Draco had your coffee expertly brewed and you giggled as Luna and Draco discussed brewing techniques. It was nice to see Draco being nice to someone other than you. As you settled onto your bed Draco asked, "What kind of debauchery were you up to last night? You glared at Draco, "You mean shit-show? Angelina and Alicia have been kinda drugging Fred and George for god know how long. We found out last night and George walked out. Today he showed up at breakfast and sat at Ravenclaw with those two hanging all over him." You couldn't help the bitterness in your voice. "Wow, some of those Gryffindor girls have some teeth then." Draco smiled, "But what happened before all of that dear? I heard you." Your attention immediately turned to Draco, "What do you mean?"
"Well as I was sitting there attempting to have a good time, I suddenly became aware of another song in the air that played over the music. It immediately made me think of you and the more I listened the more I knew it was you. I wanted to come see what it was all about but couldn't." You chuckled, "Yea that would have spelled disaster." You tuned to Luna at a loss for what to think about it all, "So Fred and Draco heard it… why not George?" Luna just frowned, "I don't know but maybe the Nargles were stuffing his ear with cotton." you shook your head, "Maybe so."
"What the fuck is a Nargle?" Draco asked truly confused. You just giggled, "Honestly Draco, I haven't a clue." you smiled warmly toward Luna, "But according to Luna they are a pain in the ass." Your mood quickly turned sour as you thought about the ball, "What was it like Draco? I have never been to a dance and I was honestly looking forward to going." Draco sat next to you and put his arm around you. "I'm sorry no one asked you, I would have asked you in a heartbeat if I could have. I am surprised none of those Weasles did, but based on the information you gave me, I don't think those two gits had the opportunity to." You curled into Draco tighter as you relaxed into his delicate piano notes, "They barely gave me any regard, it hurt. I tried to not let it, it's not like we are in a relationship or anything. Seeing George today with those two knowing what they did to him, it cut deep."
"That's what happens when you attach yourself to rather dim people." You punched Draco in the arm. He tried to lighten the mood a bit more along with Luna but wasn't exactly successful. By the time you rested your head on the pillow your brain was wondering how all of this would get resolved.
Your holiday plans crumbled. George was still avoiding you and the more he did so the more melancholy his harp became. You opted to stay at Hogwarts for the remainder of the holiday break instead of going to The Burrow. Fred and Ginny protested greatly but you figured the best thing George needed was time. You hoped that whatever was bothering him he would talk to one of his siblings about and the air could be cleared. If you were being honest with yourself you didn't know why he was pulling away so much. You knew what Fred said about the soulmate issue but there was no way this was the sole cause.
You spent most of your break with Hermione in the library as you helped research the potion and the mystery behind Harry's golden egg from his first trial. Ginny and Fred sent you an owl airing their frustration with George. He is fine except when your name comes up it would seem. Molly made sure he was clear of any hexes or potions after hearing about the incident with Alicia, so whatever was bothering him wasn't influenced by magic.
That first morning, when classes started back up, you found your group and went to sit in the open spot between Fred and George, you were relieved to see the space between the two siblings, hope blossoming in your chest. As you sat down George stood abruptly and walked away. The break did not alleviate any of the issues he had. The sting of his rejection did not leave you for the remainder of the day. Fred comforted you as best he could, but he also was feeling the pain of your rejection. The only relief you felt was that George also steered clear of Angelica and Alicia.
These avoidance tactics happened for a week before you finally urged Fred to try and spend more time with his brother instead of you. You weren't going to be the wedge between them. The thought of them not talking because of you broke your heart. You just weren't willing to let it happen. You spent more time with Luna and Ginny and Draco watched from the sidelines as everything seemed to be imploding when it came to the twins.
It had been a month since the Yule Ball and George was still not acknowledging your existence. You were at a breaking point, your logic and understanding were beginning to succumb to the raw emotion you felt. Fred had become more touchy-feely with you and as much as it relished those moments when his hands would draw circles in your back or your arm or the way his head always tipped toward yours. You loved the way his fingers always sought your own. The vibration of his soul as it washed through you, soothing you. The both of you felt George's absence. You saw how it pained Fred to be this distant from his twin, you could hear it and feel it. It pulled at your heart and you knew that removing yourself from the situation would never solve the problem.
You were remiss in your denial of soulmates. You realized that soulmates aren't what the fairy tales posed, there wasn't a singular person destined for another. People had a network of individuals that they were drawn to, there was a pool of people meant for them. In your particular case, you happen to be able to clearly identify them. You needed to re-work your understanding and beliefs in what a soulmate was and what it meant to you. If denying the term soulmate was, in any way, the reason for George's distance you needed to fix it.
