Archive of Our Own

Breathing deeply, George scanned the bookshelves that sprawled in every direction. The shelves of books towered over students, rendering the students minute compared to their towering frames. He lifted his hand and adjusted his blue and bronze tie, making sure that it was no longer strangling him. He gripped the shoulder strap of his bag and continued to search the shelves for the particular book in his mind.

The Hogwarts library was certainly nothing to scoff at, with dozens of antique bookshelves lining the walls of the library. Throughout the library, bookshelves were also spaced perfectly apart, like dominos ready to topple. Every shelf was filled to the brim with books, new and old, and there was no shortage of topics to choose from. While some books were well worn, with dog-eared pages and notes in the margins. Other books were in pristine condition, the binding smooth and uncracked. 

When George took a muggle studies class the year before, they had studied the muggle school system. When they discussed the muggle version of libraries they learned about how muggles organized their books. Something called the Chewy Deci- no that wasn’t right. Ah! The Dewey Decimal System, that's it. That was something that baffled George immensely, but he was reassured that most muggles struggled with it as well. But to organize books by subject, then turned into numbers. Just label the sections with words, it's not that hard.

Next to the doors of the library, there was an open area void of bookshelves, scattered with ornate tables and mismatched chairs (many were broken, no doubt as a result of the neglect students constantly subjected them to throughout the years.) Adjacent to the doors of the library and across from the seating area was a desk. The desk was neatly organized, and behind it sat the most authoritarian-looking woman George had ever laid eyes on. Madam Pince was old and wore cat eyeglasses that had those stupid chains attached allowing them to rest on her chest were she to remove them. Her hair was gray and pulled back into a painful-looking updo. Averting his eyes, not wanting to make eye contact with the stern woman, he traveled down the expansive rows.

He had shuffled up and down multiple isles of books, finally, after what felt like hours, George spotted the cracked binding of the copper-colored book. He reached up, his fingers brushing the shelf it resided on, but his fingers fell short. Narrowing his eyes and gripping the strap of his bag, he strained his arm and went onto his tippy toes in an attempt to reach the book, but he seemed unable to reach high enough, his stupid genetics always causing trouble for him.

George huffed, frustrated and annoyed.  Why did Madam Pince have to rearrange the library for the second time this month,  George thought sharply.  Doesn’t this lady have anything better to do than spend her company with thousands of books every day? But I suppose the library would be in shambles without her, so at least there's that.

Glaring at the book, George turned on his heel, spun away from the shelf, and rammed full force into something hard, and he was sure a wall hadn’t been there before. Annoyance level continuing to rise, George shook his head to right himself and tried to figure out what had suddenly appeared behind him. George made eye contact with someone he was really not in the mood to deal with right now.

Grinning, Sapnap at him, a mischievous glint in his eye. 

“Hey George, it's good to see you again, do you by any chance need any help?” He said, gesturing toward the shelf.

“No. No. Absolutely not. I’m doing perfectly well on my own, thank you very much.” George scowled, not at all pleased with his luck. He normally tried his best to avoid the American that was currently standing in front of him.

“You sure? You looked to be having a bit of trouble reaching that book up there it seems.” Sapnap was smiling from ear to ear, knowing very well that he was digging under his skin with his cheeky behavior. George's frown deepened.

“What’s the catch, hm? You’re always planning something, and I’m not sure I believe you’re offering out of the kindness out of your poor little heart.” For emphasis, George pouted and placed his hands over his heart. Sue him, he was allowed to be a little dramatic. 

“Maybe once I turn my back you’ll do something, something” George waved his hand, “something pra-pranky or whatever.”

Sapnap continued to smile from his position, and George failed to notice his eyes flicking behind him. George was more focused on the fact that he was most definitely turning red. “Something… Pranky, huh? Oh, Gogy you flatter me, I know I'm a well-known prankster but I never expected you of all people to have heard of my bad boy reputation.”

“No, no, no I did not come here for you to get your ego boosted even more than it already is, wouldn’t want your head exploding, the only thing keeping it together is that headband you’ve got.” 

“Aw, George, you do care!” Sapnap smirked as he mocked George's earlier stance with his pout and his hands over his heart.

Suddenly, a weight was pressed against George's shoulder and he jumped. When he turned his head he saw Dream. Dream who was currently leaning on George's shoulder and grinning at him. 

Although Dream was wearing a bandana over the upper half of his face, obscuring his eyes, his egotistical smirk gave away quite enough. The exasperation finally became unbearable. George turned, and with a sudden spark of brilliance, he recalled that he was, in fact, a wizard. He pulled his wand out of his pocket and moved his hand in a rainbow-like stroke.  “Accio!”

George grinned, hoping to diminish their spirit, but Sapnap and Dream were unfazed, if anything they were only smiling brighter.

“If you’ll excuse me,’ George said, clearing his throat,” I have more important places to be.” Pushing past Dream, his hand brushed against Dreams, the feeling was not something he should have enjoyed, but later that day as he sat in class, he couldn’t help but wonder what Dreams' hands would have felt like in his.

“-And they just stood there! Smiling at me like the assholes they are! How can someone be so smug all the time, it’s so unbelievable.” George vented to his housemate, Wilbur, who looked thoroughly unimpressed as he thumbed through the sheet music in his arms.

Currently, George and Wilbur were making their way toward the Arithmancy classroom. The walls of the hallways they traversed were covered in paintings and tapestries. Every once in a while painting would call a greeting and they would politely respond, albeit awkwardly. All in all, though the castle was beautiful, and even after spending years of his life here George would never get tired of staring at the frescos on the ceilings or wandering through secret passages.

“Have you ever considered the obvious George?” Wilbur said, glancing at him.

“The obvious that he’s a complete dickhead who lives to annoy me all the time? If that’s obvious then I've sure as hell considered it.” 

“George, I hate to say, but I think Tommy was right.”

“You cannot be fucking serious right now. You’re seriously taking what Tommy said into consideration? Really? The last time we took his advice we got stuck cleaning classrooms for a week!” George steamed, miffed that Wilbur was instigating this situation. Wilbur knows their history, but on the other hand, maybe George was being too harsh. 

George shook his head,  what the fuck, snap out of it George, and get your head out your ass. You never even got a god damn apology-  Wilbur glanced at him knowingly, and George glared at him, unamused. A loud crash sounded from behind them, and they turned just in time to see Tommy and Tubbo racing toward them laughing maniacally. The Hufflepuff and Slytherin, respectively, skidded to stop in front of them.

“BIG DUBS! GOGY! MY FRENS’~!” Tommy roared, Tubbo at his side as they ran up and hid behind them.

“Um, you wouldn’t mind protecting us, would you? We may have angered him.” Tubbo said, looking at George. Confused, George looked back down the hallway to see an angry Dream whirling around the corner heading straight forward.

If looks could kill, George was sure Tommy and Tubbo would be dead. George's gaze met Dreams, and his withering glare faltered, softening, before returning to Tommy and Tubbo, who stood behind Wilbur and George as though they were their last hope. Which they pretty much were.

