InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Hallelujah, it's raining men!"

sirius black -- eventually, even stars burn out (seirios) wrote in blurred_lines,
@ 2009-08-03 00:09:00

Entry tags:

! [1980-08] august, remus lupin, sirius black

who → Remus & Sirius.
what → Sirius finds a missing puzzle peice. Understandably, it doesn't go over well.
when → About 6pm, Sunday Night.
where → Wandsworth.
warnings → R for violence.
status → complete.

Remus had been withdrawn and quiet ever since the failed hostage attempt with Marius; the relentless and overwhelming thirst for revenge seemed to have completely vanished. He didn't want to have anything to do with the Lestranges anymore, and it was as if that alone had drained whatever fight Remus had left away. They were too powerful -- how could the Order possibly hope to win now? It was pointless; all of it was. Even so, Remus felt compelled to stay; he had things he needed to do, things that required careful planning and waiting until just the right moment. He moved through every action as if on autopilot, never questioning himself, never wondering why.

And so it seemed perfectly natural when Remus found himself alone with Sirius to ask, "I need to go back to my house to get something. I think Moody would have my head if I went back out there alone -- will you come with me?"

Sirius perked up at the sound of Remus' voice, interrupting the doze. Needless to say, he was pretty damned tired. That was what Narcissa fucking Malfoy had called it, wasn't it? Tiring. She was right. The evidence was showing people drained from hope all around him and it was hard, knowing the inspiration that used to drive you was now so in absence that you were sitting ducks.

He smiled at the request, "Sure, mate. I'll just get my jacket." The last thing he wanted to do was catch his - heh - death, out there. "You want to apparate or are we going to go for the astonishing feat that is getting you on that bike more than once a month." Make that a year, but he was feeling generous.

"Let's apparate, it'll be faster. It'll just be colder if we fly on the bike, anyway -- maybe another time," he said, although Remus would likely say the same thing next time, and the time after that. He waited for Sirius to grab his jacket, deciding to forgo on getting his own, grabbing a portkey and slipping it into the pocket of his robes. Once Sirius was ready was ready to leave, Remus took the lead in walking until they were just outside of the anti-apparation wards, wanting to be the first one out -- and as soon as Sirius stepped outside the wards, Remus took a rough hold of his arm and apparated them both to the hill of Wandsworth.

Sirius had to admit, the boy had a point. It could be a bit nippy up there with all of the rain they'd had lately. He wasn't going to tempt fate and insist on using his bike for now. He pulled his jacket on and shoved his wand in his pocket. Noting that Remus went to get the portkey, he decided to forgo getting one of his own. If there was trouble, Remus could just activate it, no fuss, no muss. Not a problem. Maybe this would make him feel a little better too, as he'd been so quiet lately. Since Marlene...

Sirius frowned when he noted the surroundings, "Uh, Remus? D'you take a wrong turn?" This looked a lot more like London than Cornwall.

Remus didn't reply. His hand remained on Sirius' arm, squeezing tighter so as to hold him in place. Wand in hand, he turned to face him -- and for a moment, when their eyes met, he hesitated... but he had to do this, and then he pushed the tip of his wand against Sirius' chest and spoke clearly and firmly:

"Avada Kedavra."

Sirius followed his eye line for a moment, wondering what the hell was going on. Something didn't feel right at all. Then putting his wand to his chest? That was a little...suddenly he was pushed backwards by his own sense of shock. Was that the curse he thought he...? He wasn't dead, but he could feel the lead in his legs for a moment and the taste of blood in his mouth. That couldn't be good at all. "THE FUCK?!" was about all he could articulate, before giving Remus a violent shove with his free hand and trying to kick his legs out, despite how wobbly they felt. This was a lousy time to play jokes or practise unforgivables. He knew they'd been planning to get more forceful but this was insane! "That's the fucking KILLING CURSE!"

