Execution of Mandy Brocklehurst

[fi_admin]

Date: Friday, 8 June, 2001
Time: Just before 10am
Location: Special Room in the Werewolf Capture Unit areas of the Ministry of Magic Building
Characters Involved: Mandy Brocklehurst (NPCed), Remus Lupin, June Connors, Perry Derrick, Glamis (NPC), Zak Rollins (NPC), Severus Snape, Bill Weasley, Nymphadora Tonks, Dean Thomas, Jackson Bingley (NPC),

Comments

[birdwotcher]

Tonks didn't want to be there. She had no intention of coming until she'd been cornered late the night before by a member of the WCU, telling her what time the execution started and informing her in a way that had nearly made her hex him that she'd be responsible for helping to keep the werewolves in their place. After giving him a few choice words--the WCU stooge wouldn't have dared speak to Nevin the way he'd spoken to Tonks--she'd spent the rest of the night at work, crashing on a couch in her boss' office only when she couldn't bear to keep her eyes open any longer.

Now she was here, standing behind Snape and Remus, of all people. The other guards apparently thought she'd be best at calming them down, if the need arised, and she was placed among the guards to do so. What they failed to realise was that at that moment, she was a major source of anger for both of them; but that anger paled in comparison to the revulsion and horror brought about due to Mandy's execution.

Mandy. Whether she was guilty or not, the whole thing was undoubtedly a set-up, and Tonks could barely stand to watch any of it. When the members of the group started to rebel, however, she did what she could to make sure no one else got executed that morning. That, above all else, terrified her. Nevin and his men were looking for a reason to get the rest of the pack; and no matter what the Minister had promised Harry, there would undoubtedly be pressure to execute the rest. It was paramount that they behave.

Feeling her stomach twist painfully at June's outburst, she nudged the guard next to her aside and leaned down to whisper first to June, "Nevin and his men are looking for a reason to kill you and the rest of the pack. Please don't give them that reason. I know it's horrendous and unfair and murder, but there is nothing any of us can do except make sure the rest of you walk out of here alive."

[birdwotcher]

And to Bill, she set her hand on his shoulder, squeezing slightly. "Keep her calm," she said softly. "If you don't, she'll be next." It wasn't fair of Tonks to place that added pressure on Bill, but hopefully it would distract him enough to not react as emotionally as he might have otherwise.

She worried about Remus. Despite their argument and parting of ways, the last thing she wanted was for him to be in danger of execution. As the leader, they were undoubtedly already sharpening their knives for his head. But if Remus were killed, the rest would be killed, too, or so Tonks figured; and Remus would most likely be forced to watch each and every one of them killed. Nevin would take great pleasure in causing him that sort of soul-crushing pain.

Switching again with the guard next to her, she then looked at the backside of Snape's head, swallowing tightly. It didn't matter how much she hated him, how she'd have given anything to see him and Mandy switch places at that very moment; what mattered was that the others were kept safe, despite the horror they were witnessing and the emotional distress. Remus hadn't seemed to react so far; but it might be an entirely different story once Mandy was killed.

Setting a hand on Snape's shoulder, not caring if he snapped at her, she squeezed to let him know she was serious and that it was not a show of support. Leaning in next to him, she said in a slightly stronger tone than she'd used with Bill, "Do everything in your power to make sure Remus doesn't give them a reason to execute him as well. Nevin's looking for a reason--any reason--to do it, and if decide they have just cause to execute Remus, they'll kill the rest of the pack as well. Before him, so he can watch them all die." Words he undoubtedly already knew, but she absolutely had to stress the importance of keeping Remus calm, no matter how impossible a task that might be. "Keep him safe." Half-plea, half-demand.

She straightened up again, releasing her hold on Snape's shoulder and shifting back in line with the guards. She'd received a few curious looks, ones she returned with dangerous glowers. They wanted to try her when they were already hurting her friends--well, some were still her friends--this way? Then they were signing their own bloody death warrants.

