Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

-There are 4 actual chapters of this story, each focusing on the perspective of different people. If you really want to, you could read them independently (maybe), but they really go hand in hand.

-The first chapter of the story is a little shorter, while the last one is a little longer. This is relatively unimportant, but I felt the need to share, because as I edit it, a lot of stuff may be added or deleted so if the pacing is a little off then… this is why.

-Another unimportant thing is that my OC was meant to be Roger Davies but he just wasn’t old enough for my purposes. I didn’t feel like aging him up, and this gives me more liberties rather than taking from books I actually only partly read (oops).

-Only one of these relationships get a happy ending and I hope it’s obvious who… but I might make alternative endings if that interests anyone/if I feel like it cuz I do like all the others.

-I believe the smut isn’t terribly explicit because I got lazy, but that won’t matter if you just go ahead and skip it all because it sucks and I was uninspired. If you wanted some real freaky shit 😔 I’m sorry I can’t provide

-In the long run, this won’t matter, but for now I feel inclined to say all chapters are prewritten and should come out relatively fast… I don’t have a BETA because I didn’t want my sister seeing this travesty of a story so… feel free to say it’s shit.

-British slang in this is scanty and probably accidental… I gave up trying to be accurate after the first 100 words I’m so sorry

Chapter Text

Emilio Lawrence considered himself to be a bit ambitious. He was no Slytherin, but he definitely knew what he wanted. Out of all his roommates, he felt as though he was the only one who understood that there was more to life than either reading books, or being high in the clouds to "channel creativity." He definitely wasn't the most down to earth person, but he was all there.

He considered himself to be a bit of a romantic as well. His father was a halfblood British wizard, and his mother was a muggle Italian woman. One summer, when they were teenagers, his father went to Italy and met his mother, where they instantly fell in love and lived out their own Romeo and Juliet that ended in decidedly less tragedy and death. Not to mention how his paternal and maternal families weren't in a generations-long blood feud, but rather they didn't approve of his father and mother claiming to be in love, so young and so fast.

Emilio was raised to believe in true love, love at first sight, soulmates, all those things. Hell, Romeo and Juliet was still his favorite book! He was a little skeptical, though. If all this were true, then where was his person? Admittedly, he hadn't been searching at Hogwarts, under the impression that if he was going to have forever with someone, it would be someone he met after broadening his horizons, much like his parents. But he's been traveling every summer since he could remember, and he's 15 now. He reasoned that looking within Hogwarts, since he wasn't doing it before, was considered broadening his horizons. His parents seemed to agree when he informed them of his decision.

They were encouraging, but they did remind him that what they had was special, and while they'd love for him to have it too, it just wasn't likely. Emilio knew that very well, so all he could do was stay silent as his parents stared at him pitifully.

"I was made prefect," he'd said, breaking the silence. He held up the Hogwarts letter. 

"Congratulations, Lio!" Both of his parents had responded, way too cheerfully, in an attempt to lighten the moody blanket that settled over Emilio.

Now, as he made his way to the prefects meeting, stomach filled with dread, he didn't think much congratulations were in order. More like, 'we're so sorry that happened to you.' It's not as though he hadn't thought it an honor, or that he wasn't willing to do his duties. But a meeting?

He entered the designated prefects carriage and sat down near an older Ravenclaw prefect who'd unnecessarily made room for him, seeing as they were one of the few in there. Nevertheless, he'd taken the offer, and sat down to wait patiently as all of the rest of the prefects filed in for the meeting.

One of the last to make it in, just 2 minutes before they were due to start, was this lanky red-haired guy, and Emilio was immediately drawn. He held himself tall and importantly, and sat down in the seat across from Emilio with a much practiced grace. As the boy turned his head to intently listen to the head boy who began going on and on, first congratulating them all on being prefects and then starting to ramble about everything they had to do, Emilio got a good look at him. 

His vivid and curled copper hair was medium in length, the sides draping just past his ears. It looked a little unkempt, and the boys harried nature became more apparent with the constant bouncing of his left leg. His eyebrows seemed chronically furrowed, though that might've been an attempt to block out the rare bit of sun that they were getting. It reflected off of his horn-rimmed glasses, blocking Emilio's view of his eyes, but he thought he could make out amber or brown. The sunshine also served to bathe him in a golden light, and his hair seemed to burn bright like fire.

Emilio knew that realistically, the person next to the boy was probably cast in the same light, but it just wasn't the same. His heart beat faster in his chest. To be frank, he found this boy quite beautiful. As such, he kept half an ear and mind to the conversation that was going on as it shifted from the Head Boy to the Head Girl talking, but most of his attention was split between glancing at the window and staring at the guy sat across from him. Despite this, he was present enough to be assigned a time where he was to patrol the train, and he caught that his partner was to be the boy Gryffindor prefect, Percy Weasley.

So that was his name. Emilio supposed it suited him, and the name echoed through his mind before it was quashed by the slamming open of the compartment door by the 6th year Slytherin girl prefect. The Hufflepuff following her looked back at his friends with raised eyebrows, but they just started snickering in turn. So it seemed that she didn't want to be first to do her rounds. As for himself, Emilio couldn't wait. 

With the newfound room he had, the older Ravenclaw prefect was easy to convince to move, so Emilio was able to get the window seat. He was in no rush to leave, as he didn't really have friends to look forward to talking to. It seemed that Percy was in no rush, either. Emilio rested his head on the window, but he had to readjust multiple times until he was sure that he didn't look stupid. A quick glance at Percy before he closed his eyes showed that Emilio needn't worry what he looked like, because the other boy was leaned back, eyes lazily scanning the pages of a book sat on his lap.

Before he could even begin to dream, he was being gently shaken awake. Distantly, he heard a hushed voice say, "Um, excuse me?"

Emilio lifted his head with a sharp inhalation of breath, startled. "Yeah?" He answered, rubbing his eyes. When he dropped his hands, he held his breath as blue eyes met hazel. "Hi."

"Hi," Percy responded. "I think we've been partnered for our rounds. We should be leaving in a minute." He seemed to hesitate for a moment before sticking out his hand, "Percy Weasley," he introduced himself.

Emilio stood up, adjusting his robes. Now that he was able to see Percy's eyes without the glare of his glasses, he was entranced. They were definitely more hazel than brown, an apparent ring of green in them, but that didn't matter much to Emilio. They were gorgeous. Remembering himself, Emilio accepted Percy's hand. "Emilio Lawrence," he paused, "and I know your name."

Percy's hands were startlingly soft in comparison to his, Emilio thought. Looking into his eyes, Percy's hand in his, Emilio weirdly felt like he knew everything about him, yet there was still something more to yearn. He was infatuated. He never thought his Juliet would be a boy, but Emilio never cared for those particulars anyway. Love manifests itself in many ways, he understood. 

"Oh," Percy responded, eyebrows raising in shock. As expected, they weren't furrowed now that he was out of the sun. "Well, I know yours, too." While he said this, he slipped his hand from Emilio's, who was still absently shaking it.

Immediately, Emilio felt a little embarrassed. He never had enough shame to blush, though. Never. And he wasn't going to start now. "After you," he said, with a sweeping motion toward the door.

Percy pursed his lips and exited the compartment, already 5 meters down the corridor by the time Emilio walked out. Emilio sped up to catch him, and together they walked up and down the Hogwarts Express.

"So," Percy began 5 minutes later. At this point, they'd walked down the hall once, as Percy was taking extra care to peak into his brothers' compartments. "I care to get to know you, seeing as we'll be doing this for the next 40 minutes or so. Would you mind?"

"Oh, no, not at all," Emilio responded. "Well, my name is Emilio... I like... well..." Emilio didn't know what to say.

"That's alright. I'm Percy, as you already know. I like to read. I also enjoy watching quidditch. I've got a few siblings, as you've just seen, and I quite like Sugar Quills!" Percy said, looking at Emilio as he spoke.

"Oh, well... I also like to read. Muggle poetry, that is. Shakespeare, heard of him?" At Percy's eye roll and muttered 'of course,' Emilio continued. "I'm an only child. Quidditch is fun, I suppose, but I'm more into muggle sports. I like Honeydukes dark chocolate, too. Everybody calls me Emilio, you know that, but you can call me Lio."

"Lio," Percy repeated to himself. Emilio loved the way he said it. Percy hummed before tentatively taking up his next topic, "Say, I notice you don't really talk much. I was a bit surprised when I saw you at the meeting. That's not to say you don't deserve it, it's just... you seem quite... reserved? Compared to the other Ravenclaw boys."

"Noticed that, did you?" Emilio snorted. "Let me let you in on a little secret. It's because they're all high out of their minds at all hours of the day. And I quite like the solitude."

"Oh," Percy couldn't suppress his laugh. Emilio loved the way his eyes crinkled as he laughed, a dimple appearing on his left cheek. "Do you do that?" Percy asked as his face sobered.

Emilio sighed. "Sometimes."

Percy gasped, scandalized."Bit of a rebel, are you?"

Emilio couldn't tell if he was joking, but he shrugged it off anyhow. "Only a bit."

They continued to make meaningless small talk for the next few minutes of their shift, and before they knew it, they were switching out for another pair. 

"How fun has this been? I hope we can continue to talk to each other at Hogwarts, Lio. Just come and find me, yeah?" Percy smiled as he sat down, picking up his book that he'd discarded when they'd left.

"Of course," Emilio responded softly, gazing at Percy for what may have been a moment too long before hastily glancing away and watching the scenery pass by the window.

They didn't talk the rest of the way there.

Needless to say, Emilio did seek Percy out when they finally arrived at Hogwarts. Multiple times, actually. Why not? 

The first time, Percy seemed a little confused, but delighted all the same. They exchanged a few pleasantries, and then parted ways as they both had duties to fulfill. The next time though, they didn't. Emilio caught him in the library on the 3rd day of classes, and he was walking up and down the row of books nearest to where Percy was sitting, sneaking anxious glances and debating whether or not to go and sit with him.

As luck would have it, the minute he turned his back on Percy, the boy snuck up on him. "Alright there, Lio?"

Emilio jumped. "Oh! Um... yeah. I'm just..." He scrambled to pick up the nearest book, tamping down the blush that threatened to rise on his cheeks. Never that. "Found it!" He exclaimed nervously, holding up the book victoriously.

"Oh, that one is quite interesting! I didn't know you were into arithmancy!" Percy commented enthusiastically.

Emilio snuck a glance at the title of the book in his hand. "Why, of course I am! Super interesting stuff," he said gravely, before asking, "Mind if I join you over there? I was going to make my way over as soon as I found my book."

"Oh, I was wondering what you were doing! You've been here quite some time," Percy replied, turning on his heel. "I was meaning to ask you to join me as well! Come on, then."

Emilio followed Percy to the little table he was sat at. He stood patiently while Percy rushed to gather all the books strewn around.

"Sorry about the mess," Percy mumbled, the tips of his ears turning red from embarrassment.

Emilio's eyes lingered on the sight before he snapped to attention. "No, it's fine," he hastened to assure, helping Percy with the rest of the books before choosing to take a seat right next to him rather than across.

They read together in silence for the next hour. Well, Percy read. Well, Percy tried to read. Emilio was still on the 2nd page of his book, as he was attempting to sneak discreet glances at Percy. Due to their proximity, however, he couldn't exactly be discreet when he did this. Percy kept noticing, and their eyes would meet before Emilio looked away, opting to pretend to read the book and then try again in 2 minutes. He was actually considering not looking away the next time, when Percy finally spoke up.

"Something the matter? Do I have anything on my face?" He sighed, frowning and putting down his book. 

Emilio simply replied, "No," meeting Percy's glare head on.

"Then why do you keep staring at me?" Percy snapped.

"Am I?" Emilio challenged calmly.

"Yes," Percy hissed. "It's weird."

Emilio shrugged. "My apologies. It's just that," he deliberated his words before continuing, "I, um, quite like your face."

He delighted in the red flush that crept on Percy's freckled face. Honestly, that definitely wasn't his smoothest line, but it was gratifying all the same.

Despite the awkward start to their budding romance, Emilio got better at giving Percy compliments. Spending time with Percy only reaffirmed to him what he already knew. It was love at first sight. He'd been attracted to people before, and while Percy's silky dark red hair, gorgeous freckled face, and luminous hazel eyes did attract him, it wasn't just that. He appreciated Percy's dedication and ambition. Percy was practically a shoo-in for Head Boy in 2 years, and Emilio thought they should just skip over the 6th years and give Percy the position already. Percy, while serious, was kind when he wanted to be, witty, and intelligent. It was enamoring, really, and it always left Emilio amazed that no one had snatched him up yet. Their relationship was no Romeo and Juliet, because they definitely weren't getting married hours after meeting each other. In fact, they weren't even dating 9 months after meeting each other.

Emilio didn't know why. He understood that while he was taken with Percy as soon as they'd met, Percy didn't feel the same. That was fine. He just needed a little push. So, almost everyday since he'd realized that, he was on a mission to seduce Percy. 

First, he thought that as they would get to know each other, Percy would be attracted to his confidence, his personality, or even their shared interests. Percy seemed like the type. He quickly realized, however, that there were a lot of interesting people at Hogwarts. Hell, not to imply that Percy would go after him, but Harry Potter himself was going to Hogwarts these days! Emilio knew that his personality, while in his opinion charming, would not be enough.

Moving on from that, Emilio tried to jazz up his appearance a little. He spent more time in front of the mirror in the mornings, messing with his hair while his roommates pounded on the door to use the bathroom. He also took to not wearing his robes around Percy, opting to show off his more flattering slacks and button up shirt that he'd wear underneath. In times like those, his sleeves would be rolled up and he kept his tie on. He'd bet that Percy liked the tie. On one occasion or another, he'd caught Percy's eyes roaming his figure, but there was really nothing to it. Even knowing that Percy found him physically attractive didn't mean anything, because he felt as though Percy wouldn't date someone solely off of physical attraction. And besides, he'd wager that Percy considered the admiration to be friendly.

So then, when Emilio figured out that trying to physically attract Percy was futile, he tried getting Percy to talk more. And whenever Percy was speaking, whether it was as inane as him losing his sock, or as important as what he saw in his future, Emilio always made sure to make it clear that he was listening with rapt attention, humming at appropriate times and making so much eye contact, it just had to be suggestive. Apparently not to Percy Weasley.

He even tried touching him more, leaving lingering touches on his arm, casually slinging an arm around his shoulder, placing a comforting hand on his knee. They even held hands sometimes. Granted, Percy did start blushing more around Emilio. He was more easily flustered, and also misspoke when the Ravenclaw was within a 3 meter radius. He started jumping at the lightest brush of their fingers when exchanging papers, too. Emilio did that on purpose, but Percy didn't know that. Anyway, Emilio could tell that Percy was beginning to view him more romantically, but it wasn't enough. The other boy couldn't even tell that Emilio was hitting on him the entire time they'd known each other. And just when he thought Percy got it, he was proved wrong.

So he tried being more upfront about it. He asked things like, "what would you do if I kissed you right now?" and "do you see yourself ever being in a relationship with me?" No matter how positive or negative Percy's response was, it was also jokingly said. But Emilio wasn't joking.

One time, when Emilio was waiting patiently for their meeting, Percy approached him hastily, seemingly in a huff. He sat down loudly, and once sat, crossed his arms and glared at the table, moody and contemplative. 

"What's wrong?" Emilio asked, placing his hand on Percy's shoulder and squeezing. He leaned excessively into Percy's personal space.

When Percy looked at him, his glare softened and melted away, and he unfolded his arms with a resigned sigh. "My friend, Oliver, thinks you have a crush on me. Of course, I told him how silly he was being, but he just kept insisting. It made me really upset, because... because... how dare he!"

Emilio nodded sympathetically. "But I do have a crush on you."

Percy screwed up his face. It looked like his brain was malfunctioning. "But I'm... a boy." At Emilio's nod, he continued, "and you're a boy!"

"Yeah, so?" Emilio shrugged.

Percy stammered in response, "Oh, well... I guess it's nothing, really. Still, I thought you, you know, liked girls?"

"But I like you?" Emilio replied earnestly.

Percy nudged him in the ribs with a blush. "Lio, stop saying that. Someone will think you're serious!"

"I am serious!" Emilio exclaimed, causing him to get shushed by the library's other occupants. Percy hid his face in his hands due to the mortification. "In any case," Emilio continued, lowering his voice, "you do know that it's possible to like both, right?"

"Really?" Percy questioned incredulously. Emilio nodded. "I suppose that makes sense, doesn't it? Why not both?" Percy said aloud, but it was so quiet that Emilio thought that it was more to himself.

For a while, things were silent between them. Emilio was content to just sit there and let Percy ruminate, or whatever. To be quite honest, Emilio's mind was wandering a little, there and nowhere at the same time. His roommates gave him their latest strain in the form of a jellybean that he ate at dinner. He was lucky that he spat it out as soon as he did, not only because it was disgusting, but also because his roommates were on their own planets last he saw them. 

Finally, Percy spoke up, "I... I think I like both."

Emilio wasn't shocked. Still, he gravely replied,"Thank you for feeling comfortable enough to tell me that," giving Percy's shoulder a final squeeze before dropping his hand.

And Percy had smiled at him after he said that, but Emilio knew better than to assume that they'd just be able to get together then. He was smart to think that, because they didn't.

By the end of the term, they were stuck in this friendship consisting of various homosexual activities, a limbo between friends and dating. Again, Emilio didn't know where he went wrong, but it was not supposed to take this long. This wasn't the end, though.

When they got to Kings Cross, Percy departed with a, "make sure to write, Lio!" before running away to his large family. And write Emilio would. He still had all summer to make Percy his before 6th year. This time, Emilio decided that he could lower his expectations of Percy professing his love to him, and that he would be willing to ask him out conventionally.

As it would turn out, there would be no need for Emilio to ask Percy out.

They'd been owling back and forth all break. Hermes had a designated spot in his room, and Emilio was already drafting his next letters by the time the other ones were halfway to Percy. His habits annoyed his mother, though. 

"Voglio che tenga la finestra chiusa!" [1] He'd overheard his mom telling his dad.

"He's in love. You know what it was like for us," his dad responded, laughing fondly. His mom shook her head with a smile.

Anyway, Emilio's letters mostly consisted of non-discreet passes at Percy with the occasional Italian candy that he'd apparently accidentally gotten Percy hooked on. Percy's letters mostly consisted of complaints about his siblings, his studies, and the occasional note about his lack of correspondence with that Oliver guy. Oh, and he'd also ask for the candy at the end of every letter. Emilio was at first a little upset about Percy mentioning Oliver, but he reasoned that it's not as though Percy couldn't have friends. And whoever this guy was clearly understood what Percy failed to see, i.e. Emilio was mad for him. 

The distance between them seemed to make Percy a little more bold and upfront, for he occasionally responded to Emilio's lewd comments with coy ones of his own. Emilio didn't know how to feel about that, because that could just be Percy innocently joking around for all he knew. 

So it came as a little shock when a week before term was due to start, Hermes dropped in with a letter addressed to Emilio that was sealed with a wax heart stamp. He ripped it open, recognizing Percy's handwriting. It looked a bit shakier than usual, but it was neat nonetheless.

It read, "Dear Lio, I hope this letter finds you well. I've recently found myself desiring your company, but in a less friendly way. Do you know what I mean? I feel really special around you, and I don't want to treat you like all of my other friends. I've realized you've been telling me this all along. So if you're serious about this, then I'd really like for us to be more than friends..."

Emilio's heart leapt in his chest, and his hands shook as he finished reading the letter. He quickly took the nearest writing utensil, which happened to be a blue pen, and began to write his response. So excited was he that he had to continuously ball his hands into fists and squeeze to control the twitchiness. 

"Are you asking me out, Percy Weasley? If so, the answer is infinite times yes," he scribbled under the little paragraph Percy sent him. He sent it out with Hermes, who seemed a little disgruntled at being sent out so soon, but she must've understood his urgency, for she didn't bite him on the neck or anything. As soon as Hermes was gone, he collapsed onto his bed and screamed in his pillow. He felt like gouging his eyes out. Honestly, just hours before, he was contemplating how he'd ask Percy out, because no way would he enter his 6th year without Percy as his boyfriend. For the decision to be made for him, now that felt euphoric.

The next few days, they sent fewer letters back and forth, because their owls needed the rest and they really didn't have anything to talk about other than how happy they were about their commencing relationship. The rest could wait until they saw each other on the train. Needless to say, when you ask someone out over owl, things get a little awkward when you see them in person next. 

Emilio was the first person in the prefects compartment this time, and so snagged himself a window seat. He sat down with his back against the window side, putting his legs in the space next to him. He didn't think he'd be able to hold the seat for Percy, as long as he knew the boy was going to take, but it was worth a shot. As expected, if a little later, Percy didn't walk in until 1 or 2 minutes before the train was to depart. Obviously, Emilio couldn't save him a seat for that long, and it's not like the person across from him would be willing to give up their window seat just so they could stare at each other from across the compartment. They'd have to wait until the prefects were up and moving around before they could maneuver themselves into the proximity of each other.

Percy waved at him with a shy smile before settling into a seat next to a new Gryffindor girl prefect. When the meeting began, Emilio found himself unable to look away from Percy, much like last year. Unlike last year, though, they weren't partnered for patrolling the corridors. Percy and a seventh year Hufflepuff were the first to leave for the patrol, which disappointed Emilio but it was only 45 minutes. He'd have 3 hours with Percy before he had to go do his patrols.

By the time Percy came back, people were shuffling in and out of the compartment, going to greet their friends or use the restroom. Seating had changed drastically since the beginning of the ride, so Percy was able to take a seat next to Emilio.

"Hey, Lio!" Percy greeted him excitedly. He had a light blush creeping up his neck, and his arms were twitching at his sides, unsure whether or not to hug Emilio.

Emilio didn't know what to do either. "Hey," he chose to say. He pinched himself on the arm for his bland choice of words. "It's good to see you." 

Percy smiled and replied, "yeah, you too." After that, things were silent between them, but 5 agonizing minutes of slowly inching his pinky toward Percy's later, Emilio interlocked their pinkies and eventually he had Percy's whole hand in his. He carefully watched for Percy's reaction. At first, he jumped at the contact, but he quickly relaxed. He never looked up from the book on his lap, but he was smiling to himself and shot the occasional glance at Emilio, quickly looking away when he realized that Emilio was already looking at him. 

Emilio sighed in relief. It's not as though they hadn't held hands before, but it was different now. They were dating. 

Their intimacy was interrupted hours later, when it was finally time for Emilio to do his rounds. He let Percy's hand go, and gently removed himself from the seat, as Percy had fallen asleep a while back. When he finally exited the compartment, he was greeted by Gemma Farley, who was to be his partner in the task.

"Are you messing around with Weasley?" She asked him, just a minute after they began walking the corridor.

"What's it to you?" Emilio said, realizing his mistake immediately. He forgot to deny it, and was a little too defensive. He shrugged it off though, because he didn't really care who knew, but he didn't know how Percy would feel if people knew.

"You're not very slick," Gemma told him with an eye roll.

After a moment's hesitation, Emilio decided to reply, "There's nothing to be slick about. Mates can't fall asleep around each other? They can't... accidentally touch hands?"

Gemma scoffed and sped off down the way. Emilio scowled and went the other way. They didn't talk for the rest of their shift, which Emilio was perfectly contented by. 

Things between him and Percy were more lively when he got back, as Percy had just woken from his nap. The tension melted away as the ride progressed, and it was like nothing had changed by the time they arrived at Hogwarts.

Their relationship was going splendidly. Emilio had waited so long for this to happen, and the reward was as sweet as he could ever had imagined. His heart swelled every time he thought about how much more he wanted to have with Percy, and how now he could finally have it. 

They weren't hiding their relationship, but they weren't the most public. Anybody who looked close enough could tell. After all, Percy was Emilio's only friend. Anyway, they'd study together into the wee hours of the night in their designated spot of the library. They'd go with each other on patrols even though they weren't scheduled together. They'd go to Hogsmeade together and walk around merrily, keeping an eye on the younger kids while also enjoying each other's company. All that was relatively the same about their relationship. From those activities to holding hands, it's as though they were still friends. Nothing had really changed.

Except the kissing. Oh, the kissing. It started off innocent enough. Emilio frequently dropped kisses on Percy's cheeks and forehead, nearly every time they saw each other since they started dating. And Percy would blush every time. Percy never objected to them, so Emilio assumed that they were safe. He couldn't tell Percy's feelings on going further than that, though.

One day, however, they'd been out by the lake, enjoying the color of the leaves before they'd fall off the trees in light of the incoming winter. They were sat side by side against a large tree trunk, talking about any and everything. Their proximity was half to do with their relationship, and half to do with the fact that they were trying to share their warmth. Their conversation tapered out, and Percy was silently watching as Emilio attempted to throw stones far enough to reach the lake, let alone start skipping in the water. He probably needed to move closer. He was fixing himself to ask Percy if they could get a little closer to the water, but Percy ended up speaking first.

"Why have we never kissed?" He asked, a contemplative frown gracing his face. Emilio looked at him, surprised, but Percy resolutely stared forward.

Emilio finally replied,"We do," crossing his legs and shifting ever closer to Percy. 

Percy finally looked at him, annoyed. "No, like a real kiss. Hell, my little sister kisses me on the cheek! But we... we've been dating for two months. Shouldn't we have kissed by now?"

"Oh," Emilio replied, a little dumbfounded. "Well, I couldn't tell if you wanted to."

"Oh."

"But we could if you want to." 

"Right now?"

"Of course."

A little reposition, and Emilio was awkwardly leaned over and pressing a kiss to Percy's lips. They were cold from the climate, and a little chapped, but they were soft. Emilio pulled away with a clearing of his throat, unsure of how much Percy wanted from him.

"That was nice," Percy commented hoarsely.

"Yeah," Emilio agreed.

"Shall we go again?"

And so they did. This time, it was Percy who was leaned so far over that he was practically sitting on Emilio's lap. Emilio had his hands cupping the side of Percy's face, and Percy's hands were on the back of his neck, and they were both pulling each other ever closer. Shockingly, it was Percy who ended up slipping some tongue, but Emilio accepted it readily and eagerly. Their kiss was cut short by their awkward positioning, as eventually Emilio lost his balance and fell on his back, Percy falling on top of him. They started giggling, and Emilio savored the moment, throwing an arm over Percy's waist and propping his head up against the tree trunk. Percy settled himself on Emilio's chest.

It was perfect. The air left his lungs when he finally got a good look at Percy. He was all red, glistening lips, wind swept copper hair with complementary colored leaves in it, and beautiful hazel eyes looking up at him through long eyelashes. The sight would be ingrained in his brain for a long time.

