd finally got the best of her, no matter how long the fucking thing lasted; she could call him weak and pathetic all she wanted, but they both knew the truth now. He was so caught up in his own successful attempt, however, that he was too slow in throwing up another shield, and it was his turn to fall heavily to the ground as she returned the favour, the curse hitting him hard, pain screaming through his body. He ground his teeth together in agony, a low groan of pain spilling out despite his best efforts to keep it in, and he writhed on the concrete. Next time pay attention!
As his curse faded away, Bellatrix rose to her feet, keeping her wand - and her own curse - trained firmly upon Sirius. He may have managed the curse, but she was a master of it and she was going to show him just what sort of agony she could inflict upon him. Without the slightest break in her concentration, she moved closer until she was standing over him and she gave a sharp twist of her wand as if she was twisting a knife in his flesh. "Oh very good," she declared and while there may have actually been some strange hint of a compliment in there, it was hard to tell through her ever-present condescending tone. "There may still be some hope for you yet. Tell me, how did it feel? All that power and anger flowing through your blood..." Not that she expected an answer, not when she was maintaining the cruciatus on him at a strength and duration beyond what anyone could be expected to endure. And then finally she lifted it, letting only a moment pass before she brought her wand around again and sent a flesh-eating curse down at him.
Sirius wouldn't scream, he wouldn't, and he wouldn't shout, and he wouldn't groan, and he wouldn't do anything else verbally that would give any indication of the crushing, debilitating, excruciating pain he was in; he wouldn't give Bellatrix that kind of satisfaction. But it was getting harder and harder to keep that promise to himself, especially when she twisted her wand and he could've sworn she actually stabbed him. He finally groaned in pain, uncertain how much longer he could possibly take the curse, his body overwhelmed by it, every part of him screaming for the agony to stop. When it finally did he was exhausted, and if it hadn't been for the earlier adrenaline surge, he'd probably be useless at this point. His reflexes were slow, still, and when the bitch threw a flesh-eating curse at him, the hasty shield he threw up only caught part of it, and the rest of the curse hit him right under the hip. He yelped, startled, feeling his flesh dissolving, and he almost panicked before he got another shield up and tried his best to heal the ravaged patch of skin, trying to keep the curse from doing any further damage. She'd already scarred his wrist from their last duel - he could see the red tendril of it as it wound up to the base of his palm - and he wouldn't let her scar another bloody fucking inch. Forcing himself to his feet, Sirius strengthened his shield and threw an incendio, followed by a bone twisting curse a moment later.
Bellatrix always liked fighting at close range. Mostly it was a matter of her arrogantly assuming that her own reflexes and ability to defend herself were far better than that of her opponent. And it was a simple thing for her to seemingly dance out of the way of Sirius's attacks, letting them fly into whatever wreck of a building had been behind her. But she also enjoyed it because it allowed her to do the thoroughly unexpected. As she dodged his attacks, she moved to his side but also closer, so no more than a metre was between them. A bolt of white lightening that crackled and snapped with energy flew from her wand as she reached in her robes with her left hand. In one fluid movement, she had pulled a gleaming silver knife and lunged at Sirius, intent upon burying the weapon in his flesh. She wanted to feel his blood streaming over her hands and she moved to throw her wand arm around Sirius's shoulders in what might have been seen as nothing more than a friendly, familial embrace were they not Sirius and Bellatrix and were her intentions not to drag him onto her knife. "You did not answer my question," she said, her voice low and tinged with amusement.
Sirius was nearly blinded by the burst of white light, and he fought to stay upright, blinking rapidly to clear his vision and see straight once more. As his eyes began to adjust, he felt an arm around his shoulders, and he flinched wildly - actual physical contact between them was the absolute last thing he'd expected, and it threw him off more than any of the curses hurled at him had. But the advantage was his, he realised, because no matter how batshit insane she was, no matter how powerful she was with her magic, no matter what horrible curses she extracted from the depths of her rotted mind, Sirius was much physically stronger than Bellatrix was. She was tall, but she was much thinner and - while 'dainty' was certainly not a world Sirius would ever attribute to her - she was slender, and despite the lack of real height between them, he was easily twice her size in other ways. Physical fighting was a specialty of Sirius', and it didn't hurt at all that he wouldn't think twice before bashing her fucking brains in on the concrete. He threw his weight at her and knocked them both to the ground, just (and only just) managing not to do the job for her and impale himself on the fucking knife in her hand. He grabbed her arm and slammed it down on the street, pinning her with his body, and his free hand grabbed her throat. "It felt fucking incredible," he snarled, tightening his hand around her throat.
Most people would have realised their own folly at attacking a larger and stronger man, if not beforehand then at least at the moment that they were tackled onto the ground. Bellatrix was not most people. Even with the sharp edge of gravel digging into her back, with Sirius's weight on top of her and his hand around her throat cutting off her airway, Bellatrix couldn't help but laugh. It was a somewhat less effective sound with what little air she had left in her lungs but the meaning was still clear. Despite the fact that Sirius could quite easily strangle her to death, she was not taking this seriously. How could she? He had managed to quite effectively restrain the hand wielding the knife but she still had her wand quite firmly clenched in the other free hand. Her eyes sparkled dangerously from behind her mask and she just gasped, "Foolish," at him as she brought her knee up into his groin as hard as she could possibly manage and pressed the tip of her wand into his side, casting a powerful hurling hex to send him flying off of her all in one sudden burst of movement.
