((Ok so this is weird to ask but can someone explain to me why my chapter An Itch To Scratch has the most views and visitors out of any chapter. It's like double/triple the amount that I usually get on a chapter. It's kind of weirding me out because I don't understand why it's that one chapter that's 14 chapters into a story. Maybe I'm paranoid.
Anyway, thank you so much for the favs and reviews, I really appreciate it. I'm sorry if people were hoping for me to reply like I usually do, but my anxiety has been through the roof lately. And I'm really sorry if people get mad that romance isn't just boiling over in this next chapter or so, but there's some other people in Josie's life that need addressing. Thanks for reading!
Oh! If anyone wants a playlist of songs I like for this fanfiction, I will link you one. But I will say I really like Tongue Tied by Grouplove for this fanfic))
Things didn't really change after that, the three of them just fell into a comfortable state of agreement. They like her, she likes them, and they all wanted to be together. They'd decided that they would continue showing themselves as friends to the rest of the student body and see where things went. The only thing that really changed in them was that they seemed to be more comfortable around each other, the twin's becoming less restrained around her and Josie calming down a bit, ceasing to worry about hiding her feelings or worrying about them not liking her. They still continued to make her flustered almost constantly, but she didn't have to worry about trying to hide it anymore. The twins teased her when she did become flustered around them, but it was playful.
It was snowing quite heavily the last day of Quidditch practice before the break, Josie sitting on a blanket on the edge of the field where she had stood the night fireworks ignited. She was wrapped up in her coat, George's hat covering her ears as both the twin's robes fluttered from their place around her shoulders in the breeze that had made its way onto the field. The team was not at its best today, the coming holidays distracting them from their drills.
Josie sat with her arms around her knees, her head on her arms as she thought. Earlier in the day a couple of Slytherin boys had jokingly complimented her and berated her when she thanked them, and their actions had taken a toll on her. She'd become so accustomed to the comfort and support she received when around her friends that any negativity affected her more than did earlier in the year. She was snapped from her thoughts when Wood called the practice off early, irritated at their lack of concentration. The team filed through the door into the locker rooms, Josie remaining where she was until Fred nudged her with his broomstick and helped her up, George picking up the blanket and her bag as they trailed far behind the rest and landing themselves the last one in the locker rooms.
"Are you alright? You seem out of it." George commented as he put his broom and bat away, Fred doing the same. Josie looked up from the speck of snow she had been staring at, removing their robes from her shoulders and tossing them into their waiting hands. "I'm fine." She said softly, tucking hair behind her ear. They both moved towards her, standing in front of her and taking one of her hands each between theirs. "You don't seem fine." "What's wrong?" "Who said what?"
Sighing, Josie scuffed her shoe against the floor. "Nothing, just dumb boys… "What did we do?" They said together with a chuckle, obviously trying to lighten her spirits. Her lips twitched in a smile as she squeezed their hands and laid her head on George's shoulder. "Just making fun of me….I guess I got used to feeling good about myself so it hurt more than it should." She mumbled, glancing up at the two of them. "Don't listen to other people, just listen to us." Fred said, grinning at her. "That's a slippery slope."
The twins chuckled at her, squeezing her hands. "You're beautiful Josie" "Don't listen to people like that." She smiled, straitening up and looking at the both of them. They just looked at each other for a very long time, Josie's fingers rhythmically tightening and releasing theirs to the beat of her pulse as the wind beat against the wooden walls.
Her eye's darted to Fred's lips when his tongue ran across them, then to George's as he grinned a bit and the tips of his teeth could be seen between them. She didn't know what came over her, but she let go of their hand as her blood rushed through her body rapidly and her heart pulled her forward.
Josie leaned upward on her toes, placing a hand behind their necks to pull them down to her as she pressed her lips softly against each pair of theirs in turn. The kisses were short and shy, her lips quivering as they fit to theirs and she was engulfed in the warmth of their flame. Her frozen toes curled and her shaking hands dug fingers into their skin as she felt the rush of them. She was completely at ease in herself yet a live wire, her hearing deafened by her pounding heart but heightened by the quiet that surrounded their moment.
The three of them stood with foreheads pressed together after the kiss ended until Josie cleared her throat of her shaking breath and took their hands again, the three of them heading back up to the castle, where Josie was going to write another letter to her mother as they lay in silence by the fire.
