Fic Exchange: Fic for pointblankdarcy
For: Nadia/pointblankdarcy of Ravenclaw
# of words: 3,443
Title: There's No Logic To Human Behavior, But Yet So Irresistible
Rating/warnings: PG
Characters/Pairings: Oliver Wood/Percy Weasley
Summary: Oliver's seventh year takes an interesting turn as he discovers there's more to life than Quidditch.
Author's Notes: This fic had a life of its own, it just wouldn't stop writing itself. I hope you like it :) I didn't have time to get it beta'd, so all grammar/punctuation errors are mine (tried to keep the spelling as correct as possible). Also, the (extremely long) title is from Bjork's song "Human Behavior". Okay, enough with the rambling, here's the fic, especially for you :D
For Oliver Wood, summer holidays were the perfect opportunity to create new and improved tactics and to plan training sessions in the smallest detail. He would spend long days locked upstairs in his room, coming down just to eat (and even that only after repeated calls from his mother) and at night he'd sneak out of his house to ride his broom. He liked flying at night because it was dark and the chances of Muggles seeing him were very slim, but it was not only Muggles he feared. He was always wary of potential spies from the other house teams from Hogwarts, especially his biggest rival, Marcus Flint. He would send owls to the rest of the team throughout the summer months with updated tactics and new moves to try out, but he never got any answers. Well, apart from the occasional rants from the Weasley twins, but those didn't count.
But with two weeks to go before the start of his seventh and final year at Hogwarts, he received a letter brought by a pompous looking screech owl. At first, he thought it was either Angelina telling him to "Chillax" (whatever that meant) or the Weasleys making fun of him. But surprisingly, it wasn't from any of them.
Dear Oliver,
I just wanted to tell you that you're a great captain and one of the best Gryffindor Keepers ever. Keep up the good work and don't let anyone put you off!
A secret admirer
Oh, this was unusual. A secret admirer? Who could it have been? He dismissed it as one of Flint's dirty attempts to distract him from his duty as captain and put the letter in his Transfiguration book, not giving it another thought for the remainder of the holidays.
-
Oliver was very excited about his last year at Hogwarts. He was sure that this year, Gryffindor would finally win the Quidditch Cup and make his dream come true. So when he went downstairs for breakfast on the first morning of the term, everything seemed brighter and better than usual.
"Oliver!" He heard someone yelling his name and turned around. It was Percy Weasley, one of the fellow Gryffindor seventh years.
"Hello, Percy!" He replied, taking a seat next to the other boy. "How was your summer holiday?"
"It was very productive. I studied intensely and now I am confident I have what it takes to pass all the N.E.W.T.s with excellent grades, thus paving my way to become the youngest Minister for Magic in history."
How typical of Percy, Oliver thought as he filled his plate with scrambled eggs, toast, sausages and almost everything else on the table. He always spoke as if he had just swallowed a dictionary and was so pompous he made Nearly Headless Nick seem like a uneducated peasant. He'd make the perfect Minister.
"And what about you, Oliver?" Oh, this was new. Percy had never asked him anything not related to schoolwork, never in six years. Probably this was his attempt at small talk.
"It was great. I had plenty of time to do everything that I planned to do and got enough rest to take me through this final year here. And trust me, Percy, this year is our year, we'll take that Cup for Gryffindor!" Oliver winked as he took a bite of toast.
"Great! I see you've managed to find a new Chaser tactic!"
"What?" Oliver nearly choked on his toast. Percy knew about his tactics? "Uhm, how exactly do you know about my Chaser tactics? They're top secret!"
Percy certainly wasn't expecting this suspicious reaction from Oliver, so he was caught off guard and started stuttering.
"Uhm, well, from…from Fred and George of course! Huh, you know them, they always complain about the letters you send them."
"Fred and George read the letters I sent them? Hmm, I was convinced they just threw them away as soon as they saw them."
"Did we hear our names?" The twins appeared behind Percy and Oliver, with their trademark mischievous smirks.
"Hello, Fred, hello, George. Percy was just telling me that you complained about my letters."
"Letters? You sent us letters? Did we get any letters from this git, Fred?"
"Definitely not. You must be dreaming, Wood. You should really get checked up by Madame Pomfrey. We wouldn't want our captain to go nuts, would we?" Fred winked and George gave an approving laugh.