James had just left his first fight, putting a lion between him and his opponent and trying to find Lily. He let off curses here or there to help anyone on his side, but he hadn't yet been able to see Lily, and instead he was nearly bowled over by Sirius flying through the air and nearly landing on him.
"Hey, mate. Fuck, you all right?" James asked, helping his friend up and wincing at the twinge in his muscles as he did. The cruciatus had left an ache in it's wake, but he was lucky to have gotten off as well as he did. "Have you seen Lily? I can't find her. She came. She's nearly eight months fucking pregnant and she's here, mate."
Sirius was really fucking sick of being thrown through the air, and if he hadn't landed at James' goddamn feet he knew he would've tried to throw another Unforgivable. His body ached from the Cruciatus and now (another) hard collision with the ground, and it took all of his effort to get up, even with James helping him to his feet. "I've been better," he said dryly, although his attention was elsewhere as he scanned the area for Bellatrix, knowing there was no way she'd just toss him and forget about him. No, the bitch was out for blood, and she'd be on him again in no time, screaming banshee that she was. What did startled him out of his careful scanning was the reminder that Lily was here. Very pregnant Lily was here, and if James was with him, it meant he wasn't with Lily. "Fuck," he swore vehemently. "We have to find her."
No, Bellatrix was most certainly not finished. As soon as she was from Sirius's weight, she sprung back to her feet, rubbing her neck slightly with the back of the hand still clutching the knife. Her eyes followed him as he flew through the air, landing at the feet of none other than James Potter. Well that would do quite nicely, she decided as a chunk of burning building was neatly broken into hundreds of small, flaming and razor sharp shards of wood and metal. They floated in the air, almost a new wall of their own and then Bellatrix sent the mass of shrapnel flying at the two of them.
James, still relatively unharmed, turned his attention away from Sirius and his search for Lily just in time to see the piece of wall heading for them. Swearing loudly, he threw his wand up and, transfiguration always having been his strong suit, changed the burning piece of wall into a very large feather pillow. He stepped in front of Sirius, taking the thing in the shoulder. The impact knocked James onto his arse, and the damn thing exploded into feathers, feathers which stuck to his hair and his clothes and settled over every nearby surface, Sirius included.
"Sorry," James said, climbing back to his feet and looking for the source of the attack. Then he spotted a robed woman approaching. He couldn't see her face, but he just had a feeling, considering their history, that Sirius would've somehow ended up fighting Bellatrix. The idiot never could stay out of trouble, not that this was at all their fault. Still. Shit. He threw out a series of fast spells, as was his style, and though the stupefy, impedimenta, expelliarmus, and shrinking spells would probably be considered child's play, his aim was to buy them enough time to get ready.
Of course, this meant James' search for Lily would be halted again, and he swallowed down his fear for her. He couldn't walk away from this one, not now, not yet. He and Sirius would have to focus, and together, if they stayed on their toes, they could likely take her. No one fought quite like James and Sirius.
"No apologies necessary," Sirius replied, plucking several feathers out of his hair; it was much moer convenient, of course, to pull feathers from his hair than shrapnel from his skull. He spotted Bellatrix approaching as the same time James did, and he positioned himself beside his friend, knowing that the two of them could take the bitch on, stop her in her fucking tracks. He'd like to grind the smug grin he knew she must have off her face, preferably by grating her face against the fucking concrete. That, or by blowing her head off. Both were appealing.
"We'll get Lily after this," he added firmly, meaning it. She and the baby were top priority right now. As James began to hurl hex after hex, Sirius narrowed his eyes and hurled a sectumsepmra right for her chest, hoping James' spells would distract her enough for him to get a good shot in. He itched - no, ached - to throw the Cruciatus again, but there was no way he could possibly do so in front of James, and so he focused on more legal (or at least so far unclassified) curses, hurling a reducto, followed by a diffindo aimed at her throat.
Bellatrix continued moving towards the pair, walking slowly as she batted aside spell after spell. Shields burst into existence only to vanish as soon as they had absorbed a single hex. Her own blasting curses were sent back, not at James and Sirius, but at their attacks, causing the spells to meet and explode in a violent display of sparks. And some simply vanished into nothing as Bellatrix brought forth an inky black cloud that absorbed their spells, growing and pulsing with each added burst of energy. She made it look all too easy, but by the time Sirius's last attack came flying at her, she was annoyed at having to devote her time and energy to dealing with the onslaught of such petty attacks and she sent his diffindo flying back towards James with an angry slash of her wand that belied the effort defending herself had taken.
Now, only a few metres away, the black cloud of magic still floated in the air between them and oh, if only they could see her face as she glanced towards her apparition and then back towards her cousin and his friend. Oh, she had plans for the two of them. But first she wanted to see just how far she could push Sirius. He was so much more fun when provoked. "What is the matter, Sirius? Have enough of unforgivables for one night? Or is it just that you do not want your friend to see what you are capable of? This magic is your birthright. Embrace it," she declared as the cloud burst into a million little drops of a fine mist that would eat and burn their way through anything they touched. Bellatrix threw up her own shield to protect herself and attempted to channel most of the dark magic towards her opponents but this spell was, admittedly, somewhat beyond even her capabilities to control and while most of the attack remained focused on them, there were still a good deal of the insidious black flecks flying every which way. The ground hissed and sizzled as magic met rock and even her own shield seemed to be nothing more than food for the spell to chew through, although it was still holding. For now.
