remus lupin is finally at peace. (moonstricken) wrote in blurred_lines, @ 2009-07-28 19:52:00 |
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The plan had begun the day of Marlene's death -- but she had died before either of them could begin actually working on it or discussing the details. It had been a simple enough idea; catch Marius with a portkey and then hold him hostage. However, that's as far as their plans went, and Remus had been left to work out the rest of the details on his own. He knew that Sirius would've helped if only he asked -- he knew that Sirius wanted to help -- but Remus felt he needed to do this alone. It was his fight. It was his revenge. It wasn't even about Marius anymore. It was about feeding the anger that grew stronger inside of him every day, a desire to hurt someone so intense that it frightened Remus to think about... ... and so he didn't. He acted as if on autopilot, working tirelessly on creating a portkey and drawing out the rest of his plans. He had withdrawn almost entirely from the Order, speaking and interacting only when he needed to, keeping to conversations over the journals instead, and it had been easy enough. He was still suffering from loss; it was only natural for him to act the way he has been. The space had given him plenty of time to create portkeys out of cigarettes; making the box itself a portkey would have been a risk if someone other than Marius looked through his mail first. Once each one was placed back into the box, he'd forged a note from Genevieve and sent the owl on its way. The location Remus had selected was the same abandoned house in Furzedown that Marius and Tabitha had held them hostage in only two months ago. It felt appropriate and, perhaps, a little ironic to plan to hold Marius hostage here. He'd come prepared, not only armed with his wand but the knife Caradoc had given him months ago as well, hidden away inside his robes. The only problem with the plan is that he couldn't predict when Marius would open the package to take one of the cigarettes out, and so the only choice Remus had was to sit and wait, watching the area in the basement (he could still see stains of blood on the floor) where he planned for Marius to appear. When Marius received his mail from the servants it had already been checked for anything suspicious. It certainly wasn't unusual for Genevieve to send him small tokens to let him know she was thinking of him. With the stress of his father's kidnapping constantly on his mind, for a day they sat unopened on his desk. On the second day he picked up the pack and tapped it against his thigh. He had been trying to quit but with worry filling his head it seemed like when his father returned would be a more auspicious time to start. He drew a cigarette into his hand to light but before he could bring his wand up to ignite the tip he felt a familiar tug at his stomach and then he was gone. He was reaching for his wand desperately when he landed, not caring who got killed in this process. He had been tricked and captured with a portkey once and he had no intention of letting it happen again. The moment Marius arrived, Remus was on his feet, pointing his wand, and there was only one spell on his mind to cast. "Crucio!" He deserved it. He deserved it. Remus kept telling himself this over and over again in his head -- the only person alive who deserved it more than Marius Lestrange was his father. After everything they have done, wasn't it justified? How many people have they killed and tortured? Nothing he did to Marius could ever equal to everything the man has done in his lifetime -- and Remus comforted himself with this thought. This was okay. It was right. Marius was struck with the cruciatus before he had any chance to react. Immediately he dropped first to his knees then to the ground as the pain shot through him. It was like lightening and he was only vaguely able to grasp the situation as his brain seemed to be misfiring. He bit his tongue, not wanting to give Lupin (he couldn't see but who else could it be?) the satisfaction. His wand was still grasped tightly between his hand, his whole existence dependant on it. But there was nothing he could do. The longer it stayed on the more confusing his thoughts were until there was nothing left but the pain to focus on. Remus wondered how long he could hold the curse before causing irreparable damage -- but did it matter? Still, the curse was draining, and he didn't want to wear himself out. He noticed Marius' wand in his hand, so as soon as he ended the curse he was casting another spell: "Expelliarmus!" Marius's wand flew out of his hand and there was nothing he could do about it. He was collapsed in a pile and he felt boneless, as if there wasn't a piece of him right then that could move. Words would have been useless against Lupin's anger but Marius couldn't form them anyway. As his eyes fluttered open he recognised where they were and that this would be the place where he died. And now he had Marius right where he wanted him -- unarmed and helpless -- and it was then that Remus realised he didn't know how to torture people. What was he supposed to do now? Thinking back to every encounter he'd had with Marius in the past, he wasn't sure if he could do those things. But if he faltered now -- Marlene had been gone for so long, Remus couldn't imagine what Rodolphus had put her through -- and then he conjured a rope to wrap itself around Marius' neck. Marius had a knife in his pocket and he had several options which would have made sense, such as cutting the rope or throwing it at Remus, but he was in pain