Three Hallows, Two Weasleys and One Broken Girl

Chapter 31: Patronuses

The summer brought booming business to the doors of Weasleys' Wizard Wheezies.
Considering the current climate, with war and such, it was truly impressive for the shop to be so popular. Especially when September approached, the shop was filled from dawn to dusk.
It was great, but also gave them far less time with each other. When they weren't working the floor, the twins were working hard to replace the sold stock, as was she, having added a few runic pieces here and there.

It was quite a relief when September the first came and the last of the students headed to the Hogwarts Express.
Delphi shared a close embrace with her sister, the last to go, before returning to the empty shop and her grinning twins.

"So what does this year have in store for harrykins?" Asked Fred.
She scowled at him, "for live in the moment types, you sure ask a lot of questions about the future."
"Well, Miss Lovegood, our girlfriend in a seer, how can we resist the spoilers?"
"Spoilers huh?" She smirked, "we let's see...Snape's secretly royalty, Draco Malfoy obsesses over an apple...oh, and Dumbledore dies!"
She smiled brightly and they thought she was joking.
"Now, Mr Weasley and Mr Weasley," she continued once they'd stopped laughing, "I think that final potion for the animagus transformation is done tonight right?"
"What ever are you on about?"
"Surely dearest you'd know we aren't secretly becoming animagi?"
""We'd never.""

They spun and Delphi raced them up stairs to George's brewing room. It was a losing sprint with their longer legs and the duo reached the simmering Cauldron first, the potion a range of shifting greens and purples.

The brewing room had been a spare bedroom, but as the window faced east with the rising sun, and the flooring was sturdy, it was an ideal place for George's delicate experiments...once Delphi had warded it to the teeth of course.
Glass bottles and large boxes of ingredients filled the shelving, and the room smelled strongly of...well, it smelled very strongly of something unknown Delphi wished George would use up in a potion soon.

"Ladies' first?" Suggested Fred with a smirk.
Delphi eyed him, ladling out three cups full, "together in honour of the Marauders?"
The twins took a cup each, and nodded stoically.
"From one group of pranksters to the next." Confirmed George, solemn at the reminder of Sirius.
"On three?" Asked Fred rhetorically.
"Oh please can we make it four?" Delphi smiled hopefully at them, "Four gets so little attention living between three and five?"
Fred grinned, "Four then."
"One!"
"Two!"
"Three!"
"Four!"

The potion tasted earthy, which was appropriate.
Delphi quickly entered the safe place her year of meditation had revealed. A woodland cox of rowan trees. The landscape was washed out, only the red berries bright in the winter place. It was cool and desolate, but filled with mystery and power.
She could feel her body shifting around her. Her arms felt strange, her fingers heavy yet the rest of her so light. She was a bird, she was too short and still on two legs. She prayed with all her being not to be a goose, the duo would never let her live it down.

She spread her wings tentatively, and tested them. Managing to flutter up to a desk top, she finally had a good view of the twins.
George had been on her left, and in his place was a fox, vibrant red fur and all. On the right, where Fred had stood was a coyote.
Foxes and Coyotes were similar in appearance. They held similar status as tricksters in folklore. But they were fundamentally different species and colours, just like the twins were fundamentally different people.

She'd assumed her patronus was a Fox before...but now she wasn't so sure, and either way...very embarrassing.
The vulpine and canine were looking up at at her, with George and Fred's warm brown eyes, and she once again prayed she wasn't a goose and wished she'd had the foresight to bring a mirror.
She flew out the room, and made her way, a bit unsteadily, to the bathroom.
Landing precariously on the sink, she looked into the oval mirror, and a magpie looked back.
Her patronus could be either of the twin's animagus forms...and theirs was undeniably hers.
The reptile woman that inhabited a part of her brain just like that of all women, squealed 'soulmates', and she locked it away in embarrassment even as her heart swelled.

Returning to the brewing room, she thought the reverse incantation carefully, willing herself back.
Back she came, and a minute later, the twins got up off their knees to stare at her with expressions identical to their animal counter parts.
"Patronuses!" Yelled George, grinning at her.
"Explains why our patronuses were the same and a weird bird." Teased Fred, adjusting his rumpled shirt.
Delphi ignored him, allowing herself a bright smile. "You were a Fox, George, and Fred you were a Coyote. They look similar but are completely different, except in folklore where they are both associated with trickery."
The pair beamed.

Then George paused, something else dawning on him. "Your patronus, Delph..." he sent a smirk at his brother, "it was a Fox right?"
"Could be a Coyote!" Insisted Fred immediately, "they look similar remember! Delph cast it!"
She chuckled, picking up her wand and doing just that.

The wolf like creature stood there with an air of amusement as the duo examined it closely, transforming in turn to try and work out which one the patronus was.
Coyotes and Foxes both share a bushy tail, pointed nose and ears. They have similar builds though Coyote's tend to be a bit heavier. But, other than colour which the patronus lacked, there was nothing else for them to be sure.
After ten fruitless minutes, they gave up.
Turning together, exasperated they asked, "surely you know which one it is! It's your patronus!"

Delphi took at deep breath, then burst into a fit of cackling giggles at the sweet irony.
She only had to glance back at their faces to be sent into another fit of laughter.
Fred scratched his head as Delphi's patronus dissipated. "Earned that didn't we George?"
"I guess..." muttered George, with a grin. "So you won't tell us which it is?"
"Never." Wheezed Delphi with tears in her eyes. "Have a taste of your own medicine."