Sing, Oh Muse...

Marlene McKinnon, Ravenclaw alumni, Hit Witch, Order of the Phoenix. Wonderful blonde babe, you'll never meet someone better. Ready to kick some Death Eater arse. But darkness lurks in me as well. Now you must cry for me, for I have no more tears.

[eizagonzalezs]

[cherrybomb-witch]

plantsandpotions​:

Tilden stared down at the body, half-hidden beneath the branches of the felled tree. There was no sign of movement, no sounds or struggle. No signs of life. “We should… we should check,” he said. “Make– make sure.” Maybe he was just unconscious. 

But even as the words left Tilden’s mouth and the thought crossed his mind, he knew that hope was pointless. He’d seen the Thestrals in the trees and that could only mean one thing. He’d seen death. The Death Eater beneath the tree was dead. Tilden was faintly aware of Marlene moving to stand beside him, a hand laid on his shoulder and her words gentle. Yet it was difficult to pull his attention away from the body. Had he died quickly? Maybe even instantly, clubbed over the head by a branch as the tree went down? Or had it been slower? Had he struggled, in pain and fear, as the rest of them traded hexes and insults? That thought made his chest hurt. The Death Eater hadn’t been a good person. Even his final acts had been ones of violence and cruelty. But he was still a person and now he was dead. Tilden wasn’t sure what he was supposed to feel, but what he did feel was sad.

“I probably won’t remember in the morning anyway,” he said dully. The realization of that made the tightness in his chest increase and he shook his head distractedly. “Whatever. Should we… should we… erm… What should we do with the… the body?” 

They couldn’t just leave it there. Even if he was a Death Eater, whoever he was, it felt wrong to just leave his body there. Should they take it back to the Order? To the Ministry? Would they get in trouble for killing him? The pain in his chest was now in his stomach, twisting it unhappily. He knew that he hadn’t cast the spell that had felled the tree and he knew that Marlene hadn’t been at fault – she’d been acting in self-defence and the heat of a battle – but he couldn’t help feeling guilty. Someone who had been alive now wasn’t and it was, at least in part, because of him.

“We should see who it is,” he added, but made no move toward the body. He wasn’t sure he could bring himself to touch it. “See if it’s anyone we recognize.” What if it was? What if they pulled the mask away and it was someone he knew? A seemingly friendly face from the market or the pub? He wasn’t sure how he would handle that. Then again, his earlier words were true: he probably wouldn’t remember this in the morning.

Marlene knew already that the Death Eater was dead. Tilden had seen the thestral, and that all the proof that she required. However, she could see he was visibly shaken, and had no heart to deny him that. So she carefully leaned over the body, and removed the mask. Marlene was not sure what she had expected. Perhaps a disfigured monster. But the face beneath it was only human. Painfully human. The woman’s eyes were close, a trail of blood dripping from the right corner of her mouth. Already the paleness of death had taken over her features. Her face rang no bells in Marlene’s mind. Nothing to indicate who she might have been. Nothing but the cloak she wore, the mask she hid behind and the tattoo she found when she took her arm and rolled her sleeve up to search for her pulse. Voldemort’s mark. A mark of hatred. 

But no pulse. She looked up at Tilden and shook her head with a faint grimace, before standing up and taking a step back. She knew what to do. Stepping into her Hit Witch shoes, she took on the responsibility of dealing with the after effects of this nasty encounter.

“I’ll deal with it” she assured him “I’ll call it in with Law Enforcement, say I acted alone in self defense. I’ll figure it out”. She had a legal explanation to be there, she was part of Law Enforcement. But Tilden was not, and it would have been unwise, to say the least, to mention they were there on business for a vigilante kind of group dedicated to fighting Death Eaters. Now, she’d rather keep Tilden out of the upcoming hurricane. “It’s all right, Tilden, Mr. Moody has a procedure designed for these kind of situations when the Order is involved”.

She conjured her patronus, and a silver raccoon emerged from the end of her wand, tracing a playful arch in the air before dutifully stoping in front of her. When Marlene opened her mouth to speak, the patronus mirrored her voice, all though with a slight echo.

“This is Hit Witch Marlene McKinnon, reporting from Inverness-shire in Scotland. I responded to an anonymous call regarding abnormal activity near pasture fields. Upon arriving at the scene I discovered an estimated amount fo 5 hostiles in masks threatening a herd of thestrals. Upon my intervention, most of the hostiles escaped after a brief fire exchange which resulted in fatal casualty. I require forensic assistance to the exact location of origin of this patronus charm” she informe “This is a code 15152016. Code name - Vana”.

The raccoon twirled once in the air and then dashed off into the sky in a jet of silver mist, disappearing between the clouds. Marlene turned to Tilden.

“That last code ensures that the message reaches Mr. Moody first. He’ll make sure to keep the Order’s involvement out of this” she looked at Tilden up and down and sighed “You should go home, Tilds. My presence here can be explained, but we could hardly justify yours, unless you happen to have cottage anywhere nearby” she pointed out softly “Go home, change clothes, take a warm bath. These things take one step at the time, there’s nothing else to be done about it”.

[cherrybomb-witch]

crabbeapple​:

The Slicing spell hit its mark. Well, sort of. Sep watched the long blonde plait fall away from the back of Marlene’s head and almost winced. She might be an enemy, but she was undeniably a beautiful witch. With beautiful hair. Which he had just inadvertently and unceremoniously chopped off. Considering that he’d been aiming to maim her, though, he wasn’t about to feel too bad about it.

The way the witch reacted, however, you would think that he had maimed her. After a moment of stunned silence between the two of them, she burst into furious tears. Sep took a step back, unsettled in spite of himself by the sheer outrage in Marlene’s voice. 

Surely this would be the distraction needed to let the spider get her, he thought. Only to look past Marlene and her howling upset, to see that his Slicing spell had done more damage than he’d realized. The spell, after its brief but significant encounter with Marlene’s braid, had struck the beast. It now lay in a twitching heap behind her. It didn’t look like it would be getting up again. Sep swore. That spell hadn’t done anyone any favours.

“It’s just hair,” he said with a grimace, refocusing on Marlene. “It’ll grow back. You know, if you survive.” From the look on Marlene’s face, he was a little concerned that he was the one who needed to be worried about that. He raised his wand defensively. “Could be worse,” he added, nodding over Marlene’s shoulder at the dying spider.