After that, they kissed whenever they could get some alone time. In hidden alcoves between classes, empty classrooms on patrols, behind bookshelves in the library when nobody was around, and even in spaces between shops in Hogsmeade that nobody ever ventured down. That last one was a little too risky for Percy, so they quickly cut that out. But the kisses would get longer, needier, have more tongue, and hands began to roam. Emilio's hands would slip under Percy's shirt and his fingertips would brush up and down his sides before settling at the small of his back, all while Percy kept a hand in Emilio's hair, massaging his scalp and carding his fingers through the hair at the nape of his neck. Still, Emilio would always want more.

The chance finally presented itself when they found themselves on the fifth floor. It was late, so it was a little dark in the halls, but Percy and Emilio were out simply because they wanted to be, and they could be. For the most part, Percy led they way during their outing, and Emilio strolled lazily behind him, technically uninvited. Percy wasn't doing anything though, and if he wanted Emilio to leave, he would've said as much. Emilio was disinterestedly looking around, when his eyes landed on the statue of Boris the Bewildered. He let out a delighted gasp.

"Percy, look!" He called, waving the other boy back in his direction.

Percy sighed, already knowing what was going to be asked. "Can we not, Lio?"

"It'll be fun," Emilio responded, walking towards the entrance of the Prefects' Bathroom. "Besides, what are we doing walking around here anyway?"

Percy blushed. "Oh, I don't know... but what are we going to do?"

Emilio smirked. "Whatever you want."

They ended up going inside, and Emilio immediately began to turn on some taps on the bath.

"What, you want to get in?" Percy asked, scandalized.

"Of course!" Emilio replied. "We don't have to strip all the way down. Leave your boxers on."

Percy bit the inside of his cheek before sighing and beginning to shrug his robes off. By then, Emilio was already in the tub, wading through the water. The particular taps he'd chosen made it smell like roses and lavender, but apparently he missed the bubbles this time. What a shame. 

Percy didn't get in immediately, opting to sit at the edge and put his legs in. 

At Emilio's urging, he explained, "I'm not getting my boxers wet."

Emilio slowly made his way toward him, and Percy silently watched him approach, gently kicking his feet in the water. 

"You look like you wanna eat me," Percy joked when Emilio finally reached him.

"Yeah," Emilio agreed, settling between Percy's legs and wrapping his arms around Percy's waist. He tilted his head up, and Percy met him halfway, first kissing him light and slow. It quickly got more feverish, though, and Emilio pressed impossibly closer to the perimeter of the pool, pulling Percy closer to him. Percy gasped in response to the sudden movement, but quickly recovered, leaning down to continue their making out. He found himself tilting his head back, though, as Emilio took the opportunity to start licking and sucking at his neck. 

Percy's breathing became more labored, and the wet hand he had in Emilio's hair periodically gave a little squeeze when Emilio bit particularly hard. Percy's legs wrapped around Emilio's waist, futilely pulling him closer, causing Emilio to groan against Percy's neck at the friction of his growing erection grinding against the tile of the tub. And speaking of erections, Emilio could feel Percy's throbbing one pressing between them, Percy's hips jerking every time Emilio got a little too close. Emilio stopped devouring Percy's pale neck and moved so that one arm was holding him up from around the waist while the other placed a hand on Percy's thigh. It was painstakingly close to Percy's erection.

"Let me help you," Emilio said earnestly, looking into Percy's lust-filled eyes. In response, Percy whimpered and nodded. 

Emilio wasted no time in digging into the front of Percy's underwear and pulling out his rock-hard cock, which was dripping precum. He smeared it around the tip, his wet and pruned fingers serving to intensify Percy's pleasure. 

"Are you sure?" He asked finally. Percy nodded again, and Emilio squeezed but did nothing more. "Say something."

Percy covered his face with his hands, both of which were flushed red. "Yes, I'm sure. Merlin, please!" He begged, and that was enough for Emilio. His mouth descended onto the head, licking around the circumference before moving to lick a stripe on the underside. Percy's knuckles turned white with his grip on the side of the tub and in Emilio's hair. Finally, Emilio swallowed the whole length, and the effect was immediate.

"Lio!" Percy moaned out. The hold that his legs had around Emilio slackened, and he struggled to keep himself up right. Emilio continued to bob his head up and down, pausing occasionally to pump Percy's spit-covered cock or fondle his balls. A few seconds later, Percy's hips were jerking more frequently, his cock fucking into the back of Emilio's throat, and Emilio knew he was close. With a final squeeze to his balls, Percy’s cum flooded into Emilio's mouth. 

"Bloody hell, Lio," he whined. The grip he had on Emilio's hair was painful at this point, but Emilio didn't care, focusing on his attempt to swallow every last drop of the semen. He finally lifted his head off with a pop, cum dripping down his chin. Percy was propped up on his elbows, breathing heavily and trying to recover. His hair was soaked to his forehead with water and sweat, and his entire body was glistening with the moonlight reflecting off of the moisture.

With this image in mind, and of memories of Percy moaning his name, Emilio reached down and pumped his own cock in a frenzy, Percy watching him through heavy-lidded eyes.

"I could've helped you with that," Percy said softly, lifting his gaze from Emilio's rigorous pumping and looking him in the eye. Embarrassingly, that was all it took for Emilio to reach his climax with a whispered "Gods, Percy." He collapsed forward onto the cool tile of the tub, and they sat there in silence, both recovering from what they'd just done.

"We need to wash up. No use in protecting your boxers now," Emilio said after his breathing returned to normal. He helped Percy into the bath, and they began to clean themselves. There really wasn't much to clean, as Emilio had basically swallowed all of Percy's load, and he himself came into the water, but still. As Percy used his discarded wand to summon towels, a grating giggle began to emerge from one of the stalls. Percy froze, a look of absolute mortification dawning his face.

Moaning Myrtle appeared in front of them, smiling mischievously. "That was quite the show, you two!" She shrieked, twirling around and doing random loops. "I saw everything. You're both quite naughty."

Percy hid his burning face in Emilio's shoulder. Emilio sighed. "Go away, you perverted girl! You're a disgrace to Ravenclaw," he told her with a scowl.

Myrtle's lips wobbled, but before she could begin wailing, her face transformed into anger. "I was here first! You two came in here and started defiling this bathroom, not me!" She yelled before disappearing into the pipes.

They quickly got out after that, getting dressed and making a hasty departure. They almost went for round 2 when they got to Gryffindor tower and it was time to leave each other. Naturally, Percy put a stop to it, because you can't do anything in front of the Fat Lady without her telling everyone that will listen.

Well, Emilio enjoyed the night all the same.

As it would turn out, that was the climax (get it) of their relationship. Now they were in their falling, action, well on their way to the denouement.

See, Emilio thought they were doing quite alright. While they never repeated what happened in the Prefects' Bathroom, they did engage in their usual routine- making out, holding hands, and spending time together. How could it get any better? Well, Emilio thought he knew the answer to that.

So he saved up, and eventually, 2 weeks before they would let out for winter vacation, he was able to present Percy with a dainty ring. It was a simple silver band with their initials on it. They were in a random empty classroom, as they decided to hang out there when Emilio was done doing his rounds that Percy accompanied him in doing. When Percy saw the ring, he opened and closed his mouth like a fish out of water, seemingly unsure of what to say. Emilio tried to give him an explanation.

"I've wanted to be with you since the moment I first saw you. And while it took a long time for us to get to this point, it's been worth the wait. I love the time we spend together. So... I got you this ring. It's not an engagement ring- not yet at least- but it's more of a promise of my intent to always cherish you. You're the love of my life," Emilio finally finished, taking Percy's hand to slip the ring on.

Percy hastily snatched his hand back. "I can't accept this, Lio," he said, kind yet firm.

"Yes, you can. I know it seems like a lot, but trust me, it was worth it for you..." Emilio insisted, trailing off when he saw Percy shaking his head.

"It's not even about how much it costs. It's just... you think I'm the love of your life?" Percy asked incredulously.

Emilio nodded emphatically.

Percy sighed. "I'll see you later, Lio." And then he walked away.

Needless to say, that did not go well. Their conversations were a little stilted after that, but their relationship remained in tact. Percy was obviously a little distant, but Emilio figured that that could be remedied with time. He, however, still had one more thing to bring up with Percy.

They were sat together in the library, holding hands under the table, as it seemed that Percy no longer wanted to go anywhere too private with him. It was like he was being punished. 

"I've something to talk to you about," Emilio began.

Percy sighed, massaging his temples. "What is it?"

"Well, with the holidays coming up, I was wondering if you'd be able to come over during the recess sometime. Maybe meet my parents?" Emilio asked, tentative and hopeful.

Percy stared at him with wide eyes before swallowing thickly. "M-meet your parents?" Percy repeated.

Emilio nodded.

Percy's face was split between guilt and sadness, and maybe a little regret. He nodded sagely to himself, as if having made his mind up about something. About what, Emilio didn't know, but he hoped it was that Percy would come home with him and meet his parents.

"I don't think I'm quite ready for that, sorry," Percy answered quietly, fiddling with his thumbs.

"That's alright," Emilio assured him. Still, he couldn't help but level him with an expectant stare. Maybe if he begged hard enough...

Percy abruptly got up and packed his things, avoiding eye contact with Emilio.

"Where are you going?" Emilio asked, panicked and confused.

"I'm going to finish packing to go home. I'll see you later, Lio," Percy explained, slinging his bag over his shoulder. He placed a short and tender kiss on Emilio's lips, pulling away before he could try to escalate it. Emilio could only watch him leave, feeling as though he'd done something wrong. There was this weird feeling of dread in his stomach. 

Later, he proved right to think that. He wasn't able to see Percy before they departed ways to go on winter vacation, as they didn't have a shift scheduled together and Percy had been invited to sit with his friend Wood for that carriage ride. Emilio didn't get a letter from him after the first two days of break, but he decided that he'd let Percy reach out first because at this point, he was hyper aware of the fact that he was being avoided. He was many things, but dim-witted wasn't one of them. And if all else failed, he'd just catch Percy after break.

He didn't have to wait that long, though, as a letter from Percy came flying through the window the next morning. Emilio gratefully accepted it from Hermes and gave her a snack before he broke open the seal of the letter. His palms were sweaty with anticipation and his stomach was doing cartwheels. As he scanned the letter though, his heart dropped from his chest and his stomach decided to escalate to backflips. He felt sick.

It read, "Dear Lio, I hope this letter finds you well. I've been thinking about this for some time now, and I don't know how to tell you this any other way, but I'm breaking up with you. I know it isn't ideal for me to do this over owl, but I've just come to the decision and needed to tell you as soon as possible, so as not to hurt you or me anymore. I've realized, after your, don't get me wrong, very sweet attempt at giving me that promise ring, we just don't see things the same way. This is my first relationship, and I know it's yours too, so I guess I'm just a little confused on how you can claim to have loved me for so long. It was flattering, though, and I thought that maybe I could learn to love you too, eventually. But then you asked me to meet your parents, and I realized you were more serious about this than I ever could be. We've been dating for 3 months, and I really, really like you. I might even love you and just don't know it. But frankly, I've definitely not been thinking about forever with you, let alone meeting your parents. And I don't think it's fair for me to hold you up in looking for that elsewhere, because I'm sorry to say that you won't find it here. I wanted to make it work, but I realized that just wasn't going to be the right thing for us in the end. I really don't want to hurt you. Hell, this hurts me. If you've really loved me as long as you claim to, then I feel especially sorry for wasting a year of your life like that. Much love."

Emilio took the small blue lighter lying on his desk and clicked the flame alive, burning the letter immediately. He got back into bed and stared at the wall, letting the tears burning his eyes flow sideways onto his pillow. He couldn't even bring himself to care. He quietly cried until his eyes were raw and puffy. Silent sobs wracked his body, and by the time he'd calmed into little sniffles, his eyes were so heavy. He didn't want to feel anymore, so he just went to sleep. 

This is how he spent the rest of his summer, locked up in his bedroom and crying about the love he'd lost. He didn't even feel like himself. He'd think of curly copper hair, of beautiful hazel eyes, of horn-rimmed glasses, plentiful freckles and beautifully tinted lips- 

Percy Weasley was not his Juliet. And he was not Percy Weasley's Romeo. Emilio didn't want to say he didn't believe in love anymore, but well... if Percy Weasley taught him anything, it's that his life wasn't an elaborate play. He was a real, normal person, who experienced love and heartbreak. That was the most regrettable part of it all, in his honest opinion.

Chapter Text

Penelope had a little problem. She was kind of bored with her life. By all means, she was quite satisfied. Her grades were phenomenal, she was never lonely with friends like hers, and she acquired a job over the summer that allowed for her to have some spare change to buy nice things for herself. It was basically all a teenage girl had to worry about.

Except, she didn't have a boyfriend. Now, she didn't believe that all her problems could be solved with a boyfriend, but then again, this was her only problem. She felt as though she'd never have time for such frivolous things when she was younger, but now she felt she was in a position where she could correctly manage having one. No matter how much she wanted a boyfriend, though, she wasn't desperate enough to throw herself at the first male to show any interest in her. Penelope wasn't a cocky person, but she knew that she was conventionally quite attractive. It wasn't that her options were limited, it was that she had standards. She knew her worth, and she knew that she didn't have to settle for anything less than what she deserved.

With that in mind, she started her 6th year off looking at everybody in a new light. Who was kind, who was smart, who was funny, who was handsome. She swore that she didn't have a list, or a type, but well... she had bare minimum requirements.

Even before classes began, Penelope was able to open her eyes and realize that there were a lot of decent looking men around her. Some stood out more than others, but decent-looking all the same. Decent-looking alone wasn't enough. Obviously, since there were so many, that didn't make them special.

On the first day of classes, it was really regrettable to find out that she had charms at the top of the morning. And no friends with her, either. It was a NEWT level class, so all students from every house were combined into classes, as a disproportionate amount of each had continued to take certain classes. Upon arriving, Penelope scanned the room and took the first seat that presented itself to her that was close to the front, but not that close. It just so happened that she found herself sitting next to Percy Weasley.

She didn't really know what to think about him, actually. A lot of people found him to be quite annoying, but Penelope found herself seeing the reason in a lot of the more annoying things he did. She'd occasionally been scheduled for prefect rounds with him, and it was her intention to talk to him then, but it always seemed like he had other company with him during those times, so she ultimately steered clear of them. All in all, she didn't know Percy, but when she sat down next to him, she nodded at him, and he returned it with an amicable smile. Percy Weasley was one of those decent-looking people, Penelope noticed. Definitely not the most attractive person in their year, but she liked the smattering of freckles on his face. He was cute.

They sat the remainder of class in silence, both listening intently to Flitwick's introductory speech and lesson, and they got up after without a word to the other. That was how it was like for most days. Penelope would walk in a little later than Percy, she'd nod and he'd smile at her, and then they went about their way.

This routine couldn't hold up when Flitwick made them collaborate in class, though. They were to be working together to figure out the theory behind casting, and eventually cast the knitting charm successfully and consistently. They were given two needles each and a ball of yarn, and were basically told to do whatever they needed to do to get it right. This was an autonomy never granted to them before NEWT level classes, especially because Flitwick just reviewed the reading he assigned to them and let them go without a demonstration, but they were probably expected to fare well as NEWT students. 

"So," Percy began, causing Penelope to look up from fiddling with needles. She needed to read his lips to understand him, because with everyone talking, it was kind of hard to hear. "Did you do the reading?"

"Of course," Penelope replied. She couldn't say she remembered it, though.

"I guess we should just try it and reconvene if it's necessary, then?" Percy said, already lifting his wand to start casting.

"Sounds good to me," Penelope responded, picking up her wand to seem productive and as if she knew what she was doing. She watched Percy do it first to jog her brain of the motions. Lo and behold, he got it first try. She followed soon after, imitating his pronunciation and wand movement. Her needles moved toward the yarn before dropping an inch away. She frowned.

Percy noticed her struggle and looked at her knowingly. She ignored it and continued in her attempts, cursing under her breath. One time, the yarn even casted itself on the needle, but the needle struggled to make a stitch.

Percy cleared his throat. "Would you like some assistance?"

Penelope sighed. "Yes, please."

Percy chuckled, not unkind. "That's alright. It took me a while to get it too."

Penelope glared at him. "You literally just got it first try. I watched you. Don't play that rubbish with me," she said accusingly. 

"No, I typically do this with my mother's wand over the summer. I like to help her with the knitting, but I've never bothered to learn to do it by hand. My needles tried to stab me the first few times, don't worry. By all means, I think you're doing quite well," He assured her placatingly. He tacked on as a joke, "Don't tell anybody I've been practicing underage magic. Nobody will look at me the same." 

She laughed. "Thanks, and I won't tell." To be honest, Penelope found the joke quite lame and unfunny, but she appreciated Percy's attempt to lighten the mood all the same. Additionally, she felt a little better knowing that she wasn't just fudging a really simple spell. They settled into a companionable silence but then,

"So are you going to help me or what?" Penelope snapped.

"Oh, right," Percy replied, scrambling to fix his wand into the right position. He slowly showed her the right movement while making sure she knew the incantation, and then he let her try. She copied him, and she thought she got it right when the needles started making a stitch, and then a second, and even a third, but then they stopped. 

"Oh," Percy said, surprised. "I think you cut off the movement at the end. Here, let me..." He explained, taking her wand arm by the wrist and guiding her through the motions.

Penelope looked at him, unimpressed at what she assumed was supposed to be a way of getting at her. To her surprise though, Percy seemed completely serious, and when she tried again, her needles began to belt out rows and rows of stitching. It was magnificent.

"Thanks, Percy," she finally said, lowering her wand on the table. "That was quite helpful."

Percy smiled at her. "It's no problem."

When Flitwick hobbled over to them, he didn't even have to try and look at the table to see their progress as both of their pieces (Penelope wasn't sure what was being knitted) were hanging over the table in their rapidly-increasing progress.

"Oh my! Excellently done Ms. Clearwater, Mr. Weasley! 5 points to Gryffindor, and 5 points to Ravenclaw!" He exclaimed, running his fingers over the draping stitches of yarn before moving on to the next table. 

Percy and Penelope exchanged a smirk. The rest of class proceeded as normal, and they didn't really talk much after that as there was no need, but Penelope made sure to thank him again as they were packing up. 

"Thanks again, Percy. That was very considerate of you, helping me. You're not as much of a prat as everyone says," Penelope told him, patting him on the shoulder. 

Percy cringed, stepping away from her with an awkward smile. "Any time," he said, before walking away. Penelope laughed.

Not only was Percy Weasley a little cute, but he was also quite nice. It was already undisputed that he was quite smart, too. Penelope kept this in mind.

And as time went on, they began to talk more during class about things that weren't about class. It was great. Penelope enjoyed hearing about Percy's view of things and how he would go about certain situations. Two more things, Percy Weasley was charming, and he was funny too. He made way too complicated jokes about what they were working on in class or some random piece of gossip that she had told him. Penelope found them to be so bad that they were actually quite funny to her. It was delightful.

Everyday, she looked forward to going to first period charms! Just because she could see Percy Weasley. The smile never left her face when he was around. 

Somewhere along the way, she realized that she probably had a crush on him. She constantly thought about her charms class, and not about the course work. She planned their interactions in her head, but she never could get Percy's character right. She wanted to know more about him. Often times she didn't get much done in class while talking to Percy, which would be problematic if Percy weren't so intent on his studies too. She liked that about him.

He was smart, while this other guy she was considering, Ellias, wasn't the brightest crayon in the box.

He was kind, while this other guy that she occasionally chatted up was quite mean to people that he wasn't interested in. Quite shallow, too. Percy had depth, she'd say.

He wasn't conventionally funny, but it was funnier to talk to him than, say for instance Lucas, the older Hufflepuff who supposedly wanted to get to know her.

And as for looks, well... They were all cute. But Percy stood out to her. 

So her decision was made. Penelope wanted Percy Weasley.

By the time she decided this, December rolled around. She wanted to go to Hogsmeade with him, but she also wanted for him to ask her. She understood that that might take a little finesse, but she had nothing but time. 

So Penelope ended up going to Hogsmeade with a group of friends, as planned. It was quite chilly out, but people were going to get last minute gifts for their families or whatnot. Penelope was just there for the fun, though. The cold didn't mean much to her, because she was a competent witch that knew how to cast a heating charm, and she had a coat, scarf, and hat as well. Unfortunately, she accidentally left her gloves. 

"I'm just here because I want to be," Penelope told them, as the topic was the itinerary for the day. "I've got nowhere special to be."

"I need to make a run to Zonkos," one girl piped up. Penelope didn't know her name, because she was a friend of a friend, but she was nice enough. "My little brothers love that stuff."

Another girl, Charlotte, announced morosely, "I was supposed to go to Puddifoot's with William, but well, you all know what happened..." 

Everybody went quiet. Nobody really liked Charlotte. Penelope felt bad for her, though. She couldn't function without a man in her life.

"No. What did happen between you two?" Penelope's friend, Alice, asked with a tone of innocence. Penelope shot her a disapproving look. She could tell that Alice was trying to joke around, but she honestly wasn't in the mood for Charlotte's whining. 

"He... he cheated on me," Charlotte wailed, stopping dead in the middle of the path and bursting into tears. "Some younger Slytherin girl," she continued with an angry mutter before sobbing even louder. 

The rest of the girls looked at each other awkwardly before finally, Penelope and the girl whose name she didn't know went to comfort her. 

"There, there," Penelope said soothingly, rubbing circles on her back. The other girl patted her shoulder and gave her a handkerchief that Charlotte blew her nose with before handing it back. 

"Thank you," she said, wiping her red eyes with a sniffle. Penelope nodded at her and the other girl gave her a thumbs up.

"Oh, Charlotte. Your mascara," Alice pointed out pityingly, pulling out a pocket mirror and a tissue for Charlotte to check for herself. Charlotte gasped in horror upon looking at her reflection, and quickly wiped the runny black streaks before they could dry.

She handed the mirror back to Alice. "Thank you." And then they continued on the path like nothing ever happened, Charlotte looking relatively indifferent to the break down she just had.

"So, Penelope," Charlotte began, "Is there anyone you've got your eye on? I understand that you've been looking, as of late."

Alice elbowed her in the arm playfully. "I've heard you flirting with Lucas on the way to class. Just sickening," she said, gagging exaggeratedly to punctuate her statement. Alice's unknown friend giggled at her antics. 

Penelope laughed shallowly. "No, I've actually got someone else in mind," she revealed, looking at her feet with a blush. 

Evelyn, a gossipy Gryffindor girl who'd been trailing behind them, jumped to her side. "Who is it, then?" She asked, leaning into Penelope's personal space.

"Percy Weasley..." Penelope mumbled quietly.

"Sorry, we couldn't hear you," Charlotte said with a frown, trying to discern what Penelope said.

"Percy Weasley," She repeated with a firmer and louder voice.

"We still can't hear you," Alice told her. "I thought you said Percy Weasley!" She laughed, and all the other girls joined in with her.

"I did," Penelope responded. "So what? It's not funny, don't laugh."

The laughter died, but Alice's friend kept giggling at her side. Penelope wondered what in the world was so funny. All of the girls were staring at her like she'd grown an extra head.

"No way!" Evelyn gasped.

"Oh, Nelly..." Alice started, leveling her with a sad and empathetic stare.

"But Percy Weasley is so..." Charlotte trailed off, looking for the right word.

"What?" Penelope challenged. "He's smart, he's funny, he's kind, and I think he's quite decent looking. Sod off."

"He's a right git, is what he is," Alice's friend replied. Much to Penelope's annoyance, the rest of the girls nodded in agreement.

Penelope bit her lip, and her voice raised in volume due to the passion of her statement. "No, he's not!" She defended him. "You guys just don't know him like I do. I should've never told you..." She mumbled this last part, tone full of regret, before going back to her raised voice. "And who even are you?" She added, eyes settling on Alice's friend.

Alice's friend's eyebrows shot up at the confrontation, but she quickly recovered with a shrug. "The name's Olivia."

Alice butted in, settling a placating hand on Penelope's shoulder. "Well, if you like him, Nelly..."

"I heard that he regularly shags some other prefect," Evelyn suddenly chimed in. 

Penelope frowned. "Is that so?" To which Evelyn nodded smugly. Penelope bristled and tried not to show how much that had bothered her. She didn't know how much credence to put in Evelyn's claims, but she decided that she'd have to do her own research on the matter. She was above flirting with a taken man. 

"Well," Penelope said. "If that's not the case, then Percy Weasley will be mine by the end of the year," she declared with a decisive nod, not missing the looks of bewilderment being exchanged behind her back.

"I guess he's not that bad looking," Charlotte finally said as they arrived at Zonko's. Olivia got her things and then they were off to the Three Broomsticks for a drink and a seat.

They were walking and talking and laughing, when all of a sudden Evelyn let out a loud gasp and pointed at the alleyway they were passing up. "Is that Percy Weasley kissing that Ravenclaw prefect that never talks?!"

Everybody stared at her in disbelief before turning to look in the direction she was pointing at. Lo and behold, Percy was standing there with a Ravenclaw prefect, but it seemed as though they were just chatting and watching people pass by.

"That's Emilio," Penelope corrected her. "And that wasn't funny."

"I swear!" Evelyn cried. She hissed vehemently, "They were literally just snogging. Their hands were all over each other!"

The girls all gave her an unimpressed look.

"How come none of us saw it, then?" Olivia asked.

"You're such a pervert, Evelyn," Alice said at the same time.

The rest of the walk to the Three Broomsticks was spent with Evelyn defending herself and swearing that she knew what she saw, and the rest of the girls in turn calling her crazy.

All in all, it was a fun outing for Penelope, minus the part where she had to defend her crush to her friends. It was humiliating, but honestly, she stuck by what she said. They just didn't understand him like her. And to be quite frank, that was fine because that's more for her anyway. So long as they stopped teasing her about it, though. They tried to use it as leverage against her, but that wouldn't work, because she wasn't ashamed despite knowing how they felt about her choice of man.

After that Hogsmeade weekend, there were only two weeks left before the students were dismissed for holiday. Because of this, a lot of classes were reviewing what they'd learned in the first few months of the year, but only a few were giving out exams. Luckily for Penelope, charms wasn't one of those classes, leaving her more time to focus on flirting with Percy rather than studying. Of course, she still made time for her studies, but not when she didn't have to.

Anyway, she'd taken to subtly pushing her chair closer to Percy's as she took her seat everyday. Unfortunately for her, Percy did notice, and politely pointed it out to her.

"Sorry for not saying anything sooner, but I notice that you accidentally move your chair closer to mine when you sit down. I don't really mind your proximity, it's just that you're left-handed, and I'm right-handed, and it must be bothering us both with how much our elbows are colliding." He laughed as he said that last part, slowly pulling his elbow from where Penelope had intentionally placed hers to touch his. 

