(A/N: This is just something I wrote really quickly after a flash of inspiration, and it's been so long since I've finished anything, even something this small, so I just wanted to post it right away. I might go back and revise it at some point, but I probably won't. The T rating is just for a little bit of swearing.)
-x-
Lorcan and Lysander are twins. They are also opposites in almost every conceivable way.
First there is their physical appearance. When they were kids, people had difficulties telling them apart. They were both small and had fair hair, which Luna liked to let grow long, so they were often mistaken by strangers to be girls. But as they grew older, they became increasingly different. Lorcan's hair grew steadily darker and is now, at 16, a light brown, whereas Lysander's hair is still as fair as ever. They both hit a growth spurt at about the same time when they were 13, but Lysander's went on for longer, and Lorcan now comes up to Lysander's nose. The growing seemed to stretch Lysander's limbs as well; he's tall and slim, with long limbs and an oval face. Lorcan is stockier, broader and has more muscle. The family resemblance is still strong, though it is very clear they are not identical twins. However, it has always been their temperament more than anything else which sets them apart. Lysander, a Ravenclaw, has always been the quiet one. He prefers curling up with a book to playing Quidditch, he is extremely intelligent, and he is always calm and collected even under stress. Lorcan on the other hand, a Gryffindor, is loud and boisterous, can never really concentrate on his school work, has a fiery temper and is at his happiest when he's zooming around on a broom trying to knock bludgers at people. Despite these differences, the two boys have always been best friends, knowing and understanding each other to the extent that some of their other friends are secretly convinced they read each other's minds.
Until now, that is.
-x-
Lorcan doesn't understand what's going on. Lysander has been avoiding him. The only time that's ever happened before was when Lorcan broke Lysander's toy wand when they were 5. Lorcan knows that Lysander is shit at confrontation and will rather avoid a problem until it goes away than get in a fight with anyone. So the only reason Lorcan can come up with for Lysander avoiding him is that he's done something to upset his twin. He just can't figure out what.
After about a week of Lysander avoiding him or, when actually hanging out with him, talking as little as possible, Lorcan decides he has to get to the root of the problem. Lysander's been answering evasively to any questions like "is something wrong?" or "have I done something?", so when Lorcan finds him sitting by himself in the Gryffindor common room (a common occurrence since his twin and his best friend, Al, are both Gryffindors), he decides that this is it – he won't let Lysander go until he gives him a straight answer.
"Hi, Sander," Lorcan says, dropping down in the sofa next to him. The common room is quite crowded, noisy enough that they can have a private conversation without being overheard.
"Hi," Lysander says, not even looking up from his book. Lorcan feels fiery rage swelling up inside him, and snatches the book roughly out of Lysander's hands, slamming it shut. "What -" Lysander starts, looking at Lorcan in surprise.
"What the hell is going on with you?" Lorcan hisses. "What the fuck have I done to deserve the silent treatment from you all week?"
"It's nothing," Lysander mumbles, trying to take his book back, but Lorcan is still clutching it tight.
"It's not nothing," Lorcan says, "you've been avoiding me, you barely even look me in the eyes! Tell me what's wrong!"
"Like you don't know!" Lysander snaps, and it makes Lorcan flinch. He can't remember his brother ever talking to him like that. But at least he's getting somewhere.
"I don't know!" he says, looking at Lysander with pleading eyes. "That's the point! I can't fix it if you refuse to tell me!"
"It doesn't matter," Lysander says, slumping back into the sofa. "You can't fix it anyway."
"Let me be the judge of that," Lorcan says. "Just tell me what it is you think I've done."
Lysander gives him a sideways look. "If you really haven't realised what this is about you should be able to guess."
"I've been guessing to myself all week, Sander, I have no idea."
"Seriously?" Lorcan just looks at him, then Lysander sighs. "Fine. We both like Lily, yeah? It's obvious. And she's obviously gonna choose you, so."
Lorcan stares at him, wide eyed. "What?" He knows how Lysander fancies Lily – he thinks probably everyone but the girl herself knows – but where on earth has he got the idea that Lorcan likes her as well?
"Don't pretend you don't know what I'm talking about, Lorcan!" Lysander exclaims. "You flirt with her all the time and she hangs off every word you say. It's pretty hard not to notice."
