Some Cold to Know the Sun (2/2)

Apr 14, 2010 12:23

Title: Some Cold to Know the Sun (Part 2/2)
Rating: NC17
Word Count: ~12900
Pairing: Percy/Theo, mentioned past Percy/Oliver and Theo/Tracey
Warnings: Flangst, a mention of (very) minor character death, wanking, snogging, and a handjob or two.
Summary: Theodore Nott, a single father to a very unique little girl, gets a knock on the door from the Ministry one evening.
A/N: This was my contribution to hp_spring_fling. I wrote it for the lovely eruditefics, who loves Percy at least as much as I do! ♥ Thank you to nolagal for the idea-bouncing and encouragement, and to my fantastic beta, starstruck1986, for wading through almost 13000 words and polishing them up! Also, lots of love and thanks to my fabulously Scottish neighbor, S., and her friend, P., for their firsthand information re: Luss. The title comes from Life is Wonderful by Jason Mraz. Bea's character is a composite of the hundreds of beautiful children with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorders) I have had the great fortune to work with over the years.



March 16, 2004

Percy -

Never did thank you properly for looking after Bea. Coffee is hardly compensation, especially since you threw housework into the equation. If you care to, owl back and we'll have a proper dinner. My treat, of course.

- Theo

Percy promptly spilled his creamy coffee down his freshly-laundered shirt. The mug bounced out of his hands and cracked into four pieces on the shiny hardwood floor of his office, and the sound was much, much louder than it should have been.

_______________

March 20, 2004

This was absolutely not a date. Theodore Nott clearly preferred women. He had a daughter, did he not? A daughter who resembled him closely enough that a question of parentage certainly hadn't caused the split with her mother. Concrete proof of heterosexual inclination if Percy ever saw it. No. This was not a date. This was a thank-you, nothing more. This was, at the very most, an offer of friendship from one obviously lonely man to another. At the worst, it was a ploy for more free child-minding. It was certainly not a date.

So why in the name of Godric had Percy changed his shirt three times? One white shirt, after all, is quite like another, and who but a ridiculous poof like himself would fret over the number of buttons on the cuffs? Nonsense.

Nevertheless, here he was, back in Scotland, back at the front door of Theodore Nott's boxy little flat, holding a bottle of wine. Wine. He suddenly regretted his choice of beverage - wine is a very date-y sort of thing to bring - and was considering a quick charm to change it into butterbeer when Theo opened the door with Bea wrapped around him like devil's snare. Smiling wanly over his daughter's bare shoulder - Percy quickly realized that the little thing was starkers - Theo gestured him inside.

"Sorry," Theo said mildly. "She's just decided she's a bit warm. She's sensitive to temperature. Care for a walk before we eat?"

Percy shifted the bottle of wine between his hands uneasily. "Oh. Err.. sure. But shouldn't you…"

Theo laughed at the same time Bea squirmed, and he almost dropped her. Percy held out a steadying hand but pulled it back in horror, remembering the nude state of the child. Theo jostled her in his arms, still smiling. "Of course I'm going to dress her," he said. "What kind of father do you take me for?"

Percy made a flustered sort of sound, and Theo gestured towards the kitchen. "You can leave it on the counter if you'd like. Red, is it?"

Percy nodded, and Theo said, "Excellent. Unnecessary, but excellent. We'll just be a moment." To Bea, he muttered, "Let's go get some clothes on you, yeah? We've got company. No one wants to look at your stinky arse." He huffed a laugh into her ear and she wriggled away, an oddly delighted expression on her face.

As Theo dressed Bea in her bedroom, Percy set the wine on the counter and stared at his reflection in the slightly-darkened kitchen window. He was certainly overdressed, and not just because half of his company was naked. Theo was nearly as he had been when Percy first came by unannounced. He had managed a shirt this time, but it was opened all the way down the front, revealing an odd corner of the tattoo across his ribcage, and his trousers were unbuttoned and sagging dangerously low on his hips. He was also barefoot with hair to rival Harry's: dark and unkempt, sticking up at architectural angles around his equally angular face.

