prologue
the summer wind only made the suffocatingly warm air worse. the leaves perched in their natural way, swaying from right to left on tall and delicate trees. the leaves were painted yellow in his eyes, but from knowledge: he knew that their original colour was as green as an apple — which was once again, just piss-yellow to the boy.
normally, george would enjoy the summer breeze outside, watching the silent and calm skies from his back garden, also picking on information from thick and heavy books. the same books that were now resting under his feet, being used for him to reach the small windowpane. he struggled, trying his best to tiptoe on the hard-covered books, but after gaining sight of the two hyperactive boys he knew from his magical school, he let his toes relax.
unfortunately: the shortly gained vision was gone just as his feet slipped away with the cover of his potions book, causing him quite the hustle. he knew his parents were talking with old friends, luckily meaning that there were two adults there to make sure that the others weren't worried about his clumsiness.
he sighed, picking up three of the books that were placed at the opposite of his bed. he wished he could've moved the frame to add more effect — and centimeters — to his height: but once again, he didn't want to bring more attention to himself from the guests. he doubted his parents minded, they were obviously used to george's clumsiness — and his opposite soft-spoken voice — but he didn't know much about the new pure-blood parents.
he was scared to make a first impression.
sighing, the brown-haired boy made his way to the tall mirror. it was a pretty mirror. the golden (?) frame was decorated with flowers george had collected that summer, most of them consisting of blue as the others didn't seem to attract him as much as the specific colour. however, he despised looking at it — more so the reflection. he stood in front, watching his chest rise and fall down slowly. the brunette tugged at the end of his t-shirt, lifting it to see nothing but his disappointment. his binder stood in the place where it always stood, covering away his shame. a sigh pushed air out his lips, letting his shirt fall slowly.
a few things that george was extremely grateful about were — of course — his accepting parents, who had always stood with him in every decision he made. and magic. facing the front of the mirror, he watched the reflection's mouth open, and let out a little 'hello'. his lips twitched upwards to form a smile, making him forget about his worries as he stared at his face: the masculine voice making him forget he once didn't sound like this, and the magic of a brewing stand and money helped him.
but of course, he glared as his eyes trailed down onto his thin and pale arms. he grimaced, shuddering his shoulders at the reflection of the feminine figure. the shirt wasn't tight, it was actually quite the opposite: falling under his hips. it didn't help much, making the george in the reflection reach a hand up to his short hair, pulling it back with a force hard enough to feel the strands, and then letting it go softly. george's mouth let out a huff, hearing the adults downstairs had started upon a louder topic: meaning that his parents had talked over... everything regarding george. which also meant he had no time to waste upstairs. his father had been a dear, and owled the parents a simple introduction of george: and he was safe to say that the two adults' reactions were positive about it. his eyes fell upon a grey sweater right before opening his door to dash out, but he pulled it over his head: making him feel more comfortable when walking down the stairs.
"oh, george! say hello to our guests!" his mother gestured towards the boy, who walked up to the newcomers with small steps, letting his hand swing towards the woman first, and then towards her husband. at the side of the couch was a child, holding onto an iPad twice her size as if her life depended on it, too focused on the pixelated game to even look up at george. but she let out a monotone: "hello george" which brought a simple smile over a small thing.
"pamela jacobs, and that's my dear husband jimmy!" george nodded to the two, taking the only space left on the uncomfortable chair. his favorite spot had been taken by the iPad kid, and the only thing he could do in the small armchair was to fiddle with his long wand. he let his fingertips run up and down the dark beech wood.
"very nice to meet you george, my son and his friend, they're outside. i'm sure you'll enjoy spending some time. boy to boy, you know?" mr. jacobs added, making george try hard not to burst out crying and hugging the life out of jimmy. he reminded himself of the embarrassment, and how the man was doing only the bare necessities, so he nodded a smile and a "thank you" before walking slowly towards the glass door. he — of course — didn't forget to make a stop at the dessert table his father had decorated prior, snatching a thing or two to push down his throat.