"What were you talking about with Percy anyways? Did he tell you about his fascinating summer?" Fred went on, rolling his eyes in the direction of his older brother.
"Yeah, extremely exciting summer, right Perce? He spent two whole months locked in his room, memorizing every line from 'Prefects Who Gained Power'!"
Right when Percy was about to reprimand them, Lee Jordan came to take them away to the common room to show them his newest pet.
"Probably thinks he's got a dragon or a baby Fwooper. Wouldn't be beyond that irresponsible fool to try and keep something like that as a pet." Oliver said, glad that he didn't have to endure the twins' taunts anymore.
"As Head Boy, I'll make sure no creature outside the permitted list of animals will be tolerated in the common room. Now, we should get going, we've got Potions and you know Snape doesn't like his students to be late."
"Yeah, you're right. We're done here anyway."
-
The first two months of the term went by quickly, with homework and classes taking up most of their time. Far from being exhausted by his enormous workload, Oliver was as fresh as ever when it came to practice. He was the first one to arrive on the pitch and the last one to leave (normal behavior from a captain, he thought) and everything seemed to go well. His performance in class had also increased, mainly because he had become good friends with Percy and they did their homework together. Come to think about it, Oliver and Percy had become rather inseparable. They sat together in Potions, were partners in Charms and in Transfiguration and spent most of their time studying together either in the library or in the common room when it was quiet enough. Oliver couldn't believe that he'd shared a dormitory with Percy for six years and hadn't even bothered to get to know him. He'd missed out on having a close friend, but he was making up for it now. And although he had never seen him show any interest in Quidditch apart from being a common spectator at the inter-house matches, he was happy to find out that Percy was actually very fond of this sport and like talking to Oliver about different moves and approaches. Of course he didn't have the technical expertise that Oliver had after so many years of playing on the team, but he could definitely hold a conversation on that topic without making a fool of himself.
Everything seemed to go according to plan, but ten days before the first match of the season, against Hufflepuff, Chaser Alicia Spinnet was injured by a Blast-Ended Skrewt in Care of Magical Creatures and became unavailable to play. Wood was fuming and considered joining forces with Draco Malfoy to get Hagrid fired , but Alicia assured him that it was her fault it had happened and it was an accident that couldn't have been prevented by anyone, not even Hagrid. So he did what he had to and put up a sign-up sheet for Chaser try outs with less than two weeks to go before the match. His new Chaser tactic had died in its infancy.
"So, Oliver, did you find another Chaser?" Percy asked him after the first round of try outs.
"Not yet." He answered miserably. "Why? Do you want to try out?" A grin broke out on his face and life seemed to creep back into him.
"What?" Percy's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. "What? Me, a Chaser? No way! There's definitely no way that's happening, Oliver. That's ridiculous."
"Why? Come on, Perce, it would be great! You already know the tactics, you'd be amazing! I mean, I currently have to choose between Seamus Finnigan, who's absolutely dreadful, Colin Creevey, who's doing this just to be on the team with Potter, and Cormac McLaggen, an arrogant git that I'd rather resign than accept him in!" Oliver was already excited of the prospect of having his best friend on the team with him.
"Uhm, no. I'm not uh, not the best flier and I am definitely not team material."
"Come on! You are Charlie Weasley's brother! You can't be that bad! I mean, even my mum flies better than Finnigan, I'm sure you'd do great!"
"No, I'd rather not continue this conversation, Oliver. Let's just get back to our Astronomy charts, we have to finish them for tomorrow."
"Wait, why are you so afraid of? It's not like you're going to fall of the broom, right? I mean, you have flown before,haven't you?"
"Yeah, I have." Percy looked away reluctantly, visibly uncomfortable with this discussion. "But it's been a long time since I've last flown."
"What exactly does this 'long time' mean? A year, two?"
Percy cleared his throat and said in almost a whisper.
"Eight years."
"What?" Oliver couldn't contain his amazement. This boy was the brother of one of the best Seekers that Gryffindor ever had and he hadn't flown at all for eight years! Who did that?
"Look, I know it sounds insane and embarrassing and that's why I didn't want you to know, but I'm not a big fan of heights and flying was never a passion of mine. I prefer to feel my feet on the ground, thank you very much."
