(Yaaaay finally a new chapter. Remember, please review! It would help a lot!)
The night after the sneaking out incident Josie found herself having strange dreams, and all they consisted of were her and the twins. Flashes of Fred's fingers pressed into her waist, of George talking in her ear, of the three of them lying across the couch, their hips pressed against each other and their shoulders brushing. She noticed more about the situations they had experienced last night when they were shown again like this, things her senses did not pick up in the excitement of last night.
She woke up with a start, her heart beating fast and her cheeks flushed. Even as she rolled over to hide in her pillow, she could still feel Fred's hand against her side and the tingle that spread out across her body from his palm. George's breath fanned out across her neck still, the hairs there standing on end still as she brushed her fingers across the skin. She sat up, pulling the curtains aside and placing her feet on the floor. Grabbing her sweater from last night, she could smell them on it. They were the only people who could ever have that scent, the only two who could share it. Gunpowder, leather, chocolate, and peppermint were the recognizable notes, oddly mixed together with what could only be described as…them.
Shaking her head, Josie quickly changed into her uniform, fixing the slight frizziness of her hair with a headband and heading downstairs. Her hopes of avoiding them until class died the moment she entered the common room, Fred and George leaning on the wall by the bulletin board. The two of them, along with Lee Jordan, pushed away from the wall and matched pace with her.
"Hello boys." She said simply as they passed. "We were just telling Lee about your magic bean." Fred said, holding open the painting as they passed through it. "Oh really? You mean my dim witted attempt at an escape plan." She said, adjusting her bag on her shoulder as she headed down the staircase. George slid past her on the banister, smiling. "A brilliantly dim witted attempt. " "Stop that! You're going to get yourself killed." She grabbed his robe and yanked him back onto the stairs, her pulse throbbing from anxiety. All three of the boys chuckled at her outburst, following her into the Great Hall. As she sat down at their table, she could see her roommates exchange suggestive glances and raise their eyebrows at her. The twins had never walked in with her before, and she was out late with them last night. She could see them assuming what happened, her cheeks flushing at the idea that anything flirtatious or even, dare she say, sexual could of happened. But she knew that's what they were thinking.
As the day progressed, she felt more awkward than ever before as she tried to forget the dream the best she could, but her resistance was futile. She kept thinking about it, and she was surely not going to quit being the twin's friend because she was a little flustered. Their newfound closeness and fascination with her didn't help though. Ever since her "brilliant bouncing bean" they had become closer to her, included her more than before.
She realized that when people say that attraction changes how you see things, they spoke the truth. Ever since breakfast she had been recognizing things that she knew the twins always did, but never noticed. Like how George smiled more to the left, Fred more to the right, or how they laughed differently, or how their handwriting was different. Josie thought it was ridiculous to notice these things, but she noticed them anyway. Within a few days, the reality of what was going on completely hit her. It had only been 7 weeks she'd been at Hogwarts, a seemingly short time, and she had started to like someone...two someones…and they were the Weasley twins. This couldn't be good.
As soon as she got a break, she began to write a letter to her mother. She didn't have anyone else she felt confident enough to talk to about this, sadly, she knew her mother would blow it way out of proportion. Her mother, Delphine, was a little over dramatic, and anything that Josie did that she could relate to was treated like the most important moment of her life. Grabbing some parchment and quill, Josie sat herself in the corner of the common room, forgetting to write in French until halfway through, hoping her mother's second language would kick in.
"Dear Mother,
School is going well, my work is challenging, but I am keeping up with the other students. I've made a small handful of friends, and have gotten comfortable in my house. I'm Gryffindor by the way, I know I haven't sent you a many letters as I promised, but things have been a bit hectic here. I am sorry though, I should of sent you one the night I arrived.
Speaking of friends, I have a few. One is named Bijou, she's younger and a very sweet but skittish girl, she helps with my Divination homework sometimes. Another is a Ravenclaw girl I sit next to in Transfiguration, she's extremely intelligent but thinks harshly of herself. Her name is Fauna. My roommates aren't exactly my friends, though we do get along very well. I have three friends that I met through the next two I'll talk about, their names are Angelina, Alecia and Lee.
But the two most important things I would like to talk about are the two boys who have made…an impact on my life here. I met them on the train ride here, and ever since we've just become friends. Well now that we've settled into being friends, and are around each other more, I've noticed something.
