Perdition Mods (perdition_mods) wrote in perdition_rpg, @ 2009-05-01 20:56:00 |
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Ioan Cadwallader (8), Mona Quirke vs Augustus Rookwood Ioan knew, somewhere deep inside of his body, that this had been a bad idea right from the beginning. Seeing as he wasn't exactly the bravest of souls and didn't have the reputation of someone like Harry Potter, it actually wasn't all that surprising that the other Hufflepuffs had been shocked and stunned that he and Mona weren't going to leave with them and Orla, and were instead going to head back to the battle, which anyone with half a brain knew wasn't exactly going to be smooth sailing. Maybe Ioan did have half a brain, though, or maybe he was just too confident in the abilities of others, his allies, to get this war ended quickly. But with each new step, each new corner they turned, a large knot was sinking further and further into his stomach and starting to expand. It was impossible to ignore, so impossible that Ioan thought he was always going to have that knot, even when he and Mona were safe. If they ever got safe. He didn't know what exactly 'safe' was in these sort of circumstances, but he kept moving forward, wand in his hand, though arm not raised. "We're okay, Mona," he said in a hushed voice, using his free hand to reach up and wipe a bit of dust off his face that had been tickling his nose. He couldn't help but notice that all the paintings on the walls in this corridor, which was somewhere near the Charms classroom, were vacant. It added more ominous undertones than were actually needed, so the boy couldn't help but wish he'd see someone whiz by in one of the paintings and wave at him. Mona was scared. Not only was she scared, but she was bloody terrified. Before, when they had said goodbye to the others or when Professor Sprout was busy giving them instructions they had been with a group of people. Within a group it had been a whole lot easier to imagine they would just have to curse a few people, they would fall over or run away, and they were all going to be fine. But now it was just her and Ioan in one very long, very dark hallway, with the faint echo of shouting voices in the distance. What were they even doing here? Vaguely, as if it had happened three days ago instead of half an hour, Mona recalled Ioan saying that if they could just find a quiet place, they'd be safer. Of course, at that time they had almost gotten caught up in a crossfire, and getting as far away from there as possible had seemed like a brilliant plan, but right now Mona wasn't so sure anymore. "Right," she said, her voice wavering only slightly. Even though it seemed pretty clear to her that they were definitely not okay, hearing Ioan's voice at least helped remind her that she was not all alone out here. Thoughts were rushing through her head faster than she could process them, one of the most prominent ones being 'Do you think the others are okay?', but Mona knew better than to voice it. Right now they had themselves to worry about. "Right," he echoed, finding that talking, even just a little bit, made him feel better. There were so many other noises to be heard, but hearing Mona's voice was comforting, mainly because it was so familiar, and right now he needed that familiarity. What were they even looking for? A small part of Ioan thought that they wouldn't even find anyone. They had gone in the opposite direction of the last battle they had witnessed, now in search of their "quiet place". If they did happen to come across some place that seemed safe, wherever it was, Ioan would surely insist that they just wait there for a few moments, but, again, he didn't know where exactly they were going. He almost wanted to go back to the Hufflepuff common room and throw himself down onto the couch in front of the fire, which probably wasn't even burning anymore. The bad guys would have no interest in ransacking the Hufflepuff dormitories and common room, would they? "Wait," he suddenly said, stopping abruptly. "Do you think we should keep going this way? Or should we turn back? Do you hear that?" "Did I hear what?" asked Mona, eyes wide as she looked around her. It was silent, maybe even too silent. "What did you hear?" she continued, now in a whisper, as if someone were waiting for them in the shadows. Was there someone hiding behind that suit of armour? Did that tapestry just move? Breathing as quietly as she could, she edged closer to Ioan, resisting the urge to grab his hand for comfort in case he would need it to defend himself. The castle both looked and felt very different at this time of night, and Mona was suddenly worried they would get lost. "Where are we again?" she whispered, her eyes automatically seeking out the portraits as a way to determine her position. "That." Ioan had jumbled his sentences together, so now his brain was having a bit of a panic attack. It was trying to listen to the things that his ears were telling him were there while trying to speak and keep walking at the same time. But what had his ears heard? Creaking? How could they turn back if they didn't know which creaking corridor they were in? Thinking the same as Mona, Ioan's free hand moved down and reached for hers, lacing their fingers together quickly. His palms were probably starting to get a bit sweaty and his thumb was twitching, but none of that seemed to matter. It was like he was either high or drunk or both; things seemed to be happening and he didn't know if they were real or not. A quick shake of his head helped to remove that weirdness and he could see straight again. "I thought we were near the Charms classroom. But I don't...know where that is," he answered. Wand clutched in his wizened fingers and eyes narrowed as he searched the empty corridors around him for renegade students, Augustus Rookwood could taste fear on the air, and it tasted salty. Like sweat. Or tears. He felt the urge to kill rising in him, to help his master defeat Harry Potter for the last time. And what if he found Harry Potter lurking in a corner? Should he kill him? No, the Dark Lord wanted him alive, so alive Rookwood would leave him. He would not be showing such mercy to anyone else he came across, however. Turning the corner, he stopped short in his tracks as he spotted two figures in the corridor. Children, they were. A little boy and a little girl. How sweet. Rookwood spat decisively on the floor - they would make pretty corpses. Levelling his wand, he decided not to go for the kill straight away. Many years ago, his mother had always told him off for playing with his food, like a cat with a mouse. His first spell was non-verbal, so they wouldn't know what was coming. Incarcerous! Ropes burst from the end of his wand, flying straight for the girl. Ioan had still been pondering his last question, which led to having no time to hear an answer before something unexpected happened. Perhaps it should have been expected, considering where they were and what was going on, but it still took him by surprise. His ability to act at a moment's notice wasn't exactly as sharp now that he didn't have the chance to play Quidditch often and keep that ability strong, but he still did manage to sense that they were no longer alone and that this bout of paranoia was realer than ever. "No!" he said, letting go of Mona's hand and trying to push them both forward out of the way of the mystery spell, though he pushed her further and used his body as a bit of a guard. He didn't have a clue as to who had sent it or as to what exactly it even was. He didn't find out until something thin and tight wrapped around his leg and confused his sense of equilibrium. He felt himself falling face-forward down onto the floor a second before the hardness smacked into his jaw. "Ow," he muttered, a bit slow to pick himself up. In fact, he was too confused to even think about getting up again, and instead of searching for his wand, which had fallen out of his hand, he went to touch his bleeding lip, which he had bitten on accident. Mona, on her part, was so busy trying to figure out where they were and looking around for imaginary ghosts she was completely unaware of the attack coming her way. 