benjy fenwick, terrible idea. (![]() ![]() @ 2016-01-29 23:11:00 |
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Entry tags: | !! group: death eaters, !! group: order of the phoenix, alastor moody, bellatrix lestrange, benjy fenwick, mundungus fletcher, rodolphus lestrange |
WHO: Benjy & Colm Fenwick, Rodolphus & Bellatrix Lestrange, Mundungus Fletcher & Alastor Moody.
WHAT: Remember that tracking charm? The Lestranges follow up on it.
WHEN: 29 January 2016; evening
WHERE: Benjy's flat, Belfast, Northern Ireland.
WARNINGS: :( Death.
His parents didn’t visit his flat often. Colm and Gracia Fenwick were, in Benjy’s opinion, obsessive neat freaks who were stubbornly immune to his talk of being “charmingly messy.” They didn’t see the charm in the clothes strewn about the floor, or the empty takeaway boxes stacked on top of one another, or the coffee mugs scattered about the living room that were probably host to some new, horrifying type of mold. One of his bookshelves was covered with various knick-knacks he’d picked up in his travels, though there were a few sneakoscopes thrown in for good measure. The only thing in Benjy’s living room that was the least bit organized was his shelf of DVDs and blurays, which is what Colm instinctively gravitated to every time he dropped by. His father was taking note of the new additions to his shelf as Benjy flopped on the couch, rattling off the highlights of the WFC’s “Purism and You” pamphlet. “‘The concern is not mere socializing, but rather when purebloods and halfbloods procreate with ‘Muggleborns’—” and Benjy’s air quotes were audible, “—which dilutes their magical blood.’ What a load of wank.” Colm huffed out a frustrated breath as he ran his fingers along the spines of Benjy’s collection of Criterion blu-rays. “They’re delusional. Sometimes I’ve a hard time wrapping my mind around the fact that so many people buy into this, but then I remember great aunt Sheila. Did you ever meet her?” Benjy kicked his feet up on his ottoman (which was covered in dirty laundry) as he hummed. “I think I met her once when I was like, four. She was the one who was upset with you for tainting the Fenwick line, yeah?” His father nodded. “She thought I didn’t have the family’s best interests at heart. You would’ve been three generations pure if I’d married this dull witch from Cavan she kept shoving at me, but—” Colm turned to face his son, and he smiled warmly as he said, “I told them both to fuck off.” Benjy grinned. “Poor great aunt Sheila.” “You should’ve seen the way she carried on the day before the wedding. Cherry Matapang let her have it.” Laughing, Benjy turned to the next page of the pamphlet. “What, you mean Lola Cherry doesn’t understand the importance of… ‘lessening the influence of Muggle blood in your family and all of its associated disadva—’ Christ, this is terrible.” He let out a horrified scoff as he turned the pamphlet over in his hands, staring at it with disgust. “How do they come up with this stuff?” “I think they—” One by one, the sneakoscopes on his shelf began to light up and whistle. He thought of Emmeline and Andromeda, and Benjy was on his feet at once, his wand in hand as he listened for one of his alarm wards — any of them. “Da, you need to go.” Colm’s own wand was out now. “Are you mad?” he asked, his voice grim. “I’m not going anywhere without you.” He crossed the room in a few strides and took hold of Benjy’s arm, and his grip was almost painfully tight. “You’re not staying here. I’ll side-along you with me if I have to—” But it was Benjy who tried to apparate first, and it was Benjy who realized there was an anti-disapparation spell in place. It was confirmation of an attack — an attack now, while his father was present — and his insides went cold. “I’ve got to get help,” he told Colm, his voice low in his throat. “We can’t apparate away, I’ve got to—” He had to cast a Patronus. “Expecto Patronum,” he yelled, thinking of the day he’d accepted a job with Gringotts. Nothing happened. His father opened his mouth to speak, and Benjy could see the sharp Benjamín forming on his lips, but he cut him off with another summoning attempt. He thought of the day he’d finished his training and became a full-fledged Healer: still nothing. An earlier memory rose to the forefront of his mind: the day his parents had returned home from St. Mungo’s with Felicia and told him he was officially a big brother. A silver seal burst from the tip of his wand, then vanished through the wall. Colm was staring at him, his brow furrowed in confusion. “Benjy, what are you—” The door was blasted off its hinges, shards of wood shooting into the Fenwick flat, followed a moment later by Bellatrix, striding in as if she owned the place with her wand raised, Rodolphus on her