Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or I wouldn't be posting stories about it here.
A/N: Amelia Bones is one of my favorite characters and I've always found the brief description of her death really exciting, in a very morbid that'd-be-awesome-to-write sort of way. I suppose my Amelia is a bit different from what most people write, but I don't think it's anti-canon in anyway and I hope you like it. There are brief references to a past relationship with an unnamed Death Eater (Lucius, if you're interested) and a current one with John Dawlish, but that's not too central, just back story to my Amelia since I roleplay her on a site where those relationships happened. Reviews are much appreciated.
Whoever said that, "before you die, your life flashes before your eyes," was not accounting for a death like hers. There wasn't really time to think about any of that because all of her (as she would not so humbly say) exceedingly brilliant mind was focused on the murderer in front of her. She was not going to go down without a fight. She would not beg for mercy and she would not cry. There were a lot of things she wasn't going to do, most importantly: survive.
She had given up on regrets long ago. She had no choice. The guilt would have driven her mental. She did not regret convincing Alastor Moody to let her leave Emmeline's funeral alone and give her just an hour. She had been under the protection of the Order a ever since she'd put away all the Death Eaters who'd been captured in the Department of Mysteries and it became clear Fudge would not be able to keep his office much longer. Amelia was next in line for the job and exactly the sort of person the Order needed in charge.
She did not regret making the same request to John Dawlish: just one hour. She desperately hoped he wouldn't blame himself because she certainly didn't want him here for this. Worrying about him would only have distracted her from the fight, no matter how confident she was in his duelling skills. In some ways, it was as if she'd been expecting it. When she'd kissed him one last time before he left for the office, it had felt like goodbye.
She probably should have sent word to Alastor or John as soon as she knew the wards on her house had been broken. It was a lost cause though and she knew it. Her recent actions had put her at the top of the list of people that Voldemort wanted dead. It wasn't worth it to get the Order involved and risk other lives. Frankly, she didn't want to be Minister of Magic. She'd stopped caring about promotions when she started losing everyone that mattered to her. After all, it was hard to celebrate when you got a job because one of your best friends and his wife had been tortured into insanity by your former classmates and your boss was demoted for not showing mercy on his guilty son and you'd intentionally allowed a man it was nearly impossible to doubt was guilty go free because you used to be in love with him and that had to mean that there was still some good in him (and then he proved you wrong and made the same mistakes again).
Amelia swore as she ducked and rolled to avoid the latest of a series of curses sent at her by the Dark Lord himself. With a slight flick of her wand as she leapt to her feet again, the bookcase behind him came tumbling forward. She was still quick. Despite her short gray hair and increasing vision problems, Amelia still had most of the speed and agility that made her such an accomplished duelist. She'd taken Moody's mantra of "Constant Vigilance" to heart, ignoring the people who called him mad. After all, just because he was paranoid, didn't mean someone wasn't out to get him.
A couple books managed to hit him before he apparated to the other side of the room. A dark smile twisted onto her lips as the thought flickered through her mind of what people would have said if the Dark Lord had been flattened under a bookcase. In her brief moment of distraction he managed to hit her with the Cruciatus Curse. She bit down on her lip until it bled as she fell to her knees, shaking but refusing to scream. She blindly shot a hex at him to break the curse and gasped for breath as soon as the spell was lifted. Aquilae Oppugno. She conjured the eagles as she rose shakily to her feet. Her attempt to distract him and earn herself a bit more time worked.
Amelia had, in the short time since she'd realised that the Dark Lord had finally come for her, accepted the fact that she was going to die. Susan was getting to be old enough to take care of herself, Albert was better off than he had been, John... well, he'd manage, and she'd put away everyone who'd had any part in the death of her friends and relatives. Everyone except the monster in front of her, that is. She knew this was the end but she was going to go down fighting like hell.
Impedimenta. Despite her distraction, he dodged the spell easily. Amelia threw herself to the ground as a blast of green light was sent her way. "There is no point in delaying the inevitable, Miss Bones," he told her calmly.
"You're planning to surrender then?" she mocked as she quickly scrambled to her feet.
She didn't have time to get her shield up before she felt several sharp slices across her cheek. She hissed slightly, subtly flicking her wand to send another bookcase crashing. Had this been any other situation she would have been loathe to ruin suck a large collection of books but staying alive was a bit more important at the moment. "No, you are."
Amelia laughed bitterly, firing off another curse before taking cover behind a large armchair.
"You'll change your mind before the end, or you will die... Reducto." The chair in front of her disintegrated just as she lept back.
