AN: Prompts will be displayed at the bottom to avoid them potentially giving away things.
Painfully in Love
AlwaysPadfoot
At age six, Marcus broke his arm.
Miles away, four-year-old George Weasley screamed in pain, seemingly for no reason.
At age seven, Marcus fell down the stairs.
In the Burrow, five-year-old George complained of a headache to his mother and spent the rest of the day in bed.
At age nine, Marcus' grandmother died.
And seven-year-old George? He cried for days, chronically sad without any explanation.
Between the ages of nine and eleven, Marcus Flint accumulated numerous injuries, all of which, his soulmate felt from miles away. Of course, Marcus didn't know this, instead, he suffered alone. Where George was surrounded by family; Marcus was an only child.
The day Marcus left for Hogwarts was a sweet relief — for both boys. George stopped feeling phantom pains during term time and Marcus was free, if only for a little while.
By the time George started Hogwarts, he'd learnt that his soulmate was the reason behind his unknown aches and pain. Marcus was still in the dark, but at least George knew. The Weasley Twins made it their personal mission to find George's soulmate, to stop both boys pain, but soon enough, Fred lost interest. Feeling hopeless, George gave up for a few years.
Marcus redid his seventh year. Not that he knew it, but he was hopelessly depressed. All of his friends were gone, Quidditch had been cancelled, and he wasn't selected to be Triwizard Champion. All he was left with was a shit-tonne of homework and a desperation to not fuck up his second chance.
Meanwhile, George knew his sadness was down to his soulmate. His desire to find him or her was reignited.
oOo
George had a suspicion.
In first year, he and Fred had hunted for girls, but as he had grown, he'd realised he just wasn't interested in girls. Instead, he switched his focus to the male population of Hogwarts. He'd figured out that his soulmate was older — after all, the physical pain had stopped during term time in the year previous to Hogwarts.
There was, of course, the possibility that his soulmate had left school.
That being said, George wasn't convinced. It felt as though the mental anguish that was being transferred to him was based around failure, and George imagined that the seventh years in particular would be harbouring a lot of fear around that particular topic.
As a consequence, George found himself spending a lot of time in the library. The only problem was that it seemed as though all the seventh years had taken to the library as well. He could feel himself growing more and more irritated as his search grew long and arduous. He'd taken to doing extra work just to fill his time whilst he was spying on people. It was helping him maintain an Exceeds Expectations at least in all of his N.E.W.T classes. He was greatly enjoying the stunned looks on his professor's faces when they handed his essays back with E's and O's at the top.
Tonight, it seemed that there were less seventh years around. George sat at the table at the back of the library, half-doodling and half-working on his Potions essay. He wasn't really concentrating, which was why the sudden pain in his hand made him gasp aloud. Luckily, the noise that escaped his mouth was drowned out by a thud from the table in the corner.
George twisted in his chair, cradling his hand and breathing through gritted teeth. His gaze fell on Marcus Flint. The seventh year Slytherin's hands were flat against the wall and George could see the blood on the knuckles of his right hand from where he sat.
He'd punched the wall.
The click of heels against the stone floor made George's head snap back around to see Madam Pince stalking towards the back of the library. Quickly, he got to his feet and stepped forward into her path. He wasn't about to let Pince sabotage this moment.
"Sorry, Madam Pince, I dropped a book," George explained.
Her eyes narrowed on him. "Did I or did I not ban you and your brother from this library?"
"Please, I'm trying to do well in my N.E.W.T years," George said quickly. "I promise it was an accident and I'm doing a potions essay. You may look if you have to."
The librarian was scowling at him, but as he stepped back towards the table he was occupying, she moved with him. She peered curiously down at his unfinished work and pursed her lips. "You have one more chance, Mr Weasley. If you cause another ruckus, no matter how small, you will never set foot in this library again. Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes, Madam Pince," George responded.
"And your brother, he is still banned," she continued. "Don't think I can't tell you apart, George Weasley."
"I'll remind him," he said. "Thank you."
With one last glance around, Madam Pince walked away. Once the clicking of her heels had faded completely, George looked across to Marcus, who was staring at him. Swallowing his fear about finally realising who his soulmate was, George turned and tentatively walked towards Marcus. He chewed on the inside of his cheek, desperately trying to remember his strategy that he'd planned for when this moment happened. He felt awkward as he approached the table.
"You okay?"
"Do I look okay, Weasley?" Marcus shot back through gritted teeth. "Just shove off."
"I only wanted to make things better." George raised his hands in surrender. "I can heal your hand if you'd like; I bet it's throbbing."