Hoping that she wouldn’t be able to resist the urge to glance away, he quickly cast another hex, this time sending a Blasting spell her way. The state of her hairdo would be the last thing she had to worry about, if he had anything to say about it.

Around them, the chaos of the overall attack seemed to be moving away from their immediate vicinity. Sep could still hear screams and shouted incantations in the distance, but there was no one else currently in sight, be it friend or foe. He wondered if the majority of the townsfolk had fled, either by apparation or to the warded safety of their homes. Either way, it felt suddenly like he and Marlene had the whole street, the whole village, to themselves. He grinned behind his mask. This was the sort of moment he lived for.

nThe Death Eater just kept on delivering, didn’t they? Marlene blinked in shock as if they had just told her all of Voldemort’s world domination plans and they were much worse that she could have imagined. But no, it wasn’t that. It was implying that her hair, her hair, was just a common braid you could go and chop off just like that.

“Just hair!? Just hair!? Sure, yours might be just hair” she picked up the remains of her braid “YOU THINK IT’S EASY TO GET HEALTHY HAIR THIS LONG!?” she threw it to his face in a fit of absurdity “I’m giving my life to this damn war you and your buddies started. I’ve sacrificed time, mental health, emotional stability, even the years that are supposed to be the best of my damn life. The least thing you fuckers could do is let me keep my beautiful hair! Noooo, no. You’ve gotta take that away too. What did pretty hair ever do to you!?”

She was furious and it was stupid. Of course it was just hair. Better her braid than her head. And yet...And yet...Why couldn’t they allow her just that pretty little thing? Voldemort and his lackeys already screwed up pretty much every sphere of her life. They had even been inside her head and robbed her of her own free will. Wasn’t that enough? Why did they have to show up and rob her of her own hability to style her hair as she liked it.

Pieces of shit, the lot of them. Starting with the one in front of her. She could’ve hexed them. Given them burning feet, knocked them out, turned them into a shoe. She could’ve filled their face with boils, make the silver metal of their mask heat up and burn them, or simply blasted them off. She could’ve conjured her fire whip and slashed then with it. But when she opened her mouth, the icantation was out before she could even stop to think just how useless it was as a counter attack:

“CALVARIO”

“I’ll show you just hair, mate” she thought viciously as the Hair-Loss Curse exited the end of her wand.

[cherrybomb-witch]

plantsandpotions​:

Not wanting to make the same mistake as the Death Eater and risk hitting his own friend with his spells, Tilden dared not try to aim at the wizard with whom Marlene was currently struggling. She was handling things pretty well on her own, anyway. Instead, he focused on the other black-robed figures, hoping to at least keep them distracted from attacking her. The two who weren’t burdened with a furious blonde on their backs were hard to hit, though, as they dodged nimbly about in the grass. The thestrals, Tilden could only assume, had long since made their escape. That was one good thing, at least. 

One of the Death Eaters turned toward Tilden with an angry shout and he had to throw himself out of the way just in time to avoid the searing flash of green light that issued from the man’s wand. The Killing curse. He’d just narrowly avoided death. Tilden’s heart hammered in his chest.

Don’t think about it! You can panic about that later! He steeled himself and sent a jinx back at the man. It was a Stinger and a nasty little spell if it hit its mark, but it certainly felt like nothing in comparison to what the Death Eater had sent his way. Still, it was well-aimed and a howl of pain and fury issued from behind the Death Eater’s mask. The wizard stumbled back, clutching at his shoulder where the jinx had hit. To compound his misfortune, the Death Eater that Marlene had been wrestling came staggering right into him and the two went down in a tangle of black robes and waving limbs. They even took out the third remaining Death Eater in all their struggling. Tilden couldn’t help but laugh, though the absurd humour was undermined a moment later when the Death Eaters managed to Disapparate. So much for taking them prisoner.

“Yeah… uh… no, I’m alright,” he said a few moments later, when Marlene asked if he was okay. He gave himself a slightly dazed once-over and was relieved to see that he did indeed seem to be largely unharmed. “Couple of bumps and bruises, but nothing serious. What about you? You really threw yourself into things! None of them hurt you, did they?” He peered over at his friend with a lot more intensity than he’d given himself. Now that the enemies were gone, relief was starting to wash over him, making him feel a little light-headed. He sat back on his haunches in the grass and dragged a hand through his hair. “Are the thestrals all okay? Are they even still around?” He swept his eyes over the glen, as if he might somehow catch sight of the creatures.

To his utter surprise, he did. He caught a glimpse of a black tail whipping out of sight into the trees. “Hey! I could see it! How–?” 

His gaze turned slowly to the felled tree. The Death Eater who had been under it when it fell had never gotten up. Tilden had seen the tree go down, its branches seeming to swallow the cloaked man up. “Oh no…” he whispered. Getting up, he hastened toward the tree. Through the mess of branches and leaves, he could see a black cloak. The figure under it wasn’t moving.

Marlene took in a deep breath and pulled her unkept blonde hair into a messy bun, driving her wand through it to keep it in place, and whipping the dirt from her jeans. Was she slightly disappointed with the outcome of the whole situation? She could not lie to herself and say no. It would’ve been amazing to catch one of the bastards and lock him up. It would have been a nice boost of confidence for the Order, for Law Enforcement, and frankly, to herself. A possible source of helpful information so that they wouldn’t have to go around beating the bush as usual. Taking one step forwards for a change, instead of the constant two steps back. But it just never seemed to end.

“Same as you, couple of bumps and bruises. And I think I bit my lip” her tongue darted out, and she could taste a faint trace of blood, but not enough to bother her. She flashed a smile at her friend “ Yeah well, when someone I love gets hurt, I get seriously involved. I’ll survive. I can’t believe the fuckers got away, but at least we saved the thestrals” she looked around. She could just distinguish their forms between the trees “They’re hiding. They’ll probably take off once we leave. They’re super shy creatures. But I didn’t see any of them get seriously hurt so–Tilds?”

She jumped in surprise when she detected the panic in her friend’s voice. Concerned, she followed him to the fallen tree. “What is it?” she asked, moving to stand besides him. She followed his gaze and that was when she saw the black cloak.

She felt a heavy weight settle in her stomach and suddenly she understood.

