Blurred Lines Mods (blurred_mods) wrote in blurred_lines, @ 2009-05-01 02:21:00 |
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BASH 12/13 AFTERMATH a. Alice and Frank take charge, get everyone the fuck out, chaotic fighting Tibby could feel herself screaming before she was even aware of what had happened, and watched Dumbledore's body collapse to the ground with all the surrealism of a scene in some over-acted play. It wasn't real, it wasn't real. It couldn't be real. Tears of rage and agony splashed down her cheeks and she was sinking to her knees, face in the dirt, choking and sobbing and feeling like she'd lost her mother all over again. They were all going to die, and she wouldn't get to say goodbye to Ioan. Merlin, how could Albus Dumbledore be dead? "Oh Goddd," she wailed, half resigned to dying curled up on the ground like a complete coward. They were fucked. Completely, utterly, mind-bogglingly fucked. Dumbledore was dead. That much was clear. It was the kind of frightening, unbelievable truth that Alice did not have the time or the energy to process right now. Dumbledore was dead, and he was not, it turned out, infallible, but that did not mean that this fight was over. There were still a great number of people well within range of Lord Voldemort and if every single member of the Order of the Phoenix and the Army of Albion was not going to die, then they had to act quickly. All usual gentleness was gone from Alice's voice as she turned to where Tabitha had fallen. "Tabitha Bagnold, get up and get inside the castle, now." She knew she sounded harsh, but staying on the grounds was pointless, the building itself, if used properly, might protect them. Seeing the shadow of someone next to her (she didn't pause to see who it was), she barked, "And you, too!" Everyone else was going to flee from this scene in terror, and rightly so. Alice, to be frank, was terrified. But she had work to do in the face of danger, and if Dumbledore was dead, the least that they could do was level the playing field. Holding her wand steady, she pointed it at the tall figure of the Dark Lord and shouted, "Avada Kedavra!" Another voice joined Alice's, breathless and hard as the two dread words were uttered and the spell was cast. Frank, coming up from the other side of the destruction wrought by the battle between their leader and that of the Death Eaters, looked past the body of Albus Dumbledore to see only Lord Voldemort. Suddenly there was only ice and iron in his gut; his arm was steady even though he'd run here; his will absolute. "Avada Kedavra!" and the curse ripped out from his wand. No time to waste, however. As soon as he'd cast the unforgivable, he was ducking behind one of the detritus from the battle, heading toward Alice as she barked out her commands. Already the white mist of a patronus was billowing around the tip of his wand -- he'd later wonder how he managed to switch between the Killing Curse and an Expecto Patronum so damned fast. Later, but not now. Now there was time only to get their people inside. "-- Fall back to the castle now," he was saying. "By any means possible. We're regrouping there. Armour, statues will help--" Rufus wasn't sure what the hell he'd just seen, but he reacted to Frank's voice instantly; he was stricken by the death of Dumbledore, of course, but he could feel something later, he could panic later. Right now he had a half dead Pepper to get into the castle and a group of people he felt responsible for bringing here. Right now he had to act. He had to lead (though he was very, very slightly relieved to step aside for Frank and Alice at this particular moment). Unsure he could make his voice work correctly, he focused hard on his wand and poured forth the silvery form of a lion. It bounded off to the edges of the grounds, rounding on those members of Gairloch who hadn't yet moved. "To the castle!," growled his ragged, disembodied voice. "SHIFT." Was that it? Was everything just said and done and over with, just like that? Marlene felt like with their cheers of victory from the death eaters and the screams of fear and defeat from those on her side, all the oxygen on the entire school's campus had been sucked out, the air hanging thick and dark and cold as the realization of what was going to happen now hit everyone all at once. Marlene was rooted in her spot, feeling like moving in any direction would make everything more real and she didn't want that. She didn't want this. A flash of green whizzing towards her woke her from her trance, and Marlene threw herself to the ground, a new level of anger building up inside her that she'd never felt before. "Fuck. This." She gripped her wand tightly in her hand as she picked herself back up off the ground, casting a shield spell around herself and sprinting to go drag Tibby up from her rocking position on the ground. "Honey, get in the castle now. Go write to Ioan, alright? Let him know you're okay," she said to her while yanking Tabitha up to her feet, her tone much more commanding and less gentle than her words otherwise would have implied. "Be safe." After giving her a slight shove towards the castle, Marlene spun back the other way, making a beeline in the opposite direction from nearly everyone back out into the fray. This wasn't over yet. Tabitha wept into Marlene for all of five seconds before she was being thrust towards the castle, and though part of her wanted to go be brave and to go fight, she couldn't drag herself up out of the stupour of depression that was raging through her. And now Marlene was going to die and she didn't even get to say goodbye. Sobbing hysterically, Tabitha turned to cast one furious blasting spell, and then gave up, running over two steps, five, ten, until she was 'safe' within castle walls. While Frank and Rufus's Patronuses ran off to deliver messages, Alice, still keeping her wand steady, said, "Expecto Patronum." The figure of a small collie erupted from her wand, "Stand guard," she told it, and its silver, misty head cocked in understanding. It could, at least, keep watch over those who were coming back into the castle. "In the castle, in the castle," she frantically told the people who were headed there, as if they needed any more reminding, "Get in the fucking castle!" Alice Longbottom very rarely swore, but if any situation called for it, it was this one. To one of the suits of armor that was clomping off towards the entrance hall, she shouted, "Not you! Go round up stragglers, carry them back if you have to." She darted in and out of people and, once she was sure that she had a clear aim for Voldemort, she one again raised her wand and again yelled, "Avada Kedavra!" Voldemort's elation spilled from him in waves; he had never been so ecstatic, even if there was the niggling aggravation that the inner circle had helped Him destroy Dumbledore, even if he would one day remember how he had nearly perished at his hand. It did not matter. He had taken the final shot. He had ended Dumbledore's life. He had won the war. A high, piercing laugh erupted from him, and he commanded His followers to move forward, to pillage, to plunder, to devour. Drawing back his wand, he moved to Dumbledore's body, lip curling into a sneer as he decided what he might do to it with all the delicacy that one might use to select a fine wine. He had little time to ponder the matter, however, as there were now spells flying at him. At Him? They dared attack him? The Lord Voldemort? The conqueror of their pitiful Dumbledore? The ruler of Hogwarts? The Master of England? He laughed again, though it was a sharp, sinister noise and he was not amused. A fleeing girl was wrenched