Hermione J. Granger (insufferable) wrote in eighth_rpg, @ 2011-01-07 04:26:00 |
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Entry tags: | ginny weasley, hermione granger, michael corner, penelope clearwater, rodolphus lestrange |
Who: Rodolphus Lestrange, Penelope Clearwater, Ginny Weasley, Hermione Granger and Michael Corner.
What: Death Eaters read, too.
Where: Flourish & Blotts.
When: Late Thursday morning.
Rating: Some violence.
As promised, Hermione had been in Flourish & Blotts almost every day that week. It was ridiculous not to take the opportunity of all of those books on sale; particularly when her reading list was three feet long, and that didn’t even include the books she needed for her current subjects at Hogwarts.
Dragging Ginny along with her this time, once they had picked out her textbooks they had split up; their taste in reading material somewhat different to say the least.
Browsing the shelves she had missed the previous day, Hermione looked up as Penny appeared from what she supposed was a storeroom out the back and she smiled at the other witch. “Hello, Penny. Anything new I should know about?” It wasn’t as if she needed anything new, considering how many titles she was already coveting. But that wasn’t going to stop her asking.
Picking out a small leather bound volume from the second highest shelf, she flicked through the pages and tried to convince herself that she really didn’t need An Anthology of Magical Philosophy.
~
Despite telling people that she planned to continue her schoolwork as well as pursuing her interest in Quidditch, Ginny hadn’t found much time for her schoolwork yet. Training for the tryouts took a considerable amount of time, and then there was her social life, of course. That certainly wasn’t going to take second place to school!
Still, when Hermione had proposed this trip to Flourish & Blott’s, Ginny had realised she probably should, if only to placate Hermione. She did need to get some books for 7th Year, now that she had received her first month’s work. Letting Hermione find what she wanted, Ginny had wandered off in search of the books on her list, but had been distracted by the display of Dorothy L'Amour books. The new book was due out soon and Ginny couldn’t wait. In her free time, she much preferred to read light-hearted things rather than something heavy.
~
The crowds in the popular bookshop were thick enough that Penny had been pulled from the supply closet/office to help out with some re-shelving and attempting to make sense of the questions being thrown her way. One particular woman had spent forty minutes with her enquiring why it was only a few titles from Gerta Curd’s book were on sale before demanding to speak to the manager to get the book she wanted at the price she thought it should be.
Frazzled, a little annoyed and with her mouth smarting from the hastily-gulped coffee she’d snuck on the three minute break she’d allowed herself, Penny’s mind was on the countdown until the store closed and she could head home and relax in the quiet of her flat. She spotted a familiar head of curls and detoured slightly to speak to Hermione, grinning at the younger girls question.
“There’s been a few discounts on some fascinating historiography's and I’ve been tempted enough to put a few books aside even though my flats full to bursting with books.” Taking a few moments, Penny leaned against the stack and smiled weakly. “How about you? How are you coping with well, everything?”
~
After Rabastan had given Draco instructions to follow, both he and Rodolphus were very pleased when the young man had completed the task quickly and quietly. He had also come in handy for another reason, with the Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder he’d given Rodolphus for Christmas about to be put to good use.
Walking through Diagon Alley unnoticed and looking nothing like his usual self, he stopped outside the doorway of Flourish and Blotts and took out a handful of the powder he’d smuggled with him. He had his own Hand of Glory, enabling him to see when the darkness took over and he had two things in mind - the pile of books that Draco had arranged for them, and another book altogether that the Lestrange brothers had advised no one about, but was crucial to their current plans.
Stepping through the door, Rodolphus could see a small crowd of people milling about. It was too bad he didn’t have time to pay too much attention to them, or kill them all as he really wanted to do. Locking the door behind him, he threw the powder into Flourish & Blotts and sent the place into instant and complete darkness.
~
"You probably shouldn't show me those," Hermione admitted to Penny with some measure of amusement. "My flat is a little overrun by books as it is, too, and I don't think Ron would appreciate coming home to something that looks a lot like the Hogwarts library." Although that was a rather brilliant thought; it was her favourite place in the world and she couldn’t think of a better decorating scheme.
