When his mother hugged him goodbye on platform 9 ¾ and whispered, "I'll miss you Fred. Don't cause too much grief for Filtch, you hear?" George bit the inside of his cheek in a mixture of frustration and sadness. In the week that had passed since their trip to Diagon Alley his name had only been spoken three times. Two of those times it had been directed at Fred. Fred saying it didn't count.

George pulled out of the hug and gave his mother a smile. "Only as much grief as he deserves!" Her taken-aback expression told him he didn't achieve the care-free expression he was aiming for. He hoped it didn't look as bitter as he felt.

"Another year of safe, well-intentioned pranks, am I right Forge?" Fred slung his arm around George's shoulders and winked at their mom, emphasizing safe and well-intentioned, as he led George to the Hogwarts Express.

George thought it best to act as normal as possible and draped his own arm around his twin. "Right you are, Gred!"

This was their routine. It is what people expected them to do – the Weasley twins joking and laughing 'til the end of time. But for the first time in a long time, George wasn't in the mood to do this charade. It didn't feel genuine. He didn't want his identity so closely tied to another person even if that other person was Fred.

George's face cleared in understanding. If he wanted to be recognized as George and not the-other-twin, he would have to do something that Fred would never do. Perhaps he'd join a club this year and find a new hobby. A club would take away from Quidditch though. Maybe he'd forego the club and try a different position on the team instead. That would set him apart while still giving him the chance to play his favorite sport. However, George did sorely love being a beater and spending all his time plotting pranks and coming up with new inventions.

"Come on, Georgie," Fred said in an unusually soft tone, releasing George. "I have a couple sickles. Let's see if we can't get some chocolate frogs."

George was elated. Dumbledore had just announced the answer to his predicament: the Triwizard Tournament. Fred clapped him on the back and they shared anticipatory grins. Even if Fred entered with him, they couldn't both be Hogwarts champions. This was his chance to shine.

"….for safety only students seventeen years or older may participate," said Dumbledore.

"That's rubbish!" yelled George over the clamor that statement provoked. Fred railed alongside him. The twins were sixteen and would turn seventeen in April. They would be of age during the tournament! Unfortunately, if they weren't seventeen by the time they entered, they were illegible. George felt the injustice filling his chest. His chance had been stolen from him seconds after it was given.

Silence eventually fell before Dumbledore's raised hands. When the headmaster continued speaking, Fred leaned in and whispered, "We're still entering, right?"

"Definitely," whispered back an impassioned George.

Katie sat down next to George. "The Triwizard Tournament sounds exciting, doesn't it?"

George lifted his head from his Transfiguration essay ("It's the first week back and we've already got an essay!" Fred had exclaimed) to answer, but saw that all her attention was focused on Fred who sat directly opposite with Lee.

"It'll be even more exciting when yours truly is the Hogwarts champion," Fred said. His quill dripped a dot of ink on to his essay.

"Aren't you sixteen?" Katie asked with a puzzled frown.

"Have rules ever stopped George and I for long?"

"I can't recall when they have," Katie giggled. Then she grew serious. "It's brilliant about the tournament, but no quidditch is a crime."

"Should be a crime," agreed George. Neither Katie nor Fred acknowledged him. Quidditch had been one of his plans to set himself apart. He was going to try out for Keeper since Oliver Wood graduated the previous year. Now he really would have to join a club.

Katie and Fred ranted about how unfair canceling quidditch was while George failed to concentrate on his essay. There were more than a few blotches from his dripping quill. His name had only been said during roll call in classes. If he had needed a reason to confirm his suspicions that no one at Hogwarts recognized him as a person, it was Katie. With other people at least he was Fred's shadow, they'd glance at him now and then, but with Katie he was invisible.

"George?" George started at the slightly iridescent turkey feather waving itself between his face and his essay. Fred withdrew his quill with a thoughtful expression now that his twin was looking up at him. Katie had left.

"We thought you had left your body behind, mate," joked Lee. He always referred to George as 'mate' instead of saying his name.

"Can't concentrate," muttered George, putting his quill and ink away. "I'm going to bed."

"It's only nine!" said Fred incredulously.

"Thank you for letting me know. I couldn't read the clock from this side of the room," George stood up and swung his bag over his shoulder almost hitting the common room's grandfather clock behind him. He heard Lee's low whistle, most likely in regard to his attitude, as he ascended the stairs to their dorm.

"White moves first," his opponent, a Ravenclaw third year with sharp features, informed him. George moved his pawn out two spaces. The dark-skinned girl moved a pawn near her queen up a space. George continued to build his impenetrable pawn wall, but seven moves into the game she had him in check mate. His king trembled before the graphic gestures the black queen and knight were directing toward him. George glared in frustration at the board, trying to determine how he lost so quickly.

"You can't keep doing that pawn-wall-thing," Miss-Child-Mastermind said, twisting a braid between her fingers. "It's a complete beginner move and easy to destroy."

"You've bested me again, Rita," said George lightly. "I don't think my ego can take another beating. Chess just isn't my calling."

"If you ever want to be knocked down a notch, feel free to come back George," Rita shook his hand in a show of good sportsmanship above the board where the white chess pieces were shouting how they'd never been so disgraced and if George never returned it would be too soon. "Tell you brother, Ron, that chess club would love if he'd enter one of our tourneys."

"I'll let him know." George had to listen about Ron every chess meeting he'd attended. Granted, it's only been two meetings. Apparently, having a brother who beat McGonagall's giant chess set in first year meant he had been asked questions about where Ron had learned chess and how often he played. Unfortunately, this kind of attention made George feel like his identity was now tied with Ron's instead of Fred's. Of course, this wasn't the primary reason for George quitting chess club. He was pants at chess.

Fred waved him over to a table with Lee, Katie, and Angelina when George stepped through the Fat Lady's portrait. Half way over George spotted the wonder trio in front of the fire place. He made his way over to them, ignoring Fred's hurt expression. He had been ignoring his brother for the better part of a week. George's plan to separate himself from Fred in peoples' minds included physically separating himself from his twin. The thought was if people saw them individually, George would be considered his own person. This strategy also had the side-effect of making George and Fred miserable, so it'll probably be chucked soon.

"Did you know the chess club worships you?" George asked a startled Ron. In the short conversation that followed Ron called George Fred twice, making the mistake even after being corrected.

George didn't even look at Fred as he passed his friends on his way to his dorm.