“You caught a glimpse of the thestrals, didn’t you?” she asked softly “Oh, Tilds” she rested a hand on her shoulder, wanting to wrap her arms around him but wanting to make sure before that was what he needed. By now, Marlene was sadly used to the implications of seeing Thestrals. Death was a risk that came with her job, and unfortunately she had had to see it in the face rather early on in her carrreer. But Tilden? Tilden should have nothing to do with it. This was purely the result of war. “It’s never easy” she carried on “And it never leaves. But you need to understand, first and foremost...It’s not your fault”.

[amberheardnet]

Missing my ride or die #tbt

[cherrybomb-witch]

asphodelroot​:

“Wait, which one is which again?” In her opinion, the specific hierarchy of Dumb Inc. changed by the day, with the foursome swapping titles and crowns like germs. “Or someone would leave their wand laying out in baby-reach and we’d come back to a hole in the ceiling.” Individually, Lily would trust Harry with any of them, but get even two of them together and she’d be wary of their worst impulses starting to bounce off each other with Harry left in the crossfire. She knew how they could be and wasn’t sure they’d adjust so quick to remembering there was a baby involved now.

Brushing a finger along her son’s plump, chubby soft cheek (was there anything better than baby cheeks? Maybe baby toes.) Lily gave a sympathetic nod. She felt that same awe every time she looked at him. “I hope he always smiles that that,” she said. “I worry that he won’t.” That was a soft confession, an airing of that fear that gripped her sometimes, unshakeable. He was pure and innocent and how long could that possibly last in this world, that wanted his mum dead for existing and his father crucified for loving the wrong person. “You’ll make sure that he always has something to smile about, right?”

“Well, I know Dumb by Association is usually Remus, but outside of that, it’s pretty much relative. All though I think your husband might be turning it down a notch or two, which honesty, thank God” she giggled. Those four pretty much juggled the roles between each other, and it was impossible to keep a track of them. You just had to go with whomever was doing the most mess each day. 

Marlene gripped Harry’s tiny hand and faked biting his little fingers, when in truth she just pressed lots of kisses on them, causing the baby to laugh and for her to chuckle with him. She straightened her back at Lily’s sudden comment, frowning slightly as she realized what troubled her best friend’s mind. “Oh, Lils” she sighed, wrapping an arm around her shoulders while still holding baby Harry with the other. “Hey, this little fellow came to bring joy into all our lives. He’s got plenty to smile about. He’s got the most amazing parents in the world, the goofiest, kindest uncles in the world, a super cool aunt, if I might say so myself. He is loved, and looked after. And we’re all going to go out of our way to make sure he laughs every single day, I promise”. She grinned brightly at her friend. Marlene wasn’t doing much smiling these days, but for Lily, she could be honest. For Harry, she would smile and laugh as carefree as she might have been before the war started.

“Lily, I promise. As long as I live and breath, I will personally make sure this kid laughs every single day. And if I die, I’ll find a way to make it work from beyond the grave, you have my word”.

[crabbeapple]

cherrybomb-witch​:

“Well, you don’t know what New York is, mate, so your stupidity still stands in question” Marlene pointed out with a roll of her viridian eyes. Perhaps Voldemort might be aiming for purity, but apparently being cultured did not have to be included in the pack.

That day just kept on giving, didn’t it? First giant spiders, and now one of those Death Eaters that was clearly off the wagon with an appetite for chaos and not of the good kind. She enjoyed banter as much as the next fighter, but sometimes you just wanted your opponents to be quiet and give up like good little bad guys. Was it so much to ask really? Did they have to insist on trying to win aaaall the time? “It’s probably a case of the Fragile Egos” she thought ironically.

“Oh, I know they’re wicked smart. Doesn’t make them any less nasty or any less scary” she danced away nimbly from the hexes thrown her way “Easy to say when one of the sides probably offers you an endless supply of fresh human being for dinner. Is that how your precious Dark Lord plans to dispose of the bodies of all those he will commit genocide on?” Rather than firing a hex that would inevitably bounce off his shield charm, Marlene jumped on top of a cart that had been abandoned in the flee, and pushed over what looked like a barrel of butterbeer, sending it rolling over towards the Death Eater in hopes of breaking his concentration.

Normally, Marlene would’ve ignored the heads up, taking it as a cheap attempt to distract her, but she could hear the screaming behind her. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the wizard swinging his broom around like one would to scare of a spider. Of course, a regular sized one. Not the Godzilla of all spiders.

“Bloody Hell” Marlene cursed under her breath. She couldn’t catch a breath. “Well, I’ll have to cut your show short with commercials. First we have an advertisement on how to get rid of vermin” she conjured a swarm of hornets and sent them flying towards the Death Eater’s head to keep him occupied while she sprinted towards the spider, firing hexes at it and occasionally throwing a random jinx over her shoulder in case the Death Eater managed to escape her spell. “Stupify!” she shouted, aiming her wand at the giant hairy eight-legged ball.

“Good idea!” Sep crowed cheerfully, dodging around the barrel that was sent trundling at high speed in his direction. “I’ll pass it along to the Dark Lord! Hate a mess and all!” Behind him, the barrel collided with a wall and broke apart in a great wave of butter beer.

Of course, he wouldn’t dare to actually approach the Dark Lord so lightly, but Marlene was obviously furious and it was fun to play with that. If it made her trip up, all the better, but even if she was able to keep her wits about her, it was fun simply shouting insults and jabs back and forth.

Less fun was a swarm of hornets suddenly surrounding his head. Sep yelped in alarm, swatting at the insects as they buzzed angrily around him. Within seconds they were stinging, sharp pain pricking his head and neck as they struck. 

“Oi! Hey! Gerroff me!” Sep shouted, stumbling back several steps as he tried to ward the hornets off. When simply flapping his arms around proved fruitless, he remembered that he was, in fact, a wizard and cast the first spell that came to mind. A deluge of cold water came out of his wand, sweeping unnaturally through the air around him and engulfing him and the swarm alike. On the bright side, it worked to knock the insects from the air, their delicate wings unable to combat the water. On the downside, it left Sep’s entire upper half completely soaked. He gave his head a shake, droplets of water arcing away from his hair. 

Luckily, all of his jumping about had apparently saved him, as he staggered to one side just in time to avoid a hex Marlene sent over her shoulder at him. “Hey!” he shouted, unrighteously furious at the way the tables seemed to have turned in the last several moments. Marlene was scarcely even paying attention to him, most of her focus on the spider and the broom-wielding man it was trying to attack. 