Sirius was furious that Bellatrix wouldn't stop fucking coming at them, feeling himself growing more and more worked up as she continued to deflect their attacks. The urge to tackle her to the ground again, to squeeze her throat and watch the life drain out of her, was so overwhelming, so enticing that he wondered if he'd be able to dodge the cloud (or whatever the bloody fuck it was) and throttle her with his bare hands... He was pulled out of that lovely daydream when she began taunting him about the unforgivable curse he'd thrown, and he felt his hackles rise, anger pounding through him; for the second time that evening, he had to fight down the urge to change into Padfoot and rip someone's bleeding throat out. "Fuck off," he snarled, desperately wanting James to have absolutely no idea of what had happened. "You know nothing."
It was hard to be intimidating, however, with the black fucking cloud descending on them, and even though Sirius had thrown up the most powerful shield he could manage, the black flecks were breaking the shield, cracking it as they fought to get through to him. He really, really didn't fancy having even more skin burned off tonight, and he was determined to keep that from happening. It helped, somewhat, that Bellatrix seemed to be struggling with her own damn curse, but it didn't help enough as the cloud got closer and closer. He clenched his jaw and strengthened the shield, hoping fervently that it held. He wanted to throw something, while the bitch was distracted, but it was a risk. Not that had ever stopped Sirius before... Trying his best to keep the shield up, he sent a sectumsepmra hurtling towards Bellatrix, trying to get her under her own shield. It cost him, as some of the flecks broke through and burned into his skin, and he yelped a little as he focused back on the shield. No more fucking missing skin!
James had narrowly avoided the diffindo, throwing up a shield just in time, though the curse shattered it and he felt a bit of backlash. He hated the downright psychotic woman, but no one could contest that she wasn't a bloody powerhouse. James barely had time to think of that, however, before whatever fucking mess she'd made started creeping towards them. Instead of helping Sirius with the shield, James stepped behind it to safety and frantically tried to come up with something to counteract the black flecks. While nothing he cast seemed to have much effect, he noticed light was possibly his best option. On a whim, he cast a nice, strong patronus, though he left his left arm vulnerable outside Sirius' cracking shield as he did, and whatever it was Bellatrix had made ate quickly away at his arm, leaving it looking as though the skin had been scraped off of a section.
"Fucking ow," James hissed, clenching his jaw against the sensation.
The patronus, at least, seemed to chase much of the black away, though it hurt something in James to watch Prongs get eaten by dark magic despite knowing he could cast another.
In fact, as soon as his first disappeared, James triumphantly sent another, this one towards Bellatrix as a mixed distraction and confusion tactic, following it quickly with a flash of blue meant to freeze her completely, hoping to make her unable to move or speak or fight.
James made a decision not to respond to her tauntings of Sirius, at least not beyond touching Sirius' shoulder with his now injured arm, letting his friend know that regardless of what spell he might have cast, nothing had changed. James would cast an unforgiveable for Lily, he had accepted that. He knew where his lines were and when he'd cross them. With things this bad, who was he to judge how close Sirius had drawn his?
Bellatrix truly loathed the patronus spell as it was the one thing that seemed capable of defeating even the darkest of magics that she could conjure. But she was not some magical creation that would be driven off by the galloping silver stag. No, it was easy enough for her to ignore, but the momentary distraction combined with the weakening of her shield from her own attack meant that Sirius's sectumsempra was able to burst through her defences and she was left with only moments to dodge out of the curse's path. It still grazed her shoulder and she let out a growl of anger as skin tore and blood streamed down her arm. The flash of blue was more easily avoided, however, as Bellatrix countered with another blasting curse that met James's attack in midair, destroying them both.
"It felt fucking incredible, was that not what you said?" Bellatrix taunted, throwing Sirius's words right back at him. "You do not need to lie to me. I know what it feels like to have the power of the cruciatus flowing through your veins." She gave a couple of quick swishes of her wand and ripped apart the building behind the pair, bringing down a rain of fiery shrapnel onto them, hoping to buy herself a moment to cast the countercurse to the sectumsempra and stop the bleeding from her arm.
The rubble showered over them, James casting a shield charm over himself and Sirius just in time to stop the worst of it from burying them alive. When the landslide was over he threw a quick succession of silent curses in her direction--two gouging hexes and a hex that would knock her right off of her feet--before finally spotting Lily some distance away, walking willingly toward a death eater. "Sirius, I have to--Lily," he emphasized, gesturing, and then pitched two more blasting hexes in Bellatrix's direction before heading toward his wife.
"It only felt incredible to be hurting you," Sirius hurled back, shoulders so tense he was a little concerned they'd cramp up that way. His fingers itched to curl around her throat again, but he was pulled away from those thoughts by the sound of something massive being torn apart, and he threw up a shield as he looked over his shoulder, eyes widening as the wave of fiery shrapnel and debris came raining down on them. James' shield added to their protection, covering the both of them from the worst of the rubble. His mind was all over the place once more, but he focused when James mentioned Lily, his voice panicky. He glanced around wildly before he spotted her, seemingly strolling right up to a Death Eater, and his stomach bottomed out. "Go," he said, not needing to think about it twice. "I'll cover you until you're out of her range." Lily needed James, and right now Sirius knew Bellatrix wanted him more than anyone else; hopefully he could distract her long enough.