—
for quackity, if anyone gave him the chance to choose between apparating and riding a car: he would give away all his magic to learn how to ride the vehicle. as he had learned from karl, a trip down to the jacobs summer house was probably what his two-parent figures needed. pamela jacobs would not stop blabbering about the countryside, her extra passion for the sea, and how she would enjoy 'actual' painting, instead of the fastened magic way, muggle's did it with 'passion' and 'patience'. alex didn't really care, he was just enjoying the car ride. unlike karl was.
the boy was leaning against quackity, the bumps on the road affecting him even more when karl's head bounced up twice its height. karl's headphone privileges were taken, as his father had stated at him for telling marnie off when being too enthusiastic about her game, especially "at this hour of the morning!". but looking down at his right, alex watched the peaceful boy, only resting his eyes with a smile burning on his lips: causing quackity's lips to twitch too.
"karl, headphones." pamela smiled at the boys, karl mumbling thanks. quackity reached over to grab the headphones which were thrown onto the second row of the car seats; the lazy girl not budging even when quackity cleared his throat. karl peaked an eye, giggling at the boy who struggled to untangle the wires. he snatched the wire away from quackity's fingers, not aggressively but affectively — his sleepiness was kicking in, alex thought —. the challenging knot was gone in a matter of few seconds, making quackity groan as karl whooped in victory.
"want one?"
quackity smiled down at his best friend, who was also looking up close to his face, his one hand tingling in the air whilst holding a wired pod in his hand. alex nodded, taking it into his own hand: throwing his right arm around the boy's shoulder, ruffling — or messing up, as karl always stated — his wavy hair. karl played new sorts of rhythms alex never had heard: stating that his favorite band had released a new 'alubim' or something along those lines. quackity nodded to karl's explanation — making sure it was on beat with the drums — even though he didn't fully comprehend what an album was.
the car ride fastened when the music consumed sleep for both the kids. pamela jacobs glanced back: watching her kids and his best friend rest their eyes. marnie held her lime iPad close to her chest: clenching it tightly even in her sleep zone. pamela smiled at the bond between the pure-bloods and muggle items: knowing she raised her kids and alex well without prejudice. her heart ached at the thought of alex being left at his old household, knowing how lucky he was today for traveling to a muggle city, listening to music whilst arm over the boy of the 'traitor' families. a grin made its way to her face. karl's eyes fluttered open, smiling back at his mother. she nodded, clearing her throat. "we'll be there in a bit, advise you wake up the sleepyhead's jacobs!"
"i think you meant anyone but karl, pam..." quackity stirred, taking his arm away from karl who whined at the loss of touch. jimmy let out a laugh, as his wife slapped his arm playfully. but as the man pouted, pamela gave him a sloppy kiss on his cheek. the two awake kids watched in disgust from their interactions, karl blushing in embarrassment whilst alex mumbled "ew".
as the mother of the car softly woke up her grumpy daughter, jimmy spoke loudly to the two boys in the back. karl perked up after hearing the more formal name of "alex" afterward his, and the two shared a look: asking whether the other had done something. "yeah, jim?" quackity answered for the two, making karl roll his eyes at the nickname for his father.
"we'll be visiting our old friends we told you about before we get to the summer house. you two okay with that?" they nodded, waiting for the man to continue along. it helped to block out the whining of marnie: wanting either to sleep more, or gain more iPad time. her mother encouraged her could play once visiting their friends.
"they have a, erm son. your age i believe karl. you guys will get along, right?" karl and quackity shared a look, the taller male shrugging whilst the other nodded softly. the two were very outgoing: but for alex he knew that didn't always make it less awkward... and they would also have to include him in conversation that would involve —
"is he, you know, a wizard?"
"oh yes, of course! he goes to hogwarts, either a slytherin or, uh raven... don't really remember but henry had mentioned it once i think!" jimmy encouraged, and alex let out a sigh: at least they could talk about upcoming classes or recent quidditch. but as karl and quackity got ready to get back to their rhythms, the car stopped. the kids all groaned, watching the parents crawl out of their seats.
