Note from Nikki
Well I sort of got out of my slump with this chapter but I might fall back into it after. I lost my outline for the story and I had to write a new one which isn't half as good. But oh well *shrug* I did my best. I hope you all like this chapter and thanks so much to my reviewers! *hugz*
To the Reviewers
Nkittyhawk: Hehe *smiles* I'm glad that last chapter made you happy! I glad you liked it too. I was really worried that it was going to suck. Thanks for your wonderful review!
Muffinlover: Yup, Sirius does add a little conflict to the story. I hadn't intended that originally but as I began writing it, it sort of happened and I tried to develop it more. I'm glad you liked that last chapter! *hugz* I always love hearing from you so thanks for taking the time to read and review!
Noa9: Hehe! I'm glad that you liked the chapter! I hope I get out of this slump too. If I get writer's block, I try to work through it rather than let it clear up on itself. I sit in front of the computer and MAKE myself write, even if it sucks. Hopefully it won't come to that! Thanks for reviewing hun! Love ya!
HiddenFlame42: Uh-oh, if you think there are sad stories on this site, I don't think you're going to like this chapter very much. But at least last chapter was happy! Thanks for reviewing hunni! *hugz*
Mojo: Hehe, yup their married! Thank for the review chic!
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Dorcas woke with a painful cry in the middle of the night. She shot out of Gideon's arms, clutching her forearm where her tattoo burned black. No, she cursed silently to herself. Not now! It was her wedding night.
"What's going on?" Gideon asked, sitting up groggily and wiping the sleep from his eyes. He watched his new wife with concern.
"I've been summoned," Dorcas mumbled grumpily, pulling on a wrinkled set of Death Eater robes.
Gideon shook his head. "Can't you ignore it, just this once? It's our wedding night!"
Dorcas sighed and sat on the edge of the bed kissing him lightly on the lips. "You know I can't," she whispered.
Gideon sighed and wrapped her in his arms, kissing the top of her head. "Be careful. I'll be waiting for you when you get back."
Dorcas brushed her lips against his and kissed him deeply before she reluctantly pulled away and Disapparated, smiling at her husband as she left.
Gideon shook his head, still finding it hard to believe that he was a married man and that Dorcas would be his forever. He yawned and slipped off the side of the bed, deciding to get some coffee while he waited for her to return. A faint tapping at the window changed his direction as he went to find the source of the noise.
A large barn owl was banging against the glass, wanting to get in. Gideon grinned. The owl probably carried a letter from a well-wisher who sent it off late. Gideon opened the shutters and let the owl swoop gracefully in. The second he untied the letter, the owl was out the window and had disappeared into the dark night sky.
Gideon opened the letter swiftly and was surprised to see that it was from Fabian.
Brother,
Meet me at the waterfall in the forest. It's urgent. Come immediately.
Fabian
Gideon couldn't imagine what Fabian needed now, in the middle of the night, but he wasn't about to ignore the pleading letter. He pulled on a pair of crimson robes and scribbled a quick message to Dorcas, telling where he went before dashing out the door at top speed.
He reached the waterfall where he had proposed to Dorcas and looked wildly around the clearing. Fabian arrived, panting, from a section of trees opposite where Gideon stood.
"Are you okay?" both brothers blurted at the same time.
"Huh?" they asked together.
"You sent me an owl, telling me to meet you here," Gideon said, very confused.
Fabian shook his head. "No I didn't. You did! I was asleep when I received your letter. I came as fast as I could."
Gideon frowned. "You mean you didn't send me a letter?"
Fabian shook his head, drawing his wand out quickly, "And neither did you?"
"No," Gideon replied, drawing his wand out too. The two brothers met in the middle of the clearing, both of them not sure what was going on.
"Then who did?"
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Dorcas reemerged in an old, rickety house. Voldemort seemed to like this place as they had met here many times over the past few months. She took her usual spot in the circle of hooded Death Eaters (it looked as though Voldemort only summoned ten of them tonight) and even flashed a small smile toward Severus, despite the tiredness itching her eyes. She was so happy and even being summoned by her master wasn't going to destroy that.
