Dedalus Diggle. (fellow) wrote in blurred_lines, @ 2009-02-18 20:24:00 |
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Entry tags: | ! [1980-02] february, ! npc, ciara fitzpatrick, dedalus diggle, fenrir greyback, tabitha pryce |
18 February 1980.
WHO: Fenrir Greyback, Tabitha Pryce, Ciara Fitzpatrick, Dedalus Diggle, Christine Diggle.
WHAT: The werewolves seek out information!
WHERE: The Diggle house in Kent.
WHRN: 18 February 1980!
RATING/STATUS: Completed.
All her patience, the temptation of leaving this place resisted, Tabitha's reward finally came in the shape of an owl carrying a message from Marius. Communicating by owl was so common to the muggle werewolf by now that it no longer felt strange to reach up as the owl flew lower, snatching the parchment from it's claws to read the message within. At last. Tabitha could not hold back the grin that fell across her lips, and she stood up from where she was laying in the clearing once more, grass clinging to her shabby blood-stained dress. She didn't bother to brush the dirt off before she ran swiftly back to the camp, stopping first at her own tent. She reached inside to grab her cloak, pulling it on around her shoulders to protect her from fire, and she tossed her journal inside to leave behind. She raced over to Ciara's tent next, inviting herself to pull back the flap and peer inside at the younger werewolf. Tabitha couldn't help thinking of her as her own -- she had been the one to bite her, after all, which embedded a natural draw to her all on it's own, wanting to teach her to be strong and powerful -- invincible. "Ciara! Do you want to come play a game with me? I promise it'll be fun." There wasn't much to do around camp at the moment, and Ciara was bored. Bored enough to be counting the stitches in the lining of her tent when Tabitha provided a welcome distraction. "Ooh, are we hunting something?" she asked brightly, clambering to her feet. She wasn't going to miss out on the chance for a game -- odds are they wouldn't be playing a friendly game of monopoly, and she had no doubts that it would be fun. Feeling kind of proud that she had been the one Tabitha had asked, she threw on her own cloak. While Ciara would much rather she wore a trendy jacket, she had learned from experience and observation that cloaks allowed much more freedom of movement, perfect when one was on the hunt. She stepped out of her tent, excited at the prospect of action, and waiting obediently for one of her seniors to tell her what to do. "We are," Tabitha grinned, waiting outside Ciara's tent while she prepared herself to leave. "And if we're lucky, our prey will lead us to something bigger." Once the younger werewolf joined her, Tabitha led the way to Fenrir's tent -- while she would invite herself into anyone else's tent in the camp, she stopped in front of his, waiting respectfully outside of it, since she came here of her own accord instead of being summoned. "Fenrir?" She could tell he was inside, at least. "I want to go out tonight. I have an address. I think you'd be interested, too. One of McKinnon's friends -- I want to get him to talk." Fenrir was bored. He understood the need to secrecy, for due process, for making everything look right and Merlin knows he'd support in public but that didn't mean he really liked it that much. They had the Ministry. It wasn't like they needed to hide anymore. What were people going to do if they didn't like something? Go to that Order group? Yeah, right. Those rebels from the Ministry? They were useless. He was grumbling under his breath and drinking from a bottle of whiskey he'd stolen when he heard Tabitha speak outside. He was about to tell her to bugger off when she mentioned the magic word - McKinnon. Lupin's little wench. That definitely got his attention. He set the bottle aside and hitched himself up on his rickety chair. "Come in. How'd you get the information and what's the plan?" Tabitha stepped inside Fenrir's tent once he gave her permission to enter, grin still on her face as she looked up at him. "Marius got the address for me. I saw a man named Dedalus Diggle talking to McKinnon on the journals so I sent him a letter asking if he could get the guy's address." She held out the parchment with Dedalus' address on it to Fenrir for him to take. "Looks like he's got a place in Kent... I was thinking we could take Ciara with us, and see if we can get some information outta Diggle. See if we can get him to tell us where McKinnon is hiding. What do you think?" she asked, crossing her arms over her chest. "I figure we can just kill 'em if he doesn't talk... and then kill him if he does anyway." Fenrir quirked an eyebrow when Marius' name was mentioned. Okay, that meant the information was good. He then began to grin as he took the piece of parchment with the address on it. "I think I like that plan," he said, getting