Confringo. The expensive vase near him exploded. He managed to deflect most of the shards with his shield but she immediately hit him with a blasting spell, throwing him back against the wall.
"Crucio!" He snarled as he scrambled to his feet. She tried to shield herself but his curse broke through, once again causing her to collapse to the floor. Her lip was gushing blood as she bit down and refused to scream, her eyes were screwed shut as she fought back tears. The pain was quickly becoming unbearable. She cried out and curled in on herself just as the curse stopped.
"Reconsider my offer," he stepped towards her as she tried to drag herself to her feet, clinging to an end table as she did so.
"Why the fuck would I free the people who killed my family and friends?" she snarled, leaning heavily on the desk as she wiped the blood from her chin with her wand hand.
"To save your own life, Ms Bones," he explained with a smirk. "Reducto." She collapsed onto the splintered table with a groan.
"I'd rather die."
"Would you rather suffer?" he mused before hitting her with the cruciatus curse again. She screamed but refused to beg for mercy. "That kind of stubbornness isn't going to get you very far," he warned.
"It got me the second most powerful position in the Ministry," she pointed out as she struggled to her feet, breathing heavily.
"I could make you Minister of Magic."
"Haven't you heard? You've already guaranteed me the job once Fudge steps down, well, you and your terrible plans and incompetent servants," she replied with a slight smirk that quickly turned into a wince.
"Pity you won't survive long enough for that to happen."
"I'm not dead yet," she pointed out, silently casting a shield in front of herself.
"One last chance, Ms. Bones, kneel before the most powerful wizard of all time."
Amelia laughed again. He hit her shield with a blasting curse that caused her to stagger back and hit the wall. She was coughing up blood rather than laughing now. The Dark Lord smirked, though she could hardly tell as her vision was just starting to go blurry from blood loss. "You're not the most powerful wizard of all time; you've been defeated by mere children, numerous times," Amelia reminded him, not moving away from the wall as she wasn't entirely sure she could stand on her own at this point. The Dark Lord snarled and flicked his wand towards her. Amelia didn't have time to put up a shield. She groaned and reached up to clutch her jaw, feeling as though she'd been hit.
"You will bow to me and beg for mercy before you die," he growled, keeping his wand pointed at her as he stepped towards her.
"I. Don't. Beg." she replied defiantly.
"Imperio," he hissed.
Amelia fought desperately to ignore the voice in her mind telling her to kneel before him. She would not give him the satisfaction. But it was so very easy to just give in and do what the voice said. It was nice not having to think about anything else for once in her life... Amelia smiled slightly as she fell to her knees, resting both hands on the ground to keep herself up, though she was still clutching her wand tightly.
"That wasn't so difficult, now was it?" Voldemort took another step closer to her.
Amelia smirked as she shook her head. At that moment, she noticed the pool of blood forming beneath her and gingerly reached up to touch her side. She winced and once again bit down on her lip as she pulled out the large splinter of wood. Although she'd never considered herself to be particularly squeamish or overly sensitive about pain, the fact that she hadn't even noticed practically being impaled on a shard of her desk made her feel a bit nauseous.
"Answer me," he snarled.
She kept her hand pressed against the wound on her side and gritted her teeth. "No, it wasn't."
He took another step forward, tangling one hand roughly into her short gray hair to yank her head back. "Answer me with respect."
Ms. Bones tightened her grip on her wand as she stared blankly up at him. She took a shaky breath. "DIFFINDO!" she shouted as she pointed her wand up at him abruptly and a large gash appeared across his shoulder. His hand twisted tighter into her hair before he stumbled back, snarling. The sharp tug was enough to pitch her forward, slamming her head first to the ground. Her monocle cracked as it hit the ground and slid away from her. She could feel a warm trail of blood sliding down her temple. Her vision was swimming and if she thought she'd be living for more than an hour more she might have worried about the concussion the fall was sure to have caused.
"CRUCIO!" the Dark Lord shouted before she could even push herself up off the floor. As she immediately jerked her arm back towards herself, her nails scraped across the floor, catching and breaking in the cracks between the boards, though she didn't noticed the additional pain or blood. She didn't have the strength to even try to hold back her screams now. Her head was already reeling from the fall. Her body contorted painfully as her voice cracked. He broke the curse and laughed softly as he approached her again. Amelia struggled again to push herself up off the floor. He moved much quicker than her now, driving his foot down on her hand, which was still clutching desperately at her wand, until she screamed as the bones broke. He smirked as he stepped back, satisfied that she wouldn't be able to lift her wand again. She shrieked as he jerked her up by her hair again. "You're going to regret that," he growled.