"I've got an amazing idea." Oliver's eyes lit up and his smile broadened. At the same time, Percy's frown became more visible and he pulled the Astronomy charts closer to him. "Why don't we go for a ride? It's lovely outside and we can borrow a broom for you from the locker room. Who knows, Perce, maybe you're a natural flier like Potter, then our problem would be solved!"
Percy groaned.
"No, that is as far from an amazing idea as Filch is from ever becoming Headmaster of Hogwarts! Just drop it, okay?"
"Percy, at least give it a-"
"Have you asked my sister Ginny to try out?"
"What? Ginny? No, but isn't she a second year or something?"
"Yes she is, but she's amazing! She played with George, Fred and Ron all summer so she definitely has practice."
"Fine. But you're still joining me for a flight right now. It won't hurt you so come on. I promise to never ask anything from you again." Oliver looked pleadingly at Percy and hoped that his attempt at puppy eyes would work.
"Alright. But nobody should see. It will compromise my chances of being elected Minister for Magic if I make a fool of myself in public."
"You'll have my vote anyways." Oliver winked and took Percy to the pitch, stopping on the way to get a broom for his friend.
The weather was perfect for flying. It was late afternoon so the sun was still up and strong, giving a pleasant warmth, and the gentle breeze was barely moving the remaining red and yellow leaves. Oliver wished it would be the same on the day of the game. If they were going to lose, at least they should do it in nice weather, not soaked and frozen to their bones.
"Hop up, mate." He smiled as he patted the broom next to him, which was already in the air, waiting for Percy to mount it. Hesitantly, Percy got closer and grabbed it. He slowly climbed on it, looking terrified.
"Great! Now let's fly!"
They rose in the air, Percy howling with desperation and Oliver roaring with laughter at his friend's antics. After receiving a few tips on how to control his broom, Percy seemed to relax and allowed himself to look down.
"Oh. This isn't that bad." He finally said with a small smile.
"See? Told you it's not such a big deal." Oliver smiled back. "Now that we're up here with the goalposts, let's try something more difficult." He pointed his broom in Percy's direction and went straight towards him.
"What? Oliver, what on Cornelius Fudge's bowler hat are you doing? OLIVER! STOP!" But since Oliver didn't seem to have any intention to stop, Percy was left with nothing else to do but duck to avoid a collision.
"Are you mad? Maybe Fred and George were right! You are mad!" Oliver headed towards him again and Percy had to avoid him once more. He tried to fly away, but he was followed closely by the other boy.
"This should be enough." Oliver laughed after about ten minutes of chasing Percy around.
"Oh really! Enough! Why, thank you very much!" Percy huffed as he proceeded to tidy his ruffled hair, which made Oliver laugh.
"Seriously, Perce. Stop fussing about your hair, it looks great. All Quidditch-like."
Percy suddenly stopped and blushed, his face turning as red as his hair. Then a wicked idea came into Oliver's mind to test Percy's reflexes. What if he…? Yes, that would be a good test. He was Charlie Weasley's brother after all. So he relaxed the grip on his broom and slid over.
"OLIVER!" Percy screamed as he saw him falling off his broom. Without stopping to think was he was doing, he dived after his friend and caught him mid-fall from around his waist, struggling to make space for him on the small school broomstick.
"I don't think I want to know what that was about." Percy said as he shook his head when they got safely to the ground.
"You have good reflexes and you can catch, Perce. Those are top qualities for a Chaser, you know that."
"You are definitely and irrefutably insane, Oliver. Risking your life to prove I could be on the team."
"Well, you caught me, didn't you?" Oliver smiled and suddenly realized how close they were to each other. They were still sharing the broom, even if their feet had touched the ground. Percy observed that too, because he quickly cleared his throat and stepped off the broom, blushing intensely again.
"Uhm, thank you for the ride, Oliver. We should get back to the library to finish our Astronomy homework. And no, I'm still not trying out for the team."
Oliver's groaned and complained but when he saw that it was hopeless, he just settled to follow his friend back to the castle.
-
"Percy, you're a genius!" Oliver exclaimed the following night as he pulled him into a bear hug. He felt Percy stiffen and breathe fast and let go of him, thinking that he probably broke a couple of his ribs.
"Er, thank you?" A very red and confused Percy asked as soon as he was released.
"Yes, you truly are! Ginny is amazing! She's so fast and agile and smart! She's going to be magnificent! Thank you so much for suggesting her, Perce! I might consider keeping her on the team even after Alicia gets better, she's just that fantastic!" Oliver rambled on, the huge grin threatening to break his face in two.