backward with one thrust of his wand, directly into the line of Alice's curse, and slumped, dead, upon the ground. A shrill noise of triumph erupted from him, and then another, a boy now, was yanked towards Frank's spell. This one did not drop dead, however, saved by the sacrifice of a gargoyle that leapt to block the spell and exploded into a million shards of stone. And green again from Alice, this time blocked by a conjured shield that the Dark Lord discarded roughly afterward so that he might take a step forward, poised over Dumbledore's dead body. Blood-red eyes narrowed as Voldemort watched Alice, scraping over every feature before lingering on her swollen belly. Memories and repressed worries clicked vaguely, slowly into place, and in an instant his fear was tangible. The air between them was rent open by His wand, exposing a jagged black ether that shuddered for one breath, two, and then burst into existence. A pitch black boar threw itself over the crowd and toward Alice, bloody tusks poised to tear the threat to His power to pieces. Alice was a skilled witch. A very skilled witch, in fact. She had been Head Girl at Hogwarts, top or near the top of her classes, she had succeeded in Auror training (not exactly the easiest thing in the world) and had been well-known for taking down Death Eaters. But Death Eaters were not Lord Voldemort, and skilled witch though Alice was, she was not on par with his skill. Not even close. A suit of armour came charging to protect her from Voldemort's wrath, but she saw the thing (it was shaped like a boar, but it was too large and hysterically malignant to be an actual animal) catch the armour in its tusks and throw it high into the air. The armour landed somewhere near the Whomping Willow with an ear-piercing clatter. How the fuck were you supposed to fight something like that? Alice had no idea, but with a wave of her wand, she did the only thing that came to mind -- ushered her patronus towards it. Moving so fast it looked like a streak of silver light, her patronus threw itself at the boar, sinking its teeth into its neck. And then another streak of light came at it. Another dog, Frank's patronus, seemingly of its own accord, throwing itself into the boar's enormous body. With a horrible noise, the boar struggled against the incorporeal beasts, black hooves thrashing, tusks grinding in the air with effort. Black oozed from it to the ground, and grass curled away from it in horror, burned, tainted. It came closer, closer, and in a moment it seemed as though it would devour her whole, hindered only by the fervent efforts of those silvery hounds. And then it was gone, a burst of vicious black that spattered across Alice's legs with a horrible, keening sound. There was a terrible hissing as the remnants of Voldemort's magic burned through Alice's robes and skin. She stood there, perfectly still in dumb shock and pain, letting out a cry of agony -- it felt as though someone had thrown boiling hot acid on her skin and it was seeping into her bones. But it took only a moment for training and instinct to kick in, and she knew better than to stick around while Voldemort sent a malevolent menagerie after her. She stayed still only long enough to cast another Killing Curse in his direction before running off towards where more people were moving to the castle. One boy was standing, as if in awe of what was going on, and she gave him a firm shove to encourage him towards the castle. She turned back once again to where the Dark Lord was standing and with a few waves and swirls of her wand, a dark mist, not unlike that which had conjured the boar, sprang from her wand, twisting and turning like a cloud before a storm, which advanced on Voldemort, spurts of lightning issuing from it. Aberforth watched his brother fall with disbelief. For a moment he couldn’t move, couldn’t process what he was seeing. It was impossible. There was simply no way that Albus could have been defeated, no way that he could be dead. Except there he was, falling to the ground and not moving and Abe knew in his heart of hearts that what he was seeing was true. That Albus was dead and he was all that remained of their family. "No," he moaned, his legs buckling underneath him and sending him crashing to his knees. He could feel the blood draining from his face. Right now there was no Order, no Ministry rebels, no Death Eaters, there was only the crushing realisation that he was alone, that his brother was dead. That he’d never had the chance to forgive him for Ariana’s death… and now never would. "Let me in," he rasped at the gargoyle, momentarily forgetting the password that Albus sent to him whenever it was changed. But it seemed that something... the school, the gargoyle, whatever, was listening and had decided that this time the password was not needed. The gargoyle leapt aside and Abe and his grim burden continued up the stars and into the office. The door closed behind them and Aberforth slowly, gently lowered Albus' ravaged body onto the couch in front of the fireplace. Then and only then did he suddenly crumple, folding forwards onto his knees in front of the couch, his wand clutched in one hand and Albus' in the other. Tears flowed down his cheeks to disappear into his beard as he mourned in complete and frightening silence. "MURDER THEM ALL," he shrilled, icy voice amplified throughout all of Hogwarts before he was forced to turn back to Alice again. He would see her dead before this battle was through. Did she think she could take on the Lord Voldemort? Slapping away her retaliation with a swift gesture of his hand, he advanced upon her, wand held aloft as the distance between them closed. It was with an almost lazy flick that he attacked. Imperio. Alice didn't have time to duck Voldemort's incantation -- she moved, but her reflexes and her muscles were slow, she thought that it would hit. And then, as if out of nowhere, a stone gargoyle lept out in front of her with swiftness and agility that Alice didn't have. The Imperius Curse hit the stone guardian and it twisted, its body contorting in a manner that stone should not have been able to move, and then, with a shout of, "Oppugno!" she sent the creature hurdling towards Voldemort. This was too dangerous to continue. She ran, hoping the assault of the gargoyle would slow him down, and kept urging people into the castle. When the gargoyle failed in its attack (for against Voldemort, it ultimately would), the snarling forms of three silver deerhounds lunged in to take its place, stalking with their hackles raised across the very stairs that had resisted Voldemort's attack. A fourth, Frank's last, still bounded across the grounds, delivering the order to retreat to the castle, nipping at the heels of Albion and Order fighters alike if they tarried. And as it raced on, what remained of Dumbledore's army of once-insentient creatures brought back those who could not move for themselves; a stone griffin swooped over the castle parapets with two figures on its back -- two more people delivered to safety. As Alice ran, Frank shoved a young, battle-battered man after her before sending a Protego at them for temporary protection. "EVERYBODY IN," he yelled, then drew into the air the debris that had been the gargoyle Voldemort exploded, letting it pour down on any Death Eaters that attempted to advance. The Dark Lord stalked after the retreating Order and Albion members, white face gleaming beneath the fire and lightning that hailed around them as his servants pressed forward. His numbers had shrunk -- many death eaters held back, wounded, but these pitiful followers of Albus Dumbledore were nothing without him. They