November 5th, after the fight, St. Dunstan's in-the-East
Who: The Bad Guys
What: Licking of wounds and preparations to return from whence they came.
Where: St. Dunstan's in-the-East, a former church in London.
When: Following the battle here
Tom sat wheezing in a corner, leaning against what was left of a stone wall. Fire and other elemental attacks he had been expecting, of course... But whatever the Hell that... "Sectumsempra" was... That was something new. That French girl beared closer attention, but then they were all going to be under scrutiny now. He gripped his chest tighter, feeling his soul's connection to the body slip. Where were his damned minions? They should be back by now....
As if on cue, Dean strode into the courtyard that the ruined church had been transformed into. He shivered involuntarily, even if the ground was no longer hallowed strictly-speaking it still made him uncomfortable to be here. In his arms he cradled Maria as she peacefully slept.
Tom staggered to his feet. "Well done, Dean. Well done."
Dean approached him. "Yeah, well... She fell for it, hook line and sinker."
"I knew she would. And I knew that you had the sincerity to pull it off."
"Yeah, well, seems a bit much for a babysitter is what I'm saying."
Tom just smiled. "Have you heard from the others?"
"Nah, Blaise has got a long way to come... and you didn't even tell us what Goyle was up to."
"One of the girls should be able to apperate him back here quick enough though." He winced.
"Yeah, well, you know what it's like for us.. being in a church, even the ruins of one, is creepy... 'Time is thin around St. Dunstan's', that's what you said... But you talk a lot of crap, don't you?"
Tom glared. "It exists in both locations, and is suitably deserted in this time. And yes, making the gateway between the worlds was easier here than elsewhere. I apologize for the uneasiness you feel, but this ground is no longer hallowed, don't worry..."
"You all right, Tom?"
He sighed. "No, I was cut up by some hex... Some kind of blade manifestation. Something new, something powerful. It severed one of the runes... And obviously healing spells were never my forte. Much more interested in causing pain that soothing it...."
"I'm no healer. We'll get you back and get it sorted though..." Dean privately wished that they couldn't get the wound sorted and that somehow this would really be the end of Tom.
"Well, well, well, look at you two sad sacks hanging out in the middle of a night in a curfew." Blaise strolled in all smiles. "Long trip back from good old Hoggies but here I am..."
"And where are the two I sent you to retrieve... I assume they didn't have a change of heart..." Tom glared at Blaise.
"Ah, well, that's where things went a bit tits up. The two ladies in question went missing, apparently. But... I didn't come back empty handed..." He gestured to his right and a girl in a rather tattered looking Hogwarts uniform strolled in, staring at the unfamiliar surroundings.
"I thought you said you were taking me to my Ronnykins?" She asked questioningly.
"That's not..." Dean's jaw dropped.
"Nah, it's not.. Look." Blaise pulled back some of the Hermioneganger's unruly hair revealing the cracks in the porcelain of her face. "See, she's like some kind of animated doll or something. Like a golem, but she thinks she's Hermione.
"I am Hermione!" the Hermioneganger insisted. "And I want to see my Ronniekins! I want to see him now! That other Hermione is probably sinking her fangs into him as we speak! I want to see Ron! You lied to me!"
"Oh for gods' sake silence that thing. Before it has the aurors on us. I'd do it myself but my arms are full." Dean complained.
Blaise pulled out his wand and stunned the Hermioneganger before her tantrum continued. "There? Happy... I found her wandering the Forbidden Forest, crying to herself. Thought it might come in handy... I mean you sent me after a librarian and a transfig teacher... and I came back with a copy of Hermione... Close enough, right?"
Tom sighed and winced again in pain. "I sent you after two of my most devoted servants and you return with a lovesick mockery of life..." He shook his head. "As long as Goyle returns with what I sent him after it doesn't matter...."
Just then Goyle, or what was left of him lurched into view. His entire right arm was gone and there were severe scorch and burn marks along the right side of his body.
"Gordon Bennett, Goyle... What the fuck happened to you?" Blaise looked at him with a mixture of shock and slight concern.
