A Thin Line 4/?
Oliver moved closer to the bed and took Percy’s hand gently in his own. He reached out and brushed a stray strand of hair off his forehead.
“Oh Percy, who could have done this to you?” he said disbelievingly.
Aubrey came up behind him and placed a hand on his shoulder. He turned to look at her and she could see tears forming in his eyes.
“You know him then?” she asked gently.
Oliver nodded and looked back down at Percy’s frail form.
“He was my best friend. We were the only guys sorted into Gryffindor in our year.”
Oliver bounced into the dorm and plopped down onto his bed. He stared up at the canopy, trying to decide which posters he should hang there. Once he’d made a decision he went to his trunk and started pulling everything out, tossing books and clothes around the room as he searched for the right poster.
He’d just tossed a pair of questionably clean socks over his shoulder when he heard someone squeak behind him. He turned around and saw a small, thin boy with red hair, a pair of thick framed glasses, too big for his face, and Oliver’s socks on top of his head.
“Um, I think you dropped this.” He said in a small voice, taking the socks from his head and holding them out.
“Oh, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to throw my socks at you.” Oliver said, getting up and taking the socks.
“It’s alright, I’m used to it. I have five brothers.” The redhead said as he made his way over to his bed.
“Five! Wow, you’re lucky, I don’t even have one!” Oliver exclaimed, bouncing over to his new roommate’s bed.
The redhead eyed him warily as he began unpacking his trunk, anyone who though having five brothers was lucky needed their head examined.He carefully placed his neatly folded clothes in the dresser that had been allotted to him.
“I’m Oliver by the way.” Oliver said, putting his hand out.
“Percy.” The redhead answered, taking Oliver’s offered hand.
“So what’s your favorite Quidditch team?” Oliver asked, trying to make conversation.
“I don’t have one.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t really like Quidditch.”
Oliver just stared at him in shock. How could anyone not like Quidditch? That was like not liking breathing!
“How can you not like Quidditch? Quidditch is the best!”
“I just don’t see the point in flying around at ridiculously high speeds, chasing after a ball while trying to avoid a couple of cannon balls spelled specifically to try to hit you.” Percy explained calmly.
“But it’s fun! “Oliver exclaimed.
“Sorry, I just don’t like it.”
“Well what do you like then?”
“I like to read.”
“Me too! I’ve read ‘Quidditch Through The Ages’ twelve times!”
Percy just looked at him. He wanted to tell him that ‘Quidditch Through The Ages’ wasn’t a real book but knew that it would be impolite. So he just smiled and continued unpacking. Oliver just continued to sit on the bed, looking at him expectantly. Percy sighed, obviously the boy couldn’t take a hint.
“Aren’t you going to unpack your trunk?” Percy asked.
“What? Oh, there’s plenty of time for that later, I’d rather get to know you right now.”
“Why?” Percy asked, more than a little surprised, usually people just avoided him.
“Well, we’re going to be living together for the next seven years and I just thought it would be a good idea to get to know each other, so we can be friends,”
“Y…you want to be my friend?” Percy asked uncertainly.
“Of course!” Oliver exclaimed, trying to figure out why that would be surprising.
“O…okay.” Percy said , blushing.
Oliver beamed and stood up to sling an arm around Percy’s shoulders. Percy stiffened initially; living with the twins had made him wary of physical contact, but he soon relaxed and returned the embrace, if a bit awkwardly
“We’re going to be the best of friends, I can tell.” Oliver said, squeezing Percy’s shoulder.
Percy just smiled back shyly and nodded.
“We weren’t a very likely pair, but we understood each other. At least I thought we did.” Oliver said.
“What happened?” Aubrey asked.
“I don’t rightly know. Everything was fine up until our sixth year. He started getting secretive and he would snap at me if I asked him where he’d been. It was like he was becoming a different person. I thought it was just stress, or worry over Ginny.”
“Ginny?”
“His little sister. It was her first year and she had been acting strange all year. She looked sick a lot and I know he was worried. Turns out he was right to be.”
“Why, what happened to her?”
Oliver briefly explained the events of their sixth year and all that had happened to little Ginny Weasley. When he finished Aubrey just stared at him, horrorstruck.
“That’s awful.”
“Yeah it was. Percy was real broken up when she disappeared. He blamed himself, for not paying closer attention to her.”
“But he couldn’t have known.”
“That’s what I told him. He was so upset, he told me he just wanted to be alone and then he ran off. I was the one who went to find him and tell him about Ginny being found. Though I really wish I hadn’t.
“Why?”
“Because, that’s when I made the mistake that ended our friendship.”