'That' had not exactly been a helpful answer. When Ioan suddenly pushed her aside, she was smacked non-too-gently into the wall on their left, and Mona let out a sound of pain as her hand was squashed under the weight of her body. "What-," she started to say, the rest of her sentence lost as she tried to get her breath back. A second later Ioan had dropped to the floor, and Mona cursed loudly, holding out her wand against their invisible attacker and stepping in front of Ioan to shield him from view in case their attacker tried to hex him a second time. Trying to keep a level head despite the mantra of curses currently repeating itself inside of her head, Mona turned her wand from side to side, ready to react to the slightest movement. "Are you okay?" she asked, her voice slightly higher than usual as she struggled not to panic. She wanted nothing more than to kneel down and see for herself, but she realised that wasn't exactly the smartest thing to do right now. Stepping out of the shadows, Rookwood revealed himself fully to them. He was no coward, he wanted to give them a chance to fight back before he killed them. And he would kill them. "She asked you a question, boy," he rasped, a twisted smile on his pock-marked face. "You are okay, aren't you? Wouldn't want to you get too hurt, would we?" He cackled, his eyes lighting up with maniacal glee. Enough talk. Rookwood took another couple of steps forward, lifting his wand again. A quick flick and he had conjured a dozen flaming arrows, another flick and they were heading at breakneck speed towards his two targets. He wanted to see them light up the night like fireworks. It was one of those moments where things were happening impossibly slow and fast at the exact same time; the world was moving quickly, but his brain was moving slowly. It took Ioan a good few moments to comprehend that Mona was asking him a question, but once he figured it out he simply nodded, pushing himself back up so he was standing flatly on both feet. His hand kept dabbing at his lip as he finally eyed his wand, which was alone on the floor not too far away from his left foot. He couldn't spend too long looking down at it, however, for a few seconds later someone was emerging from the shadows, someone Ioan didn't recognize at all. He took one step backward when the Death Eater took a step forward, still trying to stay airtight against Mona. "Yeah, I'm fine," he responded, as though speaking to someone who actually wanted to hear that he was fine. "We were just--" he started, voice dying out the moment a fiery glow seemed to illuminate across the corridor. He still didn't have his wand, and he no longer had his speed. Ioan tried to throw himself back down into the ground, tugging Mona's shirt as he did, but one of the arrows managed to glide right against the top of his right shoulder, skinning the top of his jumper and causing it to catch fire. His hands smacked at the tiny flame furiously, making sure it was completely out before he quickly glanced to see if any had hit Mona. When a man stepped out of the shadows, Mona immediately turned towards him, her wand shaking visibly as she held it out in front of her body. The more detached part of her brain noted with interest that she had never seen a real Death Eater before, at least not in full robes, while another part of her struggled not to scream at the mere sight of him. His mask covered his face completely, leaving only a hole for his mouth and his eyes, which held a dangerous glint. Her heart beat furiously against her chest. Was he going to kill them? With Ioan now standing safely -- although safely was obviously the wrong word -- beside her, Mona found herself able to think somewhat clearly again. Eyes widening as she watched the arrows shoot in their direction, she quickly casted a shield charm. Unfortunately Ioan pulled her down while she was still trying to complete the spell, and Mona could feel it shooting off in the wrong direction. Following Ioan's lead, she dropped herself to the floor as quickly as she could, but one of the arrows flew past her left arm, ripping through her robe and touching the surface of her skin, while another one seared her hair. Trying to ignore the burning pain in her arm for a few seconds, Mona lifted up her other arm and pointed it in the Death Eater's direction. "Stupefy!" As soon as Ioan noticed that one of the blazing arrows had also hit Mona, in a similar place that he had been hit, and as soon as she managed to throw a hex back at the Death Eater, he immediately turned his body toward her, away from the enemy and began to pat at her robe, just as he had done his own. "You're okay, you're okay," he said, moving his hands over and patting her dark hair now instead, making sure that there was no fire left anywhere on her. He was spending too much time fussing with Mona and making sure that the other arrows, which were now littering the floor around them, still burning, were far away from them instead of engaging in the fight that this Death Eater appeared to desperately want. Another flick of his wand and Mona's stunning spell was deflected. Rookwood wanted to laugh again - did these children believe they could fight him? He could end it here and now if he wanted, two quick killing curses and two green beams of light and it would be over for them. But where was the fun in that for him? Like a new toy, he didn't want to wear them out straight away. With another step forward and a cock of his head to the right, Rookwood surveyed the students thoughtfully as he decided how he was going to play with them next. Well, he'd introduced them to one element, maybe it was time for another! This time it was water that left the tip of his wand; relentless, gushing water, carrying itself in a great wave towards his victims. Although she appreciated Ioan's concern, for a brief moment Mona seriously considered hitting him. They were being attacked by a Death Eater, for Merlin's sake. A few burning arrows were the least of their worries right now, and Mona didn't want anything to happen to him because he was paying too much attention to her well-being instead of his own. "I'm fine," she said, lifting his hands away from her hair and briefly squeezing one in reassurance. Spotting movement from the corner of her eye, Mona quickly snapped her had to the side and began to get up from the floor, pulling Ioan along with her. "Watch out!" she yelled, wavering for a moment as she tried to figure out what to do. "Impedimenta!" Hopefully that would slow the water down enough not to hurt them, although a shower seemed inevitable. His concern for Mona didn't falter even as she claimed that she was fine. He stopped poking and prodding at her to make sure that there was no more fire, sure, but on the inside he was still analyzing whether or not he'd be able to take care of her. To Ioan, water was less alarming than fire. He didn't know how to swim that well, but at least that was something that could