WHO; Gideon Prewett, Fabian Prewett, NPC!Dolohov WHAT; a patrol and a fight WHEN; March 8th WHERE; the woods~ RATING; high for violence STATUS; Gdoc/complete
There was a special magic to woods, not the kind found in textbooks or old gardens in the estates of London. Not the kind you can teach, or even properly describe, but there is still a magic. The crack of a tree branch underfoot, the glance of a wild owl as it stares down from it’s perch. The smell of the rot, the underbrush and the flowers that seem to bloom and die in just one afternoon. The Forbidden Forrest had it, when they were students, and in the year since Fabian had found trouble in walking through another with that sort of sensation.
These woods had it though, the magic of the town seeping into the very roots, It was just as dangerous, and just as peaceful as the one of their youths- and when they had the opportunity to get away, to talk and walk down the paths of this set of woods - he jumped at the chance. They had a great deal to talk about, and not even his sanctuary of the Gym, or Gideon’s of the bar or their own homes seemed to be the place for it. They had to get away from it all, they had to find neutral ground.
Because Fabian wasn’t a fool, he kept his wand arm free, and used his left to push back a low branch as he ducked under before continuing their previous conversation, “Do you regret it then? Because I’m not so sure.”
~~~
Gideon didn’t mind getting away from the village. It was a lot to surround one’s self with, especially with all the family the twin brothers had. He was fond of them all, but that didn’t mean he never wanted time to himself. And with Amelia pregnant, he was strangely spending more time on his own than he had before. First, it was agonizing over how he’d do as a father and whether or not he could even manage it. Drinking and spending time with the blokes, all that sort of stuff that went along with almost wallowing. Second, it was just thinking and mentally trying to prepare himself. That seemed to Gideon to be an essential part of accepting the life changer that would come into his and Amelia’s lives in around eight months, assuming neither of them disappeared from the village. Gideon wasn’t going to think about that, though, or he’d drink again.
It seemed that all the time in the world wouldn’t make up for the months he’d gone without his brother around. Even with Fabian being older, harder, and different, he was still the same in plenty of ways. There was still the twin mentality, and with his brother around Gideon finally felt complete. Knowing he was in the village was good enough for the majority of the time, but Gideon still had questions about the future and picking Fabian’s brain was a good way to get at those answers. He knew some things, but not the exact details of what the two of them endured. Gradually, he was trying to fill in some of that information when he spent time with Fabian. There was no way he wanted to talk about Amelia’s pregnancy or Fabian’s newfound fatherhood all the time.
Pausing, Gideon ducked to the side to avoid a different branch, then raised his arm to prevent the other branch from swinging back and hitting him in the face. “No, I don’t think I’d call it regret. There are always things I would’ve done differently, like everyone else, but no.” Gideon was quiet for a minute, twigs snapping beneath his boot-clad feet. “There’s no point in regretting when there isn’t anything we can do about it.”
~~~
Antonin Dolohov was no idiot. Fanatical, perhaps, but he wasn’t insane. Well, in his mind anyway. In truth, Azkaban left a mark. Still, he had waited every day, knowing his master would finally return in all his glory. When the breakout happened - finally - he whooped in excitement. They’d have their due against those dirty magic thieves and restore their beloved Lord to his rightful place. Oh, yes.
This quaint little village was not in Dolohov’s plans. Not after all these bloody years. He was free. They were close to winning the war. Why was he stuck here now? A few of his “friends” were back at the caves, but he was scoping out the situation. They knew better than to go in a group or make themselves known. They’d read the drivel on the journals. Time warped village? Ha! Still, they needed to supplies. They had their wands, but they needed water and food. They needed information too. They needed numbers.
~~~
Fabian stopped for a moment, and took a look around them. Places like this, they needed maps - or at least a really good idea of where they were headed. It was going to be dark soon, and he at least, had no idea in what direction they’d be headed until the stars came out. If they came out at all.
“I just wonder, if we knew what we were getting into when Dumbledore, the real one, approached us as kids. Or fuck, if he even knew.” He shrugged, and pulled out his wand to cast a small lumos charm. “Though I do admit, it’s been one hell of a ride.”
~~~
Gideon knew Fabian had a point. As all-seeing as Dumbledore had always seemed to be, he wasn’t a Seer and couldn’t really know the future as a fact. There was always something about him, but that wasn’t it. Lighting up his own wand, he pushed his way through the trees. Gideon knew more about the village than Fabian did, so he knew they wouldn’t get lost. Even in the dark, Gid could make his way back to the village and to his house with Amelia.