Dream slowed this pace as he approached, stopping completely in front of the four of them. Up close, George realized Dream was drenched in water and his robes were in tatters. 

“If you could step aside, I’d like to have a word with Tommy and Tubbo.  Alone. ” Dream said, dangerously calm.

Turning to look at the two, they shook their heads furiously at George, who sighed and turned back to Dream. Tilting his head up to look up, George looked at Dream. The height difference was laughable, really. With George attempting to shelter 2 underclassmen behind him. Not only was Tommy considerably taller than George, despite his horrid posture and him curling behind George in an attempt to make himself smaller, but Dream was even taller than Tommy, making this situation to outsiders look as if Dream were antagonizing 3 younger students instead of 2 underclassmen and one that was older than him.

Dreams' breath faltered and attempted to cover it up by clearing his throat, but it was fairly obvious to most people (Unfortunately George was incredibly oblivious). Looking back at George, Dream could visibly be seen slowly untensing his shoulders, relaxing his posture. 

“Look Dream, I’m sure this is all a misunderstanding and you can let Tommy and Tubbo go. This prank probably wasn’t even met for you, but for... Techno! Yeah, it was probably meant for Techno.” George looked at Dream, pleading him to not make things harder, and although George didn’t know it, Dream softened at the particular look he was receiving. Unable to be angry, Dream nodded.

“Sure, I’ll let it slide, but if something like this happens again, I will come for you two” Dream glared pointedly at Tommy and Tubbo.

Grinning like they just won the lottery, Tommy and Tubbo high-fived, and ran off, probably to find some other poor bloke to berate and prank. Wilbur hurried after them, probably to scold them and keep them in line. Poor mother Wilbur.

Realizing that it was just him and Dream left, George awkwardly cleared his throat and fiddled with a loose thread on his robes. They stood there awkwardly before George decided that this was not his preferred method of slow and agonizing death. 

“Well, bye,” George said curtly, doing his best to keep a cool exterior. But really that was an anticlimactic way to leave after standing there like middle schoolers, but at least George was able to stride away with a bit of his pride intact.

Dream never said anything, but George could feel him staring singing the cloth of his robes as he walked away.

George laid in bed that night, thinking, his brain racing as a hundred different thoughts raced through his mind. Seeing Dream often was dredging up poor memories, and knowing he was going to dream of one when slept, he thought of the less miserable ones to spare him from terrible nightmares.

George was a smiley, happy eleven-year-old. A cute, dorky grin on his face. The first week of school had passed and   it was the weekend. George was sitting under a tree by the Black Lake, one dry spot among all the puddles from the storm the previous day. He was content, but suddenly he heard footsteps stomp up to him. He didn’t feel like looking up. Big mistake. The book he was reading was snatched from his hands.

“Hey!” George shouted, “give that back you dickhead!”

“Wow, you kiss your mother with that mouth?” The masked Slytherin teased.

Almost as if the world felt George’s anger it started to rain again, clouds rolling in. Smirking, Dream took off in the direction of the castle. Not even thinking twice, George took off after him.

They raced toward the castle as the rain poured down, Dream was moving funny, avoiding certain areas in a very sporadic pattern, using this to his advantage he headed straight for Dream. Suddenly his ankle caught on something, and he landed in the mud with a loud  squelch . He looked up and saw quite the group of students standing in the doorway as if they were waiting for him to appear, and two were holding a nearly invincible string.

The students cackled at George’s humiliation, and Dream looked proud, his chest puffed out and his head held high at being the cause of this laughter. George, on the other hand, felt his eyes fill with tears, out of anger, or frustration he wasn’t sure. Standing up, he walked toward the door, but suddenly he fell again. He looked up to see Dream with his wand out, laughing, along with the rest of the students who were howling behind him. Clearly finding humor in George’s absolute embarrassment and anguish. 

He stood as fast as he could, he felt the tears spill over and he rushed inside, pushing through the crowd of the laughing students. 

The entirety of his peers called him “Dirty George” for the rest of the year. 

He hated it and was miserable for the first year of his time at Hogwarts. He’d never even received an apology from Dream. The memories still stung and his eyes still flooded thinking of the pain it caused him.

George was still incredibly hurt by everything Dream had done to him, and some bitter part of him resented Dream for all the pain he caused him. Never getting an apology was like putting a small shield around that bitterness, making sure that those feelings would never leave and would resurface when he thought too hard or was reminded of the past. George was sure that Dream pretending as if he never did anything to him was going to make him snap. George just hoped that he had enough self-control and had become more careful with displaying his emotions to make sure that nobody knew how he really felt.

After a good bit of self-reflection and a few more thoughts of Dream, George eventually drifted off to sleep.

A few days passed before George encountered Dream again. It was Halloween, Hallows Eve, October 31st. A day where people dress up and get together, go out and get drunk. George woke up on Halloween feeling terrible, he stayed up late just thinking about, well… about Dream.

George decided he wasn’t going to dwell on his thoughts of the blond. Instead, he focused on making it through the day incident-free. Students had a tendency to be a bit raucous and out of control on Halloween. George had been the butt of multiple pranks on this day throughout his years at Hogwarts.

He pulled on his robes and brushed his teeth. He grabbed his bag and headed for the door, already painfully aware that anything could happen today, and he needed to be alert. George made sure he had his wand easily accessible, just in case.

George made his way to the Great Hall for breakfast, but he felt like he was being watched. He looked over his shoulder... once….twice...three times and he still saw no one. Yet he couldn’t shake that feeling.

He walked briskly through the doors of the Great Hall. He took his seat by Wilbur, but Techno was nowhere to be found. 

“He slept in again,” Wilbur said as if reading his thoughts.

“Ah,” George replied wisely.

“So, Happy Halloween, please be careful Gogy, we don’t want a repeat of last year.”

George’s thoughts flicked to the previous year's events, he grimaced. Being trapped in a suit of armor for 6 hours was not how he wanted to spend this year's Halloween.

“Yeah,” George sighed, he really hoped this Halloween would be better than last year. He still had a brick sitting in his gut, worrying about the day to come.

George was swinging his legs back and forth as he sat at his potions desk. He had finished his potion a half-hour ago and was now impatiently awaiting the end of class. As his other classmates finished up, George was doodling on the corner of a piece of parchment. 

Suddenly, their Professor stood at the front of the class, catching the student’s attention.

“Alright everyone, I understand it is Halloween and you are all anxious to be on your way, but I do have a few things to say before you go.” She said spiritedly.

George groaned internally, he just wanted to go and enjoy his free period. Although he knew full well he would just spend it in the library anyways, he still would rather be there than dying of boredom.

“For the next month I will be assigning you a partner, you wi-” Groans ensued her statement cutting her off. She waited a moment before continuing, “You will be working with a specific potion, which will also be assigned by me. I will have a list outside this classroom tomorrow, I know tomorrow is the weekend but I recommend you to get started as soon as possible! 

