Author's Note: Thanks to Laura and Amber for letting me borrow their headcanons, and Bex and Liza for betaing!
Written for…
(Writing Club) Character Appreciation. Prompt: A witch/wizard having a relationship with a muggle
(Writing Club) Angel's Arcade. Prompts: bright yellow, best friends, "Thanks, [name], I needed that."
(Writing Club) Ami's Audio Admirations. Prompt: something seemingly normal being terrifying
(Seasonal) Shay's Musical Challenge. Prompt: being distracted from winning something
Romance Awareness. Prompt: The day repeats itself until you find your soulmate
(Writing Club) Emy's Emporium. Prompt: someone with an unfortunate name
(Seasonal) Days of the Year. Prompt: write about cheering someone up.
(Writing Club) Film Festival. Prompt: write about a group of friends
(Writing Club) Lyric Alley. Prompt: Ticking of clocks, gravity's pull
(Writing Club) Book Club. Prompts: best friend, normal, pizza
(Writing Club) Dark Lady's Diabolical Lair. Prompt: missing
Feline Fair. Prompt: Write about someone enjoying heat
(Writing Club) Count Your Buttons. Prompt: soulmate!au
Sewing 101. Prompts: ice cream cone, pull, orange
(Seasonal) Star Chart. Prompt: last day of summer
(Seasonal) Gryffindor. Prompts: Dean, passionate
(Writing Club) Showtime. Prompt: Summer
365 Challenge. Prompt: (genre) mystery
(Seasonal) Summer. Prompt: ice cream
Slash September. Prompt: Piers/Dean
(Seasonal) Colors. Prompt: cream
August Auction. Prompt: slash
Deja Vu
1,804 words
Dean learned about the Soulmate Curse before anything else at Hogwarts.
He had decided rather quickly that he liked Seamus Finnigan, the odd boy who had sat beside him at the sorting feast, that laid a hand on Dean's shoulder, and whispered things about Dean that he hadn't told anyone yet. At first he thought the boy was a seer of some sort, but Seamus insisted that these were things that Dean himself had told him over the course of several time loops.
Later that night, Dean sat in his dorm and listened to Ron's twin brothers tell the story of Esmeralda Moen, a sixteenth century witch who was so desperate to find a husband that she inadvertently cursed all of wizardkind.
"Now, whenever someone gets close to the person who they're meant to be with - their soulmate, if you will - the day will repeat for the two of them until they meet," George explained, smiling at Seamus.
Dean thought it was ridiculous at first, but over the years he heard more and more stories of his classmates getting stuck in time loops to know it was true. He learned to check his calendar the moment he woke up, hoping that it would be the day he would meet his soulmate.
But soon Dean was eighteen and he'd survived a war but still hadn't met the love of his life. Most days he shrugged it off, considering that maybe he didn't have one, but he never stopped checking the calendar just in case.
:-:
"We need to go out," Seamus demanded.
Dean looked away from the canvas to raise an eyebrow at his roommate. "And where do you propose we go on a rainy Friday evening?"
"Not tonight. Tomorrow, you need to help me get George out of the house."
Seamus and George had never been gross and overly affectionate around others, and ordinarily Dean enjoyed spending time with them, but things had changed since Fred's death. It used to be that Dean could count on Fred to be there to hang out with if the couple wanted to go off by themselves, and now Dean knew he would be faced with the possibility of being a third wheel.
He set down his brush, wiping his hands on a rag as he considered Seamus' request. "You're sure he's up for going out?"
"I don't know. He'll probably say no, but I have to do something. I only got him out after Fred's death because of the shop, and now that the summer's almost over things will be slowing down. He's going to lock himself away again if we don't stop him."
"Don't worry. We'll show him a good time."
:-:
The next day turned out to be the hottest of the summer, but their plans were already set. Taking George to their favorite spots in Muggle London seemed to be the most logical plan. Half of wizarding UK was still in shambles and George wouldn't want to run into anyone he knew anyhow.
Dean met them at George's shop at noon in time to find Seamus and Verity, the store manager, literally trying to pull George out the door.
"What's going on?"
George glared at him over Verity's head. He looked worse than Dean had ever seen him, with dark bags under his eyes. "I'm not going."
Dean held up his hands in defense. "Hey, this wasn't my idea. But I'm was going to get lunch and then head over to Dusty's Arcade. It's just down the street. And, not to brag or anything, but I've held the high score at Galaga for four summers straight."
"Galaga? That's your idea of a good time?" Verity questioned, giving up on struggling.
"Everyone likes to blow up aliens," Dean said with a shrug.
George released his grip on the doorframe and let out a sigh. "Two hours. I'll give you two hours and then I'm coming back. I need to check inventory tonight."
"I'll get started on that. Have fun." Verity waved them off and went back inside.
Seamus ran ahead of them like an excited puppy, almost knocking over a small child with an ice cream cone as he did, talking almost nonstop about anything that came to his mind - his healer training, how much he loved the hot weather, how he'd run into Oliver Wood at the hospital.
