Challenge—Without You
Chapter Seven
The chains were rusted and old, Lord Voldemort himself not knowing exactly where he had summoned them from. They were thick metal coils wrapped around one and other forming tight chains; two tumbled forth from the triangularly slanted from the ceiling and two hung suspended from the floor. His body was already limp, having been hexed multiple times. His hair hung in his face, stringy, sweaty clumps of auburn.
Voldemort raised his wand and murmured a soft spell under his breath and the semi-conscious man rose a few feet in the air and hung there. With a quick flick of his wand the chains snaked down and encased the floating man's wrists and feet tightly, to the point it bruised on contact. The chains pulled up and down tightly, suspending the man in air with tight, sharp steel cuffs. Another muttered spell caused the young man to jerk awake, pulling at his restraints. With a cry, blood started falling from his sliced wrists, and he struggled more. "Pettigrew, you go ahead," Voldemort ordered the boy kneeling at his feet.
"I would like to extend my most sincere welcome to you, Remus Lupin." Voldemort grinned and Remus tried to struggle without worsening his bleeding wrists. Raising his wand, Voldemort swing it in a sharp slash. A matching cut appeared on Remus's chest and he screamed loudly, turning his head sharply to the side to avoid looking at anyone. He raised his wand again and again, until Remus's chest was stained crimson and his voice hoarse from screaming. Large trails of tears made their way down his cheeks in and endless procession. The blood ran down his leg onto the cold stone floor.
The oceans crashSirius didn't want to follow to Remus. He knew something was going to happen to Lily and James, he didn't have time to follow Remus on a whim. But he felt something wasn't quite right. Sighing, he flew his motorbike onto the nearest apartment building. Parking it and casting a quick disappearing charm before Apparating down to the corner where he had witnessed Remus disappear.
He looked around the corner, trying to find some stray evidence of magic. He found nothing. No little glittering brick or the scent of burning. There was nothing. He was wasting his time. He punched the brick wall in aggravation, eyes trained on the ground. Then he saw the trail of red leading from the exact spot his standing. With a start he ran forward, eyes still watching to make sure he was following the blood.
He followed the trail all the way to a large storage facility. He listened carefully for any noise, but there was nothing. This was eerie enough for Sirius to want to check it out, anyway. He carefully opened the door, making sure it didn't squeak and slipped in. When he looked at the sight before him he wanted to cry out, but he didn't. Instead he backed into a corner and whispered a disappearing spell.
The crowds roar
Remus moaned in pain, hanging his head, as sobs shook his bleeding frame. He pulled again at his restraints, his wrist bleeding more, but he couldn't feel his hands anymore.
"You looked like you were headed towards the Potter's house. You weren't going warn Lily and James, were you?" Voldemort's voice implied that he was sure what Remus was about to go to warn Lily and James.
Remus opened his mouth and closed it again. "No," he whispered, his voice coming out in a croaking gasp. Sirius cringed in his corner.
"I have ways of loosening your tongue, boy, and you would prefer me not to use them." he smirked. "Or I could use them. I have no qualms either way." His grin told Remus all he needed to know. He was in for pain.
The Death Eaters formed a circle around Remus's chained form. Voldemort raised his wand as though he were conducting. Remus counted roughly twenty people in the room, not counting himself. Voldemort pointed to the Death Eater directly in front of him, to Voldemort's left.
"Avery, you start."
The wizard raised his wand and cried, "Crucio!"
Instantly a fiery pain spread throughout his body, every bone, every muscle, every nerve burning with pain so intense his head started pounding. He heard someone else cry "Crucio!" His pain grew. His fingers were twitching in agony and a cry wrenched its way from his throat and echoed around the room. "Crucio!" Again, the pain intensified. His voice was giving way but it kept ringing, his eyes were tearing, and he was sure that his cut up chest had actually been set on fire. Again and again until Remus knew nothing but pain. His head was splitting, his voice was tired from screaming and his whole body burned so immensely, he was praying for death. Death would be better.
