"GEORGE, WAIT UP!" 

One more agonizing week without the twins had passed before Dev and May simultaneously decided they couldn't take it any longer. No matter how much they joked about the boys getting on their nerves, they never wanted this much time apart from them. They were two bright beams of sunlight personified, and the girls needed to bask in their presence now more than ever.

"Oh—" George had paused and glanced back at the sound of his name, his smile faltering at the two girls hurriedly approaching him. "I'm kind of busy right now, guys."

"Come on," Dev pleaded, finally reaching him and working to keep in pace with his languid steps.

"You can't keep avoiding us, Georgie. We need to talk about—" May tried to reason, but George stopped his movements and whirled in place to face the two girls, effectively cutting her off.

"There's nothing to talk about, and I haven't been avoiding you both. Now, if you'll excuse me." His words were sharp, an underlying warning that told them not to press him any further. Dev noted the way he wiped his hands against his trousers rhythmically, matching the exact motion of the night at the festival. 

"Well, that went well." May sighed, clutching her books tighter to her chest.

"Did you hear what he said?" Dev questioned absently, her eyes still tracing his figure as he disappeared down the corridor.

"Yeah, that there's nothing to talk about? What rubbish. I know George is usually better at handling his emotions than Fred, but he has to know it's not healthy to just—"

"No, not that," Dev shook her head, finally turning her attention to May once she could no longer see George. "He said 'I haven't been avoiding you both.' Because he's not avoiding you, just me."

May's face fell at Dev's words, the gears in her head turning rapidly as she tried to think up some way to deny them. But, she couldn't. George truly was just avoiding Dev, and May was being tortured by association, because the two were attached at the hip. Dev found herself wondering if Fred were avoiding them as well, or if he just felt a sense of loyalty to his twin that was keeping him away. Judging by their brief interaction after hours the week before, he didn't seem to be harboring contempt towards Dev, but she couldn't be sure.

"If you just tell him..."

"No. We've been through this." Dev began to walk down the corridor, May quickly trailing behind her. 

"You should at least consider it!" She urged in a hushed whisper, careful to glance around at the passing students. "The four of us, we tell each other everything."

Dev snorted at that.

"No, we don't." She shook her head. "I tell you everything. Somethings are better left unsaid to the twins."

"But, how has that worked out so far?" May gripped Dev's arm, forcing her to stop her fast pace and look at her. "This year, nothing has gone your way. Every time you've kept something from them, it's only made things worse for you. Merlin, I know you're stubborn Dev, but you're making things so much harder for yourself."

Tears began to well in Dev's eyes at the girls words, but she forced herself to look away and urged them not to fall. Not here, not in the middle of the corridor. Of course she knew how much harder she had made things for herself, both from concealing her feelings from Fred and keeping the truth of her visions from the twins. But, being forced to face that reality made her knees tremble.

"I know..." Her voice was small when she finally spoke, still unable to meet her best friend's gaze.  May softened her approach as she realized the state Dev was in, and was quick to pull her away from the prying eyes of the corridor. She didn't stop dragging the girl away until they were in an empty hall.

"I didn't mean to upset you." May spoke softly, her head down now.

"But you're right," Dev croaked, her first sob racking her body. She drew her hands up to her face, allowing herself to cry into the palms of her hands. "I'm so scared."

May pulled her into a hug, letting the slightly taller girl cry into her shoulder. One of her delicate hands began to rake through Dev's unruly hair, trying her best to soothe the girl.

"We're all going to be okay. Nothings going to happen to you." May spoke with such confidence that one might believe she were the one gifted with tellings of the future. 

Dev appreciated what the girl was trying to do. She understood that May thought that the fear plaguing her was a fear of her own safety, a fear of her future, a fear of what would become of her if people found out. While all of those things did haunt Dev's mind, they were nothing in comparison to the fear Dev held for herself. The fear Dev held of her own mind, and the tragedies it was capable of showing her. 

As much as she loved her friends, they would never understand that fear.

☽

A LITTLE OVER ONE MONTH. That's how long it had been since Dev and May tried confronting George.

While Dev liked to pretend she wasn't keeping count, the mounting number was etched into her mind nonetheless. It had been 56 days since the death of the boy, whose name she never did find out. 47 days since May and Dev caught George in the corridor and spoke with him. 47 days with no meaningful communication with the boys, her only glimmer of hope coming from stolen glances with Fred across the great hall or idle, albeit forced by Flitwick, conversations in charms. Soon, she feared, those would cease as well.

Dev could hardly eat, and she now found herself trying to force herself to stay up all hours of the night. She'd study relentlessly, trying to distract herself from the constant pain she was feeling. The only time she got rest was when her body would finally force her to sleep, often passing out after 72-straight-hours awake in random places in the castle. 

