Blurred Lines Mods (blurred_mods) wrote in blurred_lines, @ 2008-09-14 01:24:00 |
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Falling in beside Aquila, Severus was pleased to see that the doubling up had worked in their favour. There was satisfaction in knowing that even if he and Aquila had been arguing about other things, they could still work together, and perhaps he'd been wrong to try to work only with Regulus or Barty. Severus didn't have to have forgiven Aquila to want to keep him safe and alive. However angry he might have - and occasionally still made Severus -Severus did not want to try to explain to Astra that he'd seen Aquila die in front of him.
Severus immediately cast a protego between Frank and Aquila, but the obscuro hit him almost as he did so, leaving him unable to see the next spell. Severus snapped a Protego of his own into place as he lifted his wand hand to whisper the counter curse to remove the blindfold, but the shield charm was not quick enough, and the cutting hex sliced through to his right arm, and he winced, swore under his breath, and hastily whispered the counter curse, pointing his wand back at the Death Eater almost savagely and firing series of blasting curses around the other man's feet. Let him dance around a bit and it would be harder to duck the spells he was certain Aquila could come up with easily enough.
Aquila was driven back initially by the Auror's powerful spell, but he recovered quickly (though not in time to spare Severus from the cutttng spell).
Feeling immediately guilty for allowing Severus to take a hit for protecting him, Aquila's spells became more vicious. After all, revenge was the Slytherin way, and it seemed appropriate to hold true to that when they were here on their school grounds. In rapid succession, he threw several more cutting hexes - his favourite, though he couldn't exactly explain why, followed by Confringo. He then cast a protective spell, but it wasn't the Auror's magic that hit him next. He turned and found himself caught up in another fray, and quickly lost sight of both the Auror and Severus. He knew, though, that Severus could take care of himself.
Kate had not waited to see if her spells hit their intended mark. The thought of the children in Hogwarts and the memories of all of the pain the Death Eaters had caused were fresh in her brain. She was an Auror and she was there to make certain that the people in Britain were protected and kept safe! And these masked men (or she supposed women too) threatened her home. They threatened her freedom and they threatened everything she held dear. Logical, reasonable justice, order and peace, and she was there to smite them down and make certain they didn't get a chance to do it again. No more children were going to die on her watch!
She threw a second expelliarmus at another Death Eater although she felt the disarming spell was a false hope in a battle such as this. Disarming them all would probably still (if putting the Death Eaters at a disadvantage) not necessarily mean they won. These people were criminals and terrorists after all. The thought floated through her mind that the chaos of all of the people and the spells that were flying from Death Eater and Auror alike was not something you could train for. She just had to do what she could. That was her only duty and with that thought, she shot Petrificus Totalus at the original taller Death Eater.
Lucius had been ready for an attack since he had arrived, and as soon as he saw the flash of light in the darkness he cast a quick shield charm, the spells aimed at him ricocheting off in all directions. He sent a Stupefy of his own before dodging around to the side, and sending a Incarcerous less than a second later. He aimed to keep the opponents on the move tonight; tire them out. While starting off with Unforgiveables could knock them out immediately, it was more likely that he would simply tire by using them, so he would have to be more creative with his spells until he got his chance.
Tonight he would really prove himself. The Dark Lord would triumph over these filth. He would triumph over these filth. Lucius crouched low to the ground so as to make himself less of a target, ready to leap to his feet at any moment, and fired off a tripping jinx.
Leoben wasn't as fast at this whole battling thing as Lucius was and his heart was pounding. He was dodging spells when they came his way and occasionally sending them back. More, he was - like any other time - looking for an opportunity. He spotted Lucius (at least he was pretty sure it was Lucius) near the ground and casting a spell at one of the Ministry personel. He smirked behind his mask and flicked his wand at the woman, thinking Incendio! and sending a blast of fire in her direction. As much as he disliked being directly involved in these sorts of things, the idea that she could be one of those filthy Mudbloods was enough to push some of his reluctance away.
Of course Kate was not a Mudblood, but as a half blood and as Ministry, she was no doubt only a mere half step ahead of Muggleborns in the mind of the Death Eaters. Of course, Kate didn't know that, nor was it something that concerned her at all. What concerned her was making certain that nobody got hurt tonight. Protego, to defend herself from the spells that were coming at her from not one, but two Death Eaters, and she immediately cast impedimenta towards the Taller of the two - hoping to slow him down for a moment, and a incarcerous towards the one that had just cast the fire spell towards her.
Her wand back at the taller one, she followed with a rictusempra and then a stupefy. Stun them or disarm them. Just because she could use the unforgivables didn't mean that she was going to. Kate really hated the idea of them, and the important thing was to stun or disarm, and then move onto the next one. The problem, of course, was that they didn't stand still to be stunned or disarmed.
Leaping out of the way of the first spell fired at him, Lucius fired a finger removing jinx at his attacker, but the split second it took for him to regain his balance meant that the tickling hex caught his shoulder. Immediately, a loud and rather un-gentlemanly giggle burst from him, and he creased over laughing, his stomach already aching in exertion. Seeing the flash of red light heading toward him, he did the first thing he could think of -- throwing himself flat on the floor so the stupefying spell flew over his head, harmlessly. Rolling over, Lucius pointed his wand at himself, yelling the counter-curse in his head as loud as he could. The second he was able to breathe properly, he was on his feet again, his wand at the ready.
He would stick to shield charms from now on, rather than letting his footwork get too fancy. Much more reliable. His composure regained, he aimed a couple of blasting curses at the auror - well, he assumed she was an auror rather than one of those ridiculous kids whose main function seemed to be annoying respectable purebloods over the journal network. He didn't aim his curses straight for the figure; instead diverting some to the left, some to the right and some over her head. Hopefully she would evade one of the spells by leaping straight into the path of another.