You watched him, his pattern of avoidance was obvious. You had study time while he was in his Defence of the Dark Arts class you were going to make things right. Even though you were disturbed by the static soul of Professor Moody, you waited outside the classroom. You almost lost your nerve standing there listening to the man from outside the door. You waited on the opposite wall. You heard the class begin to make movement, you began to pace nervously. You saw Fred first his eyes showed the strain of dealing with George but he looked relieved to see you. You shook your head no as he set his eyes in your direction. He frowned a moment but then realization dawned on his features. He nodded to you and moved on.
George was one of the last to come out, his head down he didn't see you, and if he did he didn't let on. You walked after him calling him with no success. Finally, you ran up to him, "George! Please stop a minute." When you grabbed his arm to stop him you felt such a wave of sadness and confusion, the emotion caught you so suddenly that you gasped for breath. When you looked up toward him his eyes were closed and relief washed over his face. You wanted to tread lightly but it flooded your system, "Why? Why is this happening? What did I do Georgie? Please." He looked at you as if he was ready to cave and crumble, but then a rush of students heading to their Defense class, his resolve seemed to steele and he jolted his arm out of his grip and walked away.
You exited out into the snowy courtyard and sat on one of the benches. You wanted to cry the tears were there stinging your eyes but crying didn't fix it. You didn't hear as Luna walked up to you so you jumped at her voice, "My Star, your flames are fading, we need to brighten them. I'll meet you in your dorm after dinner." She smiled and skipped away. You kept up the charade of being ok. The only people that knew you weren't were Fred and Draco. Ginny was no fool either but she didn't push.
After another tense dinner with George disavowing your existence and Fred stuck teetering on the edge of sanity by splitting himself in two, you settled into your room. Truth be told you weren't in the mood for anything really. By the time Luna knocked on your door, you were barely keeping yourself together. When Luna saw you, she just smiled warmly and presented you with her music contraption. "You need to escape into the music my Star. It will be OK, even if you don't think it will be." She kissed your cheek and left quietly.
You flopped your head on the bed and just requested the first song that popped up in your brain, Mad World. You closed your eyes and fully immersed yourself in the music and lyrics. You felt the words deep down and you sang softly as you curled up on your bed with your stuffed Occamcy and just sang the song to yourself trying to ease the hurt. Song after song flowed out as if it read your mind.
Elsewhere in the castle the twins were planning a prank, Fred felt the tension despite going through the motions of what was normal for them. Fred began to hear the stirrings of your soul. When it started he was keen to note that George seemed to falter in his task. As time passed your soul became louder and more clear. George became more and more distracted and he knew George could hear you. "George, this has to stop." George looked at his brother, "I don't know what you're talking about." Fred grew frustrated, "Never Georgie? What happened to never?" George recoiled, "She made her choice."
"She has done no such thing. I don't know what your problem truly is but this has to stop." Fred stood up and grabbed George by the arm, "You can hear her and you damn well know it, I'm not letting you ignore her any longer."
As you lay curled up in your bed, a covered rendition of Enjoy the Silence came on, a haunting introduction to the song causing tears to finally fall down your cheeks, totally unaware of their existence. You heard the haunting female voice singing words that resonated with you perfectly. You found yourself whispering along with the well-known verses. You just wanted George to look at you and tell you what was wrong. Why did he shut you out? Why, when everything was going so well, did it stop?
You didn't hear the door open with George being shoved into the room with Fred right behind him. Fred whispered in his brother's ear, "Does it look like she made a choice to you brother?" Fred's venom was palpable as he continued, "I think not George, can you honestly look at her right now and feel nothing?" George just shook his head and whispered, "No." Fred glared at his brother, "Then stop this madness."
You didn't notice the dip in the bed but the second an arm wrapped around your waist you felt a soothing vibration flood your body, the strumming of a harp flowed just under your skin. You turned into the body and inhaled the deep scent of campfire, pine, and nutmeg your heart soared as you whispered "George". Your silent tears turned into sobs as he held you tighter and uttered his apologies into the top of your head.
George knew the second he touched you and held you that he had been foolish. As your tears cleared you sat up to look at him more fully. His eyes looked gaunt like he had too many sleepless nights. There was worry and concern in his eyes. You had so many questions that couldn't formulate. "What happened?" was all you could muster.