to his feet. He glanced out through the flap of the tent where Ciara was waiting and considered it for a moment. This wasn't likely to be too dangerous. A good mission for Ciara, especially with both himself and Tabitha there to keep her out of trouble. "Yeah, this'll be a good one for Ciara. She up for making the kill, you think?" "Definitely. It'll do her some good to get out there. With the three of us, we'll be alright if it turns out Diggle doesn't live alone," Tabitha replied with confidence. She felt Fenrir could protect Ciara on his own if things were to go wrong, so if she was there too, what did they have to fear? Nothing -- the ball was in their court this time. Tabitha would not let herself fall into another trap, but she knew, at least, that she could trust information Marius gave her. "He won't be suspecting a thing, either. I haven't talked to him over the journals in a long time. We'll get him completely by surprise. I warned McKinnon I was gonna try and go after one of her other friends to throw her on the wrong trail." "Good," Fenrir said, feeling excitement rise within him at the thought of what was ahead. "I'm fucking bored with all this sitting around. I'm not going to use much magic once we get there. Hell, maybe we can pull the same stunt I did with Gumboil's brother. Make it look like it was anti-werewolf people who killed him. That'd fuck with their heads." He walked out of the tent with a sharp gesture of his head to both Tabitha and Ciara. "Come on. Let's get out of the camp." Tabitha nodded, grinning and running her tongue along her teeth as she followed Fenrir outside of the tent where Ciara was waiting. She moved in close to Fenrir to be apparated first, much as she hated it, her hands on his arms as he took them to Kent. She waited there patiently in the alley on the opposite side of their prey's house, watching the windows for movement to try and gauge where Dedalus might be. She looked at Fenrir and Ciara when they arrived, and she nodded her head at the building across the road from them. "That's the one," she said. "Probably has got some magic wards up, yeah?" Waiting outside the tent, Ciara scuffed the ground with her feet. She was excited at the prospect of action, excited at the prospect to learn from Fenrir and Tabitha, the two wolves she admired the most in camp. One day she would walk right into their leader's tent with exciting plans of murder, but for now she was content to just do what she was told. When the other two emerged, she straightened up, trying to look ready but not too chirpy -- she didn't want them to leave her out if she appeared too childish. Apparition was something she had undergone only a couple of times before, and she couldn't admit to being fond of the squeezing sensation, but when it was her turn she stepped forward and took hold of Fenrir's arm, trying not to grip too tightly. Gazing up at the house upon arrival she imagined what the people inside were doing. Having dinner maybe, or watching the television if they had one. "Probably does," she offered, trying to be helpful. "What do youse think we should do, break in?" Fenrir joined Tabitha after he finished apparating Ciara in and he stared at the house while he listened to the two women talk. He pulled out his wand and frowned for a moment as he pulled the spell he needed out of his memory. Once he remembered what he was doing, he pointed his wand at the house and cast the spell. The answer that came back made him growl under his breath. The wards were strong, too strong for him to be able to break. "Fucking wards," he said with a snarl. "I'm not going to be able to break those. We're going to have to lure him outside." He looked at the two women then focused on Ciara. "He knows who Tabitha and I are so it's going to have to be you. Play the sweet innocent. Act hurt or lost. I don't care what you do, just get him out into the street and past the damn wards." Jumping back in shock when Fenrir cast his exploratory spell at the wards, Ciara almost missed the instructions aimed at her. She looked up at him and nodded, firmly. "Right you are, boss." Hurt or lost. Innocent. She could do that. Casting around her again for inspiration, her eyes fell on the road outside the house. This was a muggle area, surely their quarry would be familiar with the dangers of muggle machinery? Her face lighting up, she skipped out lightly into the street after making sure nobody was watching from a window. Carefully she arranged herself on the floor, half on the pavement, half in the gutter, angling her limbs in the weirdest directions she could get them in. Not for the first time she was proud of the flexibility her years of gymnastics training had given her, and once she was satisfied she looked like she could have been hit by a car she took a deep breath. Hopefully once their victim came running, he