Slacking off will not be tolerated.” Professor Lirian gestured at the door, signaling to the students that they were now free to leave. 

George was making his way out of class, scooping his books into his bag and shuffling out the door. As he exited the classroom he felt a tug at his leg and suddenly he was on his ass, the contents of his bag scattered across the floor. Footsteps approached him, along with snickering and near-silent laughter. Looking up, George saw the face of someone he really didn’t want to deal with right now.

“Hiya there George, nice day huh?” Sapnap said in an all too sinister manner.

The memories of last year flashed through George’s mind, George scowled, knowing all too well where this altercation was going.

“Go away Sapnap, I'm not in the mood for one of your trivial little pranks.”

“Woah-Woah-Woah George, you’re not getting off easy, it’s tradition, thankfully I already have something in mind so this should make it easier for the both of us.” Sapnap grinned and lifted his wand, which was pointing at George.

Accepting that he wasn’t getting out of it, George scrunched his eyes shut and waited for the inevitable. Sapnap muttered some indecipherable spell under his breath, and then began to… wait, why wasn't he laughing.

George looked up and saw Sapnap with a confused look on his face. He looked back at George and repeated his actions.

“Vóx câttus!” Sapnap said while moving his wand in a pattern George had never seen. Sapnap was getting frustrated until his eyes drifted to look slightly above George. Instinctively, George looked up but saw nothing. Slowly, Sapnap began to laugh, he howled and soon attracted the attention of another student, one that would only worsen George's day.

Dream was stood in the center of the hallway, eyebrows scrunched in confusion. Suddenly, his face brightened and he started to laugh his tea-is-done laugh. He approached Sapnap and George, his eyes trained on the top of George's head.

“Sap, I told you not to mess with George, c’mon now man.” Although Dream's words didn’t hold any bite, he was clearly getting a kick out of George's misfortune.

George, annoyed out of his mind, was very fed up with the whole situation.

“What the fuck did you do?” George was frantically checking himself, looking for what effect the spell had. He stood, brushing off his robes, and went to run a hand through his hair when he felt something soft, and silky. The realization finally settled onto George as he thought about the meaning the Latin words Sapnap spoke had held.

George froze, hands touching the new appendages that had made their home on George's head. 

“Sapnap” George looked at Sapnap.

Sapnap paused in his laughter to look at George, but Sapnaps blood ran cold as he saw the look on George’s face. He chuckled nervously.

“Well, what do you think huh, Dream?” Sapnap choked out, pretending he wasn’t at all concerned for his health if George decided to retaliate.

“I think- uh, well, George looks, he looks like he’s ready for Halloween?” Dream stuttered, looking for something to say. He certainly wouldn’t voice his sincere thoughts out loud. 

“Thanks,” George snarked, not looking Dream in the eyes, though that wasn’t possible with the bandana over his eyes that covered most of his face. 

George turned to Sapnap, who was still snickering. He looked at Sapnap, staring him down.

“See you soon, Sapnap”

George turned after speaking those incredibly ominous words towards Sapnap and walked down the hallway and out of sight.

The Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs scrambled for their bags, rushing out the door and making their way to the Great Hall. George grabbed his bag, he had just finished the class he had directly before lunch. He had been stared at and laughed at due to the cat ears that resided on his head.

He pushed the worries out of his mind and focused on other things, like heading to the Great Hall and satiating his appetite. He walked, mulling through the students that were all flowing in the same direction.

As George entered the Great Hall, his eyes were drawn to the decorations strung across the walls and ceiling. Candles drifted through the air, casting a warm glow on the students scattered through the hall. Ghosts floated in and out, drifting through the walls, seeming all too lifelike for George’s comfort. 

George started toward the Ravenclaw table, but he felt something burning, his hair standing up on the back of his neck. He flicked his eyes toward the Slytherin table and saw Dream quickly look away, acting awfully weird. He was trying to play off the fact that he was in fact staring. George stared, silently daring him to look again. He did.

Dream looked to George assuming he would have looked away by now, they made eye contact. Dream was so startled he fell off the bench he was sitting on, toppling backward. The Slytherins around him snickered, albeit slightly confused, but amused nonetheless. 

George laughed and made his way over to his fellow Ravenclaws. He sat across Techno and Wilbur, who was in a heated discussion about something history-related, George could care less. George purposely sat so that his back was facing Dream, not wanting to be bothered during the feast. 

“I’m telling you the deal with the second Mongol invasion of Japan was that they had massively outnumbered the Japanese, and then they lost anyway because they split their fleet in two and they took their sweet time about things…” Techno ranted to Wil, clearly quite passionate on the subject. George zoned, focused on not deteriorating before they were given food. 

Lucky for him, within five minutes everyone was gorging themselves on the delightful assortment before them. George filled his plate to the brim and ate as his life depended on it. Wilbur and Techno were doing similar things, although they were a bit distracted by the fact that Tommy was flinging mashed potatoes at them from the Gryffindor table. 

Throughout the meal, George could feel his neck searing, and he knew Dream was staring at him. But he refused to turn around, he was too stubborn, though that didn’t stop his face from heating up at the thought of Dream staring at him so intensely. It made his stomach flutter, and twist. His thoughts were racing when he was shaken out of his thoughts by Wilbur saying something to him. 

“Wha- what?” George spluttered, his face getting warmer.

“Since when did you have cat ears?” Techno said, genuinely confused.

“Halloween prank, courtesy of Sapnap.”

“Loser.” Techno laughed.

“Anyways, don’t look now lover boy, but you’ve got an admirer,” Wilbur smirked, clearly noticing how George’s cheeks flushed and his pupils dilated slightly. 

George looked over his shoulder, and he once again made eye contact with Dream. Dreams' eyes widened and blushing furiously, looking away. George turned back to Wilbur and Techno. They both had knowing looks and smirks on their faces. George buried his face in his hands in an attempt to hide his face.

“Have you come to your senses yet, George, or do you still think Tommy was wrong?” Wilbur said, laughing slightly.

“He still doesn’t believe it?” Techno said, with slightly more inflection as normal.

“C’mon, you guys can’t seriously be considering listening to Tommy? Sure he’s smart but his emotional is awareness of himself is defective, much less his awareness of emotions in the people around him?”

“You better believe it, lover boy, the sooner you come to your senses, the sooner you two can snog in a broom closet,” Techno said, and Wilbur hooted with laughter.

“Shut up!”

On the night of Halloween, there was a huge Halloween party that was hosted by the Gryffindors every year, of course, every house attended. George wasn’t really one for parties, he’d had some bad experiences at a few, especially the ones hosted by Gryffindor. Wilbur had strung him along to this party, just as he did all the other parties as well. 

Since it was a Halloween party, it only made sense that they wore costumes. Tommy had the bright idea to say George should dress as a cat, seeing as he already had some of the accessories, and the others refused to let him say no.