Ignoring them, she set a gentle, supporting, sympathetic hand on Remus' shoulder, silently begging him to keep himself together. And her other went to Bill, rubbing his back gently. She'd deal with the consequences later.

[m4moony]

June's cries brought Remus out of the haze of guilt and despair his mind had settled into with a snap. As Bill took her in his arms to calm her and Tonks moved away after speaking a few low words into the young woman's ear, Remus turned to go to her as well, his other hand reaching behind him to motion Severus closer as well. Effectively, he drew them all together, June, Severus, Bill...all those who belonged to their unconventional little family, closing ranks and blocking out everyone else from their grief -- even Harry, whom he hoped would understand the need for this grasp at privacy amidst their tormentors.

"June," he said quietly, cupping her chin gently to look into her tear-filled eyes, eyes that still filled him with equal parts shame and awe to look into. His own eyes could no longer contain their watery misery as he spoke, the difficult words broken and hesitant. "Please. I am so desperately sorry. But, we...we can't save her. Don't give them a reason to take you, too. Please, June. We can't lose you, too."

A sharp poke to his ribs interrupted the moment.

"Turn around, Lupin." Nevin sneered at him, clearly enjoying himself. "Wouldn't want to miss the main event."

If looks could have killed, the Auror would have turned to ash in less than the time it took for Remus to shoot him an angry glare and straighten up, turning his back on the WCU once more.

A soft touch on his shoulder startled him and he turned his head slightly to see Tonks' hand there. Any other time the gesture might have been appreciated. In that moment, it was almost too much to bear. He was losing a young woman he thought of as a daughter. The day before, he had lost 'Dora as a friend. He couldn't mourn both of them today. It was too much all at once.

Shaking his head minutely, he shifted his shoulder to dislodge her hand. Though he reached for June's hand, he moved his body closer to Severus. He was not capable of accepting Tonks' comfort for himself, but he would not deny Bill or June the same. Glamis stood stoically on the other side of June, hands resting on Zak's shoulders as the young werewolf sobbed quietly into the old wolf's chest. Glamis had not spoken since the arrest. Not even to Remus.

"We are here today..." As the Ministry official in charge of the proceedings stood and began to read the sentence, Remus' focus blurred. The words became unintelligible for he could only hear one, plaintive voice above it, still pleading with them to stop it.

Remus! Severus!

He refused to break down in front of Nevin and his goons. He refused to show weakness or give them the satisfaction of being able to belittle the pack's grief.

But, the sound of Mandy's quiet pleas prevented the tears from stopping their slow progression down his cheeks.

Perry! June!

Seemingly out of nowhere, a thinner man in the WCU uniform approached the iron table where she continued to struggled uselessly against the bonds. Remus saw only a brief flash of light reflecting of the needle before her screams began in earnest. The timbre changing from one of pleading to one filled with more pain than he'd ever heard in all his years of transformations. As her struggling became tortured thrashing, his resolve crumbled and he turned his face into Severus' shoulder, unable to watch her die and unable to save her from it.

[subtle_simmer]

Rage boiled through his veins. In a twisted way, he was grateful for Nymphadora's actions at that moment, because it gave fresh fuel to the fury which was quickly threatening to give way to despair. He could not afford to be weak, now.

The new vitriol manifested itself in a savage sneer at the woman who dared to 'ask' him to do that which he was already doing, who dared to pretend to be concerned about the lives or safety of any of them after all she had said and done the preceding thirty-six hours.

That sneer was the only acknowledgment he made of her presence - he didn't even bother to turn to face her that she could appreciate the depth of his loathing. Ignoring her completely, he allowed the guards to believe the expression was for them as his hand twisted, spasmodically, against Remus' shoulder at each tortured plea from Mandy.

Then it began in earnest.