"That night, when we got back to the common room and you were there dancing with Luna, it was breathtaking, I… Well, Fred seemed so enthralled, and I watched as he just wrapped his arms around you. You looked so perfectly content and the way you said his name. I wished you were saying mine. At that moment I was absolutely sure you picked Fred over me and I just… I was stupid and couldn't handle it."
"George, I don't know what my ability can do to its fullest extent. It calls to people, it calls to people who are…" You grabbed George's hand, "I need to apologize to you. I've been selfish. I refused to believe in the idea of soulmates, I've mocked it even. It's just that…" George interrupted you, "You don't have to apologize for that."
You shook your head, "No, I do. I never meant to make you feel like I chose Fred. Listen, it's not an excuse but everything I believed to be true in my life was a lie. So if I believed in something like soulmates, then it would become a lie and I would be alone with no one. It's been a struggle for me to accept this new world and everything that comes with it. I'm doing a shit job trying to hold it all together." You let out a watery laugh.
George pulled you in for another hug, falling into his lap while he kissed the top of your head. "I can't believe Fred and I got bested by our friends. That I was foolish enough to still hang out with them after the damage they caused. I thought you rejected me and I knew they wanted me and were willing enough to go to extremes to have me around."
You peered up into George's face, his hair falling like a curtain around your face, "Why did you ignore me?" your voice was small and fragile. He smiled a sad but warm smile, "It hurt too much. So, I went with the tried and true way to deal." In the same small voice, you made a simple request, "Please don't ever do that again, we talk about it instead." George leaned his forehead against him, you were sharing the same breaths and it pulled at things deep in your heart, "I promise". At that moment you had the most incredible urge to meet your lips to his. It was the first time you ever felt compelled and as you were lost in the thought of doing it you felt the bed jolt behind you.
"Now that that's been cleared up. Where have you been hiding your Dr. Pepper?" Fred knew exactly what he was doing and he was determined to not see anything move too fast or without him directly involved.
The remaining weeks until the next challenge for the champions found your bond with the twins far stronger than previously experienced. When you were in direct contact with each other, the hearing of souls was an open highway between the three of you. The twins marveled at how they sounded to each other. Their joy and utter amazement over it was one of the purest things you experienced in your short life.
Other things started changing as well. Like the fact that whenever you joined the table in the Great Hall with them they kissed each side of your cheek. It was done as a joke initially, to get Ron to squirm and get grossed out but then it became a thing. It was as natural a thing to do as saying hi now.
More and more you felt their proximity to you and it created a strange anticipation in your gut. As their hands brushed your back, or their legs brushed against yours, or when your hand was grabbed in their own. It caught your attention and you became hyperaware of their movements. Your body's reaction to their innocent gestures was becoming more indecent. When they would whisper their plans in your ears, Fred's voice a little deeper on your left while George's breathy whispers on your right made that involuntary tickling sensation at the base of your spine. The feeling made you want to stretch and become enveloped in their presence.
Fred was far more aware of what was happening, or so it seemed. He loved to lean down into you and sing small lyrical snippets in your ears. You were pretty sure he knew the effect it had on you. George had his own way and it often involved gentle caresses when his arm was draped around you or when you were idly near each other. His fingers gently create patterns in your arm, leg, or back.
They were slowly escalating your attraction to them. They started invading your dreams, the kind that left you breathless when you woke up. The kind that felt so real that when you woke it was the most jarring experience. You never yearned for any kind of sexual contact in your life but you started finding yourself wondering what it would feel like if they touched your bare skin. Their hands on your back and stomach or legs. It drove you nearly mad some nights.
On the day of the second challenge, everyone was excited and anxious. The anticipation in the air was contagious. Luna skipped up to you, all smiles as she looked from Fred to George, "They have ignited you indeed." Fred enjoyed Luna's quirky way of sharing what she knew. "Oh, my beloved Moonchild, why do you say that?" The lilt in Fred's voice promised mischief. Luna's eyes sparkled and you bit your tongue praying to any deity that she was tactful. Luna leans in a conspiratorial fashion, "I do believe that her evening strolls in dreamland are filled with…" You grabbed her hand and walked ahead of Fred and George, "Ok that's enough of that." George smirked, "But she was just getting to the good part love!" You turned to look at George, "Doubtful."
Luna pouted, "Aww I do love teasing all my peas. I think this evening should be some good fun." You walked to the events with Luna, arm in arm while Fred and George followed closely behind.
The twins, overjoyed with Harry's win, declared a party at Gryffindor's house. As you all went back you realized by the buzzing excitement of all the Weasleys that it was going to be quite a night.