be learned; learning to dodge fire and not burn was a little bit more difficult. Or maybe a lot more difficult. In a way, this moment reminded him of the Easter holiday when he and Mona both ended up in the lake at the park, but there was no way he was going to bring that up now and share their good memories with this Death Eater. Mona's spell didn't stop the water from coming, but it did stop the pressure from being smothering and overwhelming. The wet liquid shocked his skin, wetted his hair, soaked his clothing, and left him feeling damp and uncomfortable. There was a bit of a puddle left over underneath his black shoes, which squeaked when he took a small step back. "Um, okay. We can just sort of, you know, stop now. Right?" Oh, come on. Rookwood couldn't help but be a little disappointed that these children hadn't even attempted to fight back. Single stunning spell aside, this was even starting to get boring, had they been given a Defence Against the Dark Arts education at all? He would really have to use his imagination if he wanted to make this fun for himself. Should he transfigure them into flies and conjure himself a fly swatter? Charm the ground beneath their feet to be searing hot? Transfigure some rubble into a herd of elephants to trample them? Hey, he kind of liked that idea. "Do you not want to fight me, children?" he croaked, again advancing further towards them. "Is there something else you'd rather fight instead?" Kicking off one of his (rather battered) shoes, he transfigured it into a lion, so big it almost filled the whole corridor. Shaking it's mane, the beast caught sight of Mona and Ioan, and roared. Mona took a big gulp of breath as they were drenched in cold water, relieved to find out that her spell had at least kept them from drowning. The Death Eater was approaching them now, and the way he almost seemed to be playing with them gave her the chills. However, at least that gave them some more time to react, and spotting her chance, she quickly bent down and retrieved Ioan's wand, pushing it into his hands. Her relief at having two wands at their disposal instead of one didn't last very long though, as the lion's appearance left her standing rooted in fear. If they ran, they were going to get eaten. If they didn't ran, they were going to get eaten. Worse than that, Mona seemed to be unable to make her legs move even an inch. Then the lion growled, beginning to advance towards them, and Mona tried to get her lips to cooperate long enough to cast a spell: "P-p-petrificus-" The lion roared again, bearing its big, very shiny teeth, and Mona promptly dropped her wand, letting out a rather indignified squeak. Why couldn't the Death Eater just go away? Ioan had been hoping that his confused and nonsensical words would have somehow changed the Death Eater's mind, but he was extremely naive when it came to Voldemort's followers and what exactly they were after. He understood what a war was, sure, but he didn't really know how to fathom the fact that they were fighting to the death here, not just fighting for five minutes for practice and then going their own ways. Perhaps this would prove to be his biggest flaw, and one that he just wouldn't be able to get untangled in time. Of course he didn't want to fight him. Ioan would have started speaking again if his breath hadn't died in his throat just as quickly as it formed. How...was that even possible? His eyes were wide and his left hand had started shaking when the Death Eater kicked off his smelly-looking shoe and transformed it into a creature that wasn't exactly as cute or friendly looking as a puppy. Or a duck. He felt like he was in a novel, a fantasy novel. He almost dropped the wand that Mona had given him again, but managed to tighten his grip a moment before it slipped out. The one and only spell that he could manage to get out was a weak "Stupefy"! Another cackle escaped Rookwood as he watched the futile efforts of the children to face the lion. "Don't anger him boy!" he mocked, but it was too late. Enraged by the weak spell, the lion eyed up Ioan, before preparing to pounce. Watching the events unfolding before him, Rookwood resisted the urge to do a little dance on the spot. Well, it wasn't as if he could, with a stiff leg. "Are you ready boy, don't make any sudden moves!" Not wanting the girl to interfere, Rookwood cast a freezing charm in her direction. She could watch, just like him. Whether she would enjoy the spectacle as much as he was undoubtedly about to, well, there was nothing he could do about that. The lion was getting closer now, and Mona really had to get her act together. Pinching her eyes shut for a moment to help her concentrate, she opened them just in time to see Ioan's stunning spell hit the lion. Oh, good, they were safe. Her legs now moving again, she opened her mouth to suggest they run when the lion roared again, not the least bit disturbed by Ioan's spell. "Come on!" she yelled, the beast now getting way too close for comfort. "We have to-" Suddenly unable to move, Mona fought against her invisible bonds, not able to bat as much as an eyelid. No, she thought, watching the lion get even closer and unable to do anything about it. No, no, no. NO! Please, just do something. Well. At least his spell had actually hit, that had to mean something. But he may as well have just thrown a rock at the lion, it would have done the same amount of damage that his below average spell had done. If only he had just a tiny bit of luck. Just a tiny bit, that was all he needed; a flash of genius, a spark of talent, briefly donated wit. Something, anything. He could no longer pretend that he was going to open his eyes and be somewhere else, somewhere safe. He could no longer pretend that there were no more bad people in the world; he had to let go of that childish belief and face the real world, as cruel and selfish and broken as it was. When Mona was frozen, Ioan momentarily thought that she was just standing that still to try and keep the lion from attacking and that she hadn't been hit with any spells. But she wasn't even moving a millimeter, and there wasn't time for him to do anything other than reach his arm out and touch her shoulder. The simple movement caused the lion to let out the loudest roar yet and proceed forward. There was no time to run even if he had wanted to take off without Mona. There was no time for anything before the giant creature, so giant he was crowding the corridor, cleared the space between them and jumped. The side of Mona's dark head mixed with the rough fur of the lion was the last thing he was able to clearly see through focused eyes. It hurt, terribly so. Sharp, shooting pain racing from his neck and down his spine; curious and ripping, horrible and different, headaches and stomachaches and sprained ankles and smashed fingers and bludger hits and broken hearts all in one. The lion had knocked him over and caused him to fall on his stomach, smacking his already injured nose and exposing his back for its first attack. Teeth to skin, more than gentle nibbling. His spine felt exposed, his skin missing. Something was missing. When his body was flipped around, carelessly at best, Ioan was half conscious and barely registering the pain anymore. He could feel the crimson liquid dripping, or perhaps even gushing, from multiple wounds, especially as a sharp-nailed paw clawed at him. When the lion bit his neck, Ioan felt like his life was being taken up with the lion's mouth, dragging it up and right out of him, selfishly hogging it and refusing to give it back. The whole thing happened