and he was frightened and his one and only thought was of denying Remus the pleasure of his end. He took the knife and sliced his own wrist, finally looking up at Remus with contempt. For a few seconds, Remus could only stand there in shock, watching the blood trickle down Marius' arm -- and then his eyes narrowed and he stepped closer to him with a growl. "No you don't," he said, and with his wand still trained on Marius he cast another spell, not taking the risk of getting closer while he had a knife in his hand. "Expelliarmus!" The knife flew out of his hand but Marius didn't care. He'd done what he wanted and blood was gushing in copious amounts out of his wrist. He could feel his life slipping away and suddenly he was tired. Tired of the fighting and the rivalry and the women and the privilege. It all seemed so small and so very far away. Remus was at Marius' side instantly, kneeling down and holding the sliced open arm with his free hand. He hovered the tip of his wand over the cut, sealing the injury with healing spells. It was an odd position to be in -- he never would have imagined that he'd be trying to save Marius' life before. Maybe he should've just let him die -- but then he'd have no leverage over Rodolphus. The wound closed and some of the pain dissipated but Marius had lost enough blood that his mind was still cloudy. Remus was close, he could feel him there, but he could only half-heartedly struggle to push him away. "You want me dead. Let me die," he mumbled, half in English and half in French. He would not disgrace his father with anything less. He knew what this was about... partially revenge for what he'd done, but no doubt it was also because of what his father had done to Marlene. He could picture her, lying on this very floor, covered in blood and begging. He smiled. Was it really going to be this easy? Remus couldn't help but wonder if Marius wanted to die. What had changed? He almost felt disappointed. "I'm surprised you're not putting up more of a fight," he admitted, lowering his guard and letting go of his arm. He couldn't remember a time he'd spoken this calmly to Marius before in his life. Still -- he pointed his wand to cast incarcerous at him, just to be safe. Remus had let go of his arm and in that split second Marius was reaching for Lupin's throat-- only to be caught by the incarceration spell that quickly followed. It was so difficult to concentrate like this. It was as if he was watching everything happen from outside his mind but there was still a part of him that wanted to fight. It was small, but it burned white hot. "You are not worth the fight," Marius snapped. "You resort to portkeys and cowardice. Kill me or do not kill me, but until you choose it is a waste of both our time." Harsher words than his body could keep up with as he swayed slightly, even with most of him still on the floor. The bindings certainly didn't help. As soon as Marius reached for him, Remus had jerked backwards -- luckily, the ropes that bound around Marius' body stopped him from any further attacks, but fingers still squeezed around his throat. He reacted immediately, hand clenched into a fist to punch him across the face -- this was more like it. This was what he'd been hoping for. Maybe he should take the bindings off Marius for him so he could put up a real fight... but that wasn't really why he'd brought him here. Marius had managed to get so close, and he wouldn't have let go if Remus's punch hadn't sent him reeling backwards. The rope around his neck began to choke him as his balance was gone and it was the only thing holding him up. He wasn't able to catch himself with anything else and he swung the arm he had loose helplessly at something-- anything-- to save himself. He didn't mind dying by his own hand, but suffocation was another matter. It was frightening not to be able to breath. He grabbed for Remus, his body swinging like a rag doll. Remus was pulled down to land on top of Marius, and somewhere along the way he'd lost track of his wand as he shoved and punched at him as hard as he could. He noticed the rope had begun to tighten around Marius' neck, and he couldn't have that. Remus pushed his fingers underneath the rope against his throat, pulling at it so that Marius could breathe -- and to his horror, the rope snapped, thus unravelling the bindings around the rest of Marius' body. Marius landed on Remus with all of his weight, and not on purpose either... That was luck. He'd just been in the process of choking so his wits weren't about him entirely, but something primal snapped inside at the glimpse of freedom and he was all arms and teeth as he grabbed for Remus's wand. He'd been willing to submit to death quietly in order to rob Lupin of his revenge, but if the chance for life was presented he was damn well going to take it. Their faces were only inches apart and Marius headbutted Remus hard, hoping to strike him unconscious. He grabbed at Marius' clothes, pushing and shoving to try and get the man off of him -- and then Remus felt teeth, but the shock didn't last for long before his head jerked back against the solid ground when Marius headbutted him. He was left dazed, but not unconscious, hands dropping from the fabric he'd been gripping to try and push Marius off of him as he lost his hold. With a dim awareness he realised Marius was attempting to grab his wand, and he struggled to get himself to react. A guttural noise escaped from the back of his throat, and Remus gave up controlling himself; he let all his barriers and walls down, his desire to destroy Marius' life in every way he could overcoming everything