John Marino and The Misinterpretation of Circumstance

Prologue: The Separation of Twins

The Marino family was a happy family, A mother, a father, and two identical twin boys. They weren't the sort of people you would expect to get into any business that was dirty. They weren't the type of family that you would think would abandon their children. They were just your typical, average family. Other than the fact that there was nothing typical and average about them at all. 

The father of the family, Alexander Marino, was an Auror, working for the Ministry of Magic. He specialized in tracking down and capturing dark wizards, those who would want to harm others. He was a tall, muscular man with a shock of red hair and the brightest smile a man can have when his day is spent hunting horrible people. Rose Marino, the mother of the family, was a musician (and on her free time invented spells). The two boys, John and Remington, were the best of friends as children, unlike most siblings who fought and had vicious rivalries. They were inseparable, always together. There was no finer set of twins anywhere in the world. 

The Marinos were an amazing family, they lived on a simple street surrounded by muggles, most of whom were their friends. The muggles thought they lead perfectly ordinary lives, muggles being non-magical folk like most people who will read this. The Marinos were experts at hiding from the real world, using magic to conceal everything extraordinary from the dirigible plums on the front porch to the infants flying around on toy broomsticks in the upstairs room. They were never worried what would happen if the neighbors found out, because there was always the possibility to mutter the spell: obliviate. 

All was well in the life of the Marinos, until that darkest of nights, clouds covering the sky so thickly not even the light of the full moon could seep through. John and Remington were upstairs, both having turned 5 years old earlier that day. They were putting together a small show for their parents, entertaining them with childish comedy. 

Nobody noticed the figures approaching their house, cloaked in pure darkness. 

And nobody would.

Not until it was too late.

"Put your wand down, young man!" said young John, desperately trying to hold back his laughter, imitating his father. 

"But why? I thought we were going on an adventure!" said the young Remington, smiling and waving his hand, making paper cutouts in the background move and almost fall over. There was a resounding thud, echoing through the 2 story apartment. The smiles on Mr. and Mrs. Marino's faces dropped in an instant as they both reached for their wands. 

"Remington. Johnathan. Go to your rooms and lock the doors. Don't come out unless I say so, do you understand?" Both the boys nodded, their fathers command scaring them slightly, but they did as they were told. From their locked room they could hear their parent's nervous whispers, the unease in the house was palpable. 

John happened to look outside his window and saw something utterly strange, a black phoenix sitting atop the roof of the house across from them. 

"Remi! Remi, come look at this!" he said. Remi came over quickly, pressing his face against the window to see better.

"What is it! I don't see it!" he said. John pointed out the bird and Remi gasped. "A black phoenix... I've never seen one of those before." There was a flash, and the bird was gone. Rain had begun to fall, slowly at first, but then quickly and heavily. One wasn't able to see through the thick curtain of water falling from the sky. 

The other houses were preparing for supper, already having cooked their meals and set their tables, closing the blinds on their windows. Nobody would notice the strangely dressed people standing in the rain. They were all dressed, completely in black, except for silver masks that covered their faces, each completely unique. They raised their arms in unison, and the sleeves of some of their robes slid backwards, revealing an odd tattoo, it was a snake coming out of the mouth of a skull, forming a morbid figure. 

It was recognizable to none on the street, save the Marinos. They knew what is was, what it meant. It was the dark mark, and these men were Death Eaters, no doubt here to kill. Mrs. Marino closed her eyes and said through gritted teeth: "Alex, tell me the boys will be alright." Alexander stared at her, unable to respond momentarily, not sure what to say. He had no proof the boys, or any of them for that matter, would be alright. And he hated lying, especially to his wife. But he knew she needed to hear something hopeful.

"The boys... they're strong. They'll be alright." he said, a slight tremble noticeable in his voice. "They'll be fine"

There was a brilliant flash of light and a thundering crash as the door of the apartment buckled and flew inwards. The Death Eaters advanced, some of them laughing, most of them silent, all of them with their wands raised. There were at least 10 of them, which seemed unnecessary for an attack on two people with their children. Nothing like this had ever happened before to this family, they were scared and unsure what to do. Alexander pulled his wife into a room and began searching frantically for something. Soon, he found what he was looking for. He unearthed an invisibility cloak, a cheap one, that had already started to fade, but it was all they had to hide themselves. It would give them a chance to at least fight back in some way, before the Death Eaters got to the children. They started conversing in hushed whispers, thinking maybe if they turned themselves in, their children would be spared. How wrong they were. 

The boys could hear crashes and bangs, could feel the heat from a growing fire downstairs, and the piercing, maniacal laugh of one of the Death Eaters below. "Come out, come out little boys! We're not here to kill you!" Another laugh. Alexander raised his wand under the invisibility cloak and tried to dart across the pack of intruders, but he had never run beneath it before. He tripped and it flew off of him, landing on his wand, making it impossible to find. 

"Well what have we here?" said one of the Death Eaters as he moved closer. "Their father... how... touching." There was a flash of green light, and Alexander would move no more. Rose cried out the name of her husband from her hiding place, revealing her. The Death Eaters found her, bound her, and lit the room on fire, relishing in her dying screams. 

"Remi... Remi!" said John, shaking his brother out of shock. "Remi! We have to get out of here!" Remi wouldn't move,  he couldn't. He was too scared. John tried his hardest to move his brother, but to no avail. The door was blasted inwards, and the Death Eaters approached. 

"Obliviate" said one of them, casting the spell generally towards the twin boys. 

"No!" screamed Remi, and he pulled himself and John out of the window before the spell could complete itself. They landed in a flower bed beneath the window and Remi took off running, with John close behind. They ran for hours, and John began to get tired. Remi didn't notice as John slowly fell behind, then disappeared out of sight. By the time either of them noticed what was going on, it was too late. When they no longer saw each other, each of them forgot, forgot they had a brother, forgot who their family was, but it was still there, somewhere in the back of their minds, waiting to be brought back to life.