Agnes was having a hard time focusing; people seemed to be swarming everywhere, spells firing, the ground exploding - she could barely tell who to shoot at. It didn't take too much concentration to fire off a weary stupefy at a masked figure who ran past, but she wasn't sure it hit. She wasn't sure of much of anything. Her fire seemed to be dwindling as the night dragged on, though she wasn't sure if it was the blood, the pain, or just the damned exhaustion. She had to keep fighting. She had to. But... she'd just rest here against this building for a few seconds to catch her breath. She had to... catch her breath.
Miraculously, Peter had been able to keep himself from being killed, or even injured, really. He wasn't sure how he'd managed it, but he wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth. Ducking the curses that were still flying -- it was amazing how nimble someone could be when their life depended on it -- Peter stumbled around the corner of the nearest building, surprised at the sight of Agnes. He'd never been shoved face to face with the reality of someone that he knew being on the edge of death, but that was exactly what Agnes looked like she was. Dropping down next to her, Peter's grip on his wand tightened. Finally, this was something that he could actually manage. Casting the strongest healing charms that he could think of to patch up the worst of the damage -- it would do them no good if she bled to death before the injures could be properly fixed -- Peter shifted his free arm under her shoulders.
"Do you think you can walk?"
Agnes moaned a bit under the healing charms, too tired to protest good-naturedly, or even bad-naturedly. She was shaking at this point, and half of it was with anger at not being able to say "yes, mate, I can walk" and then bloody well getting up and doing it. She tried to get to her feet using his arm for support, but she couldn't quite manage it, whispering out a frantic "fuck" as she struggled to do something not completely useless. "Just point me. And I'll shoot." She tried to add helpfully, wand arm bloodied up but still functioning - in the way that the rest of her was functioning, anyway (that is to say: not very well.)
"If you think that I'm letting you stay and fight, you're more crazy than I figured," Peter said, tightening his grip on her while still trying to be gentle. He wasn't exactly the strongest person in the whole world, but she wasn't exactly the heaviest woman in the world, either. There were some times that he really had to wonder about his fellow Gryffindors. Fighting unafraid was just fine, but if you didn't have enough sense to retreat when you were clearly beaten, the fight was going to be over really quickly.
"I ain't crazy!" Agnes protested - more loudly now, though her flailing was more half-hearted than she'd like to have admitted. "Just. You know." She fumbled for words that made sense - but finding them and putting them in the right order was more effort than she was capable of putting forth right now. "I'm real tired." The admission was a weary one.
"I'm not surprised," Peter said, worrying his inner cheek as he glanced around. They seemed to be pretty much in the clear right now. If there was a good time to get away, now was definitely going to be it. But Agnes was in no position to apparate herself, and he'd never side-longed before. God, he just hoped he didn't end up splinching the two of them. "Hold on tight, all right? I'm gonna get us out of here. Get you somewhere that being tired isn't..." Isn't what? A potential death sentence was the most appropriate description at the moment, but it seemed a little too harsh to actually say. "Isn't a bad thing," Peter finished after a moment, offering Agnes a sheepish smile. "All right?"
Agnes leaned heavily into him, a bit bemused at the idea of Peter Pettigrew being her eternal savior. "Yeah alright," she replied, blinking deeply and struggling one last time (futilely) to make her feet do as she ordered. "You're a peach, Petey," she murmured, wobbling as she held tight to him. She didn't have the presence of mind to worry about splinching or dying or anything overly serious. It was enough that she had good friends, even in the midst of this unbearable fuckery, to get her out of a tight spot. "A real peach."
"Pink and round. Yup, that's me," Peter said with a slight smile, waving off the compliment with the usual dismissiveness that came along with his embarrassment. Making sure that he had her in a position that he wouldn't end up dropping her if the apparition jilted him at all, Peter closed his eyes and focused more clearly than he'd ever been able to manage before on the Tonks's house before working up the courage and apparating the both of them away from the battle.
----
It was time to leave, that much was obvious as Roman groaned, another spell hitting him before he fired off his last one and ran, feeling his stomach curling with each step and the blood running down his skin from the cuts on it. It had been glorious the fight, but he was not liking the outcome so far. He followed everyone else, staying away from those he knew would trip him up. People got so annoyed these days over every little thing and he had been having a bad day. He was sure that some of the attacks had been from his own side and that angered him more than anything else that had been coming. He heard a yell and he ducked, a spell flying over his head as he rounded a corner, out of the line of sight before he was finally able to start running as fast as he could, wand held tightly in his hand.