"Is that the best you can do?" he shouted tauntingly, and he aimed a blasting curse for the street lamp not far from where Bellatrix was standing. The glass cover shattered, and the top of the metal pole flew through the air toward her. Hoping it'd take her head off - or at the very least distract her - he threw hex after hex, stinging and gouging and severing, anything he could think of to keep her busy so James could get to Lily.
As soon as her arm was healed, another powerful shield burst from her wand and James's hexes were neatly deflected. She turned her wand on him as he ran but the sound of shattering glass and the loud wrenching creak of metal were enough to distract her before she could fire off another curse. Her head swung around to see the metal pole flying straight for her and she stopped the pole in mid-air. With a hard twist of her wand it was split in two, each with razor sharp points. Her newly created javelins went hurtling towards Sirius, although in the time it took her to create them, the first of Sirius's attacks connected. She growled furiously as her chest burned with the pain of the stinging hex but the others were once again batted aside one by one.
"You cannot hold me off all night," she yelled back. "I am stronger, I am more skilled and you will die at my hand." As she spoke, the ground beneath them began to tremble, and with the slightest flick of her wand, the very earth under Sirius's feet was ripped out from underneath him, leaving a slowly growing crater as dirt and gravel and pavement all swirled around in a tornado that sought to bury him under it's weight and force.
Sirius took a few steps back when the now razor sharp pieces of the lamp post were flying through the air at him, and he jerked his wand quickly, blowing up the first half, and then the other. The shield he'd had up protected him for the most part, but he grunted in pain when a piece of metal caught him in the side, lodging painfully in his skin. He grit his teeth and yanked it out, running his wand hurriedly over the wound to close it up. He was sick to fucking death of this. How much longer could this last? How much energy did he have left? He couldn't hold her off all night, and even though he was loathe to admit it, he had to face reality at some point. Either that, or face death.
"How many times have you threatened to kill me and failed spectacularly?" Sirius taunted, wondering if pissing her off would distract her, or just infuriate her further. He'd take both, if he had to. Big words coming from him, however, as the ground beneath his feet was torn out from beneath him, and he had nowhere to go but down, falling painfully into the steadily-growing crater. He was in a bit of a fucking bind; he needed to get out of the crater as soon as humanly possible, while refraining from being crushed and suffocated to death by the street he'd just been standing on. Sirius threw up yet another protego as he grabbed onto a chunk of pavement that hadn't yet been ripped off, and he hauled himself out of the crater, rolling sideways quickly to avoid being dragged back in. The - was that a fucking tornado? - was slamming against his shield, the force of it nearly pinning him to the ground. He had to get it off him before he was crushed.
With a groan he squeezed his eyes shut and cast the strongest reducto he could manage, and the tornado exploded everywhere, shooting chunks of concrete and rock everywhere, all over him, back into the gaping hole in the street, and off in Bellatrix's direction. He took a piece to the elbow, pain ringing up his arm and into his collarbone, but that was much preferred to being crushed all over. Panting a little, he pushed himself to his feet; he was at once exhausted and exhilirated, in that bizarre middle ground between collapsing and bursting with energy. He should have taken a nap earlier. "Why won't you die!" he shouted, and as he wished fervently to kill her, to watch her fall, to know that she was dead, brilliant light burst from his wand once more as he snarled another crucio, focusing on how overwhelmingly satisfying it would be to kill her, he wanted to kill her, kill her, more than anything. If he could hurt her enough, incapacitate her enough, he could finish her off with his bare fucking hands. The urge to cast the killing curse was almost overwhelming, but he didn't think he had it in him. He wasn't sure he wanted to find out.
Bellatrix should have been irritated at how Sirius managed to deflect her attacks yet again and while there was some flash of frustration at being forced to repel the fragments of the very tornado she had created, at his desperate wish for her to die, she just could not help but laugh again. She crouched down and another shield protected her from the rubble being blasted in her direction but soon enough she was back on her feet even as the last of the dust and rocks still rained down around her. Concrete and gravel pelted her shoulders but she did not so much as flinch as she moved closer to him. His second crucio was not so unexpected as the first, however, and it too was deflected with another burst of laughter.
"How quickly the noble Gryffindor falls," she taunted back, taking an odd moment to brush off her shoulders. "I knew you had it in you after all. But you're going to have to try much harder than that if you want to kill me" And while Sirius still held on to his precious few reservations about the killing curse, Bellatrix had no such qualms. The green light of the killing curse exploded from her wand as she cast the killing curse at her cousin for the second time in their lives. It was time to end this once and for all. As much as she enjoyed (and really she did find some twisted sense of amusement from it) offering all manner of displays of dark magic for her cousin so that he might truly appreciate what she was capable of, there were still other battles to be fought.
