Lili woke up the next morning, George's scent surrounding her. She sat up quickly, looking around for him, then realised that she had a very oversized sweater on. Looking down, it was very clear that there was a yellow G knitted into the green of the sweater.
But how had she gotten back into her bed? She was in the Astronomy Tower last night, and now she was in the Gryffindor dorms. The...Gryffindor dorms. Not Hufflepuff. Lili felt herself shrink, trying to hide in the bed that she assumed was George's.
She heard footsteps coming up the stairs, but was relieved to see that it was Fred. "Hey, Fred. Um...do you know how I got here?"
"How do you know I'm not George?"
"Really? I can tell the difference between you two, you know. And you're wearing a sweater with the letter F on it. Now, tell me where your brother is."
"Which one?"
"Fred."
"Lili."
Lili sighed heavily and got of bed. "Fine. You won't tell me. But at least get me out of your common room. This feels wrong."
--
Lili walked to the Great Hall for breakfast, Fred keeping her company.
"From the moment you met us, you said that you could tell the difference between me and George. So how do you do it?"
Lili laughed. "Are you really asking me that question? Ugh, fine. George has a bump on his nose but yours is straight, just like how his upper lip curls upwards but yours is flat. His eyes slant more but yours are more deepset, and his face is longer while yours is rounder. Oh, and he's slightly taller."
"You can tell all of that just by looking at us?"
"That's just appearance, Fred. Of course, there's other little things I pick up on. But if you haven't noticed those, I'm not gonna tell you." She opens the doors to the Great Hall and begins to walk towards the Gryffindor table, then is attacked with a hug by Fred. "Oh, leave off!"
She slid in next to George, looking across the table and seeing the Hufflepuff table completely empty. She was one of the only Hufflepuffs staying at school over Christmas. "Do you want your sweater back, George?"
"No, you can keep it. Mum makes us a new one every year for Christmas."
"Oh, OK. Um...can I ask what happened last night?"
"Oh, that. Well, you fell asleep in the Astronomy Tower. I don't know the password for the Hufflepuff dormitory so I figured taking you to my dorm would be the next best thing. I hope that's OK."
"Yeah, it's fine. I was just pretty surprised to wake up in the Gryffindor dorms. And then Fred came in and tried to pretend that he was you."
"She listed off the differences between us, Georgie," Fred interrupted. "There's more than I realised."
"In case you've forgotten, I'm a twin myself. Draco and I might be very easy to tell apart, but I can still see the differences between identicals. I'm sure anyone could if they tried hard enough."
"Right. Forgot you were a Malfoy."
"Is that cause I'm in Hufflepuff, Fred?"
"Mmhmm."
"Of course."
--
When it was time for students to return from holidays, Lili waited expectantly for Cedric to arrive. It had only been two weeks, but she'd missed his smiling face. Walking through the halls with the Weasley twins, she spotted him in the courtyard with his bags.
"Cedric!" She yelled, bolting away from the twins and down the stairs to the courtyard. She bombarded him with a tight hug, surprising him.
"Hey, Lil," He laughed, hugging her back.
"How was your Christmas?"
"It was OK, I suppose. Same old same old, really. What about you?"
"It was awesome. For the first Christmas in my life, I didn't have to be scared."
"Well that sounds like fun. Oh hey, nice headband."
"Thank you! George got it for me. The first Christmas present I've ever gotten."
Cedric frowned. "Oh, I was hoping I have that honour. But I'll settle for second." He pulled a small box out of his pocket. "Here."
"You didn't have to, Ced."
"No, but I wanted to. Open it."
Lili opened the box to find a sunflower pendant. She looked up at Cedric, a smile on her face. "Oh, it's beautiful."
Cedric took it out of the box and fastened it around Lili's neck. "Since I'm going to graduate two years before you, it can be something to remember me by."
"But that's not for three years, Ced."
"Still. Maybe even now, when we're both on holidays and not around each other. There can always be something that you can look at and remember me with."
"Well, thank you. It's really pretty."
"I think it suits you."
"Really?"
"Yeah. I chose well."
"Yes, you did. You chose to be my friend. You were the first person to talk to me, even though I was a Malfoy."
"I don't think who your family is matters. It's how you act and what you do. I figured that you wouldn't have been sorted into Hufflepuff for no reason. And I was right."
"You're right about a lot of things."
"I guess I am."
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