"Welcome my friends," the familiar cold voice said from the shadows. "You are no doubt wondering why I have summoned you in the middle of the night."
A murmur of assent rippled around the circle but no one said anything. "I have called you here tonight because I wish for you, my faithful friends, to murder two brothers who have long been a nuisance to my cause."
Dorcas' chest rose and fell, fear filling her so profoundly that she could hardly breathe. Two brothers? Who else could that be but Gideon and Fabian?
"A very useful spy," Voldemort continued, "has given me a tip that tonight will be a highly vulnerable time for these brothers. The plan is already in motion."
An image was sent through the minds of the Death Eaters, telling the location that they needed to Apparate at. Dorcas felt bile rise in her throat and she had to do everything she could to stop herself from losing her stomach. It was the waterfall where Gideon had proposed to her at.
"I want Gideon and Fabian Prewett dead for good," Voldemort said icily. "Whoever kills them will be rewarded by their Master."
A whoop of excitement rippled around the small circle. Dorcas was trying hard not to pass out, trying hard to stay still until Voldemort dismissed them. She was shaking uncontrollably, thinking of nothing other than her overwhelming desire to get to Gideon.
"Go my friends!" Voldemort called.
Dorcas Disapparated as fast as she could. It was so quick that when she reemerged near the waterfall, her legs gave way beneath her. Severus Apparated beside her and helped her up. Dorcas shrugged him off and ran as fast as she could to the clearing where Fabian and Gideon were looking very confused.
"GIDEON!" she screamed. "IT'S A TRAP. RUN!"
Gideon spun around and looked at his wife, now more confused than ever. He didn't question her, simply grabbed his brothers arm and turned to dash away. It was too late. The other Death Eaters Apparated and laughed evilly.
"No!" Dorcas cried. She pulled her wand from her robe and, without a second thought, began firing it at her fellow Death Eaters.
Severus grabbed onto her from behind. "Are you insane?" he hissed. "Do you want someone to tell our Master? He would kill you!"
"I don't care!" Dorcas screamed, struggling against his grasp.
She managed to break loose and she began shouting Avada Kedavra everywhere she could. She didn't hit anyone, so blinded in her fury and panic was she.
Gideon and Fabian, however, were hitting many of the Death Eaters square in the chest. Already two bodies lay at their feet and had Dorcas been thinking rationally, she would have noticed that they were laughing.
The two brothers stood back to back, dodging curses and jinxes and shooting some of their own. The forest was ablaze with various colors of green, blue, and red, shooting in every direction imaginable. And yet in the heart of all this commotion, laughter sounded.
"Good one brother!" Gideon laughed, ducking under a shot of red light.
"Thank you!" Fabian answered lightly, shooting a paralyzing curse into the belly of a Death Eater. Before the hooded man could recover, Fabian shouted "Avada Kedavra!" and the man fell face down into the dirt, not uttering a single sound.
Dorcas began making her way to fight by her husbands side but Severus grabbed a hold of her arm again. His fingers were long and pale and surprisingly strong. She glared at him and struggled against his grasp, trying to get away.
"Damnit Snape!" she roared, using his last name as it created more effect. "Let me go!"
"And let you sacrifice everything we have kept hidden and worked for for the past two years?" he asked in a deadly voice.
"Do you think I care about any of that?" she yelled, shaking with rage. "My husband, my love, is being attacked! I don't care what happens to me! That's something you've never understood Severus! Love!"
Severus appeared to be wounded but he didn't let go of her. Instead he grabbed a hold of her other arm and held her flat against him, not letting her leave. Dorcas struggled against him, kicking and cursing at him in every language she knew.
And then she stopped because a horrible cry filled her ears and traveled down to her heart. She watched as Fabian fell to the ground, a look of surprise on his grinning face. Gideon was the one who had bellowed so loudly. Fabian was dead.
