Forever Entwined [Sunshine and Whiskey & Agnes]

[Agnes]

The ride back to Hogwarts was well and truly awful.

Edward Helmsley did not fancy himself someone whiny and gripeful, but even then the sixteen-year-old found it hard not to complain about conditions aboard the Hogwarts Express. The platform was absolutely cramped, to begin with; the Helmsleys had to practically elbow their way through the swath of bodies. Whoever thought it was a good idea to stuff all the witches and wizards in Great Britain aboard a single train like sardines ought to be thrown into Azkaban, he thought, as one particularly burly student bodied him aside as if he was a weightless sack of feathers. And then there was Mother, who incessantly fussed over him and Elizabeth, reminding them to check and double-check all their luggage, owls and all, telling them to write home weekly (weekly!) and that they must be topping the class consistently if they hope to be considered for prefect positions, which they must attain in order to pretty up their curriculum vitae, and so on and so forth.

It actually got so bad to the point where even Father had to step in, and that in itself was momentous.

"Come now, Francesca. They aren't children anymore. Cut them some slack."

"Absolutely not! They're still sixteen, George. Sixteen! Do you know how-"

Sensing an incoming rant, the man held his hands up in defeat. Well, at least he tried. Ed gave his father an appreciative shrug. Still sixteen, apparently. They were still babies to her. He wondered if she might faint if she knew about half the things the twins got up to.

Thankfully, things got a little better once they boarded the train. They were afforded a private compartment, labelled simply as 'Helmsley' on an enchanted plaque on the sliding door. One of the perks of being pureblooded, and of a long, prestigious line at that. Purebloods did not have the social power they used to hold half a century ago, and many have now freely mixed their bloodlines to erase the rampant elitism, but the Helmsley were a little different, per se. More traditional. Both Edward and Elizabeth were expected to marry into the few remaining pureblood families. Most would frown upon such a thing, but the family had enough galleons in their Gringotts vault to frankly not give a damn.

While peace and quiet were much appreciated, the sudden cut off from the noise and commotion outside the compartment left it feeling empty and hollow, made worse by the fact that his sister immediately went to plug in her headphones and bury her face behind a screen without so much as looking at him.

Remember when he was listing the things he was griping on about? Well, here was the most problematic problem: Liz wasn't speaking to him. In fact, she hasn't spoken to him properly in over two weeks, ever since the incident over the summer. It was a heat of the moment thing of course, and both of them were equally to blame, Edward thought righteously, but as it happened, he was the one constantly apologising and trying to get her attention like a sad little puppy. For two whole weeks. And it seemed that things wouldn't be any different now.

"Liz." No response. As expected. He tapped the plastic band of her headphone and tried again. "Liz. Elizabeth." Still nothing. If anything she even turned further away from him, scooting away and leaning against the window frame. The teen sighed, running his hand frustratedly through his brown, wavy hair. What did he do to deserve this? Sighing, he fished out his phone from his jean pocket and opened her chatbox, pursing his lips and shaking his head. This was ridiculous.

you gonna ignore me this whole time?
Liz
at least read the messages

She did. The tick turned into a 'read', and then she promptly pocketed her phone and brought out a book. Left on read. By his own twin. Fantastic.

The rest of the train ride was spent in silence, as you might expect.

The Welcoming Feast at Hogwarts came as a small reprieve for Edward, as the two separated for a while to sit with their respective friends. Caleb and Nick, unlike Liz, did not ignore him, thankfully. The boys talked about the usual stuff - quidditch, which Ed talked about enthusiastically, as he was the Seeker for the Ravenclaw team, and of course, the girls they picked up over the summer, which Ed pointed stayed out of. Somehow, he doubted Caleb and Nick would believe him if he said 'I fucked my sister and now she isn't talking to me.'

Soon enough, the feast came to an end, the first years having been sorted and Head Mistress McGonagall giving her curt, nonsensical speech. The rabble moved to their respective dormitories, Ed and Liz and the other Ravenclaws to their tower. As they settled into the common room, lounging on the many chaises and sofas, he turned his eyes back on his sister, who was tucked away in a corner, alone and still absorbed in her book, sitting cross-legged on the chair. Making a small prayer to Rowena (who would surely frown upon him) he padded over, intent on trying his luck again.