"out." pamela ordered, already standing in front of a brick house. it wasn't too big: nearly half the size of the jacobs manor, but the darkish bricks made the green veins stand out in a cozy way. the white roof matched with the stone entrance, making karl smile. he pulled quackity out by his hand, ready to race down to the big yard but the two were stopped by a rough grip on karl's shoulder. his mother stood staring at both him and quackity. her mouth opening and closing: indicating to karl that she was trying her best to find the right words to let come out of her mouth.
quackity smiled at the woman, and she sighed. the gripping hand retrieved: but she crossed her arms around her sweater, the wind blowing softly at her dark hair. quackity was glad for his beanie, or else his ears would be bothered by the tingling. "their son, you see. you might not remember him from school: he uh transitioned?" the two stared in confusion, karl asking a little "what?" the woman bit her lip: thinking. "he's transgender, sweetie. that's what i mean." she smiled.
there was no particular reaction that the mother was waiting for: she just watched as karl and alex smiled, nodding brightly. "okay!" and "cool!" were the only things that indicated their opinions of the topic, before running off to the big yard. thinking back to the car, it could be seen surreal considering the energy the two had gained in a second: just been woken up from an hour sleep. but they jumped up and down with their hands intertwined, and the headphones once again in the knot they had been struggling prior.
alex was the first to let go of the grip.
"do you think it'll be awkward?" he asked, readjusting his beanie. the wind wasn't as big of a hard blow today, but it was thick and warm enough for sweat to drip from the back of his neck. quackity wasn't bothered to meet new people: but ever since the end of the winter term — of his 6th year — he had been sticking along with karl, only allowing him and his family into his small 'trust shell' that had been broken back at the cold times.
karl shrugged, understanding what quackity had meant. getting to know family friends didn't always end up great: no one usually liked each other but had no way to get out of the 'friendship' your parents had created in their heads. but yet again, there was also a chance to gain a third member for their two people friend group.
quackity knew karl tried his best to be nice to everyone — only if they weren't known for doing shitty stuff — but that didn't mean they had lots of friends. similar to him: karl kept his trustworthy friends closest, considering his classmates or even dorm mates acquaintances.
"we'll give him a shot, maybe it won't be that awkward!" he encouraged, even if deep down he didn't fully trust his words. quackity sighed, doing nothing other than nodding. they watched the small family from the glass doors. the five members all got more comfortable: karl snickering how his sister was laying on the sofa as if she owned the place. the two's eyes diverted upon the boy who walked in, nervously shrugging hands with pamela and jimmy. quackity laughed at the boy's awkwardness: playfully rubbing his fingers. but as he nodded along to what jimmy said: the two stopped snickering as they watched him grab onto a few brownies, and offered the boy a kind smile.
he walked slowly on the grass, wearing white socks that would soon turn green and brown from the touch with nature. karl walked towards the boy, a smile brightly shining on his face when he waved awkwardly. oh god, alex hoped that karl was true about the possibility: knowing how fun it would be to enjoy the summer with two (best) friends hopefully.
"hi, i'm george."
—
to say that dream had guessed this would happen wasn't the truth. he thought that he was being careful, being smart: say even outsmarting his strict family. but he felt his idiocy stick out when he didn't listen to his gut instinct at the start of a gloomy day in london.
"mother, i'm going out." he had briefly mentioned, trying his best to escape the house in a hurry before the woman could investigate his ongoing: either approving or disagreeing upon his plans. most likely disapproving, though. he failed, walking right into his scolding mother by the black and shiny door. he had been just a step away, and he would've been out the door to his short-lived freedom. he sighed, trying his best to cover the upcoming frown.
he knew he should've been giving up, but he listened to his mother ask away, trying to come up with a reasonable answer.
"my quill, it's broken and i want to write a long letter to minx, mother." she eyed him carefully, her blue shining eyes strict and cold like ice under the dimly lit house. dream began to doubt himself, more so his answer, as his mother glanced down at his long brown cloak, and the leather bag that swung down from his left shoulder.
"i'll have corpse fetch some." she answered, flickering her hand in a motion for the creepy elf to appear. it was clear to say neither dream, or corpse liked the one other. he was just a child when he overheard corpse talking about 'eating brains'. and ever since, the little white creature and its surprisingly deep voice creeped the boggarts out of him.
despite his mothers quick and disregarding tone, dream decided upon a white lie to continue with his insisting. "but i wanted to see sapnap outside too..." his mother wasn't the fondest of his half-blood best-friend, but a few years back dream's very fake mention of how close minx and sapnap were had spiked up the woman's interest.
"you saw him weeks ago, clay." he felt himself cringe internally at hearing his first name. to anyone, it was dream, or at least his surname: but oh no, his mother always made sure to break his most important boundaries. being named after a devilish father never sat right with him, so in-came his second and much preferable name. dream.