in under a minute, perhaps not even that. Everything felt wet and burning, fiery and watery at the same time. Despite his belief that there would be nothing left of him in another minute, Ioan could sense that the lion was only there to kill, not eat; the pressure and the weight of its body vanished, and even though his eyes were close and crying, he must have looked dead to the creature. Was he dead? Where was Mona? His body and mind were no longer connected, and all he could do was lay there and listen. And die. He was right, that was fun. Eyes sparkling with glee, Rookwood reversed the freezing charm on the dark haired girl, fully expecting cries of anguish, or tears, or both. But just waiting for a reaction wasn't enough, oh no. He let his maniacal joy burst forth from the end of his wand in a series of blasting curses; the ceiling over the girl's head, the walls on either side of her, the floor beneath -- oh bollocks. The lion, satisfied with his victim, had now turned, and was stalking in Rookwood's direction. A flash of panic went through Rookwood as he realised that his own creation might be turning on him, and with his aim off, it was the floor beneath his own feet that collapsed, with a bang and an explosion of rubble. The world turned upside down for a moment and Rookwood swore loudly as he landed in the corridor below, a few jolts of pain shot through him. Shaking the dust off his robes, he looked around him before setting off in search of more students. And if he found his way back up to finish off that girl, well, all the better. Mona couldn't do anything but stand there and watch, unable to move or even close her eyes should she have wanted to. Her thoughts were all over the place, and she could do nothing but feel. She felt pain for having to watch Ioan get slaughtered and being unable to do something about it, anger towards the man who had done this to him, the man who appeared to be laughing about it, and underneath all regret that she hadn't pushed him to leave when they had still had the chance. There was so much blood, too much blood, and she couldn't lose him, not here, not now. The minute the freezing charm was lifted Mona screamed, trying to get to Ioan. She didn't care there was still a lion who no doubt wouldn't say no to another snack or a Death Eater who could kill her with one flick of his wand, she just had to make sure he was all right. The blasting curses aimed all around her caught her entirely off guard and she was hit full in the shoulder by a large piece of ceiling, more rubble pelting on her head and back. Landing flat on the floor, she instinctively held her hands above her head to protect herself, already feeling the stickiness of blood caking her hair and sliding down her forehead. Then suddenly the noise ceased, and there was nothing but silence. Getting out from underneath the rubble, Mona looked up only to discover the Death Eater was gone, as was the lion. Not caring about the whys and hows for the moment, she scrambled to get to Ioan. Judging by her wounds and the odd angle of her shoulder, she should likely be in a big amount of pain, but Mona didn't feel anything apart from the burning pain in her chest. Please, please, let him be all right, she thought. "Ioan. Ioan, come on," she said, her voice desperate, putting her hands on the parts of him that weren't giant flesh-wounds. Was he still alive? Please, let him be alive. Feeling for his wrist she let out a sound of relief as she detected the light fluttering of his pulse. "Ioan, please, we have to get you to the hospital," she said, somewhat hysterically, tapping his cheek in an attempt to make him open his eyes. There had to be something she could do. Looking around, Mona noticed one of their wands lying not too far from her, and she began to get up from the floor to retrieve it. He was somewhere. But he didn't know where. If there was some place between life and death, that's where he was now. It was nice there, sunny and warm. There were different noises there to feed his eager ears; children laughing, puppies barking, a muggle film. It was all so surreal that Ioan's first impression was that it was a dream. He was back in his dormitory, in his bed, wrapped tightly under a blanket and wearing his blue-stripped pajamas with fuzzy socks. A lot of his dreams involved bright, happy places; even with the condition of Hogwarts over the last few months, he hadn't had very many nightmares. If only he knew that the rest of his life was turning into a nightmare; at least he had that nice place to go to for a few minutes, though. He had no idea what was going on with the Death Eater, with the lion, with the walls crumbling, with Mona, until he felt something tapping him, or at least whatever was left of him. He couldn't see himself or anything else around him, but as soon as that shiny virtual reality world got sucked out of him, he remembered it all. "Mona," he murmured, eyes fluttering open slowly. He couldn't see her completely, as there were still leftover tears in his eyes and everything was blurry. But he could sense that she was there, and it calmed him, even as he coughed and struggled to get breath through a throat that was barely there. He could sense that she was moving somewhere, and that frightened him suddenly; where was she going? His mind wanted to follow her, but as soon as he tried, he failed. His mind and body no longer worked together. The only thing he managed to move was his leg, but only just barely, only enough to cause him to cry out in pain. It wasn't working. "Can we go back to the common room now? Please?" Just when Mona's hand curled around the wand, she heard Ioan's cry of pain, and she quickly rushed back to his side, grabbing his head. "Shh, don't try to move. You're bleeding," her voice cracked on that last word and she let out a sob, running her wand over his body like she had seen Madam Pomfrey do a few times to get an indication of the damage. Beginning to whisper some simple healing spells under her breath, her voice became louder and louder as she tried to force his wounds to close, tears streaming down her face when she realised it wasn't working. Letting go of her wand, it rolled uselessly to the side, and Mona leaned over him, wiping the hair from his face and trying to clean away some of the blood. "Don't die. Please don't die. I'll take you anywhere. I'll do anything. Just please stay with me." The funny thing about dying? Not knowing that you were dying. Perhaps it was just because he was always confused. Perhaps it was because he never knew what was going on. Perhaps it was because he tried so hard to always look at the glass as being half full. Ioan had so many childish tendencies and habits that he simply did not know how to deal with those things that wanted to break him down and steal that part of him that his best and greatest friend Mona and once found for the very first time. "I don't think I'm going to die," he responded, sounding relatively calm despite the pain, which was sort of numb and throbbing at the same time. It was just pain. It meant nothing to him. "I think I can get up in a minute. We'll just have to wait because I sort of feel really tired, okay? I feel like we just had a sleepover and spent the whole night talking instead of sleeping." He paused, taking a second to make sure that he could still breathe. "Are you okay, Mona?" Mona laughed through her tears. Even when dying Ioan was as clueless as ever. And there wasn't anything she could do. Where were the others who could help him? Why hadn't she just paid more attention in