wouldn't even have time to notice that she wasn't bloody or bruised in the slightest. Summoning up all the air in her lungs, she let out an ear piercing scream. "ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH OH MY GOD SOMEBODY HELP ME WAUGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HELP ME PLEASE ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" There were few things on Dedalus' mind as he sat across from his grandmother in his large kitchen, eating a warm, home-cooked dinner that would have normally been served to Dorcas and Al; he missed sitting across from them, and since they were both gone now, his grandmother made frequent visits to his home to make it feel less empty. They discussed possibly selling the big house; it was an expense that wasn't really worth the trouble, but Dedalus couldn't help but hold onto it. They also discussed recent tragedies and how he couldn't even remember how things used to be. Dedalus was oddly cavalier about the details surrounding the deaths of his friends -- he knew he could trust his grandmother, and with few people left in his life to talk to, he didn't regret confiding in her about what he was feeling. "One way to look at it is that they're both in a better place now, Dedalus," she told him, cradling his chin in her aged hand. She winked at him. "They don't have to deal with all the messes in this world anymore. The filth. They're at peace wherever they are, and while I didn't know them, I'm sure you can agree with me that they deserved a little peace." Dedalus smiled; he opened his mouth to reply to her comforting words when he heard a terrifying noise coming from outside. It sounded like a scream. Jumping to his feet, Dedalus maneuvered towards the front door, pulling the curtains away from the window beside it. He looked out past his yard into the empty street, shocked to see a little girl sprawled on the pavement, shrieking in pain. He didn't stop to think -- instead, he motioned for his grandmother to stay where she was, and headed outside to see what happened on his own. Running across the yard, he approached her cautiously, kneeling beside her. "My God. Tell me what happened." The moment Dedalus's knee hit the pavement (and he was therefore more vulnerable than standing) Ciara unravelled herself and launched herself at him with a snarl. The movement wasn't completely fluid; her knee hit the kerb painfully and she stumbled making her aim not as true as it could have been, but she went for the neck, teeth bared and sharp scrabbly little fingernails at the ready. Briefly she hoped that she wouldn't have to kill him completely on her own, although she knew that Fenrir and Tabitha were right behind her. But somehow, their presence gave her stage fright, of a sort, and she tried to forced everything but the kill out of her mind. It was certainly the very last thing Dedalus expected to happen -- taken by surprise, it took a moment for him to realise what the girl was trying to do to him. Even after he felt her fingernails digging and scratching at his neck, he didn't want to believe she was attacking him with the intent to harm him. Somehow, through strength, he was able to shove her off him. "Calm down. Calm down. You must be in shock. I'm trying to help you," he tried to tell her, grabbing onto one of her wrists to pin it to the ground. "What happened?" Tabitha could barely restrain herself from running out as soon as Dedalus exited his home, itching to get out there and sink her claws into the man's skin, but she waited patiently as she watched Ciara try to attack him. As soon as Dedalus shoved the smaller werewolf away and began to try and pin Ciara on the ground, however, she was running out before anyone could stop her, across the street and lunging at Dedalus to tackling him off of Ciara. Dedalus looked up just as Tabitha's body knocked him to the ground. He let out a muffled sound, face hitting the concrete hard. He felt blood on his neck, smeared by his hand as he tried to move away. He managed to turn himself onto his back, scooting in the direction his house. "You. What are you doing here?" his eyes narrowed at Tabitha Pryce. Her face had been made infamous by her antics, and he glanced between her and Ciara. "Nice to meet youse, Mr Diggle," Ciara said brightly, shifting position so as to gain a better foothold. She was slightly embarrassed that Tabitha had had to intervene and pull this man off her, and she wasn't going to let herself down again. "My name's Ciara! It's a nice night for a killin'." Her cheerful smile quickly turned to a growl as she pounced, attempting to use what little body weight she had to pin Dedalus to the ground as her teeth went again for the jugular. Fenrir watched with feral amusement as Ciara arranged herself on the road as though she'd been hit by one of those Muggle machines and started yelling. He