As of lately, her visions, or even remnants of them, had ceased altogether. It seemed her brain was too exhausted to haunt her with the gift she had never asked for. When she would pass out, her forced slumber was no longer filled with nightmares, but just blissful nothingness. 

Still, her peers and the professors had taken notice of her change in behavior. They noticed the dark circles under her eyes or the distant gaze she always held. Many presented as worried, such as Cho or even Roger. Others, like Cassius, chose to make sly digs about the state she was in. Still, Dev didn't have the energy in her to respond or even care, which ultimately bored Cassius enough to give up. 

Small rumors flurried around the castle. The lack of interactions between Dev, May, and the twins didn't go unnoticed, and people began to speculate. Things like an intense love triangle between Dev and the twins, in which they ultimately decided they wouldn't let a girl come between them and thus cut her off. Or that the boys had tried some prank or product on her that scarred her so bad their friendship had been permanently ruined. None of the rumors seemed to even come close to the truth.

While to many it would seem like the twins were the same as always, Dev and May knew better. They picked up on the lack of pranks being carried out or the way that they seemed to go from classes, to meals, straight back to their house. They could put on a good show, sure, but they were hurting too.

May seemed to take the same route as the twins, fooling those around her that nothing was wrong, save for her concern for her best friend. In reality, Dev wondered if May were doing the worst of all of them, the reality that she was almost lost at the age of 16 hitting her sporadically. Every night, when Dev would be busying herself to avoid closing her eyes, she'd hear the same soft cries from May into her pillow. And every night, Dev would crawl into the small twin bed, reassuring her that she was still here. "Fuck destiny, or Mother Nature, or whatever it is," She'd say. "You're meant to still be here."

When the second task loomed around the corner, Dev had wholly considered skipping the event altogether, but May and Cho were insistent she go. Cho had done her best to be a bright light for the girl, upping her cheeriness and kind words as much as she could and always doing her best to force the girl away from her books. She knew Cho would never say it out loud and risk upsetting Dev, but it was clear she was deeply worried about her. Now that the event had finally arrived, Dev couldn't help but be slightly annoyed that 1/2 of the girls who urged to go was no where to be found.

As Dev and May made their way down to the black lake with herds of other students, May tried lightly to engage with the girl. She was doing her best to keep things cheerful, but the bitter February cold and the overcast skies did little to help. Every so often, Dev would crack a smile, just to appease the girl, but neither bought it.

Dev's ears perked up at the sound of the twin's voices in the distance, yelling over the crowd. They were trying to convince a group of first year Hufflepuffs to bet on the event. Their voices felt like music to her ears. It was euphoric and beautiful, as if she had heard nothing but nails against a chalkboard up until now. Her heart seemed to skip a beat when they moved on from the first years, and Fred's eyes fell directly on her. George nudged his brother with his elbow, silently urging him to carry on. Fred tore his gaze away, and they both set on to a new target.

"Maybe coming wasn't such a good idea after all." Dev muttered, stopping in her place to avoid closing in on the twins. She knew they'd have to squeeze by them, and that they wouldn't offer her more than a passing glance. That killed her.

"What? Why?" May whined, not having caught on to the silent interaction that just broke Dev's heart.

May followed Dev's gaze forward, her eyes landing on their two friends. The girl pulled her bottom lip through her teeth, unable to deny she missed them just as much as Dev. Sure, some part of her knew she could approach George without Dev at her side and he may talk to her. But she knew that would break her best friends heart, so she never would. 

"No." May shook her head, coming to stand in front of Dev. "Dev, you can't stop living because of them."

"I'm not." Dev tried to argue, but she knew her attempts were feeble. She was never able to get anything past the girl. May stole a glance over her shoulder, noticing the boys stopped in front of two third year Ravenclaws who were placing bets. When she turned back around, her sadness had seemed to dissipate into anger.

"They're such bloody idiots." May spat, startling Dev slightly. "Merlin, everyone has seen how this has been killing you. I can't believe they haven't said anything."

May's anger only seemed to grow the more she spoke. While she had tried to see things from their perspective, she simply couldn't. It was easier for Dev, she understood them not wanting to be around her or blaming her, because she blamed herself. May didn't see it that way. May knew the lengths Dev went through to save her, she knew the trauma it had caused her to see the vision of May's passing. It infuriated her that Dev was being punished for her love of her best friend. Spinning quickly on her heels, May stomped off in the direction of the twins.

"May, what are you doing?" Dev trailed after the girl, worry filling her entire being.

"Wanna place a bet, Kimura?" Fred tried to come off as nonchalant as the girl approached, but it was clear he was doing everything in his power not to look at Dev over her shoulder.

"No, I don't want to place a bet, Weasley." The girl sneered. "You know what I do want? I want to know what gave you two the right to be such awful prats."