It was almost Christmas when she finally learned what was in the note her mother had written them, Fred suddenly announcing it at lunch the day before break. "Your mother invited us over for a visit by the way." He said between bites of mashed potatoes. "She already talked to ours, she said its fine." George added. Josie almost choked on a kernel of corn. "She did what?" Her voice jumped in pitch as she spoke, causing the twins to laugh. "Stop worrying, it just for a day. We'll get there in the morning, spend the day, and go home that night." "Do you not want to spend every waking moment with us." Fred said as he bat his eyes at her. "I have to bathe sometime." She mumbled, glancing at them as she picked up her glass of water. "We can help with that." This time she really did choke, sputtering on her water as she inhaled it, giving the twins a good laugh. "If they're pulling this stuff just after a couple of weeks then you're in trouble." Lee said. "Yeah double trouble." Josie mumbled as she cleared her throat.
"When are you coming over?" She asked a few moments later. "The day after Christmas, we're coming by portkey." George answered as they got up and headed for Charms, their arms linked together. " And I'm guessing my mother set this up. How does your mother feel about all this?" Josie asked as they climbed the stairs. "Glad to get us out of the house." They said together, entering the classroom and preparing for the last lesson before Christmas. The rest of their time at school before break was spent dragging through classes and meals, and packing up their things to go home for Christmas, and Josie worrying about seeing her family now that she's changed a bit since they last saw them.
Her stomach began to ache as she packed her bags and put Georgette in her cage, all of which were magically whisked away before she head down into the common room to wait on Fred, George and Lee so they could all head to the train together. It wasn't long after Percy had come through the portrait for the second time in two minutes to say goodbye to his girlfriend that the twins thundered down the stairs with Lee on their heels, all three of them jumping the last few steps and earning a stern look from their brother.
George stuck a bow onto Josie's head as they leaned on the back of the couch next to her, both of the twin's hands full of ribbon and bows. "Are you two wrapping presents?" she asked as she removed the bow from her hair and stuck it to the front of Fred's sweater. "We thought we'd decorate a bit on the way out. Add a bit more interest before everything becomes dull while we're gone." George said, turning his head to look at Percy as he called up the stairs to the girl's dormitory after Penelope Clearwater that he would write her everyday.
"Hey Percy! Why don't you just stay here with Pen-el-o-pee!" Fred called out in a singsong voice, catching his brother's attention. "Then she can deal with you!" George added. Percy looked annoyed and started to head towards the portrait, glaring daggers at them. "It'll be like a present for everyone." Josie said through her giggling. The twins looked at each other, grinning before unrolling their ribbon and jumping towards their brother.
"We'll help wrap!" they yelled as they took off, rolling out the ribbon as they circled Percy, wrapping him in ribbons as they ducked under each other to tie a knot. Percy began to yell at them, berating them as they walked back to Josie, handing her a bow and following her as she headed towards the portrait in a fit of giggles. Fred jumped in front of her before she passed Percy, swinging is arm out dramatically in his direction.
"Would you like to add the final touch, madam?" He said as properly as he could. Josie snorted and shook with laughter, looking at Percy before sticking the bow to his cheek and stepped back with them to admire their work. Fred and George linked arms with her, leading her out of the portrait and downstairs to leave for the train.
The ride home from Hogwarts was full of excitement, everyone chattering and moving from car to car, not able to sit still. Josie sat in a car in the back of the train with Lee and the twins, the four of them doing what they did best; joke around and eat sweets. They were trying different flavors of Berti Botts Every Flavor Beans; Lee forced to swallow a soap-flavored bean as Josie laughed at his expression. "You three need to write me as much as possible, I don't want to miss anything." She said, sifting through her box to try and find an Éclair-flavored bean. "And if you don't you're buying me candy." She added with a point in their direction.
"We will, calm down." George said, chuckling at her. "You're worse than out mother sometimes." Fred added. Picking up a Spinach flavored bean, she tossed it at his nose. "Eat your vegetables." Her voice cracked with laughter, Lee laughing along with her as the twins looked at each other and grinned. "We'd rather have something sweet." They winked at her, chuckling softly. "Cherry then" She giggled as she threw two Cherry flavored beans at them, causing Lee to howl and the twins to send candy flying in her direction. After pelting each other with beans, the four of them picked them up and settled in for the last two hours before they arrived, Lee Jordan staring out the window and dozing off as Josie moved to sit between the twins, their arms wrapping around her. They talked quietly for a while about their plans for the break, what their families did for Christmas, and the secret passageways the twins wanted to show her when they got back.