So there he was, standing at the entrance to the Gryffindor common room with his friends, dressed like a freaking cat. Beside him, Wilbur and Techno were dressed as knights, decked out in real chainmail and they carried real swords. Then there were Tommy and Tubbo, Tommy was dressed as a businessman, very formal in his suit and tie. Tubbo, on the other hand, was dressed as a captain, he looked up to Sparklez, a seventh-year Gryffindor, immensely. Phil, the final member of their ragtag group, was dressed in normal clothes, he was there to supervise and make sure that Wilbur and Techno didn’t stab themselves or anyone else with the swords they carried.

George winced as they entered the Gryffindor common room, the music boomed, rattling the floor and the accoutrements inside the room. It was packed wall to wall with people from varying houses in a vast array of costumes. Although George saw repeats of a few, he saw quite a lot of variation, for example, one person had charmed a chair so that it would float a few inches off the ground, making them able to float around like a king. 

His friends started to mingle, and being the party person he was, George headed straight for the refreshments. He poured himself a glass of punch and nibbled on some cookies, carefully avoiding the oatmeal raisin ones. He stood to the side, content with his snacks, swaying to the vibration that was created by the raucous chords. His eyes were on the cookie in his hand when he saw a pair of feet approach him.

George glanced up to see Bad standing in front of him. George, although Bad was also Dream's friend, had been friends with Bad for years. He was sweet and reliable, and one of the best friends he could ask for. He smiled and Bad and he received a grin in return.

“Hey, George! I haven’t seen you in a while!” Bad said. He was dressed in a duck onesie, it wasn’t hard to notice that he was matching with Skeppy, who was across the room talking to a group of people.

“Yeah, we haven’t talked much recently, despite having mostly the same classes.”

“Well, I’m here to catch up! How have you been George, anything interesting happening lately?” 

George thought for a moment, “No I really can’t think of anything interesting, just the usual schoolwork stuff. “

Bad looking unconvinced, though George wasn’t sure why. “ Really, George? Nothing of importance? Nothing at all? Maybe some…romance?” 

He realized why Bad had come over to talk to him, and he couldn’t help but be offended.

“Bad! Is that really what you came over here to ask me? You came to talk about… uh-,” George realized he shouldn’t really feed into people like that, “You came to talk about my love life? Really? I thought we were friends.”

“Of course we’re friends George, that's the whole reason I wanted to come over here and talk to you about it because you’re my friend.” 

George realized that Bad wouldn’t tell anyone, even if he was close with Dream. Bad was probably the most trustworthy person in Hogwarts.

“Well duh, Dr- uh, someone told me everything! But anyway, I want to hear it from you.”

Talking to someone dressed as a duck about his feelings was really not what he expected out of his Halloween, but here he was, dumping his landslide of thoughts and feelings onto Bad.

When he was finished Bad had a strange smile on his face, but George couldn’t discern the emotion it was conveying, whatever the case, Bad reassured him that everything would work out. That was Bad Boyhalo, ever the optimist even in the darkest of times.

They soon parted ways, and George felt lighter as if someone knew his secret was enough to release him, if only slightly, from the clutches of an unrequited crush he had put himself in.

Moving away from the refreshments, Bad slid away toward Skeppy, linking arms with him and laughing at something he said. George sighed wistfully, damn, thank god the holiday today wasn’t Valentine's day.

As the night progressed George realized the punch he’d drunk more than a few glasses of, wasn’t just a normal punch. Swaying, but not because of the music, George stumbled his way through the crowd. He stumbled into someone, who responded by shoving him away. As he was pinballed through the crowd he felt someone grab him by the shoulders and steer him to the edge of the room, where fewer people were congregated.

As he and whoever was guiding him came to a stop. George turned to face his mysterious shepherd, only to see Dream, wearing a black bandana around his eyes and decked out in a wizard costume, how original.

“You're dressed as a wizard?!” George remarked, “We literally attend a school for witches and wizards dumbass.”

Dream laughed wheezily, “what do you mean? Are you saying you don’t like my costume?” 

“That's exactly what I'm saying, read between the lines idiot.” Dream pouted at George's words.

“I'm tired,” George announced, he promptly tugged Dream toward the nearest armchair and together they tumbled into it, a mess of arms and legs.

“George,” Dream started, “You’re drunk.” 

“Thank you for that, now get comfortable, cause I'm tired,” George mumbled, leaning into Dream.

“If you insist, Georgie.” 

Looking up at Dream, George asked, “Why do you call me that? Georgie, I mean. No one else does.”

“If no one else does then that means I stand out to you, and that’s exactly what I want.”

George hummed, leaning into the warmth of Dream, slowly slipping in and out of consciousness. Faintly, George felt Dream's hand running through his hair and over the cat ears, but before he could make a comment or act on it in any way, George was already asleep.

As George slept, and the night went on, Dream fell asleep next to him. Eventually, George's friends came looking for him, and the last place they had expected to find him was curled up in an armchair next to Dream. They snickered and got a first-year to take a picture with his camera, who gladly handed over the photo.

The flash of the camera startled Dream awake, who moved carefully when he realized George was still asleep on him. Dream glanced up at the group of people huddled around him. He picked up George and gestured for them to lead the way.

When George woke up, he was in his dorm room, still dressed as a cat, not knowing how he got back after the party. He glanced over to his nightstand to see a glass of water and a note with only a smiley face drawn on it.

George wandered down the corridor, dressed in a white t-shirt and jeans. He had a lollipop in his mouth and was walking carelessly, but also with purpose. This is really not how he wanted to be spending the morning of November 1st, his birthday.

A fantastic birthday gift to him was that whatever spell Sapnap had messed up had yet to wear off. So George was stuck with cat ears for the next few days according to Madam Pomfrey. He was sulking as he walked, he just wanted to check the list and then have a nice relaxing day. No stress. No worries. No nuisances, just him and his friends.

George eventually made it to the potions classroom. A few students stood in front of the bulletin board. George walked up to the board and peered at the papers hung on it. 

-Wilbur Soot and Floris Fundy

-Techno Blade and Alastair Eret

-Niki Nihachu and Bad Boyhalo

-George Notfound and Nick Sapnap

George stalled as he reached his name on the list. Really? He was partnered with Sapnap? That was nearly as bad as being partnered with Dream. The two of them were partners in crime, the Slytherin and the Hufflepuff had been pranking together since the second year. George scowled, he knew this wasn’t going to be a fun time.

George turned and went to walk down the hallway, only to realize that Sapnap was actually standing beside him. Sapnap turned to him with a shit-eating grin, he looked shockingly similar to a Cheshire cat.

“So, we’re partners then yeah? Alright Fluffy, this should be good.” He reached out and batted one of George’s ears, George hit his hand away with a scowl. Sapnap was practically oozing smugness.

“Oh boy,” George said monotonously, “I’m absolutely thrilled.”