Leoben barely dodged out of the way of the incarcerous, feeling the heat of the spell as it passed him. He hesitated for a second, watching the spell whizz off into the darkness before he irritably turned his attention back to the Auror. A vengeful smirk pulled at his lips behind his mask as he watch Lucius almost toy with her. It dawned on him how this could be great fun. After a second of thought on how to make this more entertainment, he waved his wand and thought tarantallegra. He wondered if she could possibly dance around all those Blasting curses.
Her laughing spell had hit rather successfully, which gave her only a moment of brief delight. She couldn't allow herself to get too cocky. Kate was too inexperienced for that, and almost any hit was, if the product of hard work, not something that could be assumed. A shield charm helped keep some of the taller Death Eater's charms away for a minute, but before she could retaliate, she felt her legs beginning to move of their own accord, and she was dancing.
"Dammit," she hissed with annoyance, as she narrowly missed a blast spell. Her feet were still moving, and as she stepped aside and away from one, she moved right into the path of another one - thankfully not directly into the path. It caught her arm narrowly, blasting her entire body backwards so that she landed on her rear about two metres from the Death Eaters she'd been fighting. The blast had not removed the tarrantallegra, and it took her only a moment for her to hiss the countercurse at her feet, and jump back onto the the appendages she once more had control over. She did not run back into the fight so much, as snap a second incarcerous, this time at the taller Death Eater, and several blasting hexes around the shorter one. This was ridiculous!
A swift shield charm and Lucius repelled the hex successfully, before taking a few swift steps toward the auror. His shield felt weaker after taking the direct hit, and he let it down again, prepared to cast the charm again the split second her wand was pointed at him again. He was starting to enjoy this now, adrenaline pumping through his body, making him eager to fight back as hard as he could. Impedimenta followed swiftly by incendio were sent wordlessly toward the opposition, fuelled by rage and the pure desire to cause harm. Lucius felt like he was on fire tonight, and hopefully, now, the auror would be too.
Ben cast several shield charms, defending himself against the blasting hexes being sent at him. He dodged the first three or four without too much issue, sending a stunner, conjunctivitis curse and a disarming spell in response. Her next blast exploded right as his feet though, sending him backwards a several yards. He landed with a low grunt of pain and just barely rolled out of the way of another before scrambling to his feet and casting a quick - and weak - shield charm to perhaps get his breath back. He felt a flare of anger in his chest, that he let this Mudblood - or at the very least, this Mudblood defender get the better of him. He sent another Incendio at her, more angry and less focused than before.
The two fire spells came at her and while Kate was able to avoid the first, the second caught the edge of her sleeve and she was forced to take a moment from her shield charm to douse the flame with a counter curse. Still, she could feel that her skin had been singed on her arm and she was only thankful that it was not her wand arm that had taken the blow. It still ached, however, pulling at her ability to focus, and she quickly pushed it aside, shifting into pure adrenaline as she realised that these two men would be perfectly willing to see her dead before the evening was over - she did not plan to allow them that privilege.
She cast a shield charm in the direction of the taller Death Eater and focused her wand on the source of the second incendio, without any hesitation she pushed out another trio of blasting curses, all around his feet, followed immediately by incarcerous and stupify. Whether the latter would work and keep him tied, she thought probably not, but she also thought that it was worth a try.
Ben back-pedalled away from the blasting curses, barely out of the way of the last one. In quick response, he sent a finger-removing jinx and two more blasting curses at her. He managed to dodge out of the way of the incarcerous, but it meant walking right into the stunning spell, and Leoben was unconscious on the hard ground a second later.
Smiling savagely behind his mask, Antonin lifted his wand and sent another Incendio at the Auror he'd picked out of the others, the dark-haired girl. Whatever she was -- some deeply-buried desire to do the right thing, to follow the law perhaps, no matter how stupid that law was -- he could do without it, and he was going to excise it. There was no room for weakness, not anymore.
When Jo received the word that Death Eaters were attacking Hogwarts, she was in the office and thankfully in the company of other Aurors who had some previous experience with the school, as she had never been. She had, in fact, caught up with Crouch Senior and as they hit the ground, she took off immediately in the direction of the black cloaks crowded around what looked to be the school's main gates. Spells lit up the night, giving a lurid spark to the masks her opponents wore and shadows lengthened, thrown far behind their casters. She didn't have much patience to begin with and this, even beyond Tinworth, seemed to sap it from her. Who did they think they were? What would this accomplish? The thoughts were quick as bullets. She focused on one cloaked figure and figured it was time to hit below the belt.
"Reducto!"
Alecto had come through the gate with the others, nerves jangling from the wait and the dark and the urge to do something. The sounds (and sight, and smell - burnt metal and something like the opposite of lavender, somehow) of fighting and spell-casting behind her had her whirling about, a grin behind her mask--
--and jerking back, hissing between her teeth as a hex went sizzling past, just missing the flaring edge of her robe. She looked back in the direction the spell had come from, just barely making out a person-shaped shadow before she flung an impedimenta that way.
Senior was surprised when he received the call to show up at the battle as it was never quite something people expected of him. But he came, arriving quickly looking less than made up as he quickly looked around the area. It wasn't hard to see what was happening and he could see Savage fighting against someone before he saw a spell heading towards them and raising he wand he cast a Protego before casting a quick Incarcerous at the masked figure.
Walden quickly noticed as Alecto found herself in battle against two people and it took him no time to work his way to her side. He deflected the binding spell cast by - was that Crouch Sr on the other side of the wand? Walden laughed involuntarily from his stance next to Alecto and he shook his head. He'd never thought that the old man would actually come out and fight. It was too bad that his son was occupied elsewhere. That would have been entertaining to watch.
After a moment of gaining his bearings he returned the impedimenta followed by an expluso near the feet of their two opponents, hoping for at least a momentary distraction.