If Sirius hadn't been absolutely furious before, he was now, as Bellatrix deflected the Cruciatus, as though all the effort, all the anger he'd poured into it had been worthless - nothing. "You know nothing!" he insisted angrily, even though she did, didn't she? She knew he'd had it in him, and she'd been right. That twisted Sirius' stomach in a way he couldn't begin to explain, and he was considering just hurling himself at her the way he'd been itching to when there was a tell tale burst of green light coming from the tip of her wand. Panic took over, and he threw himself out of the way of the curse, landing hard on his shoulder as he rolled onto his back. He'd thrown a shield up mid-fall, and it held as the killing curse blasted overhead, the rush of it pressing the shield painfully against his chest. There was a chunk of concrete digging painfully into his back, but he'd gladly, gladly take pain over death.
"I know everything, my dear cousin," she replied as she moved so she was standing over him again and crouched down at his side. The wand was traded for the knife once again and Bellatrix moved to press the blade to Sirius's neck to slice it ever so slightly into his skin as she kept her wand trained on him with her other hand. "Move and you will be dead in an instant. You are a Black, Sirius. You may cling to your notions of nobility and righteousness but you are no different from me. We share the same blood, the same proud, noble history and you may think you have turned your back on us, but you cannot run away from who you are. Surely you must see that by now."
Sirius' hands were balled into angry fists, but he kept still as Bellatrix pushed the fucking knife into his skin, knowing she'd slit his throat in an instant. She was so close, if he could just reach up quickly enough he could grab her throat, he could overpower her, knock the wand and the knife from her hands, kill her the way he was dying to do. What was making him even angrier than the way she had the knife at his throat, however, was what she was saying. It was Sirius' worst fear - being the same as his family. The idea that no matter how hard he'd tried, how hard he'd fought, that none of it mattered - that he was the same as them underneath it all, that he was just as bad as them. It scared him when he lost his temper, when he lost his head, and it was always in the back of his mind, that constant niggling, the idea that maybe they were right all along, that no matter what he did he was a Black.
"I'm nothing like you," he finally snapped, trying to convince himself as much as Bellatrix. "Blood means nothing. It's something we have in common but it's not who I am, no matter how desperately you might want to believe otherwise. I am nothing like you," he finished furiously, his eyes flashing. Not wanting to continue this conversation for another second, he kicked out at her legs, trying to throw her off balance and keep her from slicing his fucking jugular.
Bellatrix was forced to jump up and out of the way as Sirius's leg came flying at her, relinquishing her threat of the knife against his throat in the process but it was only a moment before she was on him again, this time with her wand. She flicked her wand to drag him back to his feet and despite the lesson she likely should have learnt the last time she attempted a more physical encounter, she moved to grab his arm with the hand still holding the knife. She could tell that she had gotten to him, from the way he tensed and balled his fists to the look in his eyes and that caused a smile to spread across her lips. And an idea to form in her mind. There was, perhaps, a greater purpose to Sirius Black than his death.
Moving still closer to Sirius so there were only centimetres between them, she leaned in to speak lowly into his ear. "You are. And you will realise that sooner or later. But now you have two options. Run, and I will let you flee. We will finish this later, after you have had time to think. Or attack. Give into the desire to kill me, or try, and I will bury this knife in your chest."
Sirius thought he had his chance to overpower her, when Bellatrix jumped away from him, but not even a moment later he was being dragged back to his feet, feeling like a puppet on a fucking string for the thousandth or so time that night. He tensed so much he was positively fucking rigid, when Bellatrix leaned in, so close to him that he could feel her breath on his skin. It'd be so easy, to reach out, to grab her, to get his hands on her... He was startled out of his thoughts by her offer, however, turning his head to look at her. Their faces were far too close, and it took all of his effort to keep his hands to himself. The last thing he wanted to do was run - flee, as she'd put it - but if it meant they could finish this later, when his friends were safe, when they were alone, when no one could see them, or the things he wanted to do... The others needed him now. Dying would do nothing for them.
"I don't need time to think," he hissed. "I know exactly what I want to do to you. But I don't want to do it here. I want you to myself," he stressed, nearly shaking with anger.
Bellatrix laughed as she released his arm and stepped back, holding her arms wide. Yes, let him spend the next few weeks thinking of various ways to kill her. Let him twist and corrupt his mind with such dark thoughts and she would see just what fell at her feet. If he truly had it in him to resist such an opportunity to lash out at her when it was presented to him, which still remained to be seen. Truthfully, she was not entirely certain which path she would rather see him take. Both would be decidedly amusing in their own way, after all. "Go then. Run away and try to help your little friends. They will all be dead soon enough. The least I can do is give you the opportunity to say your goodbyes."
Sirius took a step towards Bellatrix at her taunting, his frayed nerves nearing their breaking point as she taunted him, once again knowing exactly what to say to get to him. "Shut up!" he snarled, but he caught himself before he moved closer, forcing his arms to his side. He could attack her right this instant, he might be able to get to her before she got to him, but for once not all of her taunting was affecting him negatively. He straightened up and stepped back, and while anger was still radiating off him in waves, his mind was made up. He had to help his friends; he had to be there for them. That was what separated him from Bellatrix - he could care. And love.
"I will kill you, the next time I see you," he declared, meaning it. Jaw clenched furious, his eyes still flashing, he knew he had to leave. He had to find James and Lily, he had to find Remus, he had to find Dorcas. They all needed him. With a final glare he threw a shield up (he certainly wouldn't put it past her to hex him when his back was turned) and he took off in the direction James had gone, determined to find them.
