Chapter 47:
Neither of us breaks the stance. It has been five minutes. My arm is aching from the effort. My wand begins to shake noticeably under the strain.
"Come and get me, Tom." I say in a singsong voice. I begin to slowly circle him, neither of us lowering our wands. He, in turn, beings moving, our bizarre dance visible to all the occupants of the castle.
Except Severus.
An unexpected pang hits me as I remember Severus locked in his rooms. It is only a moment's fault, but Tom rushes in, my defenses down.
Immediately, my mind is filled with images I am not controlling. Tom in replaying long forgotten conversations, arguments, kisses and trysts. Happening upon a particularly steamy one, Tom lets go.
"The werewolf?" he asks viciously.
I glare defiantly at him, but an unable to suppress the shudder that rips through me at the violation.
"How many more where there, Bena? How many other does Severus know about?" he is playing me now, and I find myself distressingly at his mercy.
"There were no others." I choke out, my voice barely above a whisper.
"Tut, tut." he mocks, "Though I suppose one werewolf, and this werewolf in particular, would be worth a handful of other lovers. Severus had seemed rather petulant lately. At least now I know why."
He has gotten to me. I am shaking, my body wracked with guilt. I close my eyes, knowing it leaves me open to another attack.
He bursts through my feeble defenses once again, memories playing on my eyelids. This time he is searching for Harry. This realization triggers my mind as I physically hurtle him from my mind.
When I again open my eyes, I am kneeling, my robes damp from the snow. I am panting heavily, glaring at him. He looks quite smug, the bastard.
"You will let me root around with Severus all I desire, but a brief glimpse of Harry Potter brings you to your senses?" he asks, one thin eyebrow raised.
"Get on with it, Tom." I growl. I have grown weary of this game. He could, if he desired it, to break me now with repeated strikes on my too tattered and frayed mind.
"No, Bena. You and I are equals. It does not do to fight you on your knees."
"We are not equals, Tom." I spit out viciously. Nevertheless, I stand, my body feeling very weak.
He begins walking toward me, a move that leaves me completely off-kilter. I stand there, stupidly. He comes closer, so that if I wished to, I could reach out my arm and touch him.
I am standing, but my body shudders every few moments, dissolving and iota of strength I had hoped to project.
He takes another step closer.
"Do you give up, Bena?" he asks, his warm breath spilling on my cheek.
"No." I say quietly.
"You wish to fight me?"
"I wish to defeat you." I say honestly. "But I will settle for simply banishing you from these grounds."
He chuckles, a mirthless sound.
"Enough talk, Bena. Wand at the ready." He instructs.
I raise my wand again.
"Ladies first." He hisses sarcastically, still only an arm's length away. But rather than fire off a spell, I take the moment to study him.
I do not believe I have ever seen him in such harsh light. His skin is deathly gray at the moment, appearing paler because of the intensity of color from his eyes. His mouth does closely resemble a snake's mouth, hips lips almost non-existence. His skin seems stretched taut across his face, forgiving the lines that have naturally begun to show on his former classmates. It is an ugly face. Even now I cannot summon any pity for the wreck of a wizard in front of me. Contemplating him has brought a surge of anger to me.
Me eyes sparkle as the flame within is relit. He recognizes it as well, a nasty smile appearing on his face.
"Ready, Bena?" he asks, the air fairly quivering in anticipation. I nod.
"Silencio!" I yell.
Surprise floods his eyes, as he is struck mute. It was a very unexpected spell, and very sneaky way to commence our duel.
Unable to fire back at me, he glares, waiting for the spell to wear off. Unlike animals, which remain silenced indefinitely, silencio only works temporarily on wizards. In the meantime I pace around, tracing the path out feet have tramped in the snow.
For a moment my eyes flicker up to Hogwarts, searching the windows. There are indeed hundreds of faces pressed against the glass.
I only removed my eyes from Tom for a second, but it proved to be long enough. Released from his silence, he lashes out with fury.
"Inflagrante!" he screams. I suck, and watch the red spark fly into the woods beyond. It strikes a tree, which bursts into flames.
"Estingo." I say lazily, watching the fire go out immediately. I turn to him. Currently I hold the upper hand, which infuriates him.
I may tell you quite honestly, than an outraged madman is perhaps not the best of company.