One could say what one liked about Senior but Jo never, never minded having him with her in a fight. Giving him a terse nod of greeting mingled with thanks, she threw her arm out and flourished her wand toward the first Death Eater, sending a Stinging hex behind Senior's Incarcerous. Walden's Expulso stirred the ground at their feet but she, having seen the jet of light sizzle toward them, gave a shout and bellowed out a Shield charm.
Planning on legging it - two against one was not Alecto's idea of a good time, unless she was amongst the two - she thankfully had only taken a half-step backwards before she heard Walden's laugh beside her (and turned her head a little to see him through her mask's eyeslits) and stayed put.
She turned back just in time to bat away the first spell heading for her, but that half-arsed defense didn't take into account the second hex, which took her full in the shoulder - fortunately her left; as the shock of the sting made her hand spasm, she could still grit her teeth and fling a stupefy back - make it two, one for each. Swearing could wait until later.
Senior was focusing on what was happening, not on who was around him and he caught the two spells, blocking them once again with a quickly fired Protego before he ducked out of the way of the Stupefy before turning and quickly casting a Confringo towards one of the masked figures taking a few steps back as he kept his wand raised, casting a leg locking curse at the other person.
Walden rolled his shoulder back in time to avoid Crouch's curse. The streak of light collided with something in the distance, a boulder or something similar, and the sound meshed with the other sounds of destruction around them. His mind was surprisingly clear as he quickly turned his attentions back to the two unmasked figures before him. He recognized the female from the Ministry, an Auror if he remember correctly. He didn't remember her name but that wasn't important.
He extended his arm and directed the Cruciatus curse in the direction of Crouch Senior. There was no point in a battle of simple curses if Walden could hit the older man with an unexpected bit of pain. That would leave Alecto free to take on the female without interruption, at least for a few moments.
As it wasn't in Jo's character to leave space between she and her opponents, she hesitated a split second to gauge her enemy's position before hurtling forward, intent upon knocking them to the ground. She wanted her hands around a neck, she wanted to de-mask, immobilise and altogether decimate her opponent.
Senior ducked out of the way of the curse and sent a incendio towards Walden seeing the other man duck out of the way again. He watched as the other man danced out of the way of a curse before he saw one coming towards him again and he twisted out of the way, only to feel it skim his shoulder and then suddenly pain was running through his entire body as he let out a low groan and dropped down, fingers gripping at his stomach as he felt the need to claw his way out of his skin. Suddenly the pain was gone and he groaned as he dropped forward again, a flash of light narrowly missing his head and he had no time to think as he hastily raised a shield, another spell hitting against it. He moved, standing up and it took a moment before he was able to cast another spell, sending an disarming spell as strongly as he could towards the other person watching as he flew back. He kept his wand raised as he took a step forward, only to watch as he scurried away. He stumbled back another groan falling from his lips as he did so. He turned, stumbling towards where he saw Savage dealing with another death eater as he turned, heading for whatever he could help with next.
6. 12.05a Order & Healers arrive
(Meaghan, Emmeline, Dorcas, Remus, James, Andromeda, Beth, Hestia, Dedalus, Peter, Sirius, Agnes, Abe, Marlene, Lily)
7. 12.10a Dark Army driven out & Death Eaters begin destroying the grounds
(Regulus, Barty, Aeneas, Rodolphus, Gaius)
THREAD ONE - ORDER/DARK ARMY
(Sirius, Agnes, Abe, Marlene, Lily vs. Fenrir, Tabby, Aaron, Nick, Dorian, Clara)
It was a little sad to think that the last time there'd been a fight against the Death Eaters in Hogsmeade, Marlene had been fighting alongside Fabian. It was also sad -- for her, at least -- to remember that the last time she'd been in Hogsmeade of her own volition at all, she'd wound up running into the eternally vexed Reggie Black, and had bent the corner of his library book. It was scary realising just how long ago (and yet how little time had passed at all) it seemed since they'd even been able to walk around outside by themselves like that without the risk of being attacked. If there was anything positive about getting called out of the safety of their homes to risk their lives fighting a battle at midnight, it was that this time they hadn't apparated into the middle of a cluster of burning buildings and a shitload of death eaters. That was, at least, a slight relief. They could do this. Marlene was determined not to get her arse kicked this time.
"I'm pretty sure they're all moving in toward Hogwarts," Marlene called back to the others from the apparition spot, pressed up against the wall of the town hall and peeking around the corner, wand gripped tight in her left hand (she would not be losing that this time, thank you). She looked back at the others, pretending to ignore the noxious view of the Lestrange Library looming in the background. "There's not much tree coverage from here to there, just bushes and grass and... stuff."
Sirius was not nearly as nostalgic as Marlene was at that moment. As much as being in danger was never a good thing, he loved the instant feeling of strength and excitement that came with it. There was something about going into a battle situation and knowing that you're going to win (even if you aren't, but he never thought that like that) that was such a rush. He understood not everyone felt like that, but he needed the release with everything that had been going on lately and it couldn't have come at a better time. Everyone was restless and feeling like they weren't winning anything -- this gave them a chance to get out there and actually do something.
He took a look around, noting that Marlene was right. There really wasn't much they could take cover behind if all hell broke lose again. "Alright..." He noted, thinking aloud while trying to look for movement in his surroundings, "If they aren't here, we better catch up. There's a chance someone else has already found them and is getting slaughtered right now." That wouldn't help what he wanted to be a winning streak. If they did run into them, they would need all the help they could get. "I'm going to go and take a look south and meet the others. I'll see you on the way up." Best to go while things were quiet, because if experience taught him anything, it was that it wouldn't last. "Be careful."
Lily appeared next to Sirius, her wand tight in her hand. She was ready for this. She eyed the area carefully, taking in a deep breath. "Definitely moving towards Hogwarts," she agreed. Lily's face grew taunt at the idea of children being terrorised by Death Eaters in their beds. What if they were going for the Muggleborn students... She started marching off towards the gate, expecting that the others would follow after her. She turned and looked at Sirius for a moment. "Be careful," she said. She knew that James would end up with one of them, and she trusted Sirius to make sure her husband didn't die.