quaked in His presence, and he felt powerful beyond all recollection, all memory. Still, his spells and attacks towards the castle seemed to fall lifelessly, uselessly before their mark, and he hissed with anger, pushing his troops forward. They would take the castle. He would murder those who were ugly in his sight. As spell after spell, curse after fell curse, fell short of its mark, Frank realized that the castle was resisting the Dark Lord. Relief, gratefulness, and awe would have exploded in him had his mind not been so singularly focused on getting people inside and keeping himself alive. Later (later -- if he survived this) he would think on the implications of this -- but the battle was now. And now Hogwarts was standing immovable against every attack Voldemort visited on it. As yet another person hurried to safety, Frank sent two of the three Patronuses snarling at Voldemort, the third coming to circle its maker as he fired a round of offensive spells at any of the advancing Death Eaters that was in his line of sight. Atticus was exhausted. In comparison to the oppressive weariness that seemed to be consuming every last bone and muscle in his body, the thrill of victory was but a side note. One that could be savoured after a good night's rest. And a shower. He wanted nothing more at that moment than to return to his temporary home at Lestrange Manor and collapse into bed. Of course that was likely an inadvisable plan. He assumed some form of appropriately subdued celebration would be taking place and being the first to fall asleep might very well result in torments that would be more commonly found in a fifth year boys dormitory. Regardless, he was still exhausted. The powerful magic he had brought forth in the fight against Dumbledore had left him completely drained and even as chaos swarmed around him, even summoning the strength to lift his wand seemed to be a daunting effort. But then the mark on his arm was burning with a full force of the Dark Lord's rage and his Master issued his call to arms, a call Atticus would not refuse. Digging deep into himself, he summoned what remaining energy he possessed and jets of red and purple flame flew out of his wand towards Frank Longbottom before a blasting curse connected with his shoulder and sent him flying back, knocked solidly onto his arse. Frank wasn't fool enough to think that this was the worst injury sustained that night, but knowing that did nothing to lessen the pain as skin tore and bone fractured. His Patronus seemed to absorb a great part of the pressure behind the blast, keeping him from being dashed against the wall, but it wasn't a shield charm, and thus he found himself in what was, he guessed, the better alternative, on his arse on the stairs, arm hanging uselessly by his side. Instantly the silver dogs faded from existence, the strain of having to keep them overwhelming him as he paid back the Death Eater -- the same one who'd attacked him? so much was happening that he couldn't be sure, as they all looked the same to him, although attacking one Death Eater was as good as attacking another -- with a short volley of similarly red jets of light before rolling over and pushing himself up. It was time to go. After a final look back -- at the destruction, at the soldiers of the Dark Lord, and at Voldemort himself -- he started up the stairs and entered the castle, a series of quick Episkeys doing away with the worst of the damage so he could continue working inside. There was still so much to do in the way of organizing the people within and assessing the damages they had sustained -- in short, surviving the aftermath of the battle. The night was far from over. b. Ted vs Bellatrix The glory in seeing Dumbledore fall was palpable; Bellatrix was positively exultant as she spun across the battlefield, her injuries minuscule as she shared in the direct aftermath of Voldemort's victory and his instruction to murder them all. Her eyes swept the retreating backs, wondering if she could (by fate or intelligent design) find Sirius one last time. No, but here was metal just as attractive. Ted Tonks would certainly do. With a smirk, she tossed her hair and put her wand to her throat to make her voice louder, loud enough for Ted and the people in the area right around them to hear. "Ted Tonks, you insufferable monster, I hate you. I hate your daughter. I hate the way you look, I hate the way you smell, I hate that you bred my sister with your dirty Mud blood. You deserve nothing more than death and nothing less than a good gelding at the hands of someone who knows how." Ted could barely believe what had just happened. Dumbledore- he couldn't really be dead, could he? Ted just didn't- he couldn't comprehend it. He had turned, intending to get out of there as quickly as he could. He needed to get home- he could barely put any weight on his ankle and he was pretty sure he'd broken more than just one rib. His eyes were open, gaze moving quickly about his surroundings, avoiding any strangers and searching for any of his friends- Frank, Alice, any of the Order- The voice broke through his thoughts and he paused in his tracks when he heard his name. Who would know- Bella. Ted drew himself up to his full height and took a careful breath. He should go. He should just leave and make it back to his girls and ignore the woman who seemed intent to taunt him. Besides, Andromeda would never forgive him if he'd dared to hex her sister. Turning, he looked back to her, fingers tightening on his wand. "I never made her do anything she didn't want to do." "You brainwashed her. You drugged her. You Imperiused her. You are a damn fool." Voldemort's instructions rang through the recesses of her mind. Kill them all? Ted first, and with a good will. She began to stride toward him, her wand out and pointing straight over his heart. "Crucio!" and shriller, "CRUCIO!" Brainwashed? Imperiused? Ted frowned, and was nearly tempted to laugh-- how on earth could he have done such a thing? "I've never once cast an Imperius!" The words were barely out of his mouth before she was moving toward him and he started back, bringing his own wand up to cast a shield charm- it barely deflected her first spell, and he had to dive out of the way, wincing as he jammed his shoulder again-- he just barely missed her next spell. He pushed himself back up to his feet, casting a conjunctivitis curse back in her direction. He knew that it may seem juvenile next to her hexes, but he'd be damned if he was going to be driven to attempt any unforgivables. A burnt spot in the ground where the Cruciatus hit (where Ted should have been) only served to further enrage her. "And your little daughter," she spat, slashing her wand to strike down his curse, "No better than livestock!" She paused to consider the best spell for him, that which could work him up and actually make this duel interesting. With a silent flourish of her wand and a jet of lurid pink light, she drove a bone twisting curse at his chest. Ted cast a shield spell- the word was barely out of his mouth, at least, before the pink light hit. His shield seemed to do little but weaken the pink light and it hit him; he cried out in pain as it drove him back. He was lifted off his feet before crashing to the ground in a heap, his body twisting unnaturally under the effects of the curse. Her hand was on her hip as she watched, rapt with attention as her curse worked its way out in Ted's damnable body. Ted. What a sadly mundane little name. She waited for him to rise. The spell seemed to fade after a few moments, and Ted took a moment to catch his breath, fingers grasping his wand. He had no idea when her next spell would come, but he slowly pushed himself back up to his feet. He could hear Andromeda's voice in his head telling him to stop, begging him not to duel her sister, but he didn't feel like he could back down. Not now. But dying- what good would dying do? He knew that there was little chance that Bella would let him live through this. What choice did he have? Drawing in a breath, Ted could feel every muscle in his body protesting each movement. His wand came up, and he cast a stunner followed by a blasting curse back in her direction. Though her shield absorbed the first hex, Bellatrix was left open to the Blasting curse and found herself left in a shallow pit as if a bomb had been detonated where she stood. Hazy, disoriented, she looked for Ted and began to climb out of the pit. The moment he had cast the last curse, Ted has cast another shield charm in case she sent something back. He was almost surprised when she fell back, but had enough sense to send another stunner in her direction as he took a few steps closer. Pausing in his tracks, he cast a "Levicorpus!"