It looked as though he had been interrupted mid-dress. Judging from the state of the sitting room - Chocolate Frog cards were scattered about, the sofa cushions were askew, and Bea's discarded clothing was neatly folded in the corner - he probably had been.

Uncomfortable just standing there, Percy took his wand from its place in his belt loop and was in the process of returning the Chocolate Frog cards to their place on the coffee table when Theo emerged, a freshly-dressed Bea at his side. "You don't have to do that every time you come over here," he said. "If my landlady sees that, she's going to hike my rent sky-high, thinking I can afford house help."

Percy looked up, startled. "Oh, no, I just figured I'd do something useful while I waited."

As he spoke, the cards caught Bea's eye. She watched intently as they floated carefully through the air and piled themselves up. Theo noticed Percy watching her. "She's fascinated by magic," he explained. "Did you notice it when you were here last?"

"I did," Percy confirmed as Bea reached her pale little fingers up to touch the suspended cards. He cast a charm to hold them in place as she inspected them closely.

"She's very sensitive to it," Theo said. "She can feel it sometimes before it happens. Funny, though," he continued. "I think… I think she's a Squib."

Percy's eyebrows shot up. "Do you?" Now that Theo mentioned it, he hadn't noticed any signs of magic in the girl at all. He didn't think much of it, as she was young yet and obviously quite different from other children.

Theo nodded. "She hasn't shown any magical ability. But… truly, I think it might be for the best." He bit back on his lip as he said it. Percy imagined that such a thing would have been a near blasphemy to say in front of Theo's father and probably most of Theo's Hogwarts House. "Bea has a lot of trouble with her emotions, as I'm sure you discovered. I can only imagine the sort of mayhem she could cause with uncontrollable magic."

Percy nodded thoughtfully back. Theo had a point. "She'd be a Ravenclaw, I think," Percy mused. "An unconventional sort, maybe, but definitely a Ravenclaw."

"You think so? Nah. The girl's a Slytherin just like her dad. Always finds a way to get what she wants." Theo paused, staring down at Bea. "Besides, Ravenclaw? My father would turn over in his grave," Theo muttered, running a hand through his messy hair.

"He didn't appreciate brains?" Percy asked.

"Only when he was knocking them about," Theo answered. He paused for a moment, and then he shook his head as if ridding himself of an unwanted memory. "In any case. Shall we?"

Percy nodded, charming the cards back into a neat pile as Theo called for his daughter. She came quietly, reaching out her small hand and tucking it neatly into her father's palm.

_______________

Luss was a perfectly charming little village, and both Beatrice and Theo seemed peaceful on its funny little streets. Holding her father's hand, Bea walked quietly, seeming to be somewhere other than they were inside of her own mind, but not seeming at all bothered by the place. Theo walked with a rolling, easy gait, much different from the harried way in which he moved around his flat.

Percy had never spent much time in Scotland, but he quickly determined that, if one wanted to disappear for a bit, this wasn't a half-bad place to do it. The cottages were old-fashioned and picturesque, and the whole place had a quiet beauty about it that Percy could appreciate.

They walked down to the pier, and Theo settled himself on its edge, Bea in his lap. Immediately, she began to fiddle with the stones, tossing some into the loch - Loch Lomond - and storing others in the small pockets of her trousers.

After a long and comfortable silence, Percy asked, "What made you come here?"

Theo ran his hands absently through his daughter's hair, and she didn't move or flinch away. Looking intently at Theo's mouth, as he had been wont to do recently, much to his own chagrin, Percy noted the way his tongue ran around his gums, as if he were thinking about how best to put something, or deciding whether to say it at all. Finally, he spoke. "My mother's from here," he said.

"Was she a witch?" Percy inquired, immediately feeling foolish. Of course she was. She had to be; only Pureblood wizards were Sorted into Slytherin.

Theo nodded. "She was. But her parents weren't."

Taken aback, Percy said, "No?"

"No. They were Muggle, both of them. Born and raised here. So was my mum." Theo took one of Bea's stones and pitched it into the loch, where it skimmed neatly three times before sinking. "I only met my grandparents once. The day she died."

