Find the Horcruxes (mod) (find_the_mod) wrote in find_horcruxes, @ 2009-09-01 05:28:00 |
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Entry tags: | !group, *death eaters, *ministry of magic, *order of the phoenix |
The Battle of King's Cross: pt 3/5
Death Eaters Apparate onto Platform 9¾ Aurors and Order members immediately engage them Kingsley Shacklebolt + Sturgis Podmore vs. Severus Snape + Walden Macnair Severus Snape apparated onto the Platform at precisely 10:36 in the morning, joining the older Death Eater he knew was Walden Macnair as he arrived there. Despite what he knew must have been the Auror's best warnings, the platform was crowded with children and with families who were getting their children onto the train at Hogwarts. They hadn't precisely surprised the Aurors, it seemed as any number of them were out in force, and already Severus could see orders being shouted and spells beginning to fly between the Death Eaters that had apparated in, and the Aurors that were already there. He instantly cast a shield charm around him as he moved forward looking for likely targets. He was trying not to think about the children that might get hurt today, or the Purebloods on the platform, or that he was uncomfortable with any of those things. After all, he'd been called to battle and it was one of the duties that he had signed up for, distasteful or no. Walden Macnair was already there when the younger man, Snape apparated in beside him. Unlike Severus, Walden knew precisely what the benefits of this day would be and had no problems whatsoever with what they were be asked to do. Yes some would be injured and some might even die, but in the end, it would be for the good of the Wizarding World, would it not? The world their Lord was building would be far better than the one that had come before it, and in the meantime, there were sacrifices that must be made. He raised his wand, not bothering with a shield charm at first, and cast "Deprimo!" at the floor underneath a man wearing Auror robes. Shacklebolt had been sincerely hoping that all of this talk about Death Eaters attacking the Hogwarts express had been simply that, talk by people who had too much time to spend worrying and making up outrageous stories. As it turned out, however, the stories were less outrageous than they ought to have been. Kingsley snapped to attention as Death Eaters began apparating onto the platform, but it wasn't quickly enough to block the blasting curse that had come from behind him. He was rudely thrown off his feet, landing nearly two metres away and almost before he could see he pointed his wand in the general direction the curse had come from and shot off a shield charm - followed by an incarcerous as soon as he could see well enough to see whom he was casting at. Severus knew well enough to slash at the ropes being cast towards Macnair and he did so, following up on the other Death Eater's successful spell with a sectumsempra aimed at the wand arm of their DMLE opponent. It wouldn't kill him, but it certainly would make it difficult for him to continue fighting easily, and as he cast that he took a step forward towards the man, while at the same time keeping his eye on what Macnair was doing for some guidance. As Death Eaters had begun apparating in adrenaline had taken over for Sturgis Podmore. With Lacey safely away with his ex-wife and her tool-of-a-boyfriend, Sturgis was free to move as quickly as he could towards two Death Eaters that had just snapped in, in time to feel the platform vibrate with the blasting curse Macnair had cast. He raised his hand to his face to block any debris, pointing his own wand at the Death Eater in front of him, and decided to go for quantity over quality, "stupefy, expelliarmus, confundo!" Walden had time to cast a shield charm, turning to see what appeared to be a civilian running towards them. He frowned, pointing his wand at the man and shouting "Repello," at the incoming man, following it up with an entrail-expelling curse at the DMLE, although it appeared that young Severus had that person under control for the moment. Kingsley's arm moved in time to mostly miss the spell that had been cast in his direction. "Shit", he hissed as another stream of light came barrelling towards him from the second Death Eater. Although he couldn't help in the back of his mind but think that this civilian was a bit crazy for not just Apparating away, the truth was that he wasn't going to tell him to get out - two on one were not good odds and two on two made for much better ones - even if it was a civilian - assuming they were a competent civilian, but even if they weren't - he dived to the ground missing the entrail-expelling curse by a fraction of an inch - if they could just keep shouting off enough basic defense spells and manage to conjure an appropriate shield charm for themselves, the distraction would be useful. He rolled over onto his back, pointing his wand at the shorter of the two Death Eaters and casting "Expulso!" None of the spells were hitting their opponents - at least not really - which was frustrating and Severus was afraid that if he was unable to actually do well in this fight the word would get back to the Inner Circle and he would be required Merlin only knew what type of training. He stepped forward his wand pointed at the civilian, and he cast a simple disarming charm. Simple enough, certainly, but the man was going to get himself hurt because Severus was certain that Walden Macnair would not stand for distractions and would consider anyone who had joined in the fight to be fair game for an attack - and that wasn't going to work out well for Sturgis Podmore. Unfortunately for Severus, the distraction proved to be a very real one and the Auror's explosion hex caught him on his arm twisting it around with the force of it and pushing Severus back against the concrete of a column in the station. It took a moment for the pain to hit and when it did he practically vomited with the intensity of it. He winced, pulling himself to his feet, his right arm - but thankfully not his wand arm - dangling rather uselessly at his side. There wasn't going to be any time to heal it though, so casting a shield charm around himself while he stood with his back still to the pole so that he could not be snuck up on, Severus conjured a kerchief, gritting his teeth against the pain and blinking his eyes against the tears, as he forced the arm into a sling so that he could keep fighting. He couldn't not keep fighting. Sturgis couldn't help the smallest of grins at the sight of a Death Eater flying back against the wall, but it was a short lived sensation. Truth was, as much as he'd like to see the bastards in pain, he couldn't get distracted