"We should move," she said, inclining her head towards the gate. "Doesn't matter about the coverage if we don't start moving."
A few paces behind Marlene padded an uncomfortable Agnes; the last battle had not gone well for her - or Marlene - but she'd be fucked if that was going to stop her from sticking to her best friend like glue. They Lily - and Sirius would be behind them as he headed away - good for advanced warning, should they need it. She wasn't the brightest or the most articulate, but she was brave and she was determined to do the right thing by Hogwarts (even if the place had always felt more like a jail to her than a school). "Right, then," she grumbled, wand extended and eyes drifting out toward the Hogwarts walls. "Let's go get them cunts."
Aberforth had headed straight back inside the pub after sending the message off to summon the Order and started turfing the few remaining drinkers out of the pub. He growled and snapped at them, sending them off via the floo and prodding the more sober ones to apparate away. Once the last one was gone, he closed and locked the pub then raised every single ward. Now the only people who would be able to get in without him being there would be Albus, Marcus, Aknot and Rhisiart. Perhaps that was a touch of overkill but if there were Death Eaters in town then he wasn't going to take any chances.
Once the pub was safely locked down, Aberforth took off down the street at a run, circling around the Lestrange library and heading for the nearest apparition point. He saw a small group of people there and checked his steps for a moment until he recognised the smaller woman towards the back then he ran up towards them, his wand now in his hand.
"Agnes, my dear," he said, not at all out of breath from the short run. He placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed gently. He would much rather that none of these young people were here but who was he to deny them their right to fight? He nodded to the others, his expression grim. "Shall we? I'd rather not have the children frightened any more than necessary." What he'd actually like is for Albus to put a stop to this but he knew his brother would look to the students and the school first before doing anything else. It would be up to them to delay the Death Eaters for as long as possible to give him that time.
The others were right -- waiting around in their not-so-hidden hiding spot was pointless, and there could very well be people closer to the gate who needed help. Marlene watched as Sirius disappeared to meet up with the rest of the guys, knowing that any orders of "be careful" and "try not to die" and "make sure the others are okay" would be understood despite being unspoken. She tried to pass the slightly ill feeling in her stomach off as nervous excitement as she nodded to Aberforth as he appeared behind them. This was their chance to actually win something for once, and to prove that they could fight back without getting pulverised.
All right. They could do this. "We shall," she replied to Aberforth, taking a deep breath and moving out from behind the wall. "I love you guys. Now let's go kick some death eater arse."
Oh, this was her night. Clara was on form, slinking through the shadows with her companions, vampires and wolves both - even if they weren't transformed. Even if they hadn't been able to really damage anyone yet, she still felt silver energy flowing through her, veins all wide and open so it could go fast, fast like running. There were people ahead and she trotted further ahead slightly, unafraid. Something was familiar.... The old man! The old man from the woods, with the bright hands. Her lips twisted into a snarl and she turned to Dorian, pointing at the wizard silently. She had no doubt that Dorian would recognise him as well, and follow her as she leapt forward. Oh, it was like they were hunting as a pack, she hadn't done this since those German wolves, it was wonderful! The werewolves could handle the little girls, but the man, he was theirs.
Aberforth followed the girls up towards the castle, keeping a wary eye out. He had a brief wish that Sirius had stayed. Four against whatever they ended up facing may not necessarily be good odds. He knew he was a decent wizard but he was nowhere near his brother's level. And he wasn't a young man either. His little fracas against those two vampires had proven that. The younger ones might be all gung-ho but he was old enough and wise enough to admit he had limitations. He was thrown out of his untimely introspection by what he thought was movement not too far away. He swung his wand up and slowed his steps. He frowned as he peered into the darkness; he could have sworn he'd seen something moving. Nothing seemed to be there so he shook his head and turned to catch up with the others.
As they began to make their retreat from the grounds, Tabitha rounded the corner of the Town Hall, and the sight that greeted her made her grin. They weren't quite done with their fun just yet, and Tabitha did so love playing with sweet little Agnes and Marlene. It was such a shame their meetings had been so short in the past, but ah, this time there were no rules holding her back from killing Marlene. She kept to the shadows of the building, waiting, biding her time until they were closer -- she didn't want to rush into an attack too soon, hoping her companions would be patient as well. All the while her eyes watched, never drifting away from her prey, remembering just how sweet the girl's shoulder had tasted and hungry for more. It was the very moment that she could see Marlene's back that Tabitha pushed herself out from the darkness, emerging like a shadowy beast, and she snarled as she leapt at the girl's back.
And therein was the issue that typically seemed to accompany stepping out from behind hiding places. The people you didn't realise you had been hiding from could see you. Marlene had been ready, wand out, for anything that could potentially come running at her... from the front. Getting pummelled from behind was not part of the plan. Not, of course, that she had time to object, and with a flash of Tabitha's tangled red hair, Marlene dropped, hitting the ground hard. Her heart started racing as she struggled to flip over, to pull away from whatever the hell the thing that had jumped her had been, yelling for him (or her) to "get the fuck off" her, all the while kicking against the ground (and her attacker) in a fight that she refused to lose this quickly.
Tabitha couldn't help but laugh as Marlene started to scream and struggle beneath her; she was able to fight back this time, but that would only make the victory that much sweeter. "Now this sounds familiar," she said, although wasn't sure if Marlene could hear her over her shrieking. Oh, well -- it didn't matter anyway. She tried to pin Marlene's legs down with her knees so she couldn't kick and clawed at the girl's back with both of her hands, tearing through fabric to rip at the flesh underneath.