He placed his hand on her shoulder, standing behind her, leaning down and whispering in her ear, his tone a lot less demure and sycophantic now, compared to before. "Look, Liz, you can't just avoid talking to me forever. It's already been two weeks." Curling his fingers along her neck and chin, tilting her head up to look up at his face. The shadows of the crackling fireplace cast an orange hue over the two of them, and Ed, despite himself, thought she looked quite attractive today. "I'm gonna go take a walk to the Astronomy Tower. Come with?" It was a request, albeit a pretty demanding one at that, despite his soft whispered tone and pleading eyes. "Please?" he added.

 

[Sunshine and Whiskey]

Guilty.

That's a feeling that she never imagined she'd be feeling right now. She was in the backseat with her head pressed against the window, arms folded over her chest, and a slight sigh escaped through her nose. Elizabeth was mostly quiet throughout the ride back to the train station that chugged them all the way to Hogwarts, which she wondered to herself what this year was going to be like. Her head perked up whenever she saw the train station come into the view but still, she remained quietly but the happy look that was plastered on her face told the true story. Elizabeth basically got out of the vehicle before it even came to a full stop and she could only imagine the look on her parent's faces when she did that. She could even imagine the questions that they asked her brother, who wasn't really her biggest fan right about now. She couldn't be mad at him entirely though because it does take two to tango, which happened over the summer. Elizabeth didn't even want to think about it.

Her ears twitched while she heard her mother go over a checklist with herself and her brother, Edward. But thankfully, their father intervened and so it began their annual squabble before the two siblings boarded the train. Only this, their father gave up rather easily, which impressed Elizabeth because it honestly became tradition after their second year. After seeing her father's defeat, she went ahead through the platform and didn't even both to wait for anyone else. It was crowded as it was expected since it was another school year, which was proving to be exciting to the first years but everyone else knew differently.

Elizabeth really wanted to focus on her studies this year because she wanted to pass her O.W.L's this year and finally learn some very advanced spells. That thought went to the back of her mind while she boarded the train and followed by her brother their compartment, which she entered first and closed the door behind her. Her brother looked through the glass then entered before she even had a chance to charm it. A light scoff came over her while she pointed where it was best for him to sit. If she was being honest with herself, she didn't despise her twin brother because honestly, how could she? They practically shared a face but hers was much cuter if she had to say so herself, which she usually did.

She didn't even want to hear what he had to say, so she decided to place her earbuds in and turn on her music to the maximum volume. It was quite evident that she wanted absolutely nothing to do with him although of what hung over both of their heads. Elizabeth could feel Edward creeping closer to her and she scooted over further until she had nowhere to go. It was when Edward tapped the plastic of her earbuds that it bugged her so much. Still, she said nothing to him. What was there exactly to say? She felt her phone vibrate inside of her pocket and dug it out of her pocket to see who had texted her.

Pathetic. Elizabeth thought to herself while she placed the phone back inside of her pocket then stood up to rummage through her luggage and retrieved a book. Edward knew at this point in time that it was serious. She honestly had no choice but to leave him on read to teach him a lesson. Even though she didn't know what the lesson was herself.

As the train ride went on, she gave him brief glances but only to see what he was doing before her eyes went back to the inside of her book. She knew that deep down inside of herself, it was killing her much more than it was killing him. Elizabeth usually enjoyed the silence because it gave her time to think and clear her head. Good thing they had their own cabin to dwell inside of for the duration of the train ride.

When they arrived at Hogwarts, she was quick to maneuver herself past Edward and exit the compartment after placing her book and headphones back into her luggage. She was unsure what sort of charm they used to get their luggage inside of the castle but maybe it wasn't any of her business. She managed to catch up with her friends and squeezed between them, wrapping her arms with theirs as they squealed and talked simultaneously. Her eyes went over her shoulder to see Edward with his own consort of friends then she turned to her friends, who asked her about her summer as they entered the Great Hall for the welcoming feast. She remembered hers and Edward's first feast when they were sorted into Ravenclaw, which shocked everyone because most purebloods were sorted into Slytherin.

Elizabeth wouldn't have had it any other way because she made some really great friends and has been succeeding in almost anything and everything that has been thrown her way. When the sorting happened along with the feast and Professor McGonagall's speech, they were about to exit to go to their common rooms, which they were led to by their house boy or girl. But if you have been at Hogwarts for a long while, you already knew the way or a shortcut just in case the stairs changed. Elizabeth had secured her spot between her friends then walked to a nearby location in the common room to continue reading her book.