... and that hadn't worked at all like Remus expected it to. He had hoped to make this quick and clean, but now Sirius was going to fight back and he was going to have to hurt him. He didn't want to -- but it was the only way. He stumbled from the shove, falling over onto his back when Sirius kicked his feet out from under him. He pushed himself back up into a sitting position, still focused on Sirius, who had not yet drawn his wand -- and so Remus aimed his wand at Sirius again and growled, "Sectumsempra!"

Shit! Bolting out of the way was not easy but he couldn't run. It was Remus! That wasn't good, was it? Mentally, Sirius went through a list of reasons Remus could be doing it. There was always the imperius - but then who had cast it? When would they have cast it? He tried to think on his toes, casting a "Finite! and a tripping jinx Remus' way. "Talk to me, Lupin!" He yelled, wiping the blood from his nose. "What are you doing?!"

Once again, Remus did not reply –- with a slash of his wand in front of him, he deflected the tripping jinx, taking a step back for further protection against the spell should his shield charm have failed. With his wand pointed toward Sirius' feet, he swirled the point in circles until the ground below Sirius became a soft, thick mud, pulling Sirius' feet into the ground and grabbing hold with a vacuum of suction on the bottom of his shoes. Another wave of his wand –- his eyes moving upward away from Sirius' feet to look at his eyes -– and the brown colour of the sludge beneath him turned black as ash, transfigured into a tar that burned as hot as blue flames.

Damn. It was a long shot anyway, but this was insane. What the hell? The ground turned to sludge that burned a fire and he let loose a hiss of pain as the flames took hold. Don't panic, he thought, trying to ignore the heat before shouting "Finite!" twice, before sending a blasting curse towards Remus' arm. It probably wouldn't kill him but he had to stop him. He then blasted at his feet, a cry of pain when the air hit his feet, forcing him onto his backside. Shit! Those burns would need sorting out before this was all over. He also sent one last curse to send mud flying up. He needed to regroup. He needed to figure out a way to disarm him without permanently damaging him. He needed to buy some time and obscuring his view seemed like the best option.

Remus nearly lost his grip on his wand when the blasting curse hit him, jerking his right arm back and leaving behind a torn hole through his sleeve and raw, bleeding skin. He lifted his other arm up in front of his face to protect his eyes from the mud, the lingering heat in the sludge burning skin as it splattered on him. With a growl, he continued to advance on Sirius, taking advantage while he was down, conjuring thorny vines to burst up from the ground and try to wrap around Sirius' legs and arms.

There was something about your mind when it raced in a fight that tended to come up with the most bizarre thoughts. Sirius had wanted Remus to fight him but there was a difference between a quick fist fight that gave them both a bit of much needed relief and crazy plant bondage fun. It was probably a good thing, it did make him try to get up. After all, there were better ways to get a tanned backside than sitting on the burning ground. "Oi! Lupin!" As if that was going to work at this point, "If you wanted me on my back, you only had to ask!" Angry adversaries made sloppy adversaries, right? Things were about to get hot, as he pointed his wand to burn the vines, sending a stunner Remus' way. This ended now.

Unwilling to relent his control over the vines just yet, Remus opted to quickly dodge out of the way of the stunner spell instead of relying on a shield spell. "I do want you on your back," Remus replied, voice cold and distant even as he made a sharp, slashing motion with his wand, and the flaming, thorned vines whipped toward Sirius' back. "I want you on your back and six feet underground."

The voice was more jarring than the sharp pain against his back. Something in the back of his mind complained about bloody whips but it was drowned out by the much louder repeated swearing that was causing the problem. He'd heard that tone before, when he'd made him so mad that he didn't want to be around him. This was just... more, somehow. A rather pathetically confused "Remus?" slipped out and he cursed himself for it mentally. Within seconds, the mood changed to fury and he sent a slicing curse directed right at friends head.

Remus dodged again, moving to the side, but just barely in time -- he felt the spell whizz by his head, nicking the side of his throat and the lower part of his right ear, slicing off a small section of his hair. The cut didn't phase him much; blood trickled slowly down his neck from the cut, but he ignored it, snarling now that Sirius had begun to truly fight back: "You're making this harder than it needs to be!" He extinguished the flames on the vines, only to transfigure them into four snakes, which dropped to the ground and slithered around Sirius' feet.