They grabbed a quick lunch at the pizzeria next to the arcade, Dean and Seamus carrying most of the conversation, discussing a couple of commissions Dean had received.
Unsurprisingly, George was a natural at the game. After a couple of false starts as he became used to the controls, he managed to reach level 72 before running out of lives and allowing Seamus to take a turn. Dean already knew from years of friendly competitions that Seamus was awful at Galaga, but he tried just the same, making it to level 20 before his pitiful end. Dean was pleased to see a smile on George's face as they listened to Seamus rattle off curses and excuses as to why he had lost.
"Step aside and let the master through," Dean told him, taking up his stance in front of the machine, fingers poised above the controls.
He played for an hour straight without losing a life. George and Seamus had long since grown bored and wandered off to play some other game while Dean continued to fight his way to the top of the leaderboard.
He was a level away from the top, his eyes and fingers moving fast as he watched another fleet of spaceships fly onto the screen, and then he felt himself being pushed to the side. His fingers slipped from the buttons and he gripped onto the machine to keep from falling over as he watched 'Game Over' pop up on the screen.
"Sorry, mate," said the beefy young man who had bumped into him, grabbing ahold of Dean's arm to steady him. The stranger's small friend, impossible to ignore in a bright yellow shirt, offered Dean an apologetic smile as he glanced at the screen.
"It's alright," Dean said with a shrug, as if the loss wouldn't haunt him. He watched the oddly paired friends wander off and checked his watch. It was almost two o'clock.
He looked around for George and Seamus, realizing for the first time that they were missing. He wandered through the crowds of rowdy youths until he spotted George's mop of orange hair across the dimly lit arcade and made his way over.
"Having fun?" he murmured to Seamus as they watched George play a racing game.
"I haven't seen him this enthusiastic about something in months."
:-:
They stayed out two hours later than George had initially agreed to, finally ending the night at Dean and Seamus' apartment with take out and a movie, after which George decided he really did need to check the store inventory.
"Verity will hex me if I make her do it alone. Thanks, both of you. I needed that and… well, thanks."
Dean shrugged off the thanks, bending to pick up their empty food cartons. "It was fun."
:-:
He woke to the sound of Seamus whistling in the shower, and that was the first clue that something was off. Seamus had announced he was visiting his parents on Sunday and should have already left…
Dean jumped up from his bed to check the calendar hanging by his door.
"August 31st," he read, "again."
He waited outside the bathroom door, bouncing excitedly on the balls of his feet, until Seamus came out with a cream-colored towel wrapped around his waist.
"I'm in a time loop!"
:-:
Piers knew something was wrong. He knew he'd left his favorite yellow shirt in the hamper when he changed the previous night. It had a ketchup stain from the burgers he grabbed with Dudley after their day at the arcade. He remembered all of this clearly - and yet there the shirt was, ketchup-free and hanging in his wardrobe when he woke up.
He checked his phone, finding himself even more confused when the date still read the 31st. There was a text from Dudley that said to meet him at the arcade in an hour.
"What the hell is going on?" he muttered, scrolling to see if the text was a repeat, but there were no other recent messages like it.
His cousin, Max, was making pancakes, like he did every Saturday. Any hope of the confusion being a result of Piers' phone glitching was lost as he stared at the heavenly stack already finished and waiting
"Why aren't you dressed? Don't you have to meet Dudley soon?" Max said, raising an eyebrow and Piers' pajamas.
"I… does any of this seem familiar to you?"
"Familiar how?"
"I don't know. I just have the strangest deja vu, like I've lived through today. I remember going to the arcade with Dudley yesterday. I came home and you were out with Scott-"
"No, that's definitely tonight." Max took the pan off the heat and moved around the island to feel Piers' forehead. "You feel normal, but maybe you should cancel today."
"No, it's fine. I probably just dreamt it. I should go get dressed."
:-:
Piers' deja vu just got stronger the longer the day went on.
He wore his favorite yellow shirt and met Dudley at the arcade, going from machine to machine and chatting about their summers. But everything Dudley told him about his mysterious disappearance from Privet Drive and his year away were things Piers already knew from his dream.
He was just about to explain to Dudley how he was enrolled in law school and that classes were starting up on Monday, when he saw the Galaga machines. It was the same man standing there as the one in his dream, Piers was sure of it. He thought to tell Dudley to watch out for the man, still feeling guilty over his losing the high score before - but before he could even get the words out, the man had stepped to the side and avoided being hit.
Piers locked eyes with the stranger as they passed him. The man smiled and Piers stopped in his tracks. Of everything that had happened that day, this was the only thing that had changed from what Piers knew from his dream.
The stranger must have sensed something was up, or else was put off by Piers' staring at him. He took a step forward, his smile faltering.
"I'm Dean," he introduced. "You look familiar. Were you here yesterday?"
Piers felt his heart beat faster. He leaned in close, eyes wide. "Are you … are you reliving the day too?"
The man - Dean - grinned, reaching a hand out. "I'm so glad you said that. I've been looking for you all day."