Skeletons In The Closet

Of two options Henry didn't know which he preferred. To kill Hallie mean't an escape for him, the fresh air that death held. Though if he weren't to kill her then it mean't a life of pain. Pain worse than that he'd experienced moments ago from Theodore's wand and there would be nobody to save him like Hallie had. Curse her. She always was well liked, loved, cherished. 

Those two words were on the tip of his Tongue, dancing on the edge. Would killing her really be worth it? Was it not the cowards way out? No. He'd die a hero, die on his first mission. He'd be the death eater remembered for not retreating at the sight of death, the courageous death eater who looked death in the eye to fulfil his duty. 

'Avada Kedavra.' He breathed. Green light crackled from the tip of his acacia wand, flickering in the dim attic light. The bolt the toxic lightning flashed across the room, hitting the beam above Hallie causing the roof to crash down onto his victim.

He'd missed. His hand had shaken far too much. Henry's eyes widened as they looked up once again into Theodores as a quiet squeak was heard beneath the rubble. 

The Gryffindor hadn’t changed. If Theodore had to give him any credit it was that the idiot was brave – or stupid.

The heart that Theodore had held back along with the bile rumbling in his stomach ruptured and rose in tandem as the green spark set its course and he lurched forward, his wand outstretched in vain. Yet, fate seemed to intervene then and instead a lesser evil tumbled onto Hallie’s prone, useless form.

Theodore’s heart momentarily settled itself but only long enough to straighten his mind and with a flick he threw the Cruciatus Curse at Henry Yewbeam, filling it with every ounce of feeling Theodore had left in him, sustaining it so that it was a vicious kaleidoscope of pain. Each colour that would flash before the weak man’s eyes bore a different level of pain.

He’d kill him if he didn’t break his mind and turn him into a blithering Longbottom first.

Theodore hurried forward, breaking his wand’s hold on the spell as he reached down to steal up Henry’s. With another, lesser spell he took the debris from Hallie’s body and tossed it away from them. In the back of his mind he registered the sound of the beam crashing into the floor below but he couldn’t find himself to care as he gathered his wife up in his grasp.

Theodore’s fingers groped clumsily for a pulse and there it was, weak but present. She was stronger than her torrid Death Eater captor. She was stronger than all of them and Merlin he loved her for it.

“Henry you are welcome to run,” Theodore muttered slowly, lifting his eyes to the man as he reaffirmed his grip on his wife, preparing to lift her from the floor. “I don’t honestly care what you do now. If you threw yourself off a cliff – frankly I’d be glad. You leave me and my wife now. Find some other poor sod to blood yourself with. We are finished with you.”

There it was, he'd been expecting it. It's funny how things seem to hurt more when you expect them, sometimes astonishment overrides the pain. However when you're eyes are crossed to the tip of a wand you expect pain, you psyche yourself up ready to accept the stabbing sensation within your mind like a thousand knives are being speared through your skull.

'I hate you!' Hallie cried. 'You, you complete.' WHAM 'Utter.' WHAM. 'Bastard!' WHAM. Tears were brewing along her bottom eyelid, already staining her face an angry pink tinge. 'How could you do this to me?' She screamed once more. The entire common room had fell silent, fifty or so pairs of eyes glued to the rowing couple.

'I didn't mean to! I thought you'd gave up on me!' Henry shouted back, not caring that his fan club ad Quidditch team were slanted eyed and their mouths were dropped slightly. He hadn't mean't to kiss Steppe. He hadn't mean't for it to gone further than a kiss either but it had. Out of vengeance? To hurt Hallie? Or was it uncontrollable anger vented in a different direction. 

The previous night, after Quidditch practice, Hallie had confronted Henry. She'd shot him down, tool away his ammunition and left him confused and bitter. The blonde had called him out on every recent mistake. Firstly she ranted about how he had gotten big headed, too big for his boots. Secondly she'd hammered him with a wave of anger that he had stopped giving her affection and that she was slowly sliding down Henry's lost of priorities. None of which Henry agreed with. The pair had rowed so hard Henry left the common room, headed to the dungeons. Steppe Seker, Slytherin, was whom he'd searched for. Hallie hated her, she was a Slytherin that stood for everything Hallie opposed and that was why Henry used her. Not to hurt Hallie but to make himself feel better, he hadn't intended Hallie Cooper to find out, simply cheating with a girl his girlfriend loathed made Henry feel better. How wrong he'd been. The Quidditch Captain couldn't contain his guilt. He confessed.