class? "No, I'm not okay, damn it," she said, half crying, half laughing. "You aren't supposed to die. We should have gone home." Her voice cracked again, the thought filtering through her head that if Ioan died here they would never be able to have a picnic and watch ducks together ever again. There was so much they hadn't done yet, so much they hadn't seen yet. This wasn't supposed to happen. Mona put her arms around him, trying to hug him as well as she could with him still bleeding all over the place. "Just try to stay awake a little bit longer, please. For me?" She had no doubt that if he closed his eyes now, he would never wake up again. He had lost too much blood. And she wasn't ready to say goodbye yet. With a finger she touched the duck tattoo that still sat on his neck, fortunately on the part where the lion hadn't bitten him. Ioan was in a place in that moment where he didn't understand a lot of things, but he especially didn't understand why Mona was crying and then laughing and then crying again. If his brain had been a little clearer, a little stronger, perhaps then he would be able to see the strange humour in his words. But it all felt too surreal and serious for him to really be on the same page that she was on. The only thing he knew for a fact was that he was cold; it felt like his body was wrapped in a thin sheet of ice. "No. I mean. Are you hurt?" he tried again, wondering if Mona was just as cold or if she was warm. When her voice cracked, a little bulb went off in his head; should have gone home. She had wanted to go home, and he had wanted to...he had wanted to...what had he wanted again? This? He felt his bottom lip starting to tremble slightly, so he quickly stuck it between his teeth and nipped at it. "I can't really remember where home is right now," he said, letting his lip come back out of his mouth, though it was trembling just a little bit more now that he had entered another stage of dying: realization. "Is it still there? The duck? "No. Yes. I don't care," said Mona, a sharp pain in her shoulder the only thing that even came close to being registered by her brain. She laughed again. How could he even think of her well-being at a time like this, while he was lying there practically unrecognisable. "I'll be fine. I promise. Just don't-." She took a deep, stuttering breath, lifting her head to watch his face. His lip was trembling. Merlin, what was she thinking? He was probably in a lot of pain, and all she could think about was how terrible it would be for her if he died. The urge to comfort him suddenly overwhelming her, she did the first thing that came to mind: she kissed him. It was more of a brush of lips than a kiss, really, and everything was wet from his blood and her tears, but she hoped it would be able to distract him if only for a second. "The duck will always be there. And I'm not going anywhere either. Okay?" Despite everything, Ioan really did care if Mona was injured or not. There wasn't much he could do if she was really injured, but he still had to know. Perhaps knowing that she was still able to get around and speak properly would help ease that growing bubble of fear inside his stomach. Was he going to be going somewhere alone, somewhere she couldn't follow? Why did he have to go to that place alone? Even if it was like that obscure dream he'd had only minutes ago, he didn't want to go there by himself; he wanted Mona to be by his side. How was this fair? Weren't things supposed to be getting better? She promised that she would be fine, so he clung to that notion; she would be fine. Whatever happened, she was going to be fine. Something changed in his brain when he felt the gentle touch of her lips against his, something he had never felt before with anyone. It was so very peculiar and perfect that his eyes widened and he stared directly at her silently for a long minute after she pulled back. The tears were in his eyes again, but he had no idea they were there. His chest felt tight. Everything felt tight. It was suddenly difficult for him to breathe, to struggle for breath. "Always be there," he echoed in a whisper, tasting blood in his throat and choking on it, coughing roughly, so roughly that his body moved and caused another sharp pain to race through his skin. He couldn't handle it anymore. Mona just stared at him, trying to memorise the exact colour of his eyes and the way his nose tilted slightly to one side due to the accident earlier this year. He was beginning to go almost scarily pale now, and Mona wondered how much blood there even was left in his body. "Always," she repeated, trying to stop her sobbing. She had to be strong for him. Then he choked, and her heart jumped into her throat. Moving a bit to the side to give him more room to breathe, she wiped the tears from her eyes, although that didn't stop more of them from falling down. "You're going to a better place, and there will be lots of ducks, and sandwiches, and nice people." She had to believe that. His face was becoming a blurry outline through her tears and she took a deep breath. "Just try to come visit me from time to time, all right, because I'll miss you." If there was any consolation to this whole thing, Ioan was going to be leaving with the one person who had given him his best memories by his side. All their talks by the fireplace in the common room, all their lunches together, those late night study sessions that usually turned into a chat about something completely irrelevant, and, of course, the last holiday they would ever get to spend together: Their Easter Holiday. The sandwiches, the ducks, the pond-lakes, the mean men telling them to get out of the water, their hug goodbye when Mona had to go back home. He had been unable to stop smiling for the rest of that holiday, and his family had even commented on it. All those memories were flooding his brain now and he had never been more thankful for anything in his short life. That life was leaving him, but those memories stayed strong. His chest was heaving so quickly that he felt like someone else was pushing on his stomach. It slowed down, however, and became more and more steady. "I think that we'll always be together and even though I don't know what's happening I am really glad that you are my friend and I want to thank you for that," he started, speaking quickly as though he knew that his breath was slowly expiring, "and I think that you're going to be okay because now you know that I've always loved you best." Each word got quieter and quieter and, just as most of the blood that had been keeping him alive, keeping him tied to the world, started to leave his body, his soul did the same. There was nothing left. It was so sudden that he didn't even know it was coming. There was just nothing left but a broken, empty shell of a boy who would never be famous or written about, but would at least be remembered by one person in the world. It was so difficult seeing Ioan like this, and Mona found herself wishing for something, anything that would be able to make him all right again. Why had they tried to find a quiet place, where there was no one around to help? Why hadn't they ran when the Death Eater attacked them? Why hadn't they just gone home? She had so many regrets, and more than anything she wished she could fix it. But all she could do now was sit with her friend and listen to his last words. As Ioan talked, she leaned forward so she could hear him better. It killed her to hear him struggle to get his words out, and she almost asked him to stop and save his breath, because he needed it more than she did, but