Assumptions

Chapter 3, Alone

Lorcan was sitting at the Ravenclaw table in the Great Hall, his eyes firmly trained on the Daily Prophet. Lucy often came down to breakfast late, which meant that he usually had to save her a piece of toast or a glass of pumpkin juice. He didn't mind, but he always felt a little nervous when she still wasn't anywhere in sight when there was five minutes left for class. Luckily, today was not that case. There was still a good 40 minutes left before it was time to leave for Potions, which meant Lorcan had plenty of time to enjoy his breakfast and read the Prophet in peace.

He was hastily shovelling scrambled eggs into his mouth, while reading the current article, when he felt someone drop onto the bare space beside him. Lorcan looked up, his forkful of eggs halfway to his mouth. His brother, Lysander, was sitting in the seat next to him, grinning widely.

"Hey, Lorc," he said. Lorcan fought the urge to correct him; he hated that nickname. Time and time again, he had asked is brother to call him Lore if he was going to have a nickname.

Lorcan swallowed the food that was already in his mouth, and put his fork down. He took a sip of his Pumpkin Juice and wiped his mouth with his napkin, and folded up the Prophet, taking good care to spend as long as possible before he answered his brother.

"Hello, Lysander… What are you doing?" he asked, not meeting Lysander's eyes.

"I want to talk to you- jeez, can't I have a friendly, relaxed conversation with my dear brother?" Lysander replied, grinning widely, obviously joking.

Lorcan didn't smile back. It was three -quarters through the school year, and Lysander had personally sought his brother out to 'speak' to him a total of two times.

Lysander must have sensed his brother's disbelief, because he sighed, before saying, "Look, I want us to spend some time together. I've hardly seen you all year… You are my brother, you know."

Lorcan shrugged, and picked up his fork again, putting more food into his mouth, thus preventing him from talking to his brother.

Lysander slid closer to him, and knelt his elbows on the table; a habit he knew Lorcan hated.

"How about we go outside for a bit? It's a Friday; you can't possibly have anywhere to be for at least another hour. I'm free- totally free! Come one, let's go," he said, jumping up out of his seat, tugging at his brother's arm.

Lorcan stumbled up from his seat as Lysander dragged him mercilessly out of the Great Hall, the lone forkful of eggs clattering to the floor.

...

"Ah, this is the life, isn't it, Lorcan? Hey, what do you prefer? Lorcie? Lorc? Can?" Lysander flies the suggestions around freely, lying back on the grassy hill with his legs crossed.

Slumping down next to his brother, Lorcan pushed a curly lock of golden hair out of his eyes,

"Not Lorc. Lore, maybe-," he began to reply, before he was interrupted.

"So Lorc, what've you been doing? I hardly see you around anymore, and when I do you're with Crazy," Lysander asked.

Lorcan looked at his twin strangely. "Crazy?"

"Yeah, you know… She's really little, blonde… Has kind of a spacey look; that's why we call her Crazy," Lysander clarified.

Lorcan was fuming- how dare they call Lucy crazy? Admittedly, she was very little, very blonde and very spacey, but she wasn't crazy!

"Lucy's not crazy. Don't call her that. Ever."

Lysander's eyes widened in shock. "Look, sorry Lorcie. Didn't mean to make you nervy…"

Lorcan turned away, his eyes darkening.

"Hey, I really am sorry; I promise, I won't call her that again, ever. Look at me!" Lysander tugged his brother's chin towards him so that Lorcan was forced to make eye contact.

Lysander's eyes were electric and fierce.

"I promise not to call her crazy, okay? She's weird though, you've got to admit."

Lorcan couldn't help himself as he smiled at the comment. Of course Lucy was weird. She was the definition of weird. When Lysander saw the beginning of a smile on Lorcan's face, he jumped to it immediately, grinning madly.

Lorcan didn't think it was totally unrealistic for the possibility that he and his twin could still be friends… It seemed as though Lysander was actually trying this time. Lorcan began to smile fully, opening the slightest opportunity for the pair to relax.

"SANDER! MY BROTHER!"

Jeremy Walsh came bounding down the grounds, his Gryffindor tie waving in the breeze. Lorcan shifted uncomfortably, as a whole crowd of Lysander's Gryffindor buddies followed after Jeremy.

Lysander rose immediately, high-fiving his friends and punching each other on the shoulder. Things that Lorcan had never done in his life.

"What are you doing down here, man? We've been down at the pitch- messing around a bit. What have you been doing that was more important than pitch-time?" Jeremy shouts, rubbing his knuckle on Lysander's head, grinning widely.

Lysander ducked out from under Jeremy's hold and stood back a little, smiling.

"Nothing Jere, just sitting. We ready to go?" Lysander asked, slapping his hands together in anticipation.

It was then that Lorcan felt a punch in his stomach.

Nothing Jere, just sitting.

Lorcan could only watch as his brother ran off with his friends to the Quidditch pitch, giving no sign that he had previously promised his sibling a chat.

He got up off the grass and dusted off his shorts, desperately trying to loosen the knot in his stomach. Slowly, Lorcan began to walk back towards the Great Hall, all the while building up resentment against his brother. Lysander was so lucky- he had never had any trouble whatsoever in being 'effortlessly cool'. He was born to be adored, so it was only natural that he should leave his twin behind.

As he pondered it, Lorcan realised that he wasn't in any way similar to his brother- where Lysander was popular, Lorcan was invisible. Where Lysander was charming, Lorcan was sullen. Where Lysander was important, Lorcan was unnoticed. As he trudged back to his table, a whirlpool of questions mixed through his head. Was his brother ashamed of Lorcan? He wasn't in any way shape or form popular, and he had no idea how exactly a game of Quidditch operated.

He was so busy concerning himself with his brother that he almost didn't feel the familiar body plop down in the seat next to him. A fork with a quivering clump of cold egg was dropped onto his plate, and Lorcan looked up grinning, all of his previous poisonous thoughts vanquished as he looked t Lucy.

"Hey partner. Where's my toast?" Lucy asked, reaching over for a sip of Lorcan's Pumpkin Juice.

"Oh, sorry Luce. I totally forgot… Here, there is some of mine left over if you'll be okay with that," he said, shaking his head at his own forgetfulness.

"No worries, I'll get something later on after class. Why'd you forget the toast? That's so big in the galaxy of unheard of, it's practically a planet," she said, tipping the last few drops of Lorcan's Pumpkin Juice down her throat.

"Um, I was talking to Lysander," he replied, zipping up his bag. Lorcan could feel Lucy's curiosity, but she didn't push it. It was something he really liked about her. She let things go.

"Well alright Mr Popular, let's get to Potions. There's about 15 minutes till we're due, but I want to just sit for a while, yeah?" she asked, slinging her pack over her body.

Lorcan nodded, smiling slightly, as he got up, leaving the Great Hall with Lucy. He didn't cast an eye anywhere in the general direction of the Pitch.

Author's Note: First off, I am so, so, so incredibly sorry for the long wait. I'm terrible, I know. I haven't had inspiration for a while, so again, apologies my very few readers. To mcfuz who I know waited far too long for this, the next one will hopefully be much shorter. Please Review, anyone. I'd love it if you did. Xo