Oh, Marlene had definitely heard her. Both the menacing laughter and Tabitha's voice jarred a sense of dread and recognition from deep within Marlene, panic gripping at her insides as she realised who --what-- was attacking her. She screamed again (maybe if she was loud enough the sound would knock her away) as her back was torn into, continuing to fail at pulling herself free. This was not happening. This was not happening. Again. She could fight back this time. And this time, Marlene had a wand. Which, of course, would be handy if she could free herself from where she was trapped underneath the clawing-happy psychopath. Instead, Marlene twisted and jabbed her elbow back as hard as she could into Tabitha's face, praying that would give her the chance she needed to get out of there.
Tabitha hadn't expected for Marlene to actually strike back at her, and so the attack had been unexpected, her elbow striking her directly in the face. She recoiled with a startled cry, hands going up to cover her now bleeding nose. Oh, that little bitch. The blow to her face had been enough of a distraction, giving Marlene too much time for a chance to crawl out from underneath her; Tabitha grabbed for her ankles as she did, just barely missing as Marlene was able to escape. But Tabitha wasn't about to let her off this easily, and she quickly stood up to attack her again.
Clara was all too happy to take advantage of the distraction Tabby had provided, launching herself out from the buildings towards the old man. The wolves could have the girls, she didn't care about them, they could happily be all eaten up and in pieces and screaming and she wasn't interested at all, but oh she remembered people who were disrespectful and mean and broke into her world. She could move faster than the humans and she used that, not even hesitating as she closed quarters with the old man, tearing at his clothing to rip the seams apart, grabbing at his arm and shoulders and lunging at his throat, hoping she could get her teeth in before he even had a chance to react.
Aberforth saw the flash of movement then Marlene was being attacked. He raised his wand to cast a spell but before he could do anything he was being attacked. His attacker was on him in a flurry of scratching that ripped through his robes and into his skin and blows and lunging towards his throat. He caught a glimpse of his attackers's face before she lunged at him and swore. The girl. The young female vampire that he'd encountered when looking for Rhisiart. He had a moment for the brief thought 'the vampires are working for Greyback' before he lost it and had to concentrate on the girl. He lurched backwards away from her teeth, grabbing at her hands, and lost his footing, going down with a shout.
Anyone who'd ever seen Clara sitting still and silent listening to the wind would have had trouble recognising her now, hissing and spitting like a wild thing. Unlike the human, she had a lot of experience with being unceremoniously toppled towards the ground and managed to keep her hold on him, though when he tried to prise one of her hands away she obligingly let that one go - right before turning it around on him to attempt to squeeze his hand in on itself, twisting his wrist in what was hopefully a rather painful manner.
Dorian had been keeping half an eye on Clara and another on Nick. He was fairly certain that Nick would be able to hold his own, but Clara-- well, for as much as most people seemed to underestimate her, he still couldn't help but worry. His attention had been on another scuffle nearby when he heard Clara; Dorian whirled about, lips curving into a smile when he saw just who she had found. He was soon nearby, lunging at the old wizard and making just as much noise as he hissed, baring his teeth and ready to bite as soon as he had an opportunity.
Aberforth gave a yell as the girl twisted his wrist, feeling more than hearing something crack inside. Pain shot up his arm but he ignored as best as he could, especially when the second vampire... the male one who'd been with the girl in the forest came at him as well. He kicked at the man and shoved their tangled hands in the girl's face, not really caring if did any damage, just wanting to buy himself a fraction of a second. "Lumos!" he yelled, light bursting from the end of his wand for a moment before it disappeared. He didn't dare keep the spell going for any length of time or he risked drawing even more opponents towards them and he rather felt they had enough to deal with as it was.
As short as the burst of light was, it was enough to make Clara release the hand - it seemed slightly mangled enough, anyway, and she leapt back, one arm going to cover her face until the sharp flash was gone and everything was gentle again. She growled low in the back of her throat, a feral sound that spoke to the years she'd spent as something other than human, before scrabbling back forward. His shoulder was exposed - thin and gamey, maybe, but exposed, and his blood would be as good as any, if she could get him to stop wriggling so much.
Dorian grunted as he felt a foot come into contact with his middle, his hands coming down in an attempt to wrap his fingers around the wizard's ankle. He remained as he was, screwing his eyes shut as the light flared but it died a moment later and he breathed a slight sigh of relief. And then Clara was on the wizard and Dorian fell back just enough to give her room-- he kept as much weight as he could on the older man's ankles and feet. He made another noise as he scrambled up to help Clara, reaching a hand to the top of the wizard's head to pull his ear toward his shoulder, wanting to expose his neck to Clara.
A flash of relief shot through Aberforth when the light was enough to get the girl to let go of his wrist though the fact that the man was still weighting down his legs and feet sent a shiver of fear through him. He couldn't expect any help from the others. He'd seen at least one other attacking Marlene and he doubted these three were on their own. The girls would have enough to handle on their own without having to haul in and rescue his arse. The moment the light died both vampires were right on top of him; the man dragging his head to one side and the girl lunging at hs throat. He felt her teeth bite down into his shoulder just below his neck and he let out a bellow of pain. Twice in the last sixty-odd years he'd allowed Rhisiart to feed from him directly but those feedings had never hurt like this did. He threw an elbow back towards the man then pointed his wand at the girl. "Stupefy!"
Oh, the blood. Yes, he was old, but his blood, oh, that never aged, eternal like the dirt, always, in circles, pumping through him, through the whole world, life shared down from mother and father to infant and then on to her, just like the worms. Clara felt it thick and warm, running down her throat, pulsing life into her body, and for those few moments it didn't matter that the man was yelling or that people were fighting because she was everything and it was glorious. This was the problem in feeding from wizards though - a Muggle could struggle all he wanted and usually not fight her off, but a wizard had a magical stick, and the price of forgetting that was not expecting an attack that would be effective. Not in time to leap out of the way, she was struck by the spell and crumpled onto the ground.
