"Gideon Prewett, it took five Death Eaters to ill him and his brother Fabian, they fought like heroes."
Sirius' ears picked up the last bits of Moody's conversation with Harry about the members of the original Order, but most especially the Prewetts. Gideon and Fabian, the only brothers in the Order, and twins at that.
Common knowledge was it that they has fought off five Death Eaters before being killed, but it was far less common was it known why exactly they had been found. Sirius took a seat in the corner of the kitchen and stared into his butterbeer as he revisited the memories of the two who were the real heart of the Order.
"Remus, the meeting's about to begin," Gideon said through the closed door. "Are you going to go?" he asked in a softer voice.
It was nearly three weeks after Marlene McKinnon and her family had been killed by Voldemort. The whole Order was in shock, she was the first to have been killed, but Remus took it far worse than most. He spent most of the days in his room doing nothing. A few of the Order's meetings had been based on his behavior, but nobody knew why the werewolf was being so odd.
Outside Remus' room still, Gideon sighed and pushed the door open. He found the young man sitting on his bed, looking at a picture.
"Do you remember this?" Remus asked hollowly. The elder Prewett twin moved so he could see the picture and smiled faintly.
"We took it two weeks ago. It was quite a challenge, getting Moody to agree to it." Emerald met light brown as Gideon searched Lupin's eyes. "She knew what could happen and she was willing to give up her life for it. We all are."
"Her family didn't know. They died too. We have a bad chance of defeating Voldemort don't we?" Remus asked, not really wanting a definite answer.
"I'm not going to lie to you Remus. It won't be easy or clean defeating Voldemort, but we will do it because we have to."
"Yes. There will be casualties and we will loose people, good people, but this is what we're supposed to be doing." Unnoticed, Fabian had entered the room. Tall and lean, Fabian had the same colour eyes as his twin, but those were the only physical traits the two shared.
Sirius followed looking reproachfully at his lover. "You missed the meeting." He said, "and the other half of the Wonder Boys." Gideon shook his head at Sirius, long brown hair repeating the motion.
"We were talking. I think Remus is about done with the Order. He didn't expect Voldemort to go after Lene's family. None of us really did. Your man just took it harder than most. I think because she was part of the pack? One of yours to protect?" Remus' eyes filled with hatred and pain and anger, mostly directed at himself.
Pain quickly filled Sirius' eyes as he moved to comfort Remus in a way that Gideon couldn't. The twins, by unspoken agreement moved out into the hall. As Fabian reached back to close the door he saw Remus slump and cry on Sirius' shoulder. Regarding each other for a moment, they went to Dumbledore. Seeing as how the Hogwart's Express was stationed at Platform 9¾ waiting for the new and returning students, Gideon and Fabian traveled to Hogwarts easily and were able to keep an eye on the kids.
Walking up and down the corridors, lost in conversation, the brothers didn't notice the looks from both boys and girls alike- at least until the boys realized Gideon was male. The Prewetts both had the same clear emerald eyes, long slightly muscular builds, and chestnut hair. Their styles differed completely, however. Gideon with the long, flowing hair he had had since he started at Hogwarts and now reached his waist and Fabian with shoulder length hair perpetually in a ponytail. Gideon refused to put his up, claiming they knew how to work together. And very well true that may have been, for all their looks, neither hair nor clothes interfered while they fought.
And fighters they were, not only with wands and magic, but also with fists and wit. They each had an inborn talent for curses and jinxes and the like. Gideon certainly looked the part of the menacing avenger in tight black tee shirts and baggy black pants covered with too many zippers all covered in a black trench coat or 2wizard's robe, depending on where he was. Fabian, however, contented himself with corduroys and whatever tee shirt was clean covered in wizard's robes or a trench coat.
Jolted out of their conversation by the train's sudden stop, the members of the Order ran up to the front of the train, yelling at the students to stay in their compartments. They were confronted with a scene straight out of Dumbledore's nightmares. 5 Death Eaters stood in front of the train, one with a wand, presumably stopping the train. Gideon assessed the situation, calculated the distance to Hogwarts to the train and muttered to his twin "5 minutes", knowing that Fabian would understand that the minutes were all Dumbledore needed to reach the Express if it hadn't reached the castle.
