Secrets Only Trouble Knows - George Weasley

01 - Twelve Years Later

"Oi, oi!"

A loud shout pulled me abruptly out of sleep, completely dissolving the very peaceful dream I'd just been enjoying. I groaned disapprovingly, which then immediately earned me a sharp smack to my face with something big.

"Wake up, idiot!"

"Ow, what the hell?" I whined.

I was fairly certain who had just struck me with what I now realized must have been one of my pillows, but I groggily opened my eyes to get a look at the impish culprit anyway. Clambered over top of me on my bed with his taunting, grinning face peering down at me was none other than my twin brother.

"God, Jasper, you're such a little shit," I muttered, quickly covering my face with both of my palms.

I'd noticed instantly that on top of smothering and pummeling me, he'd smartly drawn the blinds to my windows already too, allowing copious amounts of sunlight into my room to blind my poor unadjusted eyes — another one of his tactics he'd learned over the years to incentivize me to get up in the mornings.

"Yeah, yeah, you've called me worse before," was all he said in return with a lighthearted roll of his eyes. "Come on, sunshine, it's time to get out of bed. Mum's almost finished with cooking breakfast. Then we'll need to be off to the station by a quarter after ten to make sure we have enough time to get to the platform."

"Yes, I'm aware of what's on the schedule for the day. But did you really have to wake me up like that just now to relay such information to me?" I raised a brow. "Couldn't have given me a nice hug or gently whisper, 'Good morning, Nova' in my ear like a good brother?"

"Yeah, because that's totally all it takes to wake your ass up," he scoffed sarcastically. "'Course I could've tried those things. I could've been nice. I just didn't want to be. Duh," he shrugged with a smirk.

It was moments like these when I doubted people who said having a sibling was one of life's greatest blessings.

"Right," I sighed. "Well, if you want me to get up I need you to move, don't I?" I said pointedly, reminding him of the fact that he was still currently trapping me underneath his larger body. "Get off me, I can hardly breathe. You're practically crushing me."

Instead of obliging, Jasper only gasped sharply, giving me an appalled sort of look as he laid one hand delicately to his chest.

"Are you calling me fat, Nova?" he feigned hurt.

"Oh, Merlin, you're absolutely ridiculous," I said, and shoved him backward with a hand on his chest.

He fell onto the bed at my feet, laughing, as I pushed myself up into a seated position.

"Jesus, you're getting harder and harder to crack in the mornings," he commented with a chuckle, standing to his feet. "You know there's more to life than sleeping, right?"

"Hardly," I refuted. "When I'm asleep I can have dreams where you don't exist and am reminded of what peace and quiet is like," I smiled sickly sweet.

"Oh, but you love me," he said, strolling over to my door.

"Do I? That's up for debate, actually. Jury's still out," I shrugged, sucking my teeth.

Jasper shook his head and smiled, reaching for the handle of my door. He pulled it open, then paused to tease me, "Oh, and you look like troll shit, by the way. Shower and put yourself together. We're going back to school today, for Godric's sake!"

"Oh, just get out!" I yelled.

I grabbed the pillow he'd smacked me with earlier and chucked it at him across the room. My attempt was half-hearted, though, as a result of the sleepiness I still felt, and to my dismay he leapt out the door before it even hit him. As I heard his booming laughter while he tumbled all the way down the stairs and into the kitchen, I flipped him off with both hands.