she sensed this was something he needed to say. Mona squeezed his hand. There was so much she still wanted to say to him, but there was no more time. "I love you too," she whispered. His eyes faded until they just stared at her unseeingly, and he was gone. Megan Jones, Susan Bones vs Atticus Avery Devil's Snare, Devil's Snare. Megan could already hear the sounds of battle beginning as she laid the last of her batch around her assigned portion of perimeter. Oh, it was a good plan; on that much, she definitely agreed with Professor Sprout. But dear sweet God, did she hate working with the stuff. It always seemed like it was about ready to stop behaving and ignore the careful way that she was handling it (wand lit brightly to create the illusion of fire, wearing gloves that produced far more heat than what her body usually would, and being extremely careful of where she stepped and placed the stuff on the thankfully damp ground) and start strangling her instead, just because it would've been typical. As she arranged the Devil's Snare on the ground, Megan muttered a half-prayer that the "good guys" would have the sense to stay away from these areas of the perimeter...any "bad guys" that wanted to wander in this direction were perfectly free to do so. "Ugh..." she flicked the very last bit of the damp, spongey plant onto the ground, wrinkling her nose in disgust, and turned to reconvene with the rest of her friends in the castle, hopefully to avoid another situation like the last with the Inquisitorial Squad. For a man who had spent nearly the entirety of his adult life (minus a few intermittant gaps) in service to the Dark Lord, Atticus Avery was surprisingly calm about the prospect of finally bringing an end to this war. He would ardently refute any suggestion that his composure was the result of overconfidence, on the contrary he could not see how they could lose to the students and handful of professors who were all that stood between the Dark Lord's army and victory. But students... that was one aspect of this fight that he had his misgivings about. Anyone who was foolish enough to fight against them would have to be defeated, that was without question, but as he approached the castle, he could not quite bring himself to attack the young woman nearest to him while her back was turned. Instead, and with the Devil's Snare still between them, he shot a blasting curse just past her and into the ground where it sent a flurry of dirt and grass flying up into the air. That ought to get her attention. Megan nearly jumped out of her skin at the sight of the ground in front of her exploding...of course, she expected things to be happening and exploding (after all, it was a battle), but she wasn't expecting those things to be happening and exploding so close to her, at least not yet. Her first instinct was to think that something had misfired and that she should still go back to the castle, but when she turned around to be sure, there was a Death Eater pointing his wand at her...or, rather, at the space in front of her that had just exploded. Not. Good, she thought, but didn't say as much, instead drawing her wand. In typical Megan-fashion, she kept the tone of her voice light and friendly. "Hello there, sir, you must be lost!" she chirped, feeling like an idiot. This man (at least it looked like a man...with Death Eaters, though, who knew?) was certainly here to fight and probably could easily have killed her, but if she could stall him until someone else arrived, her chances of dying at the very beginning of the coming battle (something that would've been really embarrassing, not that a dead person would've noticed or cared) would at least be reduced a bit. The girl's ridiculously childish response certainly did not help with Atticus's misgivings about the entire situation. Nor did the fact that she did not even attempt to fight back or defend herself. Was she even someone who warranted fighting? He could have asked who she was or attempted to find out more information about her and while some time ago that was precisely what he would have done, by this point in the war he knew the answer he would have received - claims to be a Slytherin with some tenuous ties to one of the prominent pureblood families. As if they all had unknown cousins running around the country. But there was more than one way to ensure she would not raise her wand against one of his comrades and he sent a silent stupefy at her, followed by a quick incarcerous. He intended to bind her and leave her where she fell as he moved on to an opponent more worthy of his time. If there were any to be found. Dropping mandrakes off of castle walls was not exciting, not exciting in the least. And it wasn't as though Susan Bones was really the sort who thirsted for adventure, she had always really hated Herbology, so as soon as they'd run out of the plants, she had sprinted down the steps, through the Great Hall, and onto the grounds, looking for a friend, because honest to god, she didn't want to do this alone. She was nearly out of breath and there was certainly a stitch in her side when she saw a familiar flash of red hair and an ominously masked man from the corner of her eye. She skidded to a stop just in time to shout, "PROTEGO!" and throw a Shield Charm up in front of Megan. Two years of DA practice had not been wasted. For good measure, she grasped her wand, aimed it at the Death Eater, and followed with a finger-removing jinx. Megan hadn't really been sure what to expect when she'd attempted to talk politely with the Death Eater...well, no, that wasn't entirely true. She'd expected that he would keep walking forward and stumble across the Devil's Snare, but then he drew his wand and then the next thing Megan knew there were spells hitting an invisible shield and she was already feeling dizzy just thinking about it. She half-turned to see Susan running towards her and her new "friend" and smiled a bit. It was exactly what she'd been hoping for. As an added bonus, she flicked her wand at the Death Eater, sending a quick tripping jinx his way, hoping that at least part of him would land on the Devil's Snare...and that Susan would avoid it in the meantime. Apparently this was not going to be that simple after all, Atticus thought with a resigned sigh as he saw his attack deflected by the new girl's shield charm. He decided to dodge out of the way of her finger-removing jinx rather than deflect it, a decision that he quickly realised had not been his best as the ginger girl's tripping jinx curled around his ankles, pulling his legs out from underneath him. Atticus barely had a moment to consider just how embarrassing that was before the Devil's Snare was wrapping itself around his arm, making its way toward his chest. A quick incendio was enough to deal with the plant and allow him to pull his arm free, but not even the humiliation of being sent flying to the ground was enough to provoke him into using the darker curses in his arsenal against these children. He just needed to injure them enough to take them out of the battle, he decided as he cast two quick blasting curses - one for each of them - before pulling himself up off the ground and resisting the urge to brush off his now-filthy robes. Susan hardly had the time to enjoy her victory of protecting Megan and watching the Death Eater sail into the Devil's Snare. It would have been wise, she realised in the second's contemplation she had, to run for the hills, but they had not stayed here to run, they had stayed here to fight, even if that meant... The blasting curse Atticus sent towards