A/N: Created for the PolyamorousWolfExchange 2016 for Dark-Alice-Lilth. Reposted here from ao3. Enjoy :)
Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Wolf or associated content. This is a work of pure fiction.
Summary: The Slytherin twins, Aiden and Ethan, serve as constant pains in Danny Mahealani's side. If it isn't one thing with the two of them than it's another. One day a potion's accident causes irreversible effects to the three that will be felt for the rest of their lives. Hogwarts/Soulmate AU.
Chemical Reaction by FlyingNymphLady
An explosion in potions class… Danny was loathed to look back but his knee-jerk reaction did so for him.
Of course it was the twins. Danny felt overcome with the urge to roll his eyes but he knew it would be unprofessional. That being said, he approached with a snarky remark and crossed arms.
"We followed the instructions, honestly." Ethan entreated. Danny didn't look to him but rather to his unapologetic twin Aiden.
"It happened on it's own, Ethan's right. We followed the instructions exactly," Aiden concurred, even handing the list to Danny who looked at him incredulously. These two would be the end of his internship with Professor Harris. Reading the parchment Danny's brows furrowed considerably and he looked up to double check the name of the potion.
"This isn't right..." He murmured and began to rummage through the ingredients on the table, muttering incoherently. The twins looked at each other and stepped back to allow the (assistant) professor better access. "What was the last thing you put in this? Tell me right now."
Danny's voice was strained and urgent, causing even Aiden to hold back his usual snark.
Showing him what he was dreading, Danny let out an awful groan and his face contorted in horror. He was very, very fired.
"Everyone out! Now!" Danny emphasized when no one in the class made to move for the door. Suddenly the room exploded with human bodies scrambling for the door.
Knowing at least the students were out safely Danny turned back to the potion pot after locking the door closed and noticed two surly Slytherin twins standing beside their infamous pot.
Closing his eyes, Danny took a breath, "I thought I told everyone to get out?"
"We want to fix this," Ethan said, earnest but cocky. They had no idea what the error even was.
"No," Danny shook his head and pulled out his wand, "Step back."
Unsurprisingly the boys only half listened. Stepping back, they both pulled out their wands and stood at the ready. Ethan, overeager to impress Danny and recoup his mistake let a spell fly from his wand and Danny watched in horror as the spell dinged the side of the heavy pot with enough force to tip it off it's stand. Reacting on instinct Danny let a spell fly from his wand the deflected the tipping pot and sent it spewing off to the other side of the room. Unable to react a second time, Danny didn't have enough time between actions to react as he watched the contents of the potion slush down the drain.
"Son of a banshee!" Danny slammed his hand down against the nearest surface.
"That was bad," Ethan spoke softly, afraid of the silence but also afraid of Danny's radiating fury. Aiden growled and whacked his shoulder but didn't dare lecture him, he was in just as much trouble.
Whirling on his heel Danny left the Slytherin boys where they stood and headed off to the Headmaster's office. There was nothing more to be done here immediately, just report the mess. The clean up could wait.
The very long walk up the stairs reminded Danny that he was only a student and would be in very big trouble when this got out. Oh how he wished Harris hadn't chosen him as a potion's assistant. He was sure to lose his position as assistant, not to mention his place on the Ravenclaw quidditch team...
Climbing the stairs he couldn't help but itch his arm several times. Distracted by his anxiety ridden thoughts, his conscious mind didn't connect what this meant, for beneath the fabric his forearm began to swell in the shape of two very distinctive names.
xXx
Headmaster Hale was unnervingly calm in Danny's opinion but then again that was just her nature, "These were all the ingredients used?"
Danny nodded, rubbing his arm through his robe sleeve.
"It could've been much worse Mr. Mahealani. Be glad you only transcribed the the ingredients in the wrong order." Headmaster Talia pushed the potion list back toward the worried and perplexed student.
"Mrs. Hale, this spell is illegal. It's even allowed off school grounds. Shouldn't you be... Suspending or expelling me?"
Talia's brow rose and her gaze met his with a curious look, "Do you want me to Daniel?"
"No," Danny jumped a little too eagerly at the prospect, "I mean, I would prefer not Madame but I did let this take place. I was responsible for the love potion being made."
"Well Daniel," Talia reassured, "as long as no one touched the substance itself, the water will dissolve the potion's ingredients and render it harmless- Honestly Daniel, what's bothering you so much about your arm?"