"What- when have I ever flirted with Lily?" he asks, completely bewildered.
"Only every time you talk to her!" Lysander says. "You're always so bloody charming, making her laugh and everything, and I just turn into a bumbling mess whenever she's around. I can't even blame her for liking you better."
Lorcan fish-mouths for a moment, too shocked to make words. Eventually he manages to say "But I don't fancy Lily." Lysander just snorts and snatches his book back, opening it and burying his face in it. Lorcan is too perplexed to try and stop him.
A few moments later Al steps through the portrait hole. He sees the twins and makes his way over to them, sitting down in the sofa next to Lysander.
"What's up?" he asks, then seems to notice the tense atmosphere – Lysander is frowning at his book, and Lorcan is staring dumbly at him while trying to make sense of what he's just heard. "Everything all right?" Al asks.
There's a pause, then Lorcan says "Lysander thinks I fancy Lily."
Al sighs. "Shit. I was wondering when this would happen."
"When what would happen?" Lorcan asks. Lysander looks up from his book to look at Al as well.
"Look, I know that it sucks that you both want her, yeah? But in the end it's her choice, and if she does choose one of you I really hope you can just let it go and stay friends." He seems to say it more to Lysander, who sighs.
"So you think she'll choose Lorcan as well?" Al just gives him a sympathetic pat on the back.
"WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU TWO?!" Lorcan cries, causing Al and Lysander to jump and stare at him in shock, and several heads to turn in their direction. Lorcan takes a deep breath to reign in his frustration, then whispers so only the two other boys can hear, "Where the bloody hell is this coming from? I don't fancy Lily, and I know for a fact that she doesn't fancy me!"
"You don't?" Al asks, frowning. "But you flirt with her all the time."
"Exactly!" Lysander exclaims, at the same time as Lorcan says "I really don't!"
"She definitely likes you, though," Al says, then glances as Lysander and says "Sorry."
"It's fine, I know," Lysander sighs.
Al continues, "She's always laughing at everything you say."
Lorcan groans. "She laughs because she thinks I'm funny, and she's my friend. Lots of people think I'm funny." At that moment Lily comes walking down the stairs from her dormitory, and Lorcan spots her. "In fact," he says, "I'll prove it right now. Hey, Lily!"
She looks up at them and smiles, walking over to where they're sitting. "Hi guys," she says, "what's going on?"
"Lily," Lorcan says, "do you want to go on a date with me?" Lorcan sees Lysander's eyes widen out of the corner of his eye, but he keeps his gaze fixed on Lily.
Lily frowns in confusion. "No. Why would I do that?"
Lorcan grins and turns to look at the other boys, who are both gaping at them. "See?" he says, triumphantly.
"What's going on here?" Lily asks, still wearing her confused frown.
Lorcan turns to look at her. "These two idiots think we fancy each other."
"What?" Lily exclaims, before bursting into laughter. "What on earth gave you that idea? How can you not know Lorcan fancies -" She stops herself just in time, shaking her head. "You know what, I'll let you figure it out for yourselves. I'll see you later, I said I'd meet Rose in the library." She walks off, muttering about thick headed boys.
There's a short pause, before Al says "I've never been more confused in my life."
Lorcan rolls his eyes. "You're both idiots, seriously. And the only reason I haven't told you is because I thought you knew... I'm not exactly good at hiding it."
"Hiding what?" Lysander asks.
"Seriously," Lorcan says, "you're my twin. I can't believe you haven't realised by now."
"Realised what?"
"Lily's right, I'll let you figure this one out for yourselves." He rolls his eyes again. "You know why I can be funny and charming around Lily? Because I don't fancy her." He sighs. "Around the person I actually do fancy, it's a completely different story."
Al and Lysander share bewildered looks. "Who do you fancy, then?" Lysander asks.
"Now that you're looking, you'll know it when you see it," Lorcan says ruefully. "I'm so obvious about it, I can't even look at them without blushing. I thought everyone knew, especially you two. You're supposed to be my best friends." He scowls at Lysander. "And you're my bloody twin."
Lysander is staring at him with wide eyes. "I was so sure you liked Lily."
"Hang on," Al says, and Lorcan can see it in his eyes that he's catching up. "You're playing the pronoun game."
Lorcan smirks, and Lysander says, "the pronoun game?"
