Ties
“Cedric?!” Lirum yelped, having completely forgotten his presence.
“I bet you three galleons you’d end up snogging him before the end of the night!” Cedric insisted. “I stayed quiet for so long! Do you know how many times you left yourself open for digs? So many, I deserve my payment!”
“You bet three galleons we’d kiss?” George asked, while Lirum felt like they were going to melt through the floor.
“You two have so much chemistry! I’ve been telling them to shag you since third year!” Cedric said, far too loud. At least George’s face matched theirs.
“Cedric I’m begging you, shut up!” Lirum said, covering their face, falling back on the blankets.
“You were encouraging them to give me a chance?” George asked, genuinely.
“Your brothers are both idiots! If they’re going to end up a weasley, they might as well end up with the good one.”
“This is the end of me. I’m going to pass on now.” Lirum said, putting a pillow over their face. “I hate you both!”
“No you don’t.” George said, pulling the pillow away earning a glare from Lirum who was still dying of embarrassment between them. His smile became a cheshire grin as he leaned in and whispered “Incase you were wondering, it worked.”
“What?” Lirum squeaked out.
“Your hair turned red.” Cedric laughed. “Well, pink and red. Real smooth by the way. Now that it’s confirmed I’ll add it to the list.”
“What list?!” Lirum shot up, shocked.
“You’ve got one too?” He asked, still grinning. Enjoying Lirum’s embarrassment far too much. “We should compare later.”
Cedric scrambled to pull out and unfold a crumpled old piece of parchment paper.
“Green is happy, brown is uncomfortable, black is panicked, slash maybe depressed, I haven’t gotten concrete answers, pink is embarrassed, believe it or not I think blue is angry, it’s either angry, or sad. but when the Davies stuff happened it turned blue, more testing needed. And lastly orange is either stressed or angry.”
“I feel like I should’ve noticed blue or orange by now.” George mumbled. “Yeah, actually, sometimes the woody brown colour gets a little amber.”
“We spend a lot of time together. This is me and Luna's list.” Cedric said, handing George the paper.
“Lunas involved?!” Lirum asked mortified by how much their hair must actually change.
“Yeah, she was the one who pointed out your hair dips into blue a lot when you’re alone. She also thinks the black is just a deep deep blue, hence the slash depressed.” Cedric clarified.
“This is unfair! Incredibly unfair! You both get to bully me, and I have to pay you money? That’s just not right!” Lirum ranted.
“I was silent, I stayed out of the way, You necked on, I deserve my money!” Cedric said, crossing his arms.
“It was barely even a kiss!” They defended only to receive unbelievable looks from both boys. Even Lirum knew that was a stretch.
“Was it now?” Cedric asked, smugly. “You seemed to be enjoying it?”
“I could do it again, if it made you feel better?” George whispered in their ear.
“I’m going to bed!” Lirum said, laying face down and covering their head with a pillow. They couldn’t tease them about their hair if they couldn’t see it. They heard the boys laughing for a while, presumably making even worse jokes Lirum absolutely did not want to hear before they finally joined them in laying down for rest.
The next morning Lirum woke up, the blankets weighed heavily on them and they didn’t want to get out of bed to go to class. They were far too comfortable to leave. Something soft brushed across their face. Instead of the woody smell they where accustomed too that etched itself into everything in the wand shop they were met with the soft and sweet smell of rain. They didn’t hear wind whipping around the tower or raindrops on the windows. They opened their eyes but they weren’t greeted to the warm sunrise over the lake instead they found orange hair hanging in their face.
“You move around quite a bit in your sleep, you know.” George’s groggy morning voice rang through their mind. This was the second weasley boy this year they’d woken up on top of. Panic struck them.
“O-oh-um, I-I’m sorry!” They immediately tried to pull away, but an arm around their waist stopped them in their tracks.
“It’s not bad. It’s nice waking up with you all over me.” Lirum ears were ablaze once more. He really has a gift for making everything they did sound filthy.
“G-George!” Lirum squeaked, George looked up at them with a sleepy smile.
“And now you’re yelling out my name? I couldn’t get use to this.” He joked smugly.
“You’re such a Flirt!” They had no idea how to react. He’d never been so forward with them. “You’ll be the death of me!”
“Let’s stay here, for a little longer.” George’s flirty personality wavered for a second. A fleeting, genuine, pleading look in his eyes. “Just a little?”
“George, we have classes.” He pulled them back down against him and closed his eyes pretending to sleep.
“How important are they really?” He grumbled burying his face in their hair, eyes closed trying to go back to sleep.
“We’ve got charms together today, and I’ve got transfiguration.” Lirum insisted, flushing wildly. His hands, still holding them in place. “That’s two of our O.W.L.s subjects!”
“I would let them go if I were you.” Cedric warned. “They will bite when threatened.”
“Fine,” He took in a deep breath before letting them go.
Suddenly, the door swung open. Luna stood scraggly hair waving behind her from the force of the door. Looking towards the bed before noticing everyone on the floor.
“I bet on the wrong twin.” She said calmly, mortifying Lirum even further.
“You were taking bets on who I’d date?!” Lirum asked, shocked. “My heart is going to give out at this rate.”