Percy's forehead knit together in concentration. He had a strange feeling, like he was hearing something he ought not to be, or, at least, privileged information. His stomach began to flutter inexplicably. He nodded in encouragement, anyway.

"This is the last place I saw her," Theo finally said, an unusual, flat tone to his voice. "We just arrived here. We were going to visit her parents. She wanted to go the pier first, to show me. It was her favourite place when she was small, I guess. So the three of us - Mum, Dad and me - came right here. She skimmed stones with me. She taught me how."

It was quiet for another long moment, and Percy repressed the urge to reach over and place his skinny, freckled hand over Theo's.

"Dad and I walked up the pier. He asked me to… to look for sea-glass. Stupid, isn't it? Sea-glass in a loch? What the fuck do you know when you're seven? I wandered away a bit. Next thing I know, my dad is hollering. She drowned."

Percy could hear the festering grief in Theo's voice, so different from its usual languid tenor. He started to reach his hand out - that urge would not bloody go away - but he paused a few centimetres from actual contact, then pulled it back with a small start. Theo didn't seem to notice. He was as far away inside of his own head as his daughter was. His next words were a whisper. "I didn't hear anything." He paused. "My mum could swim, you know."

The water lapped at the shoreline, and Percy's heart thundered, and Beatrice's stones plinked, and for a long while that was the only sound.

Theo reached out for his daughter's hand and caught it mid-throw. Surprisingly, she let him. He brought it into his lap and squeezed. "I just wanted it to be different for her, that's all. And it won't be."

Percy was too focused on Theo's anguished face, which was, in turn, focused on Bea, to pay attention to his own hand. It crept off of his lap again and came to rest squarely atop both of theirs. This time, nobody pulled away, though Percy felt Theo's fingers twitch for a second beneath his, as though he were debating what movement he ought to make next.

_______________

Theo kept his eyes squarely on Percy throughout dinner. He settled Bea with her noodles - No, they're not the only thing I can cook, he'd said; they're just all she eats, and most nights I'm just cooking for the two of us, so that's what I eat, too - and served them both shepherd's pie, and then he watched.

It was a strange feeling, almost like a compulsion. Everything about Percy was so fastidious, neat, and compartmentalized; however, he could see other things beneath the surface that he wanted to touch. It was like staring down into the dark waters of Loch Lomond: the glinting, silvery fish swam centimetres from your fingers, darting like haphazardly-cast spells, and you were never sure if you'd be able to grab one if you tried. Theo had never tried. Maybe, he thought, it's time.

There were a lot of things, Theo realized, that he had never tried: things he hadn't been allowed to try before Bea was born, either by his father or by Tracey, and then things that responsibility forbade him to try after she came along. Those he didn't mind so much. It wasn't such a terrible sacrifice to give up firewhiskey and his hot temper, all things considered. It was the other things that were beginning to gnaw at him all over again, make his stomach feel acidic and strange and fluttery.

The isolation he had imposed upon himself in recent years made him jittery and unsure, unable to read anyone except for his daughter properly. He couldn't make up his mind what sort of man Percy Weasley was, and he wasn't sure of the correct way to go about finding out. He decided that leaning across the table and grabbing him by the tie was unlikely to be it, as was a straight-up, "So, Mr. Weasley, do you fancy blokes?" The hand over his at the pier was a clue, perhaps, but it may also have been a simple gesture of empathy. Theo wasn't sure, as he hadn't been the recipient of a terrible lot of empathy in his life.

Merlin, but this was confusing.

Theo was so lost in his internal monologue that he failed to notice the goblet of wine as he reached for the salt, and he knocked it with the side of his bony wrist and sent it tottering. Percy, ever clever and aware, reached for it, but his own reach was clumsy - that was new, thought Theo; Percy had a sort of unearthly grace about his body most of the time - and he ended up tipping it even further in his haste, sending it splashing all over the newly-cleared dining table.

"Shite!" Theo swore, snapping out of his reverie, and he reached for the napkins in the center of the table. Percy did the same, and their hands collided in the center, which tipped the entire bottle of wine on its side. The remaining contents spilled out in a purplish stream and pooled onto the floor.

