V.
"Crucio!"
"Expelliarmus!"
Lucius' wand flew from his hand, but not before the curse came from his lips. Severus' body was immediately wracked in familiar pain. He struggled to remain standing, to lash out once more at his opponent, but he crumpled to the ground after just a few seconds.
He ground his teeth together as his hands clenched into fists, his nails digging half-moons into his palms. His vision darkened at the edges, and he shut his eyes against the threat of a blackout. But then he could only see red, a painful brightness that burned his retinas.
Forcing his eyes open, he reached for his wand, his hand shaking spasmodically. Before his fingers could close over the slim wood, Lucius' foot stepped down on it. "Oops," he smirked down at Severus, "Were you looking for that?"
He shuddered as he tried to resist the pain that coursed through every single cell of his body. A bloody fool, that was what he was... to even attempt to disarm his opponent first thing was downright idiotic. He should have at least tried to incapacitate him first. Perhaps he *had* been working on potions for too long... he had been away from any actual battle for ages. But still, he should not have made such a blatant, ignorant error.
"Give... Merlin... Give it back, Lucius." Right. Because Malfoy was really just going to decide to take his foot off the wand and hand it back with a cheery smile.
He raised an eyebrow. "Do you really expect me to play fair?" To be truthful, Severus couldn't recall a single time in his life that Lucius had played fair. "I thought we agreed to duel like Death Eaters. Surely you're not backing out now?"
"This is... stretching it," he groaned.
"Oh, I beg to differ. Morbilcorpus." As if on strings, Snape's body rose from the ground under the direction of Malfoy's wand. With a smile tugging wickedly at his lips, Lucius roughly thrust Snape backwards.
Severus flew violently through the air, crashing solidly into a tree trunk. He cringed as he heard his arm snap. Lucius laughed. "Now Severus, that wasn't really that difficult. Losing your touch?"
"Go... to... hell..." he spat out, trying to focus through the stars that blocked half his vision.
He smirked again. "After you." He tossed another Cruciatus at Snape before turning to head towards Cecil.
Despite the burning waves of pain that wracked his body, Snape slowly pulled himself towards his wand, though all he wanted to do was to just lay there and die so that the pain would go away. But he knew that death would certainly not come this easy. And Cecil... Merlin, what was wrong with him? He was more worried about a silly child than his own skin.
He moved softly, gritting his teeth against the pain, careful not to make any noise to attract Lucius' attention. But the blonde was involved in attempting to get past the magical barrier Snape had placed around the child.
Snape clutched the wand with a shaking hand and waited until the effects of the Cruciatus wore off a bit more. Then he waved his wand in a circle. "Incendio."
A burst of flames shot from his wand, drawing a burning circle around the child. Lucius stumbled back, his burnt hand flying to his mouth. He whirled to face Severus, anger flashing in his pale eyes. "Serpensortia!" Several large, hissing snakes erupted from Lucius' wand, making their way towards Snape. Their tongues vibrated from their mouths, practically dripping with venom. "You should like this. You were always the Slytherin, right Severus?"
"You would know, Malfoy. Stupify!" The slithering reptiles froze, stunned for the time being. "Retrudo!" Lucius flew backwards this time, his head connecting solidly with the ground and lolling to the side.
Snape got quickly to his feet and nearly fell over, still unsteady from the effects of the curse. But he hurried towards Cecil, muttering a counter-spell to remove the shield after dispelling the flames. He bent to gather the young girl in his arms, whispering a few soft words to her. Her eyes were wide and frightened, but he couldn't be bothered any further to comfort her now.
He turned towards Hogwarts again, but before he had gone two steps, Lucius' voice cracked out, "Imperio."
It was as if every muscle in Severus' body froze. Bloody hell. Why hadn't he finished Lucius off before retrieving the child? Why, dammit, why? Because he was a bloody stupid fool.
He had experienced the Impervious before, in varying degrees of strength. This was a fairly weak one, due to Lucius' decreasing ability to maintain anything greater, but it was still to great for Snape to overcome.
