Early June 1981, London
"So let me get this straight," Chris began, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees as he rubbed his temples, "The two of you were on your way to the party when you turned into the wrong alleyway with a dead end. Then, a group of men wearing black robes-"
"There were 5 of them. Wearing creepy masks as well," Mia supplied helpfully, her hands cradling a mug of hot chocolate.
Chris glared at Mia before continuing,"5 masked men came up to you with sticks in their hands-."
"I guess you could call them wands now," Bryn sniffed absentmindedly.
"-with what seemed to be wands in their hands since they made Mia's Swiss Army knife fly from her hands into theirs by just waving those sticks. Just as they were about to attack, those red-headed guys swooped in and gave you the chance to escape. But Bryn decided to go back and help them out, which was incredibly stupid and reckless-."
"You would have done the same and you know it!"
"-and you took out most of them from behind. The last guy almost had you until the man in your bed stopped him with his magic stick-."
"Well. it sounds a bit sleazy when you describe him as 'the man in my bed'-"
"-after which, you decided to bring them to our house to treat their strange injuries without even considering the risks and dangers, " Chris finished, scowling at the constant interruptions.
"I couldn't leave them there, Chris," Bryn spoke softly, willing for him to understand. "Not after they risked their own lives to just save the both of us. And the hospital wouldn't even know what to do with them. Bringing them back here was the best thing I could think of on the spot."
Chris sighed, his frown softening. "I know, Bryn. If that's the case, I am grateful to them that you and Mia came out relatively unscathed."
His eyes flitted to the small cuts on Bryn's cheek and her bandaged hand.
"But I can't help but worry about what kind of trouble you've exposed us to just by bringing these men into our house. We don't even know who or what they are and if those robed men would be able to find us because of them."
Mia snorted. "I mean after what happened in the alleyway and what we've seen in the bedroom, it's safe to say they're wizards, don't you think?"
A brief silence settled between them.
"Well, that makes a lot of sense when you think about it," Mum commented casually, as if they were talking about the weather and not the sudden existence of magic in the world.
"But t-that's impossible!" Chris spluttered, throwing his hands up in disbelief.
"Chris," Bryn began patiently," I witnessed those men fighting with wooden sticks that were shooting out bursts of lights at their attackers. Not only that, we just saw the man's wound heal itself in a matter of seconds. If that isn't magic, I don't know what is."
"Ugh, It's just hard to wrap your head around it. That magic is real," Chris groaned, throwing his head back on the couch in frustration.
"But there is one thing bothering me. Why would they attack us?" Mia frowned. "If we didn't even know that magic existed, we are hardly a threat to them. So why would they purposely expose themselves to us?"
Bryn's mind drifted to the robed man's words as he pointed his stick - wand - at her.
Your kind is weak and a stain amongst this world.
"I think those men look down on normal people like us, those without magic," She mused.
⁸Mia stared at Bryn incredulously. "So what, they are some kind of bigoted supremacists and decided to attack us because of it? Wonderful," Mia grumbled.
Mum let out a sigh before standing up from the couch to collect the empty mugs on the table.
"It's been a long and tiring day for everyone. Especially for the two of you," Mum eyed Bryn and Mia.
"Best we all turn in early. I'll keep watch on our two patients. Mia, Bryn, the guest room is all yours," Mum stated firmly, daring for any of them to refuse.
All three of them wisely kept quiet as they trudged up to their respective rooms for some well-needed rest.
༻⸻⸻⸻⸻༺
Bryn couldn't sleep, not without trying. She tossed and turned so much that Mia kicked her off the bed.
Shecrept out of the guest bedroom, wondering if she should just camp out on the living room couch.
"I knew you wouldn't be able to sleep." A reproachful voice came from behind her.
She spun around to see her mum, hands on her hips.
"Was I that obvious?" Bryn asked as her mother approached her.
"No, I'm pretty sure you tried but you're probably thinking too much to even let yourself sleep."
Bryn smiled wryly. "You know me well."
Bryn frowned when she caught sight of her mother's exhausted face. "Was it a rough day at the hospital, mum?"
"There was a car incident in the afternoon. Mass casualties. The whole ER was swamped for the entire day." A yawn punctuated the end of Mum's sentence.
Bryn's frown deepened. "I think if anyone needs sleep in this household, it's you."
"Oh, but our patients-"
"I'll take care of them. Like you said, I'm not going to be able to sleep anyway so I'll make sure they're fine."
Mum opened her mouth to argue but all that escaped her lips was another yawn. She finally relented, much too tired to stay awake any longer.