while there were still so many of them here and endangering families and children. Thankfully most of the actual civilians seemed to have started to disappear themselves as the fighting began, moving onto the train or apparating away entirely, but there were still some, and there were, of course, like Sturgis himself, people from the Order around them. He turned his attention back to the larger of the two Death Eaters and the one who, frankly, seemed to be more dangerous. "Furnunculus," he cast at the Death Eater, following it up with a conjunctivitis curse and a finger-removing jinx. Let the bloke feel some pain like they had given to so many people over the past month. They deserved it. It wasn't that Macnair was completely unfeeling, but he didn't spend much time looking to see what had happened to Severus not even bothering to see if the boy would get onto his feet, he turned his attention back to the Auror by sending he debris from the blasting curses that had been landing around them flying towards the man from the DMLE so that he hopefully would not be able to get to his feet. The hit wizard seemed to be throwing more hexes than the Auror and his hexes, although in some ways less strong, were certainly more distracting. The protego caught the first two, but the finger removing jinx caught his wand hand, removing three of his fingers cleanly and rather as if they had never been their in the first place. He practically growled from the pain, turning to Podmore with a livid look in his eyes. "Crucio!" The spell hit Sturgis and he was writhing on the floor then, the screams coming from his mouth echoing throughout the station. It hurt so much and he couldn't think or breathe. "Shit," Kingsley was up again, and the deprimo that he sent towards the Death Eater was cast with a force that he usually struggled to get behind his spells. Nobody deserved an Unforgivable - nobody did. "Incendio," the fire shot out of the end of his wand towards the Death Eater who had, distracted by his own spell casting, been blown off of his feet by the blasting curse. "Thank fuck," muttered Sturgis, grateful for the distraction as he lay on the floor. Enough of that. He rolled over and attempted to pick himself up to continue on. Directly opposite from the Order member, Severus Snape pushed himself off of the column, moving to the aid of Macnair. Slashing his wand at the Law enforcement officer he added a second sectumsempra, and then cast aguamenti at Macnair's burns, which seemed to be thankfully contained to his right side, and due to Severus' fast action did not seem to go further. "Protego horribilis," Kingsley exclaimed, but it wasn't quickly enough to actually deflect the sectumsempra which cut deeply into his thigh and caused him to cry out in pain. Damn Death Eaters and their damn curses. He quickly cast a basic healing charm at the cuts, hoping to hold in the blood, although it did not seem to be doing so well. "Confingo," the blasting spell headed towards the source of his cuts, and then he turned his attention back to the other Death Eater with a second set of Incendio. Severus had turned his attention to the Order member who seemed to be getting to his feet, and with very little time between Sturgis making it to his feet and the wand being pointed at him, Severus echoed Kingsley's confringo. The blasting spell caught Sturgis' leg, and he was thrown back, feeling the bone crack with a sound that seemed almost too loud for what was happening. It was a moment before the pain caught up with the noise, and he couldn't bite back a moan, his wand out in front of him for a shield charm to catch anything else, but he wasn't certain how much it would hold. Walden came to his feet, thankful for Severus' quick thinking water charm, although he would hardly have said that to the younger Death Eater. The fact that they were getting injured and not getting anywhere was frustrating, but then the point had been to disrupt the service of the train to Hogwarts, to cause panic, and promote an atmosphere of fear, and certainly they had done that, had they not? He cast a quick shield charm around him and glanced around the platform. It seemed that some of the other Death Eaters were apparating out, lest they risk further reinforcements coming in and he made his own decision. He had injuries and clearly the younger Death Eater did as well - it was time for them to go before they were injured worse. With a nod at Severus, he pointed a final blasting spell at the Auror, and then Apparated off of the platform. Severus was quick enough to see the nod that Macnair gave him and was almost instantaneously thankful that they would be leaving. His arm was killing him and although he was doing everything within his power to block out the pain in it, he was frankly uncertain how much longer he would be able to last without help. He pointed his wand at himself and without a further curse at either of their opponents, Severus too apparated away from Platform 9 3/4. The blasting spell caught Kingsley more off guard than it ought to have done and he was thrown backwards again, this time against a column, and he lay there for a moment dazed as he watched the two Death Eaters apparate away from the platform. Crawling to his feet he turned over, and began movement towards the civilian who was holding a fairly powerful shield charm all things considered. He'd have to see if he could get this man to St Mungo's - and possibly himself as well. Death Eaters Apparate into King's Cross Station Aurors and Order members immediately engage them Frank Longbottom vs. Lucius Malfoy Frank had known better than to actually expect that nothing was going to happen as he tried to look nonchalant and not as if he was loitering at all. They had taken severe precautions, both within the Auror Office as well as with the Order and, honestly, he felt that they had taken so many precautions that there was no chance there wouldn't be an attack. It was sort of like a self-fulfilled prophecy, Frank thought - and then immediately shook his head at his thoughts. This would have been much easier had he been stationed along with someone else. His thoughts were almost embarrassing. Before he could think more on that and further mentally embarrass himself, Frank heard the commotion and his eyebrows shot up almost as fast as his wand whipped out. They had been right to assume. Something was happening - something bad was happening - and, inexplicably, the first thing that went through Frank's mind was how he had better not die four days before his wedding or there would be hell to pay. "Fuck," Frank murmured under his breath, taking a step toward the commotion. It never felt like there was enough time to mentally prepare before