When she was just about dive into the book, she heard footsteps coming her way. She already knew who's they were before her brother appeared before her. His hand fell upon her shoulder, which made her eyes stare about to make sure no one was watching her. When he mentioned that Elizabeth couldn't go around avoiding him forever, she scoff softly to herself. His fingers touched her neck and chin now, which made her seemingly compelled to his charm now. Why was she like this around her brother? When he asked her to come with him to the tower, she slumped down in the chair with a sigh as she looked off to the side.

❝Sure.❞ A word she muttered to him after two weeks of giving him the silent treatment. She closed her book then set it down onto the table that was beside the chair and stood up. ❝Lead the way, Eddy.❞ She basically commanded him while she trailed closely behind him instead of walking beside her brother. Elizabeth had already known how this conversation was going to go but she agreed to not lose her temper on him because of the echoing of the tower.

They had finally made it to the tower and she folded her arms over her chest while she leaned back first against a wall. ❝So, we're here. What now?❞ She questioned him with a little hiss. ❝Guess you want to talk about the summer, Edward?❞ Elizabeth cooed teasingly towards her brother while she pressed herself off of the wall but still her arms folded. ❝What's done is done.❞ A harsh comment escaped over her lips but she didn't hide the fact that she had rather enjoyed their erotic encounter, which was told over her facial features.

She stood there with her foot tapping the concrete floors beneath, waiting for her brother to say something or anything.​

 

[Agnes]

A small, triumphant smile crept over his face as Elizabeth melted right in front of his eyes. She might've been able to run circles around him back at the estate where they were the son and daughter of important dignitaries in the Pureblood society and as such, expected to keep up a certain level of decorum, but here at Hogwarts, they were simply two students in a sea of hundreds, and they both knew he had her cornered. Not that it would particularly matter, seeing as it was most likely his puppy eyes that won Liz over rather than the fact that she had nowhere to run.

Ed wanted to offer up some protestation about her first word after a fortnight of silence being a melancholic and disinterested grunt, but one can't win all the battles. He was just glad she was talking to him. Wordlessly, he pulled away from her, fingers trailing lightly over her neck and shoulder and lingering just a little too long before the pair slinked out of the Ravenclaw dorms quietly into the night. It was still a while before curfew, a good two hours or so, but Ed didn't want to chance anything lest their conversation ended up taking a bit longer than expected, for better or for worse.

The Astronomy tower was a favourite hangout for the two of them in their first year, before they had succumbed to a moment of madness and their world had been turned upside down. They were similar in their preference for quiet places and the spectacular views of the aurora borealis that so often appeared on the nights of the Scottish Highlands - they were technically the same person after all. But, unlike before, the place didn't hold the usual magical feeling of peace and tranquillity. Rather, it felt thick with tension, as if they had walked into a room full of bombs with their fuses lit.

Case in point - Liz turned to him with a tone that can only be described as hostile. Ed's brows knitted annoyedly at her attitude, folding his arms in turn as he faced her, leaning against the window to feel the breeze of the night air blowing against his back. He might need it, in case things turned sour. "What else is there to talk about, Liz?" he asked lightly, humour lightly masking the confusion and hurt he carried beneath. Edward. The name felt sickeningly foreign on her tongue. He much preferred the affectionate Eddy she so often used, but he supposed this just reflected the general state of things. Apparently, they were back to being strangers.

"What's done is done," he confirmed, parroting her. "So what's with the attitude? Did you just suddenly decide you don't want to talk to me anymore?" A heated exhale, and he left his post by the window to advance towards her, slowly and without menace, but certainly with purpose. His chestnut hued eyes glazed over her pretty features, accentuated by the faint moonlight invading the tower. "It's not like you didn't like it or I forced it on you," he continued, eyes boring into their doppelgangers. Did she forget that they had spent all sixteen years of their life together and that he could read her like a book?

"We're twins, for fuck's sake. We never hide anything from each other. We don't play hide and seek and run around each other like some fresh couple. If something happened, just tell me. If you don't ever want to do it again, tell me." His voice, despite being barely more than a hushed whisper, was audibly passionate and filled with a mixture of emotions - anger, worry, hurt, love. Suddenly, he was right in front of her, one hand planted firmly on the wall beside her face, his height looming over hers, essentially trapping her between his body and the wall.

He tilted his head, knitted brows relaxing a little. He caught a whiff of her scent - sweet and mild, traces of citrus. He swallowed, his voice now softer and pleading again."But you don't get to ignore me like this. I know what we did was wrong, alright? I admit it. I've apologised liked a dozen times. I just want my sister back, Liz. Talk to me. Tell me what you want."