To his further chagrin, the Stunning spell Marlene sent the spider’s way hit its mark. The creature stumbled, but didn’t seem to be knocked entirely senseless. They had thick hides, it would seem. It turned the spider’s attention away from the man with the broom, though, and the latter took the opportunity to dash away. Pity.

“Spoilsport!” Sep said, lunging back into the fray and shooting a Slicing curse at Marlene. At least with the spider now focusing on her as well, she would continue to be distracted. He’d happily exploit the advantage.

[cherrybomb-witch]

Her conjured hornets seemed to do the trick, thank God. Of course, she’d never doubted they would, not so much because of her talent, but because well...Hornets! Nobody liked hornets, whether they were conjured or real. She knew the stings were not real, but the pain, while temporary, certainly was. It allowed her enough time to deal with the giant spider. Or at least, draw its attention away from the innocent bystander. 

Turning back to the cloaked figure, she found herself giggling with her lips pressed together at the sight of him, all soaked and trying to shake off the water like a dog, the weight of his wet clothes making him look like a giant black blob, melting into a puddle. Merlin, this had to be the most surreal battle she’d had in a while.

But as that day was quickly proving, it clearly had no intentions whatsoever of running smoothly for her. The spider, recovered from the Stunning spell, was crawling towards her on all eights. 

She could hear the Death Eater complaining in the backgroun. “Hey, if you don’t like the show, go somewhere else!” she hissed, sounding more annoyed than anything. She currently had a feast of hairy legs crawling her way, she did not have time to deal with the Death Eater’s complains. 

The spider was almost upon her, in a way that she could either turn her back to it, or to her human enemy. Considering the hairy legs were almost wrapped around her, she wasn’t given much of a choice, and she was forced to turn her back to her enemy at the same time that she ducked to avoid the spider’s attach.

She felt the force of the slicing curse, and for an irrational moment, was certain that it had chopped off the entire back of her head. She certainly felt light headed. But when she looked to the ground, she realized her head was intact, but her long blonde braid had been sliced in half, and now two thirds of her long golden main were laying at her feet.

And suddenly, she burst into tears.

“YOU BLOODY ARSE! YOU CUT MY HAIR!” she gasped, feeling her cheeks burning with anger and the entire absurdity of the situation. She was just so tired of it all. The constant fighting, the taunting, the seemingly endless supplies of arseholes Voldemort was constantly pulling out of the sleeves of his robes. Every day a new threat. She was so fucking done with the war. Changing every aspect of her life. Even her haircut.

[cherrybomb-witch]

plantsandpotions​:

Despite the near-miss of the curse, Tilden’s attention was pulled across the glen by the shout of an Unforgivable. His heart stuttered in fear, but the Torture curse wasn’t followed by any screams, just a mighty groan of rended wood. The reason for this became clear a moment later, as Marlene called out for him to watch out, an instant before a tree at the edge of the clearing thundered to the ground. It was too far away to reach Tilden, but he leapt back anyway, catching a glimpse of a dark-robed figure disappearing beneath the mass of branches.

He couldn’t afford to be distracted by Marlene’s side of the fight for long, however. The Death Eater who had cast the dust spell sent another curse his way, a blast of fiery purple light that Tilden was barely able to dodge. He felt the heat of the spell graze past him and smelled burnt fabric. The sleeve of his robe was on fire. With a shout of alarm, Tilden dropped to the ground, landing on his arm to smother the flames before they could spread. As he did so, he felt – and saw – the Disillusionment charm fall away. Whether it was an effect of the curse or simply a consequence of his wavering concentration, he couldn’t say, but he was now visible once more. Swearing, Tilden scrambled back to his feet as the Death Eater shouted in victory.

“There you are, you bastard!” the masked wizard growled. Tilden could see the next attack coming and cast a Shield charm just in time, blocking the curse. Through the invisible barrier, he took in the state of the battle.

The Thestrals were still semi-visible from the dust spell, shimmering as they cantered about in panic. They seemed to have moved from the centre of the action, at least, no doubt taking advantage of the Death Eaters’ distraction. Good. Tilden didn’t really fancy getting trampled by the very creatures he was trying to save. Also good was the reduced number of enemies on the field. Marlene seemed to have taken out the two on her side of the glen, between her initial Stunning spell and the one taken out by the tree. To Tilden’s alarm, she’d now raced to close some distance between them and had leapt onto the one who he had disarmed. The Death Eater had just found his wand again, straightening up victoriously, only to have Marlene crash into his back. He gave a rough yelp of furious surprise.

“Fuck,” growled the other Death Eater, looking over his shoulder at the state of his companions. He aimed his wand, not at Marlene or Tilden, but the Death Eater who lay in the grass, stunned. “Renervate!” he cast. The fallen wizard stirred with a groan and Tilden muttered an oath. They were back to being outnumbered. 

Yet the Death Eaters didn’t seem that celebratory anymore. “Get on your fuckin’ feet!” the one that seemed to be in charge shouted at the one he’d just awoken. “Leave the beasts and let’s get outta here!” Then he whirled to face Marlene and the wizard she was struggling with. “Get off him, mad bitch!” He hurled a curse her way, and the Death Eater in her grasp had to do his best to dodge.

“OI!” he shouted. “Watch it!” He was flailing his arms, trying to disentangle himself from Marlene. Tilden took the opportunity to aim a spell of his own – another Stunner – at the ringleader. The Death Eater leapt to the side and threw up a Shield charm of his own.

Tilden’s disillusionment charm had worn off. Marlene’s had vanished too pretty much the moment she’d charged against the Death Eaters. But she refused to grant them the advantage just because they were now visible. That dirty prick was not going to get his ugly wand or greasy hands nowhere near either Tilden nor the thestrals. Not if she had a say in it. And as usual, Marlene always had something to say, even when no one had asked for it.

“I’m going to make sure they build a special ward in Azkaban just for sick people like you, abusing of innocent creatures who have done you now harm. Who wish only to live in peace” she hissed menacingly in the Death Eater’s ear, as he tossed and turned like a mechanic bull. She had a flash of a memory of riding one when she was little. She’d fallen off the damn thing and it had hit her on the back of the head, knocking her unconscious and giving her a nasty cut. She had no intention neither of falling or losing consciousness now. 

