Terrible Deeds Suite

Gwendolyn Grace

Story Summary:
A suite of six short fics for the "Blame Each Other" challenge: Lucius/Sirius non-con. Number one is obvious; number two is subtle; number three is twisted; number four is tragic; number five is a light A/U; number six is a loss of innocence. Please note that there is some strong sexual violence, particularly in two and four. Reader discretion is advised.

Chapter 04

Chapter Summary:
A suite of six short fics for the "Blame Each Other" challenge: Lucius/Sirius non-con. Number one is obvious; number two is subtle; number three is twisted; number four is tragic; number five is a light A/U; number six is a loss of innocence.
Posted:
05/03/2003
Hits:
501
Author's Note:
These were all written for the "Blame Someone Else" challenge run by Minerva McTabby in her LiveJournal. I posed myself an extra challenge to put my "canonical" versions of the characters into these (IMO) "non-canoncial" situations. The exception is #5, which is an A/U

The Anniversary

The amazing thing about wizard battles was the way the air grew thick with magic after a while. They never told you anything about it in school, Sirius realised as he dodged a hex and fired a jinx of his own at the Death Eaters in the field. He had almost forgotten how it crackled, all the energy that missed targets, got deflected, or otherwise didn't completely dissipate. Two wizards duelling, that didn't produce too much magical residue. But fifty, or a hundred... the very atmosphere felt charged. It was how Sirius imagined the inside of a lightning storm or a hurricane.

It had been nearly seventeen years since he experienced it last. James had fought at his side then. Now it was Remus who stood at his right hand, calmly firing off spells and blocking incoming attacks. Even after all that time, though, Sirius could not dislodge the feeling of familiar territory from the buzz of unspent energy.

'Right rank!' Dumbledore shouted above the swoosh of sparks and spellwork. 'Advance!'

Sirius, Remus, and a dozen others stepped forward steadily. The assault redoubled, and Remus called out, 'Defence partners!' It was code they had drilled many times before. Each witch or wizard on the line had a partner; when the defence partners order was issued, they were to alternate their spells. Each caster would cover with a defensive spell while his partner threw an offensive one; then they switched. Thus, the pairs were always covered even when they were in the middle of engaging the enemy.

Sirius took the defence first, throwing up a hasty ward while Remus cast the babbling curse at a nearby Death Eater. It worked, causing the black-robed wizard to chatter incessantly, blocking his ability to cast spells. Remus switched effortlessly from that to a sigil of protection, which he held in place over himself and Sirius so that Sirius could cast a conflagration charm to set another's robes on fire.

They pressed forward using this method, making good progress. Distantly, Sirius heard Albus order the left flank forward, as well, moving them in a pincer to press the Death Eaters in the centre. Then they heard a 'whoosh' overhead, and a squadron of Death Eaters on broomsticks swooped in overhead.

'Air assault!' McGonagall cried. 'Broom squad!'

And now came the moment Sirius dreaded. Harry was on one of those brooms. But he couldn't stop to worry about that, now. He had problems of his own. Two Death Eaters had picked out Remus as the leader of this unit, and they advanced on him and Sirius, using much the same covering fire method. Sirius shot a jet of hot ink out of his wand, and it sprayed the mask and hood of one of them. The Death Eater howled with rage and clawed the mask away to restore his vision. It was Lucius Malfoy. Sirius redoubled his efforts, following up Remus's blasting curse with a stunning spell.

And then... Sirius wasn't sure what happened. One moment they were alternating their spells in a rhythm not unlike how they made love...and the next--

'Remus!' Sirius shrieked in terror. Remus was down. Malfoy fired the Cruciatus curse and with no partner to cover him, Sirius had to duck quickly to avoid it. By the time he righted himself, Malfoy was past him and he faced off with the other Death Eater. He duelled ferociously, dispatching the foe with a combination of 'Tarrantalegra' and 'Stupefy.' A green glow intruded on his peripheral vision and Sirius's breath caught with dread. He rushed back to Remus, ignoring for a moment the others in need of assistance. It was too late.

Moony stared up at the battle being fought on broomsticks overhead, but he did not follow their dips and dives. His eyes held no life. Sirius grabbed one hand in futile hope, but that, too, was limp and unresponsive. How? his heart screamed with fury. Malfoy must have cast the killing curse while Sirius was busy fending off the other warlock. Sirius climbed to his feet, scanning for Malfoy's blond hair among the fray. He couldn't find him, and he didn't have time to look. As second for the unit, he had to take charge now that Remus...he couldn't bring himself to even think it. But it was true: Remus was...dead.

For the rest of the battle, Sirius fought like a man obsessed. He pulled what was left of his unit together and brought them up on the flank, coordinating with Albus in the centre and Minerva on the left to trap the remaining Death Eaters and surround them. Albus cast a massive anti-Apparation charm over the whole area, and Harry, Oliver Wood, and the rest of the flyers brought nearly all their opponents to ground. Soon, all that was left was the mopping up. Sirius put all his energy into a summoning charm and cast it on Lucius Malfoy, who came hurtling into the clearing where they fought, flying backward through the air and landing with a thud on the grass.

'Expelliarmus!' Sirius bellowed with all his might, and Malfoy tumbled ass over tea kettle at least four times. His robes ripped on a small protruding stump on the third somersault.

'Sirius!' Dumbledore said sternly.

'He killed Remus!' Sirius screamed, brandishing his wand as he turned on Dumbledore. 'He was unconscious - defenceless - and he killed him, Albus!'

'And he will answer for it,' Dumbledore concluded in his infuriatingly wise, kind, level manner. He stepped forward slowly. 'Sirius, he will answer for it. It's all right,' he soothed the wizard with his voice in the suddenly silent glen, moving toward him until he could gently lower Sirius's wand arm.

'He - he killed....' Sirius choked on the words, and succumbed to the threatening, uncontrollable sobs. Dumbledore gathered him into a fatherly embrace, and Sirius sank into it, clutching at the old man's robes inconsolably.

~*~*~*~

He thought his need for revenge would lessen, over time. With Peter and Voldemort dead, truly dead, and Malfoy and countless others incontrovertibly sentenced to life imprisonment, he believed Albus would be proved right, and that he would come to know that their punishments were enough. But with each year, his bitterness grew, deepened, rather than faded.

On the fourth anniversary of Remus's death, Sirius went to see Malfoy in prison.

He bribed the warlocks on guard to leave them alone, no observer for the interview. It was easier than it should have been, given his status as exonerated war hero. It probably helped, too, that Malfoy was pretty universally despised for hoodwinking the wizarding world for thirty years. But it still cost him a fair fortune in Galleons, to arrange for the guard not to sign him in, for the others to ignore his presence on the maximum security wing, and especially for the guards there to interrupt the spells that showed them any activity in the interview rooms. It would be worth the expense, he was sure

He brought a small bag of tools with him. He looked forward, albeit grimly, to this day, having rehearsed it so many times in his mind. He knew nothing in the world would bring Remus back, but this was not about that. It was about forcing Malfoy to feel the same kind of pain that had been eating him alive since the day Moony died.

The guards brought in Malfoy, whose face registered the barest surprise at his visitor's identity, and then left, spell-locking the door behind them.

Malfoy crossed his arms, waiting. Sirius set his bag on the table, opened it, and began to take items out of it. Malfoy, an experienced torturer, knew each implement, but he did not flinch from them. Sirius pulled out his wand.

'You're not allowed wands in here,' Malfoy commented, ridiculously, as if of all the illegal instruments Sirius had brought, the wand was the only one that mattered.

Sirius did not reply, however, He pulled out a set of chained cuffs and set them on the table. A sawed-off broom handle followed.

'I don't do bondage, or masochism, for that matter,' Malfoy said, his laconic attitude unmellowed by four years' imprisonment. 'Guard!' He crossed to the door, expecting to end the interview.

'They're not coming,' Sirius muttered, pulling out a length of rolled cloth. He twisted the cloth ends around his hands and moved behind Malfoy, who beat on the window of the door, calling for someone to take him back to his cell. He sounded angry, but Sirius could smell his fear.

'Do you know what day it is?' Sirius asked, holding the cloth low so Malfoy wouldn't notice it.

Malfoy nodded. 'How could I not?' he said disdainfully, barely looking back over his shoulder. 'If you think I'm interested in a trip down memory lane, you're mistaken.' He went back to trying to attract the guard.

'I'd be very interested if I were you,' Sirius told him.

Malfoy snorted with disgust. 'Oh, I get it. You're here because four years ago, you failed to protect your pathetic werewolf companion. It's your own fault, you know, that he di--"

The cloth fit perfectly around Malfoy's neck. Sirius twisted and tightened, ignoring Lucius's clawing hands. He dragged Malfoy backward and threw him onto his back across the empty half of the table, to one side of the bag. He cast the Impediment curse to slow Malfoy down long enough to snap one cuff on one slender wrist, thread the chain around the metal table leg a couple times, and restrain the other wrist. He probably didn't need the precaution; Lucius spent those few seconds gasping for air, unable to defend himself.

Sirius cut Malfoy's robes off, stripping him naked on the cold slab of metal. He had intended to start small, perhaps with the toenails or the short hairs. But the sight of Malfoy, helpless in front of him, naked, alone, utterly without friends, was too gratifying after all this time. His anger and hatred, the hurt of all that loss, welled up in Sirius, and he jabbed the edge of a knifed hand into Malfoy's stomach. His legs curled up at the assault, especially since he still hadn't got his breath back from the strangulation. Sirius picked up the dowel of discarded broom. He backhanded Malfoy visciously, and this time, brought down the length of wood like a bludgeon to his gut. When Malfoy's legs curled involuntarily, Sirius forced him to turn over. The motion pulled painfully against Lucius's left arm, chained to the table leg. But Sirius met resistance with a determined shove. There was a pop; Lucius's shoulder probably dislocated. He screamed in pain.

It was music to Sirius. The screams and sobs from his victim spurred him on. Just what the bastard deserved, he told himself. Sirius pushed Lucius's left leg toward the centre of the table. He paused only a moment, arguing with his conscience, before forcing the end of the sawed-off dowel into Lucius.

He impaled the former Death Eater over and over. Each scream was like countless others of his own, a shriek of pain and anguish. Tears flowed as he relived his grief, streaming down his face like the blood that slicked the broom handle.

Some lucid fragment of his brain told him to stop before he killed Malfoy. He wrapped the bloody wood in the cloth, threw everything but his wand and the handcuffs back into the small duffel, and eased Malfoy onto his back again. He whimpered now, barely conscious, and well beyond the point of begging. Sirius supposed that years of the Cruciatus curse accustomed one to merciless torture. For his own part, Sirius felt numb and spent, but somehow cleansed. He had a horrible feeling it wouldn't last. But he had plenty of gold in his vault, and nothing else to do with it.

'Let's do this again soon,' he croaked, and was surprised to find that his own throat had gone dry. 'How about next year?'

~*~Fin~*~