else, and then he was reaching up again with his arms, grabbing Marius' hair and forcing his head down towards his again. He bit down, sinking his teeth into the side of Marius' face. He didn't recoil at the taste of blood, redoubling his efforts and biting down a second time in the same spot, arms moving around Marius' neck to hold him down. For about two seconds Marius thought he had the wand. His hand was there and the wood brushed over his fingers and then-- Something in the world changed. He had been afraid for his life before but only because Lupin had reason to kill him, not because Lupin himself was frightening. But now he was. He was an animal, every bit a werewolf now as he would be on the full moon and Marius was scrambling away from him, trying to get a hand or foot or something in between them but it was no use. Remus was three times as strong as he was and then the wolf was biting him. Marius felt the skin and muscle shred, and the pain was torturous. His right eye grew dim and his everything around him went dark. He was screaming, in terror and horror and pain, and shoving at Remus with all his might. ... he was destroying himself in this desperate effort to destroy Marius. Remus knew this -- and yet he continued, because what was there anything left to stay in one piece for? He released Marius, allowing him to push himself away, going so far as to shove him off himself. He was pulling the knife out of his robes, then, following after Marius, and when the blade sunk deeply into his thigh, Remus was almost surprised at how easily the flesh gave way to the sharp steel. Blood was gushing from Marius's face and his actions were no longer something he could control. Just as something primal had snapped in Lupin, something equally primal had snapped in him and all he had left was flee or fight. He'd tried fleeing, hands over his face, backing for the stairs-- but then a knife in his thigh stopped his progress all together. There were no thoughts. The knife was out of his leg and in his hand without any cognition of movement on Marius's part. But now with a knife in his hand he lunged at Remus, swinging the knife wildly, barely able to see, and quickly going into shock. He stabbed, throwing all of his weight behind it, and caught Lupin in the side. The blade sunk into him and Remus barely thought to try and move when he felt it pierce his skin, blood quickly soaking through his patched robes, and he put his hands out to grab onto Marius' arms. He didn't scream, his mind racing to try and comprehend what had just happened -- his mouth was open as if he couldn't breathe, and with one heaving, shuddered gasp, he collapsed backwards to the floor. His wand -- he needed his wand -- where..? When he turned his head he spotted his wand (or, at least, someone's wand, he wasn't sure who it belonged to), but he stretched his arm out to grab it, and as soon as his fingers curled around the wood he aimed at Marius. "Stupefy!" The incantation was gasped out in desperation, but the red light shot out toward Marius, signifying that it had (thankfully) still worked. Marius could hardly believe he'd managed to stab Lupin and he was scrambling for the stairs and nothing more. His vision was all but gone and he was dizzy and ill and he wasn't certain his legs were doing him much good as he attempted to rise up of all fours. He hadn't made it a step before he heard the stupefy and the last thing he remembered was seeing a second of black and then nothing. Remus let his hand drop as soon as he saw Marius fall, and he lay there just attempting to breathe as the pain was quickly catching up with his brain. His free hand moved down to touch where the blade entered his skin, the guard of the dagger just under an inch away from his body, and his hand came away covered in his blood. He squeezed his eyes shut, holding tightly onto his wand as he tried to concentrate. "Expecto Patronum --" but as he muttered the spell, Remus couldn't think of anymore happy memories to give power to it. What had he used before? Marlene -- but she was gone now. His friends... how many of them were left? Hogwarts was closed. His parents were gone, his home was unsafe, and he sent the dogs away to stay with Marlene's uncle for their own safety in case he didn't come home one day. He felt as if he would have to learn his patronus all over again. Struggling slowly to his feet, Remus kept a hand over his side to try and quell the bleeding as he made his way toward the stairs. He stepped over Marius (and when he looked down he saw the gaping, bleeding wound on his face that he had put there) and grabbed onto the railing, using it to pull himself up to the top. He slammed the door shut behind him, leaning back against it and sliding down to sit on the floor, taking in slow, deep breaths. He could still taste the blood on his lips and on his tongue, and suddenly he felt sick and afraid; what was he doing? Revenge -- that's what this was about. Nevertheless, when he rubbed a hand over his face he found his cheeks wet with tears; afraid of himself, afraid of Marius being just downstairs, afraid of what might happen if this didn't work out the way he hoped... Remus lifted his wand and summoned a pen and his journal over to himself from the kitchen counter, and after writing a quick message for help to Sirius, he shoved the journal off his lap to curl up on the floor. He lifted his wand up to touch the tip against the deep gash on his side, whispering healing spells, but it was only a few seconds later when his voice faded and his wand fell from his hands as he slipped into unconsciousness. |