Oliver made his way up to the owlery to see if Percy was still there. He found the redhead sitting in the corner, arms wrapped around his legs, head resting on his knees. He moved closer and he could see Percy’s slight frame shaking from the soft sobs escaping him.
“Percy?”
The Prefect jumped and furiously began wiping away at his eyes with his sleeve, not wanting anyone to see him crying.
“Oliver, what are you doing here? I thought I told you I wanted to be alone.”
‘Ay, you did but I just thought you’d like to know that Ginny’s been found, alive.” Oliver said, unable to hide the smile from his face.
Percy jumped up and ran to Oliver, clutching at his robes. He stared t Oliver with wide, frantic eyes.”
“S..she’s alive, she’s okay?”
“She’s a little banged up but she’ll be okay. Your brother and Harry rescued her.”
Oliver could see the relief wash over Percy’s delicate face. He wasn’t wearing his glasses and Oliver was suddenly struck by how very blue Percy’s eyes were. He’d never really gotten the chance to see them this close before without those clunky glasses that were still too big for him. He’d had feelings for Percy since the end of third year but he’d decided never to act on them. Their friendship meant more to him than that. But right now, staring into Percy’s tear-filled, deep blue eyes, he couldn’t help himself. He lifted his hand to brush a tear from Percy’s lightly freckled cheek. Percy’s eyes fluttered closed at the contact and Oliver was powerless to stop himself from leaning forward and pressing his lips to his friends. Percy gasped slightly at the contact and Oliver took the opportunity to slip his tongue into Percy’s warm, sweet mouth. His hand continued to stroke Percy’s cheek while the other moved up to tangle in Percy’s curls. Percy let out a soft moan that made Oliver’s stomach flip and pull Percy closer, devouring his mouth.
Then he felt Percy’s hands on his shoulders and it took him a moment to realize that Percy was trying to push him away. He broke the kiss and released his hold on the boy. Percy backed away slightlyrubbing the back of his hand across his mouth.
“W…what was that?” Percy demanded.
“Perce, I…I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me.” Oliver stuttered, reaching for the redhead.
Percy backed away until his back hit the wall. He just kept staring, bewildered at the Quidditch captain.
“Percy please, I’m sorry.”
“I…I have to go” Percy stammered before fleeing the room.
Oliver watched him go then slumped down onto the floor, cursing himself to hell.
“He stopped talking to me after that. He avoided me whenever possible and wouldn’t respond to any of the letters I sent him. “Oliver said dejectedly.
“Oh Ollie, I’m so sorry.” Aubrey said, placing a hand on Oliver’s shoulder.
“I just wish I could take that moment back. If I hadn’t kissed him we’d still be friends and then maybe he wouldn’t have gotten hurt.”
“Oliver, you don’t know that.”
“You said it looked as if he was being abused. If we were still friends I would have noticed if someone were beating him. I could have done something!” Oliver growled in frustration.
“Oliver, please calm down. You’re here now and if my suspicions are correct he’s going to need care and support. Victims of domestic violence often blame themselves for the attacks, it’s even worse when rape is involved. I’ve seen patients…..” She was cut off when Oliver gripped her shoulders and stared at her.
“W…what did you just say?” he asked shakily.
“That he may blame himself for….”
“No not that, Did you say he was…he was r…raped?”
Aubrey went over what she had said in her mind and mentally slapped herself for being so stupid.
“Oliver….”she began, but Oliver cut her off once more.
“Aubrey, please tell me the truth.” He begged, pain evident in his hazel eyes.
Aubrey sighed, knowing Oliver wasn’t going to let this go. She mentally slapped herself again for having such a big mouth.
“When we examined him, there were some signs of recent sexual trauma.” She said softly, looking away.
Tears sprung to Oliver’s eyes and he didn’t even attempt to stop them. He took Percy’s hand in his own once more a squeezed it tightly.
“Oh Percy, I’m so sorry I wasn’t there for you. I promise you, I will find the bastard that did this to you and I will make them pay. I’ll make them regret ever laying a finger on you.” He vowed.
*************************************************************************************
A few miles away Marcus Flint pulled his head out of the fireplace and stood. He’d just finished speaking with Minister Thickness, telling him Percy was feeling sick and that he wouldn’t be back to work for a while. Thickness had just shrugged it off and told him to let Percy know he’d be expected to catch up on all his work once he returned.
Marcus went into the bedroom and sat on the bed. He picked up Percy’s wand from the bedside table and twirled it between his fingers. He knew Percy couldn’t have gotten very far without his wand and now that he’d made sure the Minister wouldn’t be looking for the little bitch he had plenty of time to find him, and when he did, he’d make sure Percy would suffer.