She awkwardly smiled in turn and shuffled her chair away with a blush. Her heart sank into her stomach, and she was honestly confused. That sort of felt like a rejection. She shook it off, though, reminding herself that sometimes, Percy really was that dense. 

"Thanks," she said, focusing on what Flitwick was instructing them to do today. He had basically written a whole bunch of charms that they were supposed to be able to efficiently cast, coincidentally with the blackboard writing spell that they'd learned. They had until the end of the week to show Flitwick that they could cast the spells three times in a row with no mistakes, which all in all seemed easy to Penelope. Still, she saw this as an opportunity.

"Hey, Percy," she nudged him lightly. He had his head down, waiting for Flitwick to get around to them. Upon feeling her touch, he turned his head to look at her, but he still had his head down.

"What's up?" He asked.

"I need a little help with this water-making spell. Think you can assist me?" She said, gripping his forearm in the guise of pleading.

He cleared his throat, straightening up and moving his arm in the process. "Of course? What exactly is it that's causing you trouble?"

Penelope swallowed her pride and made up an excuse as to why she couldn't cast a silly water-making spell. "I'm just having a little trouble with the wand movement, is all."

"Oh, that's okay! It's basically just a short, slanted 's,'" he explained, and Penelope nodded dutifully before taking the bowl they were provided and adopting a face of concentration. 

"Aguamenti," she casted perfectly, and then there was water. 

"Brilliant," Percy praised, nudging her shoulder. "I knew you could do it. Stop pretending," he joked.

Penelope laughed, "Thanks, you're a really great help." Truth be told, she hadn't needed his help since the knitting charm at the beginning of the year. But he didn't mind helping her, and it made him more tactile for whatever reason. She guessed he liked feeling needed.

When Flitwick finally came over to them, Percy went first, casting all of the spells perfectly.

"Very good, Mr. Weasley," Flitwick nodded in approval, before turning to her expectantly.

She began casting, but stopped at the last one. "I want to show you this one tomorrow, if that's alright with you, Professor," she said innocently.

"But of course, Ms. Clearwater. If you need any further assistance, just let me know," Flitwick agreed understandingly. 

"That's alright, I'm just a little rusty. Maybe I can show you at the end of class, even," Penelope insisted. Finally, Flitwick walked away to the next table with a promise to come back at the end of class. She then turned to Percy, who was looking at her with a confused frown.

"What's that all about? You're so good at the gouging spell," He questioned gently.

"I.... I forgot," she tried to excuse herself. She internally cringed. That was so stupid at her. At Percy's incredulous look, she continued, "Please, Percy. You've got to help me. It's just one spell, and you're so good at teaching me!"

Percy blushed. "Well, alright," he conceded, picking up the rock they were given and beginning to explain the gouging spell to her. She nodded along studiously, satisfied at his reaction. 

At the end of class, Flitwick came back and Penelope was obviously able to perform the gouging charm 3 times perfect, making her charms course load virtually over until after holiday. Additionally, she was starting to figure Percy out a little more— what he responded to and what he didn't. All in all, she'd consider that day to be a success.

The following few days would be nothing but free time for them, and Penelope got giddy imagining all of the possibilities of the conversations that she would have with Percy. They'd laugh, banter, flirt, it would be fun.

Except that didn't end up being reality. When Penelope tried to talk to Percy, he didn't respond, or if he did, he would respond shortly. When she touched him, he didn't pull away, but he didn't exactly react the way she wanted. In fact, he didn't react at all. He seemed to be in some kind of chronically pensive and frustrated trance, and Penelope didn't know what to do. It was stressing her out. Especially with Evelyn shooting her knowing looks all throughout the hour when she should've been focusing on her own work, still yet to complete half of the spells that they were supposed to master. 

"Alright, Percy?" She asked him after the third day of him showing up to class like that.

Percy didn't even seem to register her words for a few seconds, and she was going to repeat herself until he abruptly looked at her and nodded. "Fine," he assured her.

"Well, if you need to talk..." she prompted. 

"It's a little personal, if you don't mind. Thanks anyway, Penelope," he brushed off her suggestion.

She really didn't know what else to do. So she decided to keep busy doing her other coursework and seeing if she could wait out his funk.

On the final day of classes before the break, he seemed to be in a better mood than before, apparently having made up his mind about whatever he's been thinking about for the past few weeks. 

"Alright, Percy?" She asked again. This time, he responded with a smile and a "yes" and that was that. 

He was more easygoing that day, and was more like what Penelope had been getting herself excited for just a few days prior. Her heart swelled, enjoying their conversation that often lulled into a comfortable silence because it seemed like neither knew how to keep up a conversation with the other. It was awkward, yet nice, and that was the last time she saw him before they went home for vacation.

By the time they came back from holiday, Penelope had made up her mind to be a little more obvious about wanting for Percy to ask her out, without blatantly stating it. 

Once they were done with the lesson, there were around 12 minutes until Charms ended and there was nothing left to do. In the absence of anything to do, Penelope typically visited the topic of classes with Percy, because she still didn't know much else about him, other than that he was a prefect and liked school. Today had them talking about potions, more specifically amortentia, which they'd only read about toward the beginning of the year.

"I don't smell anything important, really," Percy was saying, and Penelope nodded along. "Or at least anything I find particularly surprising to smell. What about you?"

"Oh, well..." To be quite frank, she smelt vanilla cupcakes, sea salt, and the faint smell of eucalyptus that she associated with Percy. She wasn't trying to tell him that last part, though. "Nothing surprising for me either. I like to bake and go to the beach, so I can make out things like vanilla and sea salt in there."

Percy nodded. "What kind of things do you bake?" He asked, after a long pause where they awkwardly waited for the other to say something.

Penelope wasn't really interested in the course this conversation was taking. "Oh, biscuits, brownies, lemon bars, simple stuff like that," she replied flippantly. Then, what must've been seemingly out of nowhere for Percy, she commented, "I baked a cake with someone before, but either he really didn’t like me or he was a complete idiot, because he undercooked it and had me eat it. Got food poisoning."

Percy's congenial smile turned into a frown. "That’s not very considerate.”

"Yeah. A shame, because I really liked him," Penelope sighed. Making up stories like that on the spot was not for the weak. "Of course, now I'm still looking."

Percy hummed. "Uh... well good luck with that," he said with a thumbs up.

Penelope rolled her eyes, prompting, "What about you, Percy?"

"Oh, well..." he trailed off.

Suspicious of his hesitation, Penelope suddenly realized that she forgot to make further investigations about Evelyn's statement. So outlandish were her following claims that the more reasonable ones were completely lost in her brain. That obviously proved to be a slight oversight on her part.

"Are you single, Percy?" She pressed him.

Just as he opened his mouth to answer, the shuffling of students around them getting out of their seats alerted her of the end of the class. Percy looked to be considering running away, but he sighed and finally answered her question, evidently reluctant.

"I guess I am, nowadays," he shrugged.

Penelope's eyebrows rose at that, but she quickly tried to disguise it, fearing it might upset him. She slung her bag over her shoulder and they began walking side by side, exiting the classroom together. "So your being single is a more recent development, then?"

Percy pursed his lips. "I guess it's been around two weeks now." 

"Oh..." Penelope responded dumbly. That was all she could say, struck with the sudden realization that she'd been crushing on a taken man this whole time. She couldn't even say anything back when Percy told her bye and departed the other way. That was a terrible shock.

So the natural way to proceed, rather than using her free time to do her homework and study, she gossiped to her friends. And of course, wherever there was gossip, there was Evelyn.

"He's been in a relationship this whole time!" She cried, covering her face with her hands just thinking about the embarrassment. 

"I told you," Evelyn said smugly, ignoring the hard elbow to the side that Alice gave her. "Guys, I swear, it's Emilio."

"Would you shut up about that?" Charlotte snapped. And for once, they all agreed with her. "Look, Penelope. While that must be extremely embarrassing for you, it's not that important."

Penelope frowned at her.

"Yeah," Olivia agreed. "You didn't know, so it's okay. And the fact of the matter is that he's single now!" She finished, and Alice nodded along.

"You guys really think so?" Penelope asked, feeling slightly comforted. That only lasted a second, though, because then the feeling of dread settled back in her stomach. "But I've been flirting with him! God, how embarrassing! Why didn't he tell me?"

"Whatever you two do in class is not flirting, love. It's awkward and weird," Evelyn commented sagely, placing a hand on Penelope's shoulder.

Penelope shrugged it off, looking at Evelyn offendedly. Before she could say anything, though, Alice cut in.

"It doesn't matter. He's single now, so go for it."

Penelope didn't say anything to that.

"Did you tell him that you were looking?" Olivia asked.

Penelope nodded.

"Well, what did he say?" Charlotte prompted.

"I don't think he said anything of importance... and then I asked him if he was looking and he didn't answer me until he'd told me that he just got out of a relationship," Penelope recounted.

Alice frowned. "Well maybe you should give it a little time. I think he's still getting over that."

"Of course," Penelope agreed. "But how much time?" She huffed, clearly frustrated.

"You'll really just have to wait and see. My guess is that Percy Weasley has never been in a relationship before that," Evelyn told her nonchalantly.

The entire ordeal left Penelope feeling confused and conflicted.

The next charms class was extremely awkward for her. It felt so wrong sitting next to him, knowing that he'd been going out with someone the whole time she'd been trying to flirt with him. She understood that she didn't know, and that now he wasn't taken anymore, but that didn't really bring her much comfort anymore because she always ended up thinking about how once upon a time, that wasn't the case.

Normally, on days like these, Penelope would initiate conversation and then he'd readily engage her as she made sure to make eye contact. She even went the full mile, batting her eyelashes and casually flipping her hair over her shoulder if it wasn't tied up. But now, she tried to avoid looking at Percy and dutifully kept her hands to herself, taking notes on Flitwick's lesson. Occasionally, there would be breaks in the lesson where they were to turn and converse with their tablemate about the current subtopic, and only then would Penelope allow herself to look at him.

It seemed like he was waiting for her to start the conversation as per usual, but she stubbornly kept her mouth shut, so he began, "Well, I think..."

Penelope internally grimaced at the normalcy of it all. He was acting as if nothing had happened, which in his eyes, it probably hadn't. For her though, it felt so surreal. She didn't know how to act anymore. She still wanted to talk to him and laugh with him about whatever, but it just didn't feel the same.

When Percy finally finished expressing his thoughts about the question that Flitwick proposed to them, all Penelope could do was nod in agreement. "That's what I was thinking."

He smiled at her before focusing his attention back to Flitwick who was beginning to reel the class back into his lecture.

Penelope felt terrible about her dry response, but that was all she could do, honestly.

When the lecture was over and everyone was packing up with 3 minutes to spare, she could swear she felt Percy sneaking glances at her. The next time he did it, she met his gaze head on with a questioning frown.

"Are you okay?" He asked her.

"Totally," she said snappishly, immediately regretting her tone. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"I don't know...." He replied contemplatively. "You just don't seem... Penelope. Feels kind of different. I don't know if it's just me, but I just wanted to ask if I did anything wrong? Or is there anything I could help you with?"

"Oh," Penelope said in a small voice, her hands halted in their packing in her surprise. "That's... very considerate of you. I'm... we're quite fine. Just a little tired, is all."

Percy was finished putting his things away and was watching her as she resumed stowing away her notes. "Um... I know we don't talk much outside of class. But well, we can."

"Obviously," Penelope replied wryly, zipping up her bag. She delighted in the sight of Percy's cheeks filling with color.

"I mean, we should," he hastened to clarify. "I'd like to be your friend, and you can talk to me, and..." At this part, he trailed off, seemingly having nothing else to say. Penelope opened her mouth to say something, but that was when Percy decided to continue, "I hope you feel better. See you later!" And then he walked away before Penelope could get a word in.

She stared at his back, her stomach churning with dissonant emotions. It was a wonder that just as she felt like giving up on him, he extends the offer of friendship. Of course, Penelope did want to be his friend, but she also reminded herself that she wanted more, and this was practically an olive branch for her to get it. And really, she was quite flattered that he went out of his way to make her feel like she could talk to him about how she was feeling, because he recognized that she wasn't acting like she normally would. At least not around him. Naturally, she wouldn't be taking him up on that offer, but she really felt like it was the thought that counted. Her resolve was weakening. It was like fate felt her giving up and then gave her this little push.

So she took it as a sign. She left class in better spirits, with renewed enthusiasm in her pursuit of Percy Weasley. This was the most reciprocity she'd been shown since she began this whole thing.

It seemed as though for all her troubles, that was the only bit of acknowledgement of her actions that she was going to be afforded. That made sense. She understood that the only reason why Percy gave her that much was because he thought that she was just like that with him for no reason. He only mentioned it because he thought that she was acting abnormally that day, which in a way he was right, but for the most part she acted abnormal around him everyday and that was the first time she was being normal. Anyway, since he'd gotten so used to her attempts at flirting, she decided she'd go about it a different way. She'd never outright ask him out or tell him to ask her out, but...

"You want for us to give him the suggestion to ask you out?" Olivia echoed slowly.

Alice and Charlotte were giggling.

"I never thought that this would be the way you went about dating. You're so different when you like someone, Nelly." Alice commented in between her giggles.

Penelope frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Alice sobered, sensing Penelope's frustration. "Nothing, really. It's just that you're normally so straightforward and tactful. This is the most immature thing you've ever suggested!"

Penelope opened her mouth in protest, but Charlotte beat her to it. "I think this is a quite brilliant way to get a guy to ask you out. It has plenty of tact! And it's bound to work on a guy like Weasley!" 

Penelope didn't know how to feel about that comment, but was nevertheless thankful for the defense. 

"As fun as this sounds," Olivia butted in. "What have you tried thus far? Are you sure you want to do this?"

"I've tried being more tactile, talking to him," Penelope sighed deeply, preparing herself to continue the list. "Batting my eyelashes at him, and flipping my hair!"

Alice and Charlotte started giggling again.

"How has that worked for you?" Olivia asked, shooting playful glares at the other girls.

"I think that... we're definitely closer! I mean, he even asked me if there was something the matter the me when I wasn't doing those things! Like genuine concern. And he offered to talk more outside of class. And we have, a little. I studied with him just last week," Penelope explained.

Alice let out an exaggerated gasp. "You never told me that!"

Penelope shrugged with a smirk before she adopted a more serious look. "For real, though. Help me, please!"

"Okay," Olivia, Charlotte, and Alice agreed simultaneously. They looked at each other, amused. 

"I'm in," Evelyn announced, appearing out of no where and taking a seat next to Penelope.

"Um," Penelope began, but stopped when she realized the effort was futile. Evelyn already knew way too much about her little crush on Percy, and Penelope didn't see why she couldn't help. Who better to drop hints through than Evelyn? "He'll be in the library next weekend, helping his roommate, Oliver, study. But Oliver is gonna leave eventually for a Gryffindor quidditch practice, I just don't know when."

"I can figure that out," Evelyn volunteered with a preen, already anticipating the thanks that she received from Penelope.

"And when that happens, you guys can go and talk to him. See what he thinks about me... I'll be nearby because I told him I might swing by the library while he's in there. Good?"

Everyone nodded.

And that was what happened. 

Evelyn informed them that the practice started at 3:00, and Oliver would probably be there at 2:30. So as not to raise suspicion, the girls approached Percy at 3:20, 55 minutes after Oliver left. Penelope lingered in earshot, crouching behind the nearest bookshelf while Olivia, Evelyn, Charlotte, and Alice pulled up chairs to Percy's table.

Only then did Percy look up from his book, just in time to see Alice fall into her chair with a huff. For a beat, nobody said anything. Then:

"Hi, Percy," Evelyn greeted him.

"Hello, Evelyn," Percy replied awkwardly, pushing his glasses up his nose. He surveyed the other girls. "I don't believe I know you lot... aren't you Penelope's friend?" The last bit was directed at Alice, who snapped out of her bored trance, surprised to be addressed.

"Why, aren't you clever? Yes, I am, and so are they. It's come to my attention that... you're Penelope's friend too, aren't you?" Alice said, looking at Percy with a predacious smile. Penelope had never hated her more than in that moment. She could imagine the girls discussing a 'good cop, bad cop' scenario before this conversation started.

Percy shifted uncomfortably. "Well, I'd like to think so. Something the matter?" 

Olivia smiled at him politely. She must've been the good cop. "Do you like her?"

"Yes. I think she's quite nice, and I admire her intellect," Percy responded immediately.

"Isn't she pretty?" Charlotte prompted.

"Well... yes. She's quite attractive, too," Percy agreed with a blush.

"I mean," Olivia continued her lining of question. "Do you like like her?"

Percy didn't say anything for a moment, apparently having not expected the question. "I suppose... I've never really thought about her like that."

Penelope's heart sank.

"But," Percy continued. "I think she's just lovely. Maybe I do like her, after all." The last part was more of a murmur, and Percy looked away from the girls and toward the bookshelves.

Penelope's heart then leapt in her chest, in excitement that Percy might like her and in fear that he knew that she was there. She crouched down lower, clenching her fist to calm her nerves so that she didn't do anything stupid.

"You should ask her out," Charlotte suggested sagely. 

"Maybe," Percy said vaguely. "Does she... like me?"

"You'll find that out if she says yes when you ask her," Alice chimed in. She nodded at the other 3, and they all stood up in unison. Penelope wondered if she was dreaming right now. 

Percy stared at them confusedly as they walked away, and Penelope watched them pass her hiding spot with no more than a sideways glance in her direction. She snuck out of the isle she was in and waited a few minutes before approaching him with a friendly smile, as if she hadn't been there the whole time.

"Hey, Percy," she greeted him. "I decided I'd join you after all."

"Hey, Penelope," he smiled at her like he'd always done. This time, it looked a little weird. Nevertheless, they conferred with each other about the material they were studying and then started, sitting and quietly chattering in the library for a good few hours. All the while, Penelope could swear she saw Percy looking at her contemplatively when he thought she didn't know.

And as it would turn out, he would continue to do this for a good week, seemingly in deep thought whenever their conversation would lull. The best part is, Penelope didn't have to wonder what he was thinking for long.

"He approached me about trying to ask you out," Alice reported to her excitedly.

"Really?" Penelope asked, in awe. Truly, she hadn't thought it would be that easy.

"Yes! Apparently he's realized that he likes you... I don't know, he was confusing me. He's quite weird, frankly, but..."

"What did you tell him?" Penelope cut her off eagerly.

"Valentine's Day. Be ready. I'd tell you more, but I don't want to spoil the surprise," Alice told her mischievously.

No matter how much Penelope begged Alice to tell her more, she wouldn't budge. It didn't help that she only had charms with Percy once before Valentine's Day, and he was as weird as ever.

He was more hyperaware of where Penelope touched him, and he couldn't meet her eyes as much either. She'd even caught him staring while Flitwick was writing on the board. As much as Penelope enjoyed the effect she had on him now, she couldn't wait until this was all settled. She kind of liked him a little more when he was able to engage in really intense eye contact. She found it extremely attractive. Now, he was a little skittish.

Eventually, the day she was waiting for finally came, and she couldn't even brush her teeth without imagining Percy turning the corner with a fucking huge bouquet of flowers, asking her on a date.

When she finally stopped thinking about it, he finally caught up to her. She'd been on her way into the Great Hall for breakfast when she'd heard him ask her in a shy voice if they could speak. 

"Uh... alone," He clarified, shooting looks at Alice and Charlotte who were standing at her side with identical smirks. 

"Of course," Penelope agreed easily, trying to hide her excitement. She disguised her shudder as Percy's fingers gently closed around her wrist, and he began pulling her down the hall until they reached a secluded alcove that was covered by a tapestry.

"So," Percy began, evidently nervous. Penelope nodded encouragingly. "I think you're quite pretty. And you're super smart, and really fun to talk to. And you make me feel... I don't know. But yeah. So I was wondering if you wanted to go out with me?" He finished, pulling out a singular rose. 

"Yes," Penelope answered immediately, uncaring of the rose.

"I know the proposal was less than ideal, but I swear, I practiced. I don't know what happened. And I know it's only one rose, but look," Percy rambled, and then the rose was 2, then 4, 8, 16, 32, and finally 64 vibrant blue hydrangeas. "Your favorite," he  said, pushing the flowers to her. "And I got you this because I know you like to bake and would probably appreciate it a lot," holding up a cookie jar full of lemon macarons.

"That's alright," Penelope assured him. "They're lovely, and I love macarons," she said, taking the jar from him.

"You said yes?" Percy finally computed.

Penelope smiled. "Yes."

"Oh," Percy said dumbly, still holding the flowers out.

"You wouldn't mind carrying those for me, would you?" Penelope asked sweetly.

"Not at all," Percy replied hastily, retracting the hydrangeas.

Penelope leaned up and pecked him on the cheek, laughing at the dazed expression that was on his face. "You're so cute," she told him. And lord was it liberating to finally be able to say that to him. As expected, the blush that she liked was starting to blossom on his face and neck, and Percy bashfully ducked his head.

This time, it was her who took him by the wrist, leading him back to the doors of the Great Hall. "Come sit with me," she said as she pulled him along.

"Okay."

Her friends, spotting her coming due to the large bouquet of flowers that Percy was holding, made room for the both of them.

"Treat her well," Alice warned him.

"Of course," Percy agreed, turning to smile at Penelope before nodding at Alice. 

That was better than anything she could've dreamed of. She finally had him.

One pleasant surprise for Penelope was the physicality of their relationship. To be quite honest, she thought that Percy was a virgin. But he told her he wasn't. And while she'd never been in a relationship before, Penelope wasn't a virgin either. Whoops.

Percy, in her opinion, was a typically well-composed guy. He was rather oblivious, too, completely unaware that Penelope was crushing on him for months. People called him a prude with no emotions, let alone sexual ones. That proved not to be the case, though. Far from it. Penelope found that while he was first a little shy in their relationship, he quickly warmed up to her, and they were rather touchy. PDA wasn't really their thing, but Penelope knew it was rather apparent that they were together. So long as no one knew that they played footsie under the table damn near every day. 

Percy was sweet. Really sweet. They spent a lot of time together, and he did meaningful favors for her when he could. But he was also hungry. And he only seemed to get hungrier. His libido was impossibly high at some times. This, Penelope found out the hard way, quite literally, after a sneaky and heated snog led to Percy getting a hard-on. At that point, it was the 3rd time in the month that that had happened.

"You're impossible, Percy," Penelope sighed in between kisses, palming at his pants. 

"Sorry," he murmured, voice dripping with shame. Penelope knew better. 

"I'm still not helping you," she said, pulling her hand away from his crotch. She stepped away from him, fixing her curly blond hair into a tidy ponytail because Percy kept messing it up for some reason. He really liked her hair. She fixed her uniform before turning to face Percy, who was sitting there motionlessly, staring at her.

"You're not really what I expected you to be," she commented, leaning against the desk that Percy had sat at. They were in an empty classroom while everyone else was at lunch. 

"What do you mean?" Percy asked, starting to fix his uniform while willing his erection to go down. It didn't seem to be working, but he'd figure it out.

"I thought Percy Weasley would be too good to get hard by kissing his girlfriend," she teased, pointedly looking down. "I mean, I'm not complaining, but..."

"I'll refrain next time," Percy joked, adjusting his tie. 

"I won't leave you hanging next time," Penelope promised. "My birthday is coming up. Easter holiday. I can stay if you'll stay. The castle will be more empty..." 

"Oliver will be preparing for the match against Hufflepuff," Percy said hastily. 

"Sounds like a plan," Penelope smiled, waiting for Percy to finish putting on his robes and righting his badge before leaning down and placing a lingering kiss on his lips. 

"You're so pretty," Percy told her as she pulled away, tucking a loose strand of her hair behind her ear. 

"Stop trying to seduce me," Penelope scolded him playfully, ignoring the way her face started to heat up at the compliment. "Wait a few minutes before you follow me out," she reminded him, opening the door to the classroom and slipping out before Percy could say anything else.

She couldn't wait for her birthday. 

The day finally came, and Penelope couldn't wait. She hadn't seen Percy all day, because they were both busy catching up on their work. 6th years had a lot of free time to do their work, but rather than doing that, she and Percy had found it more important to use it to snog. Big mistake, but Penelope couldn't say that she regretted it. 

Her friends had gone earlier in the week, leaving her presents and wishing her a happy birthday. Alice started to notice that something was up, and quickly found out about the plans that she'd made with Percy. So Penelope found herself subject to a lecture full of information that she already knew, and that Alice knew she knew, but just wanted to drill into her brain. Duly noted. 

They ultimately waited too long for Percy's roommate to be away, and Penelope was positive that she wouldn't be able to sneak Percy into her dorm, so they had to meet in an abandoned classroom as per usual. Penelope wanted for it to be a bit more special, but it didn't end up mattering much. 

When Percy finally walked through the door with an apology on his lips, she practically pounced on him, throwing her arms around his neck and pulling him into a kiss. 

Percy's hands dropped to her waist, eagerly responding. He backed them away from the door and to a cushioned bench on the other side of the classroom, where they collapsed with Penelope on top. Percy quickly sat up, readjusting them so that Penelope was straddling his left thigh and he was leaned against the back of the bench. He began to kiss down Penelope's jaw, all the way down to her collarbone where he paused to unbutton her shirt before slipping it off her shoulders and continuing lower. When he reached her breasts, he tentatively licked and sucked at her nipples before Penelope impatiently shoved his head closer to her chest.

Penelope huffed, desperately grinding against Percy's thigh, her arousal leaving a dark spot on his grey slacks. In her haste to meet him, she didn't put on underwear, which was quite risky but that just convinced her to do it more. "Want you inside of me," she pleaded, reaching blindly for his belt buckle. Percy helped her, and it was all fumbling hands and heavy sighs until finally, Percy was able to slip his belt off and unzip his pants. 

Penelope shifted her weight so that she was straddling both of his legs, their sexes aligned. She took his cock in her hand, rubbing the tip around her entrance and debating the necessity of lubricant. Percy decided that for her, though, casting a silent spell that slicked his cock instantaneously. Throwing caution to the wind, Penelope hoisted herself up with Percy's shoulders, balancing her weight on her widely spread knees that were digging into the cushion on either side of Percy. 

Percy hitched her skirt up, and watched carefully as she sank down onto him, a mixture of pain and pleasure on her face. His breath caught when the sensation of Penelope's warm and wet heat tightening around him registered. 

"Penny," Percy groaned, his forehead falling forward onto her shoulder while his hands came up to hold her hips. Penelope said nothing in response, taking deep breaths to adjust to the feeling of Percy's cock inside of her. She didn't move for a while, but once she got used to the burning stretch, she slowly rocked her hips back and forth to see how it felt. It was good, but she wanted more. 