For some reason, she found it hysterical when the leader of the Death Eaters tried to free they’re mate from her grasp, but only managed to fire a few hexes that the other Death Eater was forced to avoid rather than risk being hit by them too. The simply stupidity of it all seemed pulled out straight out of a sitcom. These. These were the moments when she remembered that behind those cruel masks, there were people. Actual people. Clumsy, stupid, impulsive, brave, shrewd. The thought was on one side comforting, since it reminded you that in the end, what you were fighting against was no more inmortal than you were. On the other side, it was enough to send chills down her spine at the idea that a human being could become so corrupted.

She wanted to subdue that Death Eater. Take him into custody. Finally taste a good slice of victory after so much defeat. But as the other Death Eater kept firing hexes at them, she realized with a tight, bitter not that it would not be possible. She’d have to let her prey go, or risk getting herself killed. And she was of little use dead. Certainly wouldn’t be taking anyone in custody if that happened.

“Pity” she sighed, still speaking in the Death Eater’s ear “I was looking forward to seeing your pretty face. I bet black and white striped would’ve looked amazing on you”.

With those last taunting words, she jumped from the Dark Lord’s follower’s back, using the momentum to push them forward against their teammates, causing them all to topple on top of the other, giving enough time for her to chase off the last few remaining thestrals, and motion to Tilden to make a run for it. But apparently, it wouldn’t be that necessary. 

The Death Eaters, still only half standing, half laying all on top of each other like a grotesque black insect, disapparated, leaving only her and Tilden in the glade, which suddenly grew very silent as the last echoes of the thestrals’ hooves faded into the distance.

Marlene took in a deep breath and pushed her hair away from her sweaty forehead “Are you hurt, Tilds?” she asked her friend.

[cherrybomb-witch]

crabbeapple​:

Sep, who had initially bristled at the witch’s disdain for his lack of geographical know-how, snorted a laugh at her follow-up rebuke. “Well, it’d be a bit stupid of me to bring a load of spiders into the village if I was gonna be squeamish about them hurting people,” he pointed out. Ha! he thought. Who’s the dumb one now? He grinned behind his mask. He was enjoying this back and forth more than he’d expected, though he still kept a wary eye on her wand.

Not to mention their surroundings. At any moment reinforcements could show up to come to Marlene’s aid, or a spider could decide they looked like a tasty pair of snacks. He couldn’t let himself get too distracted. 

Which was for the best, as Marlene combined her next question with a hex. Sep dodged to the side and cast a Shield spell, which deflected the hex into a window across the street from them. It shattered in a flurry of glass. Sep laughed, adrenaline running through him. This was what he lived for.

“Don’t think so little of them!” he said, shooting a Stinging curse back at her. “They’re smarter than most of your lot, I’d say! They know which side is best for them!” She certainly didn’t need to know the difficulties they’d gone through to convince the spiders to help them, nor how close he’d come to getting eaten by them on a couple of occasions. He followed up the Stinging hex with another Shield charm, in case she was quick to counter the attack.

“Look, babe, I’m not the one with all the questions and comments here,” he added. Her anger was so palpable that it was almost more fun to tease her than to shoot curses her way. Sep loved a good fight, when fury hummed in the air like an electric charge and every word and step was thrumming with potential violence. It was the sort of thing that made him feel powerful. That made him feel alive.

Over Marlene’s shoulder, he spotted another pony-sized spider chasing after a shopkeeper. The wizard must have been caught without his wand handy, because he was doing his best to fend the beast off with a broom. Apparently not the flying sort either. “Heads up!” Sep called to Marlene, nodding in the direction and hoping to catch her with the distraction. “Reckon this’ll make for a good show in a minute!”

“Well, you don’t know what New York is, mate, so your stupidity still stands in question” Marlene pointed out with a roll of her viridian eyes. Perhaps Voldemort might be aiming for purity, but apparently being cultured did not have to be included in the pack.

That day just kept on giving, didn’t it? First giant spiders, and now one of those Death Eaters that was clearly off the wagon with an appetite for chaos and not of the good kind. She enjoyed banter as much as the next fighter, but sometimes you just wanted your opponents to be quiet and give up like good little bad guys. Was it so much to ask really? Did they have to insist on trying to win aaaall the time? “It’s probably a case of the Fragile Egos” she thought ironically.

“Oh, I know they’re wicked smart. Doesn’t make them any less nasty or any less scary” she danced away nimbly from the hexes thrown her way “Easy to say when one of the sides probably offers you an endless supply of fresh human being for dinner. Is that how your precious Dark Lord plans to dispose of the bodies of all those he will commit genocide on?” Rather than firing a hex that would inevitably bounce off his shield charm, Marlene jumped on top of a cart that had been abandoned in the flee, and pushed over what looked like a barrel of butterbeer, sending it rolling over towards the Death Eater in hopes of breaking his concentration.

Normally, Marlene would’ve ignored the heads up, taking it as a cheap attempt to distract her, but she could hear the screaming behind her. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the wizard swinging his broom around like one would to scare of a spider. Of course, a regular sized one. Not the Godzilla of all spiders.

“Bloody Hell” Marlene cursed under her breath. She couldn’t catch a breath. “Well, I’ll have to cut your show short with commercials. First we have an advertisement on how to get rid of vermin” she conjured a swarm of hornets and sent them flying towards the Death Eater’s head to keep him occupied while she sprinted towards the spider, firing hexes at it and occasionally throwing a random jinx over her shoulder in case the Death Eater managed to escape her spell. “Stupify!” she shouted, aiming her wand at the giant hairy eight-legged ball.

[cherrybomb-witch]

crabbeapple​:

Why Did It Have to Be Spiders? || Septimus & Marlene || Sep. 28th 1980.

Things were going surprisingly well. Sep had apparated to the relative safety of the roof of The Three Broomsticks and was watching the chaos unfold. The spiders seemed to be sticking to their word and weren’t attacking the Dark Lord or any of his followers, but Sep was still keen to stay out of their way as much as possible. For all he knew, they might get over-excited and forget who was on their side and who wasn’t. He’d lost sight of Lord Voldemort for the moment, as well as Snape and the other Death Eaters, but he wasn’t too worried, distracted by the sight of the massive spiders running riot. Every now and then he spotted a black-robed figure in a mask, but had no sure way of knowing who was who from his perch on the roof. 

