April 14: The Deep End: Amycus

[Alecto Carrow]

▶︎ Hold me down, hold me down
Throw me in the deep end, watch me drown...
Knock me out, knock me out
Saying that I want more, this is what I live for...

Following: Hogsmeade Attacks

Alecto swallowed a cry as she landed at the apparition point, knees buckling, hands clamping instinctively around a freely bleeding calf. Had she been struck on her way out of Hogsmeade? In the chaos of the village, she very well could have, and would play it off as if that were the case. It would only make an embarrassing show worse if she had managed to splinch herself. But it couldn't, unless she hadn't noticed - this wasn't her first apparition, it had taken stops, the distance and the distraction too much for her to manage in one go. She'd awoken on the floor of the joke shop, abruptly, head ringing and the world shaking, no sign of the witch who'd knocked her out, no telling how much she'd missed until she made it to her feet and saw the wildness outside. The screams and bursts from the village amplified, reverberated, clamored around in her head as they fought with the noise of the shop, all the gadgets and whirligigs seemingly gone mad. The flashing lights inside and out didn't help matters, and it took all she had to clear her mind enough to instruct herself on the basic steps and see them through. Stand. Check for injury, for your wand. Get out. Set it ablaze...Stand...

Back in London, smoke and blood in her nose and stuck to her person, Alecto fought down a rising sick against the pounding in her head, the pain in her leg, the haze in her vision. She'd stumbled more than strutted out of Zonko's, but her fire caught the building all the same, to join in the devastation of the village. Dumbledore was not so all-knowing as he liked to appear. Students had swarmed the village for their usual monthly trip, outside of the security of the castle, out from under his shadow, while she and her brethren descended, spreading quickly as a plague. Perhaps she shouldn't have strayed, should've kept by one of her trusted few - but she'd had her sights set on the joke shop, and what pretty toys waited and welcomed her before they understood. The moment when it dawned on them that they were in danger, that they were out of their depth - it was a delicious, palpable thing, and this was not the end. She would find them, she would see that look again and see it through, not let someone get in her way again.

Hands slick and breath gasping, she released her leg to take her wand, and after a few attempts had bandaged the wound. It would hold until she was home. It would hold. It would...

Home, to her brother. A street, a few steps, home. A needling voice in the back of her mind was striving to drive her to distraction, and perhaps to spite it, Alecto's attempts to make herself presentable were halfhearted at best. The muggles couldn't see what was around them, they did not care for each other and would not care for her, they wouldn't notice her if she didn't want them to. Disillusionment was out of the realm of possibility, with how well apparition had gone - through the haze, she could admit at least that much to herself. She wiped her face, her hands, tugged the leg of her pants over the bandage. Head down, she followed her feet to their building, and the climb was slow, dizzying, and she was home. Back against the door, she leaned into it, bracing herself with a grimace, and it banged shut. "Amycus. Amycus!"

[Amycus Carrow]

There was nothing better than the thrill of the fight, and that wasn’t just his opinion. Today’s festivities had been extra exhilarating, watching the faces of the young students and the terror that ripped through Hogsmeade with their arrival. Those worthy enough to know of their plans had avoided the village today, and that was for the best. Amycus wasn’t going to stop an attack for the child of one of his companions. Even those whose parents were within the respected group of Death Eaters, but had sympathizers for parents, had avoided Hogsmeade today. Amycus was still feeling high from the fight, although was disappointed it had ended so quickly with the arrival of Dumbledore. He wasn’t sure what their Dark Lord feared from the batty old man, but it also wasn’t his place to question it. He did as he was told, as he had done all of his life, and told himself he’d have some fun later to release the tension he was holding knowing that the next attack would not be soon. No, the Order and Aurors would be on alert for a while, which meant hunting parties with the Lestranges would be starting up soon.

He let himself into the flat he shared with his sister, ignoring the call of the falcon as he moved through the place and used his wand to close the currents. As much as cleaning his knives was something he never wanted to do - the blood on them told a story - he also wasn’t about to let them tarnish or allow them to be dull before his next hunting trip. Alecto wasn’t home yet, and for that, he was glad, as he knew she would be cross with the blood on their counters as he wiped down the knives. His assumption was that she’d gone to Bella to celebrate the success of the day, but it wasn’t long before he heard the door open. It banged shut, and he almost cut himself on a knife at the sound of Alecto’s voice. Something was wrong, and he rushed to the front door to see if she was alright. If someone had hurt her, they would pay for it.

“Bloody hell ‘lecto, what happened to you?” he said as he squatted down in front of her, hand reaching out to examine the blood on her face. “Well you’ve got a broken nose but that’s an easy enough fix, but you are far too bloody for that to be the only thing,” he said to himself more than her, before looking down to the fresh blood coming from her leg. “Here, this is going to hurt but I need to see the wound.” He took a clean knife from his belt before he cut open his sister's pants to reveal her leg and the failed attempt at a bandage. “Where the hell did you run off to when we got there? You missed some beautiful chaos at the Three Broomsticks,” he said to her as he examined the wound, hoping to take her mind off the fact that healing it was going to hurt

[Alecto Carrow]

They could withstand pain, a lifetime of it. They prepared to guard His secrets with their lives. This pain was temporary, she was its master, she could separate from it. She was strong enough to separate from it. She was. Iron bends and I will not. Iron bends and I will not. Iron bends... Words muttered, words thought, back pressed to the door, Alecto slid to the floor and landed with a thump that elicited a sharp shock through her system. Breaths marked, heavy and fast as her brother's boots, eyes squeezed closed as she waited for him to come. He would come. He would take care of her. Always, Amycus would take care of her. It was one of the only true things, really, one of the only things she knew was forever true. Never admitted, never spoken of - but true, precious knowledge wrapped tight about barbed wire around and through their pulsing hearts. They were in this life together, and he would always come for her.

She flinched away reflexively from the hand at her face, and unfocused eyes popped open to see him. Amycus's face was set in that way, and when she blinked he was thirteen, telling her to hold pressure on and stay put while he put her rival in their place, and when she blinked he was back with new scars and that beard. And she smiled. "Keep it pretty. I'll know," Alecto instructed, a weak laugh trickling out of her as she traced the bridge of his nose, not yet daring to investigate the state of her own. But she gritted herself at his next, and was left choking on complaints over him ruining her pants as he continued assessing her, hands clenching at her sides as she did her best to keep still.

"Rosie happy to see you again? I trust you gave her our best." The Death Eater shook and looked away from her leg, possessive of what remained in her stomach, and instead watched her brother's face as he worked. It was a good face, an intact face, a determined face, and Alecto felt a warm twinge of satisfaction curl in her gut. This was no test, they had already been tested. And yet - she was still his to protect, just as he was hers. That was the secret, what kept them invincible... "You fancied a drink, I fancied a laugh. But I know her face, I won't forget," she whispered through clenched teeth, voice shaking as she tried to keep the pain from it. "She's new. Didn't stink of the Order. We'll visit Bella at the Ministry, find her. Pretty," she conceded, her musing caught up in a shuddering gasp. "It's a shame."