Her smile fading a little as Penny asked how she was coping with everything, Hermione gave a slight shrug. "Getting by, I suppose. Things are a little better every day, so that's all I can really ask for. Term is starting again, so I'm looking forward to getting back into classes." She knew the other witch could appreciate the allure of schoolwork as a suitable method of relaxation and distraction.
About to open her mouth to ask how Penny was going with the current state of Flourish & Blotts as it underwent its sale, Hermione didn't get the chance as everything suddenly went dark. And not just any kind of dark, the kind where every single shard of light was sucked into it. It was eerily unnatural, and she couldn’t see a thing.
Her heartbeat picking up, she was sure that she couldn't be the only one with the innate sense that something was very wrong. Drawing her wand out from the sleeve of her jumper as she carefully lowered the book in her hand to the floor, Hermione remained where she was, afraid to even breathe in case it drew attention to herself. She desperately wanted to tell those other customers who were currently questioning the condition of the store to be quiet; this was obviously no ordinary blackout.
Wondering where Ginny was and hoping she had the good sense to stay still, Hermione was glad for the fact that at least she could still feel Penny beside her.
~
Ginny had struck up a conversation with a girl she vaguely recognised from Hogwarts, but couldn’t put a name to, as they both perused the romance novels that were in front of them. Ginny had just made a recommendation to the other girl when the store was plunged into darkness.
Ginny froze, realising this wasn’t a natural blackness and she held her breath as she listened. The other store patrons were so loud with their complaining and worry that Ginny couldn’t hear anything else. It didn’t help that the girl beside her was obviously scared and calling out for her friend. Ginny pulled her wand out and reached out blindly to grab the girl, her hand making contact with her arm. At least, Ginny hoped it was that girl, whatever her name was, and not a stranger.
“Shhh,” she said, moving closer to whisper. “Shut up. Just listen.”
She knew better than to try to tell this girl that there was something wrong here. If she couldn’t handle unexpected darkness, then there was no way she could handle knowing that someone had deliberately caused it. Ginny was scared, but she gripped her wand tightly and stayed alert, wondering where Hermione was. She knew Hermione would know what to do, but her instinct was still to find her. Ginny stayed where she was though, waiting. Something was going to happen and there was nothing she could do to stop it with this many innocent people around and no idea of what was going on.
~
The minute it went dark Penny reached for her wand, the familiar weight and feel of the wood a comfort as she looked around her and took in nothingness. It was the complete absence of anything that struck her as unusual. Crouching down, Penny got her bearings and realised that the staff room was only a few feet away. Just as she was about to whisper it to the younger girl, Penny heard the booming voice of her manager as he addressed the nervous shoppers.
“I’m sure you’re all a little worried about the darkness but there’s no need to panic! We seem to be having a little trouble with our lighting spells but it’ll be fixed in a tick!” Dominic’s Yorkshire accent and calm manner seemed to be working as Penny heard people whisper for their wands to light up. He made it seem a though everything could - would be all right. “There’s a floo in the staff room for those of you who need it and the apparition points just outside the door. Our staff will be going round helping those of you who need it, just remember who you came with and if you want to take advantage of the dark and get to know the person next to you a bit better then well, we won’t mind that either.”
Penny relaxed slightly as she heard nervous tickles of laughter around the room but she didn’t pocket her wand. There were shuffles of movement that indicated her colleagues were making their presence known, weaving through the crowds with only the occasional yelp as foot met finger. Rising, Penny shifted her weight as she too began to get her bearing and took the chance to whisper to the older woman beside her that it would be okay. Her smile and attempt to look comforting was swallowed like everything else by the darkness.
~
Rodolphus could hear people trying to use light spells to see their way in the dark, comfortable in knowing they would have no luck and he was the only one who could see 3 feet in front of him. He needed to make this quick before people got suspicious, and he took a couple of steps forward towards the shelf that Draco had stacked the required books on.