"Well, I'm glad I could help." He said as he tied a letter around his owl's leg. "Here you go, Hermes. Make sure to bring me the answer. And Oliver, you can head down to dinner without me. I have some Head Boy duties to attend to for the next couple of hours." And with that he strode out of the common room.
"Okay?" Oliver replied with a puzzled expression. What had he done wrong? And where was Percy sending that owl? Oh wait! That owl! It was that owl that had brought him the letter from his secret admirer! But it couldn't have been Percy, could it? All thoughts of dinner were forgotten as Oliver ran to his bag to take out his Transfiguration book and inspect the letter. He saw Percy's Charms essay lying on a table close by and compared the two handwritings. They were identical. He still couldn't believe it. It must have been some prank cooked up by the twins, trying to embarrass their Head Boy brother. But as he thought again, all the times Percy blushed whenever Oliver complimented him and how he'd clear his throat and move away whenever they stood too close to each other were contesting his prank theory. Maybe Percy really had a crush on him.
-
November passed as fast as the previous two months and the first snow had covered the school grounds. Gryffindor had recorded a landslide win against Hufflepuff thanks to Ginny Weasley and the girls applying his Chaser tactic to perfection and, of course, to Harry Potter's natural Seeker talent. Oliver had been so happy that he'd hugged Percy again after the celebration and to his surprise, he had to stifle his initial instinct to kiss him. Perhaps his knowledge that his friend had a crush on him had taken its toll on his mind. Or perhaps he was developing his own crush on Percy.
Hogsmeade weekend was approaching and Oliver decided he should stop being a coward and face his and his mate's feelings. He had missed out on a great friendship all these years because he had lived with his head in the sand and now he was not going to miss out on the chance of something more. What did he have to lose? His best friend at most, and he had managed without him for six years. So one day after Herbology, he pulled Percy away from the rest of the class and they headed towards the frozen lake.
"Is everything alright, Oliver?"
"Yes, everything's great. I was just wondering…" Okay, Wood, be a man, for Merlin's sake! , "I was wondering if you wanted to go to Hogsmeade with me." There, wasn't that hard, was it?
"Of course I'll go to Hogsmeade. I know I'm not such an enthusiast, but I do enjoy Honeydukes and I also-"
"Perce, I don't think you heard me properly. I asked if you wanted to go to Hogsmeade with me. And as subtlety is clearly not a strong point for either of us, I'll just rephrase it. Would you like to go on a date with me in Hogsmeade?"
Percy's jaw dropped and he turned as white as a sheet. He looked close to passing out.
"You…are asking me out on a date?"
"Yes, Perce, how many times do I have to say it. You. Me. Hogsmeade."
The color slowly went back to his cheeks and he croaked out a "Sure."
"Okay. Perfect. Uhm. Okay." Now this was awkward. He'd answered sure as if he'd been asked for a quill and it was not as Oliver had expected. Percy was supposed to be more articulate and they should have started a detailed conversation about the future of their relationship and what were their expectations. It shouldn't have been awkward and slightly embarrassing.
"Yeah. Perfect. I uh, I'll just go now, I'm already late for History of Magic." Oliver's mind was working in overdrive as Percy's footsteps were getting further away.
"Wait!" He yelled and ran to catch up with Percy. The without hesitation, he leaned forward and kissed the other boy's lips. They were chapped from the cold, but were soft, and, surprisingly, Percy wasn't pushing him away, but pulled him closer by his tie. The kiss was clumsy at first, with their noses bumping and Percy accidentally biting Oliver's upper lip, but they soon found their way around to overcome the awkwardness. By the time they stopped to breathe, Percy was extremely late for his class. He gave Oliver a quick peck before he ran away, hoping Professor Binns would buy his usual Head Boy excuses.
Extremely pleased with himself, Oliver sat down in the snow next to the lake, grinning from ear to ear. That's when he noticed there was a hole in the ice covering the enormous body of water. And something was staring back at him.
"Oy, Giant Squid! Did you see that? I just got myself a date with the Head Boy!" He clapped his hands together, acting as if Christmas had come early. He got up, made a snowball and threw it at the creature, hitting it squarely on the head, then left, skipping and whistling, towards the castle.
