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Silvanus was off with his friends, again. Severus sat alone in the library and glared at the page in front of him, then angrily turned it, but didn’t yet begin his reread of the next chapter. Instead, he used the telepathic bond he and Silvanus shared as wizard twins to locate Silvanus and connect to his mind. He heard his identical twin brother laughing and Severus was jealous; Silvanus should be laughing with Severus instead of with the too many friends Silvanus had made at Hogwarts over the past four school years.
“Come meet me in the library and study,” Severus spoke silently into his twin brother’s mind from afar, “Wednesday’s exam is terribly important and I do not believe you’ve even begun to study.”
“I can study on Tuesday,” Silvanus thought back to him, “you come meet me outside and we’ll spend time with our friends together. It will be good for you, little brother, come on. The weather is so nice tonight and we have candy here,” Silvanus told him, “including chocolate,” he added in a silent tone of temptation, for chocolate was Severus’ favorite food.
“They are not my friends,” Severus replied bitterly, “when you are not around they barely acknowledge my existence.”
“That is because you never let them get to know you. You don’t even try to connect with them.”
“No,” Severus thought angrily, “it is because they are cruel imbeciles.”
Silvanus didn’t form any words in reply, but Severus could feel his own anger mirrored.
“Don’t talk like that about my friends, Severus,” Silvanus finally conveyed.
“Ah, you see,” Severus thought coldly, “they are your friends after all. Not ‘ours’ as you try to claim. Not ours at all.”
“Fine,” Silvanus barked into Severus’ mind, “if you won’t listen to your big brother, who obviously knows what’s best for you, then you can just stay in the library studying way more than you need to and I’ll stay outside actually interacting with other people. We’ll talk later, Severus.”
“What about the exam? Silvanus, you need to come study, it’s more important than friends and chocolate. Learning is the reason we are here at Hogwarts. Why can’t you ever see that?”
“We’ll talk later, Severus,” Silvanus repeated sharply with his thoughts, and Severus sent him a wave of silent rage before turning back to his own studies, bitterly wishing his big brother would listen to him once in a while. Silvanus was only twelve minutes older, but he had always taken on the big brother role, and Severus had fallen naturally into the role of younger brother. Sometimes Severus enjoyed having someone to look out for him and take care of him, but as their adolescence progressed Severus found himself growing annoyed more and more often when Silvanus emphasized their dynamic. Severus scowled at the words he was reading, seething throughout the next few hours even as he effectively prepared himself for the exam.
~
“So, you failed the exam,” Severus said on Thursday, trying not to sound as smug as he felt.
“Don’t look so pleased,” Silvanus replied, and Severus could feel Silvanus’ disappointment in himself, “Professor McGonagall says I can do some extra credit to make up for it, just this once. She gave me an assignment, a paper to write.” He held up the parchment on which Professor McGonagall had written the assignment, then examined it with an expression of defeat. “Looks like I’ll need to do a lot of research for it,” he added.
“I’ll help you,” Severus offered, feeling guilty for taking a moment of pleasure in his brother’s failure.
“Why? Because you think I can’t do it on my own?” Silvanus snapped.
“No,” Severus answered softly, wounded, “I am certain you could do it alone, if you prefer to.”
Silvanus’ face changed, appearing just as wounded by the sight of Severus’ hurt expression as Severus had been by Silvanus’ words.
“I’m sorry for being cross, little brother,” Silvanus spoke gently, then pulled Severus into a hug. Severus hugged him back tightly, relieved not to have to face another argument. This time Silvanus calling him ‘little brother’ was one of the instances that made Severus feel safe and loved, not annoyed at all, and Severus was immensely pleased that it was so. It pained Severus somewhere deep inside when any conflict existed between them; he needed them close, at least in mind and heart if not in body, and he needed them to be there for one another, always.
“Brother, I have a proposal,” Severus said after their hug ended, “we’ll work on research for your paper for an hour, then spend an hour doing something fun you can choose. We can even see your friends, if you like.”
Silvanus grinned brightly.
“Good idea, brother,” Silvanus replied happily, “you really are the smart one.”
Severus smiled back at him, flushing slightly even though he knew it was a joke.
“And I’m the handsome one,” Silvanus added, grin turning to a playful smirk.
The identical twin brothers laughed together, and Severus was joyful.