Then heard Voldemort bellow "Crucio!" and all the pain he had experienced so far seemed to fade in the light of this new pain. His insides were twisting and his ribs were cracking from the pressure, his throat clenched up and he couldn't breathe. His pain was so intense he found himself crying out again, and screaming for a god he had never believed in. His eyes were rolling back, and he was sure that he was dying . . . On a signal that Remus couldn't process all twenty curses were lifted at once. Remus was silently sobbing, his aching body throbbing and spasming.
" . . . please . . . " Remus's plea was almost silent and completely broken. The Death Eaters laughed as though they had never heard anything quite as funny as the fact that Remus was trying to plead for his life.
Voldemort looked at Remus with glee. "Tell me Lupin, are you quite sure that you aren't trying to get in our way?"
The days soar
By this time, Sirius was convinced now more than ever that Remus was the spy. Somewhere along the line he had obviously made a mistake and tried to back out. The very same as his brother. He watched Remus panting and crying, and choking on his own sobs. Sirius his heart spasm in pain. This was his Remus and he couldn't do anything.
Voldemort raised his wand again and the chains confining his limbs spread further apart, until he was dangling spread eagle in midair. The chains were pulled tight and the muscles in his shoulders and thighs tore painfully. Remus was screaming again, his voice too hoarse for much to actually leave his lips.
"I would like to try something on you, if you wouldn't mind," Voldemort grinned again, and Remus couldn't respond. "Good, I knew you'd agree." Remus whimpered. "If you've ever summoned a metal pole such as this one," one went flying through the air from a corner in the warehouse, about two inches in diameter, no more than two feet long. "You realize that it comes spinning in a perfect clockwise circle, very, very fast. I have tried slowing it down a little. Let's see what happens, shall we?"
One of his Death Eaters positioned the metal pole at Remus's back, and he cringed. Voldemort raised his wand almost in slow motion and muttered a spell very slowly. Remus could feel the pole slowly twist into his back, but not breaking his skin. Then, very slowly, it cut the skin. With its next revolution it cut a little deeper. Remus threw his head up, letting loose staccato gasps and cries that burned his throat.
He felt it nudged his ribs apart and then, very slowly, the pole twirled into his lung. Blood was already pouring out of the wound and his head spun. He was trying to breathe, but his lung was full of blood. He tried to breathe, but he ended up hacking, blood pouring out of his chapped lips and down his chin. He was choking on blood, trying to clear his air passage, but only succeeding in cutting off his air more.
For Sirius watching, it seemed to take days for the pole to finally exit out the other side of his chest. He had hoped it would go all the way through, but it didn't. It stayed lodged in his chest and he watched as the Death Eaters laughed. He knew Remus couldn't breathe; with every choked gasp and loud, liquidy cough, Remus's face turned paler.
He watched as Remus gradually overcame the blood, and took a shallow breath before choking again. He watched as the Death Eaters laughed, beside themselves. He couldn't decide if this proved Remus a spy or the opposite. If Remus was a Death Eater, would they take such joy in his torture? Or did it not matter to them, as long as they saw blood? He didn't know. And it didn't really matter anymore. Remus was his priority. It didn't matter if they'd be fighting each other tomorrow, today they were still lovers and Sirius knew then that he had to save Remus.
Voldemort was grinning and chuckling to himself. He raised his wand and whispered, "iugulo,"[1] and he heard what sounded like a dying squeal of a tortured animal. He watched Remus's eyes glaze over and he kept crying. He had done it right.
Remus could feel in a single moment his chest tighten on itself, squeezing so hard he thought he might die, and then suddenly he felt his ribs crack simultaneously. He could feel the sharp edges break his skin and rub roughly against his insides. He screeched, tears falling from his eyes and he tried to remember how to breathe.
"I'm bored," Lord Voldemort cried, and his supporters gathered closer to him, forgetting the existence of the man hanging in the middle of the warehouse, struggling for breath. "Let's go to tonight's original plans. You will all follow me, you are not to know where we are going ahead of time. You will wait outside when we get there. I will be doing the work tonight. You will guard the entrance. Understood?" There were various nods and murmurs. He nodded and Disapparated with a loud POP.