The Giant Squid gave him a disapproving look and lowered himself back into the depths of the lake, muttering "Silly humans."
# of words: 3,443
Title: There's No Logic To Human Behavior, But Yet So Irresistible
Rating/warnings: PG
Characters/Pairings: Oliver Wood/Percy Weasley
Summary: Oliver's seventh year takes an interesting turn as he discovers there's more to life than Quidditch.
Author's Notes: This fic had a life of its own, it just wouldn't stop writing itself. I hope you like it :) I didn't have time to get it beta'd, so all grammar/punctuation errors are mine (tried to keep the spelling as correct as possible). Also, the (extremely long) title is from Bjork's song "Human Behavior". Okay, enough with the rambling, here's the fic, especially for you :D
For Oliver Wood, summer holidays were the perfect opportunity to create new and improved tactics and to plan training sessions in the smallest detail. He would spend long days locked upstairs in his room, coming down just to eat (and even that only after repeated calls from his mother) and at night he'd sneak out of his house to ride his broom. He liked flying at night because it was dark and the chances of Muggles seeing him were very slim, but it was not only Muggles he feared. He was always wary of potential spies from the other house teams from Hogwarts, especially his biggest rival, Marcus Flint. He would send owls to the rest of the team throughout the summer months with updated tactics and new moves to try out, but he never got any answers. Well, apart from the occasional rants from the Weasley twins, but those didn't count.
But with two weeks to go before the start of his seventh and final year at Hogwarts, he received a letter brought by a pompous looking screech owl. At first, he thought it was either Angelina telling him to "Chillax" (whatever that meant) or the Weasleys making fun of him. But surprisingly, it wasn't from any of them.
Dear Oliver,
I just wanted to tell you that you're a great captain and one of the best Gryffindor Keepers ever. Keep up the good work and don't let anyone put you off!
A secret admirer
Oh, this was unusual. A secret admirer? Who could it have been? He dismissed it as one of Flint's dirty attempts to distract him from his duty as captain and put the letter in his Transfiguration book, not giving it another thought for the remainder of the holidays.
-
Oliver was very excited about his last year at Hogwarts. He was sure that this year, Gryffindor would finally win the Quidditch Cup and make his dream come true. So when he went downstairs for breakfast on the first morning of the term, everything seemed brighter and better than usual.
"Oliver!" He heard someone yelling his name and turned around. It was Percy Weasley, one of the fellow Gryffindor seventh years.
"Hello, Percy!" He replied, taking a seat next to the other boy. "How was your summer holiday?"
"It was very productive. I studied intensely and now I am confident I have what it takes to pass all the N.E.W.T.s with excellent grades, thus paving my way to become the youngest Minister for Magic in history."
How typical of Percy, Oliver thought as he filled his plate with scrambled eggs, toast, sausages and almost everything else on the table. He always spoke as if he had just swallowed a dictionary and was so pompous he made Nearly Headless Nick seem like a uneducated peasant. He'd make the perfect Minister.
"And what about you, Oliver?" Oh, this was new. Percy had never asked him anything not related to schoolwork, never in six years. Probably this was his attempt at small talk.
"It was great. I had plenty of time to do everything that I planned to do and got enough rest to take me through this final year here. And trust me, Percy, this year is our year, we'll take that Cup for Gryffindor!" Oliver winked as he took a bite of toast.
"Great! I see you've managed to find a new Chaser tactic!"
"What?" Oliver nearly choked on his toast. Percy knew about his tactics? "Uhm, how exactly do you know about my Chaser tactics? They're top secret!"
Percy certainly wasn't expecting this suspicious reaction from Oliver, so he was caught off guard and started stuttering.
"Uhm, well, from…from Fred and George of course! Huh, you know them, they always complain about the letters you send them."
"Fred and George read the letters I sent them? Hmm, I was convinced they just threw them away as soon as they saw them."
"Did we hear our names?" The twins appeared behind Percy and Oliver, with their trademark mischievous smirks.
"Hello, Fred, hello, George. Percy was just telling me that you complained about my letters."
"Letters? You sent us letters? Did we get any letters from this git, Fred?"
"Definitely not. You must be dreaming, Wood. You should really get checked up by Madame Pomfrey. We wouldn't want our captain to go nuts, would we?" Fred winked and George gave an approving laugh.
"What were you talking about with Percy anyways? Did he tell you about his fascinating summer?" Fred went on, rolling his eyes in the direction of his older brother.