The rocking of her hips progressively sped up with Percy's hands on her hips assisting her in the motion. When she finally reached a set pace, it was needy and exhilarating. Percy was looking at her in awe, eyes blown wide as he watched her ride him. 

Penelope caught his gaze and smiled at him, her hips pausing their gyrating so that she could take Percy's hands and place them on her chest. Taking the hint, his rough palms began fondling and groping her as she continued to rock back and forth on his length with more fervor than ever. 

The feel of Percy's hands combined with her fast movements had Penelope throwing her head back, a sinful moan escaping from her lips as her juices leaked out of her around Percy's shaft, making it ever easier for her to speed up. Percy's hips were shakily bucking into her, deepening the length of his cock inside her and hitting spots that reduced her to nothing but mewls and jerky motions. 

Penelope's rocking became more and more sporadic as her pleasure built, and the pressure in her nerves started tightening into a knot that was waiting to be released. And just as soon as it had come, it was over. Her eyes squeezed shut and she gasped as her orgasm took over her, riding out her high with measured movements as she no longer had control over the strength of her knees. 

As Penelope collapsed forward onto his shoulder, Percy's grunts became more frequent and loud due to the tightening of Penelope's walls around him. 

"Gonna come," he groaned into her ear, placing his hands on her hips again and going to gently pull her off. She pushed his hands off with a shake of her head.

"Come inside. Wizarding contraception. Failproof," she murmured. 

And just like that, Percy was releasing his load inside of her, head lulling back against the back of the bench. Penelope tightened her grip on Percy's back for a second, her nails digging into the freckled skin on his shoulder blades. For a good moment, all that could be heard in the room was their heavy panting as they caught their breaths. After that, Penelope didn't really know what to do. She was reluctant to climb off, scared of ruining the moment. Not to mention the clean up and her heightened sensitivity. The stretching sensation wouldn't feel as good anymore now that she was satisfied. 

Percy ended up being the first to speak, petting Penelope's hair that turned frizzy due to how hot she got during their... activities. "We should probably clean up before someone sees us."

"Yeah," Penelope agreed, making no move to get up.

"Do you... need help?" Percy asked.

"That's alright," Penelope rasped, swiftly hoisting herself off of his lap and falling next to him. "Percy... have you ever done this before?"

Percy pursed his lips, before replying slowly, "I've only ever received oral, I guess. Does that make me a virgin, technically?" 

"I believe that oral sex is still sex," Penelope contested. "I wouldn't consider you a virgin... but in any case, I'm your first time with sexual intercourse, right?"

Percy looked away with a sigh before nodding. 

Penelope reached over and pinched his cheek. "You're adorable," she cooed playfully, taking pleasure in the reluctant smile that sprouted on Percy's face.

"Come on," he said, trying to put on a serious face. "We should head back. Oliver will wonder where I am."

"Will he?" Penelope sighed, picking up her discarded shirt after a few cleaning charms were cast. She skillfully did up the buttons and smoothened out her skirt. Only then did she wish she'd worn underwear. 

"Yes," Percy insisted. He picked up his belt after fixing his pants to not look like Penelope wasn't just riding him a few minutes ago. "He gets suspicious if I'm not back by 12:00. Especially because I told him I'd be back by 12:00."

Penelope rolled her eyes, patting Percy's hand. "He'll definitely know what happened regardless. I'll let you go though, because I need to be back too." 

Percy blushed in mortification, attempting to tame his tousled hair in vain. "You really think so?" 

Penelope didn't warrant that with a reply, but rather with a sympathetic look. "Wait before following me out," she instructed, before leaving him without another word. As fun as that was, she really needed a shower. And some panties would be nice.

Upon arriving back to her common room, she was met with relative silence due to the fact that everyone was either asleep or away for the break. The only person in there was her fellow 6th year Ravenclaw prefect, Emilio, who was reading some Shakespearean text by the fire. She was honestly going to walk right past him, having no interest in holding conversation about Hamlet or whatever he was reading, but then she heard his voice cutting through the silence. 

"You're dating Percy Weasley, aren't you?" Emilio asked, lowering his book onto his lap to fix her with an unnerving gaze. It was kind of creepy.

Penelope stopped in her place at the bottom of the stairs leading to the girls dorms. "Erm... yes?"

"How's that for you?" Emilio continued.

Penelope walked a little closer to him, if only to be polite and better understand what he was asking her. She replied, "quite well, actually. He's great."

"I bet," Emilio murmured. 

Penelope was confused about whether or not she was supposed to hear that, so she waited awkwardly for him to say something else.

"You look like you've been having a good time," Emilio observed, an unreadable expression on his face.

Penelope shuffled, embarrassed and suddenly remembering her lack of underwear. "I... yeah."

"It's to my understanding that Percy quite likes the company of a man," Emilio informed her matter-of-factly.

This caught Penelope off guard. She didn't know how to respond to that statement, nor where it came from, but it thoroughly confused her.

"How did you come to understand that?" She decided to ask.

Emilio gave her a meaningful look, and suddenly it clicked for Penelope.

Percy was the only person Emilio ever talked to. She remembered that there had even been rumors amongst the prefects about them dating, but she never put much credence in them because she didn't have any reason to. Penelope never knew what went on in the prefects compartment, because, for lack of a better way to put it, she had friends. All that goes without mentioning Evelyn's claims about Percy dating a prefect and seeing him snog Emilio in an alleyway at Hogsmeade. Maybe she was right both times. 

Penelope was surprised and a little proud about how fast she realized the meaning behind Emilio’s words. But then she realized that Emilio’s words truly had meaning.

"You knew that, didn't you?" Emilio asked with his tone purposefully innocent, interrupting Penelope's racing thoughts. 

"Of course," she lied easily. Percy never told her that, but Emilio didn't need to know what she did or did not know about her boyfriend's sexuality. "But he likes me, too. So that doesn't really matter."

Emilio stared at her. "He was really great," he finally said.

Penelope took it as the challenge that it was. "Yes, my boyfriend is indeed really great. He treats me very well." 

"I miss him," Emilio proclaimed, looking down at his book before meeting Penelope's eyes directly.

Penelope couldn't believe his audacity. She was down to her last straw, snapping, "Sorry for you," before turning and racing up the stairs to her dorm. She didn't have time to listen to her boyfriend's ex-boyfriend not-so-subtly dropping hints that he wanted to take him away from her. She needed a shower.

Since there weren't as many people there due to the break, Penelope found herself going over to the Gryffindor table where Percy was sitting at breakfast. She sat down next to him, and was genuinely going to wait until he was done with the conversation he was having with Wood, but Wood immediately shut up when she came near.

"We need to talk," she told Percy, stealing a glance at Oliver. He probably knew all about it.

"What about?" Percy inquired. Confusion bloomed on his face and he put down the handful of grapes he was about to inhale. 

She casted a cautious look around, as if he was going to appear out of thin air, before replying, "Emilio."

Oliver huffed a laugh but started to intently stare at his plate when Percy glared at him.

Percy pursed his lips. "How do you know about him?"

"Because he bloody told me! Why didn't you?" Penelope hissed, hitting him on the shoulder repeatedly.

Percy grabbed her wrist, preventing her from trying to hit him more, exclaiming, "Sorry!" He let her calm down before continuing, "I didn't think it was necessary. I liked Emilio, but I like you."

She considered his reasoning, but she still couldn't help being hurt. "But Percy..." She didn't know how to put this. "Why did I have to find out from him that you apparently swing both ways?"

Oliver choked on his food, but Penelope didn't pay him any mind as Percy began blushing and stammering. 

"Sorry," he finally said. "I should've told you."

She sighed. "I know."

And that was that. 

She was contented to forget about it for a good while, but then every time she'd see Emilio he'd look at her knowingly and then walk the other direction. What a drama queen. She knew he wasn't taking Percy from her, though, so he could give her as many dirty looks as he pleased.

That was her only concern, until the end of May, when apparently Percy had become good friends with Marcus Flint. 

Penelope and Percy didn't really study much together anymore, preferring to do other things. But occasionally she'd drop by the library and see her boyfriend sitting at a table with Marcus Flint, obviously helping him with some assignment or another. When she decided to drop by, Marcus glared at her offensively until she stopped talking to Percy. Lord forbid she ever took a seat with them.

Upon further observation, Penelope scoffed at the fact that Marcus only sometimes paid attention to the material that Percy talked endlessly about, preferring to roam his eyes over Percy's body like he was some Adonis. And wouldn't Penelope know. How terribly shameless he was.

One day, her and Percy were walking around and enjoying the warming weather when they spotted Flint, who seemed to be watching the pair of them from a distance.

Percy waved at him amicably, and Marcus waved back slowly, probably embarrassed at being caught. Then, Penelope peaked out from Percy's side and also waved, letting herself be known. Marcus' blossoming smile turned into a scowl and he dropped his hand. He was lucky Percy wasn't looking anymore. Penelope scowled back, hanging onto her boyfriend's arm and pulling him closer before throwing a final smug glance at Flint.

"He has a crush on you," Penelope informed Percy as they walked away.

Percy frowned. "That's ridiculous. We’re friends. I'm just helping him with his studies, and he pays well for it. So..."

Penelope was trying to tell if he was being serious or not. "Is that so?" She asked, to which Percy nodded. She then said, "You're an idiot," before storming off back to the castle.

Admittedly, that wasn't one of her finer moments, but she was genuinely fed up with how oblivious Percy was being towards things like this. It was like he was intentionally trying to ignore them. Still, she apologized, and they passionately made up. 

But then, she was confronted by Emilio once again. This time, it kind of got to her. She just wished he'd leave her and Percy alone. And on top of that, there was Flint, who also seemed to be trying to steal her boyfriend. Not to mention Oliver. There was always Oliver. Sure, he was Percy's best friend, but he radiated some unfounded animosity toward her whenever she was around. And he always had something to say. Penelope was sure the guy had a little crush, and genuinely believed that if anybody could take Percy from her, it would be him. 

So she made up her mind. She was sure that Percy would never leave her for anyone, but she couldn't take it anymore. It was especially impactful, because if Percy couldn't recognize the one-sided emotional affairs that he was in, then they definitely weren't going to be ended. And that just wasn't going to cut it for Penelope.

Which is why she broke up with him on the first week of June. 

"I'm breaking up with you," she told Percy solemnly as they walked around the lake.

Percy stopped walking, forcing Penelope to turn around and face him.

"Why?"

"Because I don't want to compete with other people for you."

"You're not competing with anyone. I like you."

"And I appreciate it. I just didn't expect that so many people would like you. And you don't even know. It maddens me terribly."

Percy looked at her uncomprehendingly. "Is this real?"

Penelope hesitated. "Yes," she finally said before tentatively kissing him. She pulled back before he could try to turn it into anything more. "I hope we could still be friends."

"Right," Percy responded blankly. He had the same expression on his face as he watched Penelope walk back to the castle—without him. 

Penelope felt bad for ending it that way. If she regretted anything, it was that it ended this way, not that it ended. And she really did think that they could be friends, despite having been in that relationship. 

She also felt empty. She'd been chasing him for half a year, and never thought she'd see the day where she broke up with him. It felt like a waste of time, but she decided she was quite grateful for their time together. 

Unfortunately, the emptiness didn't subside. Especially not when Alice and Charlotte came to see her that day and Alice asked what was wrong (Penelope broke down crying). And especially not when classes resumed after the weekend and Percy wouldn't even look at her, despite them being forced to talk by Flitwick. She missed him a lot. Still, she didn't regret her decision.

But slowly, things got better. And by their last class together, they were able to laugh and ignore the tension between them. Penelope promised to write him over the summer, and Percy said that he'd write back. And so they wrote.

And while Penelope still had some feelings for him, and could tell that Percy still had feelings for her, they were able to reach some sort of mutual agreement that they weren't going to get back together, and would eventually get over it. Their correspondence always spoke of underlying emotions, but it was generally enjoyable, and Penelope could see her and Percy being really good friends without shagging and going on dates. 

Penelope could definitely see how dangerous it was to still be talking to him after that, but it served to bring her comfort. She lost Percy as a boyfriend, resulting in a huge hole in her heart, but having Percy as a friend filled the void. Maybe 3/4 of the way.

Delightful their relationship was, but Penelope thought she'd lay off pursuing a boyfriend for a while. It just left her right where she started, bored and alone, but quite satisfied with her life. At least her grades never slipped throughout the whole ordeal.

Chapter Text

Marcus wouldn't consider himself to be a bad person. Or well, sure he engaged in a little bit of foul play during the quidditch matches, but it wasn't as though everybody played fair. Also, it was just a game, and he was looking for some fun.

People might also call him mean, but he wouldn't say that he's mean either. It was just that his eyebrows were thick and irrevocably settled in such a way that he looked to be perpetually frowning. Not to mention how he really didn't talk much, because he didn't quite like anybody at that blasted school. The only person he liked his mother, really.

So maybe he wasn't the most inviting person. But he still wasn't mean. Knowing that people thought of him that way felt kind of discouraging, decreasing his chances of making any friends even more. For the most part, he spent each of the minutes of his day alone, save for when he had to play captain for his stupid team or eat meals with his stupid housemates. It was just so stupid. And boring. And dull. And everything looked the same.

Every pop of color was muted for him, unrelated to his general outlook on life. Ravenclaw blue, the slightly different Slytherin green, and the garish pink-actually-yellow of Hufflepuff. It was quite maddening for him that the only house colors that stood out to him were the Gryffindor ones—specifically red. He'd never admit this to anyone, because colors are so closely associated with houses around Hogwarts, but his favorite color was red. It was the most visible one for him. He remembered it taking an embarrassing amount of time for him to figure out that that wasn't going to change any time soon. And if his parents ever realized, often too busy with yelling at each other, then they'd never taken him to get the readily available solution that they were offered as wealthy wizards. It might also be relevant to mention that Marcus had never mentioned it to them either. He himself found beauty in only being able to see certain colors, and he grew quite accustomed to it. In the British isles where all the wizards and witches roamed around with the same old wands from Ollivander's and at least one piece of Hogwarts paraphernalia, it made him feel a little different. Yes, he was a Hogwarts student who'd gotten their wand from Ollivander's upon turning 11, but... he was also colorblind. 

Unrelatedly, it just so happened that due to his parents' fighting, and his lack of friends, Marcus often found himself staying behind at Hogwarts over breaks when he could. If there wasn't a ball to attend, and if his mother didn't require a gift, then he wasn't coming home. Because of these guidelines, Marcus more often than not stayed behind for the Easter holiday while he left for the winter one, like a lot of other students.

Now, in his 6th year, that was no different. He left Hogwarts for Yule, attending some gala hosted by the Yaxleys and then spending the rest awkwardly with his parents. Come Easter, he was more delighted than ever to stay at Hogwarts. Honestly, he didn't even think as many people, especially the purebloods, celebrated the holiday as predicted when they first instituted an Easter vacation. Marcus wasn’t complaining, though.

At times, it got a little boring around the castle during the holiday, because there were a considerable amount of people missing. Why did it have to be the ones with all the drama that celebrated Easter? So, with nobody to blatantly eavesdrop on, and no friends to hang out with, Marcus found himself walking around the castle. He never really went exploring, because he thought it quite unnecessary, but he definitely believed that there was more the castle had to offer him besides his routes to class. So he explored within reason. 

For a while, he didn't really find much of interest. He found doors that were hidden behind random tapestries, but they only led to drab looking closets and interstices. He found some lesser used corridors, but those weren't really a secret. They just weren't used for the general student body's classes. Still, he decided he'd look to see if he could find anything of interest— maybe an old textbook or knickknack of sorts that showed that someone had at least been there before. Upon entering these corridors, he didn't really find anything in the rooms that they lead to. It was quite disappointing, but he went all the way to the end of each one, because he thought that the one time he didn't, he'd miss something big. Also, he wasn't in any rush.

At the end of every corridor, there was a door leading to yet another. Going through all of them, he thought he might've gotten lost. When he reached the one he designated to be the second to last that he'd go through, he entered the first door and saw... nothing. More desks, another blackboard. If he looked hard enough, he might've found decades old candy or a random newspaper, but Marcus could only find so many of those before they too were uninteresting. He mechanically went to move on to the next, but he thought he could hear noises coming from the end of the corridor. 

Marcus typically wasn't one to go investigate weird things, but he thought he might've known what was happening. He crept slowly past all the shut doors of abandoned classrooms, wand at the ready just in case. Once he got close enough, though, he was so sure about what he was hearing that he put it away with a roll of his eyes. And when he finally reached the room the noises were coming from, lo and behold were two students that were loudly shagging. 

Marcus, even though he suspected what was going on, was still frozen in place at the site. He started to get hot and his body started to itch as he felt his nerves come alive at the shock. And getting over the initial panic that he'd stumbled across two people getting it on and that they might've heard him, he began to realize that he could recognized them. 

He thought that the boy, whose face was obscured by the girl's big and curly blond hair, might've been Percy Weasley. He could tell by the glimpses of his hair color, his vibrant and dark red hair standing out as opposed to his siblings' more carrot colored. His hair was also a little curlier than the others— at least the ones still attending Hogwarts. The girl, he figured, must've been Percy's known girlfriend, Penelope Clearwater. It started to make more sense, his ideas becoming more and more credible as he stared at the scene through the glass window of the door. For two supposedly smart prefects, they sure weren't smart enough to cast a silencing spell or close the blinds. Hell, the door wasn't even shut all the way, allowing for their absolutely sinful moans to reach his ears without constraint. 

Marcus couldn't even be sure of his assumption, that is until maybe-Clearwater collapsed forward onto maybe-Weasley's chest, and a glimpse of maybe-Weasley's face showed that he was indeed Weasley. Marcus couldn't even dwell, on that though, because confirmed-Weasley's face looked absolutely ethereal unblocked by Clearwater's hair. While Clearwater looked worn out, Weasley's head was thrown back in pleasure, his eyes squeezed shut in pure ecstasy. The way the moonlight lit the dark room and shone on his sweaty and sheening skin was absolutely breathtaking. And his lustful curses that became increasingly louder as he and Penelope lewdly rocked their hips in tandem were entirely too lascivious. 

Marcus could practically feel the pressure of his blood rushing to his nether regions, aroused by the sight in front of him. It was quite shameful, but he couldn't look away. And nothing could prepare him for the almost obnoxiously loud groan that escaped Weasley's throat as he honest to god came inside of Clearwater. Marcus closed his eyes with a sigh, palming at his erection as the noise washed over him. 

Disappointingly, Weasley's orgasm couldn't last forever, and the erotic sounds subsided into mild panting as the couple caught their breaths. All the while, Marcus' eyes lingered on Percy's face, flushed a startling red with lips that were swollen and bitten and even more red. For a moment, it looked like they were actually just going to fall asleep that way, until they began talking about cleaning up before they got caught. Marcus scoffed quietly. Too late for that. 

He had to take a quick step back from the door as Clearwater finally got off of Weasley. He didn't want to get caught watching, but he did manage to catch a glimpse of the rest of Weasley's freckled body, which embarrassingly got his erection to be full-fledged and throbbing. 

Before they finished dressing, Marcus hurriedly made his escape down the random labyrinth of corridors, trying to be at the entrance to his common room before the two even left that classroom. The excitement of the situation had his adrenaline pumping, and all he could do was run (speed-walk), his dick painfully hard. It seemed like he wasn't as lost as he originally thought, and he was lucky that he didn't run into anybody on his way back to the common room. 

When he finally arrived, he sped past some younger years playing a game of cards (they were probably gambling) and went up the steps three at a time in his haste to get to his room. Two of his other roommates stayed behind for break, but they were thankfully either out or asleep, making room for Marcus to change and fall into bed without any trouble. Obviously, he got rid of his little problem before falling asleep, cum painting his hands and stomach. He was too lazy to clean up, but he was alone so it didn’t matter.

That ended up being the more convenient decision anyway, for he woke up with another little problem in the morning.

Over the next few days, Marcus couldn't even see the color red without his mind going back to that night. And boy did he see a lot of red. At first, he tried desperately to scrub his brain of the memory, as he shouldn't have been there and it was rather inappropriate of him to watch. But the reminders were inexorable. If he saw a particularly fiery shade of red, then he thought of Weasley's hair, and pink was for his flushed skin. Almost all of the classrooms looked the same, so when he saw one, his mind drifted away to a certain abandoned classroom where a certain two prefects were having sexual intercourse. When he thought that someone's hair might've been blond, he remembered Clearwater's voluminous head of hair moving out of the way to reveal the face of Percy Weasley. It was a genuine problem.

The worst part was that even after days, it still remained vivid in his mind, as fresh as when he first saw them. And when he finally allowed himself to remember it, well that was a sure way to have his pants straining over his bulge. He'd get off to the memory at night before going to bed, Weasley's totally debauched face and loud groaning replaying in his mind. He'd then dream of something vaguely arousing, and then wake up with morning glory, which he'd then cure in the shower by getting off to the memory another time. This happened for three days in a row until eventually he was convinced that he could never be aroused again. All that jerking off took a lot out of him. 

That wasn't to say that he didn't still replay the scene in every waking moment. But also by day 4, he realized that it started to transform. He was never really able to see Clearwater's face in his memory anyway, but now her body was gone too, leaving his imagination to fill in the gaps. It was only Weasley in the moonlight, making that beautiful face. At first it was only his upper half, the physicality of the day dream only implied by Weasley's expressions. But then daydreams of Weasley turned to daydreams of himself and Weasley. And if that wasn't the most provocative thing he'd ever had thoughts of... 

In reality, however, nothing too important was happening. Marcus hadn't outwardly changed in behavior, and neither had Penelope or Percy, save for that one time at breakfast when he found himself watching them. They seemed to be having a slight argument, and he was intrigued, trying to find out what could possibly have went wrong between then and the night before then. But then he met the gaze of Oliver Wood who was sitting in front of the arguing couple, and Wood glared at him suspiciously before Marcus hurried to look away. 

Despite that, everybody remained oblivious to Marcus' inner turmoil, not only because he didn't have friends but also because he hid it very well. He promised the time Wood caught him staring would be the last time, but then he started casually observing Weasley, and by extension, Clearwater. Marcus never really payed any attention to the beauty of other people because there were other things to worry about. But he found that even when Weasley wasn't starring in one of his sexual fantasies, he was still quite attractive. And despite not really caring, Marcus actually had found people attractive before. But there was just something about Weasley in particular. He couldn't put his finger on it. 

Clearwater and Weasley seemed to be a pretty happy couple. As Hogwarts' resident nerdy power couple, Marcus often found them in the library, having study dates every night. They appeared quite innocent, shying away from any sort of PDA besides the occasional hug or kiss on the cheek. Marcus knew what they got up to when they thought they were completely alone though. All in all, Weasley and Clearwater seemed like the perfect match for each other. It was a shame that Marcus didn't really care about that when he decided that he wanted to pursue Weasley. Actually, he needed Weasley, if only to regain a semblance of normalcy after the boy's face had been haunting his dreams for days.

So, as the break came to a close, Marcus devised a plan.

In retrospect, this felt quite stupid. As Marcus stood in front of Professor Binn's desk, begging for him to appoint Weasley as his tutor, he really wished he were a normal person. Unfortunately, normal people didn't try to ruin perfectly fine relationships because they became besotted with someone after seeing them have sex with their partner. It was what it was.

It was also regrettable that it had to be Binns that he went to to carry out this daft plan. He really only had four classes in common with Weasley, as he only decided to take five N.E.W.Ts and one of them couldn't be potions, because he didn't meet Snape's standards for entry. The four were Transfiguration, Charms, Defense, and of course, History of Magic. He'd go to McGonagall, but he didn't expect for her to be partial to his cause, but rather question why he was requesting Weasley specifically. And really, his grades weren't bad at all in Transfiguration, Defense, or Charms, so it would be quite suspicious of him to request a tutor in those subjects. That left History of Magic, his worst class, because Binns was a boring and unconcerned teacher which didn't fit Marcus' style of learning.

Nevertheless, he was the perfect candidate for Marcus' plan. The reason he came up with this specific idea was simply because he thought that it was truly one of the only ways for him to talk to Weasley. Those Gryffindors, specifically those on the quidditch team, probably hated his guts. This definitely included any Weasley who'd ever been on the team, and that probably extended to any Weasley that was never on the team, i.e. Marcus' particular Weasley. So in order for Marcus to get somebody who probably hated him to like him, he needed to have some meaningful conversation about a middle ground. And his Weasley was a more academically inclined one, so academics it was. 

Anyway, because Binns was so uninterested in his surroundings, he didn't care so much about Marcus' request to receive tutoring for his class.

"Why?" Binns drawled in response to Marcus' request to be tutored by Weasley.

"I need help with this class. And he's at the top," Marcus vehemently insisted.

"I suppose both of those statements are factual..." Binns trailed off, seemingly about to slip into a slumber. Marcus knocked on his desk, causing him to jerk his head up.

"Please, tell him to tutor me, Professor," Marcus begged hastily, trying to get Binns to agree before the man fell asleep another time.

"Okay," Binns agreed flippantly. "Yes, I will tell him next I see him."

Marcus nodded, satisfied, turning to walk out the door.

"You are talking about young Percy, right?" Binns clarified.

Marcus rolled his eyes. Who else? Why would he get tutoring from Fred and George or Ron the 2nd year on his N.E.W.T. level material? Still, he hummed his affirmative before walking out of the professor's classroom, feeling quite triumphant. He didn't know when exactly Weasley's first class with Binns would be when they resumed after the break, but it ought to have been soon. And he couldn't wait.

It must've been the Tuesday or Wednesday after classes started back up that Binns approached Weasley on Marcus' behalf, because that Wednesday night, he was stopped on the way to his common room after dinner by none other than Weasley himself.

"Uh, Flint?" Weasley asked hesitantly.

"That's me," Marcus said back confidently, watching him expectantly.

Weasley blinked at him before clearing his throat. "Of course. Well, Binns approached me about tutoring you in his class, and I just wanted to confirm with you that you want..." He trailed off, considering his words before sighing, "for me specifically to help you. Maybe we could find someone else."

"I'm fine," Marcus shrugged nonchalantly. "Do you have a problem with tutoring me?" He challenged.

"Of course not," Weasley rushed to assure him. "How about tomorrow? After your first block. We'll meet in the library."

Marcus didn't say anything, preferring to nod and watch Weasley leave. He couldn't believe that this was the boy he fantasized about in the shower. 

Anyway, true to his word, Weasley found Marcus the next day after his first class of the day, Transfiguration, and they began to walk to the library. Behind them, Marcus could see Clearwater slinking away in the opposite direction, presumably having walked to McGonagall's room with Weasley. Marcus almost forgot about her. He imagined that they probably walked real close to each other, to the point they were touching hands. That was a real difference as opposed to what he and Weasley were doing now. Despite going to the same place, they were on opposite sides of the corridor as they walked. To any passerby, they definitely weren't both headed to the library where Weasley was supposed to tutor him for a good hour and a half.