Sirius gave him the most incredulous of looks, "To die?! Oh, I'm so sorry!" And his friend had turned into a thundering lunatic when? An unwelcome thought intruded on the moment. Wait, hadn't this been what James had been warning him about? The sinking feeling he'd gotten played sunk in but he wasn't having any of that. Pointing the wand at the snakes one by one, he froze the damn things. Never mind that it left him open. He was going to risk another spell. Wincing but already feeling all that gorgeous adrenalin pumping, he took a run and launched himself at Remus' stomach.

He fell backwards under Sirius' weight, both of them slamming to the ground, and he let out a sharp cry of pain as he landed on the damaged muscle on his side. With a growl and wand still in hand, Remus reached up and grabbed the hair on the back of Sirius' head, pulling back sharply to give him easier access -- and then he curled the fingers of his left hand into a fist and swung, knuckles colliding with Sirius' nose.

With a squeak of surprise, Sirius growled. He had really had enough of Remus fucking Lupin hitting him on the nose! He knew there was an old adage that if you hit on a dog on the nose, it ceases it's behaviour. It was false. He was reluctant to bring it into play considering what had happened, but he felt for the pocket knife none the less. If he needed it, he needed it. Too obvious a move though. Having his legs free, it was easier to do a bitch move and he prayed silently for Marlene to forgive him as he gave him a good, sharp knee to the crotch. "They got to you, didn't they?" He spat, starting to hate having blood on his face. "DIDN'T THEY?!"

Remus was nearly howling in pain as soon as he felt Sirius' knee connect with his groin, and then he grit his teeth, breathing heavily through his nose. He did not answer his question, because Sirius wouldn't understand -- he had to do this. He didn't have a choice, and wasn't it for his own good? He released Sirius' hair, lowering his hand, and he roughly jabbed the end of his wand into Sirius' side, pushing it against a soft spot between ribs. Remus looked up at him and snarled: "Crucio."

The sudden shock caused him to cry out as pain rippled through him. He recovered from it enough to realise this wasn't nearly as bad as before: it was still fucking paralysing but he could just about think. He wasn't going to be able to think. Wand was useless. Letting go, hissing through the screams and shoving his hand in his pocket and moving to slam the blade into his foot. He needed a distraction; he couldn't think, let alone cast something in this writhing state.

The curse was broken as soon as the blade of Sirius' knife punctured through his shoe and into his skin, a sharp, throbbing pain shooting up his leg -- and when Remus jerked his foot away Sirius was still holding tight to the pocketknife, wincing when the blade slipped out of his foot. He pushed himself up, getting to his feet -- which was no easy task, stumbling back when he had leaned his weight on his injured foot. "Stop fighting, Padfoot." It was a useless request, he knew, but he hoped using his friend's nickname would add fuel to his anger and make him reckless. "This doesn't have to be painful." He only paused long enough for a heartbeat before pointing his wand again. "Sectumsempra!"

Sirius hadn't even thought to check Remus. He'd seemed so normal as James and Peter weren't and it's amazing the thoughts that ran through someones mind in a rush when suddenly he could breathe again. Taking gulps of air, he stopped only grab for his wand. But wait -- he hadn't been gone long enough, had he? He couldn't have been--then wouldn't mean--

He was drawn out of the reverie by the sounds of Remus' voice. How dare he! "Not afraid of pain," He gritted, before sending a silent disarm before realising he'd been hit. Just below the chest, he could see a thick red line and feel the sting through the adrenalin. He felt it then, almost like a second hit... there was, there had to be. "Why." It wasn't much of the question and used up strength he should be using to sit up, fight the lurch in his stomach and fight.

Remus' wand flew out of his hand as Sirius' disarming spell hit him; while he hadn't heard it, he had seen it, but he did not react as he watched the dark red lines appear over Sirius' body. Perhaps he had hesitated out of guilt, the part of himself blocked off that knew this was not what he should be doing and holding him back from fighting his friend with all his strength. He glanced away from him for only a second, trying to see where his wand had gone -- but it was lost amongst the grass on the hill. No time to search for it; his task was not done. And when Sirius spoke again...