"Give me the child," Lucius growled softly.
He tried to resist the invisible forces that pulled at his limbs, but slowly he began to advance towards Malfoy. In his arms, Cecil was crying and reaching for him. He struggled desperately to overcome the curse, his mind- the only thing not effected- raced to come to some course of action. Malfoy couldn't get the child, he couldn't let him.
But that thought had little effect on his body. His feet kept moving. Jerkily, yet still moving.
He stopped in front of Lucius, no matter how he tried to keep his feet moving right past the damn git. He forced his fingers to cling to the child, even as his arms ached to give her up. Cecil let out another cry as the tips of his fingers dug into her soft skin, but this time he did not loosen her grip. Better to hurt her now than for her to end up in the possession of the Death Eaters.
"Give her to me, Severus." The order was more forceful this time, and even as he fought the urge, he felt his fingers lose their grip as his muscles relaxed.
"Daddy," whimpered Cecil, her tiny hands clinging desperately to the folds of his robes.
Lucius' triumphant smile mocked him. "How sweet, Severus old boy. She called you her daddy. Good to see she has a replacement for the rotting flesh that was once her father. My men certainly had fun with her parents... death, destruction... the usual." Snape's black eyes burned angrily. Sick bastard. He continued on. "You two certainly must have formed quite a bond. Must be very hard to give her up." He smirked. "Now give her to me."
Of course, Lucius would never be content to just take the child. He had to force Snape to physically give her up. A thousand angry exclamations rose to his lips, but none left. His jaw felt as if it were wired shut.
Snape hated the smirk that leered at him from Malfoy's face. He longed to tear it right off. But all he could do was to slowly and mechanically pry Cecil's fists from his clothing and hand her to Lucius. She erupted into a fit, kicking and flailing, screaming aloud.
If he had possessed the liberty, Severus would have laughed as Cecil's hands hit Lucius in the face and her feet connected with his chest. The Death Eater was not so amused. He turned his wand on Cecil, wanting only to stop the infantile assault on himself. "Petrificus Totalus."
That was the last straw. Fighting everything that kept him powerless, he raised his wand, weakly pointing it at Lucius and skewering all his strength to yell, "Consenesco!"
The burst that leapt from his wand struck the Death Eater hard, greatly sapping his strength. The Impervious lost all power over him.
"Expelliarmus!" he yelled, and the wand was instantly torn from the shocked Malfoy's hand. Shakily, he advanced on Lucius. "Crucio," he whispered after snatching the child from his arms. He removed the curse from Cecil, and she immediately buried her face in his robes, crying softly.
He glared stonily at Malfoy. "I should kill you."
"Then do it," he gasped out around the pain.
Snape's wand pointed at Lucius' heart. The killing curse was on the very tip of his tongue, ready to fly and cut down the Death Eater. It would be so easy, just like all the other times.
But killing Lucius would accomplish nothing. Voldemort would send more after him, no matter what he did or who he killed. Death was nothing to the Dark Lord. There were always more to follow.
"Petrificus Totalus." Lucius' body locked up, freezing the hateful glare onto his face. Snape shook away the feeling that he had made a mistake and drew his robe around Cecil to head towards Hogwarts.
He was back. How ironic Lucius had been there to greet him. However, the battle with Malfoy didn't seem to be a very warm welcome.
But then again, what had he expected? It wasn't as if Dumbledore would announce a grand ball to celebrate his return. But hopefully, he would not send him off to Azkaban either.
He stared up at the entrance to Hogwarts. He would soon find out.
END CHAPTER FIVE
Author's Note: Hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I figured I'd better get it out before Mo breaks her computer or something... *grin* Thanks tons to Storm for providing me with a link to find out the names and effects of all the spells. You're always a great help, love! :-) Hope you enjoyed Evil Lucius, as usual!
So I hope you enjoyed your 'quarter pounder with cheese,' Azaelian. Did you want tomatoes with that? ;-)
"Crucio!"