Although Reg had not been near enough to Selwyn to express any of his displeasure throughout the battle, he had yet to recover from his fury earlier in the day. Disrespecting his cousin, his whole family, was among the quickest ways to inspire vengeful loathing in Regulus Black, despite what might come of it. Bella had told him any arrangements of death would be rewarded -- he was not typically murderous by nature, but the anger had yet to subside to a safe level, and coupled with the frustration of this entire mission, Roman's retreating form only made it worse.
In his entire life, he had never felt so much pain -- Bones, too, he hoped would get his comeuppance -- but with a rather horrid limp Regulus started after Roman. His blood still burned, his limbs still shivered, and he could still feel blood trickling down his arm from a particularly nasty slicing hex -- frankly, he was rather ready to lay down and nurse the wounds of his body and pride, but first things first.
Looking around to see no one in the area, Regulus snipped a soft "Selwyn," just loud enough to get his attention -- he rationalized that he ought to make sure it was Selwyn before attacking, and that seemed the most efficient way without having to catch up and de-mask the older Death Eater himself.
He could hear footsteps behind him but the sound of dying screams was still loud in the air and so he ignored it, making sure not to walk in a straight line lest he make himself even more of a target. He coughed, a little bit of blood spilling past his lips as he shook his head, his stomach hurting even more now. He had been hit by something, something he didn't know and he could feel his insides twisting around each other and he knew he needed help. Soon from the way he coughed again and something thicker came up and he didn't care right now as he raised his mask just enough to spit onto the ground before lowering again.
He spun at the sound of his name and lifted his wand, pointing it at whoever was behind him automatically before lowering it when he saw the similar garb. "What?" he asked, his voice croaky and slightly annoyed. He wanted to go home, get fixed and take a bath. He probably looked horrible right now and frankly this was not acceptable.
"I hope you weren't joking about the funeral," Regulus said coldly, lifting his wand and shooting a Confundus Charm quite pointedly at him, so as to avoid the other from being capable of much thinking. Before he could ponder his next move, however, he heard footsteps coming at him. When he turned around to see figures coming, he decided not to risk it; he could not tell if they were Aurors or fellow Death Eaters, but he was in absolutely no state to fight anyone who was still able to run, so without any hesitation, he dashed into an alley and made straight for the nearest Apparition point.
Roman frowned at that and his grip tightened on his wand. "What on earth are you on about?" he asked, although he knew exactly what Regulus was referring to at this point. His wand snapped up when he saw the wand and a half formed curse was out of his lips before the Confundus Charm hit him and suddenly he couldn't...do anything. He turned right first, and then turned left before walking straight, hitting the wall and bouncing back, attempting to do it again, and hitting the wall and it would not move! He couldn't figure out what was wrong and turned, only to trip over something in the alley and stumbled before he realized that he could move down and somehow managed to right himself and began to move a little bit faster than before, trying to think of where he was supposed to go, who he was and what the hell he was wearing a dress for!
Rufus was in hot pursuit of a death eater, but as he turned the corner he caught sight of Roman, confused and separated from the rest of his herd - ha. He moved in to take him, mercy and compassion at the wayside after an hour of watching the atrocities these bastards laid out upon innocents. But Roman, despite his confusion, wasn't coming without a fight, and the auror found himself ducking beneath a crucio and side stepping a depulso as he threw hexes the left and right - trying to force the hooded figure back into his corner. As Rufus stepped into position, he was slapped in the shoulder by a curse, but even the blossoming pain of marrow being leached from his very bone wasn't enough to drive off the almost madly obsessive pursuit. "INCARCEROUS." He was foiled by a shield as Roman's confusion began to clear and then forced to throw himself against a side wall to avoid a flash of green light that streaked beside him. This made him, if possible, even more furious, and it was out of sheer will alone that he kept himself from inflicting an unforgivable upon the wretched beast. Every part of him ached to do it, to wreak vengeance upon this man for the pains inflicted upon order, upon the law. It would be justice, he felt. Supreme justice.