snorted, a sound full of derision and laughter, as Diggle came running out. Gullible. And stupid. No great surprise but you'd think the man would actually exercise his brain given the current circumstances. Still the fact that he didn't was to their benefit so he wasn't going to complain. He watched closely as Ciara struggled with Diggle and made no move to stop Tabitha when she darted out to help. He followed at a slow prowl, circling around the group until he stood between Diggle and the man's house then he raised his foot and pressed the sole of his boot against the top of Diggle's head. "Going somewhere, Diggle?" he said, baring his sharpened teeth in a savage smile. "Now, now, don't be rude. I brought two of my best girls out here special, just so they could meet you. You can't go running away now." He felt Ciara's teeth as they latched onto his neck, tearing more skin than the scratching had. He still managed to wrestle her off him -- he didn't want to use his wand on this girl who couldn't be older than sixteen. At the sound of Fenrir's voice, Dedalus stopped struggling. Before he could see his face, he knew who the voice belonged to. With Fenrir's boot pressed against the side of his head, he couldn't exactly run away. A few more feet and he would have been safe, protected by the wards cast on his property. He could have made a run for it if he tried. The fear that coursed through his body told him to act; with his right hand, he pulled out his wand and pointed it at Fenrir's chest. The spell he whispered sent Fenrir into the air, and with a jerk of his wrist, his body landed on a parked car. The glass shattered. "You two need to get away from my home," Dedalus slowly pulled himself to his feet, his wand on Tabitha. He kept looking back at the house, hoping the ruckus wouldn't cause his grandmother to come wandering outside. "We're not going to go anywhere," Tabitha growled, keeping her eyes on Dedalus' wand as he kept it trained on her. She took a step toward him, daring him to try and do what he did to Fenrir to her, wanting to keep him distracted long enough so that Ciara could jump in again. If they could just disarm him (literally or just getting that damn wand, she didn't care), everything would be so much easier. "You're just making this harder on everyone. If you just give us what we want, maybe we'll even let you live!" She was lying, of course -- it didn't matter to her what Dedalus did. She wanted to kill him either way. "Tell us where your friend lives. Tell us where we can find Marlene McKinnon, and we'll let you go," Tabitha grinned at him, and she mocked lunged at him, hoping he would react on instinct and try to hit her with a spell. Fenrir snarled as he flew through the air then the landing on the Muggle machine blasted the breath out of him. He let himself roll off the machine onto the road and lay there, trying to control his breathing and shoving aside the pain that was echoing and throbbing through him. He'd been hurt worse than this, he could get past the pain. When he could breath properly again he looked up and saw Diggle holding his wand on Tabitha. All his attention was on her and Fenrir took his chance. He didn't hesitate and shoved himself to his feet, launching himself at Diggle, ignoring the pain that ripped through him. He could collapse later. He reached out and grabbed Diggle's wand and wrist. He yanked the man's wand out of his hand and twisted and wrenched the man's arm around with the hand that was holding his wrist. "Tabitha! Ciara! Now!" he barked. Dedalus was caught off guard by Fenrir's lunge for him. His eyes had been on Ciara and Tabitha, foolishly hoping Fenrir would be knocked out for good. He fell to the ground once more, felt his hand being twisted hard, and heard Fenrir as he tried to rally the other two. To kill him? It seemed likely. Without thinking too much about it, Dedalus hit as hard as he could against the man's chest, reaching up to grab the skin around his ribcage. The opportunity to run had passed him by -- but he realised he wasn't going to run. He was going to protect his home. Fenrir gave a grunt as they fell to the ground but he didn't let go of Diggle, wanting to give Tabitha and Ciara every chance. That lasted until Diggle hit him in the chest, getting a lucky blow on one of the spots that was aching the most after his encounter with the Muggle machine. Pain lashed through him and he gave a howl, dropping Diggle's wand and kicking out at the man as he shoved him away and clutched at his ribs. Tabitha had been unable to get to them in time to stop Dedalus from pushing Fenrir away, but the fact remained that the wizard was unarmed now without his wand. She saw Dedalus push Fenrir away, and moved in then, really lunging at the wizard this time. Her arms were outstretched and she snarled, swiping her claws at Dedalus' face. She threw