He’d been nervous leading up to this attack. The Dark Lord had been confident that he could dismantle Dumbledore’s ward around the Forbidden Forest enough to let some of the Acromantulae who lived within the trees through, but Sep hadn’t been able to stop his heart from hammering at the thought of coming face to face with the beasts again. They’d been pretty keen to eat him both previous times he’d met with them and he wasn’t sure how many more times his luck would hold out. On top of that, Snape had seemed even grouchier and sullen than usual, which had only further put Sep on edge. 

His mood was much improved now, though, and he hummed a jaunty little tune as he watched a medium-sized spider chase a witch down the street below. The creature soon had the woman cornered in the doorway of the pub, right below where Sep sat. He leaned forward, interested to see what the kill would look like. 

Only to be disappointed when the prey promptly escaped, as the spider was distracted by a furious screech. A familiar blonde witch was making a beeline for the spider, firing a quick pair of spells at it. To Sep’s dismay, the spells hit their mark and he barely had time to lean back out of the way before the spider violently exploded. A dismembered leg flew through the air where Sep’s head had been a moment earlier.

“Oi!” he shouted, unjustifiably irked by this development. With a snap of Apparation, he disappeared from the rooftop and reappeared down on the street, wand raised and glare aimed at the witch. Her name was Marlene Something-Or-Other and he recognized her not only as one of Dumbledore’s lot, but a Hit Witch, too. A dangerous opponent, but no one that Sep didn’t think he could take in a pinch. She was snarling at him now and Sep prepared himself to cast a Shield charm, lest she try to blow him up, too.

“Where the fuck’s Manhattan?” he asked. “Maybe have a look around, babe, before you start poking fun. Bit mean-spirited, don’t you think? All these poor folk getting attacked and you’re making jokes.” He clicked his tongue in mock disappointment.

She saw the cloaked figure disappear from the rooftop, only to pop in front of her seconds laters, but Marlene was ready to confront him. She offered hima glare filled with contempt. She remembered the times in which her heart would race wild at the sight of those dark figures with silver masks, thinking about the murderer that hid behind, about how perhaps she had crossed paths with them a thousand times and never knew. Just a year ago, that thought alone would threaten to take the heart of her, and she’d have to fight and swallow her fear like a bad pill. Now? Now she just wanted them gone so that she could enjoy one bloody day in peace without having to be called into action because they’d decided to blow something up. She was really, really getting tires of them and their stupid masks and their fucking curses.

“Where the fuck’s Manhattan?” she repeated in disbelief “Oh, c’mon. Manhattan? Seriously? New York? No? No bell? Damn, the Dark Lord really has low standards for his soldiers” she rolled her eyes “Says the one who was one spell short of summoning a bowl of popcorn while that poor woman was on the verge of becoming spider food. You’re revolting” she pointed out. Maybe she used humor and sarcasm as a bit of a coping mechanism. But in her own experience, there were worst habits to pick up as coping mechanism.

“How’d you get the nasty hairy beasts to follow your orders anyways?” she asked, genuinely curious, her tone casual, even as she fired a hex towards the Death Eater. Perhaps her casual tone of conversation might distract them, maybe not. In any case, Marlene always tried to fire first, she found that it gave her a certain advantage, if only to get her head in the game. “So, are we going to fight or exchanging friendly banter? Because I’ll admit, the second option does sound better, but unfortunately unlikely”.

[cherrybomb-witch]

Why Did It Have to Be Spiders? || Septimun & Marlene || Sep. 28th 1980.

Spiders! Why did it have to be spiders? Marlene already hated them well enough when they were tiny and meant her no harm at all. But giant spiders who were constantly gloating about what a nice meal they’d make out of her was a whole new level of “ICK!”.

Though compared to the many other atrocious attacks Voldemort and his followers had unleashed in the past, this one seemed almost childish (if it wasn’t for the human-eating part of the spiders), Marlene found herself almost wishing she could face a couple of lose dementors instead (and dementors were particularly brutal to her fragile emotional stability!). At least they talked less and weren’t covered in hair.

“I swear on Merlin and the All-Mighty God!” she hissed, blasting a couple of smaller acromantulae from her path “I’m going to fully dedicate myself to develop a spell that shoots spider repellent out of my wand! Ugh! Bloody Hell!”. She raised her left foot after stepping on the discarded body of one of the nasty little beasties and swore loudly. Now her favourite pair of combat boots were ruined.

She heard a scream a couple of streets ahead, so she stopped wasting time on the unfortunate incident with her boots, and rushed towards the sound. A spider, far larger than the one she had blaster a few blocks back, was looming above a cornered woman, with the dark cloaked figure of a Death Eater lurking close by. Marlene slipped her fingers into her mouth and emitted a well-tuned whistle.

“Oi! Fly-breath! How would you like a little hot on your arse?” she screamed, catching the attention of the acromantula and drawing it away from the terrified woman, giving her the chance to escape. Marlene did not waste time either, and before the spider had even started walking towards her, she fired a stunning spell followed by an exploding charm. The spider squealed, froze and then blew up in bits and pieces. Marlene made a disgusted face, and kicked a hairy limb out of her way, before turning to face the Death Eater.

“Nice little stunt you lot have pulled this time” she pointed out, almost casually, while uncoiling her favourite fire whip from the end of her wand “Really wish I had seen Voldemort’s face when he announced you would be unleashing spiders in town like the plot of a lame Hollywood movie about giant creatures attacking Manhattan or something”

@crabbeapple

[harrypotterhousequotes]

RAVENCLAW: “Wild nights are my glory.” –Madeleine L'Engle (A Wrinkle in Time)

[cherrybomb-witch]

on-borrxwed-time​:

If he had been paying attention and the excitement buzzing in his blood had been less intense he might have noticed the tremble in Marlene’s voice and he might have seen it for what it was - fear that lingered all around them all the time. The same fear that kept giving him nightmares at night when he woke up covered in sweat and searching for a warm body beside him to make sure that Lily was there, that she was still safe, that their small family was intact. It was the same fear that still poisoned his mind, whispering sweet promises of security if only they’d abandoned the fight and fled the country, the continent and settled somewhere no one would think to look. The same fear that he had to shake off daily before he could plaster on his vibrant smile on go about his day. 