Dorian definitely had a moment of "oh no, you didn't" as the spell hit Clara and she fell back. His fingers wound their way into the wizard's hair, pulling at it. He growled, adjusting his weight and moving up, one hand coming up to form a fist as he drew his arm back to punch the old man in the face. He knew, somewhere in the back of his mind, that he needed to get that wand away from him, but he wasn't think about that just now. The instinct to fight was growing, far surpassing the instinct to avoid any sort of conflict-- his usual instinct would be to run. But he had known what he was getting into, even if he didn't know just how chaotic it would be.
Aberforth shoved the girl away from him, feeling the wound in his shoulder still pulsing blood. He wanted to try and staunch the blood flow but the man was on him before he was able to do anything. A frisson of fear ran down his spine when the man grabbed at his hair. It suddenly occurred to him that they were grossly outnumbered by their opponents and they'd been foolish enough to let them close in, instead of keeping them at a distance where only Greyback would have been a danger. He tried to grab at the man's fist but he was too slow and it impacted with face, leaving him momentarily stunned. The hand holding his wand loosened and he lay still, trying to get himself back together.
Not bad for a bloke with no magic Dorian thought as he shook his hand, loosening his fist. God, the man had a harder head than he thought. He noticed a moment later that the hold on the wand had loosened and he scrambled over to knock it from the wizard's grasp. That was all that he cared about at the moment; he just wanted that wand away, because without the magic, he was nothing but an old man, right? Without that wand, how much damage could he really do?
Perhaps not so oddly it was his wand being knocked away that brought Aberforth back to himself. He was capable of wandless magic but not much of it and he did have to concentrate. Right now, in the middle of a battle for his life? Concentrating was not so easy. He did at least have some skill in plain old brawling, being a veteran of many a pub fight. But that was when he was younger. Still, it was all he had at the moment until he could get his hands on his wand again. He grabbed at the male vampire's shoulders and yanked him down at the same time as he brought his own head up, headbutting the man in the nose.
It felt weird waking up in the open air, with sounds of fighting going on nearby, and Clara shook her head rapidly as she rose, trying to clear remnants of whatever stupid spell it was the man used to make her go asleep. Night time was not for sleeping! At least it didn't seem to last very long because Dorian was still fighting with him - and the man just hurt his nose! Snarling in anger, she leapt back into the fray, scratching at the wizard's face to draw blood, hoping it would get in his eyes so he couldn't see anymore. If she had a magic stick she would do lots of magic to make everyone blind, but even if she picked his up she didn't know how to use it. Much more useful to cling to his hair, yanking at it to make him hurt and stop hitting Dorian with his head.
Dorian cried out, wincing in pain as Aberforth's head made contact with his. He fell back just as Clara jumped, his hands coming up to his face as he blinked in an attempt to be able to see. God, that hurt! His entire face throbbed, but moments later he pulled himself back up and moved to snatch up the wand, tucking it into his back pocket-- if he could bring it back, maybe Fenrir would have some use for it or something. He wasn't sure. He heard Clara snarl and his attention quickly turned back to her and the wizard and he was soon back at her side to help her.
Aberforth had hoped for a moment after headbutting the male to find his wand but it didn't come. Somehow the female was up and about and on top of him, clawing at his face. He cried out as her nails dragged down his face, breaking the skin. Blood from the wounds blinded him and fear flooded through him. Was this the moment when his luck was going to run out? He'd lived a long time, he'd had a good life so he didn't fear death. He knew Ariana would be waiting for him on the other side along wit his Mum and Dad. But he didn't want to see them just yet. He still had things to do. He grunted when he felt something hit him and assumed it was the male vampire. He drew in a shuddering breath and lashed out with his fists. He wasn't sure he could stop two vampires but he'd be damned if he was going to go down without fighting.
Owww! Clara did not like being hit - her delicate appearance wasn't entirely deceiving, after all, and she had very little mass to brace herself with. Part of her was tempted to try and grab him by the wrist and bite his hand, or at least to stop it moving, but it was hard to get a grip, stupid old man muscles all wiry and strong.
Dorian caught a fist to the stomach-- Jesus Christ that hurt, after all of the scrapes and cuts he'd received earlier. He reached for a fist, twisting, knowing that if he applied the right amount of pressure to the right spot, then surely they could break a bone or two, right? His head was throbbing, and he shifted, trying to place more of his weight onto the old man. The wand slipped out of his back pocket, unnoticed as he continued to fight.
Aberforth felt bones crunch in his wrist and arm and sharp pain stabbed up his arm. He gave a yell and tried to pull his arm away from the male but with the broken bones... yes, surely they must be broken... he could barely move it, let alone pull away. The only thing he had going for him right now was the broken arm wasn't his wand arm but that was precious little consolation. He reached over with his other hand and tried to pry the male vampire's hands away from his arm.
Tabby seemed to be holding her own against the dark-haired witch, but that didn't mean Aaron was going to let any of the others try to flank her. Singling out the blonde, Aaron skirted around the scuffle between Clara and her target, taking advantage of the confusion, and leapt at her, aiming low to collide with her legs and hopefully knock her to the ground.
Agnes had had one of those fleeting moments of almost happiness when Abe joined them, a part of her still hindered by the delusion that this was some sort of camping trip - where they could fight the bad guys and then move on with their lives. That illusion was quickly shattered as they rounded a building and came face to face with a troop of dark creatures; had Agnes known that they were retreating from aurors, she would have made more noise - would have attracted the attention of others to come help them. As it stood, she knew only one thing: the bitch that attacked her friend was within wand distance. With a noise of gutteral hatred, Agnes gripped her wand and pointed it at Tabitha, fully ready to do something horrible to her (blast or set on fire? That was the question) - when a heavy block of flesh seemed to come out of nowhere, taking her right the fuck down.
Her howl was something to behold, and though the quarters were too close for her to aim properly with her wand, Agnes writhed on the ground, jabbing her wand into soft bits of flesh, and growling out spell after spell - ice, fire, fucking bees - whatever would get the werewolf's teeth away from her.