As soon as everyone was gone from the warehouse, Sirius rushed forward. He had nothing resembling medical experience, but from what he had picked up from Muggle hospital television shows and common sense, he figured he should try to keep Remus conscious. Using a spell that James had once made up to make pranks easier to do, Sirius levitated himself steady up to Remus's eye level.
"Remus," he crooned in the unmoving man's ear. Remus groaned so softly that Sirius wasn't sure if he had actually heard it, or if he was just trying to convince himself that he had to make himself feel better. Remus twitched, and his eyes slowly opened. "Hey babe," he whispered, trying to blink back the tears in his own eyes. "Hey babe, let's get you down, okay?" Remus groaned again
Sirius pointed his wand at Remus's binds and tried to unlock them. He had tried every advanced lock-breaking spell he knew and was beginning to get nervous. He looked at the lock incredulously, then muttered "alohamora." The locks sprung open, and Remus fell into his arms with a cry of pain.
"We need to find a fireplace. I can't Apparate to St. Mungo's with you like this, okay babe?"Remus didn't respond, his eyes slowly starting to close. He reached down, scooping up Remus bridal style. He took a deep breath, then sprinted towards the nearest apartment building.
He sprinted up the stairs, trying not to drop Remus or let him move around too much and loose more blood. He knocked on the door of D14 and waited until a teenaged girl flanked by two very young boys answered the door.
"Excuse me, but could I use your fireplace?" They looked in shock to the man in Sirius's arms. "Please?" They nodded and Sirius slipped in. They had been sitting in front of their television, which was still running a cartoon. He turned to one of the little boys. "Do you think you could reach into my pocket and grab the little green bag?" The boy complied. "Now take a handful and throw it into the fire." The boy did and the fire turned a violent shade of green. Sirius grinned as the boy put the bad back into his pocket. "St. Mungo's," he muttered and stepped into the fireplace only to find himself . . . back in the hallway.
"Goddamnit!" He slipped back into the apartment. "Let's try this again." More powder was thrown in the fire. He smiled at them. "Thank you." He stepped into the fire. "St. Mungo's Hospital." He disappeared in a huge flash.
The babies cry
James smiled, and wrapped his arms around Lily's lean waist. She slowly lowered Harry down into his crib. She was humming a song to put Harry to sleep, and James was quietly whistling along. He heard a crash. Something wasn't right. He looked at Lily, who looked alarmed, too. Harry had already awoken and was crying loudly, trying to get his parent's attention.
James separated himself from her and turned her around, looking his wife in the eyes. "Stay here with Harry. I'm going to see what's wrong." He turned to walk out the door, and then turned, to look at Lily again. "I know you can take care of yourself, but I want you to stay here or run, okay? I don't want you trying to fight if it gets dangerous.
Lily started to protest. "James, I am just as much a member of the Order as you. I can fight and I can save myself. If something happens I will fight, James." Lily glared at him, but he sighed.
"Lily, please! One of us has to take Harry away, and I think it would be best if it was you, in case something happens to me. You can take care of Harry better than me."
Lily nodded reluctantly, and picked up Harry. She rocked him gently and sang a quiet song to him as James ran down the stairs, trying to calm him and herself at once, but Harry kept crying, even though her strong arms were around him.
They appeared in the middle of the waiting room of St. Mungo's, Sirius managing to step out of the fireplace without dropping Remus. "Please," he croaked, trying to yell and failing because of the ash he inhaled. He cleared his throat. "Please, we need some help!" He yelled. Immediately two Medi-Witches and a Healer came running.
Remus's eyes opened and he stared at Sirius. He found his voice not working, so he mouthed, 'don't leave me,' but Sirius sighed.
"I hafta babe. I'll be back. Stay alive for me, kay babe?" but they were already taking Remus away on a conjured stretcher and pouring a blood-replenishing potion down his throat. Sirius watched Remus until the stretcher had disappeared down the hall, before closing his eyes and Disapparated with half-hearted pop.
[1] Josh found this word for me. It apparently means "destroy, ruin, blahblahblah," if you trust online dictionaries. So yeah. If it's wrong, deal with it. I don't like Latin. I don't know Latin. I didn't want to make a spell, but seeing as this is Josh's challenge, meh.