her bowled her over and she found herself flying into the grass, pain coursing through her side. Quickly, she pressed her hand against her ribs -- no bleeding but there had certainly been some damage done to them. Her wand was still in hand, though, so she pointed it at him, silently thinking, "Expulso," though no words left her lips. She wasn't very good at non-verbal spells, so she knew it wouldn't be as powerful as if she'd said it aloud, but perhaps the surprise would give her an advantage. She hoped, at least. Megan had also been thrown down by the blasting curse, landing a bit harder than Susan had, and on already painful ribs. She didn't like the cracking sound that she heard when she landed either and guessed from how much it hurt that it was her wrist causing the problem. Fortunately enough, it wasn't her wand arm, but it was painful enough to be distracting. She groaned a bit before pointing her wand at the Death Eater and saying, "Confundo." A silent spell probably would've had a higher chance of success, since he wouldn't know what she was casting at him, but it might give her enough chance to get on her feet (which she did, painfully and carefully). She gave Susan a sideways glance once she was standing again, wishing they'd practiced dueling together before this point, but figuring they were doing alright with what they had anyway. Having just managed to right himself, Atticus was less than pleased (to put it mildly) when Susan's spell connected with his shoulder, tearing through skin and muscle and sending him stumbling back into the ground again, this time at least away from the Devil's Snare. The thought that he was getting too old for this briefly crossed his mind as pain tore through his arm and jolted up his back. The other girl's confundo flew harmlessly over his head and Atticus ground his teeth together as he raised his wand again. Now he was annoyed enough to want to bring serious harm to the brats and with his teeth still clenched firmly together, he sent a silent bone-shattering hex at Susan, followed by a sectumsempra for Megan. Unfortunately his skills at healing were nowhere near what was needed to repair the gaping hole in his shoulder so he was forced to settle for simply doing his best to stop the bleeding before pushing himself back to his feet, more slowly this time. With knowledge borne of some sort of instinct she wasn't previously aware she had, Susan saw the curse sailing towards her and rolled, her ribs crunching uncomfortably under her own weight. The pain of that was almost to much to bear, but at least whatever that nasty curse it was that the Death Eater had cast seared into the ground next to her with an angry hiss. Infinitely glad that it hadn't hit her, she, still lying on her stomach in the grass, lifted her wand slightly and cast a Diffindo towards him, praying to god that it hit. She pulled herself, with some difficulty, to her feet. Her ribs ached. Megan had never experienced a Sectumsempra before; she hadn't even known that such a spell existed until the moment an ugly gash appeared across the side of her thigh, spurting out blood like there was no tomorrow. "Not good, so not good," she mumbled, wincing as the night air stung against the open wound. What a mess this would be, and the Death Eater didn't look even anywhere near tired...well, save for the fact that he'd just been hit by what looked like a rather bleedy spell from Susan, but that didn't seem to be having much effect anymore. The duel had to go on, though. Megan wanted to scream in pain, but that wouldn't really solve anything, least of all defending Hogwarts and everything else they were supposed to be doing. Instead, she opted for a freezing charm and a quick jelly fingers hex, sent rapidly at the Death Eater, before grasping her thigh again in pain. This was going to be a very long night. Atticus's shield went up in time to deflect Megan's attacks, but not Susan's diffindo that sliced across his torso and sent him reeling back yet again. At least this time he managed to keep his footing and he was able to quickly retaliate. He had quite wrongly assumed that a few slight injuries would be enough to send the girls running for the hills but instead they continued to fight and he was the one standing with blood running down his robes. A slashing hex and an incendio went flying towards Susan in the hopes of incapacitating her long enough that his next attack - an imperio aimed for Megan - would hit and hold. No sooner, it seemed, had Susan stood, than more curses came sailing at her. She ducked again, the slashing hex whizzing just over her head, but the incendio caught her hair and suddenly she was overwhelmed by the acrid scent of burning hair and clothing, and suddenly her shoulders and neck were alight and uncomfortably hot and horrible pain burned through her skin. But it didn't matter, she had seen the curse -- whatever it was -- hurl at Megan and she ran at her and pushed her, as hard as she could, trying to get her out of the way. Oh, this bleeding was so not good, and Megan was trying to pull herself back into an upright position, when Susan came careening into her. She could feel the force of the Death Eater's spell whooshing above their heads, but any wondering what it might have been was quickly nullified by the pain of landing on her bad arm (not to mention that her leg was still bleeding pretty profusely). Still, "Thanks for that," she half-chuckled to Susan, though speech was growing increasingly difficult. "Your hair's on fire, by the way." Susan's hair being on fire gave Megan an idea, though, and she sent a quick Incendio back at the Death Eater. There was no reason she couldn't fight fire with fire, after all, and if it worked, it might give her and Susan a chance or way to incapacitate him and get somewhere safer...and less bleedy. Atticus quickly dodged out of the way of Megan's attack and her incendio narrowly missed catching his cloak, instead crashing into the ground behind him and setting the grass on fire. He paid it little heed, despite the fact that he was now effectively pinned between the flames and the Devil's Snare - that could be dealt with once he had finished with these irritating girls. He hesitated for a moment, not out of any notion of restraint or uncertainty, but just so he could take a moment to consider the situation. He needed a minute to think, but he had seconds, not minutes. The one girl was obviously beginning to falter, but the other... If she would just stop throwing herself at her friend to protect her. Well there was more than one way to handle her. Atticus sent a quick blasting curse at Megan as if she were no more than a small insect to be batted away before turning his wand on Susan. "Crucio!" When Susan was to look back on this scuffle in moments after the battle, she would wonder why in Merlin's name she hadn't been expecting the Cruciatus Curse. She'd certainly had enough experience with them to know that Death Eaters were not, exactly, reluctant to use them. But she hadn't been prepared, so when Atticus's Cruciatus Curse hit her, it hit her with unexpected force, such that it seemed even worse than the curses that she'd suffered under the Carrows. How long she writhed on the ground, screaming in excruciating agony, she couldn't say. Her blood was boiling in her veins, white hot knives pierced every inch of her skin, it felt as if her very bones were on fire... And then it was over, and she was limp on the ground. Her wand had fallen out of her hand, but it was easy enough to grab. Her arms and legs were shaking so badly