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The rain poured down his neck, and his vision was clearly dimmed by the heavy, wet curtain.
Alastor Moody silently cursed under his breath, while trying to keep his prey in sight. If only he had taken the time to don his robe before heading out. But the news of this particular Death Eater being sighted was too good to miss, and he hadn't wanted to let the trail cool more than necessary. Even the few minutes it would have taken to fetch his robe, could have been enough to let the prey escape. He had hunted this one for nearly five months by now. He would be damned if he would let this opportunity slip out of his hands. He'd make him pay.
He knew that he took this chase too personal, but Fabian had been a friend and so had his brother Gideon. Both had been Prewett's, and brothers of Molly Weasley, nee Prewett. The brothers had been ambushed by five Death Eaters, and though they'd both had fought bravely, neither had survived. Alastor had made it his personal task to hunt down all five responsible, and kill them. Or at least have them locked away in Azkaban for the rest of their lives. Although he'd never admit it openly, he'd prefer the former. Taking care of it himself, was immensely much more satisfying. He'd made them pay.
Now only this creature were alive to mock him, and all that separated them was a thin wall. He could see him through the small window, talking to someone. He idly wondered who, but pushed the thought out of his mind as unimportant. Whoever it was were certainly a Death Eater as well, and he didn't particularly care what happened to them. As long as he could take out Jugson, nothing else mattered. Of course, it would be very easy to just hex him through the wall, it was thin and made of half rotten wood, nothing that would stop a well aimed hex or curse. But that wasn't what Alastor wanted. No, he wanted the man to know who got him, he wanted the satisfaction to see the man's face when he realised he was going to follow his friends into oblivion.
He'd make him pay, and that was all that mattered.
Suddenly the light went out and the small cottage laid covered in darkness. The rain drowned all sound, and Alastor went completely still. Was he found out?
Nothing happened for what felt like a long time, although in reality hardly a couple of minutes passed by. Had he lost his prey? He hoped not, he was so close, he could almost taste it.
A creaking noise, hardly audible through the rain was the only warning he got. Reflects toned to near perfection during long hard years as an Auror, had him rolling away from his hiding place before thinking.. When he cast a quick glance back at the spot, the bush he'd been hiding behind was turned into red-glowing embers.
Alastor quickly got to his feet, and Apparated to the other side of the cottage, trying to keep the crack to a minimum. He hoped that there was only two Death Eaters this time, even though he was sure to be able to defend himself there were always the possibility that he'd be distracted and let Jugson's escape. It wouldn't be the first time. With a swish of his wand he cast a Disillusionment Charm on himself, and then swiftly put the cottage on fire. He took a few steps back, hoping the fire would rouse the Death Eaters out in the open. If they weren't already, of course.
A red jet of light shot by him from behind, and Alastor twirled around He hastily cast an Anti-Disapparition Jinx in the direction of the jet, shortly followed by Stupefy. Silently berating himself for letting his wish for revenge getting the best of him, instead of keeping his head cool he realised that one, or both, of them must have heard his Apparition and kept track of his location. He couldn't let himself be that careless if he wanted to bring Jugson down this time.
After a hasty debate whit himself whether he should go and take care of the – hopefully- caught Death Eater or go after the other one he decided that the safer option would be to secure the first one.
He made sure to have proper cover, before hitting the one with an Accio. It wasn't considered safe to use on humans, but he hardly cared what happened to a Death Eater. The body landed by his feat with a dull thud, and Alastor put a Petrificus Totalus on it before checking who it was.
The burning cottage gave more than enough light, and he was grateful about not having to reveal himself any further by casting a Lumos. He took in the long, hooked nose, sallow skin and black shoulder length hair. Not Jugson, but someone quite familiar. Snape.
He knew very well that Dumbledore had vouched for him before the Wizengamot, but Alastor himself were not so easily convinced. He knew a leopard never changed his spots, and gave the the rigid body a swift kick in the ribs before casting an Incarcerous on him. Satisfied with the thick ropes of thin air that tightly bound Snape, he left him lying in the mud, the rain pouring down on his face. He laid there immobile, not even able to blink or close his half open mouth. Alastor shot the man one last look filled with contempt before turning his attention back to Jugson.
On lithe feet he moved towards the front of the cottage, hoping against all hope that his prey would still be around. He couldn't make out any movements, but the rain and the smoke from the burning cottage made it hard to see much at all. He tried a locating charm, but whit out success. Not that he had expected it, really. They were unreliable even in clear weather and rain usually rendered them useless. A small noise to the left made him swirl around, casting a Petrificus Totalus in the direction of it. He felt his curse bounce on a shielding charm, and swiftly threw hex after hex towards his target while carefully moving closer.
His opponent was apparently a skilled duellist, and had no trouble matching him hex by hex. Oh, how he wished it to be Jugson. This time he wouldn't get away, that's for sure!
Then unexpectedly the rain and smoke lifted, and Alastor found himself standing no more than ten feet away from Jugson.
The two men froze for a moment in surprise before resuming the duel. Curses and jinxes flew between them, shattering against shielding charms. The Auror and the Death Eater seemed equal in skill and pace, no one getting to the other.
Suddenly a slicing hex hit Jugson in the shoulder, taking both Jugson and Alastor with surprise. Both of them tried to see who had hexed him from behind, while still keeping an eye on the other one.
By now Alastor was tiring fast, and decided to call for reinforcement. A silvery mist shot out of the tip of his wand, forming an African Buffalo before quickly galloping off.
The whole action took no more than a few seconds, but it was all Jugson needed. He quickly shot a Conjunctivitis Curse followed by slicing hex, hitting Alastor straight in the face. Then he Disapparated with a loud crack, clutching his bleeding shoulder.
Half a second later, a bruised and battered Severus Snape stumbled into the battle ground. He cast a look around, apparently debating whether he should follow Jugson or take care of the unconscious Moody.
Deciding on the latter he knelt beside him and cast a couple of healing spells on his face, stopping the blood flow.
When Dumbledore and the Order of the Phoenix arrived a couple of minutes later, Moody lied on a stretcher with a bandage around his wounded eye and was just stirring into consciousness.
They took him to St. Mungo's as soon as possible in spite of his protestations, but nothing could be done for his eye. The combination of curses Jugson had used made it close to impossible to heal properly.
Alastor refused to stay, and nothing could convince him to return with the rest of the Order to the Headquarters.
Dumbledore followed him home, and tried to talk to him, but to no avail.
He wouldn't speak or even acknowledge Dumbledore's presence, and finally the older wizard resigned and left him alone.
Alastor Moody sat in his favourite chair, staring into the empty fireplace. He knew he had acted too rash, he should have called in for reinforcement earlier. He also knew that his chance to get Jugson was probably gone, the Death Eater wouldn't let himself get caught unaware again.
Angrily Alastor slammed his fist onto the armrest. If only Snape hadn't distracted them, he was sure he would have taken out the other one in just a minute. He had had Jugson, he just knew it! But of course Snape had taken care of that. Once a Death Eater, always a Death Eater. A leopard couldn't change his spots, and neither could a Death Eater.
Alastor gingerly traced the tender skin around his missing eye. He'd keep an eye on that one, that's for sure. Even though he only had one left.
Authors notes;
I want to clarify this to avoid misunderstandings. I really don't care much for Moody. And I trust Severus Snape completely.