When they both finally arrived, Weasley threw open the doors and beelined to a specific table, methodically placing his stuff down. Marcus trailed after him awkwardly, and Weasley grimaced as they made eye contact before walking away to some aisle or another. 

Marcus sighed, taking a seat. He realized that he was so caught up in Weasley's sex appeal that he completely overlooked that he'd have to have regular conversation with the other. Oops. In any case, it shouldn't be that difficult. He knew that a lot of people found Weasley a little pompous, having said a few choice words himself. That felt like many moons ago, though, and from what Marcus could gauge, Weasley seemed pleasant enough when he interacted with his fellow prefects, younger years, and Wood. Maybe these pleasantries would extend to Marcus.

When Weasley came back, he had a stack of books that were presumably about History of Magic that he was struggling to carry. Just as he was moving to set them down, one of them fell off the top, and Marcus caught it.

"You're a wizard," Marcus remarked. "We're at Hogwarts. You can use magic."

Percy rolled his eyes and snatched the book from Marcus before sitting down across from him. Marcus was a little disappointed at the reaction, because he truly hadn't meant for it to come off that way, but it did. Fine, whatever.

"So," Percy began, taking the book at the bottom of the stack and artfully flipping to a certain page. "I heard you needed help on the 1450-1750 time period specifically. That's delightful, because that's the one I managed to take the most notes on." He then pulled out pieces of parchment from a plain looking folder that definitely held more than it appeared. Weasley began to ramble on, "The most important things are highlighted in green, and the details of those that you might want to remember in case of an essay question are in blue. Also, the important vocabulary is in yellow. Ignore the rest of the highlights."

Marcus glanced at the paper briefly before bluntly announcing, "I just see... I don't know. Blue, and maybe a darker blue. Also pink? No yellow, no green." 

"But they're right there..." Weasley trailed off as the realization hit him. "Oh, I see." 

Marcus watched him chew his bottom lip in thought, waiting to see whatever new plan he'd think up after receiving that news. Unfortunately, Weasley was quick to think of an alternative, and Marcus was stuck actually going over material for History of Magic. It wasn't as tedious as when Binns did it, but boy could Marcus care more. He really did try to pay a little attention, so as not to come off as an arse, but he ended up dozing.

"And that's why the goblins decided to form an informal agreement with the giants regarding the... Oi!" Marcus heard Weasley saying, but his voice felt so far away. Still, he sighed and lifted his head from where it had fallen on the table.

"My apologies. I find this topic to be quite boring, you see," Marcus explained with a touch of sincerity.

"Which is probably why you're struggling with it," Weasley replied sagely, closing his book. He looked at Marcus in consideration.

Marcus frowned. "Something on my face, Weasley?"

The other cleared his throat before speaking decisively, "Not at all... I was just thinking. We'll try something else tomorrow." 

"Tomorrow?" Marcus echoed. He'd honestly forgotten that this wasn't a one day thing. Marcus noticed the befuddled look Weasley gave him, and quickly agreed. "Right. Tomorrow."

Percy hummed in satisfaction before beginning to pack up his things. "You can call me Percy, you know. There are a lot of Weasleys..."

Marcus was stunned into momentary silence, and he was only able to nod his agreement. Finally, as Weasley—or Percy— began to walk away, Marcus piped up, "You can call me Marcus. There aren't as many Flints, but..."

Percy nodded at him curtly before taking his leave.

Marcus took that as a victory. Baby steps. It was a shame he couldn't just bend the boy over the table immediately, but that was just weird. He was willing to play the long game, understanding the effort it would take to get Percy Weasley. And he couldn't back down now. They were already on first name bases! 

Step 1, which was getting closer to Percy, was a go.

Marcus was able to learn a lot from Percy in a month (not including the obvious, which was History of Magic). Percy supposedly thought that studying somewhere that wasn't the library would be beneficial, so they often found themselves outside with the weather getting better. As intended, he learned a lot about Percy himself. He seemed a little closed off at first, and Marcus himself wasn't being the most inviting person, but eventually, Marcus was able to wheedle a few things out of him:

1. Percy didn't have too many friends. Marcus already figured that, really, but he thought that Percy might've had at least two close friends. Apparently, he only had Wood and Clearwater, and Clearwater didn't really count because she was his girlfriend. So really he only had Wood and then a few acquaintances that he occasionally talked to about schoolwork and things of that nature.

2. Percy didn't really get on well with his siblings. At least the ones at Hogwarts. From what Marcus could tell, Percy didn't really feel like he could talk to any of them because they were a little young. Foremost was that they weren't all too keen to talk to him either. As for the older ones, Marcus thought he could tell that they might've been close when they all attended Hogwarts, but he couldn't really say. He didn't have siblings.

3. Percy seemed to want a job at the ministry for whatever reason. Something about security and his parents. No matter. Marcus felt as though he might be able to help Percy with that. Connections and whatnot. He told Percy as much, which he realized showed his cards a tad too much. It went like;

"Maybe I could help you with that."

"What are you hoping to get out of that?"

"Dunno... at least an EE on my History of Magic NEWT."

And then Percy kept staring at him suspiciously, as if Marcus was going to abruptly pull out his wand and start firing curses at him. Marcus didn't really appreciate the unappreciation—he was really only trying to be nice—but maybe it would take a little more time for Weasley to warm up to him.

Despite the backwards progress that conversation showed, the original aloofness was able to wear off once Marcus shared things about himself in kind. Sometimes, they'd even laugh during the study sessions. They would share things about their days, classes, interactions they had with people, and just chatter a little before the tutoring began. Marcus thought it was fairly pleasant, and he was hoping that Percy felt that way too. However, he still couldn't really tell where they stood.

"Sometimes I see you in the corridors. I think about waving, but I don't know..." Marcus admitted one day after Percy finished recounting a story about how the twins tricked him into thinking he was seeing the same person in the same spot outside of the Great Hall every hour. They were sitting in the stands of the quidditch pitch, which was currently occupied by Hufflepuff. Marcus would take the opportunity to spy on them if he didn't have full confidence that his team could beat the Puffs at any given moment. And if he did decide to, then it was their fault they didn't use the training pitch.

"Just wave," Percy shrugged. "I'll wave back. I would've done it, but I can't say that I see you a lot outside of this."

"Yeah, okay," Marcus agreed, leaving out a comment about how Percy wouldn't be able to see him waving if he was too busy staring at Penelope all of the bloody time. Ignoring that bitterness, Marcus thought that this would be the perfect opportunity to brush the topic of their tentative friendship. He just didn't know how to go about it.

"So, uh... Weasley. Percy. You're quite fun to talk to when it's not about Goblin Wars," he commented awkwardly.

"Err, thanks, I guess. You're not that bad either," Percy replied, raising his hand and then quickly dropping it as if he was going to pat Marcus on the shoulder.

Marcus pursed his lips at the gesture, trying to hide his smirk. When he regained his composure, he continued before he lost his confidence, "And I dunno if it's because you're really the only person I talk to on a daily basis, but... I've started to think of you as my friend."

Seemingly affronted at Marcus' words, Percy exclaimed, "I'd say we're friends!"

Marcus frowned. "Really?"

Percy nodded. "You're also the only person I talk to regularly. Besides Penelope and Oliver. And you also know stuff about me, and I know stuff about you, and you're nicer than I thought you'd be. So I think we're friends."

"Oh, cool," Marcus said. And then nobody said anything for a minute, and Marcus feared he might've made it awkward. But he was a trooper. "Would you ever wanna hangout socially? Outside of tutoring."

Percy chewed his bottom lip in thought. "Well, I don't know," he finally said, which was a blow to Marcus' mood. He clarified apologetically, "Of course we can hangout, but there's still that whole Gryffindor and Slytherin thing. All of my brothers hate you. And so does Oliver. So maybe we can just take out more time for 'tutoring' and just talk instead."

Marcus nodded quietly, if only to let Percy know how upset he was at the prospect of not being able to hangout when he wasn't being tutored for HoM. And he could tell it worked by the way Percy's eyes looked away in shame. That made Marcus feel even worse, but still. It was a little disappointing to have his progress limited like that because of some stupid interhouse rivalry. 

So tutoring was a little more solemn that day. Apparently nobody was in a joking mood. Well actually, Percy appeared to be trying to lighten the mood and make jokes, but Marcus couldn't bring himself to react more than a small smile. When it was finally dinner time and they were getting ready to go back to the castle, Percy watched him pack his things before asking, "Are you okay? I know it's a little unfair that we can't be friends outside of this, but I really would like to be your friend."

"A little?" Marcus reiterated, gathering the rest of his books so as to avoid eye contact. "Yeah, it's a little unfair that we have to sneak around as friends because of the color of our school robes."

Percy stared at him silently. 

Marcus sighed. "Sorry, it's not your fault. It's just a little frustrating, considering how you're the only... yeah. But I'll get over it."

"No, you're right. We can openly be friends. What does it matter?" Percy said, moving to hastily pack up his things. When he was done, he started to descend the stands, and Marcus just watched him, a little confused at the spontaneity of it all. But then he turned around and beckoned Marcus over.

"What are you just standing there for?" He called. 

Marcus rushed to catch up. "I didn't know I was supposed to be following you," he protested. For whatever reason, Percy found that funny, as he smiled at the comment. Marcus smiled because Percy smiled.

They walked back to the castle with amicable conversation. It was significantly less tense than the tutoring session, and Marcus felt like maybe he could breathe a little easier. When they finally arrived to the Great Hall, Marcus went to split ways without a word, just like they'd normally do. 

But he had to stop dead in his tracks when Percy squeezed his shoulder briefly, saying, "See you later!" Before walking away. 

It was a little jarring, because Percy was just talking about how they couldn't publicly be friends, yet here he was making friendly gestures where anybody could see. When Marcus regained his bearings and took his usual seat, his heart was filled with warmth and satisfaction. This definitely felt like a step closer.

The trio that sat near him daily were looking at him pretty weird, so he met one of their gazes with a scowl.

"Is there a reason you're staring at me?" Marcus snapped to the nearest one, a light-haired boy whose name began with an A. Anthony? Antoine? Antero? Antenna? Marcus didn't know.

Maybe: Anthony looked away in shame, but the one sitting in the middle answered for him.

"Yes, actually," middle boy challenged. "You seem a little familiar with the prefect Weasley over there."

"I am," Marcus replied slowly, as if talking to a toddler. "He goes to school here. We're in the same year. He tutors me in History of Magic. Why shouldn't I be familiar?"

"Friendly," the final part of the trio corrected. She might've been Antwerp's sister. "You seem a little friendly with him. Just because he's your tutor doesn't mean you have to be nice to him. I get tutoring from one of those Ravenclaws and she gossips about me to her friends all the time because she knows I do the same."

Marcus' lips curled. "That sounds stupid. And Weasley's not that bad. Stop talking to me," he said with finality. And they listened to him, whispering to each other exaggeratedly and sneaking glances as if he wasn't sitting right in front of them. 

Marcus didn't care though.

While Marcus originally sought tutoring for a chance to get at Percy, he did actually need it. And Percy was actually pretty helpful, despite his subpar ability to put things in simpler terms. It seemed they were growing together though, because Marcus got an EE on his most recent HoM essay as Percy learned to convey information in a way that Marcus would understand. Marcus was by no means stupid, but Percy only spoke in textbook definitions. 

In light of his most recent accomplishment, Marcus decided that he would get Percy something as a token of his appreciation. It just so happened that Percy had been going on and on about a particular book from Flourish and Blotts. Marcus wasn't surprised when Percy reluctantly admitted that his family couldn't even afford to get him new schoolbooks, let alone recreational 7-inch thick tomes.

So Marcus decided to get it for him by way of owl order. He had it expedited as well, because Percy kept nagging him about his grade (the smarty-pants himself got an O, obviously) and it only felt reasonable to Marcus that he would include it in his reasoning when he finally presented the tome to Percy.

It came 3 days after they got their papers back. It was leather-bound with straps around it, and Marcus thought it was dark blue or black in color, but it could've very well been some sort of green. He didn't really care. That day, Marcus met Percy under some random tree by the lake, parcel in hand.

"What's that?" Percy asked, eying the package. It was rather unassuming, wrapped in plain brown paper and tied with twine.

"I got an EE on my history paper," Marcus began.

"Really?" Percy said, an excited glimmer in his eyes. He sat up straighter and smiled when Marcus nodded in confirmation. "That's amazing!"

"Yeah," Marcus agreed, looking away bashfully. He took a deep breath before offering the parcel to Percy with a grimace. Percy just stared at it before glancing at Marcus questioningly.

"It's a gift. For you," Marcus explained. "As a thank you, because I've never gotten above an A in History of Magic on anything ever. Not even participation grades." He cleverly left out the part where he also thought it might make Percy like him more if he knew that he could give him things like this.

Percy bit his lip. "I don't know if I should accept this. I mean, I'm really glad that all of our tutoring is paying off, and I'm happy for you. But I was asked to do this, and I don't need a reward for it."

Marcus sighed, as he already knew that Percy would pull something like this. "Please?" He insisted, pushing the parcel on Percy's lap.

Percy sighed, a reluctant smile forming on his face. He hesitated before pulling the twine out of the bow it was in and carefully unfolding the paper. When he finally got to the contents, his eyes widened and he sort of stared at it for a while. He then looked up at Marcus in awe. 

"For me... really?" Percy said, voice filled with reverence. 

Marcus nodded, suppressing the smile that was trying to make itself known on his face. 

"I... nobody's ever... this must've costed..." Percy stammered, turning the tome over in his hands to examine it carefully.

Marcus simply offered, "Maybe I'm just really thankful."

Percy scoffed in annoyance, but when he met Marcus' gaze again, his eyes were suspiciously glassy.

"Thank you," was all Marcus heard before Percy launched himself into him, pulling Marcus into a brief and tight hug. Marcus' breath hitched, and then Percy was pulling away with a blush and a mumbled "sorry."

"That's alright," Marcus breathed. Truth be told, it was more than alright. The hug was brief but the feel of Percy's touch lingered on Marcus for quite a few seconds after. It was quick but it was meaningful and it was so Percy that it hurt Marcus' heart. Just as he was getting used to the patience thing, his desperate want was evoked again, like drinking firewhisky after being sober for two months. "I guess you like it then?"

"Like it?" Percy echoed, turning around to quickly wipe at his eyes as if Marcus couldn't already tell that he'd been on the verge of crying. "I love it! I've wanted this for ages... this is very... wow. Thank you!"

"You deserve it," Marcus insisted, slinging an arm around Percy's shoulders. Percy paid him no mind, running his fingers along the spine of the book and thumbing through the pages in disbelief. Marcus prayed to all gods that Percy wouldn't overreact about it when he finally noticed, but either Percy never noticed or he truly didn't care, for they must've sat that way for ages while Percy read and Marcus watched. 

Eventually, though, the moment ended when it was time for them to go back in for lunch. Marcus himself hadn't learned anything school-related from that tutoring session, and neither did Percy because the tome that he was absolutely devouring didn't seem to be about a school subject. Nonetheless, Marcus did learn something, and that was that he'd give Percy a lot of things, if only to be able to touch him like that again. 

And that was what he did. Marcus had a lot of pocket change to spend... why not spend it on a pretty boy like Percy Weasley? The reward was always nice—Percy was always thankful and gracious, offering a hug and a few tears. The gifts varied in expense, because sometimes he wanted to splurge on Percy and sometimes he wanted to keep it simple so he didn't make Percy uncomfortable at the amount he was spending. All in all, the gifts probably amounted to the sum he'd be awarded if he won the bloody Triwizard Tournament. It was worth it.

He quickly found out that he didn't really need to give Percy gifts if he wanted to hug him. They could just hug. Percy didn't seem to mind being greeted that way, nor being left that way, so Marcus took advantage of it, hugging him every chance he got. Percy smelt like sandalwood(?). So Marcus really liked sandalwood now.

Unfortunately, no matter how much you hug a man and give him presents, his girlfriend won't disintegrate into thin air. That was a tough lesson to learn for Marcus. 

Due to Percy being his teacher appointed tutor, there really wasn't anything anybody could do about Marcus hijacking his time. Or his designated spot in the library that was often occupied by his girlfriend. 

At first that wasn't a problem, because Clearwater didn't really come to the library in search of Percy. Marcus knew that this was because they had other places to go and... spend time together (just the thought made him want to puke). But Clearwater dropped in one too many times, no matter if they were in the library or elsewhere, and it was starting to piss Marcus off. 

Whenever she'd come by, she'd look at him reproachfully, as if chiding him for doing something wrong. That was probably for ogling her boyfriend. But then she'd kiss Percy on the cheek and it would make Percy smile and blush like an idiot, and it burned on Marcus' nerves. It physically pained him to look at. After that, Clearwater would make eye contact with him, as if challenging him, and he'd glare at her back while Percy continued chattering on about some Goblin Revolution or another. 

All of this made it clear that no matter how many expensive gifts were given, how many suspiciously long hugs were exchanged, Percy Weasley was very much a taken man. A loyal one, too, and there was nothing to be done about that. That didn't stop Marcus, though. While he couldn't actively try to break them up, he could wait. He wasn't going to stop lusting after Percy just because of his monster of a girlfriend. That was stupid. 

And apparently, in the first week of June, that was no longer a problem any more. Penelope had broken up with Percy, something about how she didn't want to compete with other people and how too many people like Percy. Marcus didn't know about any other ones, but he wasn't ashamed to recognize himself as being one of the people she was referring to. 

"That's too bad," He told Percy. Percy had his head down, laying on folded arms, and Marcus couldn't tell if he was still crying. Probably. It was the day after the breakup, and when Marcus met Percy to study, he was greeted with this. 

As Marcus rubbed comforting circles on Percy's back, he thought about how it really was too bad. Too bad that Percy was so torn up about it, because he must've really liked Clearwater. It might take him a long time to get over her, and Marcus couldn't do anything about it. But Marcus could rejoice about it, and rejoice he did.

But it was funny how Clearwater posed more of a problem when she wasn't with Percy than with, because now Percy was so torn up about it that he wouldn't even come out of his room when it wasn't for class, so Marcus couldn't even pretend to randomly encounter him in the hallway and wave. And because it was so close to the end of the school year, Marcus' HoM average was finally updated, allowing him to end the term with an EE rather than the P he started with. That meant that there was no longer need for Percy to tutor him, which meant that there was no longer an excuse for them to hang out. And Percy definitely wasn't going out of his way to meet up with Marcus while he was mourning the loss of his ex-girlfriend.

So Marcus wasn't able to talk to Percy until around 3 days before everyone was due to go home. 

"Oi, Weasley!" Marcus hissed, spotting Percy as he came out of the Great Hall. Marcus couldn't even pretend the encounter was a coincidence; he was leaned up against the wall, waiting for Percy to come out. 

Percy looked around confused for a second, before spotting Marcus and walking over with a frown. "Weasley?"

"Yeah," Marcus affirmed. "I reckon we're not as close after not talking for two weeks."

"Oh," Percy replied quietly, staring at the floor. "Um... my apologies. I was going through it a bit with the whole Penelope thing."

Marcus couldn't stay mad at him. He wasn't even that mad to begin with. His demeanor softened. "No, we're okay, Percy. It was a joke," He assured, patting Percy on the shoulder. Percy just smiled, but it looked like it pained him to do. "Do you feel better now?"

Percy hesitated before nodding, "It just wasn't meant to be."

"Yeah," Marcus agreed. His voice had a sad inflection, but really all he could focus on was how pink Percy's lips were.

"—over the summer?" Percy finished saying, causing Marcus to focus on what he was saying rather than how his lips were forming the words.

"Sorry?" Marcus asked, pretending like he'd risen from a sophisticated day dream about important stuff.

"Will you write over the summer?" Percy repeated with a smile. "I've really got nothing to do, and I'd love to hear from you!" 

Marcus grinned. It felt nice to know that Percy wanted to talk to him. "Of course," he replied. "Can't wait!"

As Percy nodded and walked away, Marcus couldn't help but regret the finality of his words. He wished he could've kept the conversation going, but Percy obviously took that as his chance to leave. That was fine, they'd talk over the summer.

Marcus' summer was literal shite. His parents never seemed to stop arguing over silly things, and they were just generally unhappy. He tried to steer clear from them, but then his father would ask him how school was going and his mother would say something about how he'd never cared before, and then they'd get into it again. It was frustrating to say the least, and he wished they'd just divorce. They would never do that, though, because they claimed they loved each other. Marcus knew it was because divorce was a little taboo for them. Or rather, they vehemently opposed it.

He tried to spend a lot of time outside of the manor, made easier by the fact that he was almost legal. He did a lot of flying, but there was only so much fun he could have doing that with nobody else. No matter what else he did to occupy himself, the highlight of his days would of course be his correspondence with Percy.

He never really had anybody to talk to over the summer, and he told Percy as much in one of their letters. Percy told him that he was glad that he was able to be there for him. Marcus couldn't even begin to describe the way his heart felt when he read that. They were able to get closer without the threat of anybody harassing them for their "fraternizing with the enemy," and Marcus couldn't believe how far he'd come from having wet dreams about Percy.

Unfortunately, he also found out that even though they'd broken up, Percy was still talking to Clearwater. Apparently they were trying to be friends despite both still having feelings for each other, and Marcus just found that so idiotic. He never told Percy how he truly felt about it, fearing that he might take offense and stop answering the letters, so he just said "whatever you think is best," and then moved on from the subject. Marcus only felt slightly assured by Percy's claims that they were never getting back together.

Marcus wanted to maybe see Percy over the summer, as he had nothing but free time and space, and parents who didn't give two shits about what he did. Percy, after thanking him for yet another tome that he sent, told Marcus that he didn't think he could, because his mother would want to meet any company that he wanted to meet, and Slytherins weren't really the most welcome in the Weasley home. 

Percy's reluctance to just sneak out with a lie was a painful reminder of the noble Gryffindor in him, but also the rule-stickler in him. So Marcus couldn't convince him to come visit, but that was fine. It was just that distance only made the heart grow fonder.

The letters were entertaining. Hell, Marcus kept every last one. But there were only so many book reviews and meaningless rambles that Marcus could take before he just really wanted to see Percy in person. 

Finally, when the day came in September, Marcus' dad apparated them to Kings Cross before promptly disappearing, leaving Marcus to stand around because it was still an hour before the train left. So it would probably still be an hour before the Weasleys arrived. Ridiculously, Marcus found a compartment and waited, blankly staring out the window at the entrance to 9 3/4. 

He was near sleep when he finally saw Percy, but he sat up straighter at the sight, leaning closer to the window to get a better view. Percy looked gorgeous as always as he silently stood amongst the rest of his family, making a hasty departure after kissing his mum goodbye. It was only when Percy disappeared from sight that Marcus realized that he wouldn't be able to see him, because Percy preferred to spend most of his time on the train in the prefect's compartment, and maybe with Wood. He remembered that Percy was also made Head Boy this year, so he would be even less likely to get away. With that in mind, Marcus just fell asleep.

When he came to, Percy was hovering over him expectantly, smiling sheepishly when his eyes blinked open.

"—can go head," Marcus could register Percy saying to someone he couldn't see. It was probably the other prefect he was patrolling with.

"Hi?" Marcus greeted, slowly sitting up. He didn't think that Percy would even talk to him until classes started, as they had them in common this year. Even then, they'd probably only talk until Marcus started struggling in HoM again. God, he hated HoM. 

He was snapped out of his tired brain rant by Percy who cleared his throat awkwardly. "Didn't mean to wake you. I was just going to drop in if I saw you, because we probably won't get the chance to talk for a while." 

"Oh," Marcus said. "Why not?" He knew why not, he just didn't know what to say. 

Percy seemed to think for a moment. "You're right," he finally agreed, evidently having come to a conclusion that Marcus himself hadn't. "Maybe we can meet up tomorrow?" 

"Don't you have prefect duties?" Marcus asked, pinching himself for testing his luck. Here was his opportunity to hang out with Percy, and he was dismissing it.

"I can't have to do them all day," Percy replied. He glanced out of the glass window of the compartment before announcing, "I have to go. But... I'll see you, right?"

Marcus nodded, "Of course," and then Percy was gone.

But as it would turn out, Percy absolutely could have Head Boy duties all day. And he did. Marcus was just sitting around for hours, waiting for Percy in spots he could be easily found in, only for Percy to walk past him accompanied by a younger Slytherin prefect. He was gone before Marcus could say anything, but Marcus felt him put something in his palm. It was a note that simply read: "Sorry. See you later."

How terribly disappointing. Marcus really felt like hexing that younger snake when they came into the common room later that night, but he refrained.

It ended up being okay, because they were able to hang out the next night. And the one after that. And the one after that. Eventually, they were sneaking around every night, having meaningless conversations and avoiding Filch. Even though Percy was Head Boy, he wasn't even supposed to be out as late as they'd stay out, and Marcus definitely wasn't supposed to be with him. 

All the sneaking around to spend time together had Marcus thinking. That was a very couple-esque thing to do. The only thing that was missing was perhaps the snogging. At first, it was a fleeting thought that he laughed to himself about when their conversation got too quiet, but then it started plaguing his mind. He really was so close, yet so far to getting Percy, and with Clearwater gone, he considered making his move for a while. He really enjoyed the time they spent together, and he could just imagine how much better it could have been if he could just snog Percy. 

'I mean, we even hold hands sometimes...' Marcus thought to himself as they laid side by side on the floor of some random classroom, pinkies intertwined. 'What kind of purely platonic friends hold hands?'

As it would turn out, though, it was people who were friends with Percy. As they lay staring up at the ceiling, chatting away about any and everything in hushed voices, Percy said, "I'm very thankful to have you as a friend."

Marcus almost choked on his spit. He prayed that Percy didn't notice the sudden clamminess of his hands. "Er... thanks? I like being friends with you too," he said, cringing at how awkward he sounded. 

Percy just laughed, though. "I feel like I'm finally getting over Penny, so I can realize that... I really need more friends."

"Oh?" Marcus prompted, turning his head to look at Percy who was still staring at the ceiling.

"Yeah. As of late, it seems like I haven't made a genuine friend that I don't end up dating. Oliver, he's... my best friend, don't get me wrong. But he seems to hate when I talk about failed relationships or whatnot. I need more people to talk to. I'm lucky I have you," Percy explained.

"Right..." Marcus agreed, looking away with a frown. Percy may not have known it, but he definitely just crushed the only aspiration that Marcus had at the moment: to date him. Apparently Percy couldn't see the direction that Marcus was trying to take.