He'd only just done this when a man's voice boomed across the room. Annoyed by his assurances that everything was going to be ok, Rodolphus pointed his wand in the direction of the voice and the man and spoke the words Avada Kedavra. That solved that problem, but it also created another as people started to panic, and he needed to get out of there fast. "QUIET." It seemed to work, and pushing past two people standing in the way of his pile of books, he collected them all and shoved them in the bag he was holding. Striding forward without wasting any time, he made his way to the tall shelf at the very back of the store and summoned a book that was stacked on the very top. Checking that it was the one he wanted, he nodded once to himself.
It was time to go.
Standing at the back end of the store he could now see the crowd in front of him. They were quiet just like he'd instructed, but he needed to get out, and he wanted to go out with a bang. Everyone frozen in the darkness was just too easy, and Rodolphus paused for just one moment before he started reeling off every hex and curse that came to mind, directing them into the shadows.
Heading down the middle of the store, he cast numerous blasting hexes either side of him and moved quickly to avoid all of the bookshelves that were coming down left right and centre. Hearing people swearing and screaming was just a bonus to getting the books that they needed and he cast a few more hexes from the doorway, taking a second to admire his handiwork before he stepped out into Diagon Alley. The place was practically destroyed, and he smiled to himself before he disapparated.
~
As the manager spoke up and people tried to create light with their wands, Hermione all but willed them to be quiet. No one could possibly be daft enough to expect that nothing untoward was going on in the sudden darkness, and drawing attention to themselves could not be the best possible answer. On some level she understood the manager's need to reassure his customers, but either not understanding, or downplaying the potential seriousness of the situation was beyond her.
Even as those thoughts ran through her mind, Hermione wasn't prepared to hear the killing curse. The shout of QUIET soon after had the same desired effect, and the subsequent silence that followed had an eerie quality not found before. She could hear whoever it was moving about on the other side of the room, and she pressed her lips together, avoiding the temptation to fight back. She couldn't see a thing, and wouldn't risk the possibility of hitting someone other than the intended target.
The murmurs of those still struggling to understand what was happening was all Hermione could hear for a long moment, then all at once so many curses were being spoken in rapid succession that it was too hard to distinguish one from another. Screams and shouts punctuated the air as people started tripping over one another; all in order to move out of the way of spells they couldn't even see coming, and Hermione found herself shoved back against the bookcase she had been perusing earlier as someone hastily pushed past.
Her heart pounding, she couldn't have felt less in control in that moment, but she knew that trying to find her way around or even trying to find Ginny in all of the mayhem was going to do more harm than good. She thought of Ron, and how she should have created a map for him when he asked, so he would know where she was. All she could do now was hope for the opportunity to get out of there in one piece and make sure that she had another chance to do it.
The noise was all slowly becoming overwhelming and coupled with the encompassing darkness, it was all extremely unnerving. Desperately wanting to do something, Hermione raised her wand to try for her Patronus, but it was knocked out of her hand before she had the chance.
The first indication she had that she might have been hit was the pain that almost immediately clouded her mind. Collapsing forward, she dropped heavily onto her hands and knees. It felt like all of the air had been sucked out of the room along with the light, and her shoulders shook as she struggled to gather enough breath to fill her lungs.
Blindly reaching for her wand, the sound of what could only be bookcases colliding with the ground caused Hermione to straighten, and she saw red as the muscles of her stomach spasmed in protest, sending a fresh wave of pain through her.
Attempting to get to her feet, the last thing she saw was a pile of books come tumbling down around her, the large shelf behind her soon to follow.
~
Ginny stood in absolute silence, listening to the murmurs of the people around her and the manager attempting to reassure his customers. She didn't believe for a second that this was a malfunction with the light spells. The darkness was too complete for that, and all of the murmurs of 'lumos' around her resulted in no extra light.