"LET ME GO!" Dorcas screamed with all of her power.
But she stopped struggling at what she saw next. Gideon had been watching his brother, tears streaking down his face. He turned to Dorcas and his eyes met hers in a moment that seemed to span all the ages of the world. Time stopped. Everything became frozen as Dorcas gazed into her husband's sorrowful eyes. As if in slow motion she saw green light erupt from the end of a wand and strike Gideon square in the chest. No sound escaped him as he crumbled to the floor beside his brother.
"NOOOOOO!" Dorcas screamed. She screamed so loud that birds left from the tops of the trees. She screamed so loud that the ground must have shook beneath her. "NO!"
She crumpled to the ground as her legs gave way beneath her, unable to support her weight. Severus crouched next to her and rubbed her back soothingly, glancing around the clearing furtively. All the Death Eaters had already Disapparated. It was just them, the bodies of Fabian and Gideon, and the five Death Eaters they had killed on their way down.
"NOOOOOOO," Dorcas erupted again, choking and shaking uncontrollably. "GOD! HELP! SOMEONE HELP ME! SOMONE!!!" she screamed.
"Calm down," Severus said soothingly, unsure of what to do. He watched as an entire ocean of salty tears washed down her face. Her eyes were as red as Voldemort's but instead of being filled with a deep malice, they were filled with a pain so deep that Severus couldn't look into them for long.
Dorcas' breathing became ragged and she stopped crying as she struggled to breathe. She clutched her chest, begging for air.
"Damnit Dorcas," Severus roared, shaking her. "Calm down!"
It was too late. She lost consciousness and slipped from his hands to the ground in a dead faint. Severus made her as comfortable as possible before Apparating back to Godric's Hollow.
Hesitantly, hating every step he took, he walked up the stairs that led to Lily and James' house and knocked reluctantly on the door. It took awhile but soon candles flickered on in the house and the sound of feet pounding down the stairs reached his ears.
James answered, much to Severus anger, and scowled at him, "What do you want Snivellus?"
Severus glared at him, putting all of his hatred into it. "It's about Dorcas."
Lily stepped behind her husband, surprised to see Severus at her door. "What about her?" she asked quickly.
Severus turned to look at the forest. "I think you better see for yourself. Apparate at the waterfall."
He Disapparated, leaving it up to the hated couple to decide whether to trust him or not. He reemerged back in the clearing where Dorcas was still unconscious. A few minutes later the couple Apparated, Sirius with them.
"What is this nonsense Snive-" he paused mid-sentence as he caught sight of Dorcas.
"What happened?" he yelled angrily, pushing Severus out of the way.
A shriek filled the air and Sirius turned to see Lily being violently sick. Slowly Sirius stood up and he and James glanced at each other, seeing the bodies of Gideon and Fabian. Understanding now what had happened.
"Is Dorcas okay? She's not-she's not," Lily ventured weakly.
Severus shook his head. "She had some sort of a panic attack. She fainted and I came to get you."
Lily slowly, as if unsure whether she should, hugged Severus. "Thank you for coming to us."
Severus looked like he would be sick and he backed off scowling. Sirius and James glared at him and bent down, trying to wake Dorcas up.
After several minutes of unsuccessful prodding, Sirius lifted her in his arms. "I'll take her home," he said lightly. He stepped passed Severus, glaring at him angrily.
James walked slowly over to the cold bodies of Gideon and Fabian. "It looks like they put up a terrific fight," he said sadly.
Lily was crying. "On his wedding night. . ." she whispered.
James spun to Severus, as if it was the last thing he wanted to do, but said, "Will you help us levitate the bodies back to Order Headquarters? We need to get them there and call an emergency meeting."
Severus frowned but reluctantly agreed. He walked ahead of the other two, levitating three bodies of Death Eaters. James followed, levitating two Death Eater bodies. Lily came last, sobbing as Gideon and Fabian floated behind her.