"Alright, I'll see you in the morning, sweetheart." Mum gave a small kiss on Bryn's cheek before heading to the master bedroom.
Bryn heard the door click close and the house descended into a certain stillness, only disturbed by her breathing.
"Well, I should probably check up on them," She muttered before moving towards her bedroom.
She entered the room, her feet padding softly on the carpeted floor as she shut the door quietly behind her. The silvery light emitting from the full moon lit up the room, allowing her to see the two brothers sleeping on the twin beds. They were properly tucked in underneath the sheets, donning her brother's jumpers. Her brows furrowed to see that their faces were still filthy, dirt and flecks of blood clinging to their skins. Mum must have been really tired.
Bryn slipped out of the room for a moment and came back with a damp towel. She approached Mia's bed and began to carefully wipe the man's face. Suddenly, the man let out a loud snore and she jumped up in fright. He mumbled incoherently and shifted in bed a little before settling in a comfortable position. Bryn froze with her hands hovering over his face, afraid that she woke him up but he continued to slumber, soft snores escaping his lips.
She giggled and continued to clean his face. Once his face was pristine, she moved to the other twin resting in her bed. She paused for a while, observing his facial features. She was right to assume they were twins. They shared the same features but there were subtle differences once she took the time to analyse their faces. Unlike his brother, the man resting in her bed had a faint scar near his eyebrow, hidden by his hair. He has a cluster of freckles on his right cheek while his brother's were more sparse. His nose was straighter and more rigid compared to his brother. Overall, both of them were quite handsome to look at.
Bryn caught herself and shut her eyes, shaking her head rather violently, as though to fling those thoughts outside of her mind.
"Seriously, Bryn?" She scolded herself, smacking her forehead. "Stop admiring your patients, no matter how handsome they are."
She let out a deep breath before opening her eyes only to find the familiar pair of striking blue eyes staring back at her.
༻⸻⸻⸻⸻༺
Fabian held back a laugh when the girl yelped out in surprise and stumbled back clumsily once she locked eyes with him.
"H-how long have you been awake?" the girl stammered, brushing her dark fringe out of her eyes.
"Not long," Fabian lied, his voice still rough from his sleep. But he couldn't stop the traitorous grin forming on his face.
She narrowed her eyes, clearly not believing his words.
"So, you think I'm handsome, do you?" He teased and he watched in amusement as her eyes widened in horror.
"Well, I-I mean you're nice to look at and all," She avoided his gaze as she fumbled around for an excuse. He could see a flush creeping her neck and cheeks as angled her face away from him. He didn't even bother hiding his smile any longer.
She cleared her throat, picking up the cloth that she dropped on the bed. "I'd like to clean the dirt and blood off your face if that alright with you." She busied herself with the cloth, folding it to a clean side.
"Alright, just make sure to be careful when handling my handsome face, yeah?" Fabian couldn't keep the teasing lit out of his voice.
The girl scoffed but her cheeks were practically glowing red at this point so Fabian decided to cut her a break and closed his eyes, the corners of his lips still turned up.
He felt the damp material of the cloth press against his skin as the girl wiped away the grime on his forehead. Her movements were exceedingly gentle and Fabian almost let out a sigh of pleasure. He pried open his eyes a little to peek at her face while she worked. The silvery sheen from the full moon casted an ethereal glow on her face and he was immediately captivated. Long ebony hair was tossed up into a messy bun, a few tendrils escaping to frame her face. There were flecks of gold and green in her hazel eyes gleaming under the moonlight as she fixed her sights on the dried blood at the corner of his mouth. His eyes moved along her face and paused at the sight of the cuts on her cheek.
He frowned as he brought his hands carefully to her cheek. The girl was startled but Fabian remained oblivious, his focus solely on her cuts.
"You're hurt." The lines in his brow deepened further once he saw her bandaged hand as well.
"Oh no, I'm okay," the girl hurriedly reassured him, grabbing the hand that was stroking her face. "They're just scratches. They won't even scar."
"I think Dittany would help-"
"Really, I'm fine,"She insisted, squeezing his hands firmly. "Besides, even with my lack of knowledge of Dittany, I'm pretty sure it is more for deeper cuts or more serious wounds."
Fabian conceded reluctantly and allowed to continue her ministrations.
She pulled away suddenly with a look of satisfaction across her face. "Done. You're good as new."
"Thank you. Am I even more attractive now that the dried blood is not covering up my handsomeness?" he joked, waggling his eyebrows at her.