“Oh Percy, who could have done this to you?” he said disbelievingly.
Aubrey came up behind him and placed a hand on his shoulder. He turned to look at her and she could see tears forming in his eyes.
“You know him then?” she asked gently.
Oliver nodded and looked back down at Percy’s frail form.
“He was my best friend. We were the only guys sorted into Gryffindor in our year.”
Oliver bounced into the dorm and plopped down onto his bed. He stared up at the canopy, trying to decide which posters he should hang there. Once he’d made a decision he went to his trunk and started pulling everything out, tossing books and clothes around the room as he searched for the right poster.
He’d just tossed a pair of questionably clean socks over his shoulder when he heard someone squeak behind him. He turned around and saw a small, thin boy with red hair, a pair of thick framed glasses, too big for his face, and Oliver’s socks on top of his head.
“Um, I think you dropped this.” He said in a small voice, taking the socks from his head and holding them out.
“Oh, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to throw my socks at you.” Oliver said, getting up and taking the socks.
“It’s alright, I’m used to it. I have five brothers.” The redhead said as he made his way over to his bed.
“Five! Wow, you’re lucky, I don’t even have one!” Oliver exclaimed, bouncing over to his new roommate’s bed.
The redhead eyed him warily as he began unpacking his trunk, anyone who though having five brothers was lucky needed their head examined.He carefully placed his neatly folded clothes in the dresser that had been allotted to him.
“I’m Oliver by the way.” Oliver said, putting his hand out.
“Percy.” The redhead answered, taking Oliver’s offered hand.
“So what’s your favorite Quidditch team?” Oliver asked, trying to make conversation.
“I don’t have one.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t really like Quidditch.”
Oliver just stared at him in shock. How could anyone not like Quidditch? That was like not liking breathing!
“How can you not like Quidditch? Quidditch is the best!”
“I just don’t see the point in flying around at ridiculously high speeds, chasing after a ball while trying to avoid a couple of cannon balls spelled specifically to try to hit you.” Percy explained calmly.
“But it’s fun! “Oliver exclaimed.
“Sorry, I just don’t like it.”
“Well what do you like then?”
“I like to read.”
“Me too! I’ve read ‘Quidditch Through The Ages’ twelve times!”
Percy just looked at him. He wanted to tell him that ‘Quidditch Through The Ages’ wasn’t a real book but knew that it would be impolite. So he just smiled and continued unpacking. Oliver just continued to sit on the bed, looking at him expectantly. Percy sighed, obviously the boy couldn’t take a hint.
“Aren’t you going to unpack your trunk?” Percy asked.
“What? Oh, there’s plenty of time for that later, I’d rather get to know you right now.”
“Why?” Percy asked, more than a little surprised, usually people just avoided him.
“Well, we’re going to be living together for the next seven years and I just thought it would be a good idea to get to know each other, so we can be friends,”
“Y…you want to be my friend?” Percy asked uncertainly.
“Of course!” Oliver exclaimed, trying to figure out why that would be surprising.
“O…okay.” Percy said , blushing.
Oliver beamed and stood up to sling an arm around Percy’s shoulders. Percy stiffened initially; living with the twins had made him wary of physical contact, but he soon relaxed and returned the embrace, if a bit awkwardly
“We’re going to be the best of friends, I can tell.” Oliver said, squeezing Percy’s shoulder.
Percy just smiled back shyly and nodded.
“We weren’t a very likely pair, but we understood each other. At least I thought we did.” Oliver said.
“What happened?” Aubrey asked.
“I don’t rightly know. Everything was fine up until our sixth year. He started getting secretive and he would snap at me if I asked him where he’d been. It was like he was becoming a different person. I thought it was just stress, or worry over Ginny.”
“Ginny?”
“His little sister. It was her first year and she had been acting strange all year. She looked sick a lot and I know he was worried. Turns out he was right to be.”
“Why, what happened to her?”
Oliver briefly explained the events of their sixth year and all that had happened to little Ginny Weasley. When he finished Aubrey just stared at him, horrorstruck.
“That’s awful.”
“Yeah it was. Percy was real broken up when she disappeared. He blamed himself, for not paying closer attention to her.”
“But he couldn’t have known.”
“That’s what I told him. He was so upset, he told me he just wanted to be alone and then he ran off. I was the one who went to find him and tell him about Ginny being found. Though I really wish I hadn’t.
“Why?”
“Because, that’s when I made the mistake that ended our friendship.”