Bea immediately stopped fiddling with her plate of noodles to watch the spreading design with fascination, and both Theo and Percy scrambled for the napkins, apologizing to no one in particular for the mess. Theo immediately sank to the floor and began mopping. Percy righted the bottle and scrubbed at the tabletop, leaning over Theo as they worked.

Theo, intent on his task, stood to throw away the wet napkins and retrieve his wand. His shoulder caught Percy in the side of the thigh, and as Theo stood, Percy stumbled into the table. Unthinking, Theo reached out to steady him, and as Theo got to his feet, he found them awfully close, hip-to-hip, with Percy pressed against the table and Theo staring him right in the eyes, the napkin in his hand dripping onto the floor.

Percy looked startled, his lip caught between his teeth, his fingers curled around the table-edge. His shoulders pulled back a little, as if trying to create space, but his hips leaned forward, almost unconsciously. He swallowed heavily, and Theo watched his Adam's apple move as he did.

All of the sudden, Theo's heart was racing, thudthudthudthudding against his ribs like it was trying to escape. His eyes darted to Percy's other hand, holding his own sodden napkin between them. It was dripping onto his white shirt, but he didn't appear to notice, his eyes focused on Theo's face. The room was so silent that Theo could hear the drip drip drip of the wine onto the floor.

Theo drew a breath after a second - he hadn't realized he'd been holding it - and it sounded shaky and uncertain. He could feel his face colour up, and he silently swore at himself. As he breathed, his stomach slipped against Percy's, and a familiar heat started to crawl across his body.

Immediately, he pulled away. "Sorry," he muttered, and his hand curled into a fist over his napkin. Percy didn't move. "I'll just…"

But he didn't step back towards the bin; he didn't turn to get his wand; he just stood there. So did Percy. They stood, and they stared, and Theo could see that strange sort of look in Percy's eyes again, that brewing-stewing-burning thing that made an appearance sometimes, and suddenly he had absolutely no doubt as to what sort of man Percy Weasley was. The thought excited him and frightened him all at once, and he couldn't bear to look at it straight-on any longer, so he finally turned on his heel and walked the short length of the kitchen to bin the soaked napkin.

He took his time, getting his breathing under control, and by the time he turned around, Percy had already gone through the doorway into the sitting room to get his wand and finish the cleanup. He made short work of the mess as Theo helped Bea with her noodles. She wasn't quite done, to be honest, but it gave Theo something to do other than stare at Percy, and she didn't protest even a little

Percy tidied up the kitchen in silence as Theo tended to Bea, who was uncharacteristically cooperative. She handed over her silverware without a fuss, and she even allowed her father to run her hands under the water to rinse them clean. She did insist upon drying them on her trousers rather than a towel, but all told, it went rather well. Theo was almost disappointed by her lack of a tantrum, as it would have occupied him a bit longer, but he told himself that that was mad.

When he had finally gotten her settled in the sitting room with her Chocolate Frog cards, he took a deep, steadying breath and braced himself for the good nights.

Upon returning to the kitchen, he found it spotless, the way it had been when he had returned from London. Percy was just rearranging the table into symmetrical perfection when Theo came through the door. He noticed that the back of Percy's neck was an alarming shade of scarlet.

"Thank you," Theo said quietly. His voice seemed to startle Percy, who jumped a little, as if he'd roused him from deep within his own thoughts.

When Percy spoke, it was remarkably faster than his usual pace. "Oh, of course, yes, it's no trouble at all; I'm terribly sorry about the wine; that was clumsy, I…"

"Oh, no. It's fine. Nothing a Tergeo couldn't fix," Theo said, interrupting him.

They stood in an awkward bit of silence for a moment. When he realized that Percy wasn't going to be the one to break it - his entire face was going the colour of his neck now, and he seemed to be flailing about for words - Theo continued. "I've gotten Bea settled down. Er… thank you for joining us. And thank you again for minding her."