Goyle merely approached Tom and held out his left hand, opening his tightly clenched fist. Inside was a ring. Tom took it and put it on and immediately stood a little straighter.
"Well done my good and faithful servent. We'll make sure to get you well fed back in the Eleven Day Empire. You'll regrow that arm in no time."
Goyle just stared at him with an expression of 'I can't believe you sent me into that and didn't tell me what I was in for' on his ravaged face.
"Look can we get out of here already, this place is giving me the creeps..." Dean whined some more.
"Don't listen to him, his arms are tired from carrying that bint around all day. Cor, she's a pretty one though isn't she?" Blaise examined Maria closely. "Sven's a lucky bloke to have a bird like this for a sister."
Tom pulled the now dull crystal out of his pocket again. "Just need to charge this up and off we go..."
"Oi, what about the American kid... Calin the Stowaway? The one you sent to go rip up Azkaban?"
Tom continued to play with the Crystal. "I got this from him... and he's going to free his lady love... Deal's done. He was never part of my long term plans... and if he survives, well... We can fetch him in 11 days... Yes, just need a victim and then we can go... And Miss Reilly and the... Thing... are obviously inadequate..."
"There he is!" Maggie and the few aurors she could muster marched into the area. "Give yourself up. We'll kill you if we have to...."
"Oi, this is too convenient. The gods must be on our side for once. I wish I had a million galleons." Blaise looked around expectantly. "Bugger."
Tom smiled darkly. "I'm afraid you have that the wrong way 'round. Avada Kedavra!" He snarled and blasted Maggie, killing her and the crystal in his hand started to glow. Blaise started banishing the others as Goyle swung at them with his good left arm, managing to grab one and sink his teeth into her. Tom took advantage of the confusion to open the portal back. Dean dashed through it with no further prompting, followed by Goyle with his snack still in hand. Blaise tossed the Hermioneganger through and then dived through himself. Tom sunk to one knee, his surge of strength almost exhausted he looked warily at the two aurors who had managed to regain their wits and quickly turned and strode through the portal. It closed behind him.
What: Licking of wounds and preparations to return from whence they came.
Where: St. Dunstan's in-the-East, a former church in London.
When: Following the battle here
Tom sat wheezing in a corner, leaning against what was left of a stone wall. Fire and other elemental attacks he had been expecting, of course... But whatever the Hell that... "Sectumsempra" was... That was something new. That French girl beared closer attention, but then they were all going to be under scrutiny now. He gripped his chest tighter, feeling his soul's connection to the body slip. Where were his damned minions? They should be back by now....
As if on cue, Dean strode into the courtyard that the ruined church had been transformed into. He shivered involuntarily, even if the ground was no longer hallowed strictly-speaking it still made him uncomfortable to be here. In his arms he cradled Maria as she peacefully slept.
Tom staggered to his feet. "Well done, Dean. Well done."
Dean approached him. "Yeah, well... She fell for it, hook line and sinker."
"I knew she would. And I knew that you had the sincerity to pull it off."
"Yeah, well, seems a bit much for a babysitter is what I'm saying."
Tom just smiled. "Have you heard from the others?"
"Nah, Blaise has got a long way to come... and you didn't even tell us what Goyle was up to."
"One of the girls should be able to apperate him back here quick enough though." He winced.
"Yeah, well, you know what it's like for us.. being in a church, even the ruins of one, is creepy... 'Time is thin around St. Dunstan's', that's what you said... But you talk a lot of crap, don't you?"
Tom glared. "It exists in both locations, and is suitably deserted in this time. And yes, making the gateway between the worlds was easier here than elsewhere. I apologize for the uneasiness you feel, but this ground is no longer hallowed, don't worry..."
"You all right, Tom?"
He sighed. "No, I was cut up by some hex... Some kind of blade manifestation. Something new, something powerful. It severed one of the runes... And obviously healing spells were never my forte. Much more interested in causing pain that soothing it...."
"I'm no healer. We'll get you back and get it sorted though..." Dean privately wished that they couldn't get the wound sorted and that somehow this would really be the end of Tom.