Danny froze mid-scratch and looked down in his lap where he realized quite suddenly what he'd been doing.
"Oh my," Talia stood and walked around the great desk when Danny rolled back his sleeve to reveal two inky signatures, "Daniel, I need you to tell me everything again. Which one of you touched the potion itself?"
xXx
Aiden swore and dropped his wand as he grasped the cloth on his shoulder, "Bullocks!"
Ethan looked up from his cleaning and furrowed his brows, "What's wrong?"
"Some of the potion got on my clothes, think it soaked through…" Aiden growled and tugged his collar to try and get a look.
Coming over to his brother, Ethan helped him just take off the shirt all together, "Must've happened when the pot was thrown. It definitely went through this shirt."
Aiden was something less than pleased and he grumbled irritably.
"I'm sure nothing… What's this?" Ethan poked his brother's side. Aiden looked down and his hands flew to his ribcage.
"Bloody hell," Aiden breathed, "What's that say… Daniel?"
Ethan nodded, watching with mixed emotions as Aiden poked and prodded his rippling skin. It looked inky like the muggle creations they gathered on their skin- a tattoo he believed they called it. The difference was that the inky letters moved and flowed like a signature being signed. It was extremely intriguing but Ethan worried why it had shown up.
"It doesn't hurt, does it?" Ethan asked. Aiden shook his head but didn't say anything, still absorbed in his side.
Ethan knew then what they had to do. Looking back at the cauldron he promised himself he'd come back to finish this project later. Aiden was more important at this particular moment.
Gathering up his brother's wand, Ethan ushered Aiden toward the door, "C'mon, we've got to go see Deaton."
xXx
The medical bay was well stocked with the usual daily accidents but empty enough the twins made their way to Deaton without any real wait.
"It looks and sounds like a love potion," Deaton, the director of the hospital wing, concluded. He seemed moderately troubled but hardly as riled and shaken as Ethan was.
Aiden watched his twin from the hospital bed that the good doctor had forced him into. His brother was clearly upset despite the fact that it wasn't him who was affected. Aiden knew his brother felt responsible and though they had both made the concoction in the cauldron (on accident mind you), Aiden could hardly blame his other half.
"How do I get it off?" Aiden asked, drawing Deaton away from his discussion with Ethan.
"Well…" Deaton looked unsure, something the boys had never seen in the old director, "It may be impossible I'm afraid. Very few spells create this kind of mark and even fewer are removable."
"Just what the hell is on me then? Are you saying I'm stuck with it for life?" Aiden grumbled,
"Quite possibly," Deaton affirmed though his brows did furrow, "There is one spell I could try… If it is alright with you."
Aiden gestured to his side with a sweeping motion that ran parallel to his body; an open invitation. The spell burned like fire on his side and Aiden thrashed on the bed while Ethan held him down. Still, the mark remained once it could be seen again. Deaton shook his head and apologized for the pain, giving him something to drink for it. One good thing Deaton did tell the boys, was that he know knew the potion they had made, the bad news was; it was very permanent.
"I'm sorry," Ethan murmured and Aiden immediately hit his knee with a semi-solid fist.
"Can't be. We both did this, not your fault," Aiden shot back, a smirk twitching at the side of his mouth. He saw Ethan do the same though he'd never admit to it.
"What now?" Ethan pondered aloud.
A powerful question with many variables. Aiden hadn't quite had time to process all of them if he was being honest with himself. Still, he felt obligated to tell his brother something. Ethan seemed at something of a loss with all of this. His big brother duties drifting to the back seat once he knew Aiden would be safe.
"Now," Aiden breathed, "Now I don't know. This wasn't the kind of thing I was expecting you know? But damn if magic hasn't been right in a lot of situations in our lives."
Ethan's lips pulled back into a smile, his almost misty eyes shimmering with some small amount of joy. It was hard not to smile for his brother when they'd known each other for all their lives. They got each other, sharing most everything in common including their sense of humor and their past.
"I suppose that's true… What are you going to do about Danny?"
Aiden grimaced, the Ravenclaw. They'd never exactly been on good or bad terms but they'd always agreed to dislike one and other's presence. Ethan on the other hand, had lived life as a puppy every time the potion's assistant was anywhere to be seen. Aiden felt like a total ass learning that Danny was meant to be his soulmate and not his enamoured brother.