- waiting to see if it hit. It did. Bellatrix, quite thoroughly stunned though she held her wand tight in her hands, felt herself being ingloriously upended by Ted's spell. She swore and spat like a cat, lips curled and teeth bared. She would kill him now, here; she would stab him in his dastardly heart, but she just couldn't get a bead on anything from this angle. Ted blinked, almost surprised as he found her lifted in the air-- he'd never been much of a dueler, and to be honest, he was rather surprised he was still standing at the moment. He didn't have much time to think on this as he threw a finger removing jinx at her- hey, maybe it would make her drop her wand? And then he freed her, dropping her to the ground before throwing another blasting curse in her direction. Bellatrix saved her fingers at the cost of her dignity. She was dropped on her head at an unnatural angle, her neck and shoulder together giving a sickening crunch as she cried out with the pain. Was there to be any getting up from here? Not swiftly. There, on the ground, she could see Ted's feet through her unfocused vision. She wanted to cut him off at the shins and then happily continue quartering his body right in front of his fleeing comrades. "Ted," she said, her voice soft and indistinct. "Ted. You took from me the thing I loved the best. You are a thief." As she spoke, her body twisted into an unnatural sitting position, left side slack, as she pulled a knife from her boot and used her wand to send it speeding at his gut. "I gave her a choice," Ted replied, watching as Bellatrix moved to sit up. "She could have stayed if she wished." He barely caught the glint of silver before the knife was flying at him- he started to move out of the way, but it caught him in the shoulder, driving in to the hilt. He grunted, closing his eyes in pain as his other hand came up, fingers wrapping around the handle before pulling it out, a low sound escaping him as it came free. Her left leg would not move, her left arm felt like dead weight. Her vision, damn him, kept trying to fuzz out on her. There was not -- Good Merlin, why was she here? She recognised Ted before her, pulling her knife out of his shoulder. She recognised her wand in her hand. She knew this man was an opponent - she knew he was to be put down. But how? Ted stared at the knife in his hand, then glanced to his shoulder- he could feel warm blood spilling from the wound, and his arm felt a bit numb. He looked back to Bellatrix, then used his own wand to send her knife back in the same way she had sent it to him, aiming right for her middle. He blinked again, the edges of his vision going a bit fuzzy, and he felt himself sway on his feet. The silver knife, its filigreed handle lodged deep in her breast, elicited a gasp of shock from Bellatrix. What was this curious thing? She gripped the handle and pulled it from her chest with a mighty jerk. Her blood - their blood - on the silver, on her hands ... And all she could see, in it, was Ted's indiscretion. Her rage ran crimson, the leaked blood boiled and she drew all her waning strength to rise and flourish her wand one last time. He should have known better. He was undeserving. He was less. Her voice rose to an inhuman, feral growl. "Avada Kedavra!" He watched as she pulled the knife from her chest, knowing that he should move. He needed to get out of there, to find his way home, but his aching muscles refused to budge. Her wand came up, and Ted simply stared, his vision growing even fuzzier around the edges. There was a flash of green light, and Ted barely registered it in his mind. He saw his wife and daughter, laughing cheerfully over breakfast that morning, and then it was gone. Everything went dark, and Ted could move no more. Bellatrix saw him fall. That was, it seemed, all she could say for the past minutes: Ted fell and she staggered forward, her left foot dragging as she went, to fall to her knees beside him. Her little Andromeda's only love. What had she done? What she must to save what was left of the once great Black family. The ground gave a sickening swell and her vision blacked out a moment before she lost consciousness, falling across the waist of her victim, neither blood nor bone distinguishable from the other. The triumph Rodolphus felt from his master's victory was infinite; though he'd been half-knocked out on the ground during the actual murder, the aftermath was a thing to behold, and he threw himself into fighting the fleeing scum with all the relish of a youth, throwing spells (and the occasional punch) left and right. So caught up was he that he'd lost all sight of his wife, until, rounding after chasing another blighter off, he noticed her fighting some puny fellow he didn't recognise. Suddenly there was a flash of green and two figures collapsing and Rodolphus's heart stopped. Bellatrix. Stricken dumb for a moment, he began walking, then jogging, then running to where his wife had fallen. Peeling her body away from the man's, he crouched over it to shield her from any errant spellfire before barking "Bellatrix!" at her. No, no no, he wasn't going to lose another wife and not like this. His ear was at her chest, her throat, her mouth, smeared in blood and listening for any sign of life as he struggled not to erupt in rage before confirming it. There, on second feel, a thready pulse, the barest breath. His relief came out in a ragged sigh, and he pulled her to his chest, fingers slipping in blood as he crouched in the crimson soaked-mud. He had to get her out of here, but how? They could not apparate; even Dumbledore's death had not freed Hogwarts of that damnable ward, and the gates seemed so far away now. Antonin. He had to find Antonin. Lifting his wife's broken form, he moved through the battle, struggling to keep Bella against his chest and a shield up, and struggling harder not to think what this victory might have cost them -- him. c. Other fights With a flick of her wand she sent Marius flying through the air and crashing into the trunk of a tree, hate burning in her eyes. "Is this what you wanted, huh? Is this the fucking world that all of you are fighting for?" She didn't expect an answer. She didn't even know if he could, and she didn't care. His stupid haughty French accent would probably only provoke her to do worse. "Do they have a word over in France for Fried French Death Eater? Maybe we'll just have to make one up," she glared, setting a fire at the edge of his feet. She could leave and it would roast him alive, and technically the blood wouldn't be on her hands, and that was good enough for