He knew it was. Marcus scowled, pushing himself away from the wall and turned to face George. The Slytherin eyed him suspiciously as though debating whether to threaten him again. Personally, George wouldn't be surprised if Marcus punched him next. The air was rife with tension as Marcus pondered his next move. And then, to George's surprise, the Slytherin held out his hand. The red-head took it gently and inspected Marcus' bloodied and bruised knuckles before drawing his wand.
"Episkey," George muttered, watching the wounds heal before casting a cleaning charm to clear away the blood.
He knew it had worked because the pain had subsided somewhat in his own hand. Marcus flexed his fingers and then inhaled deeply.
"Thanks, Weasley."
"George," he insisted.
"Okay, fine. George," Marcus responded.
His expression was still filled with suspicion and George realised he had to say something before Marcus started asking lots of questions that he couldn't answer.
"Do you need any help?" George asked.
"No, it's fine," Marcus responded before turning and dropping back into his seat at the table.
"No offence, but you just punched a wall," George said. "Are you sure?"
"Why do you care?" Marcus retorted.
George took a deep breath to prepare himself and then exhaled calmly, fiddling with a loose gold thread from his tie. "Because I feel your pain; because I've always felt your pain; because I've been wondering who you are since I was eight years old."
Marcus' expression remained blank for a moment before his eyes went wide in realisation. Soulmate magic like this was common knowledge; he would understand what George was trying to say. Running a hand through his black hair, Marcus's eyes dropped to the floor. He looked as though he had a million things to say, but couldn't quite string his thoughts together to respond. George could feel his throat growing dry with fear the longer the silence between them stretched out.
"You're—you're my…" Marcus trailed.
"I am," George said. "And I would fight with every bone in my body if it meant I could protect you from the pain you feel."
Marcus looked gobsmacked, his chapped lips slightly parted in disbelief. "Well, shit."
"Gee, thanks. That was a nice confidence dropper," George replied with a raised eyebrow and a smirk. "I am just as shocked, you know?"
"Fuck you," Marcus muttered, a ghost of a smile evident on his face just for a moment.
George blew him a kiss with a wink. "Love you too, babe."
Marcus shook his head with a roll of his eyes. "Just give me a moment to process this; this is—this is unexpected. And just, you're a guy, and I'm…"
"Well observed," George responded, sitting in the chair opposite Marcus with a soft sigh. "Are you actually straight?"
Looking conflicted, the Slytherin sat back in his chair and met George's curious gaze. His voice was a low whisper when he responded. "No — probably not — I just wasn't sure I wanted proof that there's something wrong with me."
"There's nothing wrong with you," George said fiercely, feeling a pang of self-loathing that he was sure came from Marcus. "I promise to prove that to you — if you'll let me."
There was another extended period of silent contemplation.
"Okay."
George wasn't entirely sure he'd heard Marcus right but he looked at the other boy hopefully. "Okay? You'll let me?"
Marcus nodded. George felt his face light up and his body fill with excitement. He reached out, holding his hand out across the table.
"I really do promise," George said.
Marcus clasped his hand in his and smiled softly — something George had never seen from the Quidditch Captain before. As they firmly took one another's hand to shake, George felt a tingling warmth spread through his body.
This felt right.
"Just promise me one thing?" George said.
"What?"
"Try not to punch too many walls — it fucking hurts."
Marcus laughed. "I'll try my best."
Comps and Prompts
Romance Awareness: Day 6 - You feel everything your soulmate feels.
LiM: Trio - George/Marcus
Assignment 2: Intro to Quidditch, Task 2: Write about something or someone causing pain.
IHC: 322. Episkey
365: 167. Job - Librarian
SC — Days of the Year — July 13 2018 - Embrace Your Geekness Day: Write about a character doing something stereotypically geeky
SC — Birthstones — Turquoise - (dialogue) "I would fight with every bone in my body if it meant I could protect you."
SC — Elemental Challenge — (word) dry
SC — Shay's Musical Challenge — 2. Hamilton - Write about someone who won't give up.
SC — Gryffindor Prompts — Easy: George Weasley
WC — Character Appreciation — 7. Word - Strategy
WC — Disney Challenge — S3. Chim Chim Cheree - Write about someone blowing a kiss.
WC — Book Club — The Commander: (trait) lonely, (colour) black, (dialogue) "I only wanted to make things better."
WC — Showtime — 13. Joseph Smith American Moses - (colour) gold
WC — Amber's Attic — G1. Write about someone making a commitment.
WC — CYB — W4. Awkward
WC — Ami's Audio Admirations — 8. 4PM - Write about someone working late.
WC — Em's Emporium — 16. Web - Write about a character that makes you smile.
WC — Film Festival — 55. (word) sabotage
Word Count: 1598