Far off, Dorcas Meadows sat hugging baby Hannah. She rocked her gently, singing a song about a raven - or a magpie - or some sort of big black bird which collected things - little treasures - to carry home to his lover.
No finer jewels than the stones he carried home,
So much more beautiful than gold
Our nest is filled with precious things
Full of heart and strings and love...
A breeze through the open window fluttered pink gossamer curtains, and through them flew the silver form of a magnificent peacock, which landed, his lovely feathers long and fanned behind him on the floor, like a bridal train...
Dorcas stood up, pulling baby Hannah closer, pressing her tiny form to her heart.
"Gid?" Dorcas asked, and the peacock looked up at her with sad eyes.
But whatever he'd been sent to say died on his lips as the patronus disappeared like a puff of evaporating smoke.
The first thing Gideon Prewett ever felt was his brother.
Fabian was a kicker in utero. Gideon spent months being punched and kicked by Fabian before they were born. Gideon was born slightly smaller - Fabian slightly stronger.
He was born first, Fabian was. For the first seventeen minutes of his life, he was alone.
And then Gideon was born. And when they were both out, breathing in the air of the world together and laid side-by-side, it was Fabian that reached out and took his brother's hand.
He never wanted to be one without the other again.
Inseparable.
That was the word that everyone used to describe the twins. There was never one without the other. And they went through everything together. If one fell down, the other would throw himself to the ground to share the pain.
Even when they were apart from one another, it was as though they shared a mind. They could feel each other's aches and sufferings, could sense each other's whereabouts. They had a unique connection - something akin to love magic but rooted in their blood, natural between them, because they were the same cells duplicated and grown together, side by side, their magic was of the same seed, too. It connected them powerfully, even more than usual twins might be.
Gideon thought Fabian was still stronger. But Fabian thought Gideon was.
Gideon stared into Fabian's eyes.
He'd been lashed with spells. They both had - repeatedly. Blood dripped from Gideon's nose and his cheek, from his left shoulder. There was a burn in his shirt that revealed a dark black bruise spreading across his skin.
Fabian was dizzy.
He was sure he had matching cuts and lacerations.
They shot spells, magic flying over one another's shoulders, turning and jumping in unison, a well oiled mechanic they'd perfected over the years, unpredictable because nothing had to be discussed outloud, no hesitation to make sure they were on the same page, they simply moved and shot. Sparks dazzled the air around them like a fireworks display, lighting up the night with red and white and yellow sparks...
Four Death Eaters against the two twins and they were holding their own.
Gideon was thinking how bloody good of a fighter Fabian was.
Fabian was thinking how bloody amazing of a fighter Gideon was.
And bloody hell, they both thought, what a team we make together.
We always have.
Whether it was in real battles or in training, they'd always worked together.
Moody had tried for months to tell them apart, going so far as to demand they wore different colors at training, but they still always confused him so that he ended up just calling them Prewett One and Prewett Two and he used the numbers interchangably at random because he never had any idea who he was talking to.
The only person who could tell them apart was their older sister, Molly.
Gods, Molly would be proud of Fabian about now, thought Gideon.
Molly would be so proud of Giddy if she could see 'im right now! Fabian thought.
Inseparable.
That's what they were. What they'd always been.
"You alright, Giddy?" Fabian shouted.
"No, I'm fabulous!" Gideon answered.
"You're not - I am!" Fabian replied, grinning.
"Ayyyy," they said together.
The jet of green light seemed to come from no where.
Fabian shouted and pushed his brother.
Gideon fell down.
Fabian fell on top of him.
The green light struck the ground and there was an explosion of grass that flew up. Fabian grabbed hold of Gideon and rolled him away as a second green jet of light struck the ground beside them.
Gideon stared up at his brother's eyes.
There was a red-hot pain that seared from Fabian's shoulder across his back, like a hook had been sunk into his skin and pulled and he felt his flesh tear and he let out a choking sound.
"Protego!" Gideon screamed and a shield shot up from his wand like a clear cup of safety that covered them, breaking the spell that was tearing Fabian's skin. Gideon knew it was deep.
Fabian's screams were gut-wrenching.
Gideon raised his wand. A great big, beautiful peacock exploded from it. "Go!" he shouted, "Quickly!"
The patronus nodded and flew away.
Fabian stared down into his brother's eyes.
The shield was breaking.
Gideon rolled them over, Fabian shouting as his torn back hit the grass.
"AVADA KEDAVRA!" It was Rosier's voice this time and it struck the blood soaked ground where the twins had been laying a second before. The fourth shot of the killing curse that they'd avoided.
Another sharp spell struck, like a thousand blades stabbing into the back of Gideon and he gasped. "Not yet, not yet," he begged.
Would the patronus deliver a message even if the sender perished while it was en route?
Fabian raised a weak and shaking hand, feeble sparks flew out of the wand. His vision was blurry, Gideon's face seemed to hover in a sea of colors that didn't make sense... blazing red from one angle and flashes of color, faces... sounds that sounded underwater and far off, echoes...
And then there was a flash of green.
It hit Gideon square between the shoulder blades.
Gideon fell forward and the last thing he ever felt was his brother.
And for the second time in their lives Fabian Prewett was alone.
One without the other.
Fabian let out a cry from so deep in his gut that the sound chilled every person in the square to the bone. Even the Death Eaters stopped for a moment, everything paused as though someone had put a hold on the clock and time itself seemed to stand still. Fabian pushed his way up, somehow finding the strength to do it --
Gideon would have thought that was just about right; Fabian always was the strongest.
-- and Gideon's body rolled down to lay across Fabian's lap as he clutched his brother.
Silence fell. A horrible, absolute silence.
It was probably about seventeen seconds, but in Fabian's blurred vision and blurred mind it felt like eternity.
He looked up.
Antonin Dolohov stood before him and he raised his wand, the tip of it touching Fabian's forehead. "Don't worry," Dolohov said coldly. "You can join him. Avada Kedavra!"
Fabian Prewett fell forward.