Mudbloods of the Death Eaters

Chapter Two: In which Draco is useless

Theo crouched behind a rosebush as spells whizzed dangerously close overhead. He fired off a "stupefy" at a large Auror with a bald head and gold hoop earrings. The auror ducked out of the way just in time, and flung a jinx in retaliation. Chunks of blasted brick rained down on his head, and Theo inched further away from his adversary.

Great. This was bloody perfect. His group's first assignment that wasn't completely routine, their first mission that showed the Dark Lord actually had some faith in them, and they had botched it up royally.

Well, to be fair, Theo hadn't botched it up royally, Draco had been put in charge (largely from the influence of Lucius Malfoy, as was to be expected.) The two of them, along with Vince Crabbe, Derrick, Flint, and Aidan had been assigned their first mission with importance; a reconnaissance mission of a mixed-blooded family (Muggle-born mother, pureblooded father, and two half-blood children) supporters of Dumbledore.

It had gone off without a hitch at first, Theo and Crabbe had apparated ahead of time to the home to make sure the target's were there, than had apparated back to headquarters, reporting the exact location of each member of the Boot family. (Excepting of course Terry, the eldest, who was a sixth year same as Theodore and currently safe at Hogwarts.)

Then, the rest of the squad had donned their masks, raised their hoods, and they had all apparated away together to the outside of the Boot home. Anti-apparition wards prevented them from appearing directly inside the house.

Silently, they had surrounded the perimeter, after Draco had given whispered instructions to each boy; Malfoy took the father, Clarence, for himself, his wife Julie was Flint's responsibility, Aidan had the ten-year-old son Jimmy, and Theo was supposed to subdue Laura, the eight-year-old.

Derrick and Crabbe were shunted aside, even Malfoy wasn't fool enough to count on their hexes and limited brain power, and were told to find the research Julie Boot had collected with her experiments on giants.

Invaluable research that the Order of the Phoenix could use to their great advantage, swaying the dim-witted, but powerful giants to their side and away from Voldemort. It was imperative the documents be taken, shown to the Dark Lord, than destroyed. It was not as if Crabbe and Derrick were expected to find the documents, but it would keep them busy and out of the way. No, Draco was convinced the documents would be found only after the Boots were persuaded to be helpful.

As Theo retreated further into his sanctuary, only missing being hexed when he tripped backwards over Crabbe's unconscious body, falling to the ground with a jet of orange light whizzing much too closely overhead, he gritted his teeth in annoyance.

Why couldn't he have been placed in a different group? Even Pansy's group would've been better, and Warrington was leading that one, for Merlin's sake. Along with Pansy, Goyle, Higgs, and Bole had also been in that group, who had a similar mission of their own. But no, he HAD to have been stuck with Malfoy, whom as soon as his leadership ability was brought to the test, with all four members of the Boot family bound and gagged, each in the grip of a Death Eater, each with a wand turned solely on them, had bungled things immediately.

"Tell us where the research is, and we might let the half-blood brats live," Draco had snarled at Mr. Boot.

"But, uh, Draco," Crabbe had stuttered, looking up from his perusal of a nearby desk, "I thought we were supposed to kill them all?"

"Shut UP, Crabbe," Draco had hissed back through his angry lockjaw.

"You're not supposed to say my name!" Crabbe had wailed, horrified.

"Well, you said mine first, and you're not supposed to say my name either!" Draco had retorted, sounding like a petulant three-year-old.

"We're supposed to be asking her, anyway, you pillock," Flint interrupted in his gravelly voice, poking Mrs. Boot in the neck with his wand.

"Oh... oh... right," Draco stammered, smoothing his shellacked helmet of hair unnecessarily.

"So... er, same question," he gestured to Mrs. Boot.

"She's got a gag in, you bloody moron," Aidan spat, his arm around the young boy's neck.

"Mind your attitude, Montague," Draco yelped in outrage. He wasn't nearly as intimidated of Aidan as he was of Marcus Flint, whose size, (and conscience, for that matter,) could be likened to that of a troll.

"Would you hurry it up; the Aurors could be here any time!" Montague had snapped impatiently.

"How DARE you speak to me, Lucius Malfoy's son--" Draco began in outrage, before being interrupted.

"Enough of this!" Marcus barked, then swung his wand around to face Draco, and yelled "Stupefy!"