“Did we know we were signing our lives away, literally? I sure as shite didn’t,” Gideon replied. They’d been young. Gideon had thought he could fight and still make it out alive. He didn’t know how powerful the enemy was or how many devoted cronies he had. “I mean, I’d still have done it, but fuck…” He trailed off, glancing over at his brother in the light of their wands, leaves already starting to cast strange shadows. ~~~
“You would’ve?” That surprised Fabian. Not that he thought himself, or his twin to be any less brave than others. But life was life, and even he - who was at the technical end of his own was still a young man. They could have done so much more if they have survived. He found it hard to believe that if he was told as a kid, that he would never see his nephews grow up, in peace or in war that he’d still jump headlong into it. He’d have to sleep on it at least.
There was a snap to their left, and even if his conscious mind swore that they were safe here, that even Malfoys were good - his instincts told him to look out, to watch their backs and to change his grip of his wand. It was a slight adjustment of the knuckles, but instead of passive, comfortable wards or charms, he was now aimed to fire. “Makes sense. You always have been the boneheaded one.” He grinned, and tilted his head over to Gideon, but his wand was still raised. “Any idea of what’s out here? Bats or sommat?”
~~~
Antonin had spent his first hours scouring all the information he could find in the journals. Granted, it was limited since they didn’t seem to go backward in time so he was forced to read mostly asinine things that had been written the last few days. Where was the good stuff? Even so, he had realized their drivel about a time warped village was correct. What a bloody waste of time! They had killed some of these bastards already. How the hell did this happen?
He vaguely recognized the voices whispering around him. He occasionally heard voices during his imprisonment, but this was different. Very different. Thank Merlin he had his wand. He stretched it out. His mouth was set in a thin line as he jumped out from his hiding space. “We meet again!” He snarled.
~~~
“Of course I would’ve. It was right.” Signing up to fight had appealed to Gideon’s strong sense of morality. The battle of right and wrong and good and evil was always at the forefront of Gideon’s mind, right where he believed it belonged. The thought that evil had touched the world in so many ways had always weighed heavily on him, so it was only natural that he fought to eradicate it. He just wished his fight had had more of an impact. Boneheaded or not, it was what he believed. “Bats, other animals, I don’t know,” he said, hoisting his wand higher, allowing the light to catch the shadows, illuminating more of the darkness.
A noise from behind caused Gideon to spin on the spot, wand at the ready. It was his generic reaction when startled in a strange place, thanks to his training with the Order. His normal job had been much more mundane, even in the real world, but thankfully his desire to duel now and then kept his skills up in the village. He was prepared for someone pulling a prank. Draco maybe, or one of their nephews, but not someone new. Not someone they’d seen before. Fought before.
“Who the hell brought you in, Dolohov?” The Death Eater looked the same. Older, a lot older, but Gideon knew who it was. He couldn’t forget that face, the face he’d seen in the nightmare, the nightmare that he knew was real. He was ignoring his instinct to stun the bastard, although he didn’t know why. Death Eaters with wands pointed at his face always got stunned.
~~~
“And what made you think that was a good opening line?” Fabian continued, his own wand raised high. Unless Dolohov had back up somewhere (which he doubted) it was clearly two against one, and all three of them knew it had taken far better odds to take the pair of them out. So, instead of immediately jinxing him silly, some taunting was required.
“You look like shit by the way, I’m pretty sure my dead uncle Eustace looks better, if you don’t mind my saying so.” With Gideon’s eyes on Dolohov (one of them always took point after all) Fabian took the opportunity to glance about for extras, though he doubted it as much as anything. He wasn’t an old hand at this village, but the newcomers who had followed him, and his own arrival had taught him one basic rule. -You always arrive alone-.
~~~
Dolohov had too high an opinion of himself to see the odds that way. All he knew is that these two should be dead and there was only room for one wizard to come back to life. The Master. “It is what age does to you,” he taunted. “Not that you would know, pretty boys.” He laughed. “Remember this…” In the blink of an eye, he shot up the Dark Mark. Oh, there were others. Maybe not as many at home, but he knew he had others.
~~~
Gideon suspected that Dolohov wouldn’t be intelligent enough to try to assimilate into the village like certain other Death Eaters had. As much as he still didn’t associate with any Lestranges, Rabastan had turned over a new leaf. Go figure this one wouldn’t. “Pretty? Have you seen his face?” Gideon gestured at Fabian with his free hand, being fully aware of the dangers of pointing at someone with one’s wand. And of letting a Death Eater go without having a wand trained on him for a second.
And then the idiot had to throw up the Dark Mark. That was the end of it for Gideon. “Expelliarmus,” he muttered, swishing his wand at Dolohov. “Got your wand, bastard,” Gideon taunted as he caught it in midair, allowing the criminal to remain unrestrained aside from that. “You want to know how many Order members are here? Bad idea.”
~~~
“Actually not just Order members.” Fabian corrected, taking a step back to get a look at the mark. He had thought they were used after a job, but maybe he was wrong. Maybe it was a beacon, a calling card for future works. Seemed a bit pretentious, if you asked him. “I’d hate to be the guy who pissed off the Bloody Baron when he was still wearing trousers. Or Grffindor, or Ravenclaw. Can you imagine Gid? What old magic they must know.”