"please, mother." he pleaded, pushing both his and his mother's comfort zone when he clasped onto her side: holding the thin arm of mrs. wastaken roughly, shaking it down. his mother gave a look of disgust, pushing the boy far away from her.
she paused before answering the question, which just made dream doubt her answer. "don't be long." however, his doubt about her pause passed: he smiled, giving his mother an unexpected act as he lunched forward, giving the cheek of the old women a kiss. dream wanted her to slap him right there, already regretting the silly decision. the woman groaned at the contact, staring up at her son. "get going."
the small happiness caused by his mother's weird act didn't help his case. dream sprinted down the road, knowing exactly what route to take to get out to the muggle coffee shop. usually, he would've been careful with his steps: often stopping by a shop — it helped to confuse anyone who could be following him, sure, he could've been sounding paranoid but better safe than sorry. not this time though.
he sprinted across to the cafe that connected the muggle world with his magical one, his mask covering his face for many reasons. the black bricks brought warmth to him now, unlike the first time he had come here with his mother: who was stood there, throwing slurs at the cafe with her 10-year-old son clenching her hand.
he stopped, panting from the distance he had been running: admiring the shop. it could come third for his favourite place in the world, the list going on as one: hogwarts. two: hogwarts express. and three: the cafe.
he stumbled his way onto the dark side of the coffee place, not bothering to look at the few witches who sat in a corner, whispering lies as they watched the masked boy move. he stared down at the moving eye in the jar, which watched him carefully: even after the three witches had turned back to the bartender. dream ignored it, going towards the curtains that divided the two different worlds.
as soon as he stepped foot onto the muggle side of the shop, he felt a smile form on his face. he removed his mask, replacing it with black sunglasses instead. the other side already felt brighter, the white kitchen filled with loud chatters and shouts. he watched as a small woman came towards him, pushing him out the kitchen whilst wallowing her hands. dream laughed, already feeling lighter.
"oh! dream, over here!" the person dream had been waiting eagerly to see pushed their chair back, causing an eerie sound to be let out from it. fundy stood at the entrance of the shop, waiving their hand slowly. they looked ready to leave, an empty coffee mug standing on their side of the round table. dream sped up his long legs, ready to face fundy: it had been about two weeks since dream had seen them. screw muggle vacations.
"fundy." dream let out, standing directly in front of them now. fundy nodded, smiling brightly at the tall man, who was quick to wrap his arms around their torso. the tight grasp only made them laugh brightly, hugging dream back as they tangled their arms around his neck. "i missed you, idiot..."
"oh yeah, i had a great time. how about i leave again, for another two weeks? will you be really miserable then?" fundy giggled, patting his back before backing away from the boy, dream complaining about the short-lasting hug. however he just scoffed as an answer, throwing an arm around them to push them out the store. "that, i will never tell. but probably not!"
"have you been sulking, dweam? do you sulk, around the house?" dream pushed fundy's head, huffing another scoff out of his mouth along with the two words 'fuck off' which was enough to get fundy defensive about it. dream simply shrugged it off. "how was amsterdam?"
"great! i got to see my family, and some old friends were there too!" fundy exclaimed, and as they continued on, boosting about how amazing the trip was, dream couldn't help but zone out. he nodded along a few times, knowing that the sun burnt one below his arm spoke passionately. dream felt his gaze lower down from fundy's eyes to their lips, the craving for human touch he had been feeling for the two weeks was reproaching the surface, even if he had found some other replacements for his main fling.
"fundy. be a dear, shut up and kiss me?" he blurted out, making fundy stop dead in their tracks. dream checked fundy's face to make sure what he had just said wasn't that harsh, but catching fundy clenching their stomach as they laughed was not a sight he was planning to witness. dream's intimidating glare didn't stop, but fundy's giggles just heightened. dream couldn't hear what was coming out of their mouth exactly, but he laughed it off. he patiently waited for fundy to calm down, and after a few seconds, their face resurfaced to dream's eyesight.
"you okay?" he asked, and they flashed him a big smile: nodding enthusiastically. and letting his hunger take over, dream lunched forwards, his lips meeting with fundy's. the taste he had missed certainly wasn't the one he was feeling at the moment, but he didn't complain. until the loss of touch, and whilst he felt a frown forming, it wasn't because he was concerned about why fundy had pulled away, but more so the fact that he was pulled back.