"Yeah," Al says, "the person I fancy, I blush when I look at them..."
Lysander gasps. "Lorcan, are you gay?"
"Completely and totally," Lorcan says, and starts laughing at the looks he's getting from the other two.
"Why haven't you said anything?" Lysander says, "we tell each other everything!"
"I honestly thought you knew!" Lorcan says, "I thought I didn't have to tell you."
Lysander shakes his head for a moment, like he's still trying to wrap his head around it. Then he flings his arms around Lorcan, hugging him tightly and saying "I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry" until Lorcan shuts him up.
"It's fine," he says, "you don't have to apologize."
"But I do!" Lysander says, "I should have realised, I mean, you're my twin! And I've been so angry at you for something that wasn't even true, I've been a complete knob, I'm so sorry."
Lorcan wraps his arms tighter around him and says "It's fine, okay? I forgive you, and now there won't be any more misunderstandings."
"I'm guessing Lily knows?" Al asks, smiling at the twins still clinging to each other.
"Yeah, she figured it out ages ago," Lorcan chuckles. "Then she decided I would be her gay best friend, and that's why we've been closer lately."
"I'm an idiot," Lysander mumbles into Lorcan's shoulder.
"Stop it!" Lorcan says, laughing and pushing Lysander away so he can look at him. "All good, yeah?"
Lysander smiles. "Yeah. Sorry."
"So who do you fancy then?" Al asks.
Lorcan groans. "Let's not talk about that."
"No, let's," Lysander says, grinning. "Who is it?"
"I'm not telling until you guess it right."
After a couple of fairly random guesses the boys give up, and the conversation drifts to other things – namely how Lorcan is pretty sure Lily likes Lysander. ("How can she like me when I can't even string a sentence together around her?" "Don't overdo it! She knows what you're like, we've known each other forever, and you seem to function fine when we're all hanging out together.")
Two hours later and they're still in the common room, only now they've started working on their Transfiguration essay. Deep in concentration for once, none of them notice when James comes in through the portrait hole. That is, until he walks up behind them and wraps his arms around Lorcan's neck.
"All right?" James says, grinning at them. "Studying hard?"
"We were until you came in," Al says, frowning at him. James ignores him.
"Remember Quidditch practice after dinner, yeah?"
"Aye, aye, Captain," Al says, smirking slightly. James flips him off, then saunters away and up the stairs towards the dormitories.
Al is about to go back to his essay, but Lysander elbows him in the side.
"What?" he asks. Lysander looks pointedly at Lorcan, and Al turns his gaze to the other twin. Then he starts grinning. Lorcan is blushing more than he can remember ever seeing before – it's not too hard to connect the dots. "So, Lorcan," he says. Lorcan seems to jump out of a trance, head snapping sideways.
"What?" he asks, looking between the two boys who are both smirking at him.
"James, huh?" Al says, and Lorcan goes an even deeper shade of red.
He buries his face in his hands and says "Don't look at me," causing the others to erupt into laughter.
"Wow, I'm so happy you're gay," Lysander says.
"Why?" Lorcan asks from behind his hands.
"'Cause Lily and James are practically the same person, if you were straight we'd definitely be fighting over Lily."
"I feel a bit left out, to be honest," Al says, pouting in an exaggerated manner. "My two best friends fancy my brother and my sister... what's wrong with me, eh?"
"You're a bloke," Lysander says, at the same time as Lorcan says "Straight boys are such a turn off."
"You're our best friend, though," Lysander says.
"And we love you," Lorcan adds.
"Don't finish each other's sentences, it's creepy," Al says, before getting a face full of twin as they both pounce on him.
-x-
(After much cajoling from Lorcan and Al, Lysander asks Lily to go with him to the next Hogsmeade weekend. She blushes even more than he does when she says yes.)
-x-
(Lorcan isn't entirely sure how it happens, but he ends up snogging James in the common room after they win the Quidditch Cup. The following day he is a complete nervous wreck, sure James thought it was a one off. That is until James corners him on the 2nd floor corridor and tells him in no uncertain terms that he wants to be his boyfriend. They stay wrapped around each other until Professor Longbottom catches them and takes 10 points from Gryffindor for indecent behaviour. (However, he does give Lorcan 20 completely unearned points and a wink during Herbology the following day.))