Bellatrix, to her credit, did not attack Sirius as he fled. No, she kept to her word and just kept right on laughing, the loud, high sound ringing out over the battle. Oh, how she dearly hoped he would try to kill her. She wanted nothing more than to see just how far she could provoke him, what depths of dark magic she could force him to reach for. She wanted to corrupt him, to turn him into the very thing he loathed and then leave him to pick up the pieces of his own ruined life. And once Sirius had disappeared into the crowd, she turned and went looking for another fight.
James & Lily VERSUS Leoben
Leoben wasn't feeling quite at his best. It was infuriating to have been injured by that muggle-lover again and he was quite in a bad mood, despite having left her to the wolves (quite literally). He put a shield charm around himself, lest any stray magic head his way and waited until he was a bit further away from his earlier charge before his eyes fell on a very pregnant ginger. He didn't recognise her. But quite honestly, who let pregnant women out onto a battle field? It was asking for trouble. Or a miscarriage. Or both, he supposed.
With a flick of his wand, he cast a Conjunctivitis Curse at her. Just to get her attention.
Lily had only just left Alice when a conjunctivitis caught her unaware. "Buggeryfuck!" she cried, overwhelmed with pain and completely disoriented, quite sick to death of curses and hexes anywhere near her head. She'd lost a great deal of hair, and had relatively minor burns on her face and neck. She managed a flimsy shield charm so she could fix her left eye, where Leoben's curse had hit.
Ben was in no mood to pull punches. She already looked like she'd be taking quite a lot away from this little get-together. If he didn't kill her first. He hadn't decided yet. In any case, he wanted to toy with her a bit first. No matter the outcome. A jelly-fingers curse next, quickly followed by a knee reversal. Let her make a fool of herself first. He was almost unperturbed as another building exploded. It was their doing, after all. And one could not afford to be distracted on the field of battle.
Lily managed to fortify the shield charm before the jelly-fingers hit, but the knee-reversal pushed her backward and the shield faltered. She was losing steam, in all these battles. She was so tired. Her lowered back ached on top of her other injuries and the baby was kicking like mad, responding to her increased heart beat.
She grunted, deflecting the knee-reversal and sending furnuculous his way, followed by a blasting hex and an incendio.
The first spell rebounded off of his shield, but the blasting hex finally broke it and sent him skidding back nearly off his feet. With an irritated grunt, he growled "Aguamenti!" and extinguished the flames before they reached him. He'd learned that lesson already in his last duel and was not about to be lit on fire again. It was quickly becoming a favourite tactic of his to freeze his opponents to the ground and he indeed cast a freezing charm at her feet. Mobility was a rather large part of dueling, after all.
Lily was already limited in mobility, and wasn't looking to make things any worse for her throbbing knees and chafing thighs. "Protego," she cast again, practically relying on shield charms the longer things went on, losing steam very quickly. She threw a blast of hot water at him, followed by an engorgio, hoping that he'd swell and explode and she could be done with this stupid circus of people trying to kill her because she was pregnant.
Leoben had rather been hoping the ice would do it's job and he was caught off guard by her spell. He was mostly covered, but he was hit with a large splash of it and the longer the hot water set in his robes the more it burned. It was only by pure luck that he managed to avoid the second spell and he was getting rather sick of this dance. With an angry flick, he threw a blasting hex at her, and a shield around himself as he tried to cool some of the burns that he knew were forming around his shoulder and chest, where most of the water had come in contact with him.
Lily whipped a large chunk of concrete in the direction of the curse Leoben had sent her way, throwing up another shield charm immediately to protect herself from the flying debris. Confringo followed, aimed at a broken bench near Leoben, and then another jet of hot water since he liked the first one so much.
Leoben blasted the bit of concrete in mid-air, showered with gravel but otherwise unharmed by it. The bench though, blasted far too close for his liking, and he couldn't help but cry out in pain as wooden shrapnel embedded itself in his calf, all the way through. He staggered to the side summoning a large chunk of flaming roof to protect him from the water. Ben had just about had enough of this. He was not about to be beaten by a pregnant muggle-lover.
"Imperio!" he almost hissed.
The imperius burst through her shield charm. Lily's expression turned blank and she stood there, not moving, waiting for Leoben's direction.
Just drop your wand, Leoben instructed, working his way into her mind. You're so tired. You don't want to fight any more. You've been fighting all night. Drop your wand. Let it go. He watched as she, after a beat of hesitation, dropped her wand on the ground. Behind his mask, a smirk pulled at his lips. Good, that was the right thing to do. Come here, now. I'll take you somewhere safe. You can rest and get cleaned up. Just a little closer, that's right... Leoben reached out a gloved hand to take hers, folding his fingers tightly around her hand.
"Lily, no!" James shouted, throwing hexes off around him as he backed away from the fight he was currently in. James was a little beaten and battered as he limped, running towards them. He saw Lily moving towards a Death Eater, a placid expression on her face, and it caused James more panic than if he'd spotted her broken and bleeding, really. It was ultimately more dangerous. He felt his heart climb up into his throat. He never should have left her alone, not for a second. What had he been thinking? He was supposed to take care of her.