Marlene. "Does "Marius a'la frits" work for you, love?" Marius couldn't speak or move, but he could feel the heat of the fire as it began to lick at his shoes. Within seconds the skin at his heels began to blister. He could smell the smoke, and the stench of heated leather and it would be less than a minute before the rest of him was burning as well. He was screaming in his head, for help, for Marlene to go to hell, but he was frozen and helpless and the pain was nearly unbearable already. "No complaints then? Lovely," Marlene grinned at him, her eyes still narrowed and cold as she patted him on the head and popped up to her feet. She turned to walk away, to leave him there to let whatever was going to happen to happen, then decided that wasn't good enough. Casting an incarcerous spell around him, binding him tightly from his shoulders to his feet, she removed the petrificus totalus spell. Now some of the screaming could actually come from their side for once, but he was still secured and immobile. "There we go. Good day, Monsieur Marius." "You can't-- McKinnon-- Anything you want!" Marius cried, the pain making his thoughts jump around. He'd managed to keep silent when Lupin had been kicking him around but fire was entirely different. Marius wasn't overly eager to die but if he was going to die he wanted it to be relatively painless. The fire had caught he bottom of his robes now and it continued to climb and burn his skin and he could do nothing about it. "If you let me die this way you are no better than me!" Marius shouted at her. "You win the fight but you lose everything else you hold dear. Your husband could not live with him self if he had killed me, and when he finds out what you have done he will not be able to live with you either!" "You should've stopped with the begging," Marlene replied simply, towering over Marius's bound body, finding a sort of amusement amongst the other crazy feelings that were running through her that for the first time in her life, she was looking down at a Lestrange. "And maybe I'm not better than you. Oh well. You know, this is how we first met, remember? "But it's not a matter of being better than you anymore. It's that you murder innocent people. You're not innocent in the slightest." A pause. "Anything I want? You make an unbreakable vow, right here and now, that you've murdered your last person. No more killing anyone, and you leave me and Remus and our friends alone." Bruised and beaten as she was, Tabitha had heard Marius' voice nearby, shouting, sounding panicked. When she looked around, her eyes fell on Marlene's back, and saw Marius on the ground in front of her, bound and on fire. She snarled, and -- too injured to break out into a full run -- Tabitha quietly stalked up behind Marlene as swiftly as she was able to, and once she was close enough, she pounced on her from behind, bringing them both down to the ground. She rolled over on her side and stared, watching Tabitha struggle to untie Marius. Protective little bitch, wasn't she? Marlene fired a jelly fingers curse at the werewolf as she struggled to her feet, wanting to make that process as difficult as she could for her. Tabitha had only managed to break one of the ropes when her fingers began to slip over them, unable to keep a firm grip anymore. With a frustrated growl, she kept trying, but it was proving impossible -- her other arm hurt too much to move, and there was no way she could fight like this. She needed Marius to use magic to heal her so they could take down this bitch, once and for all, and so she resorted to leaning down and taking one of the ropes holding down Marius' hand between her teeth, pulling and grinding sharp fangs against it. It was working -- but not quite fast enough. It was sort of fun having the upper hand for once. Tabitha tried to hold onto the ropes, even grabbing on with her injured arm, but still her grasp slipped and she was lifted straight up into the air. It was infuriating, not having anything to fight against, leaving her helpless with nothing to grab onto. "Let me DOWN, you BITCH! Fuck you. Are you afraid to really fight me? You talk big when you're writing to me, but now that I'm here you're too scared to get close!" It was a question that Marlene refused to answer honestly, because yes, yes she was afraid. She wasn't sure how she was going to come out of this okay even if she came out of the fight alive -- so many people had already been killed; Professor Dumbledore had been killed, and without him around, she was almost positive that the Order didn't stand a chance. She could do this, though. She actually had a chance this time. "Nope, not afraid," she replied quietly, then sent Tabitha crashing to the ground with a flick of her wand. Not giving the werewolf a chance to recuperate, Marlene shot a blasting hex in her direction, followed by a finger-removing jinx. Tabitha landed on her dislocated shoulder, a cry of pain escaping past her lips before she could stop it. Tears stung at the corners of her eyes as she struggled to stand up, having no choice but to put pressure on her injured shoulder. But before she could react, the blasting curse knocked her off her feet again, back onto the ground. She rolled out of the way just in time for the finger-removing jinx to miss, hitting the ground where she was just laying. She knew she couldn't waste time trying to free Marius anymore. She pushed herself up, standing despite her protesting injuries, and she made a dash for Marlene, stumbling as she ran. After all, she still had her teeth. However, this gave her an idea. She pointed her wand at another overgrown tree root and sent it bursting from the ground, flying towards Tabitha to grab her and hold her in place (if it worked). If nothing else, hopefully it would just knock the bitch over, giving Marlene a chance to get back up. She had no where she could run, and so Tabitha's only choice was to pull her cloak around herself again, covering her body and her head with the fabric as the flames rushed over and around her. She was uninjured, but she still smelled something burning, and after pushing the cloak away from her face and looking down, she saw that the flames had burned the root holding her leg. She tugged once, hard, wincing at the pull on her ankle, but it was still enough to break free. She didn't bother trying to stand up, and she crawled toward Marlene, grabbing for her legs again. With jelly-fingers and a dislocated shoulder, Tabitha could barely keep her grip, and Marlene slipped easily away from her hands. The punch caught her right on the nose, and she recoiled briefly with a startled cry, hand flying up to cover her nose. "That's it," she growled, and she lunged for Marlene, trying to climb up her body so she could reach her throat with her teeth. Compared to the first slicing hex, the rest of Marlene's spells felt like nothing to Tabitha. She had felt it split across her face and directly over her right eye, and she screamed in agony -- sobbing, even, as she covered her injured eye with both hands, blood spilling from beneath her fingers. Blood was seeping from her other wounds, seeping through her clothes as Marlene continued to cast spells at her -- over her legs, her arms, her back -- but Tabitha barely noticed them, writhing and screaming on the ground, refusing to bring her hands away from her face. God, it was excruciating. Marlene's words fell on deaf ears -- or, at least, Tabitha could hear her yelling, but she couldn't concentrate on a word she was saying due to the severe pain from her slashed eye. She was still sobbing pathetically, her throat feeling raw from all the screaming. There was nothing