her whole body at him, wanting to crush him back down to the ground again. Tabitha tore through the skin on his face, The pain was like nothing he had ever felt before, but the favourable circumstance of Fenrir being pushed away allowed Dedalus to reach for his wand, pawing at it until he felt it clenched between his fingers. He pressed the tip of the wand into Tabitha's chest, shouting a resounding Reducto. Then, he scrambled away, running for his yard. Once he was safe behind the wards, he turned around and pointed his wand at the three relentless attackers. "I don't have time to deal with your nonsense and misplaced anger, or the fact that you've corrupted this young girl into fighting on your side. Get out of here. Leave my home," he said firmly. "You and I have nothing to discuss." Fenrir rolled to his feet, shoving the pain away and summoning up every ounce of rage he possessed. He saw Diggle use the Reducto against Tabitha before retreating behind his wards. His eyes narrowed and he glanced around before his lips curled into a cruel smile. "Keep him busy," he snarled in the direction of Ciara and Tabitha, not caring whether they heard him or not. Instead he cast the Protego around himself and charged over to the nearest house. He slammed his foot in the door, crashing it open and barged inside. He emerged a minute later with a young girl, dragging her out into the street as she screamed and sobbed and struggled against his grip. "Shut up," he snarled into her ear. She gasped and did her best to stifle her sobs though he could hear her whimpering and feel her muted struggles. Fenrir looked over at Diggle as he placed his wand at the girl's temple, ensuring she was fully in front of him. "Step out from behind your wards, Diggle, and I'll let her go. If you don't then she dies slowly and very, very messily. Right here and right now." The blast from Dedalus' wand had sent Tabitha flying back, the pain from having such a spell cast on her at point-blank range causing her to curl up on the ground, her hand pressed against where the blast struck her as if that might somehow alleviate some of the pain. Growling, she stood up in time to see Fenrir stalking across the road to another house and breaking inside. She looked to Dedalus with blood on her hands and the accusation of misplaced anger made her laugh. "We're not going anywhere," she said. "We're going to get exactly what we want from you. You know it's true -- do you really think you could win? No one else has. We're still here." There was hardly any wait at all until Fenrir was returning with some girl in tow. "Burn him out," she encouraged. "They should get a taste of their own fucking medicine for once." Keeping his wand on Tabitha, he listened to her speak and watched in terror as Fenrir put his bait on full display. Dedalus' heart throbbed; the grip he had on his wand slackened. He slowly stepped forward. "I pity your existence, Tabitha Pryce," he spat. Behind him, his front door opened, and his grandmother came running outside, clenching a puppy. "I don't think the pair of you even understand what you're fighting for. Let the girl go. She has nothing to do with this." While Fenrir had tried to rid Dedalus of his wand, Ciara had circled round, scoffing at the suggestion that she wasn't fighting of her own free will. She wanted to kill him just as much as the others did (well, almost), stupid wizards with their arrogance and their magic. She kept low to the ground, ducking down when she saw the elderly lady exit the house. Hopefully if the woman didn't see her, she would leave the wards just long enough for Ciara to attack. She was determined to make a kill tonight, if only to impress her superiors, rather than satisfy her own blood lust. Keeping herself as low as possible, she braced herself on the floor, hoping that Dedalus would be distracted long enough that he wouldn't be able to fight off her next pounce. If nothing else, she could block his route back into the safety of his wards. Fenrir gave a feral smile then locked eyes with Diggle. He lowered his head, never breaking eye contact and bit down on the girl's shoulder, right where it joined her neck. he was careful not to bite down too hard, he didn't want to kill her... yet. But he did want her bleeding. The girl gave a choked scream when his teeth broke her skin then slumped in his grip, not quite unconscious but not entirely conscious either. He raised his head and grinned at Diggle, blood obvious on his teeth and lips and slowly dribbling down his chin. "There. A nice scar she'll be able to look at every day and know that it's there because you were too cowardly to come out from behind your wards." He laughed then pointed his wand at Diggle's house. Tabitha was right, it was time to give the man a little more incentive. He concentrated hard to get all the strength he possibly could