Thunderstorm

                                    

                                          
She got an owl 2 weeks later, in the early morning hours. She knew with every ounce of her being that something terrible had happened. She hadn't heard much from either of them for two weeks, and it had felt so unnatural. 
Iris, 
Come to the cottage now. 
Ominis 
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She threw clothes on, grabbed her satchel with all her needed supplies in case she didn't return that day. She used floo flames to get closer to the Irondale area, where Anne's cottage currently was. Then she flew the rest of the way, the fastest she had ever flown. She didn't slow down a lot to dismount properly, she jumped off into a run towards the cottage. 
The house elf that had been helping Anne was outside the closed door. His head was hung and when he looked up he had tears in his eyes. 
"Mistress Iris is here, I wish that would help, but nothing can help". At the same time, she heard Sebastian's screams inside the cottage. 
She threw open the door, wand ready. What she found in the room wasn't danger, it was heartbreak, utter despair. Sebastian and Ominis were sitting beside Anne's bed. The Gaunt's healer was there, even he looked distraught and was muttering, "poor child". Sebastian was wrapped up completely in Ominis' arms except his left hand, which clung to Anne's hand. Iris slowly approached and looked at Anne. 
She had left this world. There was no doubt about it. She had been looking more and more grey lately, but now she had no color to her face. Her hand was not gripping her twin's hand back. She had a peaceful expression to her face that Iris took a small comfort in. She knew Sebastian would never, ever see it that way though. She dropped to her knees, she thought they had longer with Anne. She should have come sooner. She wished she could have figured out anything, anything at all to help her. She looked over and met Ominis' unseeing eyes, he was facing her. Tears were streaming down his face, he was devastated. 
The wails coming from Sebastian were other worldly. He lost a huge piece of himself and all she wanted to do was make it better. She was cursing herself for not trying the ancient magic at this moment, anything to make the hole in Sebastian's heart go away. Ominis motioned for her to come over, Sebastian immediately threw his body around hers, still holding Anne's hand with his. She hugged him and tried to give him as much comfort as she could. Honestly, there was nothing Ominis or her could do to help, it made her feel so powerless. 
Sebastian looked at them, his voice so course, they could barely understand them. "Can I have some time with her alone?", he requested. They nodded and headed outside. Once they were outside, Ominis now was the one who collapsed to his knees, so she went down alongside him. She wrapped him in her arms, his head on her chest. He was always the one comforting her, she wanted to be there for him now. She just let him cry, she didn't talk. She held him, and hummed soothing sounds in his ear. He finally slowed his crying down a bit. 
"She passed about 10 mins before you got here. I should have sent an owl sooner". She just kept humming to him, and petting his hair. 
"Sebastian is not going to be ok. We should have prepared for this more, prepared him, figured out how to handle this". 
Iris cringed, Ominis was right. They had let Sebastian be stubborn and resistant whenever they brought up her passing. Even Anne hadn't been able to get through to him. None of them had adults in their lives that could have helped them navigate this, even their teachers were not close enough to them to be pulled into something that was this personal. For the first time in a long time, she felt utterly lost. She had barely been able to manage the loss of Fig, they were close, but not as close as twins are. That's an unbreakable bond....well should be unbreakable. She felt tears finally flowing down her cheeks as well. They stayed like this, kneeling in the grass, until both of their legs were asleep.