she could do. Remus had reacted quickly when she turned her wand on him, throwing up a shield spell just in case she decided to shoot first, ask questions later. Luckily, he hadn't needed to worry about it, and so he removed the spell. "We have to go, Marlene. We can't wait -- it's too dangerous here," he said, reaching out to take her wrist. "We have to go now." Marlene snapped her wrist away from Remus, shooting him a glare that clearly read "I know what I'm doing." They could go in a minute. These were the people who had tormented them endlessly for the last year, who had tortured them and killed their friends and almost killed them multiple times, and this was their chance to finally put a stop to it. If Dumbledore was really dead now, things were only going to get worse, and if she had the chance now to subside that just a little by insuring that Marius and Tabitha weren't around to take part in that, she had to do it. It wasn't just for them, it was for everyone they'd hurt in the past and everyone they would continue to hurt if they left Hogwarts alive. "It's going to be too dangerous everywhere if we just let them go," Marlene whispered at him harshly, shooting an "Obscuro" spell at Marius, a blindfold appearing over his eyes. "You don't really want to watch this happen anyway, do you?" she asked him, not waiting for a response. "I think that's how they do it in France, isn't it?" "No," Remus replied, just as harshly, and he reached to grab her wrist again. "I know who they are, but we don't have time for this. What do you think is going to happen if -- he sees you kill one of his own? A pureblood? We are leaving, right now, before he decides to kill us anyway." And if he had to, Remus would stun her and drag her off the field himself. Every second they stayed out here was practically suicide. Marlene was shaking now, completely aware of how absolutely foolish staying out there when fucking Voldemort was on the same battlefield was, but couldn't make herself move. This is what they were fighting for, wasn't it? They were supposed to be fighting him anyway, not just his cronies, and if everyone went running when he showed up, then yes, he had won. She yanked her wrist free again, this time turning her wand on Tabitha. "Fine then. She's not a pureblood. This is for Agnes." This was taking too long. They've already wasted so much time talking -- Remus pointed his wand at Marlene, already knowing he was going to get an earful later when he revived her, but at least they'd both be alive for it. With a quickly muttered apology, he stupefied her, and caught her before she hit the ground, wincing when the sudden weight in his arms put strain on his ribs. He couldn't carry her like this, and he couldn't apparate on Hogwarts grounds, either -- so he levitated her, grabbing her wand and putting it into his pocket, before running them both back into the safety of the castle as quickly as he could. He was out of breath once they were inside, gently lowering her down to the floor and sinking down with her so he could rest for a moment, sitting down. Remus was almost afraid to revive her, worried she might try to run back out, but he couldn't just carry her around like this everywhere. So, he pointed his wand at her body: "Rennervate." Marlene woke up with a start, sitting up and immediately grabbing for her wand, not finding it anywhere within reach. "Where's my wand at," she asked, it more of a demand than a question. She wasn't sure how she had gotten back into the castle, but the look on Remus's face pretty much explained it all. There were still people out there. They could still help. "Are you hurt? We need to go back." "I have it," Remus said, wearily, suddenly feeling exhausted. He pulled her wand out of his pocket, hesitant to hand it back, but he did so anyway. He didn't want to leave her unarmed. "I can't. We can't. We're going to find everyone and then get out of here with Alice and Frank." He didn't know how to get through to her. How to make her see how dangerous this was. "If we stay, we're going to die. There won't be anyone left to fight back if we don't all get out of here now. None of us are powerful enough to defeat him." Marlene drew her knees up and wrapped her arms around them, swallowing hard as Remus's words hit home. That was it. It was done, and no one needed to call it for it to be completely obvious that they'd lost. Remus was right. With Dumbledore gone, there was no one left who was powerful enough to defeat him. That metaphorical target on their backs was only going to get bigger now. How much longer did they have until there wasn't anywhere left for them to hide? "I want to go home," she whispered, keeping her voice nearly silent, knowing if she spoke any louder her voice would crack, and if she started crying, she wasn't sure if she'd be able to stop. "Soon," he promised, pushing himself over closer to her and wrapping an arm around her shoulder, trying to comfort her. After what happened, the gesture seemed so feeble, and yet he didn't want to let go, and he didn't want to move from where they were. Remus felt like he was completely drained of energy, and maybe that's why he didn't feel, well... much of anything, at that moment. He was numb to everything but to pain of his injuries. "Let's find the others, first, and then we can go home. I promise. Can you help me up?" he asked, wondering how he was managing to sound so calm about everything. "Yeah, of course," Marlene pulled away and hopped up to her feet, actually noticing Remus's injuries for the first time. "Actually no, stay still." She'd been in enough scuffles over the last year to show her that she needed to learn basic healing spells, which was enough to help Remus take care of his broken nose and injured arm. They could get Hestia to look after the rest later, or Madam Pomfrey once she saw to the people who were inevitably more injured than them both. Once she was sure that Remus wasn't about to fall over in pain, she slid underneath his unhurt arm and helped him to his feet. "Let's go find everybody else. I'm sure they're all fine and are wondering where we are, yeah?" There was a nervous edge to her tone that very clearly implied that Marlene knew perfectly well that there was no way that they'd be so lucky, but in that moment, it felt like things could only go downhill from where they were. She didn't want to speed the fall up any more than necessary. He realised that his eyes had teared but the drops had not fallen to his cheeks. He blinked them away, lest anyone see, and he turned to join the others. Or he would have, had it not been for the spell that ripped a hole through his robes. Walden spun around and saw his assailant, another woman, and he rolled his eyes. "Crucio!" He'd just about had his fill of old men and women, that was for sure. The Patronus in his face was just enough to break his concentration and he swatted at the silver vapor that was surrounding his head. He stepped forward, closing off space between him and the woman and he smiled down at her. He didn't understand why she stayed to fight. She should have run like the others but she stayed even though she was clearly injured. Dumbledore was dead. What could she possibly have to fight for? He gave a lazy flourish of his wand, now finding himself fairly good with his left hand, and he sent forth another Cruciatus. Walden's thigh was throbbing with pain and he wasn't entirely sure that the bleeding had stopped completely. He wasn't about to follow her up the hill, especially since that was the way towards the castle, but he fired a few blasts after her, grinning a bit as he wondered if they would hit her.