"Expelliarmus!"
Lucius' wand flew from his hand, but not before the curse came from his lips. Severus' body was immediately wracked in familiar pain. He struggled to remain standing, to lash out once more at his opponent, but he crumpled to the ground after just a few seconds.
He ground his teeth together as his hands clenched into fists, his nails digging half-moons into his palms. His vision darkened at the edges, and he shut his eyes against the threat of a blackout. But then he could only see red, a painful brightness that burned his retinas.
Forcing his eyes open, he reached for his wand, his hand shaking spasmodically. Before his fingers could close over the slim wood, Lucius' foot stepped down on it. "Oops," he smirked down at Severus, "Were you looking for that?"
He shuddered as he tried to resist the pain that coursed through every single cell of his body. A bloody fool, that was what he was... to even attempt to disarm his opponent first thing was downright idiotic. He should have at least tried to incapacitate him first. Perhaps he *had* been working on potions for too long... he had been away from any actual battle for ages. But still, he should not have made such a blatant, ignorant error.
"Give... Merlin... Give it back, Lucius." Right. Because Malfoy was really just going to decide to take his foot off the wand and hand it back with a cheery smile.
He raised an eyebrow. "Do you really expect me to play fair?" To be truthful, Severus couldn't recall a single time in his life that Lucius had played fair. "I thought we agreed to duel like Death Eaters. Surely you're not backing out now?"
"This is... stretching it," he groaned.
"Oh, I beg to differ. Morbilcorpus." As if on strings, Snape's body rose from the ground under the direction of Malfoy's wand. With a smile tugging wickedly at his lips, Lucius roughly thrust Snape backwards.
Severus flew violently through the air, crashing solidly into a tree trunk. He cringed as he heard his arm snap. Lucius laughed. "Now Severus, that wasn't really that difficult. Losing your touch?"
"Go... to... hell..." he spat out, trying to focus through the stars that blocked half his vision.
He smirked again. "After you." He tossed another Cruciatus at Snape before turning to head towards Cecil.
Despite the burning waves of pain that wracked his body, Snape slowly pulled himself towards his wand, though all he wanted to do was to just lay there and die so that the pain would go away. But he knew that death would certainly not come this easy. And Cecil... Merlin, what was wrong with him? He was more worried about a silly child than his own skin.
He moved softly, gritting his teeth against the pain, careful not to make any noise to attract Lucius' attention. But the blonde was involved in attempting to get past the magical barrier Snape had placed around the child.
Snape clutched the wand with a shaking hand and waited until the effects of the Cruciatus wore off a bit more. Then he waved his wand in a circle. "Incendio."
A burst of flames shot from his wand, drawing a burning circle around the child. Lucius stumbled back, his burnt hand flying to his mouth. He whirled to face Severus, anger flashing in his pale eyes. "Serpensortia!" Several large, hissing snakes erupted from Lucius' wand, making their way towards Snape. Their tongues vibrated from their mouths, practically dripping with venom. "You should like this. You were always the Slytherin, right Severus?"
"You would know, Malfoy. Stupify!" The slithering reptiles froze, stunned for the time being. "Retrudo!" Lucius flew backwards this time, his head connecting solidly with the ground and lolling to the side.
Snape got quickly to his feet and nearly fell over, still unsteady from the effects of the curse. But he hurried towards Cecil, muttering a counter-spell to remove the shield after dispelling the flames. He bent to gather the young girl in his arms, whispering a few soft words to her. Her eyes were wide and frightened, but he couldn't be bothered any further to comfort her now.
He turned towards Hogwarts again, but before he had gone two steps, Lucius' voice cracked out, "Imperio."
It was as if every muscle in Severus' body froze. Bloody hell. Why hadn't he finished Lucius off before retrieving the child? Why, dammit, why? Because he was a bloody stupid fool.
He had experienced the Impervious before, in varying degrees of strength. This was a fairly weak one, due to Lucius' decreasing ability to maintain anything greater, but it was still to great for Snape to overcome.