But he was excited, he was anxious in the best possible way to get out of Marlene’s apartment so that he could finally show her what he had come up with, what his brilliant, mischievous mind cooked up in between one hurt heartbeat and the next one. So before he could think about her words, could process why the joke suddenly took a turn too close to home they were stepping into their childhood comfort zone. A place where they had talked about their future in all the brightest colours, weaving dreams so fantastical that they’d end up laughing until their bellies hurt. No thought spared to where they would like to be buried. 

‘Would you, though? I swear kids nowadays get smaller and smaller. I’d feel bad about being mean to them. And who knows? Maybe they could teach us something!’ He suggested with a raised eyebrow. ‘ I mean look at how innovative we were.’ As he was saying that he followed in Marlene’s footsteps crossing the river, carefully balancing on the moss covered stones. They seemed smaller under his feet, though no less sturdy and secure. His body immediately recalled where to step to avoid the more slippery sides, where to step to not trip over a ragged edge almost as if no time had passed between their last visit and now. 

With absurdly little grace he settled on his knees on the rock and crawled over it to sit on the other side of Marlene. It used to be his preferred side, only when he was younger he cared much less about slipping and breaking a bone. ‘Merlin’s beard… You ask hard questions McKinnon.’ Once again following her example he started to took of his shoes and socks, the final pull of his left one almost making him drop the article and lose it forever to the stream. 

Setting his things aside and dropping his feet unceremoniously into the cold, cold, cold water he answered, ‘I hope no one has kids yet to be honest.’ Part of the reason was the war, thought he’d be a hypocrite to say that out loud. As much as raising a child in the middle of it was terrifying to him he couldn’t find it in himself to regret it. ‘I mean Remus would be the obvious choice if that absolutely had to happen. Though Sirius, I think is the one most likely to have an accident if you get my meaning. Peter could very well surprise us. Sure, he’s acting like a kid, but he sometimes acts like our mother. And we listen.’

Scratching his nose after a mosquito decided that landing on his face was a good idea he turned to face his best friend. ‘Would you like to have kids?’

Marlene laughed. Brazen as she was, she loved children and had a granny’s heart when it came to them. She would rather bite her tongue off than make a little one cry or give them a hard time. Had she and James arrived at their secret spot to find a couple of children splashing around, she would have thought it cute and would not have had the heart to interrupt them “The thing is, my dear James, that while I would feel awful if I were mean to a couple of kids, I wouldn’t have any problem in giving a pair of teenagers a piece of my mind. And those are he ones we’d most like encounter around here. Youngers kids no longer venture too deep into the woods like you and I used to”.

The world used to be safer, she thought. Back then, they could go off and play in the wilderness for hours during the summer and their parents wouldn’t bat an eye, merely restoring to shouting their names when it was time for dinner. Nowadays, however, Marlene doubted children that age would have even been allowed out into the street without adult supervision.

“Let’s just hope that’s not the case. Sirius as a father could very well turn into my boggart. All though who knows? Maybe he’d surprise us all” she joked. All though it might sound hypocritical to others, Marlene could perfectly understand what James meant when he said he hoped no one else in the group had kids for the moment. In the middle of the war was hardly an ideal context to raise a child. Harry was an exception, and they were all fussing over him. He had easily become the center of their group of friends. She knew neither James nor Lily had any regrets for having the little peanut, but that did not take away the fact that their were high risks at stake. Fortunately, they were all banded together to make sure Harry stayed far away from said risks

“And he says I ask the hard questions” she chuckled nervously, lowering her eyes at her feet, their form trembling under the reflection of the running water.

“I...I guess I might” she admitted. Of course, the one thing she would rarely ever think about, she would admit to them “I’m used to having children around, with my younger siblings and my niece and nephew. Guess I wouldn’t mind one or two of my own in the future, provided it is with the right person. Which is probably the obstacle of the whole business, isn’t it? Most of us don’t run into our soulmate in school” she teased slightly. Her love story (or stories) were a far cry from the romantic tale James had been blessed with. She’d had her heart broken, and she’d formed connections with all the wrong people she couldn’t have. There were no men in her life now, and it had to be the most quiet time she’d had for God knew how long. 

[plantsandpotions]

cherrybomb-witch​:

She crawled on her elbows and knees as quietly as a panther, keeping her chin almost touching the ground and making sure to avoid all things twigs and crunchy leaves. She did her best to tune out the thestrals sounds of panic, simply urging herself to move faster without giving herself away. Finally, she calculated that she had roughly come to the opposite side of the glen to where she had initially been with Tilden. Coming to a stop hidden just at the border of the glen by a cluster of bushes, she waited until the right moment came in which all the Death Eaters seemed as focused on something in specific as they might be. As soon as she saw, horrified, how three of them hit the stallion of the thestral herd with three stunning spells that knocked him clean off his feet, Marlene gave the signal for Tilden and then immediately fired her own stunning spells, one after the other, to the two targets closest to her, trusting that Tilds would take care of the other two.

On of her spells hit a Death Eater square in the chest, and the dark figure dropped to the ground like a sack of potatoes. The other received the spell in the arm, which was not enough to knock them unconscious, but did cause them to stumble. 

Marlene jumped from her hiding place, though still concealed by her charm, and conjured some vines to sprout from the ground and wrap themselves around her enemy’s ankled. The Death Eater was aiming jinxes around wildly, having only a very vague idea of where she was based on the strange blurr of the air around her. That was, until one of the curses landed close to her feet, causing the blonde witch to stumble and fall, losing her concentration and the concealing charm in the process.

“There you are!” 

Marlene spat bits of grass and dried leaved that had gotten inside her mouth “Here I am. Did you really want to see me so badly? I’m almsot flattered” she hissed “Not content with torturing people now? Have to come after creatures too?”

The thestrals were running around wildly across the glen now, caught between the cross-fire in sheer panic. She caught sight of the little foal, huddled near some bushes, calling out for its mother. Their white eyes were wide with terror, their wings flapping around aimlessly, not daring to take flight and leave each other behind. Marlene felt the anger rise inside her, white-hot energy that made her grit her teeth and wish that she could haul all the force of the wind and the storm against those who had treated these noble creatures so badly. Her eyes blazing, she clutched her wand tightly and murmured a spell, causing the vines she had conjured to grow thorns that sunk deep into the Death Eater’s legs, through cloth and skin. They screamed in pain, and Marlene felt no guilt. Not when the little baby thestrals was screaming too, screaming for their mum.