lunging into these... messes, but Lucius knew he could bank on the rush of adrenaline to start guiding him the moment his view was met with the interior of King's Cross. Through the eye slits of his mask, he noticed his fellow Death Eaters appearing in their designated spots -- perhaps the Ministry had set their guard dogs all around the station, but they weren't the only ones planning this, mapping it out so that the advantage wasn't handled over with a bow to the other side. Lucius tore off the spot, immediately sighting someone with a wand out, and drawing the one conclusion that the man was an adversary. Raising his own wand, Lucius snapped it at the Auror, unleashing a blasting curse right at the man's feet before he could even step one more inch to aid anyone else. Frank swore as the curse hit the ground in front of him, just barely jumping out of the way before he would have ended up like the ground did before him. His eyes jerked up, ready to survey the scene again but it didn't take him any time at all to see who had sent the bit of magic at him. His face was blank as he stared at the Death Eater, trying to drown out the screams and people running around them. It was only a split second and then Frank reacted, his wand arm snapping quickly as he shouted out, "Stupefy!" and took a few quick steps to the side. Having those extra few seconds to expect and brace for the return, Lucius made an easy motion of flicking off the spell and sending it on its way into the crowd of Muggles, who were beginning to dart away now that they realised something was happening that they didn't want to be a part of. There wasn't any way the Ministry could have stopped those without magic from going about their way through the station, although he had to assume they wished they could have. The stunner struck a middle-aged woman, and she immediately toppled over. Like bricks. Straight down. Lucius didn't pause to watch as he kept his eyes trained on the Auror -- his real concern -- with wand raised as he hissed into the mouth of his mask, "Incendio." Frank saw the woman go down and he had to fight everything within him not to run and help. The fact that Muggles had to deal with this was terrible - especially since Merlin only knew what in the hell the Ministry was planning on having the Obliviators do. There were people most certainly leaving the station. But, that didn't matter right now. What mattered was the fire that was coming straight toward him. Even though he jumped away, Frank wasn't quite fast enough and his left arm was promptly set on fire. He swore loudly just once, then muttered, "Aguamenti," to not only put the fire out but also sooth the fact that his arm now had a burn on it. It was a good thing he wasn't a big fan of these robes. Setting his jaw, Frank snapped his wand again to aim a Leg-Locker Curse at his opponent, looking for anything that could give him the upper hand. It was fortunate that no other Auror seemed to be rushing in to this one's aid, but sight wasn't necessary to confirm that there was a whole slew of other duels raging on up and down the station; the sounds of magic tearing up the air and cries sounding out where more than filling the interior. And, even yet, Lucius thought he noticed the other man almost start when the woman's cry was stifled by the spell. Seized by the concept that he could keep the Auror unbalanced by taking aim at the crowd alternately, he raised his wand, locking another roughly middle-aged civilian in his line of fire, ignoring the children all around the immediate area deliberately. The Imperius was on his lips, but he didn't notice that his rival had recovered -- the moment the curse struck, Lucius found he couldn't take another step. Head whipping around, he directed a severing hex to the Auror before trying to counter his frozen legs. Frank didn't miss a beat. As soon as he saw the Death Eater had been hit by his own curse, he threw a severing hex of his own and aimed toward his lower back. Of course, the concentration that came with his own retaliation distracted him from what the Death Eater had done. Frank did no more than let out a gasp of surprise as the hex hit his right shoulder, then grit his teeth together. Lucius couldn't free himself in time to deal with the hex that was so suddenly upon him; it shredded through clothing, straight down into his back, missing his spine by mere centimetres. He sucked in a ragged breath, biting down hard on his lower lip to stop himself from crying out. He doubled over, reaching behind and staggering as his legs were at long last freed. It was only moments before a Muggle woman from the crowd saw an opportunity to take a swipe at the hunched-over man in black -- clearly the conclusion drew itself that masked people starting up fights deserved what they got. She drew her purse back, before letting it sail downward to crash on the hooded skull, and readying for another when someone grabbed her and towed her away. It took every bit of will power within Frank not to laugh at that scene. The fact that a Muggle woman was actually helping in fighting back was pretty great and he had to admit that he hoped the Obliviators didn't get to her before she was able to tell at least one person. Of course, Frank's immediate worry after he saw the woman get led away from the scene was that the Death Eater would take his focus off of him - the trained Auror - to her - the Muggle with no weapon outside of her purse. To keep that from happening, he aimed his wand at the Death Eater's feet to keep him from going in that direction and to remind him who he was supposed to be fighting. Lucius craned his neck to look up, already clenching his wand and aiming it outward at the Auror. He could do that much in the pause, as he tried to recapture his breath, will the pain to stop distracting his thoughts. His one hand that had reached to assess the damage was pulled back around, and even on the black of his glove, he could feel the wetness of the red that his eyes saw shining on it. Unwilling to let Longbottom -- he knew that face, though it only just dawned on him as he stared the other man down -- get any more bloodletting in, Lucius swiftly drew back his wand. He was well beyond infuriated by now -- bleeding, humiliated by a Muggle -- and it didn't take much to draw up the right assortment of murderous thoughts as he launched his curse. "Crucio," he bit out through a clenched jaw. Frank heard the curse, saw it coming toward him, and didn't even hesitate before bringing up a Shield Charm to deflect the curse right back toward the Death Eater. His brow furrowed and he clenched his jaw, keeping his eyes on his opponent the entire time. Unforgivables were as illegal as ever to be cast, but