Percy nodded. "Of course. She was no trouble at all. That - dinner - was lovely, I…" He stopped mid-sentence.

Theo raised his eyebrows and waited.

"I quite enjoyed myself, is all," Percy finally continued.

It didn't appear as though that was his intended sentence, but Theo nodded anyway. "Me, too. It was nice to have some adult company. You gave me an excuse to make something other than buttered noodles, anyway."

Percy smiled a nervous-looking smile. "I really am sorry about the wine."

"Don't worry about it. Probably shouldn't have the bloody stuff laying about the flat anyway," Theo said. "You know what they say about drinking alone."

"Right," Percy said, his nervous smile still firmly in place. "Well, I suppose…"

"Yes, if you…"

"Right." Percy dusted his hands against his trousers. "Thank you again."

"I'll see you to the door," Theo said. His heart had moved several centimetres up his chest and was now threatening to explode from the base of his throat. His body felt hot. He hoped he wasn't sweating noticeably.

He walked with Percy through the sitting room, being careful to stay several steps behind and not inadvertently touch him for fear of bringing on an embarrassingly large erection. On their way, Percy stopped to say goodbye to Bea. He bent down to her level and touched her chin gently. She looked up into his face with those big eyes of hers, and she stared intently as he said "Good night, Miss Beatrice. Sweet dreams to you." She, of course, did not return the sentiment, but she watched him carefully as he stood back up.

Theo smiled to himself. For Bea, that was a very warm good-bye.

When they reached the door, Theo swallowed and leaned against the frame as Percy opened it.

They stood there for a moment. Percy said, "Well, good night…"

Theo began, "Good night, then…" at the same time, and two identically nervous laughs followed.

Percy took a step into the corridor.

Theo reached for the doorknob.

The next thing he heard was the slam of the door - oh, bugger; he must've done that - and then there was fabric, starchy-feeling and rough, under his fingers and startlingly hot skin against his cheek, and a whisper-thin mouth against his, and a cold wall against his shoulders, and this was not at all what he'd meant to do. Not at all. This was not how one said good-bye to one's dinner guests, and this was not how one behaved with one's daughter in the sitting room, and this was….

_______________

Ridiculous. This was utterly ridiculous. Ridiculous and foolish and reckless and definitely not the way you thanked someone for a lovely dinner and apologized for spilling the wine.

But, all told, it was actually rather fantastic, and Percy couldn't bring himself to stop when he knew that he ought to. Frankly, he had no idea as to how it had even gotten started, but he was shaking all over, embarrassed and pulled taut and turned up and buzzing like a static-fogged wireless, pressed flush against Theodore Nott in the dingy corridor outside his flat snogging him like a madman. Which, he supposed, was exactly what he was.

Living alone, working endless hours, and subsisting on takeaway and caffeine must have driven him completely berserk. That was the only possible explanation for this. This man was not even interested in men. He had a child, for Merlin's sake!

But if he wasn't interested, then why was he pushing his tongue into Percy's mouth and grabbing for his hair and twisting against him like that, like he was trying to hide the hard-on pushing at the front of his trousers and, simultaneously, grind it against him? Percy gulped into the kiss at the realization, catching Theo's tongue between his teeth for a second, and he could hear - feel - Theo's strange little groan echoing through his mouth when he did that. Theo's fingers tightened in Percy's hair, and he mashed their faces together harder, knocking Percy's glasses askew.

The whole thing was messily desperate and uncoordinated, the back-and-forth tongue-sucking without rhythm or grace, and it was Oliver Wood in the greenhouse all over again, totally unplanned and borderline disastrous and the most hungry, greedy thing Percy had ever, ever, ever felt. He hated this out-of-control feeling, lived to avoid it, but somehow, he sought it, too, like some dark, fascinating thing hiding behind the clean row of shirts in the closet.

Theo's heart was frantic against his, leaping against the rumpled fabric, and Theo's hands were long and spidery and strong, and his pretty doll-lips were dangerously hot, and Percy had the strangest urge to bite them until they bled wine-red into his mouth so he could swallow him.

