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Tweak says, "Life Sucks!!! Have a mint."

• problematic immortal caradoc dearborn • (mythoclast) wrote in valesco,
@ 2015-08-25 19:57:00

Entry tags:

caradoc dearborn, derek dobbs, sturgis podmore

just can't win
Of course he meant to set off Diggle, just as purposely as he had meant to shoot out the lights and hex the doors shut behind him. Caradoc had known, even prior to stepping foot in Longbottom Manor, that whatever was left of the Order of the Phoenix wouldn’t be able to help him, no matter how much Emmeline wanted it to. He felt a grim satisfaction about being right, but as he dashed through the empty halls of the house, Caradoc found it didn’t please him as much as it usually did.

Framing Wilkes for murder? That was the best of the Order could provide? No, he had to kill him, he had to be the one to do it, that was the only way this would all end. Or, more accurately---

Throwing open the doors that led out onto the lawn, Caradoc felt his mind fold further into frenzy. It wouldn’t work, nothing was going to work, he had to admit it, he did, he would succumb to all that had finally caught up to him after these six years. And he realized--- he felt tired. He felt tired of fighting, tired of running, tired of being pushed and pulled toward emotional extremes thanks to paranoia, and just for once---

Startled into an almost raged frustration, he howled at fucking Sturgis Podmore suddenly appearing before him. How had he--- just beyond the other wizard, a few feet away surely, was the anti-apparation line of the estate, so he had been waiting--

“What are you doing!?” Caradoc demanded, his wand already raised, already poised to strike. But there was a caution to his command, an understanding that Podmore (if it was even him) knew something, accomplished something that Caradoc could not, and that had him feeling positively ruthless.

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protegos
2015-08-26 03:42 am UTC (link)

Sturgis stood at the ready, his breathing even, his face full of the color Dedalus Diggle's mind searing had caused him to lose. It was strange to think that in the current timeline, he had only just turned the lights back on in the war room, but he stood now in front of Caradoc, an hour removed from the dramatic events. The time-turner hung around his neck, tucked under the collar of his robes, and for now it didn't hang as heavy as it had been for the past few weeks. Nellie had entrusted him with it, knowing the dangerous situations he'd be in, but Sturgis had never thought he'd end up using it, let alone to escape from Longbottom Manor, of all places.

Emmeline's words rang loudly in his ears as he kept his eyes locked on Dearborn. He knew what the other man had set off to do, Sturgis had been watching him throughout his verbal tearing apart of Dedalus, knowing that Caradoc Dearborn was nowhere near stupid, that he knew quite well how unstable the Ravenclaw was. It was why Sturgis had forced his mind to shut down, to focus on the magic that would help him lock away the memories that would surely hinder him useless. He'd managed, for the most part, only momentarily suffering through the echoing of his lost friend's voice before being able to jolt into action.

Do good, Podmore. Well, this was some sort of ultimate good, wasn't it?

He'd used the time-turner to jump back an hour, and he'd hopefully used the extra time he'd gained wisely. The wards on the edge of the estate hummed behind him, and he knew that this was not going to be a confrontation that lasted long.

"It doesn't have to be like this, Dearborn," Sturgis said, voice steady and without hint of aggravation.

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mythoclast
2015-08-26 05:01 am UTC (link)

"There is nothing you can do!" Caradoc thundered, only spurred into an anger more great by the calmness of Podmore's words. He had no idea, he had little idea of how complex of a situation this was. He couldn't go anywhere, he couldn't do anything, except like the fear and terror grip him his throat so much that the only way to breath again would be by showing up at Wilkes' door. It was what the Death Eater wanted, Caradoc knew that, but he couldn't fight it off anymore. His chest couldn't take it, he had become soft in the States, let himself... lose his hard vigilance and cold demeanor and now---

Caradoc shot an orange hex at Sturgis, one that hooked your opponent's wand arm high in the air by the wrist, but the hit-wizard blocked it. Snarling, he jumped forward, keeping one eye on Podmore and the other on the close proximity he stood with the wards.

"You don't get it, no one gets it, there is no we, there is no--- you saw what the Order of the Phoenix can produce! Nothing! There is no other way, Wilkes won't stop, he won't stop until I'm dead. It has to be me, I have to be the one---" Caradoc faltered now, striking again but this time toward Podmore's feet with a charm that turned the ground to ice. Caradoc's face twisted in pain now, a frustrated ache taking over him. He was not well liked, it knew that, so why was it so hard for others to let him submit himself to his own fate?

"It was supposed to be six years ago, I can't keep running from it anymore. It's my fault, it's right payment. It's right, Meadowes is gone because of me, I got her-----"

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monomythic
2015-08-27 11:45 pm UTC (link)

Wordlessly, Derek watched Caradoc crumple to the ground. He could not help but recall the stormy night he had appeared on Gleny and Vinny's doorstep, Andrew in his arms. There was no question that his old foe was getting sloppy. No wonder he'd condescended to seek out Derek's help.

If he'd only known…

"The best way," Derek began telling Sturgis, making a show of stowing his wand, "to deal with Dearborn is not to let him talk."

Derek had no idea how long he would have stood there, in the shadows, observing the chaos and its perpetrator. When he'd heard her name, when Caradoc had dared to invoke it, he almost didn't realise what he had done until he was watching the body fall. The people Caradoc loved were alive. The people he'd let into his heart were still here, and the only reason Caradoc couldn't be with them was because of the price of his own idiocy, his own arrogance.

This was where history books would note the end of his story.

"You'll learn in time," advised Derek, smiling hollowly. "Though the lesson may bear repeating." Before his fellow hit-wizard's expression could fully morph into confusion, he whipped his wand from inside his robe sleeves, Stunning him. Not quite able to bring himself to modify Sturgis's memory, Derek made the encounter dreamlike, something he'd second-guess happening before the truth sank in.

He should most likely apologise later for going off book. But, now, Derek was the only person that could, that would, ensure Caradoc got what was coming to him. After six long years, he would exact the retribution so dearly owed to this wizard.

Hefting Caradoc over his shoulder, he strode the last few feet to the edge of the property line and disappeared with a crack.

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