If they attacked someone here and now, would they still go to jail? Would Lupin come and try and talk them down? Surely not for Dolohov, but he did pause. “Where did you come from Dolohov, how did you get here? Gid asked you a question after all.”
~~~
But Antonin wasn’t scared. This whole place was shit. It wasn’t real and he needed to get back to what was. He grinned. Did they think the names mattered? Just more people who were supposed to be dead. “You do know this entire place exists because of dark shitting magic that shouldn’t be messed with, yeah? All you high and mighty souls!” He laughed maniacally. “You’ll use the magic if it suits you, won’t you? And you throw names around like we’ve ever cared? We have people too. I see some of them writing. I have some of them wandering this place.”He glanced at where his wand hung. A little bit of wandless magic would send it back with little trouble, right?
~~~
Why the village existed wasn’t the point of this encounter, so Gideon felt free to ignore the Death Eater’s babbling. He was still holding the guy’s wand, after all, but he felt the stick fighting his grip. The smooth wood slid out of his hand and back toward its owner, but Gideon knew he and Fabian still had the upper hand. “Just a clue, all ‘your people’ aren’t on your side anymore.” It was mostly true, and if it would unsettle the murdering asshole, then Gideon was all for lying a little. “The Lestranges, the Malfoys...hell, even Pettigrew is making friends with his old friends. And maybe you’d like to meet Merlin, would you? I’m sure he’d have a lot to say about a killer like you wanting to start it all over again.” Who cared if Merlin was young and not the Merlin of legend yet? Dolohov probably didn’t know that, since Merlin hadn’t been writing very much lately.
~~~
Dolohov looked at the...which one was he anyway? Ha! He had his wand again. Idiots. “The Malfoys are a joke even in my time,” he drawled. Really, they’d have to work harder to impress him. “And Pettigrew, well, he is a bloody coward who soaks up some attention. How do you think we got you in the end? He’ll be with us again in no time. And Lestrange? Hmmm.” He pretended to think long and hard. “Dragons don’t change their spots,” he snarled. “If they had it in them to begin that is. But, dear friends, we know there are so many more than they, yes?”
___
Fabian was not the most informed of the three. Hell, even Dolohov knew what would happen, and Gideon had been around long enough to put everything together. How did Pettigrew have anything to do with them? When the fuck did he become a Death Eater?
It was a child’s jinx he cast, but never underestimate the value of a good petifricus totalus when cast right. “What the fuck do you mean Pettigrew got us in the end? Dolohov? And you’re fucking bomb blasting.” He stepped forward, closer to Dolohov. “We all know you’re biding time so we don’t know you’re pissing yourself.”
~~~
The fun part was starting. “Exactly what I said.” He was pleased with himself. He outlasted most of those Dumbledore lovers and now they were going to win the final battle, once and for all, if he could just get the hell back there. He flicked his wrist and went in for a Crucio. He wanted to have a little fun before killing these bastards again.
~~~
Gideon had found out where Pettigrew’s true loyalties lay, but he didn’t know what Dolohov was talking about. Still, he wasn’t going to fall for it and ask questions. If Dolohov wanted to bait him, Gid wasn’t going to fall for it. And the bastard had his wand back. Whatever Fabian cast seemed to have been deflected, and the next thing Gideon knew a jolt of pure pain shot up his spine. His back arched, his teeth clamped down onto his tongue, and a fierce tremor coursed through his body. He hit the ground with a dull thud and tried to regain control of his muscles. “Kill...him…” he managed, eyes briefly finding his brother’s form before they went out of focus again
~~~
Gideon didn’t have to tell him twice, and even as his brother fell to the ground, Fabian casts a killing curse across the clearing. The first one missed, as did the second one- and after some annoyance, he switched to more basic blasts. A tree branch, the ground to Dolohov’s left.
Killing him would be a bonus, but his first instinct was to break the Death Eater’s focus. The weather would end up being a boon, as the air and ground picked up and continued the spells along the wet ground’s puddles and currents of water. ”Avada Kedavra!”
~~~
Once Gideon felt the curse lift, he pulled himself to his feet and trained his wand on the Death Eater. He hadn’t been looking, which was insanely bad in a battle, so he missed seeing whether the flash of green light made contact. He could taste the blood in his mouth as he glared down at the body. “We need to get back to the village. There might be more of those fuckers coming...they need to know.” Just for good measure, he aimed a kick straight for Dolohov’s nose, hearing the crunch of cartilage and bone breaking. It didn’t do anything, but it gave Gideon a sense of satisfaction. The other Dolohov might still be out there, but this one wouldn’t be killing anymore. He wiped blood from his chin and looked at his brother. “Just leave him here to rot. Let’s go.”