Before he could, however, Theo wrenched their mouths apart and turned his face. Percy could feel Theo's panting breath against his ear. His finger slipped into Percy's belt-loop, thin enough to sneak in with the belt, and he said, his voice tremulous and quiet, "Bea. Shite, Percy, Bea…"

Percy nodded, not sure whether he was disappointed or relieved (but leaning towards disappointed), and he could hear his own breath shake on the exhale. "Right, yes, Bea. I'm sorry, I'm…"

"No," Theo whispered. "No, not you, I'm sorry, I…"

"I guess I'll…"

"No!"

The volume of Theo's protest was surprising. Percy looked at him. His grey eyes were wide and dark, like a scared animal, and his pale face was flushed across the cheeks. His dark hair was askew. He looked, suddenly, much younger than his already slight twenty-two years, and Percy felt too warm and oddly shy, and he had to look away. "No?" he muttered, more to the sad-looking wall than to Theo.

"No, stay. Please. Come back in?"

"But what about…."

"It's fine! No, it's… just. Stay. I… you… we'll… we'll sort it."

Percy hesitated, but Theo had already opened the door again, and Percy followed him in, his heart still stuttering wildly in his chest and his cock jumping around disobediently in his trousers.

When they got back into the sitting room, Bea was sitting placidly on the floor, as if she hadn't even noticed them disappear into the corridor. Her Chocolate Frog cards had been only half laid out in their customary pattern across the carpet, and she had traded them in for the pile of cutlery on the coffee table. She was only partially through her design, but Percy knew immediately what it was. One side of his spectacles had been recreated, and she was currently at work on the nosepiece, trying to center it correctly.

Theo stopped short and looked down at her, puzzled. Percy smiled. "My glasses," he said quietly.

Theo turned to look at him.

"She's making my glasses. With the silverware. She did that the night I stayed with her, too. I think she rather likes them."

Theo stared, his face in a kind of wonderment, going back and forth between the two of them for a moment. "I think she rather likes you," he finally said, his voice quiet and almost reverent.

"Does she? I hope so. I rather like her, too."

"I…." Theo began, and then stopped short.

Percy waited. In the quiet, his heartbeat, which still had not returned to anything close to normal, seemed terribly loud.

"…think you should stop me now if this is going to be a problem," Theo finished.

Percy's heart stopped abruptly. "If what's going to be a problem?"

"This," Theo said, gesturing between their bodies in a quick motion. "This… just… this."

"What is this?" Percy asked cautiously.

Theo glanced towards Bea, who was putting the finishing touches to the second half of Percy's glasses on the floor. She set the last piece of silverware into place and stopped to look over her work. Without looking up towards them, she shifted her body slightly and went back to her Chocolate Frog cards. Her small hands worked methodically as she began straightening them and tapping at their corners.

Theo's eyes went back and forth three times before he paused, as if making a decision. He shook his head shortly and grabbed Percy by the elbow, his grip hot and fierce. "This," he said, quiet and quick, and pulled Percy firmly down the small hallway to the bedroom.

They barely made it inside. Theo grabbed his wand clumsily from his pocket and muttered under his breath. Percy recognized the spell; he'd sealed the front door and put a mild trace on someone: Bea, Percy presumed, so he'd know if she moved from the sitting room.

It took under two seconds, and then Percy was the one against the wall this time, pushed firmly between the doorframe and an overlarge wardrobe. The short interruption had done nothing to tame Theo's erection, which Percy felt press into his thigh as their mouths met again, this time with more tentativeness and less urgency.

Having a moment to think had made them both shyer and more careful, and this kiss was awkward and strange and wonderful. Theo's lips asked a question, and Percy's responded with a question of their own, and they went back and forth and back and forth, the whats and whens and whys and hows and like this?s coming faster and faster and faster until they blurred together into one long answer: yes.

It was Theo's hands that moved first. Ironic, Percy thought, as Theo untangled Percy's belt with his clever fingers, that he should be the brave one. Or perhaps it was just a need to do it fast, because Beatrice was awake and about in the other room. Whatever the case, Percy's belt came out with a quick snap and landed on the floor at their feet.