into the spell then barked the word, "Incendio!" "Stop," Dedalus couldn't watch as Fenrir dug his teeth into the girl's neck; he tightened his grip around his wand. "Please. Leave her alone. You want me, right? You can have me." Flames shot into the air, and Dedalus instinctively ducked as they flew past him to connect with the big house behind him. He couldn't believe this was happening -- this was his home. He could hear his grandmother screaming hysterically in the background. Turning around momentarily, he gestured for her to stay where she was. Tabitha grinned, a look of satisfaction on her face as Fenrir cast the fire spell and watched as the flames began to spread on the house behind Dedalus. "Come out then!" she shouted, unsure if Dedalus was outside of the magical wards around his house yet or not. "Come out here where we can have you, or else we might start getting impatient." Although she already was, and she was starting to wonder just what would happen if she tried to get past the wards herself, but not curious enough to risk it. She glanced at Fenrir, waiting for her chance to attack again. Fenrir sneered at Diggle, keeping half an eye on the burning house. Sooner or later someone was going to see that and call for help. He wanted this done before that happened. "You talk big but I don't see you moving out from behind those wards," he said derisively. He hitched the girl up a bit further in his grip. "What are you so frightened of? I'm not much of a wizard and Tabitha and Ciara are Muggles. You're the big bad wizard here." Dedalus wordlessly stepped forward and off the edge of the curb. His feet connected with the paved street, and he kept his eyes on Fenrir, waiting for him to let the innocent girl go. "Set her free," he said. Fenrir gave a malicious smile, very deliberately not looking at Tabitha and Ciara and trusting them to get into position. "Come closer, wizard man," he said before lowering his face so his mouth was right next to the girl's ear. "Tell him to come closer. We can't have him double-crossing us, can we? Come on. Tell him." "C...come c...closer," the girl stammered in a frightened, high-pitched voice. Fenrir chuckled and looked over at Diggle. "You heard her. Are you going to deny her request?" Staying where she was, Ciara kept her position, watching Fenrir at work. She jumped a little as the flames erupted from his wand and she lifted her head enough to catch a glimpse of the grandmother, just in case she decided to step too far forward. She still wasn't used to all this magic business, so she tried to focus on Dedalus and closing in behind him as he stepped off the pavement. Licking her lips in anticipation, her eyes flickered between Fenrir and Dedalus as she waited for the signal to attack. While the scene unfolded before her, Tabitha crept into position, prepared to attack -- or to stop Dedalus should he attempt to try and run back behind the wards as soon as Fenrir set the girl free (or just killed her anyway). Any plan was fine with her, but she was growing bored with this game of cat and mouse, too impatient to get information out of this man to wait for him to surrender. Even so, she waited for Fenrir's signal. He stepped forward a little more, stopping dangerously close to Fenrir and the girl. He didn't want this girl to die on his behalf. If that happened, he wouldn't be able to live with himself. He swallowed hard, trying to hold his ground. He couldn't cry in front of Fenrir Greyback and Tabitha Pryce -- he couldn't cry in front of his grandmother. For a moment, his eyes shifted down to connect with hers', and in the silence, all he heard was screaming and the burning of his house. Fenrir worked hard to control his laughter as Diggle stepped closer. How he loved this goody-goody types. They were so easy to manipulate, so easy to steer in the direction you wanted them to go in. He grinned at Diggle and made a mocking tsk, tsk sound. "You'd think you people would know better than to trust me," he said casually as though just making conversation then he did two things simultaneously -- he snapped the girl's neck and tossed her aside and barked at Tabitha and Ciara, "NOW!" Tabitha didn't waste a second -- she ran toward Dedalus, grabbing onto his right arm roughly, digging her claws into his skin. She gripped his hair with her other hand, grinning as she spoke: "Once we're through with you, we'll do the same thing to the old woman." She then sank her teeth into his shoulder, tearing through the cloth and skin until blood was dripping out the sides of her mouth. Dedalus shouted something as the girl hit the ground, lifeless, but he wasn't given time to react. In the very next moment, Tabitha was on him again, teeth ripping into a large chunk of the flesh on his shoulder. Unable to fight back with the way she held him, it wasn't long before he lost feeling in his