“Wanna get a head start? I’m sure you Ravenclaws are dying to do work on the weekends.”

“Oh really? I’m sure you Hufflepuffs are looking for someone’s boots to lick? Where is Dream anyway, shouldn’t you be following him around like his lackey.” George snapped.

The smirk dropped off Sapnaps face and he looked genuinely angry for a moment, before breaking into a grin. 

“I think I get it now.”

George was absolutely baffled, that was not at all the response he was expecting, but he made sure not to show his surprise on the outside. But inwardly his thoughts were racing.

“I don’t know what that was supposed to mean, but I will not be working on the project with you right now, I have more important things to do today.” George turned on his heel and spun around in order to trudge away from the Hufflepuff. 

In an unfortunate turn of events, which seems to be a recurring theme for George over the past few weeks, he slams right into someone as he turns around. Can’t he ever catch a break? The universe seems to be making some questionable decisions.

“Woah there Georgie, where are you heading off to in such a hurry?” 

Merlin, George was going to swan dive off the Astronomy Tower the first chance he got. Of course, he had to run into him, of all people, he really wanted to avoid him after last night, so much for birthday miracles.

Dream, in all his glory, stood in front of George, still in his pajamas, hair unkempt. George sighed, he was really not in the mood for this. Why the hell did he always show up when George turned around? Why was he always standing directly behind him? Fucking creep if you asked him.

“What is it with you and standing behind me all the time, it didn’t know any better I’d say yo-” 

“George! What the hell?” Dream laughed, startled at what he assumed George was about to say.

“Oh fuck off, Dream”

George attempted to side-step Dream and walk past him, but Dream turned with him and fell into step beside him. George was going to lose his mind.

“So George, got any plans today?” 

“As a matter of fact I do,” George remarked, still feeling a plethora of emotions running through his veins. “Why do you care?”

“You know me, Georgie.” Dream said mysteriously. 

“No, I don’t idiot, ever heard of Stranger Danger?” 

George went and booked it for the Great Hall, moving fast enough to get away, but slow enough to look like a normal civilized person, making their way to breakfast like the rest of the castle.

As he entered the Great Hall, George moved toward the Ravenclaw table but was immediately bombarded by hugs. 

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY GOGY!” Tommy and Tubbo said as in sync as they could, (which wasn’t very, but it’s the thought that counts right?). Dream and Sapnap appeared through the doors behind George, it made sense that they weren’t far behind him. Dream looked on, bewildered, and seemed to look a bit guilty. George hardly noticed though, very distracted by the rest of their friends joining them. Wilbur, Techno, and Phil hurried up to them behind Tommy and Tubbo, who had to envelop George in a bone-crushing hug.

“Thanks, guys!” George beamed, he hadn’t really thought anyone would remember since he didn’t mention it often. George thought his smile would be stuck on his face forever, he was really glad for his friends, even if he never vocalized it.

Tommy and Tubbo reached up to brush the cat ears that still sat atop George's head, laughing so hard you thought they might collapse. 

“Yo-you still have th-those stupid ears!” Tommy could barely get the words out before breaking into another fit of laughter and doubling over, Tubbo was practically crying with laughter, gripping Tommy's shoulder like it was his lifeline.

The others chuckled at the two’s antics, as this was a usual occurrence. Dream was still stood awkwardly next to George, who seemed to remember he was there just as Wilbur asked;

“So you gave him those cat ears, eh? Well, you did a fantastic job, might I say.” Wilbur smirked, he stuck his hand out to shake Sapnaps, knowing exactly what he was doing.

“Wilbur!” George, couldn’t believe the audacity of his friends. They truly were the worst. 

Laughing, Sapnap shook Wilburs hand. Tommy decided this was the perfect time to pull out a laser pointer and shine it on the wall next to George.

He hated to say it, but his eyes lingered on that stupid red dot for longer than he’d like to admit. Ultimately he resisted the urge to smack at it, settling to glare at Tommy. His friends noticed his struggle trying not to focus on the dot and laughed at him. God, he really was the butt of every joke, huh.

“Guys!” George dragged the word out, practically whining, “Was that really necessary?” 

“Oh most definitely!” Tommy said, dragging him to sit, they all told him he would get his presents after breakfast, seeing as they had all day to spend since it was a Saturday.

His friends placed a blue cupcake with a blue candle in front of him, gesturing for him to blow out the candle. George squeezed his eyes shut, and made his wish.

“What’d you wish for, huh?” Tubbo asked excitedly.

“You idiot, he can’t say or that would ruin the birthday magic,” Tommy remarked.

George smiled,  birthday magic , he hoped to all the wizard gods that existed, if only for the sake of his wish.

George had never felt as appreciated as when his friends led him to his common room, showcased that they had already prepared all the gifts in a place for him to open them. George grinned, his heartwarming at the thought that his friends really did like him.

They pulled George toward the pile of gifts, eager to watch him open each of their respective gifts. George began to open them, they were mostly small things like sugar quills and choco balls, which were George's favorite. He was given a few books, some he had been wanting and some he had never heard of. His final gift though was wrapped quite oddly. He lifted it and it felt empty.

Confused, George lifted the lid off the box to find a small note that read; “He’s half kneazle and he is impossibly clever, name him whatever your heart desires, Happy Birthday!

Love, Mom and Dad”

His eyebrows shot up, George glanced around and his eyes landed on a small short-haired kitten, which was padding up to the group. The kitten hopped up onto George's lap and promptly fell asleep.

“Wow look at that George, you’ve finally got yourself a friend!” Tommy snickered and received a whack from Phil.

Ignoring his friends, he gently rubbed the kitten between their ears, slowly moving under the chin. The kitten purred loudly, clearly liking the attention. George removed his hand as he was bombarded with smiles as his friends asked him if he liked all his gifts. Grinning, George nodded at them, he felt warm on the inside, but he also felt as if something was missing.

“So George, what are you gonna name them?” Tubbo asked, petting the kitten from where he was sitting beside George.

“Hm-”, George pondered, thinking he wasn’t really one for naming animals, even when he was little. Finally, he settled on a name, “Cat, I'm going to name him Cat.”

He received blank stares from the group of friends around him. They were all still for a second as if processing the absolute idiocy that was George's odd animal names, before bursting into laughter, Tommy though, seemed to find it the funniest, seeing as he fell off the couch.

George was immensely glad he had friends by his side, stomach aching with laughter, as he celebrated turning 17.

George's mind can’t help but wander to what happened 5 years ago to the day. He was in his second year. George had pretty much forgiven Dream for the prank, albeit very humiliating, that he pulled in third year. The next year though was an entirely different story

It was no wonder he hated Dream, with all the humiliation and pain he had put up with and then the actual permanent damage he inflicted. George cringed, his hands drifting towards his face, before jerking back down. He shouldn’t be thinking about this, especially not on his birthday. Speaking of, he wondered where his friends were, they said they had to go and do something, which left George all alone with Cat. 