Percy, having picked up on Marcus' discomfort, hastened to assure him, "Which is not to say I only talk to you to talk about my problems. I genuinely like hanging out with you!"

Marcus winced. Percy obviously didn't understand what threw him off. With a sigh, he told Percy, "No, I get it. I'm glad I could be there for you." 

So after that night, Marcus wasn't too keen to touch Percy anymore. He tried to control his feelings; he didn't want to ruin a good thing just because he'd been infatuated with a taken man for months, stupidly becoming friends with him rather than just outright declaring his intentions. Having to hide his emotions was really hard. It physically hurt him. It was like knowing it wasn't going to happen made him want for it to happen even more. Which is why it was no wonder that he could only go two days before he couldn't take it anymore. 

Marcus convinced Percy to take the risk of sneaking out of the castle this particular Saturday night, so now they were sat on the quidditch pitch, talking quietly while Percy toyed with a small vial of calming drought that Marcus had gotten him after Percy tried to ditch him yet another night in order to neurotically study for his NEWTs.

"I'm glad we came out here," Percy was saying. "It's quite nice out. The stars are particularly bright."

Marcus hummed in agreement, maintaining a calm demeanor. Internally, he was at war. After 2 days of attempting to not make any physical contact with Percy, they were now pressed against each other as if they only had a box that was a third of a meter wide to share. It was quite terrible, because he was resisting the urge to run away and act on his deepest desires at the same time. Thus, as Percy began to explain his most recent correspondence with his eldest brother, all Marcus could do was stare. 

Like always, Percy was right. The stars were particularly bright that night. And so was the moon. Realistically, it didn't illuminate the quidditch pitch drastically, not like it would the Black Lake or anything. But it shined on Percy just right, and suddenly it was the past winter vacation and Marcus was watching Percy through that classroom door. Percy with his curly red hair, skewed owl-rimmed glasses, swollen red lips, and beautifully flushed skin. Percy as he shagged Clearwater. Marcus suddenly remembered what he was chasing this whole time. And now, Percy was just so close...

He didn't realize what he was doing until after he'd done it, shutting Percy's rambling up with a bruising kiss, pulling him closer by the neck.

There was a brief moment where Percy was kissing him back, and it was wonderful, but then he jerked back as if just realizing what he was doing. Marcus looked at him curiously.

"I— what?" Percy stammered. 

Marcus ignored his stuttering in favor of shutting him up by kissing him again, which worked fairly well until he tried to readjust their positioning. As soon as he moved, Percy's hand was on his chest, gently pushing him away. 

"Marcus..." Percy said warningly. His lips were glistening from the kiss, and it was hard to focus on his words, but Marcus knew he needed to.

"Tell me you haven't thought about it this entire time. Honestly, Percy... what kind of friends lay next to each other and hold hands?" Marcus whispered insistently. Their proximity didn't require him to speak any louder.

Percy rolled his eyes, "Us, I thought! Maybe once or twice I've thought about..." He trailed off seemingly reluctant to admit it. "But we really shouldn't." 

"Why not?" Marcus murmured, his fingers beginning to card through Percy's hair. He looked into Percy's eyes, trying his best to appear enticing. Clearly it worked, because Percy sighed and looked around at their surroundings nervously before appearing to throw caution to the wind and climb right onto Marcus' lap in a flurry of desperate kisses. Naturally, Marcus responded eagerly, arms wrapped around Percy's waist and back against the wall of the pitch for support. 

Marcus didn't know how it was for Percy, but for him, it was for a lack of a better word, magical. Percy was warm, his lips were soft, and he tasted like the chocolate Marcus gifted him the day prior. It was better than anything he ever imagined. 

Percy was the one to take it further, pressing closer to place soft kisses on Marcus' neck, and Marcus was content to let him take the lead. Soft kisses turned into harder bites, and as Percy guided Marcus' hands under his shirt, he just confirmed what Marcus had known since he started the whole thing. Percy was by know means as innocent as some might think.

"Is this what you want?" Percy asked, reaching his hand between them and massaging Marcus' hard-on through his pants. This elicited a choked whimper from Marcus throat. 

"Yes," he breathed, his grip tightening on Percy's waist. "Please."

Marcus closed his eyes and just felt, and the next thing he knew, Percy Weasley was riding him on the quidditch pitch, where anybody could come out for a sneaky night fly and spot them. It was exhilarating. Slow at first, but then Percy adjusted and picked up speed and it was nothing but muffled groans of pleasure. Marcus' hold on Percy was bruising, as if he could just disappear at any moment, and it was over after around 6 minutes. Later, Marcus would find out that it was both of their first times doing that. Why Percy decided to try that with him he didn't know, but he was flattered.

As they lay next to each other on the turf of the quidditch pitch, Percy using Marcus' outstretched arm as a pillow, they began talking while they recovered from their activities.

"Were we ever just friends to you?" Percy asked him. Marcus turned his head to see him frowning up at the sky.

"Of course," he replied. "But I didn't want for it to be that way."

"Why?" Percy shot back quickly. "You just saw me one day and went, 'Oh, I want to make friends with him to eventually shag him if/when he breaks up with his girlfriend?'"

Marcus bit his lip. He couldn't tell how Percy was feeling. "I... saw you. And Penelope. Last Easter holiday."

Percy looked confused for a second, but Marcus could tell when the realization dawned on him, because his face turned a profuse red and he hid it in Marcus' arm. Finally, just before Marcus was about to ask him if he was okay, he turned back around with a simple "Oh."

"Yeah. And you looked... wow. I couldn't get the image out of my head," Marcus admitted. Percy scrunched his nose at that statement but remained silent. "I wanted to get closer to you. So I asked Binns if he could ask you to tutor me and of course that panned out."

"Did you even need tutoring?" Percy asked after a beat of silence.

Marcus scoffed. "Of course. My average was a P in History of Magic. You helped me a lot, really." This at least seemed to satisfy Percy, because he preened a little at the compliment to his tutoring skills.

"All those gifts..." Percy began as they trudged back to the castle, now fully clothed and decently clean. "I thought you were just really nice and grateful."

Marcus shrugged sheepishly. "I was. But I also wanted to snog you senseless, and you seemed to like the gifts. So I loved the gifts."

Percy didn't respond besides giving a relenting nod of agreement to indicate that he did indeed like the gifts. When they finally reached the hidden door they came out of, it had been silent the rest of the walk. Marcus stopped in front of it. He wanted to say something to Percy, maybe even give him a kiss goodbye. But Percy just looked at him weird for stopping and swung open the door, walking through without a backward glance. Marcus sighed and followed.

The time for them to diverge ways to their common rooms came, and Percy would've walked off without a word had Marcus not taken his wrist and kissed him gently, mumbling, "See you later." Even then, Percy just smiled and said nothing back, so really in the end he did walk off without a word. That didn't phase Marcus, though. He was on cloud nine.

Marcus couldn't really recall his dreams the next few nights, but Percy was in them. That much was for sure. He was feeling quite euphoric, because now Percy was tantalizingly close and all he had to do was reach just a little bit more. Surely, after the intimate moment they shared on Saturday, they'd be closer than ever before— crossing the realm between friends and something more. All Marcus had to do now was just ask Percy to be his.

But after day 4 of not having talked to Percy, Marcus realized that maybe Percy was avoiding him. On Sunday, it wasn't unusual for him not to see Percy as he spent that time catching up on work and other stuff that he just didn't want to do with Marcus. On Monday, Marcus just thought that maybe he was busy. While they had classes together, it wasn't abnormal for them not to talk during them, and Percy of course had his Head Boy duties. But then, on Tuesday, he managed to catch Percy's eye, shooting him a grin. Percy's responding smile looked terribly strained, like he'd just eaten a lemon, and he quickly looked away after the fact. Marcus frowned at that, but brushed it off as him maybe having a bad day.

He finally came to the conclusion on Wednesday. He'd sent Percy a gift the day before, just a few flowers, and he would've normally received a thank you by now. But that didn't happen. And when he tried to catch Percy's eye from across the hall, he ended up making eye contact with Wood instead, who was seated right next to Percy. Percy was apparently laughing at something Wood said, and Wood was smiling too, but then when he saw Marcus staring, his gaze turned cold. Marcus was never one to pass up in the opportunity to antagonize Wood, so he glared back, Percy obliviously giggling all the while. As he felt the silverware in his hand begin to bend because of how tightly he was squeezing it, Marcus wondered what could've possibly been so funny.

On Thursday, Marcus decided to get over subtlety, and to get over embarrassment. The plan was that he'd confront Percy, Percy would apologize and explain that it was kind of awkward for him, and then Marcus would reassure him and then ask him out. That's not quite how it went, though.

As they were walking out of Transfiguration that day, Marcus ambled up to Percy and elbowed him, giving him a meaningful look. Percy sighed and nodded. Outside of the classroom, they waited until the corridor cleared up before they found a random alcove to talk in.

"Have you been avoiding me?" Marcus deadpanned.

Percy cleared his throat. "Yes, but I was really working up the courage to—" His sentence came to an abrupt stop, and Marcus waited for him to finish, but he never did.

"I've been meaning to tell you something," Marcus said, and was pleasantly surprised when the same words came out of Percy's mouth. "You go first."

Percy sighed. "Saturday. That was a mistake. I don't know what I was thinking, but I'm not ready to be in a serious relationship right now."

Marcus' heart constricted in his chest. He really couldn't believe what he was being told. "So you don't want to do this?" He asked weakly.

Percy shook his head, "I mean, I really hope we can still be friends. And the sex was nice... maybe we can leave it at that?"

"I guess," Marcus agreed. He could admit, it was quite pathetic of him to sign off on that, reducing himself to being friends with benefits, but he felt like he still wanted something. And this was supposedly all he could have. 

After they lapsed into awkward silence, Percy piped up, "What were you meaning to tell me?"

Marcus almost scowled at the reminder. "It doesn't matter." And from the way Percy ruefully looked at him, he probably knew what Marcus wanted to say. That just made it even worse.

They did end up sleeping together after that. Quite a bit, actually. They were still friends too. It was basically just like Percy said it would be. It was pleasant for Marcus, but it also hurt to be virtually wasting his time on somebody he couldn't have. He still withheld hope, though, and it wasn't as if he had anybody else to pursue. He just wanted Percy. 

Despite the gifts not serving their original purpose, which was to get Percy to like him more and eventually want to date him, they didn't stop, because Percy still liked them. So Marcus loved giving them to him. If anything, they only got more expensive. 

That was until March, when Percy abruptly stopped talking to him, only whispering a "hello" when they brushed against each other in the hallways. At that point, Marcus ditched the expensive gifts and just started sending desperate letters that occasionally came with small gifts enclosed in envelopes. 

The first two weeks of doing this, the gifts were accepted and there would be a hastily-penned yet sincere message from Percy about stuff that they'd normally talk about when they still hung out. So Marcus was a little baffled (and hurt) when two of his letters were returned unopened. That was until Oliver Wood cornered him one day when he was walking back from practice with his team.

"Stop sending Percy your stupid rubbish. Stop talking to him. He's not going to sleep with you anymore!" Wood muttered lowly.

Marcus couldn't tell if he was supposed to feel threatened, but he was more in a state of realization than anything. "Why? He's done it before," he said smugly, reveling in the anger coming off of Wood in waves. 

"Yeah, well he's my boyfriend now. So he won't be doing that again. I understand that must be hard for you to hear," Wood spat, roughly patting him on the shoulder before walking away.

Marcus bit the inside of his cheek, resisting the urge to simultaneously hex Wood and sock him in the face. Because he was right. He probably wasn't lying about dating Percy, and it did hurt to know that. Because apparently Oliver Wood could do what he himself couldn't do in the span of months. He didn't know how long it took Oliver, but he'd guess a day or two, because one day Percy would talk to him and the next day he wouldn't.

But he already knew he couldn't have Percy like that. Now he just lost his only friend though. That was kind of sad.

Percy still met his eyes in class, giving small smiles and waving, but that really didn't do much for Marcus. It really just made it worse.

Months passed, and during the summer, upon receiving his NEWT results, he found that he ended up doing alright on his exams without Percy. Just alright. An acceptable in nearly every subject besides HoM, where he miraculously got an EE. Along with those mediocre grades, he got a letter from Percy, who apparently decided that they could just talk again.

Marcus was especially disappointed in himself when he got the letter and immediately picked up a quill to respond. He was an adult now, freshly graduated. He really should leave these schoolboy crushes behind. And yet... Their correspondence was congenial at best, but they reached a sort of equilibrium that two people who stopped talking to each other for months normally would.

Percy was by no means his anymore (never really was), except he was maybe his friend. Acquaintance? Marcus didn't know. And he'd just have to content himself with that. Because Percy was happily in love with and living with Oliver Wood.

Chapter Text

Oliver was a very passionate person. For a while now, besides the obvious like his family or living, he knew that he really only loved two things: quidditch and Percy Weasley.

Quidditch was a given, really. He'd been raised as a muggle until he was around 6. But one day, his da brought him out to a field, revealed to him that he had magic, and then summoned a broom and taught Oliver how to play quidditch. Oliver felt more connected to his da after that, because the secrecy of hiding an entire part of you from your child isn't really lost on them. He could tell that his da was just a little too closed off, like a distant relative staying for the summer rather than the guy who got his mum pregnant. Never mind that, Quidditch was fun, and his da started talking to him more and using his magic around him, which elated Oliver as a 6 year old. From then on, he devoted all his time to quidditch.

He didn't take as automatic of a liking to Percy, though.

In their first year, Percy's brother Bill deposited him in a cart with Oliver and then left, leaving the two to sit there awkwardly. Percy wasn't the best conversationalist, as all his replies to Oliver's questions seemed like he'd rather be anywhere else. After moments of silence where Oliver pinched himself to see if he'd wake up from this absolute nightmare of a train ride, Percy finally looked away from the window he was staring through and spoke unprompted.

"Do you have a book?" He asked simply.

"Of course!" Oliver chirped, pulling out a decently sized book from under his seat. "Quidditch Through The Ages!" As he proudly presented the book to Percy, Percy's polite smile faded a little, but he tried to hide it.

"That's... Can I read it?" Percy asked, accepting the book from Oliver and turning it over in his hands. "It looks quite new."

Oliver shrugged. "Of course you can! Or I can just tell you the story. I've read it plenty. That's my 3rd copy: I ruined the other two."

Percy frowned at him, but opened the book and began to read without a word. Oliver, who was quite listless, was a little frustrated and annoyed, because what if he wanted to read his own book?

"I'd like to read as well," Oliver said, straightening his spine to try and get a better view of Percy's page.

Percy closed the book and gave it back to him with a shrug. "Have it," he said, "I'll just go to sleep."

Oliver felt bad because maybe the other boy felt like he had to give it up. But then he was also a little offended, because Percy would rather give up his only form of entertainment than just share the book with him. Also, who passes up on the opportunity to read about quidditch?

So Oliver just read his book, and Percy was resting. Oliver couldn't tell if he was really asleep, because he'd been in the same position since he first closed his eyes, and he wasn't making any noise. Hopefully he wasn't dead.

When they finally got to Hogsmeade Station, Percy just sat up casually as if he hadn't been motionlessly sleeping for a good few hours. He changed into his robes early, whereas Oliver completely forgot to change into his so he had to scramble to put them on in the last two minutes of the ride. 

And after Percy yelled at him for rocking the boat as they and the rest of the first years crossed the lake, Oliver decided that he didn't want to be Percy's friend. He didn't like quidditch enough, was too quiet, and when he wasn't being quiet he was being bossy. Not to mention he was an eerie sleeper.

Upon getting sorted into the same house as Percy, he was a little shocked and a little annoyed. How was he going to live like this? Not to mention Percy was the first boy to get sorted into Gryffindor, and after Oliver, there weren't many people left to be sorted. And none of them came to Gryffindor. So it was just him and Percy.

At first, Oliver was just generally annoyed with everything Percy did. He couldn't get over the original impression left on him, and any attempts Percy made to talk to him were ignored because it was probably some bossy tosh. But as the months wore on, he started to feel bad for his behavior, because living with Percy wasn't even all that bad. He proved to be not very popular, for he was more of the studious type and kept to himself, not speaking unless spoken to. Oliver thought that might've been the result of the 3rd time people disdainfully stared at him when he tried to talk to them. To be quite frank, Oliver was decently offended on Percy's behalf, because he really wasn't that bad. 

In fact, Oliver admired him. While he was quite messy himself, he could appreciate Percy's want to keep things organized. Percy liked niche things like making his own quills out of exotic bird feathers or attempting to make new potions out of ingredients snuck from dinner. He gave up on the latter pretty quickly once he realized that it wasn't doing anything, but he did make the occasional accidental mead. Of course, Percy was smart, and he knew a lot about a lot. Oliver didn't find it pretentious at all. And as it would turn out, Percy did like Quidditch! He wasn't that good, but he knew his way around the game and he liked the strategy that went into it. His favorite team was the Magpies due to their overwhelming success, but Oliver would make it his mission to convert Percy into a Puddlemere fan. He was sure that Percy would be able to appreciate the profound history of the team.

Generally, Oliver just thought he was cool. He liked the way Percy carried himself, and he kind of wanted to be like him. Of course, that would never happen, so he just really wanted to be friends with Percy instead. They didn't really talk much due to Oliver's original hostility, as well as Oliver having other people that he hung out with, but Oliver would've at the very least liked to talk to his roommate.

He smiled and waved a few times, but it seemed as though Percy didn't realize that those were directed at him, because he always blinked slowly and looked around to see who it could've been directed at. Oliver really didn't know how to go about becoming friends with Percy; he didn't have any friends like him. And it wasn't as though he could just ask someone to put in a good word, because well, Percy didn't have friends. But while Percy didn't have friends, he had older brothers...

Oliver tentatively approached Charlie in the common room one day. The older boy was cool too, quite popular. Oliver thought it might've been a Weasley family trait, because Bill was also pretty cool. But they weren't who Oliver was trying to make friends with, so that didn't matter. 

"Um, hi," Oliver squeaked, clearing his throat at how high-pitched his greeting came out.

"Hello! Can I help you with anything?" Charlie asked politely, pausing in his shuffling of a deck of exploding snaps cards. 

"Are you Percy's brother?" Oliver asked as a formality, but he already knew the answer. 

Charlie answered with a frown, folding his arms defensively, "Yes? Something the matter?"

"No!" Oliver hastened to assure him. "I just wanted to ask... how would I go about making friends with Percy?"

Charlie slowly unfolded his arms, a smirk forming on his face as he slowly clarified, "You want to know how to... make friends with my little brother?"

Oliver nodded. 

Charlie sighed, "Oh, I don't know. Maybe talk to him?"

"But he's so..." Oliver trailed off, "cool."

"You think so?" Charlie snorted. "Blimey, I can't wait until Bill hears about this."

Oliver's heart dropped and his cheeks went aflame. "Please don't tell anyone about this!" He pleaded, looking around furtively to see if anyone had overheard his inquiry. "Anything you can tell me, anything!"

"Honestly, I don't really know," Charlie shrugged. "My little brother doesn't really make friends. Of course, we talk and all but... he's 4 years my junior. I can't really help you, sorry," he explained, patting Oliver on the shoulder dismissively. 

Oliver wanted to rip his hair out, but opted to just walk to his dorm instead. His dorm, where Percy was calmly sitting on his bed and carving patterns into a fake wand, oblivious of Oliver's seemingly useless plight to be his friend. Just terrible.

The summer before his 2nd year, he felt comfortable enough to open up to his parents about it.

"Oh, Ollie, just be yourself," his mum had smiled after he finished telling them about Percy.

"Mead?" His da echoed, dumbfounded. His mum nudged him reproachfully, and he cleared his throat in shame. "Yes, treat him as though he were anybody else you made friends with. Because he is. Maybe talking to him will do the trick, too," his da suggested instead, and his mother nodded along sagely.

Oliver sighed. They made it sound so simple. And maybe it was.

So when 2nd year started, he sat with his other friends on the train, because he didn't think that he could take another train ride with Percy. However, when they took their seats in the Great Hall for the Welcoming Feast, he chose to sit directly next to Percy.

"Hi Percy," he greeted cheerfully. Across from them, Bill and Charlie exchanged amused glances.

"Hi Oliver," Percy said, subtly scooting over to make room for him. "How was your summer?"

"Fantastic!" Oliver replied before going on a tangent about what all he'd done over the summer. By the end of the feast, he felt as though he'd made a right fool of himself by talking so much. Percy nodded along politely, asking questions and giving his own input occasionally, but he didn't really talk much otherwise. Oliver was mortified. He should've just shut up. Now Percy would think he was an annoying little snot who couldn't shut his bloody mouth. Oh, he could just imagine Percy writing home to his younger siblings about how his annoying roommate tried to talk to him.

In an effort to redeem himself, he didn't talk to Percy for the rest of the night, only saying goodnight before drawing the curtains around his bed.

Oliver opted to sit next to Percy during classes though, which served as a sure way to get to talk to him. Percy didn't seem to appreciate his chit chat, so Oliver stopped doing it as much. This allowed for Percy to just talk to him whenever he felt like it, and this worked perfectly for Oliver because in these instances he knew for sure that Percy wanted to talk to him, and it also made him feel special because he didn't have to be the one to initiate conversation. He tried to play on their common interests, but while Oliver found Percy's interests pretty cool for Percy, he had no interest in pursuing them himself. The only thing he could think of was quidditch, and he enjoyed trying to turn Percy into a Puddlemere fan.

Oliver made the quidditch team that year, which in his opinion severely helped his efforts to seem cool to Percy. It proved that while Percy's academic prowess was insane and set him apart, at least Oliver was maybe as good at quidditch. Which made him good enough to be Percy's friend. 

Percy congratulated him on making the team, stating how he had seen the tryouts and that Oliver was a magnificent flyer and definitely deserved the spot. All Oliver said in response was, "Thank you, that's very nice of you to say," but of course that just made the accomplishment even more remarkable for him.

If he thought that making the quidditch team would have Percy begging to be his friend, he was surely mistaken because Percy didn't talk to him for the rest of the day after that. That made him sober up and realize how ridiculous it all was. What was he doing? Probably the only way he'd for sure know Percy was his friend is if he asked. It worked for everybody else he’d made friends with, at least.

"Can we be friends?" He asked one day during charms while they were reviewing the fire-making spell, incendio.

Percy straightened up, startled. He blinked at Oliver owlishly, mouth agape.

Oliver didn't know how to feel about that reaction. He was going to ask again, but then Flitwick made himself known at their table, clearing his throat. 

"Let's see it then, Mr. Weasley! Mr. Wood!" He exclaimed jovially, beckoning for them to start casting. 

Percy pursed his lips and muttered the spell. Immediately, flames roared under the grate of the little fireplace they practiced on. The grate was practically useless, though, because Percy's flames just filtered through.

"Merlin!" Oliver exclaimed, backing away so as to avoid getting his eyebrows singed off.

At the same time, Flitwick said, "Goodness me, Mr. Weasley! Please dial those down."

Percy blushed, leaning back to allow for Flitwick to reach over and extinguish the flames before he let Percy try again. This time, Percy did it satisfactorily, and Oliver did his demonstration. As Flitwick moved on, Percy turned accusing eyes to Oliver.

"This is your fault! How mortifying!" Percy complained, dragging his hands over his face. 

"My fault?" Oliver echoed. "I didn't say, 'hey Percy, 5 galleons you try to burn our faces off!'" 

"You distracted me!" Percy argued. "Why would you ask me that silly question? Now Flitwick thinks I can't cast a simple first-year spell!"

Oliver rolled his eyes. "Calm down. You'll be fine," he tried to console, but Percy just glared at him. He then added, "it wasn't a silly question! I just wanted to be your friend."

"Well, yes," Percy sighed. "I understood that part. But I thought we were friends?"

Oliver frowned. "You think so? We don't even talk outside of class and we share a room. Also, I thought you didn't like me all that much."

Percy spoke insistently, "But we have every class together, so we talk everyday. What is there to talk about outside of class? And of course I like you!" 

"So... friends, huh?" Oliver said. Percy nodded, and seemed content to ignore Oliver for the remaining duration of class, but as much as Oliver was happy that Percy was his friend, he still couldn't get over one thing. "I think we should hang out outside of class, though."

"Sure, fine. That's... fine." Percy muttered absentmindedly.

Thus, they were friends. Or at least as far as Oliver was concerned.

By 3rd year, they were practically inseparable. Well, except for during the summer, because Oliver refused to write unless Percy wrote but Percy convinced him that they didn't need to write because they could just come back to school and see each other again in a few months. Something about how distance makes the heart grow fonder. Nevertheless, they were still pretty close.

Oliver grew to know everything about Percy. What shade he liked his tea (didn't matter what made it that color so long as it was the right shade), his favorite snack (orange slices sandwiched between two macadamia nuts), his favorite siblings (the littlest ones, Ron and Ginny, were his favorites at the moment. It changes), and even his favorite kind of quill from Scrivenshaft's, the tiny shop in Hogsmeade that Oliver never even considered stepping foot into.

And Percy knew pretty much all there was to know about Oliver, too. Oliver himself didn't think that to be much of an accomplishment, as he thought himself rather shallow. But Percy swore up and down that he had depth and Oliver chose to believe him.

After 2nd year, the social groups in their year really started to form. There were a few kids that were so normal in a way that was both infuriating and enviable. They were the attractive ones of decent wealth with average marks. Based on the muggle movies that he'd grown up watching, Oliver supposed that they'd fit into the popular trope. But how could they be popular when they were so boring? Nobody really liked them anyway.

Oliver would personally categorize the people in their year in two different social groups: normal and a bit of an outcast. With such a small population, Hogwarts wasn't the most ideal place to find friends if you weren't like everyone else. Oliver truly believed that there was a person out there for everyone who deserved it, but that some people were just out of luck when they entered the small population of the Wizarding World. 

Objectively, Oliver didn't have to worry about that. People liked Quidditch, and people liked him. They thought him a bit nutty, but he did have his fair share of friends who put up with it. Percy, however, was a bit more overlooked. No matter how cool he seemed to Oliver, he would be considered a bit of an outsider. Honestly, that was by no means bad, and Oliver was just glad that he could be that person for Percy when nobody else took the opportunity to get to know him. 

Oliver could admire that Percy never really let his solitude get to him, especially with his brothers being far more well-liked by the student population than him. Even the twins, who were superbly annoying first years, had more admirers than Percy. Percy would always just say that he was alone, not lonely, and even then he still had Oliver.

Occasionally, somebody would ask him why they were friends, because for whatever reason, Percy didn't have the most flattering reputation amongst their peers. They thought he was strange, and despite being literal wizards/witches/wixen, they didn't like strange.