The girl let out a snort of laughter. "Nope," her lips made a popping sound at the 'p'. "The blood and dirt gave you a more rugged appeal. Now, I just see too much of your flaws."
Fabian gasped and clutched his chest in mock offence..
"So, how are you feeling?" She asked.
"Sore," Fabian admitted, "But that's to be expected."
She hummed thoughtfully and before placing her hands on his chest. His heart stuttered at the contact while she pressed and felt around his chest gently. "How's your breathing?"
"Er, fine. Not to worry, the potion worked wonders. My chest doesn't feel constricted anymore," he answered distractedly, more focused on the feel of her hands wandering his chest.
The girl let out a sigh of relief and extracted her hands from his chest.
"That's great. Your lungs and breathing definitely feel better," She declared, giving him a reassuring smile.
He missed the warmth from her hands and reached out to grasp it once more.
"I know I said it before but thank you," Fabian said sincerely, "for coming back to save us even though it was incredibly reckless and dangerous -"
"You sound just like my brother," the girl muttered under breath, disgruntled.
"-and bringing us to your home to tend to our injuries. We honestly wouldn't even be alive if not for you. So thank you, truly."
"Well, I could say the same for my sister and I. I can't imagine what would have happened to us if you and your brother didn't come racing in."
"So thank you, for coming to save us despite knowing you would have been outnumbered. We owe our lives to you and your brother," She added, gratitude evident in her eyes.
"Let's just say we saved each other and leave at that, huh?" Fabian chuckled, his thumb stroking her bandaged knuckles.
The girl laughed. "Alright, I can live with that. Can I at least have the names of my saviours? It's getting tiring to refer to you guys as twin one and twin two."
"Only if I get the name of my saviour as well," he replied.
She grinned. "Bryony. Bryony Harper. But you can call me Bryn for short."
"Bryony," he repeated, testing her name. It suited her.
"I told you my name so pay up. Tell me yours," Bryony - Bryn - nudged him.
"Fabian Prewett, at your service," he placed one hand on his stomach, pretending to bow.
"And that charming tosser over there whose snoring up a storm is Gideon." Right on cue, Gideon let a particularly loud snort.
"A pleasure to finally meet your acquaintance, Sir Fabian," She playfully bowed her head. "Oh, and Sir Gideon as well."
Gideon simply replied with another loud snore. Fabian and Bryony chuckled lightly.
"You must have a lot of questions," Fabian commented, bringing up the elephant in the room.
Bryn gnawed her bottom lip before speaking up, "I'd be lying if I said no but you're still hurt. The last thing you need is my incessant questioning disrupting your rest."
He gave her a reassuring smile. "Trust me, I'm feeling much better right now. Like I said, the potion did wonders on me. Besides, I'm feeling wide awake and I doubt you'd be able to sleep any time soon so why not chat for a bit?"
She was still hesitant. "Are you sure? I've heard I can be quite…inquisitive."
He just grinned and gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. "Pull up a chair, love, and ask away."
Bryn grabbed a nearby desk chair and brought it close to his bedside. She settled herself comfortably into the cushy chair, tucking her legs beneath her.
He nodded at her, encouraging her to start.
"So," Bryn bit her lip, before continuing," You're a wizard?"
Fabian inclined his head in agreement. "Yes, my brother and I are wizards.. How did you figure it out?"
"Wasn't too hard. You were using those wooden sticks - well, wands - during the fight, you referred to those liquids as 'potions' and I was able to fit my whole arm into your pocket to find said potions. So, 'wizard' seemed to fit the bill quite nicely."
"I must say, you're taking this rather well," He remarked, impressed.
"I'm still trying to take it all in to be honest," Bryn admitted, playing with a loose thread on her sleeves. "That magic is very real and not just found in fairytales."
"Well, considering that your first encounter with magic wasn't a particularly pleasant experience, I think you are doing great."
"That brings me to my next question," She frowned. "Why did they attack us?"
Fabian exhaled slowly, carefully thinking about his response. But before he could reply, Bryn spoke again.
"Did they attack us because we weren't like you? Because we didn't have magic?"
He had to admit, she was a sharp one. "Short answer; yes."
"Long answer?" Bryn prodded, wanting to know more.
"Those at the alleyway call themselves Death Eaters." Fabian spoke, carefully choosing his words. "They think that pure bloods - those born into purely magical families - are the superior and see everyone else as beneath them, especially non-magical folks. They would go around attacking non-magical people for their sick, twisted fun."
Bryn looked at him in horror. "That's horrible! Isn't there anyone trying to stop them?"