WHO: Order, Gairloch, DEs, DA, Voldie, Dumbles
WHERE: Hogwarts
WHAT: A big fucking battle
WHEN: 11pm 30 April
RATING: R, violence & death
STATUS: Complete
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BigAssScuffle(@)Hogwarts
He probably would have stayed as he was until a Death Eater came upon him and killed him but as he stared at Albus' lifeless body, he saw Voldemort approach and stand over him. It was the sneer that galvanised him and forced him to his feet more than anything else. This... monster had murdered his brother and now planned to do what? Desecrate his body? No, he would not stand for that.
Abe's eyes seemed to become almost ice-blue with anger as he raised his wand. "Accio Albus!" he bellowed. "Accio Albus' wand."
The body and that small piece of wood his brother always wielded with such delicacy rose into the air and came rushing towards him. He snatched the wand out of the air and slowed the progress of his brother's body until he was floating just before him. Only then did he retreat to the doors of Hogwarts, Albus' body entering before him. He let his brother drift slowly to the floor then he turned and managed one of the few wandless and wordless spells he had ever done.
"You think you have won, Tom Riddle," he said, his voice cold and chill and echoing across the battlefield. "You have not. We are the Order of the Phoenix and like the phoenix, we shall rise from the ashes here today stronger and more determined than ever. You shall fall just as my brother did, Tom Riddle. I shall see to it."
With that he turned and disappeared inside. He ignored the people gathered in the Entrance Hall and simply levitated Albus' body past them all, stalking up the many stairs and corridors of the school until he reached Albus' office.
A noise of anger followed Aberforth inside as Voldemort realised his trophy had been stolen out from under him. Across his fingers erupted a ball of black flame, which then tore towards the castle -- but it did not reach its destination, bursting instead above the stairs that lead up and into the main entrance. Fury like he had never known exploded across His followers' dark marks, and Voldemort screamed, a noise of deafening rage that echoed across the battlefield. NO. Hogwarts was his.
c1. Marlene, Remus vs. Tabitha, Marius
While most people were running into the castle, Marlene was storming against the flow of traffic back into the fight, heading straight to where she'd left Marius petrified on the ground. She was a whirl of emotions, hatred and terror and utter devastation, and she was going to see that at least one person on the opposite side felt the same. They couldn't change what had happened, but she was going to make sure that at least one thing tonight ended in their favour.
She put her hand on the back of Marlene's head and shoved her face down into the dirt before moving away from her, hurrying to Marius' side. Tabitha knelt down, using her flame-protected cloak to pat down the fire before it could spread over him anymore. Once that was out, she began to use her good arm to start pulling at the ropes binding him.
...It was probably a little sad that Marlene could tell by now when it was Tabitha jumping on her from behind, as she'd become all too familiar with the experience over the last few months. That didn't make it any less terrifying when it happened, though, and Marlene would have screamed in terror as she smashed into the ground had the wind not been knocked out of her (and had her face not almost immediately been shoved into the dirt.
Marlene stood back and just watched for a moment, not sure if this little display was just confusing or kind of sweet in a cornucopia of evil sort of way. Either way, she knew that waiting too long to put a stop to it was only going to put herself in danger, and here she had both of them right in the same place at the same time. She could work with this. "What do you think that you're doing?" she asked, a slight twinge of amusement to her voice as she cast "Levicorpus!" at Tabitha's back, sending her flying up into the air, hovering several feet up by her ankles and away from the still mostly-bound Marius.
Marlene felt as though she'd been set to run on autopilot, not even thinking as spell after spell came shooting from her wand. Another blasting curse, a binding spell, an Incendio, all while she ran backwards, not wanting to turn away from Pryce lest she catch up and attack her from behind again. Running backwards, however, had its downside, which Marlene soon experienced, as she went tripping over a root from the tree and went falling ungracefully on to her arse.
Oh, no. She wasn't getting hit by another spell so soon. It slowed her down, but Tabitha managed to dodge out of the way of Marlene's first two spells -- but when she saw the fire coming towards her, she grinned. She ran forward, trying to close the distance between herself and Marlene, and as the fire came closer she wrapped the cloak around herself, allowing it to pass harmlessly around her. She released it when she could no longer feel the warmth of the fire around her, and as she prepared to pounce on her, the tree's root encircled around her ankle, and she fell forward, twisting her ankle as she went down. Tabitha snarled -- both in anger and in pain -- and while she may not have been able to grab Marlene, she reached out with her good arm anyway, trying to scratch at her ankles with her claws.