Evelyn, who instigated quite a few fights due to her unmatched ability to receive and spread gossip, came up to him one day while he was walking to quidditch practice. In the distance, Percy was walking back to the castle, as he had to check on a mysterious project he had going and couldn't walk Oliver all the way to the pitch.

"Hi Evelyn," Oliver nodded politely in her direction, walking past without a backward glance. He didn't realize that her intention had been to talk to him until she just never disappeared from his peripheral after 2 seconds of walking.

"Why are you friends with him?" Evelyn asked.

The way she said it didn't really offend Oliver. She really did sound more curious than anything, but the question itself annoyed him to no end. What was it to her anyway. Still, he played dumb and answered her question with, "Who? Percy?"

Evelyn scoffed and nodded. "Of course!"

"Oh, well... Percy's cool. He's a good friend, and I like him," Oliver shrugged, his grip tightening briefly around the broom slung over his shoulder.

Evelyn glanced around furtively before saying, "Cool? More like a pompous prat. Come on, Oliver. We're all friends here, so you don't have to pretend."

Oliver suppressed a long, dramatic sigh. "We are not friends. And I'm not pretending. I'd take Percy over you 10 times out of 10."

"Oh, really?" Evelyn challenged, coming to a standstill as they finally reached the pitch.

Oliver kept walking. "The rumor mill must be pretty dry today," he said to her wryly, waiting until he was a few meters away before mounting his broom. 

He pretended he didn't hear her cursing him as he kicked off and flew away to greet the only two who got to practice before him;  Olivia, the "co-captain", and Charlie. He didn't think too much about her words anymore after that, not understanding her endgame or reason for coming up to him in the first place. After all, Percy was still his best friend by the end of it, and she can't have honestly expected any different.

In 4th year, things started to change a little bit.

Children wanted to grow up so fast, and Hogwarts kids weren't exempt to that. Part of this was forming relationships as though they were even old enough to understand. Oliver thought they were ridiculous, especially because people claimed to have girlfriends and boyfriends in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd year as well, and they always lasted maybe a month before everyone just got bored with each other. 

"Imagine this," Percy had said one time. "Once you're out of school, ready to start a family, you have to go and find someone who didn't go to Hogwarts because you dated everybody there."

"I don't think it'd matter," Oliver had said in reply. Percy shrugged, and exchanged a glance with Oliver when yet another couple of 12 year olds began to argue right behind them. Something about how they were breaking up because one ate the other's chocolate frog.

So Oliver knew how Percy felt on the matter. Still, in 4th year, the couples started actually lasting more than a month. It was astonishing. They also started to snog, which was less astonishing and more annoying.

A few times, Oliver had passes made at him, and a few girls flirted with him on occasion. When this happened, he just acted dense. After all, they didn't come outright with it, so he could just say that he didn't know. He wasn't really interested in them, because he firmly believed that it didn't work like that. He hardly knew them. And besides, he couldn't focus on a relationship when he had Quidditch! And Percy.

But apparently one girl in particular couldn't get the hint, as she approached Oliver one day at breakfast. Oliver watched her come over, noticing her as soon as she got up from the Hufflepuff table. Percy, who was sat next to him, had his head stuffed in a book while he was scarfing down some eggs. Occasionally, he would lower it and stare contemplatively in front of him, but he ultimately didn't pay Oliver any mind as they went about their breakfast. That was how it typically was.

When the girl finally sat down in front of them, Oliver stared at her and Percy's eyes flickered to her for a second before he decided to just ignore her, continuing as he was. That didn't seem to bother the girl. Evidently, she wasn't there for him anyway.

"Hi," she greeted Oliver directly, her head resting in folded hands as she watched him intently.

Oliver responded with an awkward wave and smile. "Can I help you?"

"Will you go out with me?" The girl blurted. Over her shoulder, Oliver could see her friends attentively watching the conversation.

He didn't say anything, opting to simply raise his eyebrow at her. Next to him, Percy's shoulders shook a little so Oliver could tell that he found something amusing, but he wasn't outwardly laughing. Maybe it was something in his book.

The girl clarified, "I'm Claire. A 4th year, like you, in case you've forgotten." Oliver again said nothing, so she continued, "We have Herbology together! Anyway, I want to go out with you."

Oliver knew that already, but he was a little confused. Sure, he'd seen the girl before, but where had she gotten the nerve to just ask him out? And for what?

 "Erm..." He hesitated, thinking of an excuse to tell Claire. Finally, he settled on trying to be funny with it, slinging his arm over Percy's shoulders and declaring, "I'm going out with him at the moment. Sorry."

After a brief pause, Claire kept staring at him, seemingly still trying to understand the words that came out of his mouth. Oliver fought back a smirk. Looking at Percy, Percy was already looking at him, face impassive save for the slight furrow in his brow. His eggs were frozen halfway to his mouth, but upon meeting Oliver's glare, he looked away and continued eating silently.

Claire, having watched the whole exchange like she was trying to decipher a psychological thriller, simply let out a little "Oh," and walked back to the Hufflepuff table.

"Real funny, Oliver," Percy commented wryly once Claire was out of earshot. "Now she'll never ask anybody out again."

"You're the one always complaining about meaningless relationships at this age," Oliver shot back.

Percy hesitated before arguing, "Yes, but... If I were her, I'd rather hear you say 'no' than make a joke out of it."

Oliver stated the obvious. "But you're not her. Maybe she'd rather hear the joke!"

Percy looked at him disbelievingly, his eyes practically yelling at Oliver about how stupid he sounded. "You really believe that?"

"...No," Oliver conceded.

As it would come to be proven, they both were wrong. She neither enjoyed the joke nor got offended by it. In fact, she didn't even think it was a joke, and told all her friends that Oliver was actually dating Percy. And never let it be said that Claire was just a sweet and shy Hufflepuff, because in all actuality she was almost as bad as Evelyn when it came to gossiping.

By dinner, Oliver himself had been approached by at least a dozen people asking if the rumor was true, and Percy had been approached by just as many. 

"I just didn't say anything," Percy told him when they sat down for dinner. "What did you say?"

Oliver bit his lip and looked away. "Well, I said yes."

Percy didn't say anything for a moment, prompting Oliver to turn and gauge his reaction. With a confused frown, Percy asked him, "What's your plan?"

"What do you mean?" Oliver replied, acting oblivious.

Percy sighed in annoyance. "I mean... what do we do? People think we're dating and we're not. But how would they know that if you keep egging them on? Why do you keep egging them on?" 

"I thought it was funny," Oliver shrugged defensively. "But if it bothers you so much, I'll stop." 

Percy didn't say anything after that, and there wasn't any conversation between the two of them for the rest of dinner, save for when Charlie stopped by them on his way out of the Great Hall.

"Alright?" He asked, looking at the two of them eating in silence.

"Peachy," Percy answered dryly.

"Heard you two were dating. Congrats," Charlie said with a smirk.

Percy glared at his brother who took that moment to retreat, and then he turned his glare on Oliver pointedly. Oliver resolutely stared at his plate, refusing to meet Percy's eye.

Throughout the rest of the week, most of Oliver's interactions went like that. His Hufflepuff friends were some of the first to know, as they were a pretty tight knit group and Claire just wouldn't stop talking about it. They made fun of him for dating someone, and even more for dating Percy. 

"What are you talking about? Percy is great!" Oliver had exclaimed defensively as they laughed in his face.

One of them, Henry, exclaimed, "Merlin, you're whipped! We knew it!" He wiped the tears of laughter from his face.

"Knew what?" Oliver decided to ask. He hated when his friends got like that. They would laugh about something, and when they all laughed at the same time they would just spur each other on to the point where it got obnoxious. Occasionally, Oliver would join them, but not today. Especially not at his expense. Or Percy's, for that matter. He couldn't even wrap his head around what they found so funny. They weren't friends with Percy like he was, but they didn't outwardly have any negative feelings about him. What did they find so funny about him "dating" Percy? 

His friends only seemed to find his question even funnier, for they just started maniacally giggling even more. Oliver just had to walk away at that point. 

Because that was the only time he wasn't with Percy that week, that was the only interaction Percy didn't know about. Oliver was strangely grateful for that fact, because he felt that his friends would've thoroughly embarrassed him in front of Percy. 

Percy, bless his soul, didn't really have anything to say on the matter. He was virtually indifferent because nobody really bothered him about the matter after the first week. Not like they did Oliver. And things between them were unchanged, save for when Oliver would tease Percy about giving him a little kiss before practice because that's what good boyfriends do. Percy found it funny when Oliver did that, but being funny wasn't getting kissed. Oliver found himself being pretty hung up on that, because why wouldn't Percy want to kiss him even if it was a joke? 

Unfortunately, Oliver didn't have to worry about that too much, because their charade of a relationship took a huge tumble after the 2nd week. When Oliver came back from practice one day, rather than finding Percy serenely doing class work or some other Percy thing, he found Percy frantically pacing the length of their bedroom, muttering something as he read a piece of parchment that he gripped tightly in his hands. Upon hearing Oliver come in, Percy turned on him and took him by the wrist, closing the door as he pulled Oliver inside of their room and casting a silencing charm on the door.

He then proceeded to hurriedly yell about something or another, gesticulating every word with Oliver's wrist still in hand. Oliver couldn't understand a thing.

"Wait, what?" Oliver interrupted, stopping Percy's movements. It was actually starting to hurt. "Slower please."

Percy sighed before displaying the letter and explaining carefully, "The twins, those little shits, told my parents that you and I were dating! Now my mum is mad that she had to hear it from them, and both my parents are just so confused! I'm confused!" 

"Oh," was all Oliver could say. Percy seemed to wait for him to say something more, do something more. But he wasn't going to get what he was looking for.

"Oliver," Percy began. Oliver was grateful. The silence was ringing too loud in his ears. "This needs to stop. It was okay at first because I thought that I was just helping you out with avoiding uncomfortable confrontations, but... this is an uncomfortable confrontation for me. In fact, it's mortifying. So, please just tell everybody it was a joke!"

Oliver frowned and pursed his lips but was quick to blurt, "Okay," when Percy took him by the shoulders and squeezed. Hard.

Later, Percy would comment on how it was quite ironic how their fake relationship was just as genuine as every one else's real relationship, furthering his agenda about how people their age couldn't have meaningful relationships. Or whatever.

Normally, Oliver would just nod along and agree, but he couldn't say he saw it that way. The abrupt ending of their brief and completely fabricated relationship made it seem like it was just that easy for them to end it. Maybe for Percy it was. But for Oliver, he was still kind of hung up on it. Sure, it was nothing more than just telling people that they were together and then occasionally joking that they were going to kiss each other, but Oliver rather enjoyed it. His takeaway from the entire ordeal was the opposite of Percy's, because he realized that he wanted to be in a relationship. And he was entirely sure that he could feel genuine emotions for someone.

When he would think about just what he wanted from a romantic relationship—why did he want it so bad, what would he gain from it—he was a little lost. He didn't think he only wanted the validation from a relationship. He got a lot of attention and affection from people. Those girls that came up to him, his friends, and Percy especially. So maybe it was that he wanted to be with a specific person. Thinking about being romantically involved with specific people really only evoked one thought; Percy. 

And then it made a little more sense. Of course fake dating Percy would make Oliver start to consider what it would be like to actually do so. For a while, he wondered if he was genuinely interested in a romantic relationship with his best friend, or if it was just that once he got a little taste, he became a little too conditioned to it. Maybe it was both.

But really, it was a long time coming. He realized that a lot of his thoughts revolved around Percy. After all, they did spend a lot of time together. But then again, Oliver reasoned, he spent a lot of time with his other friends, and he wasn't thinking about whether or not he had crushes on them. But he did spend more time with Percy. They slept in the same room, had the same classes, had every meal together, everything. Despite that, Oliver realized that he would continuously go out of his way to spend even more time with Percy, and maybe that was a little extreme. But Percy made him really happy.

So Oliver wasn't stupid. He not only wanted to be in a relationship, but he wanted to be in a relationship with Percy. Percy, his best friend who had no other friends, probably wasn't interested in making any, probably wasn't interested in anyone romantically, and didn't even believe in romance at their age. Oliver wasn't very into muggle religion, but if there truly was a god, Oliver felt really betrayed by him.

His whole world was turned upside down at that realization. It was weird, because now he didn't know what to do or how to act around his best friend. It was as though all common sense jumped out the window. 

He tried to distance himself from his feelings and convince himself that he truly only liked Percy as a friend. But he really couldn't deny it, nor could he stay away from Percy for too long, because it was like an invisible force pulled him in like a magnet and couldn't be broken. 

It was especially frustrating how Oliver had pretty much done it to his self, and now he was facing all of this turmoil while Percy could just live his life.

And the worst part was that he couldn't tell Percy how he felt, because he wouldn't be taken seriously. He couldn't even know if Percy swung that way. It was utterly disgraceful what he was reduced to.

So, by the end of 4th year, Oliver had gleamed some important things. Foremost was that he was in love with his best friend and he probably couldn't do anything about it no matter how much he wanted to because not only would it ruin their friendship, but it also most likely wouldn't result in anything. Everything else felt insignificant compared to that. All the hammering the professor's did about the importance of their upcoming OWL year went in one ear and out the other when Oliver had to focus on regulating his breathing with Percy's elbow touching his. It was maddening, embarrassing, and Oliver quite seriously considered beating himself in the head.

Percy knew something was wrong, but he didn't pry after Oliver didn't tell him the first time. That just made it worse, because he made it his mission to be there when Oliver decided to tell him what was going on.  That would be never, and it only worsened Oliver's "condition." Really, how many concerned looks and sympathetic pats to the shoulder could one boy give? But if he couldn't tell his best friend about it, who could he tell? 

The answer was no one.

Well, actually, the answer was his parents.

"Why am I not surprised?" His da had said when Oliver finally bit out that he had a crush on his best friend, Percy. "I mean, I never wanted to be someone's friend that bad."

Oliver felt a little indignant by that, because he was absolutely sure that the feelings were only platonic when they first became friends. To think his da thought that he'd had a crush on Percy since first year!

"Well, what are you going to do?" His mum had asked. At the time, he just shrugged and ate his lunch. 

Even now, as he arrived to platform 9 3/4, he was still a little unsure. He had a tentative plan, though. He'd tell Percy how he felt through subtle hints. It was a terrible idea to risk being too forward and losing his friendship.

He didn't get to see Percy on the train, but as he assumed and would later find out, that was because Percy made prefect.

"Charlie told me he appointed you as quidditch captain," Percy said after Oliver congratulated him on being prefect. "Congrats to you too."

Oliver was a little upset that Percy already knew his news while he was just now finding out about Percy's, but it was whatever. On a better note, he got to see Percy again.

However, even that little note wouldn't last. Apparently, the one year where Oliver was determined to be closer than ever to Percy, was the year that Percy decided he'd make other friends. 

It really wasn't much of an issue at first. Why, Oliver had his own friends too. And he was happy that Percy was meeting people who could also see his value as a person and friend. At the same time, he wasn't too happy about it. He missed his friend. As crazy as it sounded, Oliver hated seeing Percy spend time with other people, as if Oliver himself wasn't enough to keep Percy satisfied. And Oliver didn't say this aloud, because it sounded kind of mean when he put it in words, but he really didn't expect to have to fight another human being for Percy's attention.

Especially the weird Ravenclaw guy, Emilio, who never talked. Apparently, however, he did talk, and to Percy specifically. It was rather infuriating when Oliver thought too much about it, because they really were so much alike. Emilio had no friends, as far as Oliver was aware. Percy's only friend was Oliver. Emilio was a Ravenclaw, and everybody knew about their weird hobbies and intelligence that manifested in different ways. That was Percy through and through, and Oliver sometimes wondered why Percy wasn't sorted into Ravenclaw. Sometimes, he got it into his head that Percy was sorted into Gryffindor just for him. But that was an outlandish conclusion. Especially when Percy was now prefect and couldn't be bothered to make time for Oliver when he could fit time with Emilio into his prefect schedule, since they were both prefects. 

The only time he'd get to see Percy was at night when he didn't have rounds, and even that was rare, because he definitely spent more time "on rounds" than what was required. After around 4 months of that, it became quite apparent to Oliver that something else was going on. And even if his best friend couldn't understand what was going on, Oliver knew all too well what it was like to be head over heels for Percy Weasley. So he could tell that Emilio did too.

Unlike Oliver, who couldn't even get a word in nowadays, Emilio wasn't too keen on hiding his feelings either. Percy always thought it was a joke. He told Oliver as much. But Oliver knew it wasn't, and he really wished Percy would stop talking to him about Emilio.

"He has a crush on you!" Oliver loudly insisted one day while Percy was recounting an interaction he had with Emilio the night before.

"Oh, stop," Percy sighed, rubbing his eyes. He looked like he was going to slump over into his cereal.

"No, Perce," Oliver said, frustrated. "I'm serious. Why is it so hard to believe that he would?"

"Because that's..." Percy seemed to struggle for words. He shrugged, "Just drop it. That's ridiculous."

Oliver rolled his eyes, but he listened to Percy and let it go. It wasn't as though he wanted to bring them closer together anyway.

By the end of 5th year, Oliver was still very much single and pining over his best friend who was being pursued by someone far more blatant in their affections. Also by the end of 5th year, Percy was still single despite Emilio's efforts. Oliver didn't let that comfort him, though, because he was there to witness how Emilio was slowly but surely growing on Percy, like uncontrollable vines on the side of a neglected building. His best friend was being seduced, and it was honest to god working.

The whole thing left Oliver consistently sick to his stomach. He couldn't even look at Percy without feeling rage and sadness. Anger about what was happening, about who he was losing. His only refuge was quidditch, and he worked his team like hell. But after Fred and George poisoned the whole team before the playoff match that couldn't be scheduled for a later date because it was late already, Ravenclaw ended up taking the cup. Naturally, that made Oliver's blood boil. Emilio wasn't even on the team, but he somehow felt like that was just a symbolism of his losing battle for Percy.

It was utterly ridiculous, but that was just how he was feeling. It was a given that he wouldn't tell his parents how anything went down that year, because it was a complete disaster. He went in expecting to woo Percy, and now he was leaving with Percy being wooed by another. He thought his biggest obstacle would be Percy not batting for the same team, but it would turn out that he swung both ways, but not for Oliver. Never for Oliver, it seemed.

When 6th year came around, Oliver was relatively oblivious to everything. As per usual, there were no letters from Percy. His only goal was to win the Quidditch Cup. At least the cup couldn't leave him behind for another boy.

Dinner was cordial at best. Percy usually never talked much at dinner anyway, and Oliver made it his goal not to go out of his way to talk to Percy if Percy didn't want to talk to him. It was pathetic, he realized, to have to sit around and watch while Percy got swept off his feet by some random. It should've been him, not Emilio. And while he couldn't be too harsh on Percy because Percy didn't know about his feelings, he could still be bitter. Very bitter.

"Um, Ollie?" Percy spoke abruptly, putting his book down for the first time that night. That was also the first thing he'd said to Oliver besides a 'hey' that was accompanied by a side hug when they sat down at the beginning of dinner.

"Hm?" Oliver grunted, shifting the food around his plate. He steadfastly avoided looking at Percy, which he understood probably came off as rude more than nonchalant or anything else. Still, Percy couldn't see what he truly felt about anything nowadays. 

Percy cleared his throat and rested his hand on Oliver's arm. He waited, and Oliver sighed and put down his fork, understanding Percy's request for his full attention. Once Oliver finally looked at Percy, Percy took a deep breath before blurting, "I'm dating someone."

Oliver's heart sank, and for a moment it was hard to breathe. He saw it coming, really. In fact, he already thought it happened. The verbal confirmation really did hurt all the same. He swallowed thickly, turning back to his food. "Emilio?"

"How did you—I don't—yeah..." Percy spluttered, face turning red. "Was it that obvious?"

Ignoring Percy's question, Oliver choked out, "How long?" If Percy noticed the weird lilt to Oliver's voice, he didn't say anything.

"I... I asked him toward the end of the summer. Over letter," Percy explained.

"You asked him?" Oliver repeated disbelievingly. Somehow, that hurt even more. Now he couldn't even convince himself that Percy didn't like Emilio that much. Because for Percy to get over his holier-than-thou attitude toward dating and actually ask someone out was... wow. What made Emilio so special? Snapping out of his pensive reverie, he noticed that Percy was looking at him nervously, waiting for him to say something. "I thought it had been longer, honestly," he decided to say.

Percy cringed. "Yeah, it was that bad, wasn't it?"

Oliver smiled (it was more of a grimace) and nodded. "Right awful," he chuckled humorlessly.

"But Oliver," Percy began seriously. "I told you as soon as I could. I know you don't like the whole letter thing, but I was seriously considering sending one. You're the first to know."

"Right," Oliver said slowly, letting the incredulity show on his face. That earned him a sharp elbow to his side.

"Oh, come off it," Percy scoffed. "I know we weren't the closest last year, but you're still my best friend, right? You'll always be the first to know."

"I thought Emilio was your best friend," Oliver muttered. "That's sure how it seemed."

"Emilio's my... boyfriend." Percy blushed before rushing out the last part. He assured Oliver, "You'll always be my best friend. Nobody's going to replace you. I'm sorry I made you feel that way."

2 years ago, that statement would've made Oliver the happiest bloke in the world. Now, being Percy's irreplaceable best friend was nothing when he literally had a boyfriend. Still, he smiled and nodded, cheerfully saying, "Well, congratulations!" It sounded flat and insincere even to him, but Percy just smiled back and turned to his book again. 

The rest of dinner was finished in silence.

Despite Percy's assurances, Oliver really didn't see too much of him. In part, it was because they were both super busy. Oliver with trying to get his lazy quidditch team off of their arses so they could win the cup, and Percy with doing extra quidditch rounds to secure his position as Head Boy. To Oliver, it sounded like he was just trying to secure his position under Emilio's body. 

It was really tough for him to imagine that actually being a possibility at first, what with Percy presenting himself as an innocent little prudish nerd. But one night, after being gone for 5 hours on so-called prefect rounds with Emilio, Percy came back with his clothes haphazardly pulled on, and he smelled like Oliver's favorite tap in the Prefect's Bathroom. 

"Where have you been?" Oliver asked him, scrutinizing Percy closer. Now, he could swear he saw a few love bites on Percy's pale skin, and his fingers were all pruned, as if he'd been in water for quite some time. 

"Prefect's Bathroom," Percy hastily replied, dodging Oliver and beelining to his bed.

Oliver grabbed his wrist, halting his escape, and pulled down Percy's collar to get a closer look at his neck. It was by accident that he found out that the bites went even lower. "What were you doing?"

Percy blushed and looked away at anything but Oliver.

As realization dawned on Oliver, he dropped Percy's wrist in shock. "Merlin, Percy! What—"

"Stop, Oliver," Percy interrupted him with a sigh, turning away and heading to his trunk at the foot of the bed. He looked at Oliver imploringly, conveying a message for him to look away. Oliver only frowned and shook his head, still trying to process what he just learned. Percy shrugged and started changing into his pajamas, pointedly ignoring how Oliver gawked at all of the bites, hickeys, fingernail marks, and all things sinful littered on his torso. 

"No bloody way!" Oliver exclaimed, finally getting his wits about. "You and Emilio had... in the Prefect's Bathroom?"

Percy rolled his eyes and climbed into his bed. "It was nothing to serious. Only some... hand and mouth stuff."

"That's..." Oliver stuttered. He felt physically ill.

"Goodnight, Ollie," Percy said before shutting the curtains around his bed with flourish. 

Oliver stared for a second before silently falling into his own bed. All he could do was stare at the ceiling. Between pining for Percy and stressing over quidditch, Oliver himself had indulged in getting a blow job or two from a random witch in their year. There were quite a few. But to think about Percy doing it with his boyfriend... was this even their first time? 

Oliver felt thoroughly betrayed, which was weird because he had no claim to Percy, and apparently not his virginity either. It was terrible to think about all the same. If he were being honest, he never thought the day would come where Percy was sneaking around at night and doing this stuff. A lot could change from 14 to 16, he supposed.

The next day, when they'd settled at breakfast, Oliver carefully broached the topic. "I don't mean to pry but... was that your first time or what?"

Percy choked on his pumpkin juice, looking around furtively as he set down his goblet. Finally, he nodded once and began looking around the Hall, presumably for Emilio.

And that was that. After that one time, Percy never came back like that again. Either he started cleaning up and hiding it better, or that was the first and last time that he and Emilio did that. Things were tense between them, or maybe that was just Oliver being uncomfortable and Percy noticing but choosing not to comment. But a little before winter break, Percy started hanging out with him more, and he was around the dorm more too. Oliver didn't know why that was, but he was at least happy to spend time with his friend outside of dinner. 

However, he soon found out that it was due to some relationship issues that Percy was having with Emilio.

"I need some advice. It's about me and Lio," Percy had said one day. They were in their respective beds after dinner, having a casual chit chat for the first time in a long time.

"Oh, trouble in paradise?" Oliver teased, wiggling his eyebrows. In reality, he'd rather talk about anything but Percy's relationship, but he wasn't going to tell him that.

"Yeah, so..." Percy chewed on his bottom lip, thinking about how to articulate the issue. Oliver stared. He loved it when Percy did that. Percy finally said, "He gave me a ring, and he wants me to meet his parents."

Oliver's jaw went slack in shock, but he quickly regained his composure to stutter out a response. "Oh... that's—that's quite serious!"

Percy stared at his hands. "Yeah," he mumbled. He then turned desperate eyes to Oliver, "I'm not ready for all that, though! I like Lio, I do, but I don't want to... you know. It's all too fast."

Oliver nodded silently, just allowing for Percy to air out his grievances. Normally when Percy got like this, he came to his own conclusions no matter what Oliver would say.

"I should break up with him," Percy declared.

Oliver's eyes widened. He felt bad for Emilio, he really did, but he also was waiting to hear those words since Emilio first started to steal Percy away from him. If Oliver were in Emilio's position, he'd probably want to put a ring on it too, and he definitely thought that the entire thing could be overlooked if Percy was willing enough to just say no and move on. Still, he nodded gravely and agreed, "If that's what you think is best."

Percy, with an appreciative smile, said, "Thanks Oliver. I knew I could count on you."

Oliver smiled back, internally rejoicing and wincing at the same time. He felt bad about giving Percy relationship advice with his own interests at heart, but he convinced himself that it was Percy's decision to begin with, and he was going to do it regardless.

So when they got back from winter vacation, Oliver was only slightly surprised to hear that Emilio and Percy had actually broken up.

Oliver soon came to realize that if he thought Emilio was bad, he was absolutely not ready for the hold that Penelope had on Percy.