"Yeah, extremely exciting summer, right Perce? He spent two whole months locked in his room, memorizing every line from 'Prefects Who Gained Power'!"
Right when Percy was about to reprimand them, Lee Jordan came to take them away to the common room to show them his newest pet.
"Probably thinks he's got a dragon or a baby Fwooper. Wouldn't be beyond that irresponsible fool to try and keep something like that as a pet." Oliver said, glad that he didn't have to endure the twins' taunts anymore.
"As Head Boy, I'll make sure no creature outside the permitted list of animals will be tolerated in the common room. Now, we should get going, we've got Potions and you know Snape doesn't like his students to be late."
"Yeah, you're right. We're done here anyway."
-
The first two months of the term went by quickly, with homework and classes taking up most of their time. Far from being exhausted by his enormous workload, Oliver was as fresh as ever when it came to practice. He was the first one to arrive on the pitch and the last one to leave (normal behavior from a captain, he thought) and everything seemed to go well. His performance in class had also increased, mainly because he had become good friends with Percy and they did their homework together. Come to think about it, Oliver and Percy had become rather inseparable. They sat together in Potions, were partners in Charms and in Transfiguration and spent most of their time studying together either in the library or in the common room when it was quiet enough. Oliver couldn't believe that he'd shared a dormitory with Percy for six years and hadn't even bothered to get to know him. He'd missed out on having a close friend, but he was making up for it now. And although he had never seen him show any interest in Quidditch apart from being a common spectator at the inter-house matches, he was happy to find out that Percy was actually very fond of this sport and like talking to Oliver about different moves and approaches. Of course he didn't have the technical expertise that Oliver had after so many years of playing on the team, but he could definitely hold a conversation on that topic without making a fool of himself.
Everything seemed to go according to plan, but ten days before the first match of the season, against Hufflepuff, Chaser Alicia Spinnet was injured by a Blast-Ended Skrewt in Care of Magical Creatures and became unavailable to play. Wood was fuming and considered joining forces with Draco Malfoy to get Hagrid fired , but Alicia assured him that it was her fault it had happened and it was an accident that couldn't have been prevented by anyone, not even Hagrid. So he did what he had to and put up a sign-up sheet for Chaser try outs with less than two weeks to go before the match. His new Chaser tactic had died in its infancy.
"So, Oliver, did you find another Chaser?" Percy asked him after the first round of try outs.
"Not yet." He answered miserably. "Why? Do you want to try out?" A grin broke out on his face and life seemed to creep back into him.
"What?" Percy's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. "What? Me, a Chaser? No way! There's definitely no way that's happening, Oliver. That's ridiculous."
"Why? Come on, Perce, it would be great! You already know the tactics, you'd be amazing! I mean, I currently have to choose between Seamus Finnigan, who's absolutely dreadful, Colin Creevey, who's doing this just to be on the team with Potter, and Cormac McLaggen, an arrogant git that I'd rather resign than accept him in!" Oliver was already excited of the prospect of having his best friend on the team with him.
"Uhm, no. I'm not uh, not the best flier and I am definitely not team material."
"Come on! You are Charlie Weasley's brother! You can't be that bad! I mean, even my mum flies better than Finnigan, I'm sure you'd do great!"
"No, I'd rather not continue this conversation, Oliver. Let's just get back to our Astronomy charts, we have to finish them for tomorrow."
"Wait, why are you so afraid of? It's not like you're going to fall of the broom, right? I mean, you have flown before,haven't you?"
"Yeah, I have." Percy looked away reluctantly, visibly uncomfortable with this discussion. "But it's been a long time since I've last flown."
"What exactly does this 'long time' mean? A year, two?"
Percy cleared his throat and said in almost a whisper.
"Eight years."
"What?" Oliver couldn't contain his amazement. This boy was the brother of one of the best Seekers that Gryffindor ever had and he hadn't flown at all for eight years! Who did that?
"Look, I know it sounds insane and embarrassing and that's why I didn't want you to know, but I'm not a big fan of heights and flying was never a passion of mine. I prefer to feel my feet on the ground, thank you very much."
"I've got an amazing idea." Oliver's eyes lit up and his smile broadened. At the same time, Percy's frown became more visible and he pulled the Astronomy charts closer to him. "Why don't we go for a ride? It's lovely outside and we can borrow a broom for you from the locker room. Who knows, Perce, maybe you're a natural flier like Potter, then our problem would be solved!"