The blond twit hit the carpet with a muffled thud. The Boots' eyes were now trained on the far more threatening Flint.

"You," he snapped at Crabbe, his wand pointing at the large boy, "stay quiet, or you get the same," he gestured at Malfoy's crumpled form. "Get over here and take that poof's place," Marcus barked at Derrick.

Derrick immediately complied, turning his wand, and his meaty forearms, on Mr. Boot's throat.

"There's no use screaming," Flint said warningly to the frightened family, "no one will hear you, with our wards up. And if you give us all a needless headache with your wailing, we might get careless with our wands, y'understand?" he said harshly, eyeing each scared face. They nodded. "Good," he growled, and turned to his fellow Death Eaters.

It was almost as if they were back at Hogwarts again, thought Theo detachedly, and Flint was captaining an unruly bunch of teenage boys at Quidditch. The others already listened to Flint's every command by habit, and he himself was the only one not used to taking orders from Marcus. Well, and Crabbe, but he was used to taking orders from everyone.

"Take out their gags," Flint commanded, and followed his own order on Julie Boot.

Immediately, Mrs. Boot turned to Flint.

"I don't know what you're after," she said, with false bravado, "but we've got nothing you want here."

Silent tears were pouring down Jimmy and Laura Boot's faces, the latter whom was hiccupping slightly, and Clarence Boot looked blank.

"Let's not play games," Flint said roughly. "You and I both know what we want. We also know not one of you is going to wake up tomorrow, or the day after. You might think we are as stupid and useless as this sod here," he kicked Malfoy's limp body, "but you're dead wrong. We will do everything and anything to get those papers," he said, shoving his face close to Mrs. Boot, "we will not stop till we get them. And we won't hurt you, oh no, we're going to hurt your brats."

Theo felt an unpleasant lurch in his stomach. They were going to what? Their orders had been to retrieve research, not have a Death Eater free-for-all! He shifted uneasily. Laura Boot looked up at him with her huge, wet brown eyes, seeming to detect weakness. Clad in a pink lace nightgown, her hair in two braids, she could be the spokes model of adorable little girls. Her lower lip quivered, her shining eyes begging Theo to save her, to be her shining knight-in-armour. He hastily swallowed, his mouth bone dry, and looked away back at Flint. A strange buzzing was filling his ears as he listened to Flint continue to threaten Julie Boot.

"We're going to make them scream before we kill them," Flint said, his voice barely above a whisper. Julie Boot was making an admirable attempt to remain stoic, and only somewhat succeeding, her eyes darting sideways quickly to her terrified children, before looking back at the looming Death Eater in front of her.

"First," Flint mercilessly continued, "we're going to pull off every single toenail, every single fingernail, one-by-one," Jimmy gave a choked sob. "Next, we're going to start breaking everyone of those limbs, a little at a time. My friend here, holding your son," he grinned behind his mask at Montague, "is an expert healer. He'll fix those bones, and we'll break 'em again. Then we'll start cutting 'em with a knife," Flint pulled out a rusty blade from his robes, and little Laura Boot's hands gripped Theo's encircling arm.

Clarence Boot seemed to be coming out from his fog, and his mouth was hanging open, his eyes widening comically large at Flint's words.

"Maybe," Flint continued relentlessly, "throw in a Crucio or two while we're at it. We'll take hours. And finally, when they can barely scream anymore, you'll give in and give us the papers. And we'll put 'em out of their misery. Or," Flint said, his voice returning to a normal pitch, "you tell us now, there's no misery to be had for the little snot-noses, and we kill 'em quick and painlessly. Your choice, it's up to you, you're the one that popped 'em out, eh?" Flint's eyes glinted malevolently through his eyeholes. "What d'you say, kiddies? What should good 'ole Mum do?"

"How can we even trust anything you say?" Jimmy piped up bravely in his little boy voice. "What's to stop you from taking the papers then hurting us anyway?"

"That's a very good question, little boy," Flint said mock thoughtfully. "But we're not monsters, are we lads?" he seemed to expect an answer, so the boys murmured that no, they were certainly not monsters. "We don't WANT to hurt you and your sister, but your mum might make us, you see? It's all up to her."

"It's in the closet in Terry's room," Clarence Boot said unexpectedly, " the room upstairs, and to the right, up on the top shelf, disguised as his old homework."