Severus did not turn away. He couldn't. Witnessing the travesty before him was no less punishment than he deserved. He had failed her. Failed them all. The retribution was just, even if the act itself was the worst sort of rape of justice imaginable.

As he felt Remus turn in toward him, Severus pulled him close, his arm around Remus' shoulder as much for support as a barrier to shield him from the impertinence of those who did not deserve to share in the grief - or what comfort was to be found. Groping blindly with this hand, he found June's arm on the other side of Remus and enclosed his hand around it, not quite gently enough to be mere offering of shared commiseration. Tucking his jaw against Remus' head as though to use as much of his body to shield the other man as possible, he said nothing. His free hand was clenched in a fist, as though prepared to lash out at anyone who tried to touch them, separate them.

His eyes never left Mandy's. An eternity of agony. In truth, it would have been very short. Once the silver reached the heart - seconds, really - biologically it would have been over. Yet it seemed like eons. He made no sound, breathing through his half-open mouth to prevent the choked sob-like sounds which would be made otherwise.

The Legilimens did what he could, at this distance and with her under this duress, to both try to shield her mind from the pain of her body and express the affection of those she would leave behind. Time was long-past for recriminations, though he saw her guilt for leaving the house alone. He forced the thought firmly aside and enveloped her in the love and forgiveness he had only just learnt to believe in, himself.

It wasn't enough. Nothing could ever make it 'enough'. But in the last moments of consciousness, when screaming was over because breath was gone and heart had stopped, leaving a horrible, ringing, echoing silence, Severus was awash with a sudden sense of warmth that was almost like peace. Too distressed to evaluate or understand the meaning of the incongruity, he merely squeezed the arm and hand in contact with Remus and June.

"It's over," he said hoarsely.

[sightlesswolf]

Bill's arm around her waist only caused June to redouble her struggles to get free. He was a friend, she didn't want to hurt him, but she had to get loose, to get to Mandy! His words and Tonks's didn't make sense to her - what did they expect her to do, stop?

The last time she'd felt this unreasoning, desperate fury - the last time she'd dashed forward against all reason because of the torture of an innocent - she'd been a wolf. That time, it had cost her her sight and very nearly her life... but it seemed she hadn't learned.

Had it only been Bill, she might have fought free, and who knows how badly that might have ended? But then Remus was there, and the matching anguish in his face cut straight to her heart. It really was hopeless, it whispered to her, more clearly and irrevocably than his actual words could. His touch, Bill's, Tonks's words, Glamis and Perry's silent grief and the heartbreaking sound of Zak's sobbing beside her... the fight was draining out of her, leaving only a horrid, hollow ache inside. A few more feeble pulls against Bill's sturdy grip, and she went still.

For the first time, she wished fervently that she'd never got her sight back - then she wouldn't have to watch Mandy's face as the younger girl realized no miracle was coming.

Gods, please, this isn't right, this isn't fair, she can't die... not like this...

But the gods weren't listening to prayers today, neither hers nor Mandy's nor those from the family clustered around her. As the needle was slid into Mandy's vein, June's every muscle tensed, her lips silently shaping the name.

Mandy, no, PLEASE...

Mandy was screaming, horrible agonized shrieks that tore through June and ripped her to pieces. She wanted to scream, too, scream her heart out, but her throat was frozen shut, she couldn't draw breath, and only Bill's arm around her waist kept her on her feet. She clung to that arm, her other hand clutching Remus's, and she felt Severus's hand encircle her arm, could feel him shaking as she was. But she didn't look away. This might not be much, but it was all she could do for Mandy now, to not turn her eyes away. To be with her in any way she could, even if Mandy was past knowing.

And then, after a lifetime, silence.

She couldn't answer Severus; she couldn't move, breathe, think. Couldn't tear her eyes from Mandy's still face. It hurt too much to move even an eyelash.

"No..."

It took her a moment to realize that the broken whisper of denial had come from her.

"No, oh no...."