Percy groaned.
"No, that is as far from an amazing idea as Filch is from ever becoming Headmaster of Hogwarts! Just drop it, okay?"
"Percy, at least give it a-"
"Have you asked my sister Ginny to try out?"
"What? Ginny? No, but isn't she a second year or something?"
"Yes she is, but she's amazing! She played with George, Fred and Ron all summer so she definitely has practice."
"Fine. But you're still joining me for a flight right now. It won't hurt you so come on. I promise to never ask anything from you again." Oliver looked pleadingly at Percy and hoped that his attempt at puppy eyes would work.
"Alright. But nobody should see. It will compromise my chances of being elected Minister for Magic if I make a fool of myself in public."
"You'll have my vote anyways." Oliver winked and took Percy to the pitch, stopping on the way to get a broom for his friend.
The weather was perfect for flying. It was late afternoon so the sun was still up and strong, giving a pleasant warmth, and the gentle breeze was barely moving the remaining red and yellow leaves. Oliver wished it would be the same on the day of the game. If they were going to lose, at least they should do it in nice weather, not soaked and frozen to their bones.
"Hop up, mate." He smiled as he patted the broom next to him, which was already in the air, waiting for Percy to mount it. Hesitantly, Percy got closer and grabbed it. He slowly climbed on it, looking terrified.
"Great! Now let's fly!"
They rose in the air, Percy howling with desperation and Oliver roaring with laughter at his friend's antics. After receiving a few tips on how to control his broom, Percy seemed to relax and allowed himself to look down.
"Oh. This isn't that bad." He finally said with a small smile.
"See? Told you it's not such a big deal." Oliver smiled back. "Now that we're up here with the goalposts, let's try something more difficult." He pointed his broom in Percy's direction and went straight towards him.
"What? Oliver, what on Cornelius Fudge's bowler hat are you doing? OLIVER! STOP!" But since Oliver didn't seem to have any intention to stop, Percy was left with nothing else to do but duck to avoid a collision.
"Are you mad? Maybe Fred and George were right! You are mad!" Oliver headed towards him again and Percy had to avoid him once more. He tried to fly away, but he was followed closely by the other boy.
"This should be enough." Oliver laughed after about ten minutes of chasing Percy around.
"Oh really! Enough! Why, thank you very much!" Percy huffed as he proceeded to tidy his ruffled hair, which made Oliver laugh.
"Seriously, Perce. Stop fussing about your hair, it looks great. All Quidditch-like."
Percy suddenly stopped and blushed, his face turning as red as his hair. Then a wicked idea came into Oliver's mind to test Percy's reflexes. What if he…? Yes, that would be a good test. He was Charlie Weasley's brother after all. So he relaxed the grip on his broom and slid over.
"OLIVER!" Percy screamed as he saw him falling off his broom. Without stopping to think was he was doing, he dived after his friend and caught him mid-fall from around his waist, struggling to make space for him on the small school broomstick.
"I don't think I want to know what that was about." Percy said as he shook his head when they got safely to the ground.
"You have good reflexes and you can catch, Perce. Those are top qualities for a Chaser, you know that."
"You are definitely and irrefutably insane, Oliver. Risking your life to prove I could be on the team."
"Well, you caught me, didn't you?" Oliver smiled and suddenly realized how close they were to each other. They were still sharing the broom, even if their feet had touched the ground. Percy observed that too, because he quickly cleared his throat and stepped off the broom, blushing intensely again.
"Uhm, thank you for the ride, Oliver. We should get back to the library to finish our Astronomy homework. And no, I'm still not trying out for the team."
Oliver's groaned and complained but when he saw that it was hopeless, he just settled to follow his friend back to the castle.
-
"Percy, you're a genius!" Oliver exclaimed the following night as he pulled him into a bear hug. He felt Percy stiffen and breathe fast and let go of him, thinking that he probably broke a couple of his ribs.
"Er, thank you?" A very red and confused Percy asked as soon as he was released.
"Yes, you truly are! Ginny is amazing! She's so fast and agile and smart! She's going to be magnificent! Thank you so much for suggesting her, Perce! I might consider keeping her on the team even after Alicia gets better, she's just that fantastic!" Oliver rambled on, the huge grin threatening to break his face in two.