"oh little master. in big trouble now..." corpse smiled smugly, making dream's panic heighten. he fell in front of the cloaked elf, depending on his last resource. it was the second time he had ran to begging on his knees, and as it had worked the first time he had the tiniest of hope left.
"please, corpse. i-i'll set you free? i'll do whatever you want, just please..." deep down, he knew that corpse would run back to the house — pulling him by his ear — and telling his mother what exactly he had seen: kissing someone who is not a) a woman, and b) minx. basically, he would be hurt very much for kissing someone who wasn't the woman he was proposed to marry.
and just as he knew, he was indeed being pulled back by his ear: the pain nothing unfamiliar. his flushed face made eye contact with fundy: who stood watching in horror. dream pulled the finger at him: mouthing the words: "we're done" whilst being dragged back into the shop. he hadn't known where it came from, but he figured the only person he could take his anger out was the person whose eyes widened at the scene.
he spent the whole way back out of the muggle area with his ear twitching and hurting: but after stepping into the darker side of the divided worlds, he had no time to adjust as corpse apparated the two back to the wastaken household. the first thing he heard was corpse's loud footsteps skipping down to the kitchen. it surprised him, knowing that it wasn't off to its master room. but as he felt a cold hand grab onto his wool jacket: he knew how much trouble he was in.
her mother pulled him up, only to let him drop back onto the floor: but now he laid down facing her. she pushed her son back down with her heel digging into his chest. to sum it all: the curses set upon dream weren't ones to be learned at school or to be heard when passing by a group of witches and wizards in diagon alley. by the time dream's father had come home, his mother had finally stopped: giving an opening for dream run-up to his room.
the first-ever thing he did was to rummage through his bag, pulling his hidden wand upwards just in time. before his father could come crushing dream stuttered the true words out in time: allowing him time to think and pack before his parents temper lowered, and started to think smart to word out the unlocking spell.
"you're out clay william wastaken! you're out of this house, you dirty mud-blood-loving gay pig! disappear and never EVER dare to return! merlin's sake..." mr wastaken's voice roared, dream doing nothing but nodding to himself whilst pacing in his big room. he knew where to go, not having another option than to travel using his fireplace, his best friend's house number already printed in his mind.
he packed in a hurry, grabbing as many as he could grab. the things inside his hogwarts luggage — along with the extension charm on it, of course — contained all his clothes, only lacking his dirty clothing thrown around the house. his toothbrush remained behind closed doors: and if he had used a summoning spell, it would only be stuck behind his black door. so, dragging his luggage, he closed his leather baggage to pull it along with him onto his fireplace.
clutching onto a handful of green mist into his bloody palm, he waved goodbye to his room. but none felt surreal as he shouted the destination to hopefully a new home.
—
sapnap sat in his living room, doing his best to bribe mrs. flogason before she left for work. it wasn't early in the morning, more of the opposite. it was nearing evening, meaning sapnap's mother's night shift was soon to start. the pink lighting looked exotic in the room: sapnap and his mother used to it. he tangled his hands together, enthusiastically talking about the benefits of owning a personal cell phone.
"mother, my best friend, the woman who gave birth to me, the woman who carried me in her for more than nine months, the woman whom — " the given nicknames were cut off, making him smile in triumph when his mother rolled her eyes and sighed, obviously used to the boy's resisting. sapnap watched as his mother's fingers squeezed her nose bridge.
"i'll ask around the office for old phones, maybe they'll have some!" she smiled, earning a shocked look from sapnap. he clapped his hands enthusiastically, jumping up from his seat to plant kisses on the woman's face. she laughed in disgust: saliva corrupting her face as she pushed him away playfully. "i love you, i LOVE you! thank you."
a smirk grew to mrs. flogason's lips: confusing sapnap on why his mother was now grinning at him. "best-friend, huh?" he groaned, taking his head into his hands: dropping the pen he had just picked up seconds ago.
"that's all you got from that! what about the woman who carried — ?" he immediately got shushed by his mother, before he could explode into a full on 'rant'.
"how's dream doing?" his mother dodged the long — and weird — nickname, the mention of sapnap's friend causing him to look down at his letter. his eyes read through the small sentence he had written wanna hang out if you can? you can come o — the cut to the simple question was obnoxiously annoying to look at: knowing that he had stopped writing it half an hour ago once sapnap's eye had caught his mother's pink phone case.