it seemed impossible to hold her wand still, but she did, as best she could, murmuring, "Stupefy." A feeble excuse for a Stunner escaped from her wand, surely it wouldn't hit or even work if it did, she thought, but maybe it would buy her some time to compose herself. The Incendio hadn't hit. Of course it wouldn't hit, why would things go well for them? Even worse, Megan wasn't at all prepared for a blasting curse to be sent her way, and found herself flying through the air before she could really register what had happened. No, she didn't register what had happened until she was close to landing, several yards behind where she'd been, thinking in a surprisingly calm manner, Huh. That must've been a blasting curse, look at all the dirt and grass flying with me. And then she landed. Fortunately, she landed somewhat on her feet, which was decidedly better than landing on her head...that probably would have broken her neck, and then where would they be? Unfortunately, the force of Megan's landing was enough to cause a very loud "CRACK!" and a great deal of pain that she couldn't really identify as being in one leg or the other. "Oh GOD..." she gasped, in as much fear as pain. The Death Eater, whomever he was, didn't look to be stopping, and now there wasn't really anything she could do. "...God..." This was so very bad. Deflecting Susan's stunning spell was a simple enough task; Atticus waved it aside almost casually. Instead it was an uncharacteristic display of carelessness that was almost his undoing. With both of the girls on the ground, he advanced on them, intent upon finishing them off once and for all. No, he still could not bring himself to kill a couple of little girls, no matter how irritating they were, but he certainly did not have any qualms about tying them up and leaving them out here on the castle grounds. He took two steps forward and lifted his wand, sending a silent incarcerous at Megan. But before he could send the same spell at the other one, the Devil's Snare that he had stepped too close to had snaked out and wrapped itself around his ankles. He fell to his knees and his wand slipped from his fingers as he threw his hands out to try and absorb some of the impact of falling. Well. This was certainly not good. Defenceless, he fumbled around on the ground to try and find his wand as the Devil's Snare continued to curl itself around him. He at least had the good sense not to flail against it, although a feeling that was disturbingly close to panic was beginning to set in. The haze of pain and aching that followed the Cruciatus Curse was beginning to lift from Susan's mind, and she was sitting on the ground, shaking horribly. It took a few moments to collect her thoughts and then she saw that the Death Eater was caught in the Devil's Snare. Well. It seemed as though that blasted plant did have its uses. And Megan was really in no position to defend them (not that Susan really was, either, but she was fairing better, at least). But they couldn't just leave him there to die, could they? Surely the plant would strangle him, and... Susan's conscience was obviously getting the better of her. "Lumos maxima!" she shouted, and sunlight burst from her wand, making the Devil's Snare recoil. This was quickly followed by a "Stupefy!" again. Hopefully it would hit and she could drag Megan away. Despite Atticus's best efforts to avoid encouraging the plant, the movement from his search for his wand was enough that the Devil's Snare was growing tighter and tighter around his chest. He could feel his ribs crack one by one under the seemingly impossible strength of the plant and his breaths were coming in shallower and shallower gasps. The spongy vines finally succeeded in pulling him down from his hands and knees and flat onto his stomach and Atticus Avery became quite convinced that this was the end. This was the way he was going to die. He was not exactly certain which was more humiliating; to be bested by children or killed by a plant. And then two things happened at once. His fingers finally brushed against a firm and familiar length of wood - his wand, his precious wand - and a bright, brilliant light filled the night sky. As Atticus was quite suddenly freed from the plant, he looked at Susan with an expression of complete and utter surprise from behind his mask. That was certainly unexpected. And that was all he had time to process before her stunning spell hit him. Later he might appreciate the fact that her attack sent him flying through the air and away from the Devil's Snare should it recover before he did but instead he was unconscious before he even hit the ground. Susan watched the Death Eater, anonymous and masked, soar through the air with the force of her Stun. It rather surprised her, enough that she was still sitting on the ground. She was, at least, no longer on fire, composed enough to move, and functioning. But it was with great difficulty that she pulled herself off the ground, dusting off her jeans, and shuffled to where Megan lay. Maybe, just maybe, her mercy would earn her a favour later on. "Come on, you look awful," she said, bending down over her friend. There was an awful lot of blood, and Megan was still oozing and her leg was kind of angled oddly and it made Susan both very nervous and very sick to her stomach. "We'll find you some -- some medical supplies and fix you straight," she said, even though the burns on her neck and shoulders still felt as though they were on fire. She wished, suddenly, that she had robes to rip up to stop the bleeding, but instead had to settle for conjuring bandages, pressing the cloth against Megan's leg. Oh thank God. Whatever had happened (Megan really hadn't been in a state to be paying attention, and the blood loss was making her focus grow worse by the second), Susan was now offering to get Megan fixed and there was no sign of the Death Eater anywhere. "You don't look so...great yourself..." she quipped with a very brave attempt at a smile that quickly turned into a grimace when Susan pressed the conjured cloth against her leg. "I think...my leg is...broken..." she added, not having bothered to look down and see that her leg was bending in a way that legs usually don't bend. Talking was about as painful as whatever Susan was doing to said leg, but it was helping to keep her from passing out, something she wanted to avoid, at least until she was indoors. "How...nngh!...are you?" "I'll be fine," Susan told Megan in a rushed voice, and after a chorus of, think, Susan! think, think, think! she cast a Pain-Killing Charm on Megan's leg. She didn't know if Flitwick had all this in mind when she taught them Healing Charms, but the man was a fucking saint in her eyes. She tried to close the wound, too, but the charm didn't seem to be working. Must be Dark Magic. "Come on, let's get you somewhere where you can at least lie down." She meant to hook one of Megan's arms over her shoulders, but then she remembered her shoulders were burnt and just thinking about having someone touch them hurt. "Okay, you know what, I'll just levitate you. There's no way you're walking on that leg. Wingardium leviosa." Under normal circumstances, Megan would've found the idea of being lifted up into the air so indelicately a bit unnerving, but tonight, she just wanted to get inside and find someone--anyone--who could fix her. Her leg didn't hurt anymore, but she was still feeling very woozy. "Just don't...drop me..." she muttered, letting her eyes close. As long as she was moving towards the school, and in Susan's excellent company, things would be alright. |