"Well, I'm glad I could help." He said as he tied a letter around his owl's leg. "Here you go, Hermes. Make sure to bring me the answer. And Oliver, you can head down to dinner without me. I have some Head Boy duties to attend to for the next couple of hours." And with that he strode out of the common room.
"Okay?" Oliver replied with a puzzled expression. What had he done wrong? And where was Percy sending that owl? Oh wait! That owl! It was that owl that had brought him the letter from his secret admirer! But it couldn't have been Percy, could it? All thoughts of dinner were forgotten as Oliver ran to his bag to take out his Transfiguration book and inspect the letter. He saw Percy's Charms essay lying on a table close by and compared the two handwritings. They were identical. He still couldn't believe it. It must have been some prank cooked up by the twins, trying to embarrass their Head Boy brother. But as he thought again, all the times Percy blushed whenever Oliver complimented him and how he'd clear his throat and move away whenever they stood too close to each other were contesting his prank theory. Maybe Percy really had a crush on him.
-
November passed as fast as the previous two months and the first snow had covered the school grounds. Gryffindor had recorded a landslide win against Hufflepuff thanks to Ginny Weasley and the girls applying his Chaser tactic to perfection and, of course, to Harry Potter's natural Seeker talent. Oliver had been so happy that he'd hugged Percy again after the celebration and to his surprise, he had to stifle his initial instinct to kiss him. Perhaps his knowledge that his friend had a crush on him had taken its toll on his mind. Or perhaps he was developing his own crush on Percy.
Hogsmeade weekend was approaching and Oliver decided he should stop being a coward and face his and his mate's feelings. He had missed out on a great friendship all these years because he had lived with his head in the sand and now he was not going to miss out on the chance of something more. What did he have to lose? His best friend at most, and he had managed without him for six years. So one day after Herbology, he pulled Percy away from the rest of the class and they headed towards the frozen lake.
"Is everything alright, Oliver?"
"Yes, everything's great. I was just wondering…" Okay, Wood, be a man, for Merlin's sake! , "I was wondering if you wanted to go to Hogsmeade with me." There, wasn't that hard, was it?
"Of course I'll go to Hogsmeade. I know I'm not such an enthusiast, but I do enjoy Honeydukes and I also-"
"Perce, I don't think you heard me properly. I asked if you wanted to go to Hogsmeade with me. And as subtlety is clearly not a strong point for either of us, I'll just rephrase it. Would you like to go on a date with me in Hogsmeade?"
Percy's jaw dropped and he turned as white as a sheet. He looked close to passing out.
"You…are asking me out on a date?"
"Yes, Perce, how many times do I have to say it. You. Me. Hogsmeade."
The color slowly went back to his cheeks and he croaked out a "Sure."
"Okay. Perfect. Uhm. Okay." Now this was awkward. He'd answered sure as if he'd been asked for a quill and it was not as Oliver had expected. Percy was supposed to be more articulate and they should have started a detailed conversation about the future of their relationship and what were their expectations. It shouldn't have been awkward and slightly embarrassing.
"Yeah. Perfect. I uh, I'll just go now, I'm already late for History of Magic." Oliver's mind was working in overdrive as Percy's footsteps were getting further away.
"Wait!" He yelled and ran to catch up with Percy. The without hesitation, he leaned forward and kissed the other boy's lips. They were chapped from the cold, but were soft, and, surprisingly, Percy wasn't pushing him away, but pulled him closer by his tie. The kiss was clumsy at first, with their noses bumping and Percy accidentally biting Oliver's upper lip, but they soon found their way around to overcome the awkwardness. By the time they stopped to breathe, Percy was extremely late for his class. He gave Oliver a quick peck before he ran away, hoping Professor Binns would buy his usual Head Boy excuses.
Extremely pleased with himself, Oliver sat down in the snow next to the lake, grinning from ear to ear. That's when he noticed there was a hole in the ice covering the enormous body of water. And something was staring back at him.
"Oy, Giant Squid! Did you see that? I just got myself a date with the Head Boy!" He clapped his hands together, acting as if Christmas had come early. He got up, made a snowball and threw it at the creature, hitting it squarely on the head, then left, skipping and whistling, towards the castle.
The Giant Squid gave him a disapproving look and lowered himself back into the depths of the lake, muttering "Silly humans."