Chapter 02:
They stayed back at Hogwarts for more than two weeks after that. Molly had almost chewed and spat the Headmaster out when he'd begrudgingly informed her that they had been there at the school infirmary for months, yes months! recuperating. You never mess with Molly's family! Not many knew that, but Fabian and Gideon knew her better than most, maybe only second to Arthur. And honestly, that was for the best. There were somethings brothers were just better off not knowing, they thought at the same time, grimacing. What a buck-load of nephews and a pretty niece to spoil! Just them though, for apart from Molly and her rather large brood, their entire House had fallen after their supposed deaths.
They had taken that time, away from their over-coddling sister to make sense of everything. They were dead, or thought to be dead, by their peers and family back then when nothing of theirs was found in the aftermath of the Death Eater attack they had faced in Hogsmeade. Gideon did remember they were five odd masked shit-eating bastards fighting the two of them. But that's where it all went muddled in his mind.
"The girl that saved us…." Fabian started. Gideon straightened, his body stiffening unintentionally. "Not just us, she saved our House from falling," Fabian continued despite his brother's stiff posture.
"I know," Gideon said stiffly.
"We owe her not just life debts but as the Head of House, you also…"
"I know, Fabian, I know! I know!" Gideon almost screamed at his insensitive twin. Trust Fabian to be so blindly blunt! "But from what I've gathered, she's fourteen! And a muggle-born to boot! She's not going to understand the way the bonds work the way a pureblood or even a well-taught half-blood would. And based on our past experiences with muggleborns, I can almost guarantee, sight unseen, that the girl was brought up to think independently and not succumb to pressure but use her free-will instead. And I am not about the tell the girl who saved our sorry asses and breathed a new life into our fallen House that her free-will isn't an option anymore. Her kind act of helping two strangers is coming to bite her back! That she has no other option but to marry a guy that was probably born in the same year as her daddy dearest; that by building a debt of this magnitude, she's practically betrothed herself to me!"
"But that's how it works, Gid," Fabian spoke softly. "She brought the House back in form, she is now to be its Lady."
"Again. I. Know." Gideon ground his teeth in. "But I am not taking her childhood away from her."
"It's not like she is particularly a child. She's fourteen and very smart and mature, I hear. And we've seen older wizards, hell even witches, with much younger betrotheds. I don't understand why you're putting yourself through the trouble…"
"We have, Fab," Gideon suddenly lost all the fight in him. "She probably hasn't."
"No, maybe not. But Gid, this isn't up for vote. Whether she knows of it or not, accepts it or not, the bond will affect her too."
Gideon rhythmically banged his head on the head board he was leaning it on. "For now the bond simply exists in its dullest form. It will awaken only after we've touched. And it will require a formalisation once she's of age. So I still have some time."
Fabian scrunched his eyebrows. "You're not going to awaken the bond, then?"
"Like I have a choice," Gideon snorted. "I will. Just.. not yet. Let her have her childhood. Her carefree years at Hogwarts. Then, once she graduates…"
"So, you'll tell her everything, what, four years after you've met her?"
"No. I will woo her after she turns of age. She is my betrothed, whether she knows it or not, whether she accepts it or not. She will be my wife. But I'd rather she look forward to our marriage and our wedded life than feel bound to it."
"So what do you plan to do till then? Wriggle your thumbs?"
"No," a hardness entered Gideon's eyes. "I will prepare and then fight and win the war this time, till she comes of age. I will bring security to the world outside of Hogwarts before she enters it."
Fabian started. Somehow that aspect of the current political situation had escaped his mind. He stood up from his bed and patted his twin's shoulder. "How do you plan to start?"