As Theo's fingers worked the button - slow, in a strange contrast to their kiss - Percy gripped tight to his sinewy bicep, trying to steady himself. His knees felt strange and weak, like his blood sugar had plummeted, and he was having trouble believing that this was actually going to happen.

… Well, maybe it wasn't.

Theo's fingers, having taken the button apart, suddenly stopped. His mouth grew still, and though his heart still pounded and rushed and insisted so heartily that Percy could feel it, his body went tight. Against Percy's lips, he blew a hot, trembling breath. "I've no idea what the fuck I'm doing," he muttered, avoiding Percy's eyes. "Not a bloody fucking clue."

Percy paused, his fingers gripping vise-like into Theo's shirt. This was a terrible idea. Theo was right. This was awful. It was going to complicate things; it was going to end dreadfully; Percy absolutely did not deserve it in any way. There was a reason he'd shut himself away after the War - and before - and this was it. He tried to force himself to let go, but his fingers didn't want to budge.

"Right," he whispered, surprised at the fragility of his own voice. "You're right. I shouldn't…"

"No!" Theo's whisper was intense, a quieter replay of his protest in the corridor. "I just… I don't know…" His voice dropped at the end and trailed off, embarrassed.

Realization dawned on Percy then, and he took a breath that filled up his lungs and made him dizzy with relief. "Oh! No," he whispered back. "It's… it's like this." Suddenly emboldened, his hand traveled down Theo's chest - warm, flat, narrow as his own - and landed on his trousers. Deftly, he worked the button and the zip apart.

His breath caught in his throat as he felt what was underneath. It was lovely and hard through his trousers, but this…! Percy slipped one finger gently through the opening at the front of Theo's boxers and traced the hard line of his cock, and it made his mouth go dry. Theo gasped harshly, and his cock jerked under Percy's touch. He was big, and he was thick, and that's how it always is with skinny blokes, Percy thought, but he was still surprised. "Like this," he whispered again, and Theo reached up to clutch desperately at his shirt as Percy pulled the elastic and slid Theo's boxers down to take his cock out.

"It's easy," Percy said, his mouth moving against the corner of Theo's perfectly-bowed lips. Theo's breath was coming in fits and starts, and his entire body was stiff with anticipation or fear or something. This was where Percy felt at ease - giving instruction, imparting knowledge, showing what he knew, and his own body relaxed a little as he wrapped his hand around Theo's erection.

"Up," he whispered, stroking towards the head, and he stopped to run his thumb in a slow circle when he got there. Theo drew in another breath. "Then down," Percy said, letting his grip slide down to the base. "Up," he said again, "then down."

Theo smiled shakily, and Percy returned it, then took Theo's mouth with his again. They kissed, and Percy stroked him slowly, his own cock throbbing hard against Theo's thigh. After a moment, Percy broke the kiss. "Then go faster," he whispered. "Do you like it faster?" His hand sped up.

Theo's breath sped up to match. "Mmm," he muttered, and then he reached for Percy's trousers. Percy's hand became erratic as Theo yanked unceremoniously at his trousers, then his pants, bringing them down to Percy's knees.

When Theo's hand wrapped around his cock, it felt firm and sure, and Percy bit down on Theo's lovely bottom lip. Theo didn't wince, just moaned against it.

Percy let go and tried to speak, but he found he could no longer access words as Theo brought his own hand to his mouth and spat into it, then reached back down with his sloppy, wet grip.

"Got it," Theo said roughly, his hand hard and fast. "Just like I do it myself. Right? Like this?"

The question sounded facetious, a bit of a tease, and Percy found his own rhythm going erratic as he stroked Theo harder. Theo didn’t seem to mind. His hips were rocking a bit, and he was rising onto his toes and pressing forward, panting wetly into Percy's ear and groaning quietly.

Percy answered anyway. "Right. Like… like you do it yourself," he said. "Like that… just… yes," he finally said, his voice dipping and sliding all over the place, shaking as the sensations skidded through his body like a well-cast spell and disintegrating into one sibilant hissing sound on the s.