“I like animals, you know?” she went on, approaching her enemy like a huntress circles her prey “I like creatures. Sometimes, I even like them more than I like humans. They aren’t capable of evil. Amongst them, there will never be a place for the likes of you. All rotten inside with cruelty and arrogance. Do you know what I absolutely cannot stand?” she leaned in closer and whispered menacingly “An animal torturer. I’m pretty sure there’s a special place in Hell reserved for them. But I guess I’ll have to settle with Azkaban for you”.

The sharp trill of a bird call rang out across the glen. Tilden didn’t give himself time to question whether it was Marlene’s signal or not, casting a Stunning spell at the closest Death Eater. His instincts were proven correct, as he spotted red beams of magic flare across the clearing from the other side: Marlene’s coordinated attack against the other Death Eaters.

Unfortunately, her spells had been an instant quicker than Tilden’s and while her first Stunning spell hit its mark, the surprise attack alerted the other cloaked figures to Marlene’s presence. The one Tilden had been aiming for moved, leaping back from his felled companion with a shout of alarm, and Tilden’s own spell sailed harmlessly past him. Swearing under his breath, Tilden hastily cast a Disarming charm before the Death Eaters could clue in that there were two of them aiming spells their way. 

This time the spell hit its mark and the Death Eater’s wand flew from his grasp. He gave another shout, distinctly angrier this time, and whirled on the spot. Though his face was covered by the fearsome mask, Tilden could imagine his eyes darting around, searching for his unseen opponent. Luckily Tilden’s Disillusionment charm held fast. He leapt to his feet to move closer, hoping to get a better shot at the Death Eaters before the disarmed one could grab for his fallen wand in the grass.

On the other side of the glen, Marlene looked to be in a bit of trouble. Tilden didn’t know what had caused her own charm to fail, but she was visible again, blonde hair shining in the sun and expression murderous. Despite her lack of a disguise, she didn’t look to be needing much help. Tilden couldn’t hear what she was saying, but he could tell she was furious. He almost felt sorry for her opponent. Almost.

“They’re using Disillusionment spells!” the Death Eater closest to Tilden shouted. “There could be more of them!” He dropped to his knees, frantically looking for his wand.

The other Death Eater on Tilden’s side of the glen was still armed and ready. He shouted an incantation and a great cloud of glittering dust filled the air of the clearing. Tilden shielded his eyes and flinched away, alarmed at what nefarious effect this curse might bring. Yet no pain struck him down. However, looking down, he could see his body outlined by the dust as it settled onto his shoulders and limbs. He still wasn’t fully visible, but it would be a lot harder to hide from the Death Eaters now. Looking out across the glen, he could see shimmering movement as the air cleared: the thestrals were also caught in the dust and now vaguely visible to him, like ghosts in the sunshine.

“There’s another one!” the Death Eater shouted, pointed directly at Tilden.

Uh oh, he thought, throwing himself to one side just in time to miss the bright streak of a curse’s light that sailed right at him.

[cherrybomb-witch]

An euphoric smile flashed across her face when she saw one of the Death Eater knocked off their feet by Tilden’s stunning spell. The thrill of battle, she felt almost drunk like in one of those wild Gryffindor parties back at Hogwarts. It was another effect of the years of fighting. A part of her had taken a certain type of addiction to the adrenaline, to the euphoria of battle. Perhaps even to de violent delight of defeating an enemy that represented evil in the flesh to her. Even if it was followed by a violent end.

Right now, she feel like an avenger, some dark female figure bringing chaos to those who would have destruction at their feet. Who would see the innocent in chains. Perhaps she was projecting all of her hatred and fear, particularly everything she had felt in the last month or so, after her mind had been snatched from her grasp, her will bended and she had nearly killed someone she looked up, and had actually scarred for life someone she considered an inspiration. They were to blame, the monster. Even if the Death Eater behind the Imperius that had controlled her was not amongst them, to Marlene they had no individuality, they were no one. Just a threat to be neutralized. They spent battle after battle trying to catch the people hiding behind the silver mask, but the truth was, deep down, a part of Marlene no longer cared for that person. As if there was no person behind the mask at all. They were nothing, pure evil taking shape. They deserved nothing. And she would give them nothing.

The Death Eater she had mocked barked out a laugh “Is Dumbledore leading an animal activism group?

Marlene ignored the jab “I’ll kill you for hurting these creatures” she hissed, uncoiling the fire whip at the end of her wand once more.

The Death Eater laughed again. “You don’t have what it takes, little witch” he said, raising his wand.

Marlene knew what he meant. She didn’t care. “Then I guess I’ll let the Dementors do it for me”.

“CRUCIO!”

Marlene jumped to the side just on time. The curse hit a tree behind her, and for a moment, she wondered whether if it had an affect on plants. Her answer came soon after when the heard a low, mournful sound, and then the trunk seemed to split in half and slowly start to topple towards the ground.

“TILDEN! WATCH OUT” she shouted, even though her friend was at the opposite side of the clearing. 

Marlene did not think. She cast a spell at her opponent, something he would not expect. Turned his legs into jelly, made it impossible for him to move out of the way. And in his surprise, he did not have time to disapparate either. He disappeared, trapped under the branches of the tree. She did not even stop to consider the fact that he might actually be dead.

She saw that the remaining Death Eater had Tilden somewhat localized due to the heavy cloud of dust.

“NO!” she screamed, desperate to draw attention back to herself, possessed by that blind sense of protection she had over those she loved and that had only grown exponentially, fueled by fear and paranoia. She could not stand the thought of Tilden exposed, even though they had both agreed to that attack. Even if it meant putting herself in twice the danger.

Launching forward, she jumped on the back of the enemy closest to her. They rarely ever expected a physical attack, so used to magic as they were. Marlene took advantage of that to take them by surprise and try to drag them away from her friend.

“I’ll kill you before I let you hurt anyone” she hissed in the monster’s ears, struggling to keep her grip around the body even as the Death Eater tried to shake her off like a wild animal.

[cherrybomb-witch]

//Happy Valentine's Day, Thaly!! I love Marlene so much, and writing with you is always a total delight :) I love having you in the group!! You're awesome!

Oh God, I never saw this! For some reason, tumblr never lets me know when there's something in my askbox in this account (if anyone knows how to fix that, please help)

I am so sorry for like the REALLY late reply, Zazzy, but thank you so, so much <3

[celestinewiitch-deactivated2018]

[ana-elisabeta]