George stood, holding Cat in his arms, but she squirmed and George placed her down on the floor. He decided to head to the library, he could use a bit of solace from his thoughts. Making his way down the winding corridors, he held the books he wanted to return in his arms, not bothering to bring a bag. Cat was following close at his heels. George was already very attached to her, he really was having a good birthday.

As he walked, George looked over his shoulder at Cat as he turned the corner, and in hindsight, he should’ve known his luck would fail him. He rounded the corner and collided with someone. He bounced off the person, his books scattering across the floor of the corridor. Cat hissed, startled by the collision. History really does seem to repeat itself, and that really sucked for George.

Luckily, the person he happened to collide with was not Dream, for once. Unluckily, was that the person he ran into was Sapnap, Dream's best friend. George scowled, an expression he seemed to wear on his face a lot as of late. He offered his hand to Sapnap, who had ended up on the floor, Sapnap grasped his hand and George helped hoist him to his feet, Sapnap muttered a small ‘thank you, before George turned and started gathering his books off the floor. He wanted to get out of this interaction as fast as he could.

“Sorry ‘bout that George, should’ve been watching where I was going I guess.”

Cat has approached Sapnap, sniffing him suspiciously, before deciding he was not a threat and weaving between his legs, an invitation to be pet. 

“Uh- Is this your cat, George? It’s really cute!” George hummed and nodded as Sapnap crouched down and scratched under her chin and behind her ears, causing Cat to purr loudly in response. She took advantage of the fact that Sapnap was lower to the ground and decided to leap onto his shoulders.

Sapnap laughed, “Look, George! She likes me, what’s her name? Oh wait let me guess, Luna? Mittens? Fluffy?” 

He rattled off a few more names before George cut him off, “That's Cat.”

“Cat?” Sapnap stared at George, before breaking into a fit of laughter as he stood up, Cat still balanced on his shoulder. “You named your fucking cat, Cat?” 

George flushed, although he wasn’t that embarrassed, the way Sapnap said it made it sound dumb.

“Well yeah, I couldn’t think of a name, and Cat seemed to really suit her.”

“That's 'cause she’s a fucking cat, George! Of course, the name Cat is fitting!”

George grumbled, finally having retrieved all of his scattered books from the ground. He walked toward Sapnap, and as he got close, Cat leaped onto his shoulder, making George stumble in surprise. After righting himself, George went to walk past Sapnap but said the man just turned and fell into step beside him.

“So, George, what have you been up to lately? Any… ladies in your life perhaps? Anything interesting?”

George stared at him, “Are you trying to make small talk?”

“Uh, sure, if it will ensure that you continue to speak to me, then yes, most definitely.” Sapnap actually looked a bit worried, but what could he possibly have to be worried about?

“Why do you want to speak to  me?  Don’t you and Dream despise me every fiber of your being, 'cause it sure feels that way.” George snapped, he wasn’t going to take this on  his birthday.

Sapnap winced. “Yeah, look, dude, I’m really sorry about all the shit we’ve pulled with you over the years. I mean yeah it was, really funny, but I guess you don’t see it that way. But y’know-”

“Sapnap. Shut up.” George wasn’t going to forgive him, but he supposed he could at least try and be civil.

“I was heading to the library, do you want to discuss our project there? If it’s convenient for you.”

Sapnap seemed surprised that he offered, quickly agreeing. They soon came upon the library, and after George returned his books, they sat at one of the tables and bounced ideas of how they wanted to present their potion. The two of them were assigned to Amortentia. Sapnap suggested some really cheesy love-based projects, George shot down most of his ideas. Although he thought that giving the class chocolates would be a smart way of possibly getting more points. 

Before George could even realize it, he suddenly found himself enjoying Sapnap’s company, but he would  never  say that out loud, not even in a room by himself. At some point during their conversation, Tommy burst into the library, Tubbo in tow. Their heads turned back and forth furiously before landing on George and Sapnap, they raced toward their table. When they arrived they both started speaking frantically at once. George motioned for them to stop, he had dealt with situations similar to this too many times to count.

“Okay, Tubbo, tell me what happened?” George beckoned.

Words spilled out of Tubbo so fast that George knew Sapnap was lost. Understanding Tommy and Tubbo, when they were panicked, was an acquired skill. Eventually, George worked out what had happened, with Tommy huffing behind Tubbo and chiming in every once in a while, he quickly pieced the story together.

Tommy and Tubbo were tracking some of the Slytherin Quidditch players, and they set up a prank at the entrance to the quidditch pitch, ready to be triggered by the Slytherins the moment they entered the pitch. Unfortunately, Dream, as captain, shows up early to every practice to set up. So Dream ended up getting the full force of a prank meant for a whole team of people. Needless to say, he was not happy.

George sighed, knowing what was about to happen before Dream stalked into the library, singed from head to toe, covered in soot and dirt.

Couldn’t he just have one normal birthday?

George watched as Dreams' eyes scanned the library, obviously searching for Tommy and Tubbo. He spotted them but noticed George and Sapnap sitting at the same table and his face visibly turned to confusion. Nonetheless, he stalked over to Tommy and Tubbo, ready to give them what was most likely well-deserved payback. George sighed as he stood from his seat, stepping in front of the two fourth years.

Dream came to a stop in front of George, “Care to step aside, George?” Though it was phrased as a question, it was clear that Dream was not asking, yet George still shook his head.

Confused as to why he was protecting the two boys, Dream attempted to sidestep George in order to reach them. George followed his movements, making sure to keep himself between Dream and the duo. Dream grew increasingly frustrated as he realized George wasn’t going to let him past, so he resorted to other methods.

Dream stood in front of George, he stepped closer and leaned down, until they were almost nose to nose. George felt his face grow warm, and he was certain he was blushing, but he at least managed to keep his face calm and appeared outwardly unfazed. Even if the blush gave away how he was really feeling.

“Georgie~” Dream's voice was deeper and hushed this time, making sure only George could hear him, “care to let me by, I have business with them, but we have business later, together.” 

Dreams gazed at Georges, and George almost broke and stepped aside, but he knew that Tubbo and Tommy would never trust him again if he did that. So George knew he had to distract Dream, and he had a few ideas.

George licked his lips and spoke, matching Dreams volume, “Make me.” 

Those two lone words were enough to stall Dream, his breath hitched, obviously not expecting that response. Dreams' eyes flicked to George’s lips and then back to his eyes, a barely noticeable flicker of his eyes, and went unseen due to the bandana he always wore around his eyes.

In the time that Dream and George had their moment, Tommy and Tubbo had slipped past them, Tommy giving thumbs up to George, who was too involved with Dream at that moment to notice. Sapnap still sat at the table, a knowing look on his face although slightly uncomfortable.

Sapnap stood and grabbed his bag, following after Tommy and Tubbo, and exited the library with Cat in tow, leaving Dream and George by themselves. Just as Sapnap passed through the doors, Dream noticed the three that were originally with George had left. Dream was baffled that he hadn’t noticed, and his feelings were displayed in the way he scrunched his nose in disbelief, he leaned away from George, searching for them, but to no avail. 