He tripped over what was probably a body, but didn't stop to figure out whose it was. Clamouring back to his feet, wand out, James burst free from the crowd and, panting, came to stop a few feet away from Lily and her captor.
"Let her go. Let her go now," James growled, heart pounding in his head, loud enough to drown out the sound of the chaos behind him.
Ben immediately pulled the girl to his chest, forearm across her neck as he held her between himself and his new opponent. "I think she wants to stay with me," he drawled lazily. "Don't you?" Nod. Lily nodded. "See?" Ben sneered and silently cast a shield charm around himself. Just in case. "Who are you, by the way? Oh dear, are you her husband?" Leoben couldn't believe his luck. "Does that make this yours?" He ran a gloved finger over the mudblood's swollen belly.
Oh, but Salazar, the suffering mute were so boring. He let go of his Imperius Curse, but kept his wand trained on his captive. "Oh, this does put you in a bit of a bind, doesn't it?" he taunted, casting incarcerous to bind Lily's wrists together.
James felt the red ebb away to black, and he hadn't ever felt this murderous. His wife and his child stood before him, in the hands of a Death Eater, and James wanted nothing more than to remove that hand from Lily's belly at the same time as he removed it from the man's arm. He wanted to throw away his wand and pull the man apart, piece by piece. His eyes narrowed and he clenched his sweaty palm white-knuckled tight around his wand. He felt like he was crackling with magic, and a few smouldering sparks shot out the end of his wand, more out of adrenaline than lack of control.
He would remember that voice until the end of time, and if James couldn't get him now--because now clearly his priority was Lily, not revenge--he would get him some day for putting her in such a position.
Voice clear and deadly, James said, "You should let her go now."
When Lily came back to her senses and realized what was going on, she very nearly screamed. Coming out of the fog of the imperius curse and finding herself held captive by a death eater, wandless and at his mercy while James was attempting to retrieve her was the straw that broke the camel's back after her last two duels in her state. Between the fire and her back and everything else, and now this... Lily couldn't help it. She started crying. "Let me go, please, God, please!"
"Mm, I don't think I will," Leoben mused quietly, running the tip of his wand over her belly. "What do you think an entrail-expelling curse would do to a pregnant woman?" he asked quietly, looking across the space between them at the father. "I've never tried, but it does beg the question, doesn't it?" Ben tutted softly. "Don't cry. It's ever so unattractive." It felt like it had been a very long time since he'd gotten to do, playing with his victims like this. Muggles didn't count, after all. This was so much more entertaining.
James thought about all of the horrible things he would do to that man, all of the ways he would hurt him. He thought about holstering his wand and just jumping him, since no one ever seemed to expect that and James had won a few duels fighting dirty that way in school. But this wasn't school. This was Lily's life and the life of their child, and the words 'entrail expelling curse' quickly cooled his boiling blood, even though her tears and her voice made him ache. James was a formidable wizard, sure, and known for being a little bit reckless, but this wasn't something he could take chances on.
"Let. Her. GO!" he screamed, voice breaking, but he dared not move forward, not right now.
Lily started shaking. "You can't... you can't take away... it's a child, what is wrong with you?" she asked, whimpering, tears streaming down her dirty cheeks. It couldn't end like this, not before she got to be a mother and hold her baby for the first time. Not in the middle of chaos and blood-wars, swollen and pregnant and completely and utterly helpless.
Leoben sighed, a little bored with the standoff. "I think we've already quiet established that I won't," he sighed, taking his eyes off of the husband long enough to look at the wife. "You would be much more attractive screaming," he whispered. And then a burst of flames shot out of his wand, catching the robes around her shoulders and chest. Leoben thought he was being rather generous, aiming away from the child, dirty and contamianted as it likely was.
The flames spread over Lily's chest, shoulders and neck. She struggled against the death eater but there was nothing she could do to prevent the fire from burning her skin, the sickening smell rising up into her nostrils, the pain unbelievable. She was screaming and writhing and thought that if he didn't stop soon, she was going to pass out. The baby was kicking and kicking and kicking and Lily's head was throbbing and swimming.
Ben flicked his wand and extinguished the flames, wrinkling his nose at the smell. "Yes, that's better," he mused, even going so far as let a few sprays of cool water out of his wand over the worst of the burns. The water sizzled and evaporated and behind his mask, Leoben smirked. "And no harm to your child," he drawled, flicking his eyes up at the supposed father again.
Lily was panting and whimpering still, unable to move her head without feeling the skin on her neck (if there was indeed any left) peel and stretch and hurt like nothing she had ever felt before in her life. Her heart was pounding in her chest. All she could think was how badly she wanted all of this to be a nightmare; to wake up at home, in bed, unscathed, without having so stupidly ran into this trap without a second thought, putting herself and the baby at risk, and for what?
She was still crying, choking sobs, when she felt a warm wetness seep from between her legs and down her thighs, dripping. Oh, no. No, no, no. Fucking, no, please. This couldn't be happening. Not now, not among all this.
Leoben opened his mouth to continue his taunt when he felt something on his shin. He glanced down and was immediately disgusted. "Oh, gross," he protested and shoved the girl away from him. Pregnancy gross fluid all over his shoe. Brilliant. Probably mudblood pregnancy fluid by his luck. Enough. Ben raised his wand and sent a dark, glowing red curse at the girl. It was designed to explode and then eat at flesh. Nothing that was easily healable, certainly.