there was nothing said anywhere that he could deflect it right on back - especially when he was choosing between that and taking the brunt of it himself. It was astounding how quickly the duel was slipping from Lucius's advantage, but he pushed the thought forcibly back and out of his mind. Before the Imperius reached Longbottom, Lucius unleashed another hex, wishing the other man would fall already by it. He could take Longbottom, he knew it; that traitor didn't deserve his pure blood, just as he didn't deserve to be Head Boy when they were both at Hogwarts, and Lucius wasn't about to let him have one more vic -- Lucius faltered when the Imperius seemed to blazing its way back, trying to move in time, but too late. Too slow. The steadily draining blood from his wound was beginning to affect his judgment and the curse caught him in the side. The open gash in his back felt like nothing in comparison. It was only a mere second of torment, but Lucius collapsed, eyes wide as he gaped at the floor of the station. It seemed to Frank that he was gaining the upper hand in this fight, which meant that it was hopefully time to bring things down. He wanted desperately to know what was going on for the other Aurors and the Order members that were scattered around, but he needed to finish up with his own Death Eater first. Not quite trusting that the damage that he had done was enough to keep the Death Eater from attacking more should he approach, Frank stayed where he was standing and pointed his wand toward him again. "Expelliarmus." The wand was nearly wretched from under Lucius's palm, where he had it trapped between his hand and the floor. His breath hitched as he turned to try and follow where it landed, and he noticed it ricocheting off off a far wall. He couldn't leave without it, and if Longbottom thought it was over like that... hardly a chance. Lucius remained still, waiting long enough to try and recover enough strength to make a last lunge and get out of there. All right, the Death Eater wasn't moving. That seemed like a good sign, which led Frank to take a few tentative steps toward him. So many thoughts were running through his mind, almost all of them amounting to how much he hated whoever it was behind that mask. What more, he wanted - no, he needed to know exactly who that was to see what kind of sick person actually came to the middle of a Muggle train station for the sole purpose of attacking innocent people. With his jaw set and his hands clenched, Frank had every intention of finding that out. Lucius slowly turned his head, and seeing there was advancement, he shoved himself up -- bolting for his wand as quickly as his battle-torn state would allow. Everything hurt. Everything burned. If it was the last thing he did, he'd repay Longbottom in kind, but there wasn't any use trying that now. It'd be worse than death being taken in, and that sole thought of the consequences drove him forward until he fell to his knees, sweating, silently swearing, and frantically grabbing for his wand. Not a moment later he was gone, though the sound of tearing could be heard in his wake, a sure sign that something must have splinched in the hasty, reckless exit. "Damn it," Frank swore loudly, staring down at where the Death Eater had just been. He was about two seconds away from kicking the ground with his shoe, but he knew that wasn't exactly the right thing to do. Instead, he let out a breath before looking around to see where he could help - or find someone that could help with the gash on his shoulder. Marlene McKinnon + James Potter vs. Barty Crouch Jr. + Igor Karkaroff The early morning was sunny and cheery, in stark contrast with the swoop of black robes filtering through the station. Barty Crouch Jr. was enjoying his time away from paperwork at the Ministry of Magic by hurtling a Cruciatus curse at a four-year-old boy whose mother lay unconscious on the ground beside him. Breaking up the day's monotony by causing mayhem and destruction was the right ticket for both stress release and creative inspiration. "Poor thing, poor thing!" he gasped as he tightened the curse, and the boy began screaming in abandon. "Oh! Such a bad day you're having; such a terrible day! Mummy'll get you an ice cream after this..." He gave a sharp kick to the unconscious woman's skull. "...if she's not going to bleed out first, that is." As soon as the black-cloaked figures appeared in the station -- in the station, not even the actual platform! The station, where innocent muggles were! -- Marlene sprang into action. She sent a binding charm at one figure before turning her attention on ... the one torturing a little boy! Marly wasn't particularly a big fan of little kids unless they were Rosie, but this innocent little muggle boy had done nothing but go to the train station with his mum. "FINITE INCANTEM!" she shouted, hoping to cut off what had to be a Cruciatus curse that the Death Eater was focusing on the little boy. Nothing else that Marly knew of could cause the boy to writhe and scream like that. "INCARCEROUS!" she yelled, her wand pointed at the figure. She knew it probably wouldn't be that easy, but she had to give it a try. James stood firm in the station, trying to look casual, but really waiting for any sign of abnormality. It didn't take long before the relative calm of the train station was broken when the Death Eaters appeared. James almost instantly jumped into action, the sudden appearance of the black-cloaks and the white masks were exactly what he had been waiting for. He knew they would come, just like everyone else in the Order. It was really too typical of them to attack a place like this, with all these unsuspecting people around. The Death Eater who was torturing a little boy caught James' attention immediately, and he felt a poignant rage in the pit of his stomach. This fucker was attacking a kid. "STUPEFY!" James yelled as Marlene cast her Finite Incantem. James too knew that it probably wouldn't be as easy as all that, but there was no harm in trying to make it a simple matter of knocking out some Death Eater prick. James didn't exactly wait to see whether his stunning spell hit or not before he turned to the woman on the floor. She wasn't moving, so James couldn't really tell whether she stunned unconscious or dead. James hoped that she wasn't dead, but he couldn't really be sure. He pointed his wand down at her "Rennervate," James said. 