With hills on one side and a lake on the other, both knew to take the battle into the hills, away from the students. Looking again to his brother, Gideon strode forward eyes hardening, hair snapping, coat trailing behind. Fabian Apparated to the top of a nearby hill and stood watch, hoping that the Death Eaters would assume that there was only one adult on the train. From above he saw Gideon leap to the top of the second car to walk toward the group of Death Eaters. Stopping at the end of the engine Gideon spoke to the leader but from his vantage point Fabian couldn't hear what was being said and dared not use an amplifying spell for fear of being found.
With his long hair reflecting what sun shone through the clouds, and the black of his outfit, for a moment the faint outline of an avenging angel was superimposed on Fabian, and Gideon knew then that one of them would die before the day was out.
Looking down from his vantage point on the engine of the train, Gideon recognized the apparent leader of the merry little band. "Antonin Dolohov," he growled, disgust seeping through every syllable. "What do you want? Come to pick on those more talented than you?"
"Fabian. Or Gideon. Whoever," Dolohov said smoothly, "Get out of my way. I will kill you."
"Come and get it." Gideon Apparated and appeared behind his brother who held up his wand and released red sparks into the air.
Almost immediately they were surrounded by the Death Eaters, all of whom were pointing their wands at the two. Without warning, Voldemort's group struck first.
"Crucio!" Roared Dolohov. Years of training enabled the boys to dive out of the way. The once properly aimed curse hit another member of Dolohov's pack, who dropped to the dirt, screaming.
Gideon rolled to his feet and unleashed a stream of sparks at Dolohov. The dark man dodged out of the way while another Death Eater aimed at the elder Prewett's back. Fabian noticed and took it upon himself to hit the man with a nasty little spell that he had thought up himself. The man yelled in pain and dropped like a rock. Fabian grinned, a feral version of his usual and got back to work.
"Protego!" The shield spell held and deflected the curse straight into Remus and Sirius who hastily created their own.
With the fight evenly matched and the Hogwarts Express moving away, the Order fighters were able to use their full strength. For long minutes the match was a draw. Both sides realized something had to give, but nobody expected it to be Remus. The brown haired man went down under the Crucio curse, and was unable to get up for several moments. In that time Sirius left the Prewetts to stand ground over his lover. Incensed by the attack, he took out two more of the Death Eaters, leaving only Dolohov and a man that strongly resembles Lucius Malfoy.
With Remus still down, the Order regrouped around him. Sirius looked up at them with worried eyes. "I think he broke some ribs when he fell, and I think one of them may have punctured a lung. I can't fix it here, but he doesn't want me to leave you. I would have to leave to get him to Madame Pomfrey."
"Go," the twins chorused without any hesitation. "These guys are ours." Fabian added, wand never wavering.
Sirius scooped Remus up as gently as he could and was gone. Gideon and Fabian faced off with Dolohov and Malfoy. Trusting that the rest of the Death Eaters were out of the fight, they paid no attention to their backs. What they had not seen while tending to Remus was Malfoy reviving the three Death Eaters on the ground.
"Dolohov!" Gideon said furiously, "What do you want here?"
"Nothing of importance. But we though to show everybody how serious things are by taking the Hogwarts Express and killing the children." He smiled, but there was no joy, only evil and pain. "Two members of the Order of the Phoenix ought to suffice in their place."
Said members glanced sidelong at each other; that was the first either of them had heard that Voldemort knew about the Order. Meanwhile, unnoticed, two Death Eaters regained their feet and took aim at a Prewett's back.
"Now," Dolohov said in a mild voice. He and Malfoy waited a beat before casting a Stunning Spell. In that rest, the others unleashed the Crucio Curse and dropped the Prewett's to the ground.