"There are many people trying to take them down. We," he gestured to his brother and himself, "are part of it but they are growing bigger by day and the Ministry of Magic - our governing body - prefers to be ignorant rather than deal with them."
"B-but why? Wouldn't it just affect them just as much?"
"Because they don't want to get their hands dirty. And a lot of these pure bloods with this similar ideology are high up in the food chain so they are practically untouchable."
"Of course they are," Bryn scowled, hands clenching in anger. "The government only works for their own interest and those who line their pockets."
Fabian wrapped his hands around hers, rubbing it soothingly in an effort to calm her down. It must've worked as he could see some of the tension seeping out of her shoulders.
"It's just maddening to know that your ministry won't even stop these bigoted lunatics from going around commiting crimes. Even worse, there are people like them running the show!" she spat out.
"You have every right to be angry. Sad to say, the prejudice against non-magical folk and witches and wizards born from non-magical families runs deep in the Wizarding World. We've been trying to uproot it but it's been slow going."
"Wait, people from completely normal families can have magic?" Bryn gasped, her anger temporarily forgotten. "How does that work?"
"No clue," Fabian shrugged, "Magic works in mysterious ways sometimes and this is one of them."
Bryn nodded thoughtfully. "I get that. Not everything can be explained."
"There seems to be a large magical community that's been around for a long time so why haven't people like us heard of it?" She questioned.
"We were persecuted badly in the past. Ever heard of the Salem Witch Trials?" Fabian continued after seeing her nod. "So, it was decided that the Wizarding World should be kept a secret to prevent that ever happening."
Bryn bit her lip in contemplation and Fabian kept silent, giving her time to take it all in.
"One more thing. One of them called me a 'Muggle'? Is it something bad?"
"'Muggle' is what we call non-magical folk," Fabian explained. "It's nothing bad, honest. Wizards and witches born from Muggle families are known as 'Muggle-born'."
"Well, it sounded foul coming from his mouth," Bryn wrinkled her nose in disgust.
"A lot about him is more than foul, trust me," He grounded out, a sliver of anger running through him.
"You know him?"
"I know of him but that was my first encounter with him. Safe to say, he makes a troll look like a complete gentleman."
Bryn shifted in her seat and for the first time today, he could see genuine fear on her face.
"Will they," she swallowed as she wrapped her arms tightly around herself, "Will they come after us? Will they come after my family?"
Oh.
"Bryn…" Fabian immediately sat up on the bed to bring himself closer to her. His aching muscles and chest screamed at him but he ignored them in favour of the girl who was now trembling in fright in her seat.
"I don't regret coming back to save you. I really don't. But I have a feeling that those people don't take kindly to being beaten by someone like me. By a Muggle. And it's not like they are regular delinquents that I might be able to take. They have magic and seeing the damage they inflicted on you and your brother, I can't imagine what they would do to my family and I if they found us. I don't even know how we can protect ourselves against it." He could see her breaths were coming up short as the fear started to overwhelm her.
"Bryn, look at me," Fabian coaxed gently. She refused, continuing to stare at the floor .
He placed his finger underneath her chin, lifting her head to look at him. Her eyes were distressed, plagued with worries about the safety of her family and herself.
"Nothing is going to happen to you and your family," He stated firmly.
"But you don't know that. Once you're healed, you're going to have to return to your secret world and those people will continue to roam the streets because your government won't do anything about them! They might just find me one day and -."
"Bryony," Fabian interrupted, his hands now cupping her cheek. He stared straight into her eyes. "I'm not going to let them hurt you or your family, I promise."
She let out a shaky breath, eyes shining with tears. "You shouldn't make promises that you can't keep, Fabian Prewett."
He gave her a grim smile and drew closer, resting his forehead on hers. She stiffened in shock at the close contact but almost immediately closed her eyes and leaned into him. Fabian could slowly feel her rapid breathing slowing down and her tremors subsiding.
"Good thing I always make promises I plan to keep then. I will make sure nothing will ever happen to you and your family, Bryn. Trust me."
She opened her eyes slowly to meet his own. They stared at each other for a long time, never pulling away.
"Alright," Bryn finally uttered, her voice no more than a whisper. "I trust you."
Fabian smiled and tugged her into his arms. She fell into them without protest, even wrapping her arms around his torso. His arms circled around her petite body, stroking small circles on her back. She gradually relaxed into his touch, the tension easing away.
"I'll protect you, I promise. I won't let those bastards lay a single finger on you," he whispered into her ear, his cheek resting gently against her soft one.
He felt her nod, her arms tightening around him.
"I trust you, Fabian. I trust you."