"Give me the child," Lucius growled softly.
He tried to resist the invisible forces that pulled at his limbs, but slowly he began to advance towards Malfoy. In his arms, Cecil was crying and reaching for him. He struggled desperately to overcome the curse, his mind- the only thing not effected- raced to come to some course of action. Malfoy couldn't get the child, he couldn't let him.
But that thought had little effect on his body. His feet kept moving. Jerkily, yet still moving.
He stopped in front of Lucius, no matter how he tried to keep his feet moving right past the damn git. He forced his fingers to cling to the child, even as his arms ached to give her up. Cecil let out another cry as the tips of his fingers dug into her soft skin, but this time he did not loosen her grip. Better to hurt her now than for her to end up in the possession of the Death Eaters.
"Give her to me, Severus." The order was more forceful this time, and even as he fought the urge, he felt his fingers lose their grip as his muscles relaxed.
"Daddy," whimpered Cecil, her tiny hands clinging desperately to the folds of his robes.
Lucius' triumphant smile mocked him. "How sweet, Severus old boy. She called you her daddy. Good to see she has a replacement for the rotting flesh that was once her father. My men certainly had fun with her parents... death, destruction... the usual." Snape's black eyes burned angrily. Sick bastard. He continued on. "You two certainly must have formed quite a bond. Must be very hard to give her up." He smirked. "Now give her to me."
Of course, Lucius would never be content to just take the child. He had to force Snape to physically give her up. A thousand angry exclamations rose to his lips, but none left. His jaw felt as if it were wired shut.
Snape hated the smirk that leered at him from Malfoy's face. He longed to tear it right off. But all he could do was to slowly and mechanically pry Cecil's fists from his clothing and hand her to Lucius. She erupted into a fit, kicking and flailing, screaming aloud.
If he had possessed the liberty, Severus would have laughed as Cecil's hands hit Lucius in the face and her feet connected with his chest. The Death Eater was not so amused. He turned his wand on Cecil, wanting only to stop the infantile assault on himself. "Petrificus Totalus."
That was the last straw. Fighting everything that kept him powerless, he raised his wand, weakly pointing it at Lucius and skewering all his strength to yell, "Consenesco!"
The burst that leapt from his wand struck the Death Eater hard, greatly sapping his strength. The Impervious lost all power over him.
"Expelliarmus!" he yelled, and the wand was instantly torn from the shocked Malfoy's hand. Shakily, he advanced on Lucius. "Crucio," he whispered after snatching the child from his arms. He removed the curse from Cecil, and she immediately buried her face in his robes, crying softly.
He glared stonily at Malfoy. "I should kill you."
"Then do it," he gasped out around the pain.
Snape's wand pointed at Lucius' heart. The killing curse was on the very tip of his tongue, ready to fly and cut down the Death Eater. It would be so easy, just like all the other times.
But killing Lucius would accomplish nothing. Voldemort would send more after him, no matter what he did or who he killed. Death was nothing to the Dark Lord. There were always more to follow.
"Petrificus Totalus." Lucius' body locked up, freezing the hateful glare onto his face. Snape shook away the feeling that he had made a mistake and drew his robe around Cecil to head towards Hogwarts.
He was back. How ironic Lucius had been there to greet him. However, the battle with Malfoy didn't seem to be a very warm welcome.
But then again, what had he expected? It wasn't as if Dumbledore would announce a grand ball to celebrate his return. But hopefully, he would not send him off to Azkaban either.
He stared up at the entrance to Hogwarts. He would soon find out.
END CHAPTER FIVE
Author's Note: Hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I figured I'd better get it out before Mo breaks her computer or something... *grin* Thanks tons to Storm for providing me with a link to find out the names and effects of all the spells. You're always a great help, love! :-) Hope you enjoyed Evil Lucius, as usual!
So I hope you enjoyed your 'quarter pounder with cheese,' Azaelian. Did you want tomatoes with that? ;-)