When the flames jumped onto Lily, James stopped waiting. Waiting in the hopes that he'd be able to save Lily if she just moved that way or he just dropped his guard for a second was hopeless, and he wasn't going to stand and watch as Lily, his Lily, burned. There was too much distance between them, though, and tears came to his own eyes as he ran. Even when the fire stopped and he let out a jet of water, James didn't stop running. He was only a foot or two away then, but something happened, something his mind didn't have time to process, and then Lily was moving, falling away.
James saw the wand pointed at her, and he lunged, using his momentum to throw himself through the air towards her. He was too distracted to think of anything more complicated than stupefy, thrown in the man's general direction as he put himself between them, barely managing to get in front of the curse. Before he even really understood that he'd been hit, he felt a burning hit his shoulder and a heat shoot up his arm.
There was a feeling he couldn't express, then. A sensation like apparating, but different, like being hit with Dr. Filibuster's most Fabulous Firework that one time, except far more intense. James couldn't figure it out beyond painful, but whatever it was threw him through the air. All he cared about was that it hadn't hit Lily, really, and that was his last thought before he lost consciousness, passing out before he even hit the ground.
Ben had not been expecting the woman's husband to actually come at him. And in any case, his focus was on the girl and the curse. The stunning hex blind-sided him completely and before he even knew he'd been hit with it, he was on the ground, effectively unconscious.
Lily stood frozen for a moment in disbelief. James had gone one way, while his arm had gone another. The Death Eater had been stunned. James looked as though he was either unconscious or dead. Her bleeding water had broke. "Fuck, fuck, fuck," she barely breathed, inching backward to retrieve her wand. Once it was back in her hand she sent a shaky body-bind in Leoben's direction before trying to heal her neck at least a little, so she could move her head. Then she was moving in James' direction, praying to every God there might be that he was still alive.
Lily VERSUS Rabastan
Rabastan's original plan for the evening had been to drink several glasses of liquor spaced throughout the night at the party Dolph had thrown for Lucius. While nursing his second tequila and chatting with his friends, the Death Eaters received a summons to apparate to Hogsmeade masked.
Although shocked to find the attack already roaring, Rabastan sprinted ahead and added a few reducto curses to the mix. He watched while one of his curses completely leveled a Muggleborn activism center and had to restrain himself from skipping on to the next building along the roadway. As excited as he would have been to attack another structure, he discovered someone familiar just to his right - Lily Potter. "So we have a Gryffindor mudblood in our midst this evening," a hint of ice penetrating Rabastan's low voice. "You must be extremely proud of your filthy heritage to show up unmasked tonight. At least we will know to whom we should send your remains." He decided to have a little fun with her and cast a nonverbal conjunctivitis at her eyes.
"Fuck you," Lily spat, caught in the middle of her slow trek toward James' immobile body, completely unwilling to continue dealing with this bullshite anymore. Contractions had started hitting her now, or what she supposed were contractions--sharp and uncomfortable pain in her abdomen--causing her to hunch over while trying to cast and then hold a shield charm to protect herself.
Noticing that Potter seemed intent on something other than herself, Rabastan took a quick glance down the battlefield. Sure enough, he spotted her husband James lying prone on the ground without an arm. The prat deserved it fighting against the Dark Lord – these idiots had never figured out how to heel and live to fight another day. “Oi Potter, your husband doesn’t look too good. How would you like to join him down there? Form a mutual appendage loss society maybe?” Simultaneously, Rabastan threw a confringo at a downed tree between the two Potters, a reducto at her legs and then a densaugeo hex directly at her face.
Lily fortified her shield as best she could. The confringo destroyed the tree most of it falling opposite to them, but many of the branches flew everywhere some crashing into and bouncing off of her shield. Some landed on and around James, and Lily felt a pang in her chest. She need to help him, not fight anymore of these ridiculous duels. Her shield stopped the reducto, but the densaugeo broke through and she moved just enough for it to graze past her shoulder. "Diffindio!" she snapped impatiently, followed by a silent gouging hex.
It made Rabastan’s heart glad to see the branches hit one of the Potters, even if James already did lay on the battlefield unconscious. Rabastan tried to sidestep the diffindo charm but it raked into his left arm, the one in which he had had to re-grow the bones after his training duel with Bellatrix.
“Fucking bitch,” Rabastan snarled in pain and a greater amount of fury. He cast a Cruciatus curse in her direction and followed it with a nonverbal furnunculus hex to her neck and face. Spinning away from her gouging curse, he threw a nonverbal petrificus totalus at her legs.
"NO!" Lily bellowed angrily, casting a powerful but silent shield charm that stopped everything he had tried to send her way. "Confringo! Stupefy!" she should, and then another contraction hit and if she could've doubled over, she would've.
Easily blocking her hurried curses, Rabastan prepared to throw another Cruciatus curse in her direction but felt a change in the town's magical signature. “What the hell,” Rabastan turned around to see what had happened and his heart turned into ice. Spotting the ever-evasive Dumbledore out of the corner of his eye, he ducked out of Lily’s line of sight and bolted for a Death Eater lying injured on the ground.
Lily almost cried with relief at the sight of Dumbledore and ran as best she could for James, calling for someone, anyone, to help her get him to the older wizard.