antebellum [t. riddle]

lxxvii

april 1945
cw: suicidal ideation

author's note: final stretch!!! if i said there were three chapters left (and maybe an epilogue)...

"stand aside."

there was such stillness in the air. sicaria could scarcely feel anything but the words forming in her mouth.

this was the last thing sicaria had time for. she was begging him, practically.

please, don't make me.

tom did not feign as though he was going to obey her.

he had felt her. of course he had felt her. and now, he could see her decision in her face. the sight of it should have angered him, but now, all he had was desperation.

he had gambled and lost. he guessed wrong. he had waited too long. all tom could hope to do now was to beg her to have confidence in his abilities, but it would be difficult without her undivided attention. sicaria had spent so much of her life thinking of ways to escape her situation with macusa, and had probably come to a point in her mind in which she was entirely unable to believe she left any stone unturned. she had always been resistant to believing tom's proposals about saving her, rarely ever allowing him to fully explain himself. she never wanted to give herself hope.

whether that was lack of faith in magic or in him, tom would never know.

"expelliarmus," he cast.

"stand aside, tom." she was pleading, nearly screaming. tom was pleading too— she just couldn't see it. he ignored her, casting the same disarming charm over and over. she deflected it each time. she would not listen to him if he could not force her to. "damn it, tom, stand aside!"

"would you if i asked the same of you?"

she spoke as though she had not heard him. "please don't make me hurt you."

he ignored her.

tom switched his dueling style without warning, throwing impediment jinxes and stunners at her at a speed she had not been anticipating. she looked at him incredulously, yet unsurprised that he would disregard her, as he had done so many times before. she allowed that anger she felt toward him, which she often suppressed, to present itself aggressively and determinedly. she dueled him viciously and impatiently, casting with the entirety of her magical ability.

and still, he couldn't bring himself to try to hurt her.

since he had realized her soul was damaged, he obsessed over preserving the little injured parts that were left of her. his reluctance to duel aggressively gave sicaria an immediate edge, which she took advantage of without second thought.

he was backing away, dueling only on defense now, attempting to bide his time until he could think of another way to obstruct her. he hid himself behind shield charms hoping her frustration would stall her for long enough to think, until over her shoulder, he saw faint movement.

sicaria could see the confusion on his face. then, suddenly, tom paused for only a second, expression lapsing briefly as he looked at something over her shoulder. not believing him, sicaria refused to lower her wand.

"stupefy!" a voice called from behind her, and she had no time to put up a magical defense, only to physically move herself out of the path of the spell. sicaria only just managed to dodge the stunner, and before she could turn to realize who was attempting, tom was responding.

"destruo!" tom cast at the boy who had sent the spell at her. he screamed. sicaria didn't recognize the spell, but while tom's attention was briefly off of her, she cast, "petrificus totalus."