"he's... alright i think. his family's been more strict on him about the whole — minx situation." he sighed, a bit of relief pumping through his blood as he didn't have to go over the same situation once again: it was a painful one to tell, just because of the many reactions he had gotten along the way. it was simple: and a sad one, but not one that was liked to be repeated. either by dream, or sapnap.
"ah, poor boy. he's so young! and does he even like this minx girl?" his mother exclaimed, pacing around the house as she searched for her leather bag. sapnap casually pointed at the sofa: where the bag was leaned up next to. her mother flashed a nice smile before returning to his side.
"nah, minx isn't exactly that friendly towards us, and i think she has a girlfriend or some shit." mrs. flogason nodded along, feeling pity at the sad thought of how both kids had to suffer for their arranged
"language. let dream know he can stay over anytime — as long as he wants... our chimney's are already connected, right?"
"yeah, and i think he already knows. he basically calls it home..." sapnap exclaimed, adding onto his mother's support. he picked up the blue pen: adding his mother's exact words onto the cut sentence. he smiled down at his handwriting, finishing the letter with a formal greeting.
"how's quackity, did you guys ever talk since — ?" sapnap tensed up, nodding his head disapprovingly.
"no, mom. leave it alone, okay?" he spoke softly: making sure he didn't let the small anger he erupted from the question get over him. sapnap simply did not want to snap at his mother and say any disrespectful things when his humanity got blurred with rage.
"alright honey, i didn't mean any harm. have you done any school work?" she furrowed her eyebrows, and as sapnap's face went sour, his mother rolled her eyes disappointedly. ruffling with his hair, she pointed a finger right between his eyes, "make sure to finish it! don't want any owl's showing up this year!"
"mom, literally no one does it and no teacher except for lazar reports it to — " for a moment, sapnap thanked the big thud for taking both his and his mother's attention away from the subject of schoolwork. but as worry took over him on whom had shown up: for sure it didn't decrease when his best friend came into view. on the floor, sat dream: using his elbows for support from whatever had happened. sapnap had his guesses.
"dream." he rushed over, trying his best to help his best friend up with the support of his mother. the woman who worked at st mungo's had realized how well the timing of dream's show up was, falling onto the carpeted floor only minutes prior her exit.
"dream, are you — what happened?" sapnap asked, now facing his best friend who laid on the couch. dream's eyes glistened with tears, and his white skin had cuts bleeding into his clothes: some dark bruises forming already.
luckily, mrs. flogason stepped in before dream could use his last energy to answer sapnap's question. "you take your time, sweetie. you're staying with us from now on. alright?" he nodded slowly, using his empty hand — the other one was taken in a tight grip by the worried boy — to point towards his luggage and smile.
"i came ready."
—
hours later, dream laid in the guest room. or his room, technically. it was the last words he remembered sapnap insisting upon before he had fallen into the slumber of a sleep. his whole body ached, but looking down at the boy who had curled up at the end of his feet, his lips twitched. even if it had been a painful way to get away from the very toxic household he had been living for 17 or so years, he smiled in triumph. if he had known all he had to do was to kiss someone who wasn't a female, nor minx: he could've been out 3 years ago.
"you're up." sapnap whispered, now glaring with wide eyes at him. dream nodded slowly — the pain he had felt hours prior when doing the small head gesture was gone, giving him nothing but hope. sapnap smiled, moving upwards. now leaning against the wall, his knees pulled up to his chest to make sure they weren't touching dream's body. it made him scoff.
"you don't have to treat me like a baby, you know?"
sapnap leaned forward, messing with dream's tangled curls softly. "you are a baby, a big one especially!" the boy exclaimed, looking proud of himself for at least getting a grin out of him. however, dream only sighed afterward: being able to catch the glint of worry hidden behind in his chocolate brown-eyes.
"got caught with fundy, that's all." he smiled through the physical pain, pushing himself up by his shoulders to get into a more comfortable situation. sapnap's mouth open and closed, but no words came out whilst he struggled to pick between what to say. in the end, he shut his lips, giving dream a pitiful smile.
dream only nodded, understandingly. "off to sleep now. bye sap."
"night brother."