'Come on, wake up,' James implored silently. Barty's smile was almost feline beneath his mask. Though the Auror's first spell had succeeded in strangling the power from his Cruciatus Curse, they hadn't taken into account one small factor - Karkaroff's shield. Igor Karkaroff had few talents, as far as Barty was concerned, but one notable one was the fact that he was quite skilled with defensive shields. Barty was on high priority thanks to his particularly valued position within the Ministry. He supposed that some people would resent being protected by someone else, but Barty much preferred being alive to having dignity or pride. He was a snake. Snakes kept their eyes open. And oh, wasn't that a sight to see - that young Marlene McKinnon's eyes narrowing in hatred, that other wizard he didn't recognise checking the woman lying on the ground. Barty sincerely hoped she wasn't dead. It would be so much better if she had brain damage. "IMPERIO!" he howled, the curse flying toward Marlene. Marly saw that James was working on the unconscious woman, and while the finite incantem had worked, the incarcerous didn't. She sent a blasting curse at the one who seemed to be protecting the other, but in her haste to act, she forgot one very important thing: a defensive shield for herself. As she was realising this, she saw the first Death Eater pointing his wand at her. She hastily tried to get a shield in place, but she barely had time to think 'fuck, Moody is going to kill me' before the imperius hit her. Suddenly, all thoughts were wiped clean from her mind, and it was like she was floating. She didn't have to think, everything was just ... blank. Her right hand dropped to her side, the wand hanging uselessly in her fingers. 'Shit, fuck, shit, oh bloody hell,' James thought pretty much concurrently as the imperius spell hit Marly, and there was no mistaking that it hit her from the suddenly blank expression on her face. He was too distracted by the kid and the mother, and while the mother did wake up, she wasn't able to move much. James felt like his mind was split in two. Half of him wanted to look out for the mother and the kid and get them the hell out of here, and the other half needed to look out for Marly; but what the hell could you do for someone under the imperius? James practiced ways to resist the imperius curse in the Order, but that was only really useful if he was under it, and he still wasn't terribly good at it anyway. At this point, James just didn't have very much experience with it. "FINITE INCANTEM," James shouted. "STUPEFY, EXPELLIARMUS," he yelled shortly after that. He was trying anything, anything to get that Death Eater to break the curse. He racked his brain for any information he might be storing in some obscure corner about what to do if your friend was just imperiused right in front of you, but he was drawing a big, useless blank. Karkaroff's shield, while strong would only last so long under an onslaught. Barty considered it such a pity that he and Marlene wouldn't be able to spend some quality time together. If they had, he would have preferred to get her to strip down into her knickers before the onslaught started. Still, he supposed he had to make do with what he had. James' spells had dented the shield already, and he knew that he wouldn't have much time left. Which was when he flicked his wand and willed Marlene to do what he wanted: Turn around. TURN AROUND... raise your wand... Barty took a breath. His will was poisonous, thick, and heavy as lead. Cast the expelliarmus upon the bystander.. Another breath. Now, the cruciatus. Cast it. HOLD IT. It was so easy, to just turn to face the bystander. Deep down, Marly knew that it was an Order member. The locked-down rational free-thinking part of Marly was trying to think of who was stationed close to her. But it was just so easy to raise her wand and point it at him. Whoever it was. The rational part of her mind was screaming at her to stop, but it couldn't break past the clouds she was floating through. "Expelliarmus!" she shouted, her wand pointed at the bystander. But then ... Now, the cruciatus. Cast it. HOLD IT. Why? It was an Unforgivable. Casting it went against every fiber of her being. Not to mention that seven years of Defense classes didn't particularly teach you how to cast the Unforgivables, and it wasn't exactly the kind of thing that was taught to first-year Auror trainees. Her hand started shaking as she kept her wand on the bystander. CAST IT. But why? "C- ... cru- ... crucio!" slipped out, weakly. She might have to cast it, though she didn't know why, but that didn't mean she meant it. She simply couldn't mean it. James had another onslaught of spells on the tip of his tongue when the disarming charm hit him. Foolish or not, James had been trying to block Marly out and just focus on the Death Eaters in front of him, because there was no way he was fighting Marlene. James couldn't do it, and there was no imperius curse over him to make him do it. When his wand went flying out of his hand before a blasting curse could ever leave his mouth, however, he jerked over in her direction. "Don't listen to them!" James beseeched, but he knew it was fruitless. That Death Eater was in her head, and it wasn't easy to fight the curse off. When Marlene cast the cruciatus curse, it hit James directly and he instantly crumpled to the ground in searing pain. It wasn't as strong of a cruciatus curse as it could have been, but James couldn't tell the difference at this moment. He felt like his entire body had been electrocuted, and he yelled out and coiled in pain. Barty smirked as the civilian writhed under the curse. Oh, it was a terribly weak curse all right - he could've done so much better, himself - but that wasn't the point. The point was how Marlene would feel in a few days. Would she blame herself? Would she blame the civilian for not getting out when he could? Would she be filled with fury or with loss? Maybe she'd be filled with nothing more exciting than blood. He cut off Marlene's Cruciatus and cast a lazy "Expelliarmus!" upon her. Let them both be unarmed. Go. Go pay for what you did. Run along, and beat your head against the wall. The side of his mouth quirked. Beat your head... against the wall. Don't stop. DO IT. That accomplished, while the man was still down Barty fired off a series of blasting curses, careful not to hit his head. One blast here, on his kneecap. One on his upper thigh, another along the ribcage. Barty would have wanted to press his ear against the man's body to hear if there were any crunching noises, but so little time, so little time. The laughter that wrenched from his throat was long, loud and devoid of sanity. Although she still didn't know which Order member it was that she was torturing, Marly hated it. Passionately. The voice in her head that was screaming at her to stop was starting to get louder and more forceful. Before she could do much of anything, though, she was disarmed. And then ... Go. Go pay for what you did. Run along, and beat your