Chapter 18: Desperation

"Crucio!"

Whatever Derek had imagined that Bellatrix had gone through, whatever he thought the spider went through that he himself had practiced on in order to master the spell now being used upon him, it did not prepare him for this, and he promptly forgot his imaginings. The pain that coursed through him felt like burning, ice, the ripping, the slicing of his entire body all at once. And unlike any of those, his nerves were never reduced to the point so that they could no longer feel the excruciating pain that he became lost in. His scream tore into the night just like Bellatrix's had.

Suddenly, the torture was over. "Oh, you will die," Voldemort whispered coldly. "And I will enjoy watching. But I will not take the first crack. Your parents will have that honor. To kill one of their own because they failed to raise him correctly. Ken! Alice!" He called out the last two, and retreated to one side of the circle. "Kill your son."

In a flash, Derek jumped up and flicked his wand into his palm from where he had been holding it near his wrist. He spun around in the same motion, and found the two figures coming at him. The one on the left moving straight toward him, while the one on the right was going around the circle to approach him from another side. The one on the left lifted their wand to point at him. "Avada Kedavra!" From the voice, he found it to be his mother.

He dropped and rolled to the right, moving himself closer to where his father was circling. The jet of green light passed through where he was and struck the ground. It splayed out in a green imitation of a muggle firework. But nobody there knew what a firework looked like, and nobody there was paying attention to the green light after they knew it was going to hit the ground anyway. All eyes were on the duel. The unfair duel. Derek growled. Time to let out all the stops. My decision is made. It's time to commit.

Both he and his father lifted their wands to point at each other at the same time. "Stupefy!" was Derek's call, while his father's was "Crucio!" Both of them leapt out of the way of the spell sent at them, affording neither of them a hit or a second shot at their targets. And when Derek had his balance, he found himself face to face with his mother again.

"Stupefy!" She called, and Derek barely dodged the stunner. He heard a muffled thump of a Death Eater falling behind him a split second later. Using the momentum of his dodge, Derek made sure that he was standing in the middle of his parents and held his wand to one side, his hand in the middle instead of on the handle. It was time for the first trick up his sleeve.

"Duo Stupefy!" And as he concentrated on splitting his consciousness into two separate halves, the spell came out of both ends of his wand. He then rolled to one side, not wanting to still be between them if they both were able to dodge the stunners. When he was clear and he looked back at his handiwork, it turned out that they had. And two more unlucky Death Eaters on the circle found themselves stunned. The first was just being helped to his feet by his comrades standing beside him.

"Impressive, Derek," Ken Fugue said, "You did do as you were told and train yourself. It's too bad your skills will go to waste. You are fated to die this night." And he raised his wand again.

But Derek had time enough for a taunt. "Who said anything about fate? Skill will prevail." He was then forced to dive to one side to dodge the Killing Curse. This time, however, the Death Eaters behind him were fast enough to get out of the way. They had finally learned that this wasn't going to be a quick duel to the death of the teen that had defied Voldemort. The teen had the full intention of winning, as well as possibly the means to do so.

Derek danced away from that corner of the arena that was formed by the circle of Death Eaters and brought his wand to bear on his mother as she called out again. "Stupefy!"

Derek grinned. "Protego!" And the ricochet hit another Death Eater, but this time he hadn't the time to get out of the way, even though he had been prepared to dodge. As he fell to the rough dirt that made up the graveyard's ground, Derek pressed the attack on his mother. "Stupefy! Impedimenta! Stupefy!" She dodged one, deflected the second and the third simply missed her. Derek was then forced to pay attention to his father again as he began to press the attack. Soon the attack was on both sides, and it was all Derek could do to stay out of the way of all the curses.

"Protego! Protego!" He shouted, catching more Stunners on his shield charms. He then was forced to use the second trick that he had up his sleeve. He pointed his wand to the left and mumbled, "Va!" He instantly shifted left far beyond where he would have been able to lean comfortably and was well out of the way of the two Killing Curses that were converging on him. He didn't waste any time, using the shock of his parents to press the attack once again. He knew that he had to fell one of them in this flurry in order to keep going. Another attack by both of them at the same time would probably end up killing him.

He charged his mother, shouting. "Stupefy! Stupefy!" For good measure, he pointed his wand quickly over at his father, never faltering in his charge. "Stupefy!" Then his focus returned to his mother, hoping that he bought enough precious seconds with his barely aimed shot to make a difference. "Stupefy! Stupefy!" But she had been able to dodge or reflect all of them, and he was still charging. He needed a break, and he needed it fast.

"Imperio!" Alice called in a strong voice. And though Derek had dodged it, he suddenly got an idea and pretended that it had hit him. He stopped moving instantly. He knew he was guessing because he was forced to take the risk that Alice Fugue would be too cocky to remember to check whether the spell was working or not, and knelt down on the ground. Alice laughed and raised her wand once again. "Now I hold him. Finish it, husband, so that we can do it together, as the Dark Lord wishes."

"Indeed," replied her husband, but before he could do anything else, Derek had his wand up in his hand and pointing at Alice once again. Since she can reflect my stunners, I must use something that can't be reflected. Something that she couldn't get out of at the last second. The idea came to him, and he didn't hesitate.