Her nails scratched against Marlene's ankle once before she pulled her leg back out of the way, sitting only a few inches away from where Tabitha was caught by the tree root, utterly baffled by what had just happened. That fire spell had hit her dead on, how had it not... that shouldn't have missed. Narrowing her eyes, not bothering to get up or back away further, Marlene sat there and screamed out "INCENDIO!" only feet away from Tabitha, putting more anger and power behind the spell than she could ever remember doing in the past.
"What the FUCK?!" Marlene cried out as the flames continued to glance off of Tabitha like a warm breeze on a spring day, the idea that the cloak was fire-proof not even occurring to her. She didn't have much time to think about it anyway, her legs snatched up by the werewolf. Being grabbed at the ankles brought Marlene back into the moment, and she immediately went to work thrashing and trying to kick her away, sending a punch straight on towards Tabitha's face.
Marlene squeezed her eyes shut and braced herself, still trying to push Tabitha away with her right arm while she shoved her wand in the woman's face, casting the strongest slicing hex she knew. She writhed her way out from underneath the werewolf, pushing her to the side and crawling up to her feet, using the tree for support and shaking so badly with adrenaline that she could hardly stand up. Not waiting for Tabby to get herself together to launch another attack, Marlene continued on with the gouging spells, yelling that "you're right, bitch. That is IT."
"It's not as much fun when it's YOU, IS IT?" Marlene screamed at her, wand still trained on Tabitha, although she'd stopped casting spells on her. She wanted to be prepared in case the woman lashed out like... well, like an injured animal, considering how often the werewolf ran on animal instinct. "You know what else isn't fun? Waking up to someone BITING THEM. And I bet Agnes didn't think it was very fun when you KILLED HER," she shrieked at Tabitha, her hair hanging wild and tangled in her face as tears starting to well up in her eyes as Marlene launched a kick at her stomach. "You didn't have to be like this; you didn't have to KILL PEOPLE and you fucking DESERVE THIS, both of you do."
When Remus had fled with Tibby into the castle, the first thing he had done was search for Marlene and the guys, and when he couldn't find her, there was only one thing he could do -- he had to go back out for her. But the battle that unfolded before him as he exited the castle was devastating, so unbelievable that he felt rooted to the spot as he watched Dumbledore fall -- and then he himself sank down to his knees in shock. How could this happen? How? He was supposed to be untouchable. Invincible.
And now he was gone. A cold, sick feeling fell over Remus, and he knew they all needed to get out of there. This battle was lost. For all he knew, the whole war was lost. Tears stung the corners of his eyes, but they didn't fall, not yet. When he saw Alice and Frank helping everyone else to escape while they attempted to fight back, Remus immediately ran back out into the fray. He wasn't stopping to battle anyone else. All he wanted to do was find Marlene and make sure they all got out of there safely -- or, at the very least, alive.
He found her screaming, standing before two fallen figures, and thank Merlin she wasn't one of the people on the ground. He recognised the two as he got closer -- Pryce and Marius -- but as they seemed in no condition to attack them, he ignored them. But in the state Marlene was in, he certainly didn't want to startle her, so he was cautious as she approached. "Marlene?"
Hearing a voice behind her, Marlene whipped around, her hair flying as she pointed her wand in the face of the approaching person. Her demeanour changed as soon as she realised it was Remus, and after giving him a quick half-smile she turned back to pointing her wand at Tabitha. "Hi honey. Give me a second; I'm almost done here," she glared down at Tabitha's bleeding form, shooting a binding spell at her feet in case she got any crazy ideas about standing up and trying to pounce on her again.
c2. Elle vs Walden
Elle didn't scream, she didn't do or say anything, but stared with her mouth agape as Dumbledore crumbled. It took her a moment before she could function, but suddenly green light was flying, people were fleeing, and Frank and Alice were screaming instructions. Her leg being splinted the way that it was, she wasn't able to move quickly, and she wasn't about to just run away.
However, casting a Patronus wasn't something she had done for a very long time. She hadn't had much to be happy about in the past. But if there was ever a time to be able to cast one - now would have to be it. She thought of her happiest moment, and while it was laced with sadness - the joy overtook it. A future with Al. His proposal.
"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" She didn't think it would work for a moment, the wisps unable to make the familiar form of her kangaroo. They soared and she thought they would disappear, but then they took form... into a bird. An... an eagle? She stared at it for a long moment and then nearly laughed. Al. Alastor. His Patronus. It was now... it was hers.
"GO!" She told it, and the eagle took form, following Frank's into the frey against Voldemort. She slowly made her way toward the castle, but eyed a Death Eater and couldn't help it. She turned and cast Stupefy, hoping to land her mark.
Walden couldn't wrap his brain around what had just happened. He'd seen things that he would never have been able to imagine. They'd lost everything and he'd felt more lost than he'd ever felt in his life and then, before he had a chance to make a decision, things changed and Voldemort stood victorious among them. Dumbledore was dead and they had won the battle.
Elle threw up a shield charm, but it wasn't strong enough block his spell, and it hit her in the shoulder. She screamed, her body wrenching strangely against her knee, and she stumbled. Fell. Damn. It was all she could think as pain rolled over her body in waves.
Her Patronus, her saviour and the goodness of her love, came flying at Walden, bursting into a cloud of silver in his face before dissipating from the lack of her magipower behind it.
He was not going to get her twice. Elle rolled out of the way and flicked her wand, a red stream of light flying toward him and then it burst into a handful of sparks that flew at him, meant to burn him all over. She then cast Impedimenta, hoping to slow his steps, slow him from following her. She needed to get to the castle. She didn't have the strength to keep this fight up.
She cast a shield charm and then started her slow path toward the castle stairs.
Elle probably would have been hit by his stray spells, but there was a clanking and clamouring behind her, and suddenly she was in the air. For a moment she was terrified until she realised it was heading toward the castle. She looked down and grinned. One of the protectors, a suit of armour, had scooped her up and was carrying her to safety within the castle.
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