heels. "Fenwick," she greeted, almost pleasantly considering she was a murderous witch in Death Eater robes. "Other Fenwick?" It seemed like a reasonable guess that the older man in the flat was a father. And she didn't particularly want to consider what the alternative would say about Benjamin's taste in men considering the familial resemblance. Regardless, they weren't here for pleasantries. She trained her wand on Benjy, her cruel smile hidden by her mask, and the "crucio," was cast before either man had the chance to respond. And in an instant, she already felt so much better. "Oh, how fortunate," Rodolphus chimed in, pointing his wand right at the other Fenwick and sending a long strand of chains at the man to tie him up. There, this was the perfect way to salvage their awful anniversary — murder. "I was worried this would be too easy." Benjy collapsed to his knees with a yell, his body racked with searing agony. His hand found the leg of the coffee table and grabbed it, as if his white-knuckled grip on something real and tangible would keep him from submitting to the pain of the Cruciatus. He couldn’t give into it, not when he could make out his father’s voice over the fog of pain, somehow audible over his own shouts. The pain subsided just as quickly as it came, though it left him struggling to breathe. He squinted at one Death Eater, then the next, before his eyes fell on Colm Fenwick, straining against his restraints. “Don’t hurt him,” he managed, just as Colm shouted, “Don’t you fucking dare hurt him.” Avoiding his father’s eye, Benjy stared at the shorter of the two Death Eaters, the male. He squared his jaw, but there was a pleading note in his voice as he continued, “He didn’t do anything, so let him go. It’s me you want, right? Deal with me instead.” Heavy shoes knocked against the floor as Rodolphus moved closer to Colm, grabbing a fistful of his hair and yanking the older man's head back, wand going up to his neck. "I think it's a little too late for that, Benjy," he growled, pressing his wand harder into Colm's neck. "Plenty of our families haven't done anything, and you and your little Order buddies would be more than happy to condemn them with the rest of us, isn't that right?" "Think carefully before you answer," Bellatrix warned. "We don't care much for liars." A flick of her wrist had Benjy's wand flying into her hand, before she trained her own back on him, the threat of another cruciatus on her lips. Benjy glanced between the two masked figures. A muscle in his jaw worked as realization dawned on him: the tall woman was Bellatrix, it had to be. Which meant the man with his wand at Colm’s throat was likely another Lestrange. He looked to his father. The similarities between them were obvious even now: the same dark hair, the freckles, the defiant tilt of his chin. Still, fear flickered across Colm Fenwick’s face as he met his son’s eyes, wordlessly expressing a sentiment he wouldn’t dare utter in front of the Death Eaters. The two Fenwicks held each other’s gaze for a fraction of a moment that spun itself out infinitely. Then, a barely perceptible shake of Colm’s head. Don’t. Benjy forced himself to look back at the male Death Eater. He dragged a trembling hand over his face to wipe away the sheen of sweat clinging to his skin. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he spat out. “So get fucked.” "CRUCIO." The spell was out of Bellatrix's mouth as soon as Benjy finished his ridiculous little outburst and this time it wasn't simply a warning shot, or a quick means of incapacitating the suspected vigilante. This time it was meant to punish and Bellatrix held the spell, putting her full strength into it, letting out all of the frustrations of the day's fights with Evan and Rodolphus, until she was sated. "Maybe he's telling the truth," she mused to Rodolphus once she'd lifted the spell. "If he is a vigilante, he's not a very good one. Can't even protect himself, let alone his family." Bellatrix’s venemous words rang in Benjy’s ears, almost as powerful as her Cruciatus. He let out a weak groan as he drew in a labored breath, then another. They were going to kill his father. They were going to kill him, too. Letting go of Colm's hair, Rodolphus took a few steps backward, waiting for Benjy to catch his breath and become aware of his surroundings once again. Usually, killing was a means to an end for Rodolphus, and unlike his wife, only in some situations did he enjoy it. This was one of those situations. When he finally saw Benjy's eyes on him, Rodolphus smiled behind his mask. "It seems to be a common trait among them," he said, training his wand back on Colm. The older man lifted his chin, but terror was plainly written on his face. "The inability to comprehend the possible