head against the wall. But why? The rational voice in her head was screaming about Sally Lucas. She didn't want to beat her head against the wall. She started walking over to the wall, still in the haze, but then she stopped herself. Why? Beat your head... against the wall. Don't stop. DO IT. But why? She couldn't. But she had to. She was once again moving toward the wall without any conscious thought. NO. She stopped again. But she had to. She was moving again, up to the wall. Her head hit the wall with a sickly whump, and that was enough to really get the voice angry. NO. NO NO NO STOP IT RIGHT NOW. "NO!" Marly managed to scream, wrenching away from the wall hard enough to fall over. Despite training on the proper way to fall, her head was reeling and she couldn't catch herself properly, and she both felt and heard the dull crack of her right wrist breaking. James was in no position to dodge the blasting curses that the Death Eater cast at him. He didn't even try. His muscles and limbs were still only recovering from the cruciatus curse, and everything about him felt much heavier than usual. James' usual high speed reflexes had temporarily left the building. The first that hit was to the knee cap, and James let out another howl of pain, and two more as the Death Eater aimed at the specific parts of his body. The last one that hit the rib cage was by far the worst and you could hear it in James' screams. The Death Eater might not have been able to hear the sound of bones cracking, but James sure could. Every part of his body told him to give up. Stop fighting. We don't want any more...but James couldn't. He had to help Marlene...fuck, he had to help himself. He had to think quick. The first thing to do would be to get his wand back. James looked around, and finally, he could see it some feet off on the ground, where he guessed it had been dropped somewhere in the fray. The only problem was, James didn't quite know how to get to it. He was dealing with broken bones, more than he would care to know, and that limited his mobility significantly. James made a move, at least, to get to his feet, though his broken right knee cap was trying vehemently to prevent this, and the rest of him cried out to lie back down. James persisted though, trying to keep his weight off the more injured parts of his body, and he made a gradual pull in the direction of his wand, all the while keeping his eyes on the Death Eaters. He was now about four inches closer to his wand and already just wanted to collapse. Stellar progress. Barty watched the civilian struggle, his mouth twitching slightly. This had the potential to be such fun, but it wasn't enough. He remembered that sweet sensation as Rump's stupid kid had died, the way Lucas' screams had sounded like music... but this was a pale shadow to that euphoria. It was as frustrating as it was disappointing, and Barty had never dealt well with disappointment. "C'mere," he breathed, grabbing Marlene by the hair. "Too many things to do and not enough hands. Your Cruciatus could use some work." He laughed with none of the amusement he'd possessed a few moments before, his mood turning on a sickle. He'd show that stupid civilian a real Cruciatus. Barty spat every amount of poison he'd ever felt toward his father, every black thought, every delight in another's suffering and formed a word with his lips: "CRUCIO!" His eyes remained on James, his wand pointed in his direction, but his fingers tightened around Marlene's hair. He used the vantage point to hit her head against the wall one more good time to stun her. "Not enough hands," he yowled again, eyes scanning for that useless waste of space, Karkaroff. There he was. "A little assistance, you think?" Karkaroff took the hint and resumed the Cruciatus on James, leaving Barty to tend to Marlene. "Oh sweet-pea, your poor wrist. Let me help you with that." A swift kick to her ribs, followed by another to the face. His eyes off of James, Barty raised his wand and conjured a series of small, heavy boulders, flinging them at her one by one. With each one, a bone snapped. Barty urged her on. "A little to the right, no! Right! The left! Oh, c'mon! You can limp better than that!" "Fuck you," Marly managed to spit out when he grabbed her hair, and she struggled to pull free from his grasp, but every movement just made her head swim. When he cast the cruciatus on James, she was about to scream out for the Death Eater to leave him alone when her head was hit against the wall another time. Black spots were forming before her eyes, and her head felt like it was about to just split in two. When he finally released her hair, she tried to start crawling away, which was hard with a broken wrist and a head that felt a dozen sizes too big. She needed to find her wand. She was right-handed, but maybe she could at least do something with her wand in her left hand. But then he kicked her in the ribs, which knocked her breath out, and the kicked her in the face, which broke her nose. And still she struggled to get up, to fight back. But then the boulders started hitting her. One broke her collarbone, which made her already aching head swim even more. Another broke her leg. And yet she still tried getting up, tried crawling, hell, she tried dragging herself. She would not give up. He would have to kill her to stop her. Through it all, as he was taunting her, she couldn't help but think that his voice was vaguely familiar. She couldn't place it, but it was bugging her how bloody familiar that voice was. Suddenly, she was almost right at his feet. Even though the movement made her head swim and she felt like she might pass out, Marly used all her strength to throw herself at him, hopefully knocking him down. James let out a truly blood curdling scream this time. The pain was unimaginable. It was everything he had felt the last time magnified by about five hundred. His body twisted and jerked on the floor, looking for some escape from the pain, but there was none. Everything hurt, even the parts of his body that had no right to. There was nothing that James could do but be consumed by this pain. It took up his every thought, as if there was nothing else. He wanted it to end. It had to end. "STOP!" James screamed. "STOP, STOP!" he howled in pain. Barty had been high on power too long. When Marlene lunged at him, he was caught off guard - and her weight was dead enough that he stumbled back, crashing to the ground. He landed awkwardly, and while he kept his wand tightly within his fingers, he'd lost the upper hand on his victims. "You fucking bitch!" he screamed, and raised his hand in a vicious punch. It didn't matter what he hit - Barty operated a fragile strand of sanity anyway, and when he lost it - he lost