“Yeah I’ve got to owl Tonks they thought you’d end up with Percy.” Cedric replied, nodding.
“This is why you didn’t want to invite Luna last night?! So you could win a bet that I’d end up with George?!” Lirum shot up, searching for their tie they’d taken off at some point the night before.
“That is exactly what he did, I can’t blame him though I would’ve done the same.” Luna shrugged, they stopped to face her.
“I can’t believe my friends all took bets in my love life! My-“ George interrupted them by slipping their tie into their hand. “Thank you, George. As I was saying, my life should not be a game to you guys.”
“Lucky you, the common rooms already empty, hurry before you miss breakfast.” Luna said, skipping away. It was an odd reaction, but Luna was full of odd reactions. They slipped their tie over their head and started tying it.
“Are you ready?” Lirum asked, looking back at the boys who unfortunately slept in their school clothes the night before.
“I’m so ready.” George said, grinning at them.
“Oh yeah, I’m ready.” Cedric followed.
“Why are you all acting weird now?” Lirum asked, confused by the sudden change In attitude of all of their friends.
“Just a little hungry, can’t wait for breakfast.” Cedric said, pulling them out of the door.
Cedric, George, Lirum, and Luna made their way down the great hall together. The walk was joyful and full of laughter. Lirum discovered Cedric and George paired quite well together. They bounced jokes off of each other to keep Lirum and Luna as well as each other laughing the entire time. When they finally made it to the great hall Cedric broke off to sit at the Hufflepuff table but Lirum George and Luna all continued on to their normal seats.
Once they sat down they finally had a moment to think, but all they could think of was the night before. The kiss and waking up in his arms. It was a lot of things, romantic being the biggest one. They’d never been romanced before, they tried their hardest to convince Percy but with no luck. George did it like breathing, like every other worry could wait if he had them. They could feel eyes on them they hadn’t been paying attention and didn’t know why.
“Are you alright?” Fred asked, eyebrow cocked.
“Y-yeah, I’m fine why?” Lirum replied hoping they hadn’t missed anything too important.
“Your hair, it’s just a bit pink?” It’s also still green but I’ve just never seen it two colours at once before.” He answered, George turned to check on them as well.
“Are you sure you’re alright, Love?” George asked softly. Lirum felt shy for the first time talking to him.
“And now you flushed are you sure you’re alright you-“ Fred looked at Lirum for a moment frozen before looking back at George. “You absolute Bellend!”
“What?” Lirum asked, watching him grab hold of his brother by his tie.
It was blue.
“You were gone all night, and I thought you were finishing setting up the pranks we were meant to! After I got sent to detention, and couldn’t find you, since you ran off with the map!” He But instead you’re telling me you ran off to shag the person you know I’ve been in love with since first year!”
“I didn’t shag anyone!” Lirum cut in. “And how dare you talk about being in love with me when every time I’ve needed comfort or someone to be there for me you’ve run off!”
“What are you talking about?! Give me one example!” Fred argued.
“Yesterday! When I was on the verge of tears and you asked me if I was alright, I reached out to you for comfort, a hug, words or reassurance, anything! Instead you ran right past me! You ran straight to the library to blame Percy just like you always do when I need someone! You know who always stays? Every time! George! He asks me if I’m ok and listens to the answer, he stays with me until I feel better. Something you’ve never done! You always go and pick a fight with Percy first, me second!” Why did it feel like no one around them had any sense of self awareness unless they pointed things out?
“Lirum, I-“ He sat there shocked, staring at them.
“Your first response is always violent. Even now your twin brother, your best friend, you grabbed him by his neck.” Lirum stressed, pointing to his hand which was still wrapped around Lirum’s stolen tie.
“I grabbed his tie-your tie!” He defended, letting go.
“You were going to fight him weren’t you?” Lirum asked expectantly. George looked guilty, he was, Lirum knew that. “Don’t think you’re not in trouble either, You did this on purpose!”
“I’m sorry, I just wanted everyone to know.” George said red handed. “Let me fix it at least?”
He stood up and loosened his and Lirum’s ties before switching them. All eyes were on them, and he was enjoying every second of it. Lirum hated being the center of attention. Everything he was doing would have been sweet and cute in private but publicly made their blood boil.
“You know, I don’t like everyone knowing my business! They already think I’m sleeping with all of you!” Lirum snapped, while George adjusted their tie making sure it was just right.
“Fred’s reaction would’ve proved you aren’t though, and then you stood up and told everyone Percy and Fred were too obsessed with each other so now you're mine.” He grinned looking at their tie instead of them blushing. He knew they were angry but he didn’t really mind.
“Yours huh, I don’t remember you ever asking!” Lirum huffed, arms crossed.
“I’m sorry I was a bit distracted picking a new favourite colour.” He leaned in and whispered . “I can’t decide what I love more, pink or red.”
“George!” They squeaked out, he’d become very good with words very quickly,
“And their they are, breathtaking.” He whispered, hands moving from Lirum’s collar to their face, he was getting closer he was going to kiss them again.
“George Fabian Weasley, you sit down right now!” Percy barked. “Ten points from Ravenclaw and Gryffindor! I don’t know how it’s even possible but you’re lucky it was me instead of a teacher! In the middle of the Great Hall?!”