But Rufus was, and always would be, a man of the law, and men of the law did not use such things unless absolutely, critically necessary. "Confundo!" He growled out, wishing deeply, painfully that it was a crucio instead. "Incarcerous!" And the last hit! Ropes flew around the man, pulling tight around his robes and arms. His wand, though - "expelliarmus!" And he breathed easily at last, spinning around to be sure he was not followed into this alleyway. They needed to get this man away before one of his cohorts came a-looking, and Rufus poked his head out of the narrow alley to locate the nearest officer. "Proudfoot! Get him out of here." He had to get back into the fight.
Growing weary, Evelyn was glad to see the battle seemed as if it were beginning to arrive at it's end -- the Death Eaters were outnumbered and they were driving them back -- but it wasn't over yet. She kept her guard up, herself alert, a variety of spells on the top of her tongue waiting to be cast should she find another Death Eater. However, instead of a Death Eater, she heard the sound of a familiar voice shouting spells in an alleyway. Before she could reach him, the shouting stopped and the Head Auror himself was peeking out from the alley, calling her over as soon as he spotted her.
Looking down the alley to see the apprehended Death Eater, Evelyn grinned -- she, certainly, had no sympathy for these terrorists either. "Right away, boss," she said, immediately moving in to grab hold of the prisoner so she could side-along Apparate them both away from the scene. She spared a few brief seconds to say "be careful" before concentrating on Apparating, the Death Eater and herself vanishing with a loud crack! back to the Ministry of Magic.
Apparating into the chaos of Diagon Alley among a second wave of Aurors, Bill had found select buildings wrecked and still glowing eerily with the dying flames of explosions. People -- Ministry, Death Eaters, and civilians alike -- were running about seemingly trying to flee or pursue, escape or detain. His attentions were soon focused on one particular civilian who looked quite a bit like she had been caught in the crossfire -- though "caught in the crossfire" was quite the understatement, he realised, the closer he got.
"Whoa, careful; we need to get you out of here," he said with furrowed eyebrows. While capturing Death Eaters was very much their job (and there seemed to be plenty, Apparating out or not), seeing to it that the injured were seen to safety was essential as well.
Marlene had lost sight of the others in the mad clusterfuck rushing towards the Apparition points. Hexes were still flying every which way, Marlene was pretty sure that if it wasn't for that painful tingly, stabby, burning sensation in her left arm she would've been convinced that it'd fallen off entirely, and she didn't have the slightest idea how she was possibly going to Apparate back to Ted and Andromeda's like this. At this point, she wasn't even sure if she was heading in the right direction. She was so dizzy and tired and cold, and she just wanted to make sure that her friends were okay.
"AGNES!!!!" Marlene screamed out over the chaos, stumbling through the madness and narrowly missing getting hit with a gouging hex to the face when she tripped over someone sprawled on the ground, wondering where the hell her friend could've gotten off to. She wasn't fucking leaving until she knew where Agnes was, and she was sure that her friend was able to get to safty. She was fine. Just a bit bloody and kind of a little dizzy and really cold, but it was nighttime and her pajamas were all red and wet and she was sure that wasn't helping. "Agnes, dammit, if you're going to die do it where I can see you," Marlene mumbled to the night air, sliding back against a wall, half sitting, half squatting, wondering maybe if she stayed still, if it would be easier for Agnes to find her.
She didn't realize that Bill had been talking to her at first. Why the hell was he worrying about her; there were other people who probably needed his help more! She'd be fine, she just needed to find Agnes first before she could leave. "No. I'm okay. I swear, I'm okay, I'm fine, I swear," Marlene moved to wave Bill off, hugging her knees while she waited for people to stop running by so fucking fast. It was making her dizzy.
"You don't look fine," he commented as she seemed to curl in on herself. He felt it was terrible that civilians were still being pulled into these sorts of things, though in a place like Diagon, where people lived, it wasn't surprising so much as -- well, terrible, and whether or not she claimed to be alright, it looked to him like she might pass out at any given moment.
"We need to get you to Mungo's as soon as-" Bill's words cut off when he saw a small, dark figure stumbling along toward them. A Death Eater. Whoever it was didn't look to be in very good shape, either, but Bill lifted his wand, making sure he was between Marlene and the approaching Death Eater.