Theo smiled against his mouth, and then his lips opened up, round and wide. Percy took advantage and stuck his tongue between them. Theo sucked frantically, and his hips moved at a desperate pitch; he was silent when he came, pushing himself hard against Percy's body and clutching him with possessive fingers as he covered Percy's hand and belly and the hem of his pristine white shirt with his come.

Theo panted, and his hand stopped as he lost himself in his orgasm. Percy was right on the edge of his own and leaned forward, sliding his cock faster and faster in Theo's slackening fist, which was sweaty and slick with pre-come, and after a couple of thrusts, Theo seemed to remember his task and tightened his grip. Percy's mouth reached desperately for Theo's, and their lips met just in time for Percy to make a sharp, startled sound against them as he came, too.

It was brilliant. Unexpected and strange and a bit dirty and perhaps irresponsible, what with Beatrice just down the hall, but it was absolutely brilliant. Against him, Theo's bony body was hot and sweat-soaked, and his belly was spasming a bit here and there, and his cock was softening against Percy's wrist, and his breath was ragged, and everything was, for one blindingly fantastic second, just fine.

They stood there for a moment, shivery and spent, before Percy's mouth, in an uncharacteristic move, worked before his brain did. "Like that," he said. "Exactly like that. Fuck."

Theo smiled. "Is that what it takes for you relax a bit, then? I need to jerk you off to get past the politeness?"

"Maybe," Percy whispered. "It helps."

_______________

That night, Percy curled up on the couch, lost in his own head, as Theo readied Beatrice for bed. She played happily in the tub, running her pale little finger back and forth under the running faucet and lifting her arms obediently for a washing. She was calm and compliant in a way that she hardly ever was, and Theo was grateful. His body was wracked and exhausted, and he didn't have the energy to quell a tantrum, though he certainly felt peaceful enough.

When he had wrapped Bea in her pyjamas, he brought her back out into the sitting room to say goodnight.

Percy was waiting with a glass of milk and a pile of cards, and they walked together to Bea's bedroom, where she was tucked neatly between the sheets. She was out for the count within twenty minutes.

When they got back out into the sitting room, Theo put the coffeepot on.

"This is strange," he muttered, setting the mug down on the table in front of Percy's knees.

"What is?" Percy asked, and then backtracked. "Well. Aside from the obvious."

Theo smiled his wan little smile and said, "I suppose I was talking about the obvious. Among other things."

"What other things?" Percy asked, lifting the mug to his lips. The brew was perfect, as pale as his skin.

"Not... doing that alone."

"Putting her to bed?"

"Yes. She's usually right where you are," Theo said. "Tucked up on the sofa."

"She looked happy enough in there to me."

"She did, didn't she?"

"Yes." Percy paused. He planted his gaze firmly on the glass in the centre of the coffee table. "And you seem happy enough out here."

"It's a start, anyway," Theo said quietly.

"Indeed."

_______________

June 12, 2004

Theo sat back in the lawn chair, a glass of iced tea balanced between his knees. A heaping plate of food whose names he wasn't even sure of sat on a small table beside him, its legs charmed back together after having been broken by Bill's girls' horsing around.

Across the yard, Beatrice sat in Percy's lap, her fingers tangled in the hem of her dress. Her gaze was transfixed on a shimmering set of letters hovering in the air above her head: a pink B, a bright blue E, and a brilliant, fiery red A. Directly across from her, long legs sprawled out in front of him, George Weasley grinned, his wand straight up in the air. He waved it once, and the letters spun around and around and around. Bea grinned a strange little grin, and George laughed heartily.

"You like that, Bea-Bea?" he said merrily as the letters suddenly grew legs and began chasing each other.

Percy brushed Beatrice's wild-looking hair away from his face and caught Theo's eye, a grin of his own spread wide.

Theo smiled back; a lazy smile, almost feline and definitely content. He closed his eyes, and the sun made stars burst behind them in a blazing rainbow of colour.

character: theodore nott, category: slash, rating: nc-17, character: oc, fic, character: percy weasley, pairing: percy/theodore, fandom: harry potter

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