consequences of their actions." "Avada Kedavra!" One burst of green light was all it took to send Colm Fenwick’s lifeless body crumpling to the floor, the chains clattering on impact. Benjy stared for a moment, his face ashen white, the sight of his father’s body hazy. Surreal. The ringing in his ears didn’t stop, not even as he struggled to push himself off the floor with a groan, remnants of Bella’s crucio reverberating through his muscles. They were always going to kill his father, even if he’d admitted to being in the Order. He could’ve rattled off the name of every wizard on the roster and it wouldn’t have stopped them. “Go on and kill me too, then,” Benjy said quietly, his voice low in his throat. He felt as if his chest had been scraped raw. “But you’re fucked, the both of you. No matter what happens to me.” A loud crack of an apparating individual in the entryway of the flat heralded the arrival of the Order of the Phoenix. Having already been glamoured and on patrol for the Order, Dung had thought he’d made excellent time after the Patronus message, but as he laid eyes on the scene: Two masked Death Eaters. Benjy wandless, and the lifeless body of Colm Fenwick on the floor. If Dung was to use his arrival to any sort of advantage he had to act instantly while the two masked individuals were flat-footed. After the last few days, attacks on the Boardmans, Andromeda, and Emmeline, there was no holding back. His arm came around in a violent slash and the words of a dark curse on his lips. The tip of his wand light up in a garish pink as the blood boiling spell lept towards the shorter Death Eater, the male of the two. A second crack followed the first and Moody appeared on the scene, his glamours hastily but expertly put in place. He immediately identified the two attackers and the still body on the floor that told him they’d arrived too late. As Mundungus advanced on the one Death Eater, he turned on the other with a lightning spell that channeled the same frustrations his disguised partner felt over yet another Death Eater attack. Well, rats. The appearance of two more figures — Order members surely, which confirmed Rodolphus' suspicions about Benjy — meant that they wouldn't be killing the second Fenwick tonight, not without quite a bit of luck. Still, they could try. His shield charm went up the moment he heard the first crack, but he hadn't been expecting the ferocity in the-stranger-who-was-actually-Dung's attack. The blood boiling curse nearly broke through, and though his shield just held, Rodolphus could feel the heat in his veins just below the surface. "Angor" he hissed, aiming the suffocation curse right at him. As the Death Eater’s curse connected with a disguised Mundungus, Benjy quickly pulled himself to his feet and stumbled over to his father’s body. There was no time to take in Colm’s pale face, his expression frozen in a mixture of fear and surprise. His father’s eyes were hollow like glass, staring up at nothing as Benjy knelt down to pry the wand out of his hands. Cedar and phoenix feather: the Fenwick men had different wand woods, but the same core. Benjy’s hand was shaking as he pointed Colm’s wand at the masked Lestrange. “Confringo!” he snarled through a clenched throat and the Death Eater jumped to try and get out of the way. Struggling as he was to mumble the counter-curse with gasping breaths from the Death Eater’s choking curse, Dung was spared the effort -- or tragic ending -- by Benjy’s timely interjection by distracting his opponent. The spell dropped. A deep, needy breath was taken as the vigilante pointed his wand, hand shaking as he steadied himself. “Reducto!” he called with raspy breath, but it was obvious even as the spell was leaving his wand that his aim was less than true and the spell impacted the floor at the Death Eater’s feet. While the aim might have been off the power was not, and the impact send a rumbling shockwave through the floor, and then suddenly everything seemed to shift. Floorboards turned into splinters as Rodolphus went tumbling through a hole in the floor into the flat below, bits of wood and then bodies crashing on top of him as the two men fell down with him. There was debris everywhere, and the Death Eater couldn't tell what was what but needed a distraction — "Incendio" he hissed, fire coming out of the tip of his wand and starting all the bits of wood around him on fire. Benjy swore vehemently as he scrambled to pull himself to his feet, his body sore from the fall. For one panicked moment, he was worried his downstairs neighbor was home, an elderly Muggle woman who lived alone with her cat. But there was no time to think on it any further: the air was thick with dust and there were flames licking at his jeans, burning hot and fast at