Oliver made his way up to the owlery to see if Percy was still there. He found the redhead sitting in the corner, arms wrapped around his legs, head resting on his knees. He moved closer and he could see Percy’s slight frame shaking from the soft sobs escaping him.
“Percy?”
The Prefect jumped and furiously began wiping away at his eyes with his sleeve, not wanting anyone to see him crying.
“Oliver, what are you doing here? I thought I told you I wanted to be alone.”
‘Ay, you did but I just thought you’d like to know that Ginny’s been found, alive.” Oliver said, unable to hide the smile from his face.
Percy jumped up and ran to Oliver, clutching at his robes. He stared t Oliver with wide, frantic eyes.”
“S..she’s alive, she’s okay?”
“She’s a little banged up but she’ll be okay. Your brother and Harry rescued her.”
Oliver could see the relief wash over Percy’s delicate face. He wasn’t wearing his glasses and Oliver was suddenly struck by how very blue Percy’s eyes were. He’d never really gotten the chance to see them this close before without those clunky glasses that were still too big for him. He’d had feelings for Percy since the end of third year but he’d decided never to act on them. Their friendship meant more to him than that. But right now, staring into Percy’s tear-filled, deep blue eyes, he couldn’t help himself. He lifted his hand to brush a tear from Percy’s lightly freckled cheek. Percy’s eyes fluttered closed at the contact and Oliver was powerless to stop himself from leaning forward and pressing his lips to his friends. Percy gasped slightly at the contact and Oliver took the opportunity to slip his tongue into Percy’s warm, sweet mouth. His hand continued to stroke Percy’s cheek while the other moved up to tangle in Percy’s curls. Percy let out a soft moan that made Oliver’s stomach flip and pull Percy closer, devouring his mouth.
Then he felt Percy’s hands on his shoulders and it took him a moment to realize that Percy was trying to push him away. He broke the kiss and released his hold on the boy. Percy backed away slightlyrubbing the back of his hand across his mouth.
“W…what was that?” Percy demanded.
“Perce, I…I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me.” Oliver stuttered, reaching for the redhead.
Percy backed away until his back hit the wall. He just kept staring, bewildered at the Quidditch captain.
“Percy please, I’m sorry.”
“I…I have to go” Percy stammered before fleeing the room.
Oliver watched him go then slumped down onto the floor, cursing himself to hell.
“He stopped talking to me after that. He avoided me whenever possible and wouldn’t respond to any of the letters I sent him. “Oliver said dejectedly.
“Oh Ollie, I’m so sorry.” Aubrey said, placing a hand on Oliver’s shoulder.
“I just wish I could take that moment back. If I hadn’t kissed him we’d still be friends and then maybe he wouldn’t have gotten hurt.”
“Oliver, you don’t know that.”
“You said it looked as if he was being abused. If we were still friends I would have noticed if someone were beating him. I could have done something!” Oliver growled in frustration.
“Oliver, please calm down. You’re here now and if my suspicions are correct he’s going to need care and support. Victims of domestic violence often blame themselves for the attacks, it’s even worse when rape is involved. I’ve seen patients…..” She was cut off when Oliver gripped her shoulders and stared at her.
“W…what did you just say?” he asked shakily.
“That he may blame himself for….”
“No not that, Did you say he was…he was r…raped?”
Aubrey went over what she had said in her mind and mentally slapped herself for being so stupid.
“Oliver….”she began, but Oliver cut her off once more.
“Aubrey, please tell me the truth.” He begged, pain evident in his hazel eyes.
Aubrey sighed, knowing Oliver wasn’t going to let this go. She mentally slapped herself again for having such a big mouth.
“When we examined him, there were some signs of recent sexual trauma.” She said softly, looking away.
Tears sprung to Oliver’s eyes and he didn’t even attempt to stop them. He took Percy’s hand in his own once more a squeezed it tightly.
“Oh Percy, I’m so sorry I wasn’t there for you. I promise you, I will find the bastard that did this to you and I will make them pay. I’ll make them regret ever laying a finger on you.” He vowed.
*************************************************************************************
A few miles away Marcus Flint pulled his head out of the fireplace and stood. He’d just finished speaking with Minister Thickness, telling him Percy was feeling sick and that he wouldn’t be back to work for a while. Thickness had just shrugged it off and told him to let Percy know he’d be expected to catch up on all his work once he returned.
Marcus went into the bedroom and sat on the bed. He picked up Percy’s wand from the bedside table and twirled it between his fingers. He knew Percy couldn’t have gotten very far without his wand and now that he’d made sure the Minister wouldn’t be looking for the little bitch he had plenty of time to find him, and when he did, he’d make sure Percy would suffer.