When they awoke, they were bound on the floor of a house. Dolohov strolled out when the brothers began to speak to each other. "Ah, I see you are awake. Which of you is the elder?" He pointed with his wand first at Gideon then Fabian and back to Gideon. "You are now. Where is the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix located?"
Gideon just stared at the man, and smiled sadly. He began to explain the logistics of the headquarters as one would explain it to a small child. "Well, you see, its location has been entrusted to a member, so I couldn't tell you. I doubt they could either.
Dolohov sighed and mustered a smile to match. "Then you die. After your brother." He walked over to a table and retrieved a small dagger. With it, he cut half the veins in Fabian's arms. He then raised his wand.
Gideon screamed and began to struggle. "FABIAN! You bastard! Fight me if you want to kill anyone. I love you Fab!" Fabian managed to smile for his brother in spite of the blood loss and foreboding.
"Crucio!" Both Gideon and Fabian screamed, the sounds intermingling as Fabian writhed on the ground.
As the minutes passed, Fabian's screams died out, and Gideon's became whimpers that slowly stopped as his twin brother stopped breathing. Looking up at Dolohov with red-rimmed eyes and more tears tracking down his face, Gideon realized death would be welcome.
"You bastard. You will pay for this one day murderer." Gideon stared at the man who had killed his brother, hatred etched on every feature, even as the Dark Wizard cut the arteries in his neck. After those last words of revulsion and hatred and revenge had been spoken, Gideon uttered no more, even as the Crucio Curse was let down upon him.
Seeing that the last Prewett was dead, or near enough, Antonin Dolohov called for the rest of his people, and they Disapparated on to places unknown.
As Gideon Prewett slipped into death, the hatred smoothed to peaceful acceptance.
Not a minute after Dolohov and the rest of the Death Eaters had departed, Sirius and reinforcements rushed into the house. Sirius was the first to enter the small room, and did so at a full run, slipping in the blood and nearly falling on his face. Looking at his friends, discarded like so much trash, Sirius swore a vow then that he would have revenge.
Dumbledore entered at a more sedate pace, eyes reflecting the depth of his sadness of the passing of the two men. In silence, he and Sirius sent the rest of the rescue party back to the school then set about to cleaning up the bodies before returning with them to Hogwarts.
Upon entry to the infirmary wing, Sirius steeled himself for the reaction of his lover. Remus lay in the otherwise empty room, and struggled to sit up when the somber procession entered. One look at the faces of the Headmaster and the former student was all Remus needed.
Struggling even more to stand up, Remus tried to see his friends. Sirius quickly went to his aid after gently setting Gideon down on an empty bed. He picked up his love and held him as Remus wept silently over first the body of Gideon then the body of Fabian. Sirius grieved as well, adjusting clothes and hair, wild in their freedom, letting Remus weep all the tears that he could not.
There was no funeral, just a gathering of all the members of the Order of the Phoenix as Dumbledore lit the fire to their funeral pyre. At the lighting, Remus spoke the first words that he had since those two days before, when he had lain in the infirmary as Sirius and Dumbledore carried in the bodies of the Prewetts. "If Dumbledore is the blood and veins that held us together, Gideon and Fabian Prewett were the heart that kept us all alive. They were always there to goad and cajole and tease and do anything in their power that they could to keep us all sane and… here. They will never be forgotten."
"They died like heroes," the gruff voice of Alastor Moody agreed.
Sirius stared dry-eyed at the fire and renewed his vows of revenge.
Remus stared at the fire as well, but blinked away tears as he swore to kill all those involved in the murders.
Together they walked away to Dumbledore's office where the remaining members of the Order were gathered for a meeting of strategy to defeat Voldemort.
Sirius was jolted out of his memory as Harry walked out of the living room and passed right by Moody, who trailed his magical eye after the boy. Keeping an eye on Moody, and any sign that they might be needed; Sirius swore under his breath that they would continue the fight until every Death Eater was dead.
A/N: It was just a thought that I had. Gideon and Fabian needed more attention, needed a story for themselves.