his legs. He let out a yelp as the fire seared through his jeans, but he ignored the pain in favor of dousing the fire and the Death Eater with a powerful jet of water. The water kept Rodolphus down until he was finally able to manage a weak shield charm, which didn't quite work but at least started to deflect the water elsewhere, and as he pulled himself to his feet, he felt something scratch him. "Wait, is that a cat? Is someone throwing it?" he asked. The cat responded with a loud yowl as it painfully clawed its way up the Death Eater’s leg. Dung had landed painfully in a heap over the back of the woman’s favourite arm chair causing it to flip up and over him. Having knocked the wind from his lungs shortly after being choked had left him woefully incapacitated for longer than he’d have liked even as he tried to make sense of the scene once more: fire, and Benjy fighting with water. He banished the chair off of himself to the side and struggled back to his knees. Of course even the cat apparently wanted to kill the Death Eater, and Dung was happy to oblige: his next spell was weaker given all that had just happened, but it was the same bone vanishing curse he’d used on Gibbon on Christmas. Rodolphus was too busy trying to push the cat away to notice the spell, and moments later he felt his left hand go limp, the bones in his hand now gone. With one last forceful shove, he ripped the cat off him with the stub that was his hand and sent a bone twisting curse at Dung. Behind him, the (not at all hurt) cat yowled again, launching itself at the Death Eater. "What is up with that cat?" “Maybe it doesn’t like murderous fucks like you,” Benjy said coldly, punctuating the sentence by hurling a severing charm at the Death Eater’s now boneless hand. He shot a concerned glance in Mundungus’ direction as he took a few steps back, nearly colliding into a shelf covered entirely in hideous porcelain dolls. If there was a curse that Dung was familiar with after Christmas it was a bone twister, and his shield came up in time. Or so he thought. His movements were sluggish and slower than he’d anticipated and the shield hadn’t fully formed. The bones in three fingers on his wand hand twisted painfully and popped out of their joints eliciting a loud string of curses from him. Trapping his wand to his palm with his thumb, Dung countered with a sweeping movement to sending a collectible spoon set from the nearby wall towards the Death Eater. The distraction proved useful for Dung, as Rodolphus lost his concentration when a dozen tiny dessert utensils started pummeling his head. He ducked, arms flying up to cover his head rather awkwardly as the fingers in his left hand swung down and flapped against his face. When they had all fallen, Rodolphus raised his wand at the ceiling next to the hole, aiming right above Dung's head. "Confringo!" As soon as the incantation for the blasting curse left the Death Eater’s mouth, Benjy was on the move. He threw himself at Dung, shoving him out of the way as the ceiling above them exploded, dust and plaster and wood showering down into the room. The two Order members collided painfully into a floor-length display of decorative plates, most of which shattered on impact. Right, then. They needed to put an end to this. Flattening himself against the wall, Benjy pointed his father’s wand at the Death Eater’s mask. “SUOCUTEM!” It was the stitching spell he’d used on Rabastan Lestrange a little over a month ago. This time, however, healing was the last thing on his mind. “Suocutem! Suocutem!” Rodolphus's mouth, which had been clenched tightly in a grimace, suddenly felt a strange poking motion as his lips began to be stitched together. He started to cry out, but it burned and before he could raise his wand to nonverbally cast a spell— there was a bang, and Bellatrix. Falling on him. Bellatrix's wand was raised and pointed at Benjy, another cruciatus about to be cast when the pop of apparition had her spinning around towards the door. Three interruptions in one week was more than a little annoying, but there would be time to worry about that later. A shield charm went up and the lightning spell crashed into it with a loud crack, filling the surrounding area with a powerful static charge. Although just from the strength of the first spell against her shield, Bellatrix realized this wasn't the usual children the Order sent to fight her. Which might have filled others with some measure of unease, but Bellatrix only smiled. And laughed. Her voice was charmed deeper than her own and the laugh was loud and full throated and accompanied by a giant ball of fire that went flying back towards her opponent. She wasn't fucking around. Neither was he. At the sight of the flames from the end of the Death