right shoulder. His hand let go of his wand, and when he realized that it had fallen to the ground, he tried to put all his weight into knocking Tabitha onto her back. Ciara followed suit, darting forward in Tabitha's wake and scrabbling furiously at the side of Dedalus's head. He was theirs, now, and it pleased her to know it. When she felt her victim move to try to knock Tabitha over (bad move!) she dug her sharp little teeth into his left side, chomping down so further movement in the opposite direction would end up with him missing a large chunk of flesh. She hung onto him like a limpet, snarling, daring him to fight. Fenrir stood and watched and laughed as Tabitha and Ciara attacked Diggle. How he loved the gullible and stupid. He kept a close eye on the two women and when it looked as though he was going to try and knock Tabitha over, he stepped forward and grabbed the front of Diggle's robes. "Uh-uh, no, you don't," he said. "Stand and fight, little man. No falling over on the job." The amount of pain he felt was nearly paralysing; the sight of his own blood on their faces sickened him. He felt something warm stream down his cheeks, trying to shake himself out of their grasp. "You need to run now, grandmother! These people are helpless. They don't understand anything. Take the puppy with you," Dedalus shouted again, breathlessly, but he kept his eyes locked with Fenrir's. Hopefully, his grandmother would hear him, listen to him, and apparate away unscathed. Inwardly, he thanked Merlin the Order put up wards that would end up saving someone's life. "Are you ready to talk now?" Tabitha asked, placing her hand over the open wound on Dedalus' shoulder and digging her claws into it. "We want to know where to find Marlene McKinnon. It would be terrible if someone else in one of these houses had to die because you didn't wanna talk, don't you think?" Fenrir didn't bother checking to see what the old woman did. She could stay and watch and die or flee and live, he didn't care either way. He let go of Diggle's robes with one hand and grasped him around the neck, letting his sharpened, claw-like nails dig into the man's skin. "Tabitha asked you a question, little man. You're not going to be rude, are you?" He squirmed, face turning white. With all the strength he could gather into his left arm, he swung for Fenrir's jaw. His fist connected with it, though it likely wouldn't be enough to draw him off. He didn't care at this point. "Fuck you," Dedalus said angrily, his breathing uneven. "Fuck you and your Dark Lord. You think I'm foolish? You're foolish for thinking I'll tell you a word. I'm glad I haven't lived my life being someone's pawn in this war." Tabitha snarled as soon as Dedalus punched Fenrir, and not seconds later she was grabbing his left arm, twisting it sharply behind his back and pushing up, forcing it into an awkward and painful angle. "You're going to regret that," she said, biting down viciously on his left shoulder. The arm was broken, that much was certain -- she heard the snapping of bone the more she twisted Dedalus' arm in her grasp. "If you're not going to give us any answers, what good are you?" She looked to Greyback then, thinking it was useless to play around with this man any longer. Anyone who would dare punch Fenrir Greyback in the face wasn't going to start talking, in her opinion. Fenrir's head was snapped to the side by the punch but in terms of such things, it was a barely a punch. Diggle hadn't even loosened a tooth. He exercised his jaw for a moment then let go of Diggle entirely. "You know... she's right," he said with a malicious grin. "If you're not going to give us answers, you're of no use to us." He paused and his grin went from malicious to outright cruel. "Or rather you have only one use... a message. Let him go, girls, and step back." The moment Tabitha and Ciara let go of Diggle, Fenrir raised his wand and cast a blasting curse at Diggle, sending him flying back through the wards and into the burning house. He laughed uproariously at the sight then followed it up with a spell he'd always wanted to cast. Fiendfyre. The magical fire burst out of his wand and leapt at the house. Fenrir watched it, feeling impressed with himself, but when the first shape began to form in the flames, he stepped backwards with a grin that was mostly wary. "Time for us to get the fuck out of here," he said to Tabitha and Ciara. He grabbed hold of their arms and closed his eyes, concentrating hard so thathe wouldn't fuck this up then he apparated them away. Dedalus' body shattered the first floor living room window; he slammed against the opposing wall and fell limply to the floor. The impact knocked him unconscious, but as the flames licked him, in his minds' eye, he saw his mother, father, and little brother, alive, precisely how they were remembered, and grinning happily at him. |