"Fucking cunt of a bitch," Aaron snarled, twisting around to get out of the way of her wand. She'd done bits of superficial damage -- some burns, a bit of cold that wouldn't likely turn into frostbite but was still painful -- but he wasn't too keen on being on the receiving end of some of the worse magic he knew witches could do. Growling, sounding more wolf than man at that moment, he grabbed her wrist with one hand and twisted, bending his head to tear at the flesh of her shoulder with his teeth.
If Aaron thought Agnes was going to cry and wail just because he had his mouth on her, he was sorely mistaken. Outraged more than upset by the pain, Agnes gave him a sharp scream in the ear for good measure and then slammed her head into his; his teeth sunk deeper into her at the impact, but she'd be bloody fucked if she didn't take him right out with her. If she hadn't been more afraid of Azkaban than the werewolf, she might have been genuinely tempted to cast a crucio with the wand she was now shoving hard into his gut - instead she kept up with the bits of flame and ice. Anything that would make him let go would give her the advantage.
Tearing at her flesh as he pulled back, Aaron spat the mouthful of bloody meat in her face, pulling back enough to get that fucking wand away from his stomach. Backing up and wiping the blood dribbling down his chin, he gave her a savage smile.
"Want to dance, little witch?"
Her face turned away long enough to knock her own flesh away from her face (and she was already nauseated at the smell and pain of it - but projectile vomiting had never proven a very effective weapon), and Agnes had only one thing to say to Aaron:
"Tarantallegra."
Fucking witches, he hated fucking witches and their fucking magic. Aaron let out a furious roar, more animal than human, and he spat in her face again, the saliva still carrying her blood.
"I'm going to fucking gut you," he promised, his voice more a snarl than anything else.
"Makes sense seein' as how you ain't got none of your own," Agnes growled up at him, smearing blood and spittle across her cheek so haphazardly that she appeared less like a witch and more an ancient heathen, wearing warpaint. The pain from her shoulder was beginning to radiate in waves of nausea through her ribs, down into her stomach, and as she dodged pre-emptively (knowing that her spell could only last a few seconds more), she stumbled, gasping for breath as she (unable to stand in time), turned onto her back to protect herself from the imminent attack of the werewolf.
Aaron landed on her legs, more accidentally than through any real design of his own, as his legs were still out of his conscious control. Foregoing teeth, foregoing any real coordination, he clawed at her face with one hand, snarling, while with the other hand he grabbed her wrist, angling the wand away from him. Fucking witches and their fucking catshite magic.
"Don't need them when I can get yours," he growled, tightening his grip on her wrist, trying to grind the bones together.
Agnes yowled, hips writhing angrily and body all teeth and bucking limbs. Her left leg was caught beneath him, but the right wriggled free, and she kicked and kicked and kicked, even as she screamed in pain, tears making it impossible to tell one blur of movement from another. Her wrist burned beneath his fingertips, but she wouldn't let go of her wand. She couldn't - it was her only protection, regardless of how useless it was being right now.
"UNGHHhhh," she was howling now, squeezing out words between her teeth, and punctuating every syllable with the hardest kick she could muster. "ACCIO ROCK."
Not knowing much about wizard spells, except the wards they used to keep prissy little pureblood women from being offended by the realities of life, Aaron didn't know that "accio" was generally wizarding shorthand for "something is going to come flying right the fuck at your face", and the rock in question smacked him in the side of the head, knocking him slightly off-balance and drawing enough blood to get in his eyes. Cursing, he backed off for a moment, legs now back under his control, swiping at his face and trying to clear his vision.
Agnes gasped for breath but didn't waste the bloody opportunity to roll onto her side and get on a knee. She growled, or moaned, or some unearthly sort of noise that didn't loose from her throat, but rattled there, angry and pained. Her wand was fixed on Aaron, though she was forced to breathe before she could say anything - and nonverbals had never been her forte. Her legs wouldn't take her back up - not yet, and so she followed him with her wand, trapped in this mockery of servility; a witch upon her knees before a werewolf - she'd certainly read a romance novel or something to this effect ... but it seemed less funny now.
"STUPEFY."
Oh, this one he knew, this one he'd seen used before, and it fucking annoyed him. Dodging -- Aaron had always been agile, and adrenaline only helped with that -- he kicked at her face, still frantically trying to stop blood from getting in his eyes.
Agnes lunged forward into the dirty, unable to miss his boot entirely and taking a rather hard clip to the cheek, which she felt rip beneath hard leather and dirt. That pain was almost refreshing -- a bright, brilliant sensation that swept across the top of her nerves and repressed the urge to vomit a little more. It was good, in its way. Awakening. Revitalising.
She swung her small body around and tried to lever herself against the ground for more stability. Crucio was on the tip of her tongue, calling to her with its evil siren song. No. Fuck that. Instead she screamed out the conjunctivitus curse; any person's weakest point... the eyes. She hoped it hurt like hell, too.
Aaron's big advantage in combat was his agility; able to do slightly less damage than Fenrir and Tabby, he was also able to dodge slightly more. Unfortunately, with blood still dripping into his eyes, he caught whatever the fuck this curse was full in the face. As the spell caught and his eyes started burning, he let out a sound that was half-snarl, half-yelp, scampering backwards and away from her for a moment.
Fuck! That was painful, and took a lot of his urge to keep fighting her away. He'd already messed her up pretty badly; maybe that was enough? He really didn't fancy getting another one of those in the face.
It was hearing Tabby scream for him that clinched it. Spitting in the witch's direction, he turned and, muffling a pained whimper, went to help his mate.