'Yeah. Well now I have!' Hallie screamed back at him. 'You're a big headed, arrogant, filthy low life and will never forgive you for sleeping with that girl!' On that note Hallie headed up to her dormitory without the batter of an eyelid. It was that day which had ruined Henry's life. That day that lost him his friends, sent him down a lonely path of recklessness. It wasn't long before he lost captaincy and soon he'd lost everyone. The only person there for him was Steppe Seker, barely. Henry called their love affair off, retreated to the restricted section and hid behind books devoted to the darkest of arts.

A loud thud shook Henry from his concussed state. Dust puffed up his nostrils, causing him to cough as the death eater pushed himself up against the wall. His vision was blurry but Henry could still make out the shape of Theodore Rookwood searching the rubble for his beloved wife. 

'I c-can't leave with-without her.' Henry groaned, slumping up against the wall for support. 'Rookwood wants her dead and-' Henry winced, '-and if I don't take her b-body back. I'll be. I'll-' 

Yewbeam dreaded to think what would happen. The Death Eaters would lose their gold Thaddeus had awarded them, they'd be mad. Most likely he'd be tortured. A shiver slithered down Henry's spine. How he'd hate to go through the pain of what he'd experienced at the wand of Hallie's husband. To relive once more the awful memories that had caused Henry to slip out of the spotlight and into the shadows. He'd need more than sugar to help him through this. 

'Please. Let me kill her.' If only Henry could hear how stupid he sounded. 

No one could say that Lily was not true to her word.

It had not sat well with her, the exchange at Borgin and Burkes. She vaguely wondered if things would have turned out better had she not been fresh out of a row with Casey, or if she had not been so defensive considering how close they were to discussing her need for Wolfsbane ingredients. Whatever the reasons for her attitude, they had not been the sales clerk's fault. Certainly, he damned himself further by being high at the time, but she knew she would not have cared had it been any other day.

So here she was, approaching the very shop in question, exact change in her hand to make up for the difference between what she had already paid and the cost of the Ptolemy that she had left the store with. It was not a Hogsmeade weekend, but Lily had never been one to honor the rules for the sake of being a good pupil. She had to sneak away from Casey's watchful eye, as there would be much to much to explain otherwise.

She wasn't sure he would be there, as it was the time of day when shifts changed and people took their breaks, but that would be even better. She could leave the money in an envelope and not have to face the man - Lily was brave, sure, but she also did not seek confrontation if she could help it. She walked the streets of Knockturn, her hand clenched around her wand, her eyes lifted so she could see anyone around her.

The door was open. She slipped inside the shop and immediately felt like something was out of place. No one was manning the store, and she could hear muffled voices from above. Lily knew the clever thing would be to turn around and walk out. It made more sense. But Lily had been becoming a different person as time wore on, and she was getting so bored with everything life was dealing her. There was no spark, no thrill. And here was a mystery, straight out of a novel - would she really turn around?

She crept through the silent store and went through the staff room, wand now held before her, every step a reminder that this was not right and therefore potentially dangerous - and it was this thought that kept her feet moving. There was a set of stairs and she climbed these, before finding the door to what she suspected to be the attic. Voices behind the door both beckoned and warned her, telling her she was so close to discovery. Still - there was surely nothing good waiting for her. She could turn around right now and be no worse off.

So this was why the Sorting Hat had chosen Gryffindor over Ravenclaw.

She opened the door and the scene before her hit harshly. There was Henry, and there was... her Headmaster? She did not know much of the man, having only just returned to Hogwarts, but she knew enough that this was indeed him. Her wand had fallen on him by chance but she now held it there, as he seemed to be more in the position to cause harm. Her other hand went up to her wand and she held it trained on him, her legs tense. She would not claim to be the best dueller she knew, but she knew she was the quickest.

"Back away," she said, attempting to sort out this situation.

‘Rookwood wants her dead.’

My father.