Why?

He pressed his lips together in a thin line; he had no answer. He had to. That's all there was, and it was not a good enough reply to explain why they were here, in the same place he had kidnapped James, or why two friends were viciously crossing wands, or why there was an alarming amount of blood soaking through Sirius' clothes. Remus had no answer for any of these things but this did not change his resolve; carrying out his orders was the only thing he had left.

And he was not finished. Without a wand, he only had physical violence left to rely on, and so Remus drew his dagger out from his robes and pounced on Sirius, the action mimicking those nights back when the four of them still spent full moons together, when the two canines scuffled and pounced and bit at each other playfully, back when they were younger -- but this was so much crueler. The weight of his body landed on Sirius and he reached for his friend's wand, pulling it out of his hand -- and the wood seemed to snap so easily in half, the splinters of it stabbing into the pad of his thumb. He brought the dagger down swiftly with his other hand, intent on piercing his heart... but he struck several inches to the side instead, the blade sinking into Sirius' upper arm.

Not a lot of people know this, but when there's enough blood, even your average human nose can smell it. It's at that point that the blood that's come out is starting to reach dangerous levels. Forcing back the black spots behind his eyes away, he had a chance for the moment to do some damage control. He pointed his own wand at the still seeping wound, white bandages wrapping around it. One of the girls would know the counter curse. He was going to be fine. He had to be. He owed a James a big, fat 'sorry'.

Which is of course when the bastard jumped him and not in the good way either. He emitted a high pitched yelp of pain, which confirmed to him that sitting up was not going to be a fun activity for a while. Just as quickly, he went for his wand and he realised his own grip was weaker - had Remus always been this strong or was it the shaking hand? He didn't register the snap until the knife - was that a dagger? For fucks sake, Lupin, could he be any more fucking dramatic? Who kills their friends with daggers anymore? Or tries to, anyway. Oh, this was going to hurt. Moving his arm, he shoved his hand up with a cry himself before slamming the blade into Remus' neck. Two could play at that game.

He almost didn't react when the blade of Sirius' knife pushed through the skin and into the side of his neck -- the shock of it taking him off guard, nearly stunning him into silence -- but the pain was far more overwhelming. For a moment, he almost expected Sirius to jerk the knife to the side (it didn't matter which way; although completely across to the opposite side would be far more fatal) and rip open the side of his throat completely, but when the movement didn't come he pulled away from Sirius quickly. He dropped Sirius' broken wand to the ground, using his now free hand to clasp over the wound on his neck, blood oozing from between his fingers and down to seep into the collar of his robes.

His dagger still held tightly in his hand and wielded like a stake, he didn't have far to lean forward, extending his arm and driving the blade down into Sirius' stomach. Pulling himself closer to him, Remus placed his other hand over the pommel and leaned his entire weight down on the dagger, gritting his teeth together from the exertion of it as the blade sunk down to the hilt.

For one moment, Sirius was filled with a sense of achievement and fear - had he killed him? No, he'd just really pissed him off. He pulled off the knife... he had to leave, now. There wasn't any other option, he had to use the portkey. The portkey that Remus had picked up. The sinking feeling got worse, not just because he appeared to have bled through bandages. Shit, shit, shit! What pocket was it in? Did he take it out? What--

Trying to force himself into an upright position, he gagged heavily. He didn't have time to throw up. A killing blow was the only option he had but--

How was he ever going to explain this? Any of it? He couldn't kill one of the people he hated most in the world and this was Remus and that--

The stunted thoughts were interrupted as the dagger pushed it's way down him and the black spots behind his eyes got too heavy to ignore.

For a few seconds, Remus did not move, and he remained leaving over Sirius holding the dagger pushed into him, breathing heavily. Slowly, he leaned back onto his knees -- he was beginning to feel dizzy and nauseous as blood continued to flow from the wound on his neck, and he knew he had to leave now. He reached into his robes to remove the portkey, but when his fingers slid into his pocket... all he felt was the hole at the bottom. It was gone. He searched his other pockets just to be sure, but came up with nothing -- it had fallen out during their fight. He didn't know where his wand was, and the longer he waited the more blood he lost. He looked down at Sirius again, his eyes falling upon the bandages he had conjured earlier in the fight. Those would work.