everything. James was forgotten. Karakoff was forgotten. Everything was forgotten but the woman who had dragged him down - dragged him down to her level. "Leab ... hib ... alod!" she managed to rasp out, but it was doubtful that anyone could hear her over the noise and tumult of the station and the fighting all around them. But the punch from the Death Eater she'd just knocked over caught her on her collarbone, right where he'd broken it with one of his boulders. Her head was swimming again, and this time her whole body rebelled and she ended up throwing up all over him. She finally spotted her wand, and it was just out of her reach. Even despite her injuries, she began dragging herself toward it. Her left hand clasped around the handle, and she moved through the pain to point it at the one torturing James. She couldn't trust herself to verbally cast the spell with her broken nose, so it was lucky that trainees were expected to be able to cast expelliarmus non-verbally. She non-verbally cast the spell, as well as the conjunctivitis curse (the only one she could really think of that she was pretty decent at non-verbally), then leveled her wand on the one who'd been attacking her and cast it on him, too. For a good moment, James merely remained completely still on the ground. Moving seemed almost impossible at his point, even after Marlene managed to make the Death Eater break his cruciatus curse. The agony had subsided into an incredible ache, and all James really wanted to do was drink about eighty pain potions and sleep for the next three years or so. Unfortunately, that was not exactly feasible. James finally reacted to the sound of a wand landing on the ground just near him. Gradually, James turned his head and inched his arm out towards it. Even that, such a simple motion, took an incredible amount of effort. James grasped the wand and held it tightly. The only thing that really empowered James to sit up was the sheer hatred he felt towards these two Death Eaters. He wasn't going to stoop to their level, but he would put whatever energy he had left into doing some damage. "Accio wand," James said and summoned his own wand back into his hand, and then tossed the Death Eater's wand aside as if it were infectious. James pointed his wand dead at the Death Eater who'd just cast the cruciatus on him. James cast a severing charm and a swift "Confringo!" in his direction, before exerting the very last of his energy on a shock spell aimed at the other Death Eater. The moment the spell left the tip of James' wand, he promptly collapsed back on the ground. It probably wasn't the smartest move, but he was too fucking exhausted and beat up to care. "You stupid little bitch!" It was likely a good thing that James had aimed a shocking spell at Barty. The Death Eater was about five seconds away from wrapping his hands around Marlene's throat and squeezing. She'd thrown up on him! She had the audacity to throw up on him and then grab her wand! As if she had the right to live. But his attempts to strangle the life out of the girl were cut short by James' shocking spell; Barty's fingers froze in place as electricity shot up his spine before he had the chance to touch Marlene. Dimly he heard Karkaroff shouting something; he didn't know what, but as soon as the shocking spell ended and he'd gotten his breath back, he saw Karkaroff staggering about, holding a nasty gash on his side. "They're moving back!" he heard Karkaroff's thick accent screech, and Barty frowned, suddenly furious. They were leaving? The battle had barely begun! "We're not done," he howled. "We're not done!" "Give it up." Karkaroff spat bloody saliva upon the pavement. "We're going." Barty nearly killed Karkaroff just to kill something. He felt worked up and unfinished and frustrated. But the other Death Eaters were apparating all around them, and Barty knew that he had to obey orders. But... "C'mon kid!" Karkaroff disappeared with a snap. Barty snarled and followed. As the Death Eaters in the station apparated away, along with the two that Marly and James had been fighting, Marly finally collapsed to the floor of the station. Her head felt as though it weighed a hundred tonnes. She tried to crawl closer to James, meanwhile also trying to call out, "Healer!" It would probably be easier to get a Healer if they were on the platform, but hopefully somebody out in the station could help them. Dorcas Meadowes + Gideon Prewett vs. Mulciber the younger + Caracatus Lestrange An hour later of standing and it seemed like nothing big was about to occur, Dorcas realized, glancing up at a clock on the wall. Maybe if anything was to happen, it had already occurred on the Hogwarts Express platform and it was over and done with. But if that was so, wouldn't anyone from their fellow Aurors or the Order members be coming through and letting them know? Dorcas had half a thought of leaving her position to cross over there and check but it was cut off when she heard the first scream, followed by more reverberating throughout the entire area. She spun around to face the sound to see a Death-Eater apparating right behind a civilian. Reflex kicked in immediately and Dorcas threw up a shield charm between them two. Another flick of the wand and she attempted to throw a disarming charm but it missed him. It was enough to distract him from the Muggle, at least. But then the second appeared not too far away. Dorcas didn't dare look away from the first to see if Gideon was still nearby and had spotted the second. She could only hope as she readied her wand for the Death-Eater's attack. Gideon had jumped into action as soon as he heard the noise, turning toward it. Somehow, he dimly thought, he had expected more warning. He thought there would be action to run toward, an entrance to react to, but instead it was all instantaneous. They had fought like this before, and nonetheless it never failed to catch him off-guard, in a way. It was double this time, since they'd been there for so long without a hint of trouble. The trouble had clearly arrived, though, and in full force. Masked Death Eaters were popping up all around, and enough of them that Gideon couldn't keep track of everything that was going on. He hadn't any choice but to simply focus on the nearest on - a focus which was tightened considerably when he took a hard-hitting curse straight to the sternum. A Blasting curse, he thought, because it sent him flying backward into one of the tall cement columns and it hurt like hell. What the Death Eater hadn't expected, though, was that he was tough enough to lift his wand and fire right back. Gideon knew he'd have a hell of a bruise building (and he might've broken a rib or two), but he was good at playing through the