Dream turned to stare down at George again, his face softer than before, he leaned closer to George than before, “You let them get away, huh? Well, I guess since they’re gone, and it’s just you and me, we could go somewhere more… private.”

George tilted his head back teasingly and leaned closer to Dream. Dreams lashed fluttered, and right at the last second, leaned back and started forward, brushing past Dream, whose eyes followed him before he too exited the library, George turned and winked at Dream, George strode out of the library, knowing Dream was watching his every move.

George stood at the edge of the forbidden forest, he breathed a sigh, embracing the familiar scent of earth and pine. He used the forbidden forest as an escape from anything and everything. He knew he could walk into the forest and not be looked for, he could sit for hours and read, watching the creatures in the forest. 

George started toward the forest, gripping the book he’d received earlier in the say, stepping through the brush. He walked purposefully into the forest, vanishing from sight if anyone were watching him, which was doubtful. George held his book in one hand, staying the bag on his shoulder with the other, and trudged deeper, and deeper into the forest.

At his heels was Cat, who he had become attached to very quickly. George eventually made it to his usual spot, slinging off his bag and retrieving a small blanket and draping it across the damp grass. George settled onto the blanket, opting to lie on his back and look up into the canopy of trees above him. Cat stepped onto George's stomach causing him to let out a sharp breath, before Cat curled into the crook of his neck, purring loudly.

Tilting his head to look into the forest, George spotted another cat. This cat was a cute short-haired cat that had a pattern resembling that of a tortoiseshell cat. It walked into the clearing, entering from the direction George had come from. As if only just noticing him and Cat, the short-hair stopped abruptly and stared at them. The short hair studied them for a moment, yellow eyes peering into his brown ones. Deciding they were no threat, the cat approached them, and George hesitantly reached out a hand, waiting for the cat to come to him. Cat was watching the interaction intently as if set on making sure George was safe.

The cat sniffed his hand a few times before they nuzzled their head against George's hand, prompting George to pet them. The cat ended up snuggled against George's side, with Cat still resting on his chest. George hadn’t felt this content in a long time, and it always felt good to have an animal take a liking to you. His birthday was going quite nicely. Soon enough, George drifted off, embraced by the promise of a short nap.

Unfortunately for George, he awoke much sooner than he would’ve liked by the sound of twigs snapping and leaves crunching. The noise was obviously made by someone who had no intention of sneaking up on anyone. George was still trying to rub the sleep out of his eyes when the footsteps approached and then stopped.

George moved his hand away from his eyes, looking around for the source of the footsteps. He turned and saw a pair of boots a foot or two away. He looked up in an attempt to identify the figure but immediately regretted his decision. George grumbled in the back of his throat and decided to focus his attention on the two cats that were still, much to George's jealousy, enjoying a nap. At some point during his nap, the short-hair must have climbed up onto George's chest and snuggled up with Cat. It was honestly an adorable sight. But his focus was snapped away when the person who had approached him finally spoke up.

“You stole my fucking cat!” Dream said, hiding his amusement behind a facade of annoyance.

George looked at the partially obscured face of the Slytherin, “This is your cat?”

Dream nodded, smirking slightly, before sitting down on the other end of the blanket. George watched him cautiously, making sure he didn’t pull anything. He also watched Dream, trying to figure out how he felt about him, and how much longer he could hate him before his resolve crumbled.

Dream, he assumed, was staring back at him, watching George watch him. Dream licked his lips and spoke,

“So, I was actually hoping you could answer a question for me.”

George hummed, “Depends.”

“There has to be some reason why you hate me as much as you do, so, what is it? There's something you always leave out when you explain why you hate me, don’t think I haven’t noticed. I want to make amends, please.”

George was frozen, processing what Dream had said.

This was it, he supposed, maybe he would finally get Dream open his fucking eyes.

George was still processing what Dream had said, and maybe he stayed silent for longer than he should’ve because Dream began to shift, obviously worried at George's lack of response. George was going to speak his fucking piece to Dream.

“Okay, '' George started, “if we are going to make amends, then you’re gonna sit there, and listen to me, got it?”

Dream seems taken aback by his outburst. He opens his mouth as if to speak, but then closes his mouth and resigns himself to giving George a sharp nod. George took this as his invitation to continue and gestured his hand to the spot of grass in front of him. 

As Dream settled himself in front of him, George worked on shifting the cats currently sleeping on him into a position where he could sit up, but they could still sleep comfortably. After a bit of thinking, George sat the short-haired cat (the one that apparently belonged to Dream) in his lap, but Cat wasn’t having any of it and climbed right into George's lap alongside Dream's cat. They snuggled up to each other, purring loudly. George smiled softly down at them while carefully petting them in a way that would not disturb them. When George finally looked up, he saw Dream was sat in front of him and was watching him. George could only guess he was watching him though, with the bandana covering the better part of his face, leaving only his mouth visible.

George cleared his throat, “First, I’m going to start at the beginning because fucking hell if it isn’t a hell of a reason not to like someone. And by the beginning, I don’t mean the first prank you ever pulled on me, sure they were cruel, but they didn’t leave any permanent damage to me or anyone else.” 

At least not any physical damage , he thought. He sensed Dream was thinking the same with the way his mouth twisted into what he could only assume was a grimace.

“At Least not until third year, that is. I’m sure you remember, but we were partnered together in potions class, and one day we were assigned a project. This project is to create a simple potion of our own making. We decided, y’know what, fuck it, let's go all out. We set out to make a potion that could temporarily make someone a metamorphosis when consumed. And looking back on it, what were we thinking? That us third years could do something so advanced, damn our overachieving personalities.” George paused to breathe before continuing.

“We worked out a time and place to formulate this potion, we decided we would find an empty classroom to create it, and over the course of a week, every evening we would work on this potion. Finally, the time came to finish it up, and you, being a ball of energy, accidentally knocked the cauldron over onto its side, and it mixed with the leftover ingredients we had neglected to clean up.” 

Dream nodded, clearly remembering this, but he couldn’t figure out where George was going with this. Was he really mad about some potion he ruined back in third year? Sure he knew George was keen on being top-notch in academics, but this seemed extreme even for him.

“Now this is the part you may not remember, but the potion was knocked over toward you, but you weren’t totally paying attention as the potion began to hiss, and I knew it was going to explode because mixing random ingredients can make a potion very fucking unstable. So when I shoved you out of the way, you hit your head on a desk and I got the brunt of the potion.” 

Dream's hands were shaking, and he was anxiously running his hands through his hair. He thought the reason he woke up in the hospital wing was from slipping on the potion? That's what he was told? But slowly Dream's memories formed into coherent thoughts, and he could see glimpses of images as George talked. He would've known he severely injured George, surely, right?