He pulled the dagger out from Sirius' stomach, and proceeded to yank off the bandages around his body, making no attempts to be gentle around the gashes across his body. He used them to wrap around his neck, just tight enough to press firmly against the gash but not enough to constrict around his throat. He stumbled as he stood up, glancing around the immediate area for either his wand or the lost portkey -- and five steps away later, his vision blurred and his strength gave out as he collapsed to the ground, and everything went black.

... and he was not sure how much time had passed since he had fallen unconscious, but when Remus woke he was in no less pain than he had been before. What had happened? God, his head ached, and he groaned as he struggled to push himself up. He could remember leaving the safehouse... but then... and in his peripheral vision he saw someone laying not far from where he was. When he turned his head to look, his breath caught in his throat -- Sirius. He had left the safehouse with Sirius. Oh, God, there was so much blood.

"Sirius --"

The first thought was fuzzy, but the first solid one was that he felt really cold. Merlin, everything hurt. It was like the worst hangover he'd ever had in his life. Stay awake, he reminded himself mentally before trying to pull himself out of the fuzzy feeling of darkness. When did it get so hard to open his eyes? They were like fucking lead.

He was being called, though, wasn't he? "S'really cold," He murmured slightly before the realisation that it was Remus hit and the disorientation cleared enough that he knew he had to wake up now and forced his eyes open. Oh, he really wished he hadn't done that. He'd really liked this shirt and now--and now--

Terror began to sink in -- why did Sirius sound so quiet? Remus wasn't sure he would be able to stand up just yet, so he crawled his way over to his friend and tried not to think about how pale he was. "Don't talk -- I'm going to get you back to the safehouse, okay?" He felt around his robes for his wand or the portkey, but found nothing -- his pockets were empty. Spotting Sirius' wand beside him, he reached out to pick it up... but it had been broken in half. Useless. His heart sunk. They were in the middle of nowhere and without any magic to help them.

Shallow, quick breaths; that wasn't a good sign. He'd had that before when Bella had gotten him in the chest. He swallowed what suspiciously tasted like blood, trying to figure a way out of this. There had to be a way out of this. There was always a way out of this. "You..." He started, trying to figure out how vocalise it. He'd done this, hadn't he? It won't hurt, it had to be done, he'd--

He tried to move but it wasn't working. Shit, nothing was working. Too much blood, then. He was not going to get upset. He was not going to get scared about this. It didn't matter that his hands were white and shaking. It didn't matter that he had no idea how to get out of this. It didn't matter that one of his best friends had just stabbed him and must've missed the heart or they wouldn't be having such a lovely chat. "Don't... touch... me."

"You'll be alright," Remus tried to assure him, trying not to sound as panicked as he felt or let on that he had absolutely no idea how they were going to get back. "I'm just -- my wand has to be here somewhere -- I won't go far, okay? I'm going to find it, you'll be okay." He wouldn't cry. He didn't have time, and he was still losing blood himself; if he couldn't get them both back before he passed out again... he just had to remember to keep breathing. Sirius would be fine; he wasn't ready to lose anyone else.

This act of Remus' was fooling no one, much less someone who's known him as long as Sirius has. He tried to give him a good sharp kick, but he could barely see the twitch. He let his head rest back on the ground, trying to take deep breaths but it wasn't much good. He was still freezing, he could still barely breathe and Remus was trying this stupid act? Was someone watching then? He had to do something.

"-did this," He coughed, and gagged hard before attempting to ball his fist. One burst of energy, that's all. It didn't come. He gave an angry, useless growl, before spitting the word venomously, "Traitor!" at Remus. Maybe it would hurt and everything felt too heavy, anyway. Too damn heavy, too damn fuzzy and he just needed to shut his eyes for a minute, that's all. Just a minute or two. There was a slight slipping sensation before everything faded.

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