Marlene didn't notice the approaching Death Eater at first (perhaps it was because she'd gotten used to the ones who broke the six-foot heightline?). The entire night was swimming with robes and flames and screams that all sounded very very far away, and it didn't make sense that despite all the surrounding buildings having caught fire that it was still so freaking cold. And who was this guy? Why couldn't it've been Alice or Frank or Edgar or even Moody, or someone who knew that she could take care of herself? Or... well, that she would deny needing help until the ends of the world, at least. "No, I need to fine... my friend, she's... somewhere..." she informed Bill between laboured breaths, attempting to push herself to her feet, using the wall for support (because of course he wasn't going to listen to her when she was practically falling over).
It was then that she noticed the approaching Death Eater moving toward them. A small groan escaped from the back of Marlene's throat (where did they all keep coming from??), and she languidly raised her non-wand hand, pointing her wand sloppily at the new visitor. "You need to move, there's a Death Eater there," Marlene attempted to enlighten Bill, trying to tap him out of the way while shooting out a half-hearted Incarcarous that landed in a heap a few yards from the Death Eater's feet.
When Regulus caught sight of the Auror (and McKinnon of course, though at least she didn't seem like she would pose any threat to him), a feeling of dread settled over him. He could not take on an Auror at the moment; he simply wanted to get back to the Apparition point so he could go home and go to sleep. The heat from the boiling spell added with the lingering chill of the ice whip left him feeling hot but shivery, hazy and trapped in a perpetually painful state. None of the attacks had been excruciating on their own, but grouped together he felt rather miserable, and moving his arms only aggravated the still bleeding slices. He felt as though he might pass out at any moment, but he couldn't couldn't couldn't be caught, and he needed to get to that Apparition Point...
It just felt suddenly far away...
Regulus paused only briefly to look at the ropes a few yards from him; he did not feel up for incarceration today in either the rope or the Azkaban sense, however, so looking between McKinnon and the Auror, he determined he probably ought to use his strength on the one who looked most capable of attacking him.
With a somewhat weak attempt of his own, Regulus cast a Confundus Charm, lagging more than usual with the Incarcerous of his own to follow up.
Blocking both spells with ease, Bill furrowed his eyebrows a bit at Marlene's comment -- another civilian who apparently felt more capable than the Ministry at handling things -- but it rolled off just as soon as it had come. The Death Eater seemed in even worse shape up close, and without further delay, Bill swiftly and efficiently landed a successful Incarcerous spell, watching as the smaller figure stumbled and fell to the ground. He felt no real pity for the terrorists, but he supposed they would hold off on attacks while he was fully restrained.
When Bill noticed a movement from the bound Regulus Black, a swift stunner was shot; the movement stopped, and Bill levitated the captive easily, keeping his eyes scanning the area as he addressed Marlene again.
"Now I say let's look for your friend and get you two out of here before I take this one back to the Ministry."
They'd caught one. Marlene, in her bloody, dizzy stupor, hadn't truly done anything to help it happen, but they'd caught one and she was there to see it. It kind of made standing shakily in the middle of Diagon Alley at one in the morning -- hexed and bleeding to death in her ripped up pajamas -- totally and completely worth it. "Yeah. Good plan. Let's do that," Marlene nodded, not able to tear her eyes away from the bound up Death Eater stunned and floating in front of them. He looked so small, hovering there... really, they weren't nearly as threatening when they weren't shooting Cruciatus curses at your best friends. Marlene had half a mind to unmask him, find out who the "terror" beneath the costume was... but really, his face was kind of far away, and Marlene was afraid that if she walked very far without some sort of support, she would completely topple over. Exuberance over being there to watch one of them get caught or not, the wounds and injuries were still there, and Marlene still felt as if she was either going to vomit or pass out any second.
That didn't mean she could hold herself back from prodding at him a bit. Marlene let out a quiet giggle of utter glee, poking at the Death Eater, loving that he could do absolutely nothing about it.
It was the small victories, really it was.
"I'm afraid I must object." Though fire and screams stripped the deep voice of any identifiable characteristics, its owner came from the shadows and Rodolphus, in all of his overly-tall glory, stepped into the arena as idly as if it were at a coffeeshop. His wand was out, and it was clear from his posture that he had no interest in letting Bill go anywhere. But threatening to harm him was hardly a move that worked well on aurors, and he instead turned upon Marlene, rasping out a Depulso. Touching Regulus was a crime worthy of death, but he allowed her this one digression for the sake of his cousin's life.
"Drop him or her blood is on your conscience."
His patience was wearing thin, and green swelled at the tip of his wand, noxious against the firelight.
