Blood of the Moon {Remus Lupin}

Chapter 65

Dun dun dun... :)

Auriga gasped as a reductor curse hit one of the bookshelves in the secondary library, scorching the spines of some of her first french books. "Watch it, Woodburn!" she called as her target darted from the room. "Those are family heirlooms!" She dived behind the piano as a stunner flew her way, and an out of tune crash of the keys told her she'd narrowly escaped it.

Jumping to her feet and darting from the room, Auriga squinted and peered round, looking for the wizard she'd been duelling with. Shacklebolt had been right - this estate had been harbouring many a fugitive, but none of her personal family friends.

An unnoticed swish of a cloak led Auriga from the ballroom and down the corridor that led to the kitchens. While none of the house was quiet, this was certainly the quietest. There was a large bang, followed by a sprinkling of dust from the floorboards above, making her throat tickle.

"Hello, sweetheart." Auriga froze. She was sure her heart had stopped beating and her bones felt rigid like ice.

"You ought to be careful, Augustus," Auriga said, trying to prevent her voice from quivering, "My partner will be down in a minute."

"No they won't," said Augustus, taking another step towards her, apparently unaware of the battle raging upstairs. "Nobody followed you. I made sure of it."

"It really is quite sweet," said Auriga, trying to keep her face cool while her stomach twisted inside, "You keep trying to trick me, or duel me, and every single time you always lose. Really your-" she blocked a disarming spell, "-resilience...is admirable."

"No one to save you this time though, is there?" said Augustus, mockingly looking around.

"I don't need any help," said Auriga, an ounce of confidence brewing inside her. "I've got my wand...you've got yours...let's see who's really the better duellist." Augustus's eyes narrowed and Auriga ground her teeth and gripped her wand.

He made the first move, still attempting to disarm her, still trying to play with his food. Auriga, well aware she wasn't allowed to use any lethals or unforgivables as an auror, returned a cutting charm, which he dodged smoothly. That would never work, she thought to herself. Cutting charms moved too slowly.

She moved her offence to the faster moving stunning spell. Her personal favourite, she thought. Augustus tried the cruciatus curse once or twice, but soon discovered that it was far too slow. He also threw her a few killing curses, but Auriga quickly saw that this was his way of getting her into position and aiming there. They were never actually meant to hit - he wanted to have some fun first. This only made Auriga battle on harder, sweat running down the back of her neck in fat drops. She had to win this, she didn't care if it killed her.

The two of them ricocheted off the narrow walls of the corridor, weaving and diving until they reached the bottom of a set of stairs that led up to some of the guest suites and Auriga's favourite bathroom. She began her ascent, using the elevation to fire her spells faster and more accurately. Augustus frowned and pushed on though.

They reached the top landing, shattering a stone statue as they did, muscles aching, lungs heaving, each of them wanting to win more than the other. A group of shouts from down below made Augustus grin, but it made Auriga plough through, harder than she ever had in her life. One thing was for sure: she was going to sleep well tonight. Especially after she won.

One of her silent stinging hexes hit his wand hand and he dropped it. "Impedimenta!" cried Auriga, sending him back and away from his wand. This was it. She'd won. And as she stared at him cowering away from her, it filled her with an unforeseen elation. He was at her mercy. Or lack of.

"You lost," she said breathlessly, unable to contain the pride she felt. Augustus didn't say anything. He just sat on the floor, catching his breath. "I could kill you," Auriga said quietly, tilting her head a little as she did. She wanted to - more than anything she'd ever wanted in her life. And she could do it - she knew the spell, she had enough hatred for it. All she had to do was say the magic words and it would all be over.

"Malfoy?" a voice called from a nearby corridor. It was the one that ran between these suites and the upstairs drawing room, but it was only connected via the actual rooms themselves. If you wanted to get from where Auriga was to that corridor without going through a room you had to go downstairs and use a different staircase.

Auriga sighed. She supposed she could still have her fun interrogating Augustus. "I'm just through here," she called. One of the doors rattled. And again.

"Alohamora," said the voice.

"It won't work for you," Auriga said, "They're blood wards - I don't know why they're still up. Here, I'll-" But no sooner had Auriga pointed her wand at the door, a disarming spell hit her in the back and she fell to the ground, her wand flying down the stairs to the ground floor.

"I lost did I?" said Augustus's menacing voice. Auriga turned herself around to see him towering over her, just as he had the first time he'd used the cruciatus curse on her. "We'll see."

"Malfoy?" came the voice of the other Auror. "You still there?" Auriga didn't dare utter a word.

"Diffindo," said Augustus, his voice as soft as his spell was harsh. It hit her in her abdomen, and a large gash stained her robes crimson. "Crucio."

Auriga let out a throat-tearing scream as he held the spell on her. She barely remembered how terrible it had been. She could sense the door rattling next to her as she cried out, hear the flurry of spells that attempted to break it down. "AURIGA!"

"MALFOY!"

"How do we get round?"

"I dunno!"

And then the spell finished. Auriga was acutely aware of the hardwood beneath her head, the glare of the dazzling sun, and the heavy footsteps coming her way. "Crucio!" And it all started again, her nerves feeling like they were on fire, her chest heaving, her face soaked with blood and tears and sweat.

There were footsteps coming from below, or maybe it was the hope inside her imagining it. The very last thing she saw was the bottom of Augustus's boot as he brought it down onto her skull.