Fred and George paused, their eyes blown wide and their mouths slightly agape. It wasn't like this was the first time May had blown up at the two, but after so long without any meaningful interactions with her, this certainly wasn't what they were expecting. 

"Come again?" Fred cleared his throat, eyeing down the much shorter girl.

"You heard me." May crossed her arms, not backing down despite the way the boys towered her. "I don't know what has gone through your heads these past two months but—"

"Exactly." George cut her off with a grimace. "You don't know."

"That doesn't matter!" May threw her arms up. "I was there, George. We all were. And you—" The word was laced with venom as she pointed a finger directly into his jumper-clad chest. "—Have no right to punish or avoid us because of it. For two Gryffindors, you've acted like awful cowards. And it isn't fair."

"A lot of things aren't fair." George laughed humorlessly. It was clear his anger was mounting, especially at the blow to their bravery. "Like, I don't know, dying when you're only 17."

Despite being outside, it felt like all of the air was being sucked from Dev's lungs. His words had been icy and cruel, and Dev knew they were directed at her. One of her best friends held nothing but disdain towards her.

"And that's our fault how?" May recrossed her arms, taking a step towards the boys as a sign she wasn't backing down. "So what, Dev didn't listen to that boy. You know how many bloody rules you two break? How could she have known what would happen?"

Dev was thankful for May respecting her wishes of not telling them. Easily, she could have revealed in a fit of anger Dev's true intentions that night, but that wasn't May. She would never purposefully disrespect the girl's wishes. 

Dev noted the way that Fred's eyes had finally found their way to her. His gaze was filled with both pain and curiosity. He knew that Dev hadn't just pointlessly ignored the rules that night. He had seen her panic, heard the way she lamented the danger May was in. Still, he didn't know how, and he didn't know why she had yet to tell George why she broke the rules.

"We've never killed anybody by breaking the rules." George practically growled.

"No, you've just sent dozens to the infirmary." May sneered. Dev reached out her hand, gently grasping May's shoulder in an effort to calm her. A bit of May's anger seemed to dissipate as she eyed her best friend over her shoulder, but she wasn't finished quite yet. "You're a hypocrite, Weasley. And you're killing Dev now."

George's eyes finally landed on Dev for the first time since they marched up. His expression was filled with a mix of guilt and hurt. At the sight of it, Dev knew a mirrored look of guilt must have washed over her, because she knew the trauma she had caused. Their absence had hurt her, there was no denying that, but she knew her choices the night of the winter festival had hurt him as well. They were in a gray area, two hurt people hurting those around them. Although he looked like he was about to respond, he closed his mouth as Dev felt someone approach from behind.

"Is there a problem?" Professor Flitwick paused, having been walking at the back of the Ravenclaw students and finally reaching this impass.

"No, Professor, no problem at all." May answered calmly, though her eyes never left the twins.

"Well, keep it moving then." The professor urged them forward.

May brushed in between the two boys, her head held high as her silky black hair swung behind her. Dev was slower in her steps, now staring at the two boys she missed so dearly and not wanting to leave. That was until she felt herself growing weak under their gazes and needing to pull herself away. She went to pass by, only to be stopped by Fred's hand gripping her wrist.

"Are you okay?" His voice was low, his lips ghosting by her ear. Dev managed a nod, an unconvincing one at that. 

Fred pursed his lips, shooting a pointed look at his brother before nodding back towards Dev. In their silent twin way, Fred seemed to be urging his brother to fix things. George was still angry from May's words, so he ignored his brother's gaze and instead pressed forward in the opposite direction. 

"After the task, we'll come find you, yeah?" Fred paused to search the girl's face. "Once he's calmed down, I'll convince him."

"I'd like that." Dev spoke truthfully. Gently, she freed herself from Fred's grasp and followed to where May was waiting for her, still fuming.

Although she was exhausted, she was determined to use whatever energy she had left to get her best friends back. All she had to do was make it through this task.

author's note !

someone commented "I want to give Dev a hug" on the last chapter, and all I have to say is, I agree lol. This story won't be all rainbows and butterflies for her, but I can promise that things won't always be this depressing either. They are starting to look up (even briefly lol).

I always like explaining myself in case my writing isn't clear or is confusing, so, here goes. I really want to portray that both May and George's sides are valid. How George chooses to deal with trauma is completely up to him, and May's anger at the person who saved her life being mistreated is also valid. I know George is always portrayed as the more sensible one, but he's the only one who doesn't really know why Dev broke the rules and ultimately distracted the worker into getting killed. Idk, I think George has every right to be confused and hurt and want to distance himself from that trauma. Just my take, what're your guys thoughts on both sides of the argument?

Also! I made a new cover for this story. Can you guys give me any criticism? I might tweak it and change their coloring, because I made all of them pretty blue/gray lol. Did you prefer the old one? Let me know.

rose <3