They were half an hour away when Lee awoke to Josie staring out the window at the snow covered fields, being lulled to sleep by the wind howling outside the train while the twins rubbed the back of her hands with their thumbs. Lee cleared his throat, and darted his eyes to the twins when Josie looked at him. She raised her head from Fred's shoulder to look up at him, catching him looking down at her with a small smile, George doing the same.
"What?" She asked softly, stretching her back a bit. "Nothing." The twins said together, letting go of her hands to ruffle her hair. She scowled at them, and fixed it the best she could as the four of them stood to shrug back into their coats and got ready to leave. The train pulled to a stop and people started to file down the hallway off the train, Lee slipping out the door and leaving Josie behind with the twins. She waited until the line of students had thinned out, not wanting to become cramped in the narrow hall.
As the last few groups walked past Josie shrugged her bag up onto her shoulder, realizing she was wearing Fred scarf as it twisted around the strap. She pulled it off from around her neck, holding it out to him with a small smile. "You may need that." She said softly. He took it from her hands, smirking a bit as he circled it back around her neck before pulling her closer by the ends and pressing his lips softly to hers. "You keep it. I'll probably get another for Christmas." He said when he pulled away from the kiss and Josie's eyes fluttered open. He pushed pass her and out the open door, and Josie was turned around by her hips as George pressed his lips to hers and winked at her when he pulled away. He took her hand and tugged her out the door, the three of them thundering down the hallway.
They went to find their luggage after stepping onto the platform, Josie standing on her toes to try and catch sight of her parents. She didn't see them anywhere, but her eyes landed on a duo of ginger hair being led down the platform by a round, wild haired woman that Josie could only guess was Mrs. Weasley. The twins were soon spotted by her, their names called out over the crowd as a man that must have been their father waved when they looked up.
They looked at Josie, eyes twinkling mischievously as she wrapped her arms around their necks and hugged them tight. "See you soon." She said as they pulled away, smiling brightly. "See you soon." They chimed together, grinning at her before heading towards their family, the group of ginger hair slowly growing as the Weasley children found their parents.
She wandered near the group to get away from the luggage so others could find their things, looking around for her parents. It was merely second that she felt a tap on her shoulder and turned into the arms of her father, picking her up in a tight hug. She smiled as he released her, and was pulled into the arms of her mother, who held her much longer than her father had. "Bonjour." She said through a laugh, taking her mother's hand as she pulled back and beamed at her daughter. "Bonjour mon cheri!" Her mother said excitedly, her pink stained grin wide to show bright white teeth.
Delephine Desmarais was a beautiful woman, the brown hair that Josie shared with her tumbling down around her flushed cheeks and slim shoulders. Brown eyes stared into blue as they looked at each other, as if something had changed between them, which it had. Her mother looked at her with new pride and light, glancing up at her father and smiling. "She looks so pretty, oui?" she asked him through her accent, Josie turning to look up at her father along with her.
Andre Desmarias was a very tall and lean man with an impressive mustache, the eyes he gave to Josie peering from under thick blonde eyebrows. His freckled cheeks puffed out as he grinned with gap teeth, petting his daughter's hair gently. "She's beautiful." He said, picking up Josie's luggage. Her mother took her hand, and the followed their father as he led them off the platform. They had barely gotten a few feet when her mother leaned to her ear.
"So where are they?" she asked softly with a devious smile. Josie rolled her eyes with a light laugh, looking behind her shoulder at the bustling group of gingers that were still standing by a pillar to sort out their luggage. Her mother looked with her, her curiosity obviously getting the best of her. "The two twins with longer hair, standing on the luggage cart." She said as she began to giggle when she saw them, Fred and George balancing on top of their luggage. They caught her eye and waved, nodding towards her mother when Delephine gave a short wave in their direction.
"They're gorgeous." Her mother laughed as she squeezed Josie's hand, causing her daughter to blush. The two women looked forward again as they passed through the barrier and followed her father as he headed towards Diagon Alley so they could return home his way, by floo.