Scrambling quickly to her feet -- and almost tripping herself when, as an afterthough, she tried to stomp on Tabitha's hands when she grabbed for her ankles -- Marlene raced ahead to try to get at least a little distance on her so that she could turn around and use her wand, although she knew perfectly well that any plans of trying to outrun a werewolf were not going to end in her favour. Things were getting bad already; Abe had gotten pounced on by at least two vampires (it was hard to tell; they were fucking fast), she had no idea where Lily was, and some guy was closing in on Agnes. After shooting a stunning spell in his direction to hopefully buy Agnes some time (Had it hit? She had no idea.), Marlene whipped around on her heels and pointed her wand at Tabitha, staring her down and aiming a blasting curse in her direction, all the while wishing that she would stop shaking. It was completely screwing up her aim.
Damn. This just wouldn't do -- Tabitha couldn't fight at a distance. Fucking wizards and their magic. She growled and made to lunge for Marlene again while she was casting a spell at her husband -- oh, she would die for that, she would make sure of it. She wasn't quite fast enough, though, and Marlene had cast a curse in her direction. The spell nearly hit her leg as she dodged out of the way, even now knowing what the spell had been, but knowing enough that all spells should be avoided at all costs. "You little bitch, what's wrong -- not strong enough to fight me head on? Have to rely on your little spells? Don't think they can stop me," she taunted, wanting to make her angry, reckless. "You'll just make me angry, and then I'm gonna get my revenge on you. All your little friends, and that worthless werewolf boyfriend of yours." Tabitha made to attack her again, hands outstretched, wanting to dig her claws into her face and tear it clear off.
Luckily, somewhere in the back of her head, chiming through all rage and anger she was feeling over all the bullshittery Tabitha was spewing, it occurred to Marlene that trying to jump at her to take her down with her fists instead of her wand would not go well. She had half a mind to silencio the stupid bitch officially, but there was no time to waste on spells like that when she was trying to kill her. "SHUT. UP." Marlene screamed at her, sending a silent Incendio at the werewolf's feet and diving back away from the crazy bitch's reach, smacking into the ground in the process. She rolled over onto her back -- she was NOT pouncing on her from behind again -- and continued attempting to scramble away from Tabby, pushing herself away from her and scooting along on her bum, still shooting off any and every spell she could think of, most of them missing wildly in the process.
Tabitha laughed as Marlene reacted to her taunts, although not quite as she hoped -- the girl was angry, and that was enough. She had to jump out of the way as Marlene sent a fire spell at her to avoid the flames (she hated that spell), and then kept moving, lunging for the girl as she fell down the the ground. One of the spells just missed Tabitha's leg, and another cut into her arm, blood oozing out from the wound. She grinned at the girl trying to desperately to fight her off, lashing out with her claws at the raised wand arm, attempting to pin her to the ground. "Well, this makes things easier, doesn't it? Now I can rip you open and spill out your insides, just like my husband wanted. You remember that, don't you?" Tabitha asked, scratching her claws over Marlene's stomach.
Marlene writhed underneath Tabitha's claws as they scraped over her stomach, arms pinned and her feet kicking helplessly against the ground, her wand knocked just out of reach. She was going to die. There was no amount of struggling or screaming or shrieking "ACCIO WAND" that could help her pull free or get her wand back, and Marlene was petrified. All the colour drained from her face as Tabitha spoke, smiling, laughing as she taunted her, Marlene remembering exactly what she was talking about, scared to death that it was actually about to happen. This couldn't be happening, this was a nightmare, she needed to wake up. "I also remember telling you to piss off," Marlene snapped at her between sobs, the spite in her voice doing nothing to mask how terrified she was, tears burning behind Marlene's eyes as she jerked up and spat in the werewolf bitch's face in a final pathetic act of defiance.
Lily rushed into the fray, her wand lifted high. "Incendio," she yelled, flames bursting from her wand, flashing in the air before they landed on Tabitha. Lily's face was pulled tight as she concentrated, her wand ready to renew the fire in just a moment, her eyes glancing over at Marlene. She was not going to let this creature hurt her friend again. "Accio wand" she called, Marlene's wand flying straight into her free hand. Once Tabitha had removed herself from Marlene, Lily would throw it right at her.
"Leave my friend alone, you mangy bitch," she screamed.
Oh, and that had been a mistake. Tabitha snarled, bringing her hand up to wipe the spit off her face and then she gripped Marlene's jaw tightly, nails pressing against her skin. "I dare you to try that ag-" but she never got to finish her challenge, too wrapped up in her anger to notice the other woman approaching them until she felt the hot flames of Lily's spell sear across the skin of her arm. She screamed and threw herself away from Marlene, writhing and pressing her side against the ground in an attempt to smother the fire out. What the hell was it with these people and fire? Tabitha was having enough of it, and she pushed herself back up to her feet to face her new opponent.
Lily was glad to see Tabby off of Marlene, and with an energized grin she kept her face focused on the female werewolf. She knew that she only had a matter of seconds before she was attacked and possibly savaged, so Lily quickly cast a blinding curse on the werewolf, stealing the ability to see from her. She crouched slightly, doing her best to anticipate whatever move the werewolf would do before she did it.
In one moment, Tabitha had focused on Lily, and in the next she could see nothing at all -- the sudden blindness was terrifying, making her feel vulnerable and helpless, and like any wild animal backed into a corner, she reacted wildly. She could only rely on scent and sound alone, but she remembered where the redheaded woman had stood before her, and the werewolf threw herself at Lily, snarling viciously, an inhuman scream. Tabitha grabbed for the first bit of flesh or cloth she could get her claws into, tearing and ripping savagely -- it was kill or be killed in her mind now, and she wasn't going to allow herself to go down so easily. It didn't matter to her where her nails slashed into, so long as she could smell the blood and feel it slick and wet over her fingers.
Lily could see the fear on Tabitha's face, but she wasn't completely prepared for the weight of the woman, and fell back, falling onto her knees and pushing Tabitha back with her arms as well as she could. She felt a jolt on her left side, and cried out, gathering her wits before she could shout, "Deprimo," she shouted, blasting at her elbow.