He was quite shocked when he finally caught on to what was happening, because he thought it would take Percy a little longer to get over Emilio. Apparently not, because just a month or two later he was practically head over heels for the girl, droning and ranting about how smart she was, how funny she was, and how pretty she was. Oliver knew that she and Percy had a charms class together, meanwhile he had classes with neither of them, so he couldn't really say anything about her personality. Looks-wise, Oliver could agree that Penelope was quite the catch, so much so that Oliver actually didn't think she'd go for Percy. It seemed like the world was out to get him though, because when he realized he liked Percy, everybody started liking Percy all of a sudden. That didn't exclude Penelope, who as it turned out was definitely interested in Percy first. 

"I'm going to ask her out for Valentine's Day," Percy told him one day.

Oliver bit the inside of his cheek. "Do you think it's going to work?"

Percy sighed and sat next to Oliver on his bed. "I don't know, but I was talking to her friends about it. They were the ones who recommended me do it, which I found kind of weird. Still, I'm doing it, because I do quite like her."

"Oh," Oliver said numbly. He couldn't tell if Percy knew already, but Penelope definitely had her friends talk to him about asking her out. Either that or she talked about Percy a lot to her friends, and they took initiative by themselves. No matter, both options meant that Penelope was obviously interested in Percy and would therefore say yes when he asked her out, and now Oliver just had to resign himself to waiting for yet another one of Percy's relationships to end.

Percy and Penelope were just so sickeningly sweet. They were absolutely enamored with each other, and hardly spent anytime apart. Occasionally, Penelope would even sit at the Gryffindor table with them. Oliver tried to hide his distaste for her, because it really was for no good reason, but he was pretty sure that she knew he didn't like her. Percy couldn’t know.

And Oliver knew his best friend wasn't innocent anymore, if that whole thing with Emilio offered him any information, but it definitely startled him one time over Easter break where Percy came back way passed curfew with hickeys on his neck, his shirt buttoned up crookedly, his tie poorly tied, and his pants wrinkled to the gods. He had that flush about him that just screamed sex, and he smelled like it too.

Oliver remembered wrinkling his nose as soon as he registered Percy's appearance and saying with deep resignation, "Oh, what'd you do this time?"

"I don't know what you mean," Percy had shrugged, making a beeline for the bathroom.

"Penelope? Did you two... y'know..." Oliver trailed off, making lewd gestures with his fingers.

"Oliver!" Percy had reprimanded, his face going red.

Oliver had known he was right just by the reaction, but he didn't know why Percy was blushing like a virgin. He's the one who did it. "So yes?"

Percy then closed the door without a further response, but Oliver didn't expect one anyway. 

The day after that, Penelope had come to their breakfast table and started talking about Emilio. Evidently, Emilio himself had told Penelope about his and Percy's past relationship, and wasn't that just ironic? Oliver had found it amusing, but Percy was mortified as that was his and Penelope's first argument as a couple. 

As much as Oliver would've liked to believe that the whole dilemma would create a permanent rift between the two, they quickly bounced back like he knew they would, and they went on with their picture perfect relationship. The only difference was that Oliver felt that Penelope was more wary around him, which he didn't know how to take. Maybe he was just imagining it. 

On one rare sunny day in June, Percy had left their dorm in a good mood to go walk around the lake with his girlfriend. Not even an hour later, he came back to their room in tears, inconsolable.

Upon seeing this, Oliver immediately rushed to his side, pulling him into a tight hug. He held Percy's head as the boy cried into his shoulder with no abandon.

"What's the matter?" Oliver asked as he patted Percy's shoulders comfortingly. In response, Percy sniffled and mumbled out an answer, but Oliver couldn't hear him because the sound was muffled with Percy's head still buried in Oliver's shirt. "I can't hear you, sorry," Oliver told him.

Percy then turned his head a little so that his nose was practically in Oliver's neck, and Oliver could feel his breathing as he spoke, "Penelope broke up with me."

Again, Oliver was torn between guilt and excitement on the inside, but he couldn't outwardly show either without getting a weird look from Percy. So, he settled on saying, "Oh no, what happened?" 

This time, Oliver didn't have to worry about the weird sensation of Percy's breathing ghosting on his face, because Percy pulled all the way back from Oliver's embrace. "She said that she liked me, but that she didn't want to compete with other people! Naturally, I told her that she wasn't competing with anybody, right? I like her. But she was saying all this rubbish about how too many people like me, and how she wasn't going to put up with it! Honestly, what does that even mean?" Percy ranted angrily, his tears coming to a momentary stop.

"What? That's absurd!" Oliver agreed. Internally, he felt kind of sheepish. He definitely understood where Penelope was coming from, even if Percy didn't. In fact, he couldn't help but realize that he was probably part of the problem. Maybe Penelope had caught on to his crush on her boyfriend. Despite the renewed guilt he felt, he stayed with Percy all throughout the day, even canceling the day's quidditch practice. He comforted and assured him until Percy didn't have anything to say anymore. He just cried. The next day, Percy tried to go about things normally and even went out to do his tutoring thing, but after that he didn't even come out of his room for anything but his classes. Oliver correctly assumed that the outing did not go well. 

Even though Percy was relatively healed by the time they let out for the summer (he wasn't crying 24/7 anymore), the whole thing just went to prove to Oliver how utterly infatuated Percy was with Penelope. She absolutely ruined him, and all Oliver could think about was how Percy would react if for whatever reason, he'd lost Oliver too.

At least Gryffindor won the cup that year.

With the start of 7th year, Oliver became acutely aware that he was running out of time. What started as a crush in 4th year seemed to be turning into a "the one who got away" situation really fast, when it should've never been that way. Oliver didn't know why, after all this time he was still obsessed with the idea of being with Percy, but it wasn't going to go away and he was just more determined than ever.

He remembered for a while in 5th year when he was convincing himself that he really didn't like Percy that much anymore. But that just wasn't true, and he couldn't act like he wouldn't drop everything for the opportunity to get with Percy at any given moment.

Now that he had a quidditch cup win under his belt and a sure plan to win the next and last one, Oliver had more time to contribute to pursuing Percy. After the first two days of 7th year, he was able to gauge two important things:

1. Percy was still friends with Penelope, and talked to her regularly over the summer. He was still hung up on her while they exchanged letters, but apparently they were both set on the being friends thing. Oliver found it quite ridiculous. 

2.  He also was talking to Marcus Flint a lot, which frankly infuriated Oliver. If there was anyone that Oliver hated, it was Flint, and his being friends with Percy only amplified that tenfold. It made Oliver feel guilty for insisting on not communicating with Percy over the summer, because obviously great relationships can be formed that way. It also made Oliver feel a heightened sense of urgency, because if he didn't get Percy now, then he'd have to be reduced to letters just like everyone else.

Despite the urgency, Oliver just couldn't bring himself to do anything. As he put more time into quidditch, he found that Percy was going out almost every night and coming back late, which made it seem like a repeat of his past relationships. Oliver would think he was seeing someone if he wasn't absolutely sure that Percy would tell him if that was happening. 

However, one night in November found Percy quietly sneaking into the dorm at 3:00 AM. Despite his discretion, Oliver woke up immediately, reaching for his wand and casting lumos.

Realizing he'd been caught, Percy froze in front of Oliver's bed. "Uh... hi," he said nervously.

Oliver didn't say anything, opting to rub the sleep out of his eyes as he gained his lucidity. "Where've you been?" He finally croaked, clearing his throat afterward. He checked the little alarm clock next to his bed, and his eyes widened, exclaiming, "it's 3:00 AM! Perce, what in Merlin's name have you been doing?"

Percy was silent, shuffling awkwardly from one leg to the other and shifting his gaze to anywhere but Oliver. "Well, you know..." He trailed off, avoiding the question.

Oliver sighed in frustration. He sat up in his bed and turned on the lamp, causing their whole room to be illuminated so he could extinguish his wand light. As his eyes adjusted to the change, he was able to take in Percy's appearance. His heart dropped, and his stomach started churning as he finally registered what was going on.

"Where have you been?" He repeated, his voice intentionally soft. Inside, though, he was fuming, and Percy could probably tell, if the way he shrunk in on himself was anything to go by. 

"Quidditch pitch," Percy mumbled, looking at his shoes.

Oliver's reaction was visceral. He didn't understand why Percy was acting all shy and innocent, when apparently he'd been defiling Oliver's favorite place just some time before. The thought of Percy shagging someone (that wasn't him) on the quidditch pitch made Oliver gag. It felt vindictive in a way. There was still one part that Oliver was lost on.

"Who were you with?" He decided to ask. Percy wasn't seeing anyone as far as he was informed, and he couldn't imagine that Percy started resorting to random fucks. But as Percy started watching him carefully, as though wary of Oliver getting violent or doing something rash at any moment, Oliver felt dread pool into his stomach and mix with the existing anger. 

Percy pursed his lips before finally answering, "Marcus."

Oliver swallowed. "Marcus... Flint?" He clarified, but he already knew the answer.

Still, Percy gave him a short nod and stayed silent, staring at Oliver all the while.

It was maddening, and as Oliver swung his legs over the side of his bed and stood up, he didn't know what he was going to do, but he was just mad. Percy took a step back at the sudden movement, so Oliver kept his distance. He didn’t want to scare him.

"But Perce... you know I—I hate him! And you... you told me that you guys were just friends! You were just tutoring him! Is tutoring code for having intercourse now, or what?" Oliver ranted. He had so much and nothing to say, and he was struggling to put it into words. He thought that maybe he shouldn't, lest he say something he didn’t mean to.

"This was the first time!" Percy defended himself. "I swear, I would've told you if anything happened sooner. And I didn't even mean for it to happen!"

"You didn't mean for it to happen?" Oliver echoed dubiously. "So... what? How? Help me understand, Percy."

"Oh, I don't know," Percy shrugged. "He just... kissed me. Told me he liked me. And then it just happened." 

"That easy, huh?" Oliver spat, and Percy recoiled in shock before turning away, presumably to go to the bathroom.

"Whatever, Oliver," Percy mumbled on his way past. He closed and locked the door with flourish, which is when Oliver knew he'd messed up.

He really didn't mean to say what he did, because obviously Percy wouldn't take kindly to being called easy. But at the same time, was it really that easy? If he'd known that after all these years, all he'd needed to do was tell Percy that he liked him in order for them to fall into bed together, then he would've done it by now. 

Feeling guilty, he waited for Percy to get out of the bathroom to apologize. He heard the shower turn off and the bathroom door open, but when he turned his head, it was just Percy's head peaking out of the cracked door, probably to see if Oliver was awake or not. They made eye contact, and Percy rolled his eyes before retreating back into the bathroom. This wasn't before Oliver got to see the large hand prints that appeared to be starting to bruise on Percy's waist, and that just made him sick all over again. 

Finally, Percy stepped out of the bathroom fully clothed in his pajamas. He went straight into his bed and began to draw the curtains, but Oliver finally bit the bullet and caught his attention before it was too late. 

"Hey, Perce," He began softly. "I'm sorry for calling you easy. It wasn't my place, and... I'm sure you have standards."

Percy stared at him, seemingly weighing the pros and cons of engaging in conversation at the moment. Finally, he sighed and said, "It's okay. I guess it does sound like... but I swear I don't sleep with just anybody!"

"Right," Oliver agreed, but internally he was wondering what the criteria was if Marcus Flint of all people fit it. It really could've been anyone else. 

Percy was apparently reading his face, for he buried his head in his hands and groaned, "I don't know why I did that with Marcus."

"Maybe you like him?" Oliver supplied numbly. The whole routine was getting tiring, and if Percy planned on getting with yet another person who wasn't him, then Oliver just wanted for it to be over with already.

Percy frowned. "I really don't think I do, which is the confusing part. I mean, sure, I kind of find him attractive. And he's nice to me. Gives me all these presents. But I don't really like him. Not enough to be with him or anything."

This confused Oliver, so all he said was, "Oh." The room was quiet for a bit, with Percy thinking and Oliver watching. "So, what are you going to do?" Oliver finally asked.

"I don't know!" Percy groaned, falling back on his bed in frustration. "I think he quite likes me. He said he saw me and Penelope that one time, which I don't know how to feel about. He basically told me he only got close to me to fuck me." 

"Wow," Oliver blinked. "That's quite the dilemma."

"Yeah, tell me about it," Percy agreed. And that was that. They closed their curtains, wished each other good night, and Oliver fell asleep to dreams of racing Marcus Flint to a golden snitch, only for Flint to just barely beat him to it. Oliver knew he was dreaming, because neither of them were even seekers. As the dream continued, Flint bragged and showcased the snitch in the palm of his hand, but it didn't look normal. It literally had Percy's face on it.

Oliver didn't place much credence in is dreams, even after taking many years of divination, but he knew he was fucked.

Despite their little disagreement, they got over their feelings relatively fast and Oliver was able to exist with a semblance of normalcy. They remained so close, in fact, that Oliver was privy to the knowledge that Percy continued to sleep with Marcus with no intention of ever being with him. 

Oliver wasn't too sure about that choice, because it was obvious that Marcus liked Percy a lot. Moreover, Percy didn't know this, but if he just wanted a good shag, all he had to do was ask Oliver. He voiced none of this to Percy, though, because the guy genuinely thought that being friends with benefits was the best solution to his Flint problem. Supposedly, that was Percy’s way of letting Flint down slowly.

In light of all that, Oliver's patience was starting to wear really thin. He thought about what was holding him back. Percy wasn't in a serious relationship as of late, and really it was now or never. Knowing how confessing an unrequited love to Percy ended up for Flint, Oliver really couldn't see a situation where it all went wrong.

One day in March, after a particularly rough quidditch match where the Slytherins absolutely ruined the game with their especially foul play, Oliver stormed off to the dorm immediately. He couldn't stop for anybody, not even his own teammates. He wanted badly to punch Flint in his smarmy face, but he somehow had a feeling that that wouldn't go over well with Percy.

Speaking of Percy, he was trailing two steps behind Oliver silently, using every bit of his leg length to keep up. 

"Oliver!" He kept calling, but Oliver just ignored him. He didn't want to talk at the moment.

When they finally arrived to their room, Oliver slammed the door behind him. Huffing, Percy caught it just in time and closed it far more gently than Oliver had. "Calm down, Ollie," he said. "You didn't lose or anything! You were great."

"But we didn't win!" Oliver snapped. "Those stupid snakes ruined the game! How hard is it to just play quidditch with no foul play?" Percy stayed silent at that, clearly having nothing to say in response, so Oliver continued his rant. "I just want to punch Flint in his troll-looking face!"

"Marcus didn't do anything!" Percy interrupted him.

"Well Marcus should learn how to control his team!" Oliver shouted. He was quite offended that Percy, rather than just listening to him rant, was deciding to defend Flint.

Thankfully, Percy didn't say anything after that, opting to just sit down and listen to Oliver go on and on about the ruined match, offering a hum here and a nod of agreement there. If he noticed that a lot of the ranting was aimed at Flint, then he didn't say anything. 

After 2 hours, even Oliver had nothing to say anymore, and Percy had checked out long ago, fighting to keep his eyes open. Upon realizing this, Oliver decided to leave it alone and just go take a shower. 

While he was in the shower, he thought of so much more to tell Percy about: criticisms about leadership, players, the rules in general, and Madame Hooch's refereeing. But when he stepped out of the bathroom with nothing more than a towel around his waist, Percy was gone with nothing to show that he'd even been there since Oliver got in the shower. Not even a hastily scribbled note.

Oliver clenched his jaw and tried not to jump to conclusions or get in his feelings about anything, but deep down he already knew where Percy was. Or who he was with. 

Sighing, he got dressed and splayed out on his bed, looking up at the ceiling. Now all there was to do was wait.

Surprisingly, it only took Percy an hour and a half to walk back into the room with a dopey fucking smile on his face. The smile faded away when he noticed Oliver glaring at him, though.

"Are you serious?" Oliver deadpanned. "You really just left out with no warning. For what? To suck Flint's cock?"

Percy opened and closed his mouth, like a fish out of water, before finally saying, "No. We just walked around a little. As you're implying, I don't only go to him when I want to... y'know."

"Oh, really?" Oliver feigned interest. He stood up and slowly walked closer to Percy, saying, "Well then, I hope you enjoyed your romantic walk! My point still stands. What were you bloody thinking! It's like you're choosing him over me!"

"Am not!" Percy protested, stepping backward as Oliver got closer.

"Yes, you are! What does he even know about you? Does he know about the weird quills that you made? The fermenting stuff on the windowsill? Your silly Magpies shrine?" Oliver continued to list basically everything quality and hobby of Percy’s that only he would know about, because Percy just had to see what was right in front of him.

"No, but why does it matter?" Percy asked when Oliver was finally done, eying him cautiously. 

"Why does it—because nobody knows you like I do! That's what I'm trying to tell you, Perce. None of them. Not Flint, Emilio, Penelope, or whoever else you've been with!" Oliver explained vehemently.

"Well, I know that! You're my best friend," Percy told him meekly. At this point, he was backed against the wall, trapped by Oliver's body which was mere centimeters away.

Oliver sighed. "So you don't need any of them! Look in front of you. You have me. You've always had me." By now, Oliver knew that there was no coming back. He couldn't pretend like the words coming out of his mouth were no big deal after this, so it was all or nothing. 

"But those are people that I've dated—or at least slept with! And you're my..." Here, Percy paused and looked at the predicament. He was backed into a wall with Oliver basically pressed against him and staring pleadingly into his eyes, telling him that he'd never needed anyone else. Oliver could pinpoint the exact moment when realization reached Percy, for his eyes widened and he let out a shocked, "Oh." 

"Yeah. Oh," Oliver teased. Outwardly, he was just standing there, waiting for Percy to say something, anything more. Inwardly, he was panicking and felt more vulnerable than ever. He thought about why he'd felt so confident before, but now all the reasoning felt stupid when he was awaiting the consequences of his confession. 

Still, after minutes of silence, it was starting to get awkward when they really couldn't look away from each other due to their proximity, but neither of them wanted to be the first to say something. They were practically breathing each other’s air, and Oliver was starting to get a little uncomfortable. Finally, Percy whispered, "Well, aren't you going to kiss me?"

Oliver frowned. "Do you want me to?"

Percy didn't answer, simply choosing to close the space between them and kiss him. Hard. Oliver definitely wasn't complaining, kissing back with fervor as Percy was pushed against the wall. Percy's hands found his neck and hair, while Oliver rested his on Percy's waist, pulling him ever closer.  It was just a few kisses, short and then long, soft and then passionate, but there was no tongue until Percy initiated it.

"Are you sure you're not doing this just because you think that's what I want?" Oliver rushed out, pulling away abruptly. 

Percy sighed, resting his head on the wall. His eyes were still closed as he said, "Yes, I'm sure."

"Say you want it," Oliver insisted, poking Percy on his side.

His voice sounded whiny, and he could tell Percy wasn't taking him seriously. Still, he smiled as he told Oliver, "I want it," and that was that. Within the next minute, snogging escalated to the point where they were both shirtless and Oliver was carrying Percy to his bed. He practically threw Percy on the already unmade bed and made quick work of climbing on top, his hands roaming anywhere they could touch.

"Do something," Percy demanded, shivering as Oliver's broad hands ghosted all over his chest, stomach, arms, and everywhere.

Oliver chuckled, but he did what Percy wanted, peppering light kisses along Percy's jawline and then down to his neck, collarbone, and chest. Kisses turned to bites, and they were both rock hard by the time Oliver was licking directly above the band of Percy’s underwear.

But Percy was insatiable. He kept saying "more," and before they knew it, they were both completely nude with Oliver slowly pushing inside of Percy who, upon the intrusion, let out the most wanton whimper that Oliver had ever heard. As Oliver began moving and his thrusts began picking up speed, Percy was moaning loudly, eyes closed and chanting Oliver's name.

It was euphoric and more than Oliver could ever have imagined would've come out of telling Percy that he was the only one he needed, but he wasn't complaining. Quite the contrary, actually.

Percy's tight hole kept clenching around him, and when his hips started rocking to match Oliver's thrusts and his back was arching off of the bed, Oliver could tell that he was close. 

But he couldn't let him cum. Not yet.

Not when it wasn't guaranteed that Oliver would ever get him like this again. In fact, with how unpredictable Percy was nowadays, he could go off and get with someone else within the next month if Oliver didn't lay his claim first. Hell, he could even go and continue with Marcus after this. And that thought only made Oliver's blood boil, spurring him on.

Reaching between them, Oliver grabbed Percy's leaking cock and squeezed. Hard. Percy choked out a moan, and his hips stopped their movement at the startling sensation. As Oliver's thrusts slowed back down, Percy began writhing around irritatedly, begging for release. 

"Please, Ollie," he whined, his hands desperately gripping Oliver's forearms tightly.

Oliver was tempted, if only to hear Percy moan his name and see the evidence of his pleasure paint his glistening freckled skin as he came apart—but that couldn't happen yet.

"Shh," Oliver placated. Percy stopped moving. "I'll let you cum, but I just have one thing to ask of you."

"Anything," Percy mewled, taking deep breaths so as to distract from Oliver's tight grip on his sensitively hard cock.

"Don't sleep with anybody else after this. Don't see anyone else. Not Marcus. Not anyone," Oliver demanded.

Immediately, Percy flushed even redder, if that was possible, and he brought his hands up to cover his face. "Oh my..."

"Percy!" Oliver interrupted Percy's embarrassed mumbling, giving Percy's cock another squeeze to remind him what was happening. Percy clenched around him and let out a strangled sigh as his hands fell from his face.

"Okay!" Percy agreed hastily. "I—okay. Nobody else. Merlin, Oliver."

Oliver smirked and placed a triumphant kiss on Percy's forehead before fucking into him faster than before. He thumbed at Percy's tip and artfully massaged Percy's cock with his precum as lubricant. It didn't take too long before Percy was spurting cum on the both of them, his orgasm coming fast and hard. Oliver was quick to follow. Unfortunately, he was too slow to pull out and almost the entirety of his load was buried deep inside of Percy.

After that, he slowly pulled out with a mumbled, "Sorry, I didn't mean to," and rolled onto his back, next to Percy.

Percy's stomach tensed at the loss, but he was otherwise unbothered, opting to silently blink up at the ceiling while he relaxed his breathing. "S'fine," He assured, but Oliver couldn't tell how sincere he was being after he slightly shifted away from the semen pooling out of him. Percy, after a few minutes, heaved himself up, saying, "We should go shower."

Oliver nodded in agreement and watched as Percy, in all his nudity, sauntered to the bathroom. He then looked away, waiting to hear the sound of the door closing so he could privately start to freak out about what just happened, but that opportunity never came because Percy paused at the door and looked at Oliver curiously. "Aren't you coming?" He asked.

Oliver straightened up at once. "Oh, you meant... together?" He stuttered out hopefully.

Percy shrugged. "I mean, you don't have to get in with me if you don't want to..."

"No!" Oliver hastily replied, almost cutting him off. "No, I'm coming."

The shower took way longer than it had to be, because Percy insisted on making sure that every pore of his skin was clean, and despite it being his second shower within short hours, Oliver was all too contented to help him. When they finally got out, Percy dressed in his pajama pants and a sweatshirt, and Oliver put on his pajama pants too but opted to remain shirtless. Percy sure didn't mind.

And as he lay in his bed, his body between Percy's legs, his head resting on Percy's chest, Percy's fingers carding through his hair, Oliver felt as though his senses were just overwhelmed with Percy. And wasn't that all he'd wanted?

"Percy?" Oliver interrupted the comfortable silence that had settled between them. 

Percy's fingers stopped moving in Oliver's hair as he focused his gaze upon Oliver's face, and Oliver tried not to mourn the loss.

"Yes...?" Percy replied, tentative and prompting, as if curious yet reluctant to hear what Oliver had to say.

"I..." As the thoughts swirled around his mind, Oliver struggled to pick what he wanted to say first, so he just blurted what was at the forefront. "You know I've been in love with you since 4th year, right?"

For a while, Percy was silent, and Oliver had to shift his head to look at Percy's reaction. Then, "Why didn't you tell me?" Percy's voice was hushed and understanding as he asked, but it was also just so confused. For a moment, it made Oliver feel bad for his decision to withhold his feelings for 3 whole years.

But after thinking about all that he'd thought and felt when he first made the decision, he couldn't say he regretted it. "You just seemed so opposed to the idea of dating anyone. And then we did that thing for around 2 weeks—do you know what I'm talking about?" At Percy's affirmative nod, Oliver continued, "I'd always just agreed with you on the dating thing. But then I wanted to date you, and Merlin was that confusing. And terrifying. And sad."

Upon the conclusion of Oliver's explanation, Percy was silent again, contemplative. Oliver once again tried not to let it get to him. He hated when Percy got like this. Still, he waited, and finally, "I knew you liked the whole fake dating thing a little too much!" Oliver tried to match Percy's grin, but his was more of a grimace. Percy must've noticed his discomfort, because his face sobered and he sighed before saying, "I liked it too. I liked you too. But I was in denial, and I didn't think you could like me back. And then there was Emilio. And Penelope. And even Marcus..."

"Stop," Oliver grumbled, pinching Percy's side. "I get it, you dated all of them before me." He ignored Percy's protests about not having dated Marcus. "But how could I not like you? It seems like everybody started liking you when I wanted you the most!"

Percy pursed his lips and shrugged. "You should've just said. I would’ve chosen you."

Oliver scoffed and rolled his eyes at the comment, but he felt lighter after being able to vent the crux of his frustrations for the past 3 years to Percy. And now there was only one thing left to do in order for Oliver to achieve his one true calling behind quidditch.

"Well, I'm telling you now. I love you, Perce. Be my boyfriend."

"Not even a please?"

"Please?"

"Okay."

"Okay. Thanks."

And then they both dissolved into laughter. That was that, and they were official.

From then on, Oliver devoted himself to being the best boyfriend he could possibly be for Percy. And Percy was as good as Oliver had already known.

The only issues they ever had were cleared up fairly clearly after Oliver told Marcus to stop sending Percy gifts and stop talking to him. He was a bit disappointed when he found out that Percy still kept some contact with Marcus, but he relented when Percy assured him that he'd never leave. And besides, Percy really never made friends in school that he didn't wind up in some kind of relationship with, so Oliver had to deal with him keeping contact with both Penelope and Marcus. They were even cordially invited to Emilio's wedding (to be held literally the day after graduation)!

On another note, it seemed that the mood boost was all Oliver needed to pull through the finals yet again, and now he had 2 House Cups under his belt! Also, Percy was able to write to Mrs. Weasley himself and tell her that they were dating. For real.

Out of school, they moved into a little flat together, because lord forbid they're not the only two sharing a living space. With Percy's entry level ministry position and Oliver's reserve keeper salary, they were by no means wealthy, but they were happy, and that was more than enough for Oliver.