Eater’s wand, Moody cast a shield that rippled under the force of the spell when it hit. The flames spilled across the surface, spreading to either side of him and sending the drapes up in flames. He paid them no mind as he advanced on the Death Eater again, the sound of her laughter fueling his strength as he slashed his wand at her. With each inch it moved, it sent a shard of ice straight at her. As the vigilante approached, Bellatrix held her ground, letting him close the distance between them. Her reflexes were fast enough that she could fight in close quarters just as well as at a distance and she did not believe in backing down. A sharp jab of her own wand turned his ice into water and a moment later one of Benjy's bookshelves and all of its little muggle discs went flying at her opponent. "And here I was starting to think the famed Order of the Phoenix was nothing but a collection of incompetent children," Bellatrix sneered. The discs themselves proved mostly harmless until one connected that knocked the wind out of him and made him consider, in that brief moment, whether he ever wanted to have children. With a wince, he hunched over just in time for the bookshelf to slam into his side, but even compromised, Moody stood his ground and the shelf fell to the ground with a splintering thud. Twice winded, Moody rasped out in an accent that was not his own, “You’d be surprised.” With another snap of his wand, he sent the shelf hurtling back toward the Death Eater, buying himself at least a moment to regain his composure. "Unlikely, considering how many of you I have fought and bested," she retorted, letting out another sharp laugh when the vigilante was hit by one of the muggle discs. Definitely a male beneath the glamours as well, she noted. Bellatrix raised her wand, having every intention of casting the spell that she cast every time someone thought to throw furniture at her, the spell that she had created for exactly this scenario. It was instinctive, really, and only at the last minute did she catch herself with the reminder that spell had been noted by the DMLE. Which meant she didn't have time for another defense, only to move as quickly as she could out of the path of Fenwick's cheap furniture. But not quickly enough. The shelf slammed into her shoulder, knocking her back a step and eliciting a grunt of pain, but a moment later she was advancing again sweeping all of the muggle discs and shards of wood into a literal tornado headed back at her opponent. Moody had only just regained his bearings as the swirl of discs came roaring at him. He took action a moment too late, the discs pelting him as the storm came closer. Setting his jaw, he held his free arm up to block what he could and with his wand, he attempted to push the barrage back at the Death Eater. The result was a tornado locked between their spells, spinning wildly in the middle of the room and leaving them monetarily deadlocked. But the sweat dripping down the back of Moody’s neck reminded him of the burning drapes behind him, their flames creeping up to the ceiling and blanketing it with fire. But rather than release his hold on the tornado, he diverted it away from them both, the strong wind drawing more of Benjy’s belongings into their vortex as quickly as it spit them out. Taking a deep breath, Moody snapped his wand over his shoulder to animate the drapes behind him. And another whip of his wand sent them billowing toward the Death Eater with the intention of binding her in their flames. Bellatrix had to quickly release her own hold on the tornado of muggle discs (and now various other pieces of the Fenwick apartment) to contend with the flaming drapes now coiling around her. The wind of the tornado had picked up speed so that it was felt throughout the apartment and was not making things easier. Bellatrix could feel the flames against her leg where the fire had spread to her own robes even as the rest of the drapes were turned to ice and then splintered into pieces. Thank you Aunt Diana. "You're going to have to do better than that. Fire cannot hurt a..." The rest of her Game of Thrones inspired taunt died on her lips as her attention was briefly pulled towards the ceiling by the sound of cracking wood from the tornado pressing up against it. But she would not let herself be distracted for long and a moment later there were three inky black tendrils of what looked like smoke curling towards her opponent, intending to bind him in a much darker magic. The sort of magic learned at the hand of the Dark Lord himself. Moody’s eyes narrowed at the sight of the Death Eater’s latest spell, taking a few steps back as he cast a shield charm. But the trouble with dark magic was one could never tell if a shield charm would be enough to hold