George was struggling to continue, clearly, this wasn’t something he enjoyed talking about, and rightfully so. But he had to give Dream an explanation, the best way to heal was to let go, and George finally feels ready to get this weight off his shoulders.

“I- when I was- when I was hit with the potion, it was like-like someone had poured liquid fire onto my face, but I didn’t do anything. Or maybe I did and just don't remember, but after that, I managed to get both of us to the hospital wing. I don't know how since at that point the potion has basically blinded me and I could hardly breathe through the pain. But I had to make sure you were alright, considering I was the cause of you getting hurt.” 

George didn’t know when Dream had grabbed ahold of his hands, but he was suddenly hyper-aware of it. Dream had both his hands clasped in his own, slightly larger hands. For some reason the way Dream's hands held his own made him feel better, he breathed easier knowing someone was there with him.

“Eventually I woke up in the hospital wing, I was blind for 2 days, and then when my sight returned, something was different. I could only see some colors, and only out of one eye. I’m almost completely blind in my left eye, but my right eye is pretty okay all things considered. But ever since then, I couldn’t be around you without thinking about the pain I felt. But I realized the way I've been treating you is cruel and unfair, especially since you never got an explanation as to why I completely fucking ignored you”

Hands rested on George's waist and he was pulled into a hug, the cats squished between him and Dream. Dream moved to sit next to George, wiping the tears off his face. When had he started crying? He wasn’t sure, and he ultimately didn’t care as he leaned into Dream, listening to his furious whispered apologies. They sat there for god knows how long before the clouds crept into the sky and slowly, rain dripped off the leaves of the trees and plopped down to the earth. The cats immediately made a break for it, sprinting toward the castle together. But George couldn’t be bothered to move or get up. He felt safer than he had ever felt.

As the rain poured down onto him, Dream held him that much tighter, not wanting to go. Together they leaned against the tree, George's head resting on Dream’s shoulder. Their clothes were soaked, and their hair was stuck to their foreheads, but George couldn’t care less.

“We should probably head back, as much as I like sitting here, Sapnap might get worried.” Dream hummed, rubbing circles into George's shoulder. 

Slowly they stood, and George stared up at the sky, wondering, watching the trees sway and the clouds swirl. He looked over to Dream and froze, he wasn’t wearing his bandana, and the upper half of his face was in full view. Immediately, George averted his eyes, worried.

George opened his mouth to speak but felt fingers on his chin, and his head was tilted so that his eyes met Dreams. Dreams' right eye was scarred, right across his face, and other, smaller cuts, littered his face. Dreams' right eye was glazed over, and George realized he was blind in that eye. 

George's fingers grazed over the scar, before he muttered, “You’re perfect.”

Dream grinned, and he leaned toward George, “To you, Georgie, I hardly compare.”

George wasn’t sure who closed the gap, but suddenly, the wind rushed around, a cacophony of rain poured down, their lips slotted together, and the world was suddenly, perfectly still. George pressed his hand to the back of Dreams neck, tugging him impossibly closer. Dream's hands gripped his waist with care, but also rough, knee-weakening strength. 

Dream turned so that George had his back leaning against a tree, and deepened the kiss using his height to his advantage. They were two pieces of a puzzle, fitted together in a way that most could only dream of. Two sides of a coin, a lock, and key, perfect but also different from each other. Complimentary. Where George was blunt and discreet, Dream was charismatic and enchanting. 

They kissed each other breathless, neither wanting to pull away, Dream nipped at George's lip and he gasped, pulling back. They both stared at each other, pupils dilated, and they once again rushed forward. This kiss was filled with less desperation and more slow, deliberate passion. They savored this moment, even though there would be hundreds, thousands more to come. Dream attempted to pull away at one point, and George tugged him by his tie. Dream seemed to melt, immediately complying, seemingly not wanting this moment to end.

Eventually, though, they realized the sky had darkened, and they stood and grinned at each other, just one another, in the rain.

It became a routine for them, meeting up in that clearing in the forest and talking and laughing and kissing. Their arms interlocked, Dream and George walked through the hallways, not even thinking of the volume of their conversation. 

“Wha- well i-”, George stuttered, clearly baffled, eyebrows furrowed.

Dream pulled George closer as he wheezed, detangling his arm from Georges and wrapping it around his shoulder. George continued to look confused, which just made Dream laugh that much harder.

“All I’m saying is that I really think with the right amount of practice you could theoretically transmutate Mrs. Norris into a human. Filch would be so much fucking better if his only love weren’t a feline y’know?”

George finally recovered enough to formulate a response, “That’s an interesting thought you’ve had, but following a similar train of thought, is Filch a furry? Does he yiff in his spare time, perhaps?”

Dream stared at George in awe, and he was unsure if he had said the wrong thing until Dream burst into what could've been mistaken as an asthma attack if it weren’t for the fact that he was grinning brightly at George.

The arm Dream had draped over his shoulder shifted to pull the two closer together. They laughed breathlessly, though maybe they should have been more conscientious of the fact that it was quite a while past when students were supposed to be asleep. Unfortunately, the two only were so enamored with each other (it may also have something to do with the fact they collectively had 2 working eyes) that they didn’t see said feline creeping up upon them.

Well, they didn’t notice Mrs. Norris until she let out the loudest yowl George thinks he’s ever heard. In retaliation, George screeched, and if the residents of the castle had known any better, they would have told you the ghosts of the castle were particularly active that night. The shrieks that echoed through the hallways rivaling those of Peeves. 

Once Dream and George was, in fact, not frozen in fear, they were able to make out the thudding footsteps of Filch, clearly excited at the prospect of new victi- I mean-, clearly hurrying to catch students out of bed, because it was his job, no other reason.

Gripping his hand, Dream pulled George down the hallway away from Filch. Thus began their game of cat and mouse. Unfortunately for Filch, he was effectively made the mouse after Dream managed to land 2 dung bombs, a bat bogey hex, and an unknown hex that caused Filch’s feet to grow in size, similar to clown shoes.

The rate at which Filch's feet were growing, Dream and George would make a fantastic and great escape. They slid around corners, and they lost Filch around the twists and turns somewhere in the maze of staircases.

Breathing heavily, Dream and George snuck into the Slytherin common room and headed into Dreams' dorm, his roommates were already sleeping as they quietly got ready for bed. Slipping out of their ties and robes, they donned pajamas. And if George was wearing one of Dreams shirts, so what? George was happy, he had never felt lighter in his life, it was only now that he realized what he’d been missing, and what a part of that bitter piece of him was

Y’know, someone once told me that in order to heal, I needed to let go of that bitterness, that gross feeling in the pit of your stomach. I might not be quite there yet, but in this story, our two boys in love have done what I cannot. They have learned to forgive, but more importantly, they learned to grow. Two red strings fated to intertwine in every reality, every universe. Soulmates in every sense of the word, platonic or romantic, they were two complementary colors flowing on a canvas. While life doesn’t always have happy beginnings or endings, that just means you can make the in-between that much better.