"Avada Kedavra!" The jet of green light shot out of Derek's wand, and struck Alice Fugue directly in the center of her chest. Her eyes immediately lost their ire, and she fell over backwards, lifeless. Derek found himself breathing heavily, and at a loud sound he turned back to where his father was, pointing a wand at him. His father was letting out a cry of anger so intense that the Death Eaters near him took a step back. The wand never left Derek.

"You killed her! Not only do you betray us, YOU KILLED HER! YOU WILL PAY!"

Derek had to jump aside in order to dodge the first bit of the next flurry of curses that flew at him, and magical curses weren't the only ones spewing out of his father's mouth at him. Meanwhile, he tried to ignore the fact that he had just committed murder. No! A voice shouted within him. The voice was familiar. Kill or be killed! He had told himself to commit, and he had. There was nothing wrong with what he did. Derek began deflecting the spells being sent at him (the ones that he could reflect, anyway) with a specific purpose. He began to direct ricochet spells at various Death Eaters.

The first hit that Derek scored on a target was a Stunner on Bellatrix Black, who fell without uttering a sound, for once. Derek was glad that she had finally decided to shut up. Other than her, Snape, Derek's father and Voldemort himself, Derek didn't know who any of the other Death Eaters were, at least, by where they were standing. He knew of quite a few of the people that were in the circle, but he did not know where they stood due to the robes and masks. Derek did not try to hit Snape. He wanted Snape to see him win, and pass on the news that the Gryffindor that they tormented was doing just fine without them.

Derek hit three more targets on purpose before he began to press the attack again. "Stupefy!" he called out, changing the dynamic of the duel. "Impedimenta!" Both were deflected, but deflected into the ground. Ken was learning. Where is your resolve? Why don't you kill him? Unless he happens to get worse at deflecting your shots, the Killing Curse will be your best bet. But Derek realized something. Something that made his blood go cold when he realized it, though the slight pause in his step did not end up costing him anything. He couldn't escape.

Oh, he should be able to win the duel. His maneuverability outstripped Ken's by a long shot, and he could dodge the Killing Curse for a while yet, while Ken's ability to do so was limited to the point that a single well-aimed casting would end the duel. But still Derek hesitated, because what came next would be his demise. At the beginning of the duel, before any spells were cast, Derek had tried to Apparate away, finding him confined by an Anti-Apparation Jinx. So getting away by that method was out. When he defeated his father, in all likelihood he would be toyed with by Voldemort for a few minutes before being killed by the most feared wizard of the age.

And he knew that no matter how much energy he had left when he faced Voldemort down, he would be hard pressed to do any significant damage to Voldemort before he was reduced to a sniffling blob on the cold ground. Derek felt a kind of peace descend over him as he continued dueling his father, both wizards circling and casting and trying get the other to make a mistake. A soft glow appeared on the horizon, and the faint moonlight was no longer the only light to see by.

Derek was forced to make a move when Ken gave up using other curses. The Killing Curse was cast repeatedly, and only with clever movements with the Sudden Movement Charm was Derek able to avoid them all. He had to end it. He was forced to take it to the next step. As soon as he had another clear shot, he pointed his wand and called out. "Avada Kedavra!" The jet of green light was heading directly at his father's chest, and Derek knew that he had no more time to dodge. Ken tried, however, but though he twisted away, he was not quick enough, and the curse struck him just below the shoulder. He fell to the ground, lifeless.

There was silence in the graveyard for a few moments, and then the only sound was Voldemort chuckling. He chuckled alone for a good long time. Once he felt that was enough, he spoke, and his voice had a hint of dryness in it. "Well, there goes the ancient and honorable family of the Fugues. Destroyed by itself, it seems. However, there is some punishment that is still in order for the one responsible. Crucio!" But Derek was ready and dodged to the left. Voldemort growled.

Derek was able to dodge two more of the curses, having them hit the Death Eater that was directly behind him at the time. Voldemort never let his curse linger on one of the Death Eaters, and all that was heard was a cry of intense pain. Since it was basically instantaneous, the screams did not affect the assembled nearly as much as the screams of Bellatrix and Derek had earlier in the meeting. Voldemort's eyes narrowed after the third miss. "You are very good, but it's time that you died, young Fugue." And he began to wave his wand without incantations.

The first thing that happened was Derek was hit by the Imperious Curse. He noticed the telltale signs of the suggestions that were being given to him by Voldemort. But normally it could be dodged! All of the Unforgivables could be dodged, in their normal forms! But Voldemort seemed to have a way to bypass this for the Imperious Curse, at least, and Derek found himself walking to the center of the circle and kneeling once again. Voldemort did not pace around him with an air of the gentle master. His face ruined that image instantly now. His wand flicked again, but this time the incantation was screamed. "CRUCIO!"

Derek writhed in the agony that consumed him. It was the same agony that had consumed him not so long before, but it had some differences to it. It managed to put more pain through his nerves, and Derek had thought that they were functioning at their highest pain output the first time that he was put under the curse. He couldn't feel anything but the pain. His sight failed; his hearing failed. There was nothing except the pain, and it lasted for a lifetime before he finally found himself with his sight clearing laying on the ground at one edge of the circle, at the feet of one of the Death Eaters.

"You have been troubling for six years, Fugue. And now your troubling with the effort to remove the taint from the world is over. Farewell, Derek." And he raised his wand.

But this is not a farewell in the fact that you are leaving us. It is a farewell in that we are wishing you to fare well in the challenges that you are heading out to face.

Goodbye, my friends.

"Avada Kedavra!"