Theodore swallowed his pride, his anger, and shook his head, swallowing back the burst of sarcasm that wanted to break through. He wanted to tell Henry that he’d leave Hallie for him, just to save his little tail, then use the Cruciatus again to scold him for even saying something so foolish. Theodore shook his head and made to move, handling Hallie carefully lest he jolt any fractures or make something worse. He just wanted to get her home. He wanted to drag Cael out of bed and set the Healer to work. Set everyone to work. He wanted his wife fixed. Then he’d set about making sure nothing else like that happened. Ever. Ever again. If it killed him, he’d keep her safe.

“Go home, Henry. Go and make a life for yourself. I can give you double, triple, what he did. Just let Hallie and I go now. I won’t be held responsible for what I need to do to get her out of here tonight. Just go away now.”

Theodore rose to his feet but a new voice entered the throng and he turned a little, adjusting Hallie carefully in his arms as he did so, to catch sight of the young woman stood in the doorway. He knew a Potter when he saw one – a familial hazard. It occurred to Theo that over the last few weeks he’d seen enough of one Potter – even if it was only a single occasion – and he didn’t need another to be his aggressor as well. He’d helped one. He wasn’t going to wound another at the expense of his cousin’s happiness. However, if she was going to impede him…

“Get out of here, Potter.” Theodore scolded, rolling the wands in his hand absently, flicking his eyes between Henry and Lily. “You’re not old enough to start traipsing on this sort of ground.”

Henry had about to cry out in objection but he paused. That was quiet a hefty amount of gold Henry would land. It would be sly to undercut the death eaters, let Hallie go and receive gold but at the same time return to the death eaters claiming he had fought to have Hallie dead. Would it be worth the gold? Both of his chances seemed like a tunnel with no light at the end. The death eaters would kill him and he'd never claim Theodore's gold or Theodore would kill him and he'd never claim the death eaters admiration.

'No.' Henry yelled. Betraying people had gotten him in the situation he was in now: no money, no family, eighteen in the middle of addiction. His eyes darted from side to side, he collapsed to the ground supporting himself on his knee and elbow. 'They'll kill me but you'll kill me too. I wont win, but the death eaters may show mercy, but if they know you paid me then-' Henry was muttering under his breath, not really directing his words at anyone in particular.

The sound of a familiar voice pressed pause on his painful musing. 'Go. I don't want your money.' For the first time in a long time he was being noble, brave. If Henry's back was healed he'd be walking to the death eaters in the face of punishment, sure he'd allowed Theodore to escape but at least he wouldn't have undercut them, but the drugs he could buy with that money?

'She owes me mon-.' Henry barked but before he could continue his sentence another cry of pain escaped his lips. The slashing curse had ruined his back, blood was still seeping from it and then... Henry fainted.

(OOC: Choose to heal Henry or leave him it's up to you just as long as he doesn't die)

Lily had walked herself into quite a mess, and it was not one she could properly figure out, either. Here was her headmaster, an heir in one of the most powerful pureblood families, holding a girl she faintly recognized from Hogwarts, who looked broken and bloodied in his arms. On the ground was Henry, who Lily considered to be rather harmless - if he had not been able to stop her from walking out of his shop without full payment, what could he have possibly done to Theodore Rookwood.

With all of this analysis, however, the story just did not line up. Why would Rookwood be trying to steal away this woman in her state if he were the bad guy? And yet, Henry looked anything but the powerful villain in this scenario. Lily wished her eyes could unsee the entire thing, but, unfortunately, she had no choice but to face it. She could not turn her back and possibly condemn either the woman or the young man to death because she was afraid of the consequences in her own life. Not because of a sense of moral obligation, either, but for her own conscience.

You just didn't let people die.

Henry fainted suddenly, leaving Lily absolutely alone with Theodore Rookwood. She held her wand steady on him, forcing herself to look as stoic and steadfast as she could, never mind the heart that was attempting to beat its way out of her chest. If he wanted to, he could easily dispose of her, and then she would possibly be allowing the deaths of two others. But there was no way she would manage to convince him to leave both of them to her care. She was not going to win in this situation.

She swallowed. "G-go. I won't stop you. Leave him."

((She'll heal him when Theo leaves.))