Mother I think I like them. And I know you know what I mean when I say like. I don't know what to do about it. I should have probably told you before I said this that the boys are twins, Fred and George are their names. I don't just like one of them, I like them both…and I don't think I can just like one of them. I know you're probably freaking out, because I've never liked anyone having gone to an all-girls school, but I need advice. They make my heart race and make me feel…strange. They're so charming, devious, intelligent, funny, and yes, attractive. Very, very attractive. According to Alecia, I've met them after a summer of growth it seems, because last year they were not as visually pleasing as they are now. They were, but it just got…more pleasing. I don't know what to do, but there is no way I am telling them. The humiliation of rejection from two people at the same time would be too much. Please help me.
Love and miss you, Josephine.
P.S. Send Father the best, I love you both. See you at Christmas!"
Signing her letter and rolling it up, she headed to the Owlery to send it off. The autumn chill was starting to kick in as she pulled her robe around her, quickening her pace so she could still make it to her first class after lunch.
The owlery was her least favorite place, mostly because of the stairs to get to it and the substance that would obviously cover the surface of a place made for owls. As she stepped inside an owl near the top immediately flew down, almost missing landing on her arm. The pygmy owl nuzzled her hand as she tied the note to its leg, running her thumb under its chin as she spoke softly in French. "Rentrez chez Georgette." It took off from her arm, circling around her once before disappearing outside.
The rest of the day went on without much excitement, it wasn't until she was trying to help Lee and the twins with their History of Magic homework that things started happening that sparked the fire that had started to build inside of her.
Sighing as she stretched in front of the fire late after everyone else had gone to bed, rubbing her temples at Lee's lack of grasp on how wands were first discovered and patented. Fred finally sighed and rolled onto the floor next to her after she had explained it for the fourth time that night. "I think we should quit this for now, it's too late to try and understand all of this now." He said, setting his chin on his palm and looking at Lee in the chair above him. "Yeah, let's wrap it up for tonight." George added, slamming his book shut and tossing it on the floor.
Lee agreed, hauling himself to his feet and picking up his books. "I'm going to bed; you three can stay down here by yourselves to play as you please." He said, winking at her as he passed, earning a ball of parchment in the back of the head. "Goodnight." Josie called after him. She knew that Lee and Angelina had picked up on her attraction towards the twins, and the both of them had taken to teasing her about it. George shook his head, throwing a crumpled draft of his Transfiguration paper into the fire and stretching across the couch.
They sat in silence for a long time, listening to the fire crackle and pop. Josie had almost drifted off to sleep right there, wrapped up in her sweater, basking in the flames warmth and just listening to the twin's breath. She was feeling her eyes getting heavy when George spoke her name, causing her to jump a bit. "Oui?" she asked, turning her head away from the fire and toward them, finding them both staring back at her. "Do you like it here?" Fred asked her, his cheek resting on his arms. Smiling softly, she nodded. "Yes, I love it here. It's the most wonderful place I've ever been, its home now." They both smiled a bit, opposite corners of their mouths twitching up. There was another long moment of silence, in which all three of them looked at each other in contempt. It was comfortable, the most comfortable she'd felt, even since coming to Hogwarts. She started to wonder how much of her joy in the school came from them. They'd always been there, since the train, her first day, first class, everything.
Thinking about this, Josie realized how much she cared about them, how much she valued their growing friendship. She would never want to ruin that by revealing her attraction to them. It would make it all too awkward, too difficult. But even as she said this to herself the reality of her feelings pushed through, their gaze warming her to the deepest part of her soul.
Fred broke the silence, pushing himself up. "We should go to sleep, still three days until the weekend." George nodded, muttering an agreement and standing up. Josie went to stand, but found two hands in front of her as she sat up. Swallowing the lump in her throat, she took their hands and let them pull her to her feet. Fire shot up her arms, standing her hair on end as their hands met. She had never touched either of them so directly before.
Josie quickly let go of them, picking her books up to hide the suddenness of her release. "Merci…" she muttered, tucking her hair behind her ear while brushing her fingers against her cheeks to check how warm they may be. "You're welcome." They said in unison, causing her to laugh lightly. "See you boys tomorrow." Was all she said as she headed towards the staircase, books under her arm.
"Josie." She heard them say behind her as she reached the third step. Turning to look at them, she was met with them standing right behind her. "You're going to Zonko's and Honeyduke's with us on the Hogsmead trip…" "Right?" they said in turn, quirking an eyebrow at her. Her heart unnecessarily skipped a beat. She knew they were not trying to be flirtatious, even though they often came across as such. "Of course." She said softly, smiling gently at them. "Goodnight." She turned and headed up the stairs, their wishes for good dreams drifting up after her as her hands tingled with their warmth.