"Well, well, well, look at you two sad sacks hanging out in the middle of a night in a curfew." Blaise strolled in all smiles. "Long trip back from good old Hoggies but here I am..."
"And where are the two I sent you to retrieve... I assume they didn't have a change of heart..." Tom glared at Blaise.
"Ah, well, that's where things went a bit tits up. The two ladies in question went missing, apparently. But... I didn't come back empty handed..." He gestured to his right and a girl in a rather tattered looking Hogwarts uniform strolled in, staring at the unfamiliar surroundings.
"I thought you said you were taking me to my Ronnykins?" She asked questioningly.
"That's not..." Dean's jaw dropped.
"Nah, it's not.. Look." Blaise pulled back some of the Hermioneganger's unruly hair revealing the cracks in the porcelain of her face. "See, she's like some kind of animated doll or something. Like a golem, but she thinks she's Hermione.
"I am Hermione!" the Hermioneganger insisted. "And I want to see my Ronniekins! I want to see him now! That other Hermione is probably sinking her fangs into him as we speak! I want to see Ron! You lied to me!"
"Oh for gods' sake silence that thing. Before it has the aurors on us. I'd do it myself but my arms are full." Dean complained.
Blaise pulled out his wand and stunned the Hermioneganger before her tantrum continued. "There? Happy... I found her wandering the Forbidden Forest, crying to herself. Thought it might come in handy... I mean you sent me after a librarian and a transfig teacher... and I came back with a copy of Hermione... Close enough, right?"
Tom sighed and winced again in pain. "I sent you after two of my most devoted servants and you return with a lovesick mockery of life..." He shook his head. "As long as Goyle returns with what I sent him after it doesn't matter...."
Just then Goyle, or what was left of him lurched into view. His entire right arm was gone and there were severe scorch and burn marks along the right side of his body.
"Gordon Bennett, Goyle... What the fuck happened to you?" Blaise looked at him with a mixture of shock and slight concern.
Goyle merely approached Tom and held out his left hand, opening his tightly clenched fist. Inside was a ring. Tom took it and put it on and immediately stood a little straighter.
"Well done my good and faithful servent. We'll make sure to get you well fed back in the Eleven Day Empire. You'll regrow that arm in no time."
Goyle just stared at him with an expression of 'I can't believe you sent me into that and didn't tell me what I was in for' on his ravaged face.
"Look can we get out of here already, this place is giving me the creeps..." Dean whined some more.
"Don't listen to him, his arms are tired from carrying that bint around all day. Cor, she's a pretty one though isn't she?" Blaise examined Maria closely. "Sven's a lucky bloke to have a bird like this for a sister."
Tom pulled the now dull crystal out of his pocket again. "Just need to charge this up and off we go..."
"Oi, what about the American kid... Calin the Stowaway? The one you sent to go rip up Azkaban?"
Tom continued to play with the Crystal. "I got this from him... and he's going to free his lady love... Deal's done. He was never part of my long term plans... and if he survives, well... We can fetch him in 11 days... Yes, just need a victim and then we can go... And Miss Reilly and the... Thing... are obviously inadequate..."
"There he is!" Maggie and the few aurors she could muster marched into the area. "Give yourself up. We'll kill you if we have to...."
"Oi, this is too convenient. The gods must be on our side for once. I wish I had a million galleons." Blaise looked around expectantly. "Bugger."
Tom smiled darkly. "I'm afraid you have that the wrong way 'round. Avada Kedavra!" He snarled and blasted Maggie, killing her and the crystal in his hand started to glow. Blaise started banishing the others as Goyle swung at them with his good left arm, managing to grab one and sink his teeth into her. Tom took advantage of the confusion to open the portal back. Dean dashed through it with no further prompting, followed by Goyle with his snack still in hand. Blaise tossed the Hermioneganger through and then dived through himself. Tom sunk to one knee, his surge of strength almost exhausted he looked warily at the two aurors who had managed to regain their wits and quickly turned and strode through the portal. It closed behind him.