The words 'Avada Kedavra' along with the shout for quiet had a chilling effect on the crowd. Ginny felt fear creeping along her spine as she watched and listened. This had to be Death Eaters and after her interaction with them in the journals, not to mention the murder of her parents, she knew that if they realised she was there, she would be a target.
Screams ripped through the air and Ginny's eyes widened. What was going on? Amid the screams came the crashes of falling books and shelves and Ginny cringed, looking around but couldn't see a damn thing. Some books came flying out of nowhere and hit her upper body, and she cried out in pain as the sharp corners dug into her skin. Then she heard it: that same Death Eater voice that had killed the manager was casting hexes and curses and she had no idea where they were being aimed.
Chaos was erupting all around her and Ginny instinctively threw up a shield charm, but then realised she had no idea if it was in the right direction. Panic was beginning to grip her, but she fought it down, telling herself to stay calm, that she had been in tougher situations than this. She turned to cast another shield charm and heard a bookshelf creaking in front of her. Backing up in fear, she looked around wildly into the ever present darkness. This was a nightmare. She would never find Hermione in this, and was beginning to wonder if she would make it out herself.
Suddenly, a curse slammed into Ginny from behind and she was sent flying forward, crashing into one of the few bookcases that were still standing. Her forehead connected sharply with one of the shelves and she gave a cry of pain as she crumpled to the floor amid the books that fell off the shelves as she scrabbled to grab hold of something to keep from falling.
As she lay there, the curse started its vicious cycle. Her heart was slowing, but what she noticed first was how difficult it was to catch her breath. Her lungs were gradually deflating, making it harder to breathe. Eventually, if she didn't get medical help soon, her heart would stop completely and she wouldn't be able to breathe at all. It would be a slow and agonising death, the complete antithesis of the quick and clean killing curse.
"Hermione!" she called but her voice was weak, lost in the screams all around her. Ginny was struggling to get up, but with books piled around her and her vital organs shutting down, her struggle was futile. Gasping for breath, Ginny was definitely panicking now.
All around her there were the moans of people in agony, shouts of random names as people tried to find their family and friends, and screaming. So much screaming. Ginny couldn't scream. She could barely get enough air in to keep herself going, let alone scream.
Her vision was starting to go black around the edges and Ginny was terrified that this was it. Her final thought before passing out was for her brothers, who had already lost so much. Her wand fell out of her now lax hand to roll under the bookshelf as she lost consciousness.
~
There was a half-choked sound as Penny heard the killing curse and the dull thump of Dominic’s body as it hit the floor. He’d always been a big, cheerful man and now her mind could only supply images of what he would look like. It seemed intolerably cruel that someone who had always been friendly to everyone would die alone and in the dark. He hadn’t deserved that - no one did.
Every urge she had said to cry out, rally against the murder of her friend but she did nothing and bit her lip until there was the dull metallic taste of blood against her own tongue. She’d never felt so helpless in her life as the roar to be quiet echoed in her ears before the ‘ping’ of curses being fired from every direction sent people panicking into a stampede until she was caught between the crush of bodies.
Her thoughts were in disarray but she focused on making her way to the back of the store and the rear exit they used for deliveries. If only she could get the door open, there would be a form of light and people could see what they were doing. If..if..if.. Her thoughts trailed off as an elbow caught her in the stomach and there was the cry of a small child. Stopping to see if she could help meant she didn’t hear the curse which hit her but rather felt it as it slashed across her back. The pain was stupefying; she couldn't’ focus, couldn’t breathe and simply fell to her knees as her mind screamed out in agony . Feet and people found her as she fell on the floor and try as she might, Penny couldn’t lift her wand high enough to cast the charm to open the door; every muscle twitched involuntarily as finally her brain shut off from the pain and went as black as the room.
~
Having entered the shop to buy the potions text Hermione had recommended, Michael had frozen in place when everything went dark. The next few moments were a blur, someone yelling for quiet. Then shouting, curses, hexes. Total chaos, and no one could see what was going on.
A curse hit him and he fell... falling into the darkness.