Turning his attention to the towering frame of the new arrival, Bill paused. The words hung in the air: Drop him or her blood is on your conscience. Normally giving into the demands of a terrorist was not the most efficient way to keep them from gaining power, but with the life of an already wounded bystander on the line, he could not risk trying to outmaneuver a Death Eater already prepared to kill. To have a prisoner and lose him was an unfortunate thing, and he did not feel this would be such an issue if he was alone --
But lives were more important, and as unfortunate as it was to think about, there would be other fights, other chances to pounce on stray, separated Death Eaters.
Hesitating no longer, he lowered the small, bound Death Eater to the ground; it had crossed his mind to allow a free fall, but he did not wish to risk angering the larger Death Eater who was still pointing the threat of murder.
Taking a step backward toward Marlene, Bill kept his eye on the larger of the two darkly-robed figures, prepared to defend or retaliate -- Bill wasn't sure if the girl could run at this point (walking seemed to be giving her trouble), and if this man was going to use her as his threat, Bill did not want to risk anything rash until she was out of harm's way.
Part of Marlene (the blindingly rash and self-sacrificing Gryffindor part of her) wanted to tell the Auror not to give in to what the Death Eater was saying. She was already really... really badly torn up, and actually capturing one of the Death Eaters, well, that would've been kind of brilliant.
However, that part of her was completely overwhelmed by the nauseatingly massive wave of fear that washed over her, unable to tear her eyes away from the mountainous Death Eater's wand, all too aware of the slight green hue that tempted to shoot out of it. The little bit of colour that had remained in her face completely washed out of it and Marlene's body went tense as she unconsciously tried to prepare herself for what would happen if the Death Eater changed his mind once the smaller one had been released.
Rodolphus moved toward Regulus, his wand trained on Marlene. One move - one tiny move and he would kill her. He had done worse for less reason - and keeping Regulus from the ministry's clutches was a damned good reason. It was incredibly tempting to try and blow the girl into oblivion and pull his cousin to safety at the same time - oh what rewards they would reap having the eternal silencing of her loud mouth as a symbol of the futility of resistance. Damn, how it tempted him - but Rodolphus was no stranger to resisting temptation, and he spared himself this indulgence for the sake of his kin.
This slow dance continued as he stepped over Regulus's body. He didn't bother untying him, didn't bother checking if he was 'all right' or conscious. He simply knelt, put one large hand over the boy's back, and vanished in an anti-climatic crack. He would sort out Regulus's injuries when they were safe upon the moors of Norfolk.
Watching the two Death Eaters disappear into thin air, a frown pulled its way onto his face; there went their potential source of information, but with it went their most desperate threat of death, so it was not the most wretched thing imaginable. Neither of them had been killed, or even wounded for that matter, and there was nothing that could be done about it now.
"Let's find your friend, then," he said with a slight shake of his head. "You'll be alright to walk, yes?" He could only hope the girl's friend had not wound up on the wrong side of a Death Eater's wand before they could find her.
It took a moment for it to register for Marlene that they were really gone. And that she wasn't dead. She continued staring at the spot that the two Death Eaters had disappeared from for several seconds, still terrified that the big one was going to reappear any moment.
Thank Merlin that didn't happen, and Bill's voice finally ripped her back into reality. And cued her in that perhaps it would be a good idea to start breathing again, as she'd forgotten about that little life necessity at some point. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine," Marlene lied, nodding as she pushed herself up onto shaky legs. She had to be fine right now, they still needed to find Agnes.
After finally escaping from the Death Eaters, Remus, Sirius and Emmeline had run off again in search of Marlene and Agnes -- they were certainly in no shape to Apparate on their own, and Remus regretted not making sure they were safe first before rejoining the battle. He just hoped neither of them ran into more trouble -- which, of course, were immediately dashed as soon as Remus spotted Marlene with a man in crimson robes. Oh, hell, an Auror, he thought, but was relieved she wasn't with a Death Eater instead.
"There you are," Remus called out to her, running over to where she stood (as much as she could, considering her injuries, anyway). There was still blood on the front of his robes, but at least he'd avoided anymore heroic human shield attempts and so hadn't been injured much further than he had been before. "We've been looking for you. Come on, we'll get you to St Mungo's," he said, although he had no intention of doing that -- Remus put a hand on her back, ready to Apparate them both away to the Tonks' house should the Auror try to stop them.