Amelia was gasping for breath as she pressed her unbroken left hand to the wound in her side again, trying to stop the blood flow as her vision was quickly clouding over. She spat blood at him before glaring defiantly up at him again. "I'm not afraid of pain... or death."
"What do you fear then, Ms. Bones?"
Amelia shook her head slightly, wincing at the sharp tug to her short hair. "You don't know how to really hurt me," she managed to spit out with a choked laugh. "You're not much use without your pathetic servants telling you everything, are you?" She wasn't sure if he'd actually punched her in the eye or if he'd used a hex. It didn't much matter. The pain was the same and she didn't have much of her vision left to lose anyway. "I've hardly anything left to lose." It was not entirely true, but Albert and his family were safely out of the country (she'd demanded they leave for the summer holiday as soon as the Death Eater trials had been scheduled) and with the only Death Eater who would have bothered to remember her involvement with John was locked away in Azkaban. They were safe and that was all that mattered.
"You, on the other hand have everything, and you're already starting to lose," she barely managed to hiss as he let her go and she was hit with the cruciatus curse again. The pain was excruciating still but she could feel her body slowly going numb.
"Had enough yet?" he growled. Amelia laughed, though it quickly turned to another coughing fit. She tried to brace herself against the floor with her broken hand but it slid forward in the pool of blood, nearly sending her sprawling across the floor again but she caught herself with her other hand. Her neck almost snapped at the force of the punching spell that hit her in the jaw once more. With another flick of his wand, she was involuntarily forced to stand. She bit back a cry as she tried to still keep hold of her wand in her broken hand and it slipped from her grasp to the floor. She staggered back against the wall, unable to stand on her own. "You haven't answered my question." She tried to push herself away from the wall, swaying dangerously and trembling, though from exertion rather than fear. "CRUCIO!" he snarled just as she'd tried to draw in a deep breath and reply.
She screamed instead as she felt the new wave of pain shoot through her entire body. Amelia had thought that it couldn't get any worse but apparently he'd only been toying with her up until that point, which only made her more angry as she fell to the floor again.
"Well?" he questioned calmly as he surveyed the damage he'd done.
A sharp hiss escaped her lips as Amelia tried to draw a deep breath, aggravating the wound in her side. "I don't beg," she managed to grit out. Her entire body was shaking violently from all the pain. Silent tears were steadily streaming down her cheeks, further clouding her vision. She groped blindly for her wand and tried once more to clutch at it. She couldn't hold back the muffled cry of pain and frustration as she failed once more.
"Crucio!" She crumpled in on herself once more, her voice cracking and trembling as she screamed yet again. This was it then. Through the haze and numbness that was slowly taking over her mind, the thought that she didn't want to die defenseless in a pool of her own blood forced itself to take control. When her left hand accidentally brushed against her wand, she latched onto it tightly, ignoring the pain. She barely managed to point it in the direction where she thought he was still standing and fire a weak blasting spell. It missed its target - not that it really would have done any damage if she'd made her mark - but it was enough to momentarily break his concentration. Amelia pushed herself back against the last bookshelf, using her left hand to still hold onto her wand and also pull herself up.
He laughed cruelly as he watched her struggle once more to her feet, leaning heavily against the bookshelf and the wall for support as her knee threatened to buckle beneath her. She opened her mouth to speak again but only managed to cough up more blood, nearly collapsing again with the effort. She could barely make out the blurry shape of the Dark Lord approaching her once more and her ears were starting to ring, masking the sound of his footsteps. There was a sickening crack as he aimed a curse at her leg, snapping the bone easily. She felt ill as she lurched forward, barely managing to catch hold of the bookshelf to stop herself from hitting the floor face first again. Her body was wracked with sobs as she slowly started to curl in on herself again. The pain was finally winning out over her pride.
Once more she was struck with the cruciatus curse. Her voice was all but gone though she still managed a final bloodcurdling scream. She didn't have the time or the energy to think about those she'd lost or was leaving behind now, everything she'd come to regret (even though she insisted she didn't regret anything), or any of the moments or people who had ever mattered to her. Her life didn't flash before her eyes when her vision went completely black. She was too angry and in too much pain to think about anything but the present, even as she slipped out of consciousness.
He broke off the curse a final time when her screams stopped completely and her body slumped forward across the bloodstained floor. "Avada Kedavra," he muttered as he pointed his wand at her. He would have preferred she suffered longer, but she'd obviously lost consciousness and the longer he stayed the more likely it would be that someone would show up. He cast the Dark Mark over the house and quickly disapparated.