it off. Moody was already forming another plan as the tendrils shot through the barrier. A quick side-step helped him evade the spell, though it brought him dangerously close to the hole the other wizards’ duel had opened up in the floor. But as he regained his balance and fought the tornado’s gusts to stay on his feet, the tendrils doubled back, avoiding the flames still spreading over the walls and coming straight back at Moody. It was time for plan B. With a sweep of his wand, he cast a patronus, focusing in on a memory from his Quidditch days at school until a sliver of light escaped the end of his wand before taking the form of a golden eagle. Moody watched with relief as it dove toward the spell. As it passed through it, the inky black tendrils disappeared into the air. “You’re going to have to do better than that,” Moody shouted over the sound of the wind, advancing again on the Death Eater. But the tail end of his gloating was cut short by the snap of the television’s cables as the tornado sent it hurtling toward them. "I'M ONLY GETTING STARTED," Bellatrix yelled back. She honestly wasn't sure if she was more annoyed that he had overcome her curse with his silvery patronus or elated that she had an opponent who was worthy of her time. Either way, her heart was pounding in her chest and the rush of adrenaline made her feel as if she could do anything in that moment. Except, apparently, dodge a television set. Or more accurately, its cables, which lashed across her skin like a whip because she hadn't considered that lunging out of the way of the large black box wouldn't be enough. How was she supposed to know that televisions came with tails? She barely knew what a television was. But it didn't slow her down and her wand cut through the air as she sent a furious, "crucio," at the vigilante a moment before a large chunk of the ceiling cracked free and came falling towards them. The Death Eater’s curse never connected and Moody dove to take cover behind the nearest chair. He managed to avoid the worst of it, but his leg was pinned beneath the debris, sending shooting pains up his side. He easily levitated a heavy beam to free himself, but the bone was broken and the sight was gruesome. He didn’t have long to dwell on it — not with the Death Eater somehow rising from the rubble a few feet away. “You just won’t die, will you?” He said, his tone venomous as he took aim. “Avada Kedavra!” It was so rare that anyone managed to surprise Bellatrix in a duel and yet here was a vigilante throwing killing curses. Well that was new. And Bellatrix's first reaction was an entirely inappropriate response of laughter that started from the moment she realized what he was doing, before he'd even finished the incantation. For the briefest of moments, her arrogance suggested that she let it hit her, that there was no way some noble vigilante could possibly cast a killing curse that worked and that it would just give her more of a reason to mock him. And then she realized that was a really fucking stupid idea. She dove towards the floor, casting a wild blasting curse a moment before she landed hard on her shoulder, at the very edge of the hole the others had created. And before she could pull herself back to her feet, the little bit of floor beneath her gave way and she went crashing down to the floor below. Moody held his breath until he saw the Death Eater dive to avoid his curse. He hadn’t performed it many times and he’d have been lying if he’d said a part of him wasn’t curious to see if it would work. He’d have to find out another time. He cast a quick shield to block her blasting curse, but it struck the wreckage around him, which sending debris flying in all directions. But they were quickly sucked up by the still growing tornado and Moody almost missed the sight of his opponent falling through the floor. He tilted his head back to let out a loud but short-lived laugh as the wind sent a jagged blu-ray disc flying inches from his head. He looked up to see at least a dozen more whizzing straight for him. Bellatrix's landing was far softer than expected and it took a moment to realize that was because she had landed on her husband. Which just had her laughing all over again. Really she shouldn't have been amused as she was, but after all of the stress of the afternoon, and the adrenaline running through her veins now, she just couldn't help it. Any lingering frustration she felt towards her husband was gone as she wrapped her hand around his arm. She just wanted to be with him. "A vigilante just tried to kill me," she said, sounding far too amused by the thought. "Let's go celebrate." A flick of her wand had the dark mark floating up through the hole in floor above and then with a pop, the Death Eaters were gone. |