"I'll have to think on it," Aiden said finally, swinging his legs off the side, "In my own bed. These sheets are offensively cheap."
xXx
Danny wasn't in Potion's the rest of the week and he'd excused himself from his quidditch duties on the practice field. For all intensive purposes Danny appeared to have disappeared from the school entirely.
Of course, to someone who was overly familiar with one such Danny Mahealani, it was easy enough for Ethan to come upon him in the restricted section of the library.
"My brother wants to talk to you," Ethan opened plainly, hoping that it would be enough to draw the Ravenclaw from the book in his hand. Danny ignored his words but responded with the passage in the book he was reading on the very spell that had tattooed Aiden's side.
The passage talked of the unfortunate outcomes of forcing a soulmate marker to reveal itself before the people involved were ready to accept one and other and the consequences of playing with one's fate. The book of course failed to mention anyway to rid yourself of the mark as there were none known.
Danny growled and tossed the book at the shelving across from him in frustration.
Ethan slid down beside Danny, close enough they were almost shoulder to shoulder though they did not actually touch, "He's not so bad you know… I know you two usually don't get along but… He has your name on his ribcage and like the book said. It's fate. You two are meant to be."
Danny snorted, "And what about us?"
Ethan's face flushed and he stammered incoherently as his brain fumbled. He'd never actually had a chance with Danny right, sure they'd flirted a bit occasionally but the Ravenclaw was just being nice right?-
Ethan noticed as Danny shoved back his sleeve to reveal not one but two inky signatures, "Don't worry, you're not left out."
Floored, Ethan had no idea what to say now. He hadn't seen anything on himself but then again he hadn't been looking for a mark either. He'd just assumed the marks only match with one other person…
"It's not that I don't like you guys, especially you Ethan, I just don't like… Things being decided on my behalf, especially not by magic." Danny said, still holding his exposed arm.
"Well…" Ethan said finally, "In my experience magical interference isn't the worst. Besides, what've we got to lose against fate?"
Danny didn't seem to be able to counter against that and instead raised a second question, "Don't you want me to choose? Won't one of you get jealous?"
"Why should we? We each have your name apparently and you have ours." Ethan shrugged, "The book said these markers were natural and the spell cannot be corrupted so the way the inky appeared is the way it's supposed to be. Aiden and I can share you if that's what we're supposed to do. I'm just glad our names weren't on each other's arms."
Danny snorted again, amused by Ethan's statements, "Alright yeah. Why not give it a try?"
xXx
They chose to meet at the Three Broomsticks, much like every other couple at Hogwarts did on the weekends. Only slightly different was the number of people invited on the date, three to be exact.
Danny sat on one side of the wooden booth and the twins sat on the other. There had been some discussion prior to regarding fate and each person's viewpoint on the matter of the tattoos (Ethan's had been located on the back of his shoulder which he never looked upon) but overall the consensus had been as Ethan had proposed. To try it out, the three of them.
Surprisingly Danny found himself having a rather good time despite earlier reservations. He'd always liked Ethan well enough, even enough to consider asking him out, but finding himself attracted to Aiden was new.
Reserving a particular dislike for the man every time they had stepped into the same room, their quips thrown at one and other tonight were far less charged and carried an air of playful tension in them.
Ethan seemed delighted at it all, enjoying watching his brother and Danny finally find some middle ground and getting to flirt with Danny himself.
It was only after the barkeep threatened to shove them out on their broomsticks that the boys finally decided to call it a night and head for the castle. Danny set a chorus of laughter into the night air after mentioning how he looked like a prisoner being escorted by two guards with their arms each looped through his.
Struggling to breath, Danny realized it had been a long time since he'd laughed quite like this with anyone. It felt good, and even better given the good company.
Eventually their stroll home was forced to an end when they arrived in front of the Ravenclaw Tower's door. It was almost bittersweet given the cheer of the night but Danny couldn't stop smiling. First his said goodnight to Aiden, surprising him with a kiss and a promise to practice quidditch with him soon. Then it was Ethan's turn to receive a kiss and a thank you.
"This wasn't supposed to happen… and it shouldn't have considering but," Danny said, "I'm really glad it did. We can always decide some day we don't like each other but I really enjoyed myself tonight so thank you. It's been a long time since I've been so carefree."
Saying good night was far from an ending Danny felt as he climbed the rest of the Tower's stairs solo. It seemed the beginning of something rather grand and wonderful. In bed that night he traced the marks on his skin, pondering the future and rejoicing the past. Neither of those things where in his power to control but the present… and with that he couldn't be happier .
- End -
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