pain. Almost automatically, his arm snapped up and he shot off an effective Conjunctivitis Curse before hauling himself upright. Mulciber advanced toward the girl, annoyed beyond belief for her shield charm. An Auror, obviously, with her audacity to attack him without hesitance. That wasn't going to bother him because the latest Aurors seemed about as competent in defeating them as did a group of house elves holding forks. He let out a low growl, deciding the Cruciatus was the best thing to administer right away. Her pretty little head screaming in agony would be very soothing to his anger. The Death-Eater shot out his spell but Dorcas threw another shield charm, bouncing it away. When he tried again, she did the same. She could sense him getting angrier that when he tried again, she didn't risk it, but ducked out of the way. His hex flew into a civilian behind her instead and the poor girl started to writhe in pain. "No!" Dorcas cried. That wasn't supposed to happen! She attempted to throw a curse at the Death-Eater to distract him, but it seemed that he was more intent on targeting her than the Muggle. Get rid of the defense first, so it seemed. Dorcas, however, hadn't expected him to turn his attention toward her so quickly, and a hex hit her in the shoulder strong enough to throw her back. The second Death Eater was none other than Caracatus Lestrange, currently throwing curses blindly as the Conjunctivitis Curse prevented him from seeing properly. That unfortunately made him a lot more dangerous. A few Muggles were hit, and as he grew more enraged he was using more and more dangerous curses. Gideon shot back an attempt at disarming, but someone who was flailing about madly was a lot harder to hit than one who was moving like a normal person. "Get to cover!" Gideon shouted to the general crowd of panicking Muggles. It was going to be hard - these two Death Eaters he and Dorcas were managing certainly weren't the only ones. The whole station was in a state of chaos, and he didn't know where a bunch of defenseless Muggles ought to hide. Lestrange managed a lucky shot, a Racking Curse that caught Gideon's left arm. He wouldn't take the full brunt of it, but the pain in his shoulder was searing as his arm was pulled hard outward. That was a dislocation for sure, said a quiet voice behind the pain. That voice was largely drowned out by the one that was cursing loudly following the initial scream. Shaking off that curse was a lot harder than the first blast. Dorcas looked up from the floor, not far away from Gideon that she noticed what had happened quite loudly. Bloody Merlin, Lestrange's curse could easily stray and hit her. But then again, it could hit Mulciber. Apparently, Mulciber had noticed this and she managed to get the upper hand and send a blasting curse at his way, catching him the stomach. Dorcas took that chance to attempt to get up, but when one hand slipped slightly on the floor, she glanced down to see it was due to blood. From her arm. The hex had sent a gash from her should to her elbow. Just a wound, Dorcas. She was still able to use it anyway and besides, it wasn't her wand arm. She tried to go for a quick cut-healing spell but with Lestrange's curses flying all over, she found herself throwing up more shield charms, especially for Gideon's sake. "Your arm?" she shouted at him But she barely had time to hear an answer because what she had assumed had been knocked out, hadn't. And her entire body suddenly stiffed, her muscles constricting as incredible pain washed over her. Mulciber had managed to throw a Cruciatus and catch her. Dorcas crumbled to the ground, fighting to lift up her wand. "It's fine!" Gideon shouted back as he got to his feet, and then he saw Dorcas go down. He cursed loudly and took a quick step over to get back to back with her. He was dizzy with how much his shoulder hurt, but adrenaline kept him pushing through. There'd be time to pass out later on. Dorcas was bleeding like hell and writhing in pain, which was definitely a bad sign, so he needed to do something about it. He turned his attention from Lestrange to give Mulciber the most powerful Pummeling Curse he could manage. The Death Eater found himself attacked with a series of invisible blows to the face from the unexpected direction, forced to back off and stop with the Torture Curse. That still left Lestrange, though, who had banished the Conjunctivitis and could see again (albeit not quite so well as before). Dorcas gasped in relief when the curse lifted off of her. She'd have time to be thankful later, because despite one down, there was still the other to deal with. She pushed herself off the ground, hobbling a little over the lingering soreness in the pit of her stomach, but managed to snake her arm under one of Gideon's and blast an incendio toward Lestrange. Poor eyesight was horrible enough but a giant ball of fire coming at your face was probably not welcome either. Mulciber had shaken off the curses, getting increasingly annoyed that he had it in consideration to just use the Avada Kedavra on the two and just get it over with. But then again, he'd miss out on the fun that existed after you subdued the enemy. Muttering incarcerous, he advanced back on Dorcas, just as she turned her eyes away from Lestrange to look at him. Dorcas was able to move faster, but just barely. She had already lost some blood that she felt herself feeling weaker but she wasn't going to let either of them have the upper hand. The ropes managed to grab at her injured arm, but Dorcas cut them off right away. When she attempted another incendio at Mulciber, he threw up his shield charm and it bounced off. A tripping hex aimed at his feet caused him to fumble that Dorcas took the chance to throw a blasting curse, sending him back down. She let out a cry of triumph, but remembering her bleeding arm, she quickly healed the cut and decided to ignore the weakness she felt. It'll pass, she was sure of it. One down, one on fire, and Gideon felt like they were doing pretty well for themselves except for the fact that his arm was hanging a little loose in its socket and Dorcas was holding on to him to stay up. He needed to make sure the one on fire didn't cause them any extra trouble, so he gave him another strong Blasting curse. It wasn't quite enough. As the Death Eater went flying back, he was able to fire off another curse: Entrail-Expelling, and it scored a hit on Dorcas. He was just in time for one of their leaders to call for a retreat. Gideon saw both his opponents vanish before him, and he quickly dropped to the ground where Dorcas had fallen. "HEALER!" he shouted at the top of his lungs, a lot more concerned about Dorcas for the moment than he was about himself. "RIGHT NOW!" |