"Clarence!" Julie Boot hissed in outrage.

"That was very smart of you, Mudblood," Flint said graciously, "very smart." He snapped his fingers at Crabbe. "Go find 'em." He barked, as if Crabbe was his dog he was ordering to fetch. Crabbe lumbered off upstairs obediently.

"See kids?" Flint said genially, "your dad loves you. Your mum is a right bitch though, isn't she? Marries filth, and she doesn't even know her place," he pointed his wand and casted Crucio on Mrs. Boot before any of them could blink an eye.

The kids screamed, trying to get away, out of the arms of their attackers, and Mr. Boot yelled his wife's name hoarsely and attempted to kick Derrick in the groin. Julie was screaming and writhing on the floor, flopping like a fish, knocking into the coffee table, sending trinkets crashing to the floor.

Thank Merlin Theo only had a little girl, because Laura Boot was putting up a hell of a fight against him as it was. She bit his arm, scratched his hands, stomped on his feet, and twisted her body around so violently, that he ended up holding her squirming form in mid-air as it tried to kick him.

Crabbe reappeared, a dazed look in his eyes as he took in the scene before him; Flint gleefully torturing the mother, Draco still unconscious, and the other three wrestling with their rabid prisoners. Flint lifted the curse, gave the woman a moment's rest, and then vindictively cast it again. While none of them had problems letting Draco know where he was going wrong, Flint was a different matter entirely. They were all too aware of his punishments for bad Quidditch playing, all of them except--

"Marcus!" Theo called over the woman's screams.

He wasn't even aware he was going to say a word until he heard the exclamation, and realized with astonishment he was the only one in his vicinity, and must have said it himself. Flint gave him no acknowledgement.

"Goddammit, Flint!" he yelled. "What in Salazar's name are you doing? Are you trying to get us thrown into Azkaban?"

Flint lifted the curse, and turned slowly to Theo. Theo realized he had made a huge mistake when even Aidan wouldn't meet his eye. Mrs. Boot sobbed in a ball on the floor.

"What was that, Nott?" Flint asked softly, deceptively.

Aidan shook his head warningly at Theo behind Flint's back.

Theo cleared his throat, and said croakily, "I said," he cleared his throat again, "I said, shouldn't we be checking those papers and leaving? What if the Aurors are on their way?" he gained a little courage. "And you're exciting the rest of them, we can barely hold on to them."

Flint stared at him a moment in silence, which was broken by Malfoy moaning on the floor. Which was then broken by Flint's boot to his head.

"Draco!" Crabbe yelled in horror from his perch on the staircase.

Malfoy's white blonde hair was turning a sinister red.

"Oh, who gives a damn about that sodding wanker!" Flint said in exasperation. "I would kill him if I could. Wouldn't you do the same?" he demanded. Aidan and Derrick snickered.

"No!" Crabbe replied, scandalized. He leapt down the stairs two at a time to get to his friend.

"I wasn't talking to you, Crabbe," Flint said, annoyed. "I know all about your shrine to Malfoy."

Even Theo couldn't help snickering at that one.

"So, you can't handle one little girl, eh Nott?" Flint mocked. "Don't worry; I'll wear her out for you." He pointed his wand at Laura Boot, who gave a whimper of horror. The two Boots left standing both screamed incomprehensibly at Flint.

"Crucio!" Marcus bellowed at the little girl. She screamed once, than fell to the ground in a limp heap.

"What the fuck?" Flint wondered, until they all noticed Aidan had his wand out.

"Theo's right. You're wasting time," he said calmly. He again cast the killing curse, now killing Jimmy Boot instantly.

"Well, hold on now, save one for me!" Flint said grudgingly.

Derrick and Montague laughed again, but Theo could do nothing but stare at the glassy eyed form of Laura Boot, who had tears wetting her still face. Clarence Boot was doing his best to get away from Derrick and throttle whomever he could.

Flint aimed the killing curse at Clarence, and missed when Julie Boot, forgotten on the floor, kicked him hard in his leg, upsetting his aim. He hit Derrick instead.

"You bloody BITCH!" Flint screamed so hard spittle flew from his mouth, a vein popping in his neck. He sent the green light of "Avada Kedavra" to Clarence Boot a second time; this time hitting his mark, then lunged at Julie Boot, his knife swinging upward.

It was at this precise moment, when things were looking decidedly ugly, that the situation went from bad to horribly, horribly, worse.

With a sizzling crackle, their wards were snapped. The door burst open, emitting three Aurors. A window burst, showering Theo and Laura Boot's corpse with shards of glass, and another Auror leapt through. Theo instinctively ducked behind a nearby chair, aiming his wand and casting jinxes. He hit the closest Auror, who went down with a thump, stupefied immobile. A second Auror with short gray hair blasted at his hiding place, ripping the chair in two. Theo rolled away in a hurry, next to Aidan who had crouched behind a heavy oak bookshelf.

"Hello, Theodore," Aidan said. "This is a great bloody mess, isn't it?"

Theo was tempted to reply that yes, it surely was, considering Flint had managed to stab Mrs. Boot a few times with the knife before he was aware of the more imminent problem of the highly trained Aurors attempting to neutralize him, and now the carpet was sopping in sticky red pools, but he refrained. Two more Aurors burst into the fight from the kitchen, and now they were outnumbered.

Flint was savagely casting the nastiest hexes he could think of at every Auror in the room, his wand flashing and swooping with lighting speed. Crabbe was attempting to drag Draco's limp body out of harm's way.

They were younger, they were inexperienced, but the Death Eaters had the advantage. They were willing to use dark curses and Unforgivables, and the Aurors were not. Flint demonstrated this with a Killing curse he blasted at the gray haired auror, hitting him square in the chest. A stunner to the face was what he received, crashing to the floor in the blood.

There were four aurors still fighting, versus Theo, Aidan, and Crabbe, who was virtually useless next to Draco.

"Reducto!" Theo yelled, aiming at the table a blonde female auror was hiding behind. Unfortunately for her partner, this was the exact moment he had chosen to make a lunge at the two Death Eaters, and was hit instead. The woman, and one of the two remaining aurors screamed when the man was blasted into pieces. Blood, bone, and bits of skin, hair, and organs splattered all over the Boot's formerly clean living room. The woman had to wipe her partner's remains out of her face; she was unable to see. Aidan spotted this, and petrified her. Now they were left with a short, plump man and a tall, black man with a bald head.

Crabbe was hit and fell next to Draco. The two aurors left were crouched behind a couch, dueling them fiercely. It was a standstill; back and forth they cast hexes, shields, deflecting jinxes and curses. Aidan was the older one, a better fighter with a more extensive repertoire of spells, so Theo played backup.

Mrs. Boot moaned, startling the aurors, and causing the short man to lose his concentration, and subsequently to be blasted across the room, his head hitting the wall with a crack.

The next thing Theo knew, Aidan slumped to the floor next to him, unconscious. It was just him now. An odd fuzziness had enveloped Theo since Flint had started torturing, an odd fuzziness which had only become a numb clarity when he had accidentally splattered that auror's insides all over his former classmates' home. So it was with a mechanized mind that Theo stood up, jumped through the nearest window, slashing himself thoroughly with glass, and landed outside. He had barely any time for cover before the auror leapt through the jagged glass remaining in the window after him. Theo spent the next few minutes ducking, rolling, and generally hiding from his opponent, who far outmatched him. He was starting to panic, his breath becoming more and more ragged, his robes becoming increasingly torn and bloodied. Noises started back up from inside, a fight. Apparently some of the stupefied had awoken. Theo could only hope someone would find him and help him.

The world has a funny sense of humor, Theo thought, as Crabbe lumbered outside, dragging Draco. Although he supposed it was an improvement to have the two of them out of doors and out of the reach of the anti-apparition wards, even though Crabbe had just flopped to the ground yet again when the gold-hooped auror felled him. Theo ducked behind a rosebush, and here the story catches up with him, after first he misses being hexed, ducks falling brick, and trips over Crabbe.

If it was just him, he could easily apparate away to safety. But he couldn't leave the others behind, no matter how dimwitted Crabbe was, or how crazy Flint was, or how much Draco irritated him with his pompous airs.

Suddenly, Montague and Flint staggered outside, both bloody, and managed to topple a small tree onto Theo's auror, knocking him out.

"Let's get the fuck out of here," Montague said roughly